The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Monday, May 12, 2014

Diamond Hour, Secret Formula and Energy

  • I feel that I want to look more deeply into the “Diamond Hour” concept--the universe seems to be nudging me in that direction.   More requests for it, more sign-ups for that list.  Probably more need to solidify my own practices, rooting them more deeply.  The question is how to approach it.   


Well, I’m going to take a meta-position on this.   I’m going to use my own “Diamond Hour” to create this new course, sharing the pieces of it as I go.     So I woke up this morning at 5:30,   fifteen minutes and   meditated. (Ancient Child and Heartbeat).   Up, made myself a cup of tea and checked my email and FB messages.   Re-wrote my core goals, a statement of Faith (why I believe I can and should achieve them), the action steps today, and what I am grateful for.
Then took a look at what I’ve been asked (or otherwise moved) to look at in terms of DH:


  • Time management, create, resilience, courage/proper assertiveness.  nature and community.    balancing creative and financially rewarding work,    time management, exercise   money management, getting adequate rest,   goal setting,  study, relationships/love/sex, communication, Rest and energy.
  • ###
  • Wow.  A lot of different things, and I want to simplify them before I dive in.  
So...let’s say that


1) you have balanced goals (Body, Mind/career, relationships), the unfoldment of which will benefit not just you, but the world as a whole
2) your beliefs support their achievement,
3) you know the steps you need to take and have at least three different routes to achievement that do NOT require “luck” or someone coming to save you.  Tactics and strategies and
4) You are focused on all you have to be grateful for RIGHT NOW.


Have those things?    Yes, I could go more deeply into any one of those categories (and will) but want to be broad right now.  If we assume you have these things, what else do you need?


Well, on a very general sense, you need ENERGY.   Energy to move forward, to pick yourself back up after you have fallen down (and you will), to change habit patterns (behavioral modification) , change your mood, and even to help motivate the people around you.


Remember: this is a dynamic sphere. I see and feel it but cannot pretend to “understand” it.  But I’m going to try to pick at the loose threads and see what we can unravel and comprehend...an hour at a time.


If we generally separate the “Diamond Hour” into three   chunks of ten-thirty minutes each for an investment of about 30-90 minutes a day, we’re starting to bring this into focus.     The first step is to invest five minutes a day.   This “Five Minute Miracle” is the gateway to all that follows.    Let’s emphasize energy, and see what we can accomplish in five minutes a day:


 Five Minute Miracle plus Increasing Energy.    


Five sixty-second “breathing breaks”, one every couple of hours.    The “Secret Formula” plus “Increasing energy” is our goal.  This is assuming that you have ONLY five minutes a day.  O.K….wow.  What can you do..?


1) First breathing break.   Re-write your goals.   Quickly.  Top three.  Split your attention so that you are breathing deeply and slowly as you do.  Visualize your goals and FEEL what you will gain from achieving them as you do.


2) Write your reasons for believing you can and SHOULD achieve your goals.  Again, keep it very short, and split attention so that you are breathing.  
This time emphasize your posture.  While writing, you should sit as if suspended by a string hovering over your head. Be a marionette.


3) Write your top three actions that must be done TODAY and TOMORROW to accomplish your goals.  No begging, pleading, or luck.   What can YOU do.   If you are in sales, remember that sales is a transfer of enthusiasm, and aligning your needs with those of your client.  What are you going to do for THEM?     You don’t sell vacuum cleaners--you sell clean homes, and healthy families.  You get what you want when you help someone else get what THEY need.  Breathe.   Concentrate on the EXHALATION.  Then relax.  EXHALE.  Then relax.


4) Write out your reasons for feeling GRATEFUL for another day of life, another opportunity to help the people you love, to serve your community, for being strong and sane and healthy.  For being able to BREATHE without equipment.


5) Joint mobility drills, allowing the compressions and releases to create your breathing.  Energy is created by the interaction of diet, rest, exercise, and focus.  Again, you could study each of these for a year, but just being aware of basic principles, you are cheating yourself out of your life.  Some fast thoughts:


1) Eat today for how you want to feel tomorrow, and to recover from yesterday’s stress.
2) If you get less than eight hours of sleep a night, and are fatigued, look no further for a MAJOR leak.
3) If you exercise less than two hours a week, you are VASTLY out of alignment with what your laziest ancestors could possibly have managed to survive.    Look no further for a MAJOR leak.
4)If you don’t know the  WHAT,  HOW, and WHY of how you will use your energy to feed into the “Secret Formula”--how you will use it to create your dreams and support the people you love...you have another MAJOR leak.   You may actually not have permission to be healthy!   One of the most frightening things I’ve ever heard as a coach is that someone is worried that “if I have more energy, people will just want more from me, so why bother?”


These suggestions are both global and specific.  I can’t be broad without asking more questions than I can answer, and can’t be specific without leaving out giant areas of importance.   But I’m hoping that by moving between several different models but anchoring the discussions in a few simple concepts, I can both remind myself of what I know...and share with all of you.   This is the first step.


Namaste,

Steve

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