“A guarantee in this life: Change! Flexibility is better than predictability!”

~ Evinda Lepins

 

Predictability: The fact of always behaving or occurring in the way expected. Most of us react in predictable ways, have predictable patterns of behavior, and even have predictable speech patterns. For many predictability is comfortable. There is a sense of safety, knowing and expectation.  A certain level or dose of predictability in the physicality of today is fine. Predictability through the routines we have established for ourselves provide structure to our lives and provide self-imposed stability—stability that helps support us moving out of comfort zones and to take on new things.

But when predictability becomes your norm and keeps you from getting out of your comfort zone or being less accepting of change, there is some self examination to be had.

Once we get too comfortable in our habitual patterns, we may fail to notice when they have outworn their useful purpose, or when new alternatives might serve us better. We may not realize that some of our routines have become traps. Our souls can get weary and our perceptions can become narrow. And our minds become more rigid than they were meant to be.  Predictability in our behaviors, thoughts, and actions also contribute to the power of the institutions of today—financial, educations, retail, enterprise, health, etc., whereby they put information out to us that feeds our predictability and even reinforces it, and thus keeps us in a place that they prefer we stay.

I say to this, cultivate your randomness and break the cycle of your predictability. 

Today, brain science has illustrated that actively embracing new things, challenges, and experiences can help form new brain (synaptic) connections throughout our entire lives. When we develop these new brain networks, we can think more effectively and creatively. Exercising our minds helps keep us mentally sharp.

Exploring new ideas and experiences—regardless if right in your backyard or some foreign land—helps keep our hearts and minds open to new paradigms and new ways of seeing the world around us. And once you have seen or experienced things in a new way, you are more likely to evolve and realize new possibilities. This spirit of exploration is not outside of us. It is within us—in our attitudes and perceptions. I encourage you to cultivate this.

On an institutional level, notably from a digitally connected world perspective, it is also important to lessen your predictability footprint. Today there is massive data collection on everything we do. As we are in a state of Universal change many Institutions are trying to hold onto their old or existing paradigms and power. Some may say that some leadership in these institutions are working directly or indirectly using our predictable patterns of behaviors (what we purchase, where we drive, what we search for online, etc.) to keep the status quo and hinder our ability to question them and for needed change to be hastened.

I encourage you to examine your digital footprint. Is it very predictable? Are you using convenience as an excuse not to change it up a bit? Think about what is happening with all your personal data and who is using it, why and how.  Yes, today it is difficult at best to remove all digital engagement, but I do implore you to mix it up a bit and to be very careful what you are putting out to the digital world.

In short, there is power in the unpredictable—on a personal and Universal level. I look forward to hearing what you are doing to counter your predictability and create randomness.

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”

~ Eugene Ionesco

 

This week’s post is more in the format of an “op-ed,” but I feel it is so important to have you wake up to questioning everything.

Few people challenge the conventional wisdom and many more probably do not question the world in which they live. We have moved to a state of tolerance at best, while many binge on mindless entertainment and are confronted with pointless trivia which distracts them from seeing the big picture.

The combination of tolerance and distraction has moved us away from realizing our full potential for change, to make change and to ascend. We stop asking what we are tolerating and why. We are brainwashed to think that what is on the nightly news is all true and credible. The media has become entertainment. We find escape in watching other people’ lives in mindless reality TV shows.

For many, measuring their success or happiness is done so in how many likes or retweets they get. For many, they forget to think for themselves, to form their own opinions and to participate in life vs watching life from a digital device. A complacency has set in with the “can’t fight city hall” mindset, or a belief that one’s life is boring and too routine. 

Yes, we live in interesting and some may say difficult times. Long term, well-established institutions—religious, media, academic, industry, financial, health and government among many—are struggling to sustain themselves in their current paradigms. This is no longer a “separation of state and church” among the multitude of institutions.

Further, all these institutions are overseen by human beings; people in power striving to retain their influence. They work to hold on to what they think they have even when others suffer. Feeling powerless, we may follow these people and think we have to choose between the lesser of two (or more) evils. This is no way to go through your life. And you do have the inner strength and energy to break the cycle.

I say to you my friends that you have to be your own teacher and your own disciple—by listening to your inner voice, your instincts and your calling. Take the time to gain different perspectives. Invest in getting the facts and awaken your curiosity.

I encourage you to keep an open mind by asking questions, as questions enable and fuel change.

• ·       Start with yourself. Go deep.
• ·       Rely on your intuitive intelligence
• ·       Demand honesty.
• ·       Don’t accept the easy answer.
• ·       Challenge the systems of authority.
• ·       Stand up for what you believe.
• ·       Fight for progress.
• ·       Put your energy into the momentum of change.

Bringing the Why into focus changes everything—for individuals, nations and organizations alike. So start asking Why. Tune into yourself. Reduce the distractions. Be present. Be awake.

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

What is hypocrisy? Some say it is a situation in which someone pretends to believe something that they do not really believe or when actions do not match words or intent.

In today’s times, hypocrisy is all too common in nearly every area of human activity, including political, religious and commercial—at institutional levels and even on personal levels. The English word “hypocrite” comes from a Greek root that denotes a speaker or a stage actor, often wearing a mask. In time, the term came to mean anyone who was putting on an act to deceive others or to advance certain selfish goals.

Each of us knows first-hand that hypocrisy can arouse strong emotions in those affected by it, including anger and resentment. But I want you to think about hypocrisy in the context that it is so pervasive and prevalent that we may have become immune to it and somewhat expect it. This is why I implore you to stop, take a deep breath and seriously reflect on this. Have you become immune to hypocrisy? Do you truly recognize it? Do you take the time to really listen and hear—and more so—be impacted by the hypocrisy in the world, in your life and possibly within you? Do your actions reflect your words and intent? 

We live in interesting times, where Institutions have grown too big and are breaking, where paradigms and models cannot be sustained and where some affluent leaders are trying to hold on to what they have or had. Massive Universal change is in motion. This is not comfortable and it stresses our sense of reality. And this is where hypocrisy enters and can take root.

Now is the time to reflect on the changes underway on the political, economic, educational, health, etc. fronts. Now is the time to understand yourself, to know your beliefs and values and be aware of the hypocrisy at play. You may not be able to change or stop hypocrisy as it is interestingly enough part of the process of change. But you can take steps to be aware of it in others and even within yourself.

One way of looking at it is that hypocrites groom you to become hyper-aware of what you may deem are your “wrongdoings,” while they dismiss anything that they themselves may be doing “wrong.”  They tend to relocate blame. In short, they are experts at blaming others, while empathetic people are experts at blaming themselves. The more hypocrisy poison to which you are exposed, the more you may doubt yourself. Stop the madness.

As you navigate the world of ubiquitous hypocrisy do your best to objectively perceive reality for what it is. Try your best to objectively perceive truth for what it is. Trust your instincts and strive to live by your values.