You will learn the tonality and pauses to naturally and easily talks seductively.
Dr YJC
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Affirmations - Some work, Some Don't, WHY?
I am asked frequently if affirmations really work or why don’t affirmations work for me. Some ask if affirmations are the same as self talk. Let’s start with an example. When you finish this paragraph, get up and go do it then come back. Find a mirror. Stand in from of the mirror and look at yourself and say, “I am the world’s greatest tennis player” or “I am going to be the world’s greatest tennis player” or “I am going to become a great tennis player.”
If you were too lazy to really get the experience by doing it then just imagine that you did the exercise. Now, when you said the example affirmations, what happened? Did you hear that little voice in the back of your head? What did it say? You can comment back and let us know. It probably said something along the lines: “Yea, right, never” “Who are you kidding” “Like S..t” “Not in this life time” “Oh really” “What a joke”
The point being that while some of the affirmation examples given above seem to be more believable than others, they are all really unbelievable.
They are unbelievable because they are all IDENTITY STATEMENTS. They all say “I am.” This one small set of two words is the destruction of the affirmation or self talk. You can say “I am human.” Most brains will accept that as truth. You can say “I am a student.” If you are enrolled in an educational institution, then the brain will probably accept that even is you are a bad student or do not study. The brain may accept “I am a student” even if you are not enrolled IF you are active in a particular subject area and say that you are a student of “Nature” or “Human Nature” or “Martial Arts.” Otherwise it will reject this also.
The last affirmation above is probably believable for some on you as it emphasizes “going to become.” However, it fails because your intention has failed before. You have intended to do lots of things and they never happened; so what is one more.
So what are the keys for affirmations to work? First, no identity statements; on I am. Second, it must be believable by you. And by you, I mean, your greater mind, your subconscious, your inner self, what ever you want to call IT. Third, and totally missing from the above examples and examples I have seen everywhere, is a process instruction.
When the brain and greater mind gets a process instruction, gets direction, gets a goal and all are connected, then it will constantly work to achieve that result. Let’s take that same example and reword it.
Read this and go stand in front of that mirror again or for the first time and say it. Yes, listen for that little voice in the back of your head.
“You will obtain the foot speed and hand eye coordination to become a great tennis player”
“You will acquire the foot speed and hand eye coordination to become a first class tournament tennis player”
“You will acquire the backhand skills and serving skills to move up to the next level in local tennis club”
It is your serve. Comment with your goal and the affirmation that hasn’t worked. You can also include what you think might work based on this bit of information.
Dr YJC
If you were too lazy to really get the experience by doing it then just imagine that you did the exercise. Now, when you said the example affirmations, what happened? Did you hear that little voice in the back of your head? What did it say? You can comment back and let us know. It probably said something along the lines: “Yea, right, never” “Who are you kidding” “Like S..t” “Not in this life time” “Oh really” “What a joke”
The point being that while some of the affirmation examples given above seem to be more believable than others, they are all really unbelievable.
They are unbelievable because they are all IDENTITY STATEMENTS. They all say “I am.” This one small set of two words is the destruction of the affirmation or self talk. You can say “I am human.” Most brains will accept that as truth. You can say “I am a student.” If you are enrolled in an educational institution, then the brain will probably accept that even is you are a bad student or do not study. The brain may accept “I am a student” even if you are not enrolled IF you are active in a particular subject area and say that you are a student of “Nature” or “Human Nature” or “Martial Arts.” Otherwise it will reject this also.
The last affirmation above is probably believable for some on you as it emphasizes “going to become.” However, it fails because your intention has failed before. You have intended to do lots of things and they never happened; so what is one more.
So what are the keys for affirmations to work? First, no identity statements; on I am. Second, it must be believable by you. And by you, I mean, your greater mind, your subconscious, your inner self, what ever you want to call IT. Third, and totally missing from the above examples and examples I have seen everywhere, is a process instruction.
When the brain and greater mind gets a process instruction, gets direction, gets a goal and all are connected, then it will constantly work to achieve that result. Let’s take that same example and reword it.
Read this and go stand in front of that mirror again or for the first time and say it. Yes, listen for that little voice in the back of your head.
“You will obtain the foot speed and hand eye coordination to become a great tennis player”
“You will acquire the foot speed and hand eye coordination to become a first class tournament tennis player”
“You will acquire the backhand skills and serving skills to move up to the next level in local tennis club”
It is your serve. Comment with your goal and the affirmation that hasn’t worked. You can also include what you think might work based on this bit of information.
Dr YJC
Friday, April 10, 2009
Scott Asks, What Do You Really Want?
Dear Tom,
What do you really want?
Most people never know what they really want in life.
You ask them and they answer "I want hot women" or "I want to be rich" almost like it's a joke.
Thing is, it's not a joke at all. Think about the inherent natural language processing taking place.
The people who take it that way are the passive peasants.
Passive thinking is a lower level of thinking.
Einstein said "The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them."
Get it?
Your world, right now, was created at a certain level of thinking. You cannot change it at the same level of thinking!
You're going to have to think differently...
...like a Warrior!
Are warriors passive thinkers?
Hell, no!
Can warriors be so highly effective that success is almost easy?
Absolutely!
The key is in Knowing.
If YOU KNOW what YOU REALLY WANT in THIS life, find me to the right and I'll show you how to GET WHAT YOU WANT!
Fair enough?
Scott
What do you really want?
Most people never know what they really want in life.
You ask them and they answer "I want hot women" or "I want to be rich" almost like it's a joke.
Thing is, it's not a joke at all. Think about the inherent natural language processing taking place.
The people who take it that way are the passive peasants.
Passive thinking is a lower level of thinking.
Einstein said "The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them."
Get it?
Your world, right now, was created at a certain level of thinking. You cannot change it at the same level of thinking!
You're going to have to think differently...
...like a Warrior!
Are warriors passive thinkers?
Hell, no!
Can warriors be so highly effective that success is almost easy?
Absolutely!
The key is in Knowing.
If YOU KNOW what YOU REALLY WANT in THIS life, find me to the right and I'll show you how to GET WHAT YOU WANT!
Fair enough?
Scott
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Metaphors in everyday life.
There was a gentleman on one of the stocks channels the other day. He was explaining the current economic situation and the present administration. He explained it something like this.
There is this drunk in this bar and he has ordered a round of the most expensive drinks for the entire bar. He was told that he could not afford it, that he was broke. Many in the bar also told him that he should stop drinking. He shouted that he knew he was drunk and was addicted to alcohol and that he was planning on getting sober in 10 years and that is also when he would pay for the drinks. “Believe me” he said, “I know what I am doing and I am getting a lot of money from rich people in ten years”. “Besides” he exclaimed, “A few drinks will ease your pain and I know you are all feeling pain.” The Barmaids said everyone should drink and tip. The bartenders believed him and started pouring the drinks. Many took the drinks. A few accepted the drinks, took a sip and then said, No this is not right.
Funny thing about the owners of the Bar, they did not even realize what their employees had done. They were stuck with a bar full of drunks.
Now it is up to you to determine who is in the cast.
Who is the drunk?
Who are his fellow drunks?
Who are the Barmaids?
Who are the Bartenders?
Who are the people in the bar who may be rational?
Who are the owners of the Bar?
Dr YJC
There is this drunk in this bar and he has ordered a round of the most expensive drinks for the entire bar. He was told that he could not afford it, that he was broke. Many in the bar also told him that he should stop drinking. He shouted that he knew he was drunk and was addicted to alcohol and that he was planning on getting sober in 10 years and that is also when he would pay for the drinks. “Believe me” he said, “I know what I am doing and I am getting a lot of money from rich people in ten years”. “Besides” he exclaimed, “A few drinks will ease your pain and I know you are all feeling pain.” The Barmaids said everyone should drink and tip. The bartenders believed him and started pouring the drinks. Many took the drinks. A few accepted the drinks, took a sip and then said, No this is not right.
Funny thing about the owners of the Bar, they did not even realize what their employees had done. They were stuck with a bar full of drunks.
Now it is up to you to determine who is in the cast.
Who is the drunk?
Who are his fellow drunks?
Who are the Barmaids?
Who are the Bartenders?
Who are the people in the bar who may be rational?
Who are the owners of the Bar?
Dr YJC
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Neil says, There's a storm abrewin'.
What happens when good, responsible people keep quiet? Washington seems to have forgotten they work for us. We don't work for them.
Throwing good money after bad is NOT the answer. I am sick of the midnight, closed door sessions to come up with a plan. I am sick of Congress raking CEO's over the coals while they, themselves, havedefaulted on their taxes.
I am sick of the bailed out companies having lavish vacations and retreats on my dollar. And I am sick of being told it is MY responsibility to rescue people that, knowingly, bought more house than they could afford.
I am sick of being made to feel it is my patriotic duty to pay MORE taxes. I, like all of you, am a responsible citizen. I pay my taxes.
I live on a budget and I don't ask someone else to carry the burden for poor decisions I make. I've emailed my congressmen and senators asking them to NOT vote for the stimulus package as it was written without reading it first. No one listened. They voted for it, pork and all.
O.K. folks, here it is. You may think you are just one voice and what you think won't make a difference. Well, yes it will and YES, WE CAN!!
If you are disgusted and angry with the way Washington is handling our taxes. If you are fearful of the fallout from the reckless spending of BILLIONS to bailout & "stimulate" without accountability andresponsibility then we need to do this!
To become ONE, LOUD VOICE WHICH CAN BE HEARD FROM EVERY CITY, TOWN, SUBURB & HOME IN AMERICA. There is a growing protest demanding the President, his cabinet and our Congress, LISTEN to us, the American Citizens.
What is being done in Washington is NOT the way to handle the economic free fall.
So, here's the plan.
On April 1, 2009, all Americans are asked to send a TEABAG to Washington , D.C. You do not have to enclose a note or any other information unless you so desire.
Just a TEABAG.
Many cities are organizing protests. If you simply search, "New American Tea Party", several sites will come up. If you aren't the 'protester' type, simply make your one voice heard with a TEABAG.
Your one voice will become a roar when joined with millions of others that feel the same way. Yes, something needs to be done but the lack of confidence as shown by the steady decline in the stock market speaks volumes.
This was not my idea. I visited the sites of the 'New American Tea Party' and I saw an online survey showing over 90% of thousands said they would send the teabag on April 1.
Why, April 1??
We want them to reach Washington by April 15.
Will you do it?
I AM!
Send it to:
President Obama1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Washington , D.C. 20500
Please forward this to everyone in your address book. Visit the website below for more information on the 'New American Tea Party'. I would encourage everyone to go ahead and get the envelope ready to mail, then just drop it in the mail April 1.
Can't guarantee what the postage will be by then, it is going up as we speak, but have your envelope ready. What will this cost you? A little time and a 40 something cent stamp.
What could you receive in benefits?
Maybe, just maybe, our elected officials will start to listen to the people. Take out the Pork. Tell us how the money is being spent.
We want TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Remember, the money will be spent over the next 4-5 years. It is not too late.
Please, Take Care!
Neil
"A Pro Iraq War Agnostic Atheist Activist, a Vet, and an Iconoclastic, Philosophizing Beach Volleyball Playing Grumpy Old Son Of A Beach!"
Throwing good money after bad is NOT the answer. I am sick of the midnight, closed door sessions to come up with a plan. I am sick of Congress raking CEO's over the coals while they, themselves, havedefaulted on their taxes.
I am sick of the bailed out companies having lavish vacations and retreats on my dollar. And I am sick of being told it is MY responsibility to rescue people that, knowingly, bought more house than they could afford.
I am sick of being made to feel it is my patriotic duty to pay MORE taxes. I, like all of you, am a responsible citizen. I pay my taxes.
I live on a budget and I don't ask someone else to carry the burden for poor decisions I make. I've emailed my congressmen and senators asking them to NOT vote for the stimulus package as it was written without reading it first. No one listened. They voted for it, pork and all.
O.K. folks, here it is. You may think you are just one voice and what you think won't make a difference. Well, yes it will and YES, WE CAN!!
If you are disgusted and angry with the way Washington is handling our taxes. If you are fearful of the fallout from the reckless spending of BILLIONS to bailout & "stimulate" without accountability andresponsibility then we need to do this!
To become ONE, LOUD VOICE WHICH CAN BE HEARD FROM EVERY CITY, TOWN, SUBURB & HOME IN AMERICA. There is a growing protest demanding the President, his cabinet and our Congress, LISTEN to us, the American Citizens.
What is being done in Washington is NOT the way to handle the economic free fall.
So, here's the plan.
On April 1, 2009, all Americans are asked to send a TEABAG to Washington , D.C. You do not have to enclose a note or any other information unless you so desire.
Just a TEABAG.
Many cities are organizing protests. If you simply search, "New American Tea Party", several sites will come up. If you aren't the 'protester' type, simply make your one voice heard with a TEABAG.
Your one voice will become a roar when joined with millions of others that feel the same way. Yes, something needs to be done but the lack of confidence as shown by the steady decline in the stock market speaks volumes.
This was not my idea. I visited the sites of the 'New American Tea Party' and I saw an online survey showing over 90% of thousands said they would send the teabag on April 1.
Why, April 1??
We want them to reach Washington by April 15.
Will you do it?
I AM!
Send it to:
President Obama1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Washington , D.C. 20500
Please forward this to everyone in your address book. Visit the website below for more information on the 'New American Tea Party'. I would encourage everyone to go ahead and get the envelope ready to mail, then just drop it in the mail April 1.
Can't guarantee what the postage will be by then, it is going up as we speak, but have your envelope ready. What will this cost you? A little time and a 40 something cent stamp.
What could you receive in benefits?
Maybe, just maybe, our elected officials will start to listen to the people. Take out the Pork. Tell us how the money is being spent.
We want TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Remember, the money will be spent over the next 4-5 years. It is not too late.
Please, Take Care!
Neil
"A Pro Iraq War Agnostic Atheist Activist, a Vet, and an Iconoclastic, Philosophizing Beach Volleyball Playing Grumpy Old Son Of A Beach!"
Monday, April 6, 2009
Hypnotist Unite and Conquer the World
What a crock. I was watching the NCAA basketball tournament the other night when I got a call. “Are you watching TV now”, the voice said. Yes, Basketball. “Turn to the Mentalist” he said. I did and the plot had a female hypnotist working at an NLP center being sought for murder. Seems she had hypnotized a female rival to jump of a building because she thought she was jumping into the ocean. She then hypnotized a detective to protect her and help her dispose of her male friend who had shunned her.
The star takes the detective to a park and has him watch children swinging while he says, UP … and … Down several times to get deep into his subconscious mind to find that DEEP HIDDEN BAD SUGGESTION the female villain had placed there.
This was strictly old style HOLLYWOOD portrayal of the swinging watch and hypnotist can control everything. They obviously had not read or studied Milton Erickson.
First, hypnosis is a natural occurrence in every human. Second, if the kind of power they were trying to make up believe really existed, then many hypnotist would have already gotten a few people to rob a few big banks and they would own the world. To my knowledge that has not happened that way.
However, one might look at the masses today and ask if they have been truly hypnotized or mesmerized by the current leader.
By the way, in all the years Milton Erickson was practicing, he said he never found anyone who could be hypnotized to do something that was against their beliefs or morals.
If any of you have ever been to a stage hypnotist show, then you have witnessed people doing things that one would say they would never do otherwise. They want to do it. They want to blame the hypnotist. He made me do it. I once saw a young beautiful 2nd grade school teacher dressed with traditional long clothing. Only her hands and head were uncovered. She volunteered to go on stage. Before long she was attempting to take her clothes off and not because the hypnotist gave her some suggestion. She wanted to show off and had been repressed. This gave her an opportunity. This was a mixed audience with children and the Hypnotist did his job and kept her dressed.
I should be not only super rich, I should be able to replace all our elected officials. Can you imagine?
Dr YJC
The star takes the detective to a park and has him watch children swinging while he says, UP … and … Down several times to get deep into his subconscious mind to find that DEEP HIDDEN BAD SUGGESTION the female villain had placed there.
This was strictly old style HOLLYWOOD portrayal of the swinging watch and hypnotist can control everything. They obviously had not read or studied Milton Erickson.
First, hypnosis is a natural occurrence in every human. Second, if the kind of power they were trying to make up believe really existed, then many hypnotist would have already gotten a few people to rob a few big banks and they would own the world. To my knowledge that has not happened that way.
However, one might look at the masses today and ask if they have been truly hypnotized or mesmerized by the current leader.
By the way, in all the years Milton Erickson was practicing, he said he never found anyone who could be hypnotized to do something that was against their beliefs or morals.
If any of you have ever been to a stage hypnotist show, then you have witnessed people doing things that one would say they would never do otherwise. They want to do it. They want to blame the hypnotist. He made me do it. I once saw a young beautiful 2nd grade school teacher dressed with traditional long clothing. Only her hands and head were uncovered. She volunteered to go on stage. Before long she was attempting to take her clothes off and not because the hypnotist gave her some suggestion. She wanted to show off and had been repressed. This gave her an opportunity. This was a mixed audience with children and the Hypnotist did his job and kept her dressed.
I should be not only super rich, I should be able to replace all our elected officials. Can you imagine?
Dr YJC
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Scott Bolan's Top 10 Empowerment Books...
My library is vast. Last rough estimate was about 4,000 books. That’s not counting cassettes, CD’s, videos and DVDs. All self-education material some with erotic stories.
Why would I have such a vast library? I started this library around the same time I started martial arts: 8 years of age.
Yep.
Matter of fact, I still have martial arts books I got at that age, with my signature on a “from library of____” sticker I put in the front cover. It’s interesting looking at that from so long ago.
It’s like taking a time-machine back in time!
All learning is self-learning, and though I’ve taken a few winding detours, I’ve always came back to the path I’m on today: The path of enlightenment, wisdom and power.
I intuited at a young age that the systems set up - the schools, the churches, society and culture - were only partial at best, the blind leading the blind at worst. There were lots of good people in those systems of course, but I knew there was “more to it” and I was looking at branches on a tree. I wanted to "strike the root"
So I started with old books and quiet walks and lots of reflection, observing patterns in behavior (my own and others), as well as training outside alone, and inside the dojo with others .... and haven’t stopped yet!
That’s another story for a future newsletter. For today, here is a top-10 list of empowerment books!
Within this year I will be putting up a list of the top 100 books. In the meantime, these 10 are foundational and liberating:
1. Living the Martial Way by Forrest E. Morgan.
By the time I read this book I was familiar with almost every term and concept in it, yet the way in which the author laid it out was so well-organized and proficient, I would call this the number-one manual for intentional and powerful living.
I wish I had been given this book at 10 years of age! I discovered it by accident and it is an absolute goldmine. Even someone with no interest at all in the Martial Arts at all can benefit profoundly by studying and applying these concepts.
If it were required reading in every high school, we would have a very different and far superior world. I have bought dozens of these over the years to give out as gifts, and still give them out to this day.
2. The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee.
This is one you read and highlight what jumps out at you, and then read again six months or a year later. Within a year or so it will be battered and tattered and highlighted and underlined
and will be one of your favorite wisdom books. You will also be richer, stronger and wiser for it!
If you think it’s about fighting, think again. It’s also about thinking, behaving, SELF-DETERMINISM, communicating and self-expression. What of these do not pertain to you?
In addition to his own lightning-superb insights, Bruce was also inspired by many similar thinkers including Sun Tzu and Jiddu Krishnamurti. I saw the Krishamurti connection and commented on it, and 6 years after I made that comment a student reminded me and showed me a picture of Bruce’s personal notes and library in an article from the now defunct “Knowing is not Enough” Bruce Lee Eductional Foundation magazine. Synchronicity!
That Bruce distills this wisdom to it’s essence sometimes more effectively and usefully than his predecessors is profound. That he used fencing and boxing concepts in his own martial art was indicative that he was not afraid to “mix it up.” He was the first widespread “MMA” fighter, and a dynamic scholar and philosopher as well. We miss you, Bruce!
I constantly quote his “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own” in my own studies and in my teachings.
10,000 years from now this book will still be a treasure-trove of applicable wisdom to the wise.
The first year I read it in 1993 I literally doubled my income.
Yes, for real.
I can remember I was sitting on my bed reading a passage about “kick the ball out ahead of you” and a few other passages and lifted by ways in which I could apply what I was reading.
I had a “mind-and-energy-shift” while reading those passages right at that moment. Almost immediately I doubled my income and always knew the reason was the insights in that moment which I can still remember vividly to this day.
3. Be Here Now by Ram Dass.
Another amazing manual for living, and someone whom I befriended a year before his stroke in the 90s.
In the beginning of this book he chronicles his experiments with drugs, which is something I wholeheartedly disapprove of, yet he would go on to say that drugs are limiting and a trap as well. It is really only incidental as the entire book is about mindful conscious heart-living and full of compassionate and insightful wisdom.
The “core book” within it is a journey into your own soul, for those who can think outside of the box and intuit beyond their own programming and prejudices (which we ALL have). A fantastic “how-to-live” manual that in a strange way is the perfect Yin to the Yang of “Living the Martial Way”
The term “Be Here Now” is a profound Mastery Key to personal Liberation, applicable in so many situations - it is the one-point centeredness referred to in the anceint samurai and meditation texts, and often referred to in Stanislavski’s “An Actor Prepares” in which he continually implores the actor to “stay in the moment.”
“Staying in the moment” or “being here now” is dynamically powerful and liberating. It is the true essence of effectiveness in any application whether it be a street-fight or boardroom negotiation, or simple peace of mind and self-healing. It is also a key to the “be like water” concept that Bruce Lee talked about in a rare filmed interview. If you’ve ever seen this film, you'll see the connection when you read this book!
I will openly state that once one is no longer a child they are never again truly alive until they
discover the secret of "Being Here Now"
A timeless classic and a transforming experience!
4. The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho (trans. by William Scott Wison)
A rich and insightful samurai classic on “how the mind works.” Worth several reads as each read reveals new insights into every aspect of our thinking, our reactions, our instincts and the impulses that drive our behavior. I’ve dared to say, and will continue to say, that NLP and Hypnosis’ roots can be found dating back to this and even further into India, Ninpo and others which is the topic for a complete book in itself.
You will see yourself if you delve deeply into this book, and recognize and be able to free yourself up from limiting thought patterns and impulsive behaviors.
5. How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: a Handbook for Personal Liberty by Harry
Browne.
I enjoyed this immensely, a more modern expose of cultural and societal patterns and how to free yourself of the subconscious blinds and fetters they place upon us.
Truly liberating!
What’s interesting is that I particularly disdained his passage on leaving his own wife and daughter (I paraphrase) for no reason other than he wasn’t happy and that it was another trap. I was reading was an anniversary edition written years after the first edition and in the epilogue he writes that he (I paraphrase) regretted that and had sought out his daughter and re-connected.
He regained my respect with that admission in the epilogue, and I was delighted at the synchronicity of how my concern was addressed by the author at the end of the book!
I have found a distinct synchronicity with all of the books I mention in this list, and could name numerous tie-ins to many areas of my success in many endeavors that I can trace back to this.
“How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World” has never been more vital in these Orwellian times of group-think, media-speak and social engineering...
Does a fish know it’s wet?
6. The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
I suppose this choice seemed obvious, but this is such a rich treasure-trove that I cannot over-emphasize it’s usefulness. It has multiple applications for successful daily living, enlightened thinking and powerful results. I could write an entire book about the numerous benefits of this book! Get it and keep cracking it open. Get it on audio and listen to it as well. You’ll be glad you did!
7. Wisdom of the Mystic Masters by Joseph Weed.
I only recently discovered this book and it lives up to it’s title. I haven’t read more by this author, but I sure plan on doing so!
He gives actual mind-drills that work, and has amazing insights into the potential and power of our minds and the conscious use of our own ENERGY for manifestation. Highly recommended!
8. Soul Sword: the Way and Mind of a Zen Warrior by Vernon Kitabu Turner.
This is another liberating and profound book that resonated deeply with me. He understands combat intuition, dynamic application of this intuition in spherical zones, synchronicity, self-determinism and the abolition of fear...sound good so far?
Absolutely!
Emphasizing empowering application and instinctive wisdom, interestingly he also sheds light on bible scriptures that correlate with the entire mission and message of this wonderful book (the author is humble and does not trumpet this; those who do trumpet it are almost always not humble and do not truly understand it!)
He accurately conveys the experience of normal people performing miraculous feats, and what gives them the ability to do so. He speaks from experience on this, and is entirely accurate and credible.
I know the author is telling the truth because I too once faced multiple armed attackers while unarmed with only one friend at my back. We were victorious and unscathed and I still cannot explain why. This book explains it.
A “must-read”!
9. The Book of Proverbs. I can’t say the Bible is easy to read. Unfortunately most claiming to
understand it are adamantly prideful and oblivious, and sadly inaccurate. Yet you can always crack open Proverbs and get timeless wisdom that will set you on the right path and keep you sharp!
10. Egoefficacy: the New Way to Maximum Personal Effectiveness by H.W. Gabriel.
This unusual book dissects what REALLY happens when people communicate verbally and phsyiologically, how to prevent other from manipulating you, and how to keep yourself razor-keen and effective in all circumstances and relationships while never compromising your integrity, compassion and principles.
He includes several “how-to” “word-for-word” tactics and techniques to handle many different types of agitators, distractors and manipulators - whether it be a salesman, mother-in-law, boss or co-worker!
Easily worth 100 times it’s weight in gold!
Alright my friends, I’ve given you a list of the top 10 empowerment books.
I chose ones that are foundational and fundamental to transformation and liberation. With them, you can soar to new heights in your life. Once you’re there, I have a whole new set for you to get to the next level!
If you'd like the "short-cut to success" (it will require a little work, but not much) get the Martial Mastery course.
To Your Success
Scott Bolan
Why would I have such a vast library? I started this library around the same time I started martial arts: 8 years of age.
Yep.
Matter of fact, I still have martial arts books I got at that age, with my signature on a “from library of____” sticker I put in the front cover. It’s interesting looking at that from so long ago.
It’s like taking a time-machine back in time!
All learning is self-learning, and though I’ve taken a few winding detours, I’ve always came back to the path I’m on today: The path of enlightenment, wisdom and power.
I intuited at a young age that the systems set up - the schools, the churches, society and culture - were only partial at best, the blind leading the blind at worst. There were lots of good people in those systems of course, but I knew there was “more to it” and I was looking at branches on a tree. I wanted to "strike the root"
So I started with old books and quiet walks and lots of reflection, observing patterns in behavior (my own and others), as well as training outside alone, and inside the dojo with others .... and haven’t stopped yet!
That’s another story for a future newsletter. For today, here is a top-10 list of empowerment books!
Within this year I will be putting up a list of the top 100 books. In the meantime, these 10 are foundational and liberating:
1. Living the Martial Way by Forrest E. Morgan.
By the time I read this book I was familiar with almost every term and concept in it, yet the way in which the author laid it out was so well-organized and proficient, I would call this the number-one manual for intentional and powerful living.
I wish I had been given this book at 10 years of age! I discovered it by accident and it is an absolute goldmine. Even someone with no interest at all in the Martial Arts at all can benefit profoundly by studying and applying these concepts.
If it were required reading in every high school, we would have a very different and far superior world. I have bought dozens of these over the years to give out as gifts, and still give them out to this day.
2. The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee.
This is one you read and highlight what jumps out at you, and then read again six months or a year later. Within a year or so it will be battered and tattered and highlighted and underlined
and will be one of your favorite wisdom books. You will also be richer, stronger and wiser for it!
If you think it’s about fighting, think again. It’s also about thinking, behaving, SELF-DETERMINISM, communicating and self-expression. What of these do not pertain to you?
In addition to his own lightning-superb insights, Bruce was also inspired by many similar thinkers including Sun Tzu and Jiddu Krishnamurti. I saw the Krishamurti connection and commented on it, and 6 years after I made that comment a student reminded me and showed me a picture of Bruce’s personal notes and library in an article from the now defunct “Knowing is not Enough” Bruce Lee Eductional Foundation magazine. Synchronicity!
That Bruce distills this wisdom to it’s essence sometimes more effectively and usefully than his predecessors is profound. That he used fencing and boxing concepts in his own martial art was indicative that he was not afraid to “mix it up.” He was the first widespread “MMA” fighter, and a dynamic scholar and philosopher as well. We miss you, Bruce!
I constantly quote his “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own” in my own studies and in my teachings.
10,000 years from now this book will still be a treasure-trove of applicable wisdom to the wise.
The first year I read it in 1993 I literally doubled my income.
Yes, for real.
I can remember I was sitting on my bed reading a passage about “kick the ball out ahead of you” and a few other passages and lifted by ways in which I could apply what I was reading.
I had a “mind-and-energy-shift” while reading those passages right at that moment. Almost immediately I doubled my income and always knew the reason was the insights in that moment which I can still remember vividly to this day.
3. Be Here Now by Ram Dass.
Another amazing manual for living, and someone whom I befriended a year before his stroke in the 90s.
In the beginning of this book he chronicles his experiments with drugs, which is something I wholeheartedly disapprove of, yet he would go on to say that drugs are limiting and a trap as well. It is really only incidental as the entire book is about mindful conscious heart-living and full of compassionate and insightful wisdom.
The “core book” within it is a journey into your own soul, for those who can think outside of the box and intuit beyond their own programming and prejudices (which we ALL have). A fantastic “how-to-live” manual that in a strange way is the perfect Yin to the Yang of “Living the Martial Way”
The term “Be Here Now” is a profound Mastery Key to personal Liberation, applicable in so many situations - it is the one-point centeredness referred to in the anceint samurai and meditation texts, and often referred to in Stanislavski’s “An Actor Prepares” in which he continually implores the actor to “stay in the moment.”
“Staying in the moment” or “being here now” is dynamically powerful and liberating. It is the true essence of effectiveness in any application whether it be a street-fight or boardroom negotiation, or simple peace of mind and self-healing. It is also a key to the “be like water” concept that Bruce Lee talked about in a rare filmed interview. If you’ve ever seen this film, you'll see the connection when you read this book!
I will openly state that once one is no longer a child they are never again truly alive until they
discover the secret of "Being Here Now"
A timeless classic and a transforming experience!
4. The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho (trans. by William Scott Wison)
A rich and insightful samurai classic on “how the mind works.” Worth several reads as each read reveals new insights into every aspect of our thinking, our reactions, our instincts and the impulses that drive our behavior. I’ve dared to say, and will continue to say, that NLP and Hypnosis’ roots can be found dating back to this and even further into India, Ninpo and others which is the topic for a complete book in itself.
You will see yourself if you delve deeply into this book, and recognize and be able to free yourself up from limiting thought patterns and impulsive behaviors.
5. How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: a Handbook for Personal Liberty by Harry
Browne.
I enjoyed this immensely, a more modern expose of cultural and societal patterns and how to free yourself of the subconscious blinds and fetters they place upon us.
Truly liberating!
What’s interesting is that I particularly disdained his passage on leaving his own wife and daughter (I paraphrase) for no reason other than he wasn’t happy and that it was another trap. I was reading was an anniversary edition written years after the first edition and in the epilogue he writes that he (I paraphrase) regretted that and had sought out his daughter and re-connected.
He regained my respect with that admission in the epilogue, and I was delighted at the synchronicity of how my concern was addressed by the author at the end of the book!
I have found a distinct synchronicity with all of the books I mention in this list, and could name numerous tie-ins to many areas of my success in many endeavors that I can trace back to this.
“How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World” has never been more vital in these Orwellian times of group-think, media-speak and social engineering...
Does a fish know it’s wet?
6. The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
I suppose this choice seemed obvious, but this is such a rich treasure-trove that I cannot over-emphasize it’s usefulness. It has multiple applications for successful daily living, enlightened thinking and powerful results. I could write an entire book about the numerous benefits of this book! Get it and keep cracking it open. Get it on audio and listen to it as well. You’ll be glad you did!
7. Wisdom of the Mystic Masters by Joseph Weed.
I only recently discovered this book and it lives up to it’s title. I haven’t read more by this author, but I sure plan on doing so!
He gives actual mind-drills that work, and has amazing insights into the potential and power of our minds and the conscious use of our own ENERGY for manifestation. Highly recommended!
8. Soul Sword: the Way and Mind of a Zen Warrior by Vernon Kitabu Turner.
This is another liberating and profound book that resonated deeply with me. He understands combat intuition, dynamic application of this intuition in spherical zones, synchronicity, self-determinism and the abolition of fear...sound good so far?
Absolutely!
Emphasizing empowering application and instinctive wisdom, interestingly he also sheds light on bible scriptures that correlate with the entire mission and message of this wonderful book (the author is humble and does not trumpet this; those who do trumpet it are almost always not humble and do not truly understand it!)
He accurately conveys the experience of normal people performing miraculous feats, and what gives them the ability to do so. He speaks from experience on this, and is entirely accurate and credible.
I know the author is telling the truth because I too once faced multiple armed attackers while unarmed with only one friend at my back. We were victorious and unscathed and I still cannot explain why. This book explains it.
A “must-read”!
9. The Book of Proverbs. I can’t say the Bible is easy to read. Unfortunately most claiming to
understand it are adamantly prideful and oblivious, and sadly inaccurate. Yet you can always crack open Proverbs and get timeless wisdom that will set you on the right path and keep you sharp!
10. Egoefficacy: the New Way to Maximum Personal Effectiveness by H.W. Gabriel.
This unusual book dissects what REALLY happens when people communicate verbally and phsyiologically, how to prevent other from manipulating you, and how to keep yourself razor-keen and effective in all circumstances and relationships while never compromising your integrity, compassion and principles.
He includes several “how-to” “word-for-word” tactics and techniques to handle many different types of agitators, distractors and manipulators - whether it be a salesman, mother-in-law, boss or co-worker!
Easily worth 100 times it’s weight in gold!
Alright my friends, I’ve given you a list of the top 10 empowerment books.
I chose ones that are foundational and fundamental to transformation and liberation. With them, you can soar to new heights in your life. Once you’re there, I have a whole new set for you to get to the next level!
If you'd like the "short-cut to success" (it will require a little work, but not much) get the Martial Mastery course.
To Your Success
Scott Bolan
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