Can A 91 Year Old “DaVinci” Teach You To Draw?

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Every writer always has lots of pages that they don’t like, that they throw away. The same with every great artist. All you see is the fine works of artists. But you would be surprised how many sketches they throw away before they select that which they wish to exhibit. So really, art is the ability to learn how to delineate images of different kinds. And the only way to learn that is through practice.

Those are the words of Jacque Fresco, author, artist, inventor and visionary. And he’s going to be teaching you how to draw on a free live webcast on Monday, December 3rd.

I watched the video (below) and was amazed at the insights he had about art, talent, practice, and more. Even if you’re not interested in learning to draw, you will learn a lot from watching the 14-minute video.

You can sign up for the webcast here. When you get to the page, be sure to scroll down a few entries to check out the before and after drawings from the “world’s 2nd worst artist!”



And this is what Mark Joyner, the creator of Simpleology, has to say about this 91 year old “Superhuman.”

At 91, he works harder than anyone I’ve ever met, has a razor-sharp mind, and is still inventing, writing, and drawing every single day - just about non-stop…

While I’m busy designing systems that will move people along the path toward a brighter future, Jacque has spent more time actually designing what that future itself will look like.

“This is great,” you may think, “but what does this have to do with ‘The Simple Science of Getting What You Want?‘”

First, on a personal level Jacque exemplifies everything that we talk about in Simpleology 101 and the Simpleology print book.

If you’re younger than 91 and are using your age to prevent you from living your life fully, it’s now official: it’s time to knock that off.

Next, not only is Jacque a doer on a historic scale, he’s also a genius teacher.

For example, he has a unique method for teaching anyone how to draw within just a few short lessons.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Creativity, Personal Growth, Simpleology 

Three Simple Steps To Make Right More Right

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A few months ago I wrote about Ho’oponopono and the book Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More by Joe Vitale and Dr. Hew Len. Ho’oponopono is a Hawaiian healing art and, roughly translated means, “To make right,” or “To make right more right!”

Ho’oponopono, which, for me, is a logical extension of the Law of Attraction, reminds us that there is right in everything and that everything is right. Or as I like to say, “It’s all good!”

Of course it’s not always easy to see the good or the right in all things. And that’s the power and the potential of the Law of Attraction.

Since reading Zero Limits, I’ve been playing with some of the Ho’oponopono tools and thinking about the concept and practice of making right more right. And I’ve found that the process – though not necessarily the practice – of making right more right is quite simple.

In my experience, there are just three steps. Catch it. Zap it. Turn it around.

Here are the three simples steps to making right more right.

1. Catch It:

In this world of contrast there are many opportunities to perceive things as Not Right: From a missed bus to a sprained ankle. From a flat tire to an abusive partner: From a bad cup of coffee to the death of loved one. There will always be people, events, and situations in our lives and in this world that appear to be “not right.” The first step in the process of making right more right is acknowledging when you feel that something is not right.

Far too often we go through our lives without even being aware that we are labeling things not right or bad or wrong. And when we are focused on what is “not right” in our lives or the world around us, it is very difficult to allow more rightness into our life.

As we begin to catch ourselves in the act of labeling something wrong or bad or not right, we have taken the first, and most important step in making right more right.

2. Zap it:

Remember; “it’s all good!” Everything in your life is meant to be there. Everything has a purpose and a reason for being in your life. The good, the indifferent and the not so good.

I suggest you come up with a phrase to remind you that everything is right: Something you can say to yourself in these situations. I use, “It’s all good.” You could use, “This is perfect.” Or, “There is a reason for this.” Or, “Life is good.” Whatever helps you zap the thought that something is bad.

And once you’ve caught your judgment and zapped it, you can…

3. Turn it around:

There are many tools and techniques for accomplishing this second step. But there are just two main modes: Direct and Indirect. In the direct method you confront what you perceive as Not Right head on. In the indirect method you shift your attention to something that you already feel is right. Let’s explore each of these modes a bit more:

The Direct Method:

Lets look at an example: You get a flat tire on the way to work and you catch yourself thinking, “Not now, this is the worst time for a flat tire. I’ve got a big meeting this morning. This sucks!”

In the direct approach you stop and explore all the possible reasons why this could be “right.” So while you’re changing the tire, you start seeking the rightness in the situation.

  • Maybe there’s going to be a big accident up ahead and this is causing me to miss it.M
  • Maybe the meeting is really going to be a big waste of time.
  • Maybe this is a sign that I’m too invested in this job.
  • It’s a beautiful morning and I get to spend an extra 20-minutes outside.
  • Maybe there’s something about changing a tire that I can apply to this project.
  • It’s a good thing that I was driving alone and didn’t have my daughter/son/partner with me.
  • This gives me a chance to stop and breathe a bit.
  • The traffic will probably be lighter by the time I change the tire.

You get the idea. Taking the direct approach can be very effective, but can also be difficult when you find yourself in the middle of a frustrating situation.

The Indirect Method:

This approach can sometimes be easier. With the indirect approach you take your mind off of the current situation and think about something unrelated that is clearly “right” in your mind.

For instance, as you change the tire you think:

  • This morning’s coffee was especially good.
  • That date last night was amazing!
  • I’m really looking forward to my workout at lunch.
  • The sunrise was spectacular this morning.
  • I can’t believe how much I laughed during that movie last night.

When you use the indirect method, the idea is to take your mind off of the situation that is “not right” and ease yourself into a space where you are more connected to rightness.

Sometimes the indirect approach can lead you into the direct approach. By shifting your focus to something positive and unrelated to the present, frustrating, situation, you shift your attention enough that you can then find the “rightness” in the current situation.

But whether or not that happens, by getting yourself into a space where you are acknowledging “Rightness” in your life, you open yourself to More Right.

These three steps - Catch it. Zap it. Turn it around – make for a truly empowering approach to life. And you can begin applying this method immediately, as in right now!

Scan your life for a moment looking for anything that you might consider “wrong” or “bad” or even “not so great.”

When you find something, you’ve just successfully applied the first step: Catch it!

Now, apply the next two steps: Zap it, and Turn it around.

Remember, it’s all good and everything that is in your life is there for a reason.

Find the rightness in everything and you will allow more right to flow easily and naturally into your life.

When you acknowledge the right, you make it more right.

So go ahead: catch it, zap it, turn it around and watch the right become more right!

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Abundance, Gratitude, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth 

What I Learned About Gratitude From A Cold And A Little Jumping Spider

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My family and I are back east for the Thanksgiving holiday. And with all the preparation and traveling , I haven’t had a chance to finish an article on gratitude. So I dusted off one of my old Intuitive Life Coaching ezine articles from way back in November of 2004 and put a few new touches on it for you. So here it is,

It’s the season of gratitude, yet last week I found myself in a sea of sickness. I don’t know about you, but I find it very difficult to be grateful when I’m sneezing, coughing, achy and generally feeling rotten.

I did my best to remain positive, reminding myself that I was being given a non- negotiable opportunity to relax and recharge. Still I found myself drawn towards the “woe is me” place with thoughts such as, “This is the worst possible time to be sick,” and “I have way too much to do.”

I even caught myself heading into victim mode, thinking, “Ella got me sick,” as if my one year old daughter had somehow conspired to transmit her sick germs to me. If anyone had conspired, it was me, or more accurately, a wise, unconscious aspect of my mind and body forcing me to take some much needed time off.

Still, it took me a full four days of acute sickness before I was able to stop and allow myself to enjoy the break. Even then it was no inner leap of enlightenment that catalyzed the shift. Rather it was a little jumping spider who had made its home in my car.

On that day, with my wife at work, and my daughter determined not to take a nap even though she was rubbing her eyes, yawning and crying, I decided to use the fool-proof nap-induction method known to parents throughout the western world. We went for a drive!

As soon as we got into the car, I noticed that the little jumping spider who had recently taken up residence was sitting on the edge of the steering wheel. He or she seemed quite content to sit and observe as we zoomed down the straight and narrow.

But then we came to a turn and that spider’s world suddenly and literally turned upside down. That little guy or girl held on for dear life as the wheel spun one way. Then on the way back, Spidey must have thought “I’m outta here,” because it dropped down from a thread in search of more stable ground.

While it was a good idea, it didn’t work out so well when the momentum of the turn flung the little guy right back into the steering wheel with a crash. At that point Spidey decided it would be best to hang on and ride out the storm.

When the turbulence ended and we were back on a straight stretch, that spider somehow knew exactly what it needed to do: It headed directly for the center of the steering wheel and sat down smack dab in the middle of the Toyota logo.

When I turned the steering wheel to guide us into the next turn, Spidey just calmly rotated in the opposite direction, easily maintaining his upward-facing orientation.

As I watched Spidey do his thing an image flashed into my mind of one of those amusement park rides where you stand up against a fence as it spins around really fast, so fast that it’s nearly impossible to push, or is it pull, yourself away from the fence.

I realized that’s sort of how I had been feeling in my sickness: dizzily pressed up against a wall, unable to peel myself off. Only unlike at an amusement park, this sickness was an involuntary ride, and it was showing no signs of slowing down.

With Ella soundly asleep now in the back seat, I could pull over and contemplate the lesson in Spidey’s demonstration. I imagined the different experience riding at the outside of that spinning wheel and standing right in the center. And they were very different!

For me, being in the center meant being fully in my sickness, not fighting it, not trying to push myself off of that wall. So all that day and the following day, I acknowledged my gratitude: for the sickness, for Ella, for my wife, for the time off and, of course, for the little jumping spider.

I basked in my sickness, taking naps and baths, sitting for long periods of time doing nothing and just generally loafing. It was wonderful. And the amazing thing is that by the end of that second day I felt great. Certainly not completely better, but my energy level was vibrant and flowing whereas before it had been stagnant and dull.

I believe it was the gratitude that shifted me into the center of that ride. Instead of worrying about all the stuff I was not doing, all the meetings I was missing, and all the money that was not coming in, I was able to stop and accept exactly where I was, and, indeed, acknowledge my gratitude for being there.

Just like that little spider, we get to choose how we experience each moment of our lives. We can enjoy the thrill of riding out at the edge where the momentum of the ride pushes us up against the wall, or we can choose the more stable, yet no less enlivening, ride in the center. Certainly there are times when being on the outer edge is appropriate, and even necessary, but I don’t need to live my life there.

Neither did Spidey.

And neither do you. For many people the holidays can be a whirlwind of too much shopping, cooking, family, parties, eating, traffic, credit cards, and debt.

So this holiday season remember to periodically come back to your center. If you find yourself riding that dizzy edge, stop and take time to acknowledge your gratitude.

No matter how turbulent your life might get, find something to be thankful for and let that gratitude draw you gently back towards your calm, stable center.

I’ve quoted Meister Eckhart before, and I’m sure I’ll do so again, but he stated it so simply and beautifully when he said:

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.”

Thank you!

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Deliberate Creation, Gratitude, Law of Attraction, Parenting, Personal Growth, Well-Being 

Personal Growth Resource Roundup #5

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Here’s another round of personal growth resources for you. Last week was such a crazy weekend that I didn’t have a chance to get a resource roundup posted. So this week is a catch-up round with a few extras.

First up is the Birdyear Blog. Follow along as a 15-year old and his parents take a year to bike from Yukon to Florida and checkout a few birds along the way. If this doesn’t qualify as a personal growth experience, I don’t know what does!

Next up is a great offer from my friend Adam Kayce at Monk At Work. Because I didn’t get the roundup posted last weekend, there are just a few days left in the intro offer. This package includes everything you need to become a Monk At Work! And how cool is that?!? This really is a great package and the price goes up in 4-days! Check it out!  

In keeping with my intention to branch out beyond the “typical” personal growth site to find you good resources, here’s a post from Internet Marketing maven Ken McCarthy on the importance of sleep for success.

Over at Today is That Day, Aaron Potts has a great post about our protection mechanisms or shields. This post was right on target for some stuff that is up in my life right now. So I’ll pass it on to you as well.  Power Down Your Shields for Personal Development.

The 2007 Season of Gratitude is in full swing at the Balanced Life Center! Nneka is doing a great job of rounding up awesome articles on Gratitude. I’ve got my gratitude article ready to go next week. So look for it in the week 4 roundup!

We hear so much about Information Overload these days, but rarely get good information on how to get out of it! Tina Su at Think Simple Now has some excellent suggestions on how to reduce information overload.

And finally, over at The Instigator Blog, Ben has a great tip if you want to ensure you have a night filled with nightmares! How? Use your computer right up until you go to bed! This was another post that hit home for me. Want a good night’s sleep with sweet dreams? Take a hint from this post!

That’s it for this week’s roundup. I’ll be back east visiting family next week, so there may be another off week. We’ll see.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth, blogs 

11 Tips to Lighten Up The Compulsively Serious (or Break the Grip When Seriousness Strikes You)

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Lighten UpIs there someone in your life that’s always serious? Someone who’s quick to point out the risks involved or why you shouldn’t do something.

Or perhaps there’s a part of you that falls into that serious space from time to time? I do. I’m a pretty happy-go-lucky sort of guy most of the time. But every so often I feel my serious side starting to get a bit ambitious. And before it gets out of control I like to bring some balance and lightness to the situation.

Now don’t get me wrong, seriousness is not a bad thing. But it has the potential to become a problem if it’s not balanced with fun and lightness.

So here are some tips that I use (well, maybe not all of them!) to stay balanced. Maybe they can help you lighten up your serious side. And, of course, feel free to pass these on to some of your more serious sidekicks!

1. Go to a funny movie.
Laughter is one of the best remedies for out of balance seriousness. Get yourself to a funny movie and let the laughter break the spell. Extra points if it has no redeeming qualities. We’re talking Dumb and Dumberer here!

2. Hang out with fun people.
When you catch yourself getting serious, it’s time for a fun infusion. You do have some fun friends, don’t you? Call them up and go hang out with them. Extra points for every stupid joke told!

3. Take a break from your serious friends.
You know the ones I’m talking about! Now, don’t worry, you don’t have to dump them forever. Just take a few days off. You’re in fun infusion mode. The fewer rain on your parade types you have around the better. Extra points for not calling your parents or some other especially serious fixtures in your life!

4. Do something just for fun.
When serious strikes the last thing you feel like doing is anything without a definite purpose. That’s why it’s an especially good serious antidote. Go to the beach. Go for a hike. Play a game of golf. Put on a CD you haven’t listened to in a while. There’s got to be something you can think of that you could do just for fun. Extra points if it’s during work hours!

5. Get drunk, alright tipsy works.
No, I’m not condoning alcoholism here. This one is more for those mostly teatottaling types like me. Once in a while, a drink or two can help break the grip of seriousness and let the fun come out. Extra points for playing pool really badly while drinking a beer!

6. Surf YouTube for funny videos.
Sometimes a hilarious five-minute video will do the trick and snap you out of that serious space. Extra points for stopping after just one!
Here’s a good one to start you off:

Thanks to Caroline Middlebrook for turning me on to this one!

7. Go on a news boycott.
Let’s face it: the news is pretty darned serious. We could probably get away with calling it somber, sobering, or downright depressing! When the serious spell starts to grab hold of you, taking a few days away from the news can make a huge difference. Extra points if you use your regular news reading time to catch up on the comic strips!

8. Hang out with some young kids.
Kids, especially the little ones, haven’t had enough time hanging around with us to get too serious. So spending time with them is a great why to relieve the serious stuff. Extra points if you build sandcastles along with them!

9. Go bowling.
All right, it doesn’t have to be bowling. Could be badminton, bocce ball, or anything that is so far removed from your normal athletic pursuits that you won’t care how bad you do and will just let yourself have a goofy good time. Extra points for standing at the line and doing the kid-style, two-handed, underhand bowling throw!

10. Have a Karoke Party.
Gather up your friends and head down to your local karaoke bar and start belting out those tunes. No karaoke bar available? No problem, you can buy a used karaoke machine at Amazon for under $50. And then you can have a karaoke party whenever you need one. Extra points for not allowing any Frank Sinatra songs!

11. Dance like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
As far as I can tell there’s absolutely no way to remain serious while doing some of JT’s moves from Saturday Night Fever. A close second would be dancing to the Village People’s YMCA. If you can keep a straight face while acting out those letters you’re a better person than me. Extra points for bringing the boom-box outside and doing it where your neighbors can watch!


Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Fun, Personal Growth, Well-Being 

Blogging Basics & Beyond - Live Seminar This Saturday

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Well if this isn’t one of those D’oh! moments I don’t know what is!

This Saturday, in Santa Rosa (1-hour north of San Francisco) I’m teaching a one-day seminar, Blogging Basics & Beyond.

One of the topics I’ll be covering is how to effectively use your blog to expand exposure for your products and services. And here it is, two days before the seminar and I never posted the event here at Evolving Times. I hate when that happens.
Can you say, “Oops?”

Anyway, if you’re a blossoming Bay Area blogger and want to learn the basics of blogging and beyond, go check out the info and registration page.

I’ve learned a lot in my nearly two years of blogging, and I promise to share many powerful tips and tools as well as alert you to some of the bigger blogging mistakes to avoid.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Upcoming Events, blogs 

Podcast: Dr. Ivan Misner On Networking, The Secret, Richard Branson and More

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Wow. This was a great interview!

This one-hour interview with Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder and CEO of BNI (Business Network International) the largest business networking organization in the world, is packed with powerful information for entrepreneurs and all Leading Edge Thinkers.

Here is just some of what Dr. Misner shares in this recording:

  • Why he chose the concept of Giver’s Gain as the core philosophy for BNI.
  • Insider information about Rhonda Byrne’s original vision for The Secret and why it makes sense that the movie may have glossed over some important issues about the Law of Attraction.
  • His thoughts on vision as a driving force in business success and how a clear vision for BNI was a contributing factor in growing BNI from 450 chapters to over 4900 chapters!
  • Valuable insights about delegation and practical, powerful advice on how to get clear about what to delegate and how to make it happen.
  • How a phone call from an unknown BNI member 4-years ago set in motion a series of events leading to his attendance at a private 5-day retreat with Sir Richard Branson on Necker Island (Branson’s private island).
  • How he decides whether or not to say “yes” to an opportunity.
  • His thoughts on how to integrate online marketing with face-to-face marketing.
  • Why BNI is primarily a local network and focused on thinking globally and acting locally.
  • Why networking is more about farming than about hunting.
  • Why entrepreneurs should strive for harmony and let go of looking for balance.
  • And much more!

For more about and from Dr. Misner, check out these related links:

Listen to Dr. Misner on the BNI Podcast.

Read Dr. Misner’s blog at Entrepreneur Magazine.

Find out about Dr. Misner’s Masters Series of books, including the bestselling, Masters of Sales and Masters of Success.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth, The Secret, business, podcasts 

Holosync Tip: Immersion Only In The Morning

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If you’ve been reading Evolving Times for a while you probably know that I use and highly recommend the Holosync Meditation System. One of the only issues I have with Holosync is the fact that the recommended protocol is to do a full-hour session with it every day! I don’t know about you, but that’s just a bit too much for me.

For those of you who have not tried Holosync, the sessions consist of two separate recordings. The first, The Dive, is a 30-minute recording that leads you gently down into a deep Theta brainwave state. The second, Immersion, holds you at that deep Theta level for another 30-minutes.

If you attempt to skip The Dive and start with Immersion at most times during the day, it is unlikely that your brainwaves will be able to make the jump from the Beta or high Alpha state down to Theta.

However, a few days ago I had an AHA moment when I realized that if start with Immersion immediately upon waking, my brainwaves are still in a high Theta/low Alpha state and I might be able to dive back down to the deep Theta pretty easily.

So over the past few days I’ve been experimenting with using just Immersion as soon as I wake up. The results have been encouraging.

If I have everything setup and ready to go so that when I wake up I can immediately walk to my meditation chair and press play, I can click into that deep Theta pretty quickly.

And even this morning, I had forgotten to move my computer to the mediation area and launch the media player, I still found that after 6-7 minutes I was back down into a nice, deep Theta state.

Now I’m sure that The Dive does more than just ramp you down to Theta. There are probably many benefits to moving through the full Alpha range and the upper Theta state before hitting the deep Theta. And I will definitely continue to do the full one-hour session at least once a week.

However, if I can shave 30-minutes off the session length, that will make it much easier for me to do a morning Holosync session every morning. And that has to be a good thing!

If you’re a Holosync user I’d love to hear from you. Have you tried this? If not, maybe give it a try for the next few mornings and see what happens for you.

And if you’re not a Holosync user, you can read more about my initial experiences with Holosync here and here, and you can order a free sample CD at the Centerpointe website.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Brainwave Entrainment, Meditation, Personal Growth, Well-Being 

This Is A Great Time To Become An Early Riser

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early-riser-clockIf you’re here in the US (with the exception of a few areas) you turned your clocks back one-hour on Sunday morning. For those of you who have been interested in becoming an early (or earlier) riser, this artificial “time-shift” has created a perfect opportunity.

With very little effort, you can immediately begin rising one-hour earlier.

Instead of trying to force yourself into the “new” time, stay on your old schedule. So, if you were going to bed at 11:00 and waking up at 6:30 (old time) now you’ll go to bed at 10:00 and wake up at 5:30. Many of you are probably doing that anyway so it should not be a big stretch.

I recommend that you stay on this schedule for 30-days. See how you feel after that. If it’s working for you, stick with it. If not, go back to your old schedule. Just because I like getting up at 5:00 am doesn’t mean it’s right for you.

Since I began rising at 5:00am I’ve had many people ask me how I do it. I give a lot of credit to Steve Pavlina for laying out some very clear guidelines.

But mostly it’s because those quiet, morning hours have become my sacred time. It’s time that I devote to me, whether by meditating, running, hiking, writing, or just sipping a cup of tea and watching the sun rise and the hummingbirds come to the feeder for their morning meal.

So if you’ve been interested in finding out what it’s like to be up at 5:00 am, now would be a great time to find out!

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth, Well-Being