L.E.A.R.N.

(Listen, Elicit (be drawn forth, what is latent or potential), Ask, Repeat and Nurture)

Do you currently live in the town where you grew up or spent most of your formative years? Do you “go home for vacation or visits to family members” in the city or town of your upbringing? Have you moved to another nearby city or another part of town?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, I ask you: How does it make you feel to either be there or go there? What do you most remember about that place? What about the way the neighborhood sounded? Or the way that popular restaurant in town smelled? Do you remember the way the grass felt as you played tag or hide and seek? What about the taste of bologna sandwiches? Remember?

If you can recall any of that, congratulations you are human and had a childhood. If not, then welcome to Earth and I hope your stay here is a wonderful one. I began by asking those questions, to get us to remember some of the things from our youth.

While growing up I’m sure you have had your share of “older people” (parents, teachers, neighbors, etc.) telling you what to do and what not to do. And as you got older you learned that some of what you were told actually could have saved you some bumps and bruises. However many people spend a great deal of time talking instead of listening.

Listening is rarely taught in school and while most of our parents or guardians demanded that we listen to them, no one ever taught us how to listen. I mean sure we were taught how to eat with utensils, how to tie our shoes or how to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. But never taught how to do what most people insisted that we should do: LISTEN.

Many opportunities have passed us by in life that could have accelerated our personal development, financial strength and relationship ties by simply knowing how to listen. Not so much listening to other people, but listening to ourselves. I’m talking about that inner voice (IV) that speaks to us when we are presented with an empowering opportunity or path and that inner conversation umpire (ICU) that we hear when a decision has to be made.

So the first principle in order to properly L.E.A.R.N. is to develop proper listening skills.

(Listen)

You do know that 1+1=9 and because you know that you should be saying to yourself (internally) this guy must be crazy because 1+1=2. What happened when you read that 1+1=9? What happened not only physically but also more importantly psychologically? You should have experienced a bit of dissonance at my making such a mathematical mistake. Internally a voice (feeling) should have spoken to you and informed you of the error in my equation. Did you listen to that voice? Of course you did and by doing so you immediately corrected the error and internally restated the correct answer, which is 2. Take time everyday to pay special attention to that inner dialog that is happening. Now do not mistake disempowered self-talk or ego driven delusions for that true voice within that is there to assist you in your growth and development. Meditation, chanting, enlightened music or just silence will assist you in gaining a better ear for your “inner conversation umpire”. Begin learning to trust that “gut feeling” or that “something inside that is trying to tell you …” and know that this inner voice will not guide you wrong. Spend a few minutes each day quieting your mind. No thoughts of what you have done, will do or plan to do, just a few minutes of quiet time focused internally without judgment or analysis.

1. So remember the first principle is to Listen.

(Elicit)

The next principle after learning to listen is to elicit. Did you know that there is an unlimited supply of brilliance inside of you and that you are pure potentiality? There is no end to the amount of enlightened ideas that can come from each and every person.

By learning to listen you will be forming the necessary foundation to elicit or extract those enlightened ideas from within yourself. This is true education (to extract what is within). I know you have had one of those brilliant moments where you knew the world needed a particular product or service and wished that “someone would make a…” and one month or a few years later you saw the very item that you wished would be made on an infomercial.

You are a walking, breathing, thinking, gold mine (mind) and somewhere along the line you have allowed your mine (mind) to be shut down or you allowed someone else to gather and extract the precious jewels that are within you by going to work everyday and giving away your talents and jewels for meager earnings or less than full value. You now have been given permission to extract the jewels from your own mind (mine) and for your own use toward the betterment of society. Take back your mine (mind)! Not only is it a terrible thing to waste, but an even worse thing to give away.

2. The second principle is to Elicit.

(Ask)

Our third principle is to ask. Ask what? Ask who? You might ask! J You must first begin by asking yourself questions. Now I know some of you might find it a bit odd to ask yourself a question, however it is something that you do quite often. Sometimes you might call it figuring things out, pondering, thinking or wondering. But no matter what you call it you are ultimately asking yourself a series of questions to arrive at a decision. What we want to do is to go deeper and ask large chunk questions. What do I mean by “large chunk”? It’s those questions that will gather the largest amount of information from the asking of one question. Here is an example:

-Small chunk question. Q. Do you like this ezinearticle?

-Large CHUNK question. Q. How do you feel about this ezinearticle?

As you can see from the large chunk question, we would gather much more information as a result of asking it, instead of the former question. During the process of escaping the cow pasture of mediocrity the questions you ask yourself and others can determine the speed at which you grow and develop. The object is to become what my good friend Jerry ‘DRhino’ Clark calls a “Charging Rhino”, charging in the jungle of life toward the land of paradise. And you can learn more about becoming a “Charging Rhino” by visiting www.clubrhino.com and becoming a member of one of the most elite groups of people anywhere on the World Wide Web.

Now ask yourself the following question. What do I need to believe in order to become financially secure? Go ahead, ask again and listen very closely as the inner voice (IV) connects and begins to drill deep into your mind (mine). Now begin to extract the answer from the depths of your being. I know it’s a bit difficult now, however as you learn to maneuver though your mind the process will become easier and automatic. Ask the question again and do so a few more times during the day and allow the answer to come from within you. You will gain a deeper understanding of this principle by simply “Educating Your Expectations” with Artemis Limpert, who is a master coach and motivator.

Now I want you to ask yourself: What do I need to do to become financially secure? And lastly ask yourself: When do I need to do it? And I will allow you to use a cheat sheet on that last question by giving you the answer: The answer is NOW!

3. Remember the third principle is to Ask.

(Repeat)

I said the answer is NOW! This fourth principle is not as simplistic as one might first think. Not only should you return to the first principle and go through the process again but you should also repeat back to yourself mentally and audibly the answers you get to the large chunk questions you have asked. This will demonstrate your understanding of what you have heard and extracted and will also assist in “coding” the answers into your subconscious.

Repeat! Now I want you to identify someone that you really admire and whose life was or is a great blessing and benefit to society. If you have trouble finding someone I suggest you check out the “Standing on the Shoulder of Giants” audio series, which is literally bursting at the seams with interviews of very admirable people. No matter what area of life this person impacted or whether anyone else might find them “great” or not isn’t the point, I want you to identify someone that you admire and whose certain way you would like to incorporate into your life. Next I want you to find out as much about this person as you can. Such as where they were born, childhood events, hardships, trials, triumphs etc. And I want you to attempt to identify an event or series of events that you feel might have contributed to this person adopting that certain way about them that you most admire.

Once you have done this you should then go through your life and find any circumstances you can where you could have adopted a similar “certain way” as a result of the circumstance in your life. Repeat this process for each and every positive trait that you find in others that you wish to hold. Repeat the successful actions of successful people and you will become successful.

4. So remember the fourth principle is to Repeat.

(Nurture)

Our fifth and final principle of “Escaping the Cow Pasture of Mediocrity” is to nurture. Feed on positive and uplifting mental food. Read my ezinearticles like “From Goal-Setting to Giving” or listen to audio programs such as "Meet The Goal". Take excellent care of your mind. It is not enough to be physically health conscious and still neglect the mind.

Show love and gratitude for the new and empowering ideas and ideals that are presented to you as well as those that come from within. Have total compassion for yourself as well as others. Nourish your mind, body and soul at every opportunity with positive and empowering books, tapes, and conversations. Practice self- perfection at every moment. Develop the discipline necessary to live a peaceful, productive and inspired life while sharing all that you have with the rest of society. You have been given permission to be everything you desire; and to think all you had to do was L.E.A.R.N.

5. And the fifth principle is to Nurture.

L.E.A.R.N.

1. Listen 
2. Elicit 
3. Ask 
4. Repeat 
5. Nurture

Cultivate the Courage to Roar!

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