Yep! The most extraordinary thing in the universe is inside your head.

You could travel through every inch of outer space and very possibly nowhere find anything as marvellous and complex and high-functioning as the three pounds of spongy mass between your ears.

In a nut shell, what you process within the rich and vast real estate lobed between your ears can either make you or break you!

I particularly like what I am reading:

"The harder you work, the more stress and strain you put into a task, the harder your work becomes.

To operate at your best, mentally picture what you wish to do, and allow yourself to move without tension and strain as you focus on letting go of your breath.

Look at your results with the straining-approach and compare them to the picturing-first approach, and you'll have the answer you've been searching for."

- Matt Furey, President of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation; 

The Value of Blowing off Steam, from Matt Furey, President of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation!

A valid observation from Matt Furey, President of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation!

Just a gentle reminder:

Each and every one of us is already naturally endowed with six higher-order mental faculties, namely:

• Perception 
• Memory 
• Imagination 
• Will 
• Reason and 
• Intuition,   

and also, having the robust belief that we were already engineered with a built-in creative success mechanism, as Dr Maxwell Maltz put it so eloquently, that's the support which Matt Furey is talking about.

By the way, when Matt Furey refers to our eyes, he is talking about the power of observation, which drives home my point about the imperativeness and urgency of developing an opportunity-sensitive mindset.

As for our ears, he refers basically to the power of empathic listening. This is where Stephen R Covey's third habit of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People comes to play:

Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood!

So, folks, go and kick some butt! 

As I read to process what Matt Furey is actually thinking about when he is making this astute observation, it brings back memory of a vital lesson from Dr Maxwell Maltz, with regard to the power of recalling pleasant thoughts in such a situation:

Here's a quick recap:

• "If you wait until circumstances justify your thinking pleasant thoughts, you are likely to wait forever."
• "Happiness is simply a state of mind in which our thinking is pleasant a good share of the time."
• "Skill in any performance... consists not in painfully and consciously thinking out each action as it is performed but in relaxing and letting the job do itself through you... "
• "Within you, whoever you may be, regardless of how big a failure you may think yourself to be, is the ability and the power to do whatever you need to do to be happy and successful."
• "I am a firm believer in 'negative thinking' when used correctly. We need to be AWARE of negatives so that we can steer clear of them... "
• "Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results... "You" supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby."
• "Your nervous system... reacts automatically to information which you give to it from your forebrain [Remember, that's the CEO of your brain!]. Your nervous system reacts appropriately to what you THINK or IMAGINE to be 'true.[Remember, that's the CEO of your brain!]. Your nervous system reacts appropriately to what you THINK or IMAGINE to be 'true."
• "Happiness is native to the human mind and its physical machine. We think better, perform better, feel better, and are healthier when we are happy."

Tactically, it's also a way of executing a pattern interrupt!

Bravissimo!

As I read this astute observation of Matt Furey, President of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, I am instantly reminded of what Dr Maxwell Maltz had taught me through his Psycho-Cybernetics classic:

• "When you believe you can, you can!"';
• Remember that both behaviours and feelings spring from belief.";

Hence, what Matt Furey has had asserted here is very true!

Remember, my definition of belief, as expresed earlier, which is a feeling of certainty about something?

Dr Maltz added:

• Our present state of self-confidence and poise is the result of what we have experienced, rather than what we have learned intellectually.";
• Within you right now is the power to do things... This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs."

In a nut shell, our thoughts, emotions and behaviours always get influenced and impacted, albeit unconsciously, by our belief engine, whether we like it or not.

As a constant reminder to ourselves, Psycho-Cybernetics, at its very core, is a form of self-image therapy developed by Dr Maltz to help folks rebuild their lives based on the positive belief in self, bearing in mind that belief can strike in either direction, positively or negatively.

Hence, always be mindful, for we have the power to create as well as to discreate! Many thanks to Matt and Dr Maltz!

Matt Furey, President of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, is pretty well-known for some of his contrarian perspectives about personal development, but in the light of his own successful exploits in the wrestling and kung fu world as well as his impeccable track record in internet marketing, it's hard to default him.

He has had made two interesting but intriguing assertions, as follows:

"Forget about getting out of your Comfort Zone. Expand your Comfort Zone. Grow more comfortable doing what you wouldn't dare do before."

"Forcing yourself to get out of your Comfort Zone invariably leads to procrastination. When you realise there are two Comfort Zones and you choose the good one, procrastination is eliminated.";

In the first instance, I must say, they are in stark contrast to conventional wisdom. They actually set me thinking for quite a long while, until recently I come across a piece of insightful writing, which I am reproducing below:

It's from Jalal Kassam from the Build Your Brand Bootcamp Community:

"We all want to grow, we all want to become better people and achieve great things.

However, growth requires discipline and consistency. You can never guarantee that if you are constantly out of your comfort zone. If you want to succeed, never push yourself to stay out of your comfort zone for long.

The key to growth is motivation and perseverance. You need to be motivated to take on new challenges and keep moving in the right direction. Nonetheless, this requires a great deal of energy, feeling comfortable and at ease. Your comfort zone is the place to regroup and get recharged.

In order to guarantee your success, you'd need to stay in your comfort zone most of the time, however, try to push its boundaries out from the inside out. This way, you'll be gradually expanding the territory of your comfort zone and eventually capture many areas that once were scary to you and remained untapped for a long time. When necessary, stepping outside of your comfort zone briefly can be extremely beneficial and would expedite your growth process.

It would be wise to deeply explore your comfort zone, reflect on the things that you’re good at, make you happy and make you feel at ease. Experiment with them, and be creative. This will give you great new insights and new perspectives to approach growth.

Take it easy on yourself, moving ahead one step at a time is the only way to achieve outstanding success. With this attitude and approach, you’re determined to grow and become the best version of yourself.

“Going out of your comfort zone” is not the thing that gets you the big results and helps you achieve your wildest dream. It all boils down to two fundamental things, your burning desire and the clarity of the how. When you’re clear about the steps, actions become effortless. And your burning desire will be the fuel to boost your motivation to keep taking action.

Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come."

In summing up, staying in your comfort zone does not mean staying still or wallowing in a rut of sameness. You can still take action from within your comfort zone.

And those actions, properly planned and executed, don’t make you leave your comfort zone – they expand it.

So, it's not about getting out of your Comfort Zone to reach your goal.

It's about widening your Comfort Zone so far that your goal fits comfortably inside.

I trust readers have now a better and enlightened understanding, just like I have had.

In a recent email thread:

"Opportunities for advancement don't appear to exist in the reality of the goal-less. Once a person decides upon a goal, opportunities suddenly and frequently appear. Just as 'night crawlers' appear when it rains, opportunities appear when we have goals."

- Matt Furey, Author of Maxwell Maltz' Theatre of the Mind;

I must say his observation is very true!

Once we have set a goal for something, our Reticular Activating System or RAS, located in the thalamus region of the brain, within our Reptilian core, which sits on top of our spinal chord, goes into action.

Using a military analogy, it becomes like precise commands to the servo-mechanism of a Tomahawk cruise missile, looking out and scanning the topographic environment for any changes, as the missile makes it way to the predetermined destination (target).

Oftentimes, it's not that we don't see the opportunities lurking in front of us; the sad thing is that we are not aware [the thalamus is our innate sensory awareness controller!] and consequently, we just don't recognise them.

The late creativity maestro Dr Edward de Bono had done a lot of research in this area, especially as revealed in his classic Opportunities: A Handbook of Business Opportunity Search:

He makes some very illuminating observations in this book:

"The reasons that many opportunities pass us by is a perceptual one - we do not recognise an opportunity for what it is. An opportunity exists only when we see it."

"Everyone is surrounded by opportunities. But they only exist once they have been seen. And they will only be seen if they are looked for."

That's why I have had always maintained in my myriad writings that cultivating perceptual sensitivity to the world and increasing sensory acumen in our repertoire form a very important skillset, toolset, actionset and mindset for all of us in today's rapidly-changing, technology-savvy world.

Additionally and very interestingly, Dr Edward de Bono offered possible reasons why we often missed our opportunities, and here's my recap:

- We simply cannot see the opportunity;

- We can see the opportunity, but cannot see any possible way of evaluating it;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but cannot see how it can be achieved;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity & even how to achieve it, but nevertheless it is not for us;

- We can see the opportunity, but can also see huge problems with people, resources & money;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but we have better use of our resources & efforts;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but in our opinion the risks are too great/rewards too small;

Enjoy your reading, exploration and assimilation!

Yep! Matt Furey, President of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, has been absolutely correct! 

Just as Sifu Dr Maxwell Maltz put it so eloquently:

"Thus man of all creatures is more than a creature, he is also a creator. Man alone can direct his success mechanism by the use of imagination, or imaging ability."

This harsh reality has also been echoed by master motivator Zig Ziglar, who said:

"You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness."

So did the late Bob Proctor, often acknowledged as America's Greatest Prosperity Teacher, who convinced America with his classic:

"You were Born Rich!" 

(and you're going to stay rich, for being rich is not about money; it's about being fulfilled in all areas of your life as well as having a clear vision for what you want to do with your time on this planet).

Interestingly, journalist and success researcher Napoleon Hill, who wrote the classics, The Law of Success and Think & Grow Rich, added:

"You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be."

Bravissimo!

As I read to process what Matt Furey, President off the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation,  is actually thinking about when he is making this astute observation, it brings back memory of a vital lesson from Dr Maxwell Maltz, with regard to the power of recalling pleasant thoughts in such a situation:

Here's a quick recap:

• "If you wait until circumstances justify your thinking pleasant thoughts, you are likely to wait forever."
• "Happiness is simply a state of mind in which our thinking is pleasant a good share of the time."
• "Skill in any performance... consists not in painfully and consciously thinking out each action as it is performed but in relaxing and letting the job do itself through you... "
• "Within you, whoever you may be, regardless of how big a failure you may think yourself to be, is the ability and the power to do whatever you need to do to be happy and successful."
• "I am a firm believer in 'negative thinking' when used correctly. We need to be AWARE of negatives so that we can steer clear of them... "
• "Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results... "You" supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby."
• "Your nervous system... reacts automatically to information which you give to it from your forebrain [Remember, that's the CEO of your brain!]. Your nervous system reacts appropriately to what you THINK or IMAGINE to be 'true.[Remember, that's the CEO of your brain!]. Your nervous system reacts appropriately to what you THINK or IMAGINE to be 'true."
• "Happiness is native to the human mind and its physical machine. We think better, perform better, feel better, and are healthier when we are happy."

Tactically, it's also a way of executing a pattern interrupt!

Bravissimo!