There is something very special about teaching adults: You all come with your own skills and experiences, and share it with us all. And I love it.
So here I was teaching HYP 101 and one student was explaining to the class that she had cataract surgery. One of the eyes was not properly done. The doctor reassuring her said “That is okay if it does not work properly, we can re-do the operation”.
So here she was. She could not drive or anything because she could not see properly. A friend of hers of the age of her daughter in her 20’s, learned about it and went to see her.
And she said it was the most interesting thing. This young lady was right in her face, and said “So, because Plan A did not work you are ready for Plan B?”
“Yeah” was the answer. So, said the young lady, "therefore, you already chose Plan B did you not? Well, did you not realize something, that when we have Plan A and Plan B, Plan B is always the one that we do?”
“Uh oh.” was the answer. So she discarded Plan B and focused only on Plan A, and I mean, only on Plan A that said it was a good surgery, and that it worked, and so forth. And when she went to be checked out again to get the second surgery, to the doctor’s surprise the eye was now fine.
And the planned surgery was cancelled.
And when she came here, it was the first time she was able to drive a long distance by herself all the way from Saskatchewan, because she could finally see.
We started to talk about this, and how one will say “Well yes, if this does not work, then I am going to do that”. The student explained that by having a Plan B, we have already established that we will fail, and that we will take Plan B.
What is the solution here? It is that if we look at ourselves, we usually think that if it does not work out, we have a back-up plan. Well just watch it! We do not realize that when we do that, we have already planned that we will fail. So it is important to have only one thought, and focus only on that thought, no matter what happens.
The thing is this: What do you want... Plan A or Plan B?
I would like you to think about this: How many times do we have a Plan B, a back-up plan, if Plan A does not work?
Many students take all the courses and are all gung ho for it, the whole thing, we are going to do it, but you know what? If it does not work they go back to work to their old job. So they are planning failure before they even started. Instead of having just a Plan A: okay, they have a job, they continue to hold the job and they start the other job part time. The moment the part time job starts to be very comfortable financially, they can leave the first job. That is only one plan, it is not “if it does not work I can go back to my old job.
Having only a Plan A requires of actually making the commitment saying "This is what I am going to do" and then just keep on doing it until it goes. There are bumps, as in any learning process. There is always going to be something that distracts you or gets in your way and if you do not have the focus of ‘this is what you are going to do', you end up letting that distraction or that road block stop you and divert you back to where you were, or something else, instead of actually going around it or through it or over it or whatever it is you need to do.
As the conversations went on, I realised that plan B is the comfort zone.
It is like a security blanket.
In fact, it is resisting a change. We all want to change, and we will do it screaming and kicking.
Therefore, simply delete the word 'change' and replace it with 'improvement'.
In a way, the comfort zone is like a mental block. It is a deep fear, an emotional fear of something that is embedded in us as a mental block so we do not have to deal with the fear.
I want you all to be successful at improving your life. How will that awareness about the Plan A and Plan B help you? How is that going to help you? It is all up to you.
As I was thinking of it all, I found myself holding a book I bought several years ago... and did not read. The title of the book must have intrigued me since I bought it:
'Creating Affluence, WealthConsciousness in the Field of All Possibilities', by Deepak Chopra, M.D.
Opening the book, the title of the chapter that came up by accident (?) read: "I" stands for the power of unbending intent or intention.
In order to acquire wealth - or for that matter anything in the physical universe - you must intend it, make a decision to go for it. The decision is unchangeable with fixity of purpose, not countermanded by anything.
The universe handles the details, organises and orchestrates opportunities. You have simply to be alert to these opportunities.
Thank you for reading me. You know I love what I do. I do care about you all, the reason I am sharing this with you.
With respect,
Anny