Supercoach!

MNCT 921
Why Wait?

May 12, 2014


"There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak."

- Simon Sinek

Michael
Michael Neill
is an internationally renowned success coach and the best-selling author of The Inside-Out Revolution, You Can Have What You Want, Feel Happy Now!, the Effortless Success audio program and Supercoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone's Life. He has spent the past 24 years as a coach, adviser, friend, mentor and creative spark plug to celebrities, CEO's, royalty, and people who want to get more out of their lives. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and his public talks and seminars have been well received at the United Nations and around the world. Read More...


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May 19th
Alternatives
London, England

May 23rd
Mind Body Spirit Festival
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June 1st - July 25th
Creating the Impossible Mastermind
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June 6th
Beyond Criticism, Rejection, and Failure
Los Angeles, California

June 7th
Full Out and Fearless: Living on fire without burning out
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July 18th
Diving In: How to get started and get going on absolutely anything
Los Angeles, California

July 19th
Shooting the Rapids: How to thrive in an increasingly fast-paced world
Los Angeles, California

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 Join me in London next week!

LondonThanks to some amazing sponsors, I've got two low-cost talks and workshops coming up in London next week...

First up on the 19th of May is The Source of Resilience, Forgiveness, and Creative Genius at Alternatives in St. James church in the heart of London. This is one of my favorite venues anywhere in the world, and the hour-long talk will feature a Q&A towards the end.

Then on Friday, 23rd May, I'll be doing a two hour workshop at the London Well-Being festival called The Power of Thought - It's Not What You Think! This will be a much smaller group than Alternatives, so we'll be able to dive a bit deeper into how a deeper look at the principles behind the inside-out understanding can make an immediate difference in your life.
Stress... It's Not What You Think!
SPECIAL OFFER for the London Wellbeing Festival:

Everyone who attends the Power of Thought workshop will receive a special e-book on Stress that features tips and a couple of previously unshared writings.

To start reading your e-book today, send an email with a copy of your receipt or photo of your ticket to the workshop to us here.


 This Week on SUPERCOACH Radio

Thursday, May 15th at Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern/8pm UK

Effortless Success

There is an extraordinary intelligence that exists beyond our personal intellect. Listen in to uncover this innate intelligence in your own life, work, and relationships!

Hayhouse You can listen to the show this and every Thursday - simply go to hayhouseradio.com at Noon Pacific / 3pm Eastern / 7pm UK and click on the button marked 'Listen Now'.

Did you miss our most recent live show called CREATING THE IMPOSSIBLE 2.0? For a limited time you can listen to it here. You can also download and listen to any of my shows at any time as part of your subscription to the new and improved Genius Catalyst Café - click here for details!

 Why Wait?

There is a famous research study originally performed by Walter Mischel at Stanford University commonly known as "The Marshmallow Experiment". Essentially, children aged 4 - 6 were put in a room with a research assistant and offered a marshmallow. However, they were also told that if they waited until the research assistant came back 15 minutes later, they would be given two marshmallows.

Less than 1/3 of the children were able to wait long enough to get the second marshmallow. When followed up nearly 15 years later, the children who had delayed their gratification long enough to get the second marshmallow were reported to be significantly more competent than their wait-less peers and scored significantly higher on their SAT examinations.

Conventional wisdom is that the experiment points to the value of self-discipline and willpower in creating success in life. The idea is that when we can overcome our "baser instincts" towards immediate gratification, we will thrive - physically, mentally, and financially.

For example, my wife has more willpower than anyone I know.  She's the kind of person who would actually get more pleasure from overcoming the desire to have that first marshmallow than she would from eating either of the second two. For her, the ability to delay gratification is its own reward, like a bodybuilder who enjoys the challenge of the daily workout as much or more than the body they build.

And this has served her well in life. She's fiercely fit, eats well, and takes great care of our children, our home, and our lives. I, on the other hand, have the self-discipline of a somewhat mature amoeba. I'm sort of fit, eat OK, and just about manage to get through my email every few weeks and pay my taxes on time most years.

But I'd put myself up against anyone, including my wife, in the marshmallow challenge, Not because I've got willpower, but because I know a secret about life which means I never have to wait for anything.

Here's the secret:

Nothing happens next.

Now, at the risk of getting a wee bit esoteric, here's what I mean...

The whole idea of "waiting" is a subset of the idea of linear time. In linear time, night follows day, Winter follows Fall, and at least when I was growing up, "Match of the Day" follows the Ten O'Clock news.

But linear time is a made up concept - it only exists in thought. As the author Gay Hendricks writes in The Big Leap:

When we switch [from linear, Newtonian time to relative, "Einstein time"], we take charge of the amount of time we have. We embrace this liberating insight: since I'm the producer of time, I can make as much of it as I need! By getting the truth of this statement, we make a major adjustment in ourselves. We heal the dualistic split embedded in the Newtonian relationship with time. We are no longer in a us-versus-them relationship with time. We're the source of time, and by realizing that fact we become the truth of it.

In other words, since time is a made-up concept, it turns out to be far more elastic than we think. And since our thoughts can change in any moment, our experience of time can change in any moment as well.

Here's an even simpler way of thinking about it:

"Waiting" = Being + Thought

Without the thought of the second marshmallow, there's nothing to "wait for" - we can simply hang out in a room that happens to have a marshmallow in it until we decide we're done.

Does this have any practical applications for those of us not engaged in marital marshmallow competitions?

To explore this question for yourself, the next time you find yourself waiting for anything - a coffee, a friend, a train, or the love of your life - notice that the experience of waiting is created via the power of Thought. And notice that before whatever thinking you have of what is yet to come, there is a simple feeling of being that is ever present and always available. 

It is eternal. It is infinite. It is the very essence of what it is to be alive.

It is your true nature - and it is right where you are sitting now.

Have fun, learn heaps, and if you're wondering if it's time to start living from your true nature... why wait?

With all my love,
Michael

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PS - The Inside-Out Series is coming back to Santa Monica this summer!

Inside-Out Series
I'm delighted to announce the next four events in the series will be coming to Santa Monica this June and July...

1. Beyond Criticism, Rejection, and Failure:
A whole new way of going for (and getting) what you want

(June 6th evening talk with me and Gabriela Maldonado-Montano)

2. Full Out and Fearless:
Living on fire without burning out

(June 7th full day event with me and Gabriela Maldonado-Montano)

3. Diving In:
How to get started and get going on absolutely anything

(July 18th evening talk with me and Ali Campbell)

4. Shooting the Rapids:
How to thrive in an increasingly fast-paced world

(July 19th full day event with me and Ali Campbell)

To book your place and learn more, please click here.
Copyright © 2014 Michael Neill. All Rights Reserved
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