old programming

We’ve essentially been taught what to think and not how to think!

As a baby, we are an open book and are eager to explore and learn everything we can as fast as we can. We are encouraged to learn and grow at a rapid rate. Nothing is off limits and no question is too silly to ask. We have no preconceived notions of what is proper and correct and what is not.

We hear our parents and siblings talking and we start to practice communicating and we are encouraged to do so. Then we reach a point where we want to learn to walk. Again we’re encouraged to get up and stand. Each time we fall, we are encouraged to get right back up and try again.

There’s nothing in us that says that we can’t do it.

Nowhere do we have a thought or belief that we’re not capable of walking and talking. With that limitless thinking and the encouragement from the people in our lives, we push forward and learn to walk and talk. We keep at it till we get steady on our feet, and then—we take our first steps. The people in our lives clap and yell with excitement, encouraging us to continue forward.

That’s when it all begins! The messages we receive from the people that are most prevalent and important in our lives begins to change. We start to be told, “No, you can’t do that” or “you shouldn’t do this.” All of this is in an effort to keep us safe and allow us to properly function in society. It’s not bad and it’s important that we learn that certain things are not good for us.

Now it gets even more complicated.

You get to the age that you head off to school. You have to learn to interact with other people and you’re taught based on what our society has deemed crucial for your survival. You are taught how to fit in by adopting the thoughts and beliefs of what is deemed normal in the current society.

This is where the real problem lies. What is deemed normal is not what will allow you to excel in life and nurture your natural-born talents. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. What is normal is the very thing keeping you from living the life you were put here to live.

There’s a great quote from Mark Twain that sums up the point I’m making here:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

In other words, if you’re thinking and doing what the majority is thinking and doing, you’ll probably never be or achieve all that you are capable of.

Think about it. You were taught that the way to have a good life was to follow this pattern.

First you need to get a good education. Go to school and study and get your diploma. Without that education you don’t have a chance at being successful in life. Next you need to find a good company and get a job with that company. If you work hard, do more than what’s expected, you will be successful. Now that you’ve got your good job with a good company, you’ll have to save all your money. Don’t be a spendthrift, save every penny you can for retirement. If you do these things and keep your head down and mouth shut, you can someday retire. Then, when you turn sixty-five years old, then you can be happy!

The likelihood that you can find a company where you can work for 40 years till retirement is slim to none in our modern world. Yet the thinking and the teaching are still tilted toward that old, outdated set of ideas about what is normal in our society. In many ways our kids are still being taught this same obsolete way of thinking.

In addition, nothing about this outdated model offers a real plan for success, fulfillment or happiness. All the teaching and programming we receive from the time we are kids is about fitting into the parameters that society has set for us.

Yet we see other people who seem to break away from the traditional programming. They seem to be immune to the pressure to fit into a failing concept of what life should be like. Instead, they set their own parameters and seem to rise above the crowd.

We all see these people who seem to ignore the crowd mentality. They don’t wait for their success, happiness or fulfillment. They go after all that life has for them every day, and in the process, they enjoy that sense of fulfillment that the rest of us spend most of our lives seeking.

What’s the difference between them and us?

We’ve just looked at the old programming that no longer serves you. We’ve examined what the herd mentality says is right and normal and how it’s old and outdated.

Once we know and accept that we have the ability to decide what we choose to feel and how we choose to act, we’ve empowered ourselves to do something about it. We’ve taken responsibility for our lives and when we take responsibility, we then have the power to make changes.

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.”

–Eleanor Roosevelt