Last week we reviewed the year 2021 (see previous post), and talked about how the Reticular Activating System filters our experience of the world, according to beliefs and expectations.
Now we get to change our filter. We get to create a new set of expectations. Then we get to experience a new reality. But first we need to create a new vision.
This depends on the idea—of more accurately, the fact—that the brain does not distinguish between actuality and imagination when creating your filter. Many of you might have noted that, if you are in the “reality” of just being able to pay your bills, you will always make just enough money to pay your bills. I know, I experienced that for 40 years.
My evidence has showed me that, without fail, I could create work or other opportunities to just about pay the monthly bills. Or, I might get a few good contracts, and think “Yes! I’ve cracked it!”—and the next few months pass without any contracts, so in the end, I would just scrape through bill-wise yet again.
So, the way to bust out of that, is to create a new vision of who you are, what you want to be doing, and the life you want to be living.
Before going any further, let me emphasise that this is probably the most important thing you could do in your life. Surveys of people at the stage of death show that, the single biggest regret is not having done what they wanted, or not having been who they really were.
“Vision” sounds such a grand word. We use it in companies to motivate workers to work harder for their pay. But really, vision is what you had as a child. You dreamed of being a fireman, or an engineer, or a nurse. You dreamed of amazing experiences, seeing wild animals, visiting exotic countries. You dreamed of adventures, explorations, discoveries.
What happened to those dreams? Were they extinguished by “sensible” advice? By harsh criticism? By chance hurtful remarks? By the “reality” of your parents, teachers, and friends?
Now you get to light up your vision again, to turn on the projector. You get to do it because you are now grown up, and you’ve had enough of a dulled-down sensible life.
So create your vision. Create a grand vision. Like, a mega-production.
Look at your review from last week. What do you want to be different—not just a bit different, but completely turned around? Go through the list, create the best alternative, and build up your vision of who you want to be, what you want to do, where and how you want to live, how you want to serve, who will be by your side and around you.
Now, be aware that even your vision could be constrained by your past beliefs and expectations; so I want you to create three levels of visions:
This vision is better than nothing. It is a vision of your current life without the current problems. It is a vision of a better you. It goes something like, “I see myself without credit card debts, a car that doesn’t break down every week, and a partner that doesn’t beat me up.”
This is the kind of vision most people with strong limiting beliefs create. They can’t stand their current situation, but can’t see their way out of anything much better.
They tell themselves they don’t really need much money, but maybe a 15-year old car would be better than a 25-year old banger. Being out of debt is relative freedom to them, because it is one anxiety less in their life. Having a stable place to rent is an improvement over shifting from caravan to caravan, or house-sit to house-sit.
In a way, though, it is a cop-out because we stay within our comfort zone of what we think we deserve to get in life.
A real vision should be more than getting away from our current problems—wouldn’t it really activate your juices if it were something grander, something childlike in its extravagance and boldness?
For many of us, being a millionaire is something quite hard to imagine. We really need to work at that vision. But I think the exercise can be really useful for a number of reasons:
Once you give yourself permission by saying “what if I could,” something opens up in you. Chains start snapping, glass ceilings start breaking, years or even decades of restraint start loosening. Perhaps tears start falling.
You are a grown-up now. You get to choose.
Many people say, “I’ll be happy with the 6-bedroomed house and the BMW. Being a millionaire is enough.” Really? Really?
Yes, you could be so nouveau riche and sit on your laurels. Retire, sit on your deck, and sip Martinis (or whatever it is people sip nowadays). Enjoy your millionaire lifestyle.
And that would be fine.
But, I think, the reason many of us are not rich right now is because we care. Perhaps, at some point in our lives, we decided not to be rich because so many poor people were suffering. So we decided to stay poor.
I, for example, decided at some point that rich people were corrupt and scary. I didn’t want to become like that. At one point, I worked as a yacht skipper for one of the richest men in Malaysia. I loathed him and judged him, while at the same time envying him. He must have felt it, because he soon let me go, and I was out of an opportunity.
We care. We care for animals. We care for the environment, we care for children, for abused women, for the poor.
What have you seen in life that has hurt you the most, aroused the deepest empathy? Would you be able to help, if you were a billionaire?
Would you be able to open schools, start self-sufficiency projects, plan conservation awareness programmes? Would you be working with and influencing the most influential people in the world? What would you do if you were a billionaire?
In spite of the narrative many of us have believed, and continue to be told, there are many billionaires doing amazing work for the planet. You could be one of them.
So, in my mind, the Billionaire Vision goes beyond the improved lifestyle—that is already taken care of. This vision goes to where our life service could be, where, possibly, our heart really is.
We have taken suffering for granted. Perhaps, with the opportunity that DeFi seems to offer us, we can finally work to alleviate suffering on massive scales.
I invite you to create, not just a “better” vision or a “millionaire” vision. I invite you to go all out and create a “billionaire” vision.
2022 is the Chinese year of the Tiger. I have seen tigers close up, I have smelt them, I have felt them. For me, tigers have a boldness, an incredible strength, an energy, and a speed that can smash through barriers. For me, this is the year to pounce, to break our barriers and make a big difference!
What will 2022 be for you? What will you envision it to be?
