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There are two words to describe todays world: Too Much.  Too much information, too much input, too much stimulus.  With all the activity in the information age it’s getting increasingly difficult to focus the mind and find that flow which only one-pointed focus can bring.

In the face of this flood of information, as we try to multi-task and get everything done all at once it’s easy to become over-burdened with stress and burnout.  Here’s ten ways to get ahead if you’re feeling stuck… or even if you’re not feeling stuck.

10 ways to get ahead in the information age.

“I get up in the morning.  I do everything I have to do that day to the best of my ability and then I go to sleep at night.” –Harijiwan

1. Set your intention: create your manifesto
2. Figure out your next step
3. Pull back and make a plan
4. Take your next, next step
5. Make a realistic to-do list
6. Review your manifesto once a week
7. Accept that you may not achieve your dreams
8. Try with all your might to achieve your dreams
9. Follow your bliss
10. Remember the meaning of life

SET YOUR OVERALL INTENTION

Make it broad and simple.  One compound sentence that describes your manifesto.  What is it in your destiny that you came here to create?  It’s okay if you’re not sure what that is.  It’s also okay if you doubt it.  If there’s something you’d just like to do then that’s it.  Don’t think about it, just accept it.

“I’d like to be a writer.”

That’s enough.  If you want to take that further perhaps…

“I intend to write children’s books which enrich growing minds. “

This is the seed of your manifesto.  You’ll come back to it and add more to it but just take a moment to know what you’re on the planet for.

Now forget about that and get back to the present.

FIGURE OUT YOUR NEXT STEP

My teacher, the brilliant and wise Harijiwan Khalsa always says:

“All you really need to know is your next best move.”

That’s it.  That’s the number one way to counteract the craziness of the times.  Just know what your next step is and do that with 100% of your focus and energy.  That keeps you in the present moment, where all the power is.  It’s also an act of faith.

When you focus completely on the task at hand, you start to flow because focus of the mind is like meditation and it brings you into a neutral space where your soul pours through into your focused action.  When the soul comes through, the universe comes with it.  Things just line up.

Everyone’s experienced this at one time or another.  The reason we don’t experience it all the time is our minds are not strong enough to “hold the space.” With practice (meditation) you can strengthen the mind to focus when and how you want it to.

The “best next step” strategy is very helpful if you’re in a tough spot.  In these times of constant media crisis (the sky is falling, the economy is crashing, swine flu’s gonna getcha,) this can be a useful tool.  If, however, you’ve got things somewhat together, then you can pull back and just…

And the other point is, if you follow your bliss, you’ll have your bliss, whether you have money or not. If you follow money, you may lose money, and then you don’t have even that. The secure way is really the insecure way and the way in which the richness of the quest accumulates is the right way.  –Joseph Campbell, An Open Life

MAKE A PLAN

Make a plan by ensuring that you’ve first got your life under control.  It’s like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  If your basic needs aren’t taken care of: rent paid, food on the table, clothes for the kids, then you’re not going to be able to write that proposal for your children’s book.

Once your needs are covered then the plan becomes about carving out time after work and responsibilities to do what gives you bliss.  What is it that makes your heart sing?  Give yourself time to do that.  Follow your bliss.

TAKE ANOTHER STEP

Things should be a little clearer now that you’ve stopped the freak out because of the stress, focused on your next step, then stepped back and made a preliminary plan.  Now follow the next best thing on your plan.  What is the number one priority on the list?  Do that.

MAKE A REALISTIC TO-DO LIST

Make a realistic to-do list based on your initial plan, and do that with great focus, to the best of your ability then rest.  Relax.  Chill out.  Break.  Another priceless thing I got from Harijiwan is how he lives his life.  He says:

“I get up in the morning.  I do everything I have to do that day to the best of my ability and then I go to sleep at night.”

Sounds simple but how many times have you flooded a to-do list with unrealistic goals just because there’s too much to get done?  All that does is stress you out when you don’t get everything done!

Working overtime rarely brings anything but need for massive amounts of red bull and caffeine.  Often staying at the office is just hoping something will happen.  Once in a while you have to work late to get something done or to meet a deadline, but if it’s happening five days a week then you should re-examine your life.

If on the other hand, your workaholism is driven by a corporate chain of command whose unrealistic demands are driven by the recent downsizing, then you have to find something to counteract that stress.  Get a new job.  If that’s not possible you’d better start doing some yoga and meditation to balance the weight of that pressure.

ONCE A WEEK, CHECK IN WITH YOUR MANIFESTO

Look at your manifesto and work on it a little bit.  Just a little bit.  Turn that sentence into a paragraph.  It’s still okay if you’re not sure what it is but the more your return to it, the more your soul will speak to you and it’ll come out.  Let it come out and keep reviewing it, because like a Polaroid picture, it’ll eventually come into focus.

Don’t worry if it seems like it’ll never happen.  It might not.

ACCEPT THAT YOU MIGHT NOT ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS

“What?  I can’t believe you said that!?!?”

Yes, I said it.  Your dream might not come true.  All the best-selling self help books will tell you that you can get everything you want by following their formula– their secret. And while they might be good principles it’s simply not true that everyone can instantly manifest the life they want after spending $24.95.

But you should try.

TRY WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS

With all your might, you should try and you should finish what you start at all costs. Most people let their own negativity stop them before they even begin.  Sometimes people begin and then they stop out of fear generated by the negative mind.  Consider the fact that you may fail and then decide to succeed.  You may not reach your goal, but you will come out the other side having had the experience of giving it your best.  Often times the result is something much better than you had even planned.  But you must give it your all.  Often we want one thing, but the universe is pushing us toward something better.

The big crime that all these self help books inflict on everyone is that they only give you one side– extreme positivity and that is unrealistic.  We live in a world of opposites, of dualities.  If there’s pleasure, there’s going to be pain at some point.  If you enter the ring, odds are you’re gonna take one in the nose!

You can’t succeed without failing at some point.  Unless you accept the possibility that you might fail, you’ll never succeed.  So accept that forces beyond your control might set the stage where you don’t get to your dream and look around at what is being offered you as it just might be an even better opportunity.

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS

What’s that the Rolling Stones once said?

“You can’t always get what you want, but if your try sometimes, you get what you need.”

Here’s the big question:  Can you be happy whether or not your expectations in life come to pass?  If you can’t then you’d better start.  That’s why Joseph Campbell always said: Follow Your Bliss.

And the other point is, if you follow your bliss, you’ll have your bliss, whether you have money or not. If you follow money, you may lose money, and then you don’t have even that. The secure way is really the insecure way and the way in which the richness of the quest accumulates is the right way.  –Joseph Campbell, An Open Life

REMEMBER THE MEANING OF LIFE

There is no big purpose to life.

What?  What about all those books at Barnes and Noble?

It’s just you and your manifesto.  What is it that you will decide to manifest in this life?  I really like Joseph Campbell’s take on it:

“Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.” –Joseph Campbell

That’s it.  Being alive is the meaning.  Can you be happy just being alive?  If not, you’d better get there quick.  We come into this life naked and naked we go.  All that stuff you create can’t be taken with you and it doesn’t mean a thing. But can you create something on this planet that will outlive you?   Can you create something that will live on long after you’re gone?

If you can’t be happy just being alive then you’re already dead.  It’s fine to have passion and desire… please, have alot of it and make it true.   But just remember:

“Desire is like wood.  You the more you put on the fire, the bigger the flames, but in the end you are still just left with ashes.”  –Yogi Bhajan

photo courtesy of sir Johnson & The Queen on flickr.com