SET YOUR INTENTION AND SET OFF!

When you set an intention, conscious or unconscious, two things come up right away without fail. Resources and obstacles, these two always move in an inseparable pair.

When we see an opportunity, thoughts of obstacles follow in a split second - often the very next moment.

Since resources and obstacles move around like Siamese twins, the reverse is also true.

When we meet with obstacles or crises – if we look carefully, we will see that the obstacle is wrapping an opportunity. We only need to look beneath the surface. Remove the wrapping to reveal the gift.

When we set an intention we get thrilled by the possibilities. People, opportunities, and relevant experiences flood our minds, pushing open doors to so many possibilities. We see who can help us, where we can go with the idea, how we can accomplish our mission. Everything seems to be ready for us – we need to go just do it.

And then, hot on the heels of resources come the obstacles. These come in all forms – not enough money, not enough time, no experience, no partners, no expertise, no connections. Often just seconds of thinking of the obstacles is enough to douse the flames of excitement and the intention is relegated to the waste basket of wishful thoughts that pass by our mind’s window everyday.

Everyday we go through this process countless times – endlessly weighing the pros and cons. Bright sparks always getting squelched by thoughts of the obstacles, keeping us in the rut even though we have all the resources we need to achieve our goal.

If we don’t set conscious intentions, this life sapping habit becomes our life time pattern.

It’s an embedded programme that runs in our head, and runs our life without us being conscious of it.

So the next time, an exciting idea comes to your mind, remember that thoughts about the obstacles will follow in train as surely a night follows day.

Don’t let obstacles run your conscious intention over.

Face your obstacles with confidence and be encouraged by the knowledge that the arrival of obstacles is just the nature of things.

When we put our mind to it (i.e. set our RAS on it) – keeping our conscious intention in mind - there will always be a way to achieve what we set out to do with love.

What You Focus On Expands

Here is a thought exercise to illustrate the law that: "What you focus on expands."

Think of two people – one you like and one that you don’t.

Then for the person you like – find several aspects that you don’t like.

Then for the person you don’t like – find several aspects that you do like.

As you continue to do this, it won’t be long before you will change how you feel about each person.

You will start to dislike the person you liked.

And you will start to like the person you disliked.

Bounce Back When You Fall

Malaysia's Prime Minister speaking at the ASEAN 100 Leadership Forum yesterday (1st Oct 2010) recounted for his audience his electoral setback in Malaysia's 1999 General Election. That year he very nearly lost his parliamentary seat in his constituency of Pekan - retaining it by a razor thin margin of just 241 votes.

Najib shared: “If you look at 1999, it was a strange situation. My majority dropped to 241.”

It is in trying times like this that the true mettle of a man or woman is revealed.

Frustrated but resolute, Najib worked hard to regain the people’s votes and in the 2004 General Election, won the seat with a whopping majority of 22,922 votes.

In the 2008 General Election, Najib increased the winning margin to 26,464 votes, the highest obtained by any candidate of his political party that year.

Looking back at his dramatic come back with pride, the Malaysian Prime Minister adviced: “If you have the confidence, you should not be deterred by a temporary setback. What is important is the ability to recover. Fortunately, I’m still around."