THE GRAND CAUSAL CHAIN FOR LIFE
THE ONLY WAY TO THE GREATEST LIFE
Everything in the universe occurs in causal chains: A → B → C → D → Result (so far)
Power state → Do clear thinking → Make good decisions → Good choices → Good life
(capable of thinking) (& necessary learning)
↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
Improve Improve Improve Improve
(if you add "great" before each of the links, then you end up with a "great" life - your choice, your decision)
So, if I want to cause (create) a good or great life, I must determine and decide to do those things that make each step stronger, better, more effective, more powerful. I must improve/develop each to a higher level. We, except for a small number of people with genetic variations, all have the basic equipment (the brain) to be able to develop what is necessary. We either do that or we don't, for various reasons and inputs from others and our environment.
If anything goes wrong in life, I must always look to see what the causal chain was that preceded it.
But my objective is to learn and set up as early as possible the causes that will have my life working, so that as few things as possible go wrong AND so that as many things (or value units) as possible will go right, producig the most good (value units) in my life.
My objective is to choose well to direct my energy toward what is best for me in any moment (best total value over time, not just for an instant).
But I can't do that if I don't do each step that leads toward that.
So, let's get more clear about each of these, for they are the building blocks of life.
CAUSAL LINK #1: KEEPING ONESELF IN THE POWER STATE
(I use on this site the "aka" for power state: the Power Zone. Tony Robbins calls it a "state of resourcefulness" - same idea pretty much.).
Power is the ability to apply energy/effort to produce a product (a result). If one's energy is low and/or there are competing uses of the available energy for other things, you cannot move forward as well on a particular objective.
If your body or mind is "concerned" about something that might impair the level of your survivability, it will devote energy to "work on that very thing". If your blood sugar is too high, it will asap try to correct that, and, in the process, it will take away energy from other areas of the body since there are limited resources in the human body (its size is only so big, so it can only do so much). Indeed, in all of life, considering the "scarcity of resources", we must make tradeoffs. We must spend our limited resources for what is of the most value, which always means there is something else we have to give up the idea of having - in a sense we are "trading" one for the other (see It's All About Tradeoffs - Identify These Clearly And Then Decide). We quite obviously have to make choices with limited money, but we lose the idea when we apply it to less tangible "things". If I get drunk one night, my body gets busy repairing the damage (and I can "feel" it, big time! because it is robbing from another area) and my mind also gets occupied with "concern" - and I also can't think as well, as the resources are taken away from my brain.
If I let myself get tired, my resourcefulness and power diminish considerably as I am in a lowered state of being and energy - and my body is working on fighting off that survival dysfunctionality, as it is devoted to surviving well. Ironically, as in all dysfunctional states, the energy it takes to correct a dysfunction will go up geometrically as one allows a dysfunction to stay in place - it gets to be four times as damaging or energy consuming if I allow the dysfunctionality to double (and so on, at four times as much dysfunctionality there is a 16 times effect (not exactly but generally).
As I write this, I am engaged in writing a book with the tentative title of "Smart (and easy) Self Control", which is simply defined as directing my energy toward that which is best for me in total over time. In this process, I am acutely aware of when and where I do what takes my energy away from getting more life value and into "repairing" the damage or "trying to get back to good operational functionality.
One of the problems that occurs is that I get to a state of stupidity when I get too depleted of energy and my body is not functioning well - the body and the mind are busy trying to correct the problem, leaving me little energy to use my higher brain.
In that state of stupidity, I will often decide poorly and then do something else that will further cause a need for "repair" to get back to full homeostatic functionality. In short, I make the situation worse. And then I am off and running into the abyss - or at least ruining another part of my life or not devoting that energy to what would make my life better!
In short, though I write extensively about this on the site if you want the full thinking, I cannot afford to let myself go down the slippery slope of dysfunction and malfunction or underfunction for even a moment - or the cost is my time and my life. I must "nip it in the bud", stop it immediately, and engage in the immediate correcting of the condition.
If I slip from the 7 to 9+ power level down to a 6 or a 5 (on a scale of 1 to 10), I would be wise to (unless there is some compelling emergency or threat) get myself back up into the Power Zone so that I can get back to running my lfie well and feeling good. And note that this is not about sacrifice or rigidity or perfection, it is solely about chossing to actually get more out of life for the sheer joy of it...
Watching, looking to see what state I am in is obviously the necessary step before doing somethng about the state. ["First, always, is awareness. It is the essential step in the process of creating a better life or situation."] (a part of mindfulness - being aware of how one is functioning and feeling, most of the time - kind of a background sensing..)
This is, in a sense, a process of "checking in" with my monkey mind and/or body to see how its going. One process that must become a habit if one is to live one's life well, and a secret of the most life successful people, is to use The Pause (stop, breathe, then think/decide). If you read and understand such great books as Thinking, Fast And Slow (Daniel Kahnemann), the key is to "engage the higher brain" by asking a question. It is essential, I think, that you instantly can access a question. Mine is "what is best for me next?". Brian Tracy's is "what is the right thing to do now?"
An adequate/good energy level, in general, is absolutely necessary to have to function well. So our job #1 is to restore that energy level and/or free up the energy from other things in order to apply it to what will be the best thing for me.
Restoring energy (the bulk of the idea in the classic must read The Power Of Full Engagement) is essential to do asap. Rest/relax/breathe/clearoutmentaldistractions and energizing are the two primary keys here. (Simple, huh?!!!) You've just got to do them (execute the necessary steps) and to do them in an effective way.
It is best to build that into thesystem so that itwill occur automatically - timeblocking. Alarms or mindfulness clock to remind to "check in" (or breathe, "how's my breathing, have I stopped, am I shallow breathing?)
Plopping down on the couch and watching much tv is one of the ineffective ways. Worrying is another (a really "stupid" thing to do, because we are,indeed, operating in a stupid state, of low power)
I cannot afford to set up any crazyness or malfunctioning in my body/mind, as it causes cancer and other replicating dysfunctioning...
fix it often and soon...
or any distraction will do in a storm...i need relief from anxiety (no, youfirts need not to create that anxiety in the first place, as you're setting yourself up for a drain of your life!
"I will not allow myself to stay in a stupid state or an underfunctioning state. My life is too valuable!!!!! I need to be right on target if I am to have any significant impact on the world." Post on the mirror, refrigerator
Don't keep going (I must remember this...), it's stupid usually...
anticpate, know ahead of time, set the rule, ultradian ryhytm break every 80 minutes for 10 minutes, afternoon slump, set the rules and just do it, don't fool self and say I'm strong ofr bbe macho...
decide, cut off ahead of time, set rules,not as hard but as I've decided is best for my best benefit.
part of thinking is that we must stop thoughtlessly chasing more of what we already have enough of or more of what is not giving us much of a good return for our time....
LINK #2. DO CLEAR THINKING
we loop around to thinking many many times
(I need to have data (facts) upon which to base my thinking. I need to ask myself "are these "facts" actually true? or I have a poor basis for making a decision (conclusion). The bad results we can get are illustrated by the hyperpartisanship in today's politics, where the other side is evil and bad and have no facts or valid ideas ... Or in any situation where we allow emotions to stop the higher brain functioning, which occurs whenever we are in the fight/flght fear response, automatically and forcefully! we can only continue if we break the cycle and return to higher brain power (higher power from rest or energizing and, before that "The Pause" learning provides the pieces to move around the chess borad of life.
To produce anything in real life, we need good raw materials to apply our efforts to.
The acquisition of knowledge is necessary, but only relevant knowledge and then know how to use it (thinking)
