11 Ideas That Shifted My Consciousness
A few weeks ago, I was at dinner with some friends in Lisbon, Portugal. There were 7 of us, and it was pretty late.
Usually, I eat dinner around 6:30 pm–7 pm, but we were sitting down for food at 9 pm.
It was so much later than what I'm used to; I had to have pre-food (but we'll keep that between us).
I guess eating this late was part of the European summer vibe. Food was awesome.
But the best part, for me, was the conversations we were having. They were mostly about life, work, relationships, and everything in between.
One of the topics we ended up talking about was a paradigm shift.
My First Encounter with the Idea
I first heard this phrase way back in 2017. I can still remember hearing it and still not fully understanding what it was or what it meant.
I was sitting in my apartment in Chiang Mai at the time with my laptop. I was actually watching a lecture by Bob Proctor on YouTube.
He was one of my first introductions into learning about the mind, more specifically, how our mind works, and also how to get our minds to work for us.
It's been so long since I heard this phrase. I've been so used to it since then that I assumed everyone else knew what this was when we were speaking about this at dinner.
But when I said the words "paradigm shift", nobody quite knew what I was talking about.
What a Paradigm Shift Really Is
A paradigm shift is when you see something for the first time, and now you can’t unsee it.
When this happens, you've changed how you see the world around you, and now you can't unsee it.
Even the phrase "change your mind" will take on a whole new meaning for you.
Changing your mind from a paradigm shift is no longer about making a different choice.
You see things from a new perspective, which means you have changed the way your mind fires. When you do this, you are quite literally changing your mind.
A Deeper Perspective
I now see paradigm shifts a little differently.
Yes, they change how you see things. Yes, they do change your perspective.
But I've realized it goes a little deeper than just how you see things.
Paradigm shifts shift your entire consciousness. They elevate your thinking and your perspective. Your entire worldview can shift to the point where you start thinking and living differently.
The entire conversation at dinner made me stop and think about what paradigm shifts have impacted me.
I started to look at what I've experienced over the last few years that changed how I see the world around me, myself, and my take on work.
I wanted to share these with you today.
1. Create Anti-Goals
Many people struggle to pick goals because they don't know what they want. Other people pick goals because they think they should do something to live up to other people's expectations.
I would imagine the vast most people fall into the two categories above (I also used to fall into this category). So instead, I started looking at what I don't want.
When you get clear on what you don't want, it becomes so much easier to focus on what you do want.
2. The Wrong Room
There are not too many things worse than staying in the wrong room, with the wrong people, doing the wrong thing.
Being able to admit this to yourself as quickly as possible will save you so much time, energy, and effort (and possibly money).
3. Down Time
How you spend your downtime says more about you than what you do when you work, socialize, or work out.
It equally says a lot about you if you don't have any downtime.
Some of the happiest, productive, and fun people to be around are the ones who know how to rest.
4. Randomness Doesn’t Exist
Everything is connected. Nothing is random. Everything has its place.
Life feels random because you're either not paying attention to the dots in your life that you haven't connected yet, or things feel too uncomfortable.
But nothing is random.
5. Advice
Something I came across recently is called The Advice Paradox.
It's where you ask one person for advice, but then go on to ask many more people about what they think you should do.
The problem with this is that you usually end up right back where you started, which is indecision. You end up here because of all the conflicting advice.
Either trust yourself to figure it out, or ask one person who has experienced something closely related to what you need advice on.
6. What Game
Simon Sinek first opened my mind to this. Life is a game, but in that game are other games, most of which can't be won.
You have to figure out what game you're playing, if it's the right game for you, and why you are choosing to play that game.
7. Mixed Signals Are a No
This is something I'm discovering recently. Doesn’t matter the context either, as it seems to apply to work, life, relationships, dating, or any other situation.
If it's mixed signals, it's always a no.
Most people want to read between the lines or look for a yes in between a string of inconsistencies and mixed signals, which is never there.
8. Just Do Stuff
Just doing stuff for the sake of doing things will be one of your greatest ways to find what interests you.
Most people never find meaning, purpose, happiness, or fulfilment in most of what they do. My theory is they are waiting for this "one thing" to fill that hole.
I believe that the more you just keep doing stuff, the more you find out what you like. The deeper you go into an interest, the more chances of these becoming obsessions.
And then all of a sudden, you find yourself fully immersed in something you love. But you won’t get there by waiting.
9. Mission
Not having a mission - something to aim at, or something beyond yourself - is the quickest way to never make progress, always feel confused, and question why you are doing what you are doing.
I've seen this play out in my professional life, especially when I started building companies in 2017.
The difference between having something to aim for, something specific, makes life so much easier. There's no grey area.
Any time something interesting comes up that needs your time, you get to ask if this gets you closer or further away from what you're aiming at.
10. Work in Cycles
I came across this idea inside The Almanack of Naval.
The idea is to treat work in cycles, much like a professional athlete would. Sprint hard when it's time to go. Pull back and rest when it's not "game day" and build foundations in the "off-season."
Before this idea, every day was game day.
There isn’t a professional athlete in the world who lives like this, so why did I think I was different?
11. Permission
Most people spend all their lives waiting for approval. They wait to see if it's acceptable to do something new. They look for acknowledgement to travel, build something, write something, or draw something.
The only person who can give you approval is you.
The permission slip you're looking for to live your life is already in your hand.
The moment you start to see things from a different perspective, a different lens, or a new way, is the moment you have your paradigm shift.
The chances are you've already had many of these, but didn’t quite know what they were. This used to be the same for me.
But every time you do experience one of these, you are shifting your consciousness.
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