How my Organizing Principles Can Dominate and Control my Experience of the Present

Here’s a firsthand example of how one of my Organizing Principles—part of my prior learning—can dominate and control my experience of the present. Let’s say I’ve gone out socially with a new friend whom I want to connect with. If I’m being mindful, input from what’s occurring in the moment will enter from the

24 Nov, 2014
Posted by Steve Fogel
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The Interplay between Mindful Awareness and the Brain as “Anticipation Machine”

Let’s look at what’s happening in our brains when we operate on automatic pilot that allows our Organizing Principles to run us, no matter how dysfunctional these beliefs may be and how disabling a bind they create for us. Because of the brain’s very nature and structure, we are programmed to react. That’s what we

20 Nov, 2014
Posted by Steve Fogel
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Reflect on Your Behavior to See What Causes You to Act as You Do

Besides noticing the difference between your beliefs and attitudes and those of other people, another way to uncover your Organizing Principles is to reflect on your behavior to figure out the beliefs and core issues that cause you to act as you do. Start with observing the specific things you do routinely. For example,

3 Nov, 2014
Posted by Steve Fogel
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Define Your Beliefs

One way to uncover your Organizing Principles is to see if you can define your beliefs (and the behavior that results from them) by contrasting them with the beliefs of other people around you whose attitudes and actions strike you as very different from your own. Analyzing these differences can help you recognize and put

30 Oct, 2014
Posted by Steve Fogel
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Uncover Your Organizing Principles

Take this opportunity to uncover your Organizing Principles, see their limitations, and flip your perspective—all of which will start the process of no longer letting them run you. My Organizing Principles have been: The world isn’t safe; don’t trust. Painful feelings are dangerous. (The corollary is all feelings have the potential to be painful, so

27 Oct, 2014
Posted by Steve Fogel
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