Meandering Mind - Eva Dillner [23]
These exercises are suitable for everyone, whether you are in a relationship, an organization or on your own. They will help you clarify your underlying values in a new way. Play with the different exercises and feel free to change them as you see fit. Share them with others and dialogue about your discoveries. Go back and review the talking dog exercise and use it to dialogue. I have repeated my M's for reference.
Money “The Management of Wealth made Simple”
Money is one of those loaded subjects that can get the emotions flying. Conflicting values about money is one of the biggest stressors in relationships. If you can dialogue about your differences and discover how to arrange your affairs to minimize conflict, wouldn't it be worth doing? But first you have to get clear on what your own beliefs are.
If you had an unlimited supply of money, what would you do with it? Take this question and write about it, dialogue about it and explore your fears, hopes and beliefs as you do this. Be honest with yourself and explore your feelings and thoughts about money. Are there any beliefs you'd like to change?
Keep digging beyond the surface stuff, do the exercise several times. Pay attention to what comes in the second or third go around. This is where we tuck the real treasures, the values that actually drive us. It's so important to dig beneath the surface, because what our conscious mind says is not the driver, it's the subconscious that is in charge. When we can discover what is in our subconscious, we can align ourselves with our true values and beliefs. If we don't like what comes up we can change our beliefs.
One more exercise to access your core values and beliefs about money. Brainstorm. What thoughts, words or images pop up in your awareness around money? Just keep repeating the mantra money, money, money, money, money... catch the thought. Repeat the mantra money, money, money, money, money... see the picture. Repeat the mantra money, money, money, money, money... hear the sound. Repeat the mantra money, money, money, money, money... and savor its taste. Repeat the mantra money, money, money, money, money... and inhale the smell. Could it be the sweet smell of success?
Motto “Everything has Room for Improvement”
How do you come up with a motto? I don't think it's necessary to come up with a punchy statement unless you get your kicks from it like I do. But exploring themes and which mottos appeal to you can be a fun exercise and help you learn something about yourself.
For fun, get on the internet and do a motto search. My current favorite search engine is Google. By the time you read this there may be something even better out there. Engage your family, friends and colleagues and go on a motto hunt. Collect as many mottos as you can find, make a list and print it out.
Then cut the paper so each motto is on a separate piece of paper. Put the scraps into a jar or bowl, then draw them out one by one. For the motto you have pulled out, try to describe the type of person this represents, what they are like and what they stand for.
Or, take the list and circle the mottos that appeal to you then work on refining them until you come up with your own.
Method “Cooperation and Mutual Support”
To discover how you go about doing what you do, you may want to play journalist for a bit. Go interview people you know, it doesn't matter if they are social acquaintances or people you've worked with for years. Ask them to tell you how they perceive you, how they would describe your method for coping with the world. You may gain some valuable insights and find some surprises too. Remember that we see through different lenses, and although we are all looking at the same elephant, to use a common metaphor, one of us has the ears as a focus, another the trunk, another the legs and so on. So when we describe the elephant from one viewpoint