27 Nov Getting Off the Hamster Wheel: From Achilles Heel to Super Power

Most of us live busy lives. It’s easy to feel like the proverbial hamster– going faster and faster on the wheel, in an attempt to “get it all done.” Although this may work when it comes to completing errands, it doesn’t help us understand why we’re not making the desired progress in life. The telltale sign is the problem that continues to lurk in the background. It may be a dysfunctional relationship with a spouse or family member, a dead-end job, or a physical problem that persists. Litmus test: if you spin the wheel faster, it doesn’t solve the problem, you remain “stuck” in the same place, you know it’s time to do some different. There’s one further complication, “What can I do that will make a difference?” If we’ve had a problem that’s persisted for decades, typically we may have even given up on trying to solve the problem. It’s become the wallpaper of our life.
I know, I’m describing my own situation twenty-one years ago. Although certain parts of my life were working well, I was failing in intimate relationships. I realized it was time to exit this treadmill. The many self-help books I read over the previous decades were not helpful for resolving my issue. I capitulated and found a therapist to tackle the problem in earnest. What happened next surprised me.

After a year of therapy, my therapist shared a process termed, intuitive writing in psychology, it’s about learning how to activate the right side of the brain. I discovered the source of my problem using a unique process from the book, Recovery of Your Inner Child,  involving learning how to specifically activate the right side of the brain, I realize this sounds odd and perhaps even inconceivable.  I was in that same camp until I learned the process actually works. It made more sense when I learned the process is based at the intersection of neuroscience and psychology. In the twenty-one years since, I consider activating the right brain as the “How to” do what seems impossible at times, “Think Outside the Box.”
Resolving my problem with intimacy in relationships proved to be a great wake up call for learning how to live a more intentional, authentic life. My Achilles heel issue led to what I deem now to be my superpower in life. Years after therapy, I adapted what I learned to turn it into a tool that could be used to take on problems either in one’s personal or business life. This methodology became my “go-to” when I faced a tough issue in life and needed the added wisdom. It turns out that the right half of the brain is known to be where creativity, artistry, spirituality and also problem solving reside. That’s precisely why it makes for a valuable tool. Eleven years ago, I decided to do a deep dive into this topic and conducted 200 interviews that led to my own book on this process, titled, Thought Revolution: How to Unlock Your Inner Genius, published by Simon & Schuster, an updated version was released in August 2014.

It’s gratifying to help folks unlock what I’ve come to believe as their inner genius, or put differently, “Their Better Half.” You don’t have to accept the status quo or settle in life, you’ve got a pathway to work past the “Shadows” you face in life. You need only learn how to activate this side of your brain to get to the good stuff. I’m inviting you to meet me at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA for the weekend of Jan 17-19, 2020 to “Meet Your Better Half” by unlocking your right brain.

Past workshop participants have found it to be a transformational process.

It was a pleasure meeting you at Esalen.  The insights and knowledge I received from your course have been profound for me and I thank you.  The voice emanating from my right brain during the Thought Revolution exercises was very different from the typical everyday ‘Jeff’ chatter in my head.  I had heard that voice really only once before, and I thought it was god speaking to me then.  Well, I heard the god voice again this past weekend and I guess he/she resides in my right brain.

–Jeff V.