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4 Pillars of Personal Success & Manifestation

lorna li — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:47:01 +0000

I believe in the power of manifestation, and have applied the principles of The Secret toward achieving my personal goals with great success. However, I believe that in addition to forming a mental intention to accomplish a goal, especially a big goal, the action that one takes towards fulfilling this intent are equally, if not more important than just the concept itself. In other words, just thinking about being rich is not going to suddenly – poof - make you rich. You have to create an action plan and then take the appropriate actions towards increasing wealth.

I know many people who wholeheartedly believe in The Secret and the power of The Power of Intention, but still remain, pretty much, stuck in the same situation they are trying to get out of. The other day I was discussing with a friend of mine who is just now starting to formulate his life goals beyond working McJobs to fund long backpacking stints around the world, while scrimping and penny-pinching in between jaunts. He’s now in a place where he wants to have a meaningful career and one day, be able to support a family. He’s determined to make a six figure salary next year. But how to get there from a year and a half of unemployment and a work history of menial jobs?

Having thought a lot about the art of meaningful, spiritually, & financially fulfilling work over the past decade and a half, I shared with him the 4 attributes that I believe are essential towards fulfilling a big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG):

Clear Vision – the Universe is conspiring to help you. However, if you are not clear with exactly what it is you want, the Universe will misfire, presenting you with opportunities and choices that may be off, or a diluted version of what you want. Spending the time to ask yourself what it is you truly want is the most important part of the manifestation process. This process is as much emotional as it is intellectual – its important to feel as if you were on the verge, if not already living the achievement of your goal. This way the emotional connection between your body and mind will ground the vision in the present moment. Achieving your goal will feel real, and eventually become real. Because the clear visioning process is so important, remember to focus on the positive fulfillment of your goals. Don’t focus on the negative, by obsessing about the things you want to avoid.
Statement of Intention – once you have arrived at a clear vision of your goals, the next step is to state your intention to the Universe. Sum up your goal in a 30 second elevator pitch to the Universe. Be able to state your goal clearly, with confidence. Write it down. Then proceed to write down all the details around the goal itself. Let’s say your goal is to work for a company that “develops a cutting edge social application that enables people to connect like never before at the local level.” Imagine what this application would do and map out the ways in which people would interact. Imagine the kind of developers you would work with, and the kind of people who would be on your team. Where would funding come from? How much money would you make? What title would you have? Make a big list and down all the details. Make a vision board with magazine cut-outs and drawings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone through this process, only to stash my list somewhere, find it months later and discover that I’d achieved nearly every, if not every item on the list. That’s why it’s important to be specific – the more specific you get, the easier it is for the Universe to conspire to help you.
Right Action – this means integrity, coupled with efficiency. Being busy is not the same as being efficient. It’s super easy to fill the day with busy-ness, to run yourself ragged going from one thing to another, and yet never appear to make any progress. If this is happening, take a step back and identify which actions are bringing you closer to your goal and which are simply taking up your time. Eliminate the time suckers. It could also be that you have too many projects going on at the same time, and are simply stretched too thin. At this point, it’s important to identify which project is the most important and focus. From an energetic perspective, working from a place of integrity is the most efficient.
Community – networking and creating ongoing relationships with like-minded people, especially those who share similar goals, is critical to success, especially to the success of big, hairy, audacious goals (BHAGs). No (wo)man is an island, and it’s very difficult to manifest a big, challenging vision and succeed all alone. Most successful people and organizations are buoyed by the community of people that surround them. For this reason, it’s valuable to seek mentorship from people who are ahead of you in the process, as well as comraderie among peers who are at the same stage of development. Never forget to pay it forward, to people behind you on the path. At the same time, it’s necessary to prune out the people in your life who will tear you down, be a negative influence, bum you out, and display habits & behaviors that are not in line with your vision. By creating a great community and support network around you, we all end up inspiring each other to grow, share, and learn.

So these are my 4 pillars of success for the manifestation of a big personal goal or vision. What do you think?

3rd Annual Symbiosis Gathering – An Eco-Music Festival in the Sierra Foothills

lorna li — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:05:06 +0000

The Third Annual Symbiosis Gathering, an arts, music, and conscious lifestyle event much like a mini Burning Man in the mountains, took place approximately 15 miles up a one-lane dirt road from the town of Angels Camp, California, from 20-24 September 2007. Getting there was a journey. The scenery was spectacular. And I had no idea what I was in for.

It did not really sink in until 4am Saturday morning as I was lying in our tent feeling the bass reverberate from the ground, that I had, in effect, signed up for 4 continuous days of deadly good music. From Thursday until Monday noon, outdoor live and electronic world grooves, downtempo, hip hop, breaks, psy and psybient trance took place on three stages nestled amidst foothill pines, manzanitas, and blue oak trees. In between, you could peruse full-scale art installations, listen to guest speakers, attend workshops, learn about comprehensive greening initiatives or relax in healing spaces.

Efforts to make Symbiosis a zero-waste, green event were commendable – given the festival’s distance from civilization.

Programs were printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, using a wind-powered printer and non-toxic inks.

Vendors provided 100% organic food using re-usable dishes that were washed onsite, for a $1 refundable deposit. In addition, Symbiosis provided basic recycling and composting services, as well as biodiesel generators and fuel. Environmental education was made available through the Renewable Energy Showcase presented by the Sustainable Living Roadshow, and other performances.

My favorite eco-experience was taking a much enjoyed, $5 steaming hot low-impact shower courtesy of the creators of the “Purification Portal – an Integrated Water Experience.”

The lineup was stellar: Hallucinogen in Dub, Shpongle, Eat Static, Symbiotic Orchestra (feat. Steve Kimock, members of SCI, Zilla, the Glitch Mob, & Special Guests), Bassnectar, Bluetech, Chris de Luca vs. Phon.o, D-Nox & Beckers, Entheogenic, Flying Lotus, Kelpe, Lotus, Mala, Ott, Pnuma (live PA) , Rinkadink, PatchBay, Pedro, Solead, SOTEG, Spoonbill, Telefon Tel Aviv, Ticon, TranceZenDance, Triptych, Zilla, and more.

[tags]symbiosis, 3rd annual symbiosis gathering[/tags]

The Green Art of Burning Man 2007 – More Symbolic than Sustainable

lorna li — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:30:24 +0000

Burning Man’s Green Man theme for 2007 inspired environmental art that was far more symbolic than sustainable. For example, the Crude Awaking installation was blown up in a giant mushroom cloud in order to ‘dramatize the worshipful relationship and dependence modern man has toward oil’. I can only imagine the amount of fuel it took to haul, install, and blow up a 99 foot oil derrick.

A favorite installation of mine was the wondrous Big Rig Jig by Mike Ross, which featured 2 oil tanker trucks in perfect acro-yogic balance.

The highly interactive swinging monkeys installation was another favorite of mine.

A troupe of child-sized monkeys were suspended from a merry-go-round wheel, at the base of which a set of congo drums was placed, inviting visitors to beat upon them in reckless abandon. Surrounding the merry-go-round was a ring of bikes. With several people rapidly peddling, the wheel begins to spin, and rapidly flashing strobe lights create the illusion that the monkeys are swinging overhead from bar to bar.

Of the art cars I saw this year, 2 are dear to my heart.

Photo courtesy of Duane Flatmo

Duane Flatmo’s latest Kinetic Sculpture, the pedal-powered Armored Carp, is made entirely of welded baking pans and other pieces of scrap metal also shoots flames.

The solar-powered Daisy (owned by the Cunninhams and friends) was an oversized tricycle with sails and a horn that sounded like a loud, drawn-out cow-fart provided an afternoon of entertainment and photo opps.

Elena Cunningham

John Cunningham

To see more Burning Man photography, visit my Green Man 2007 Set on Flickr.

[tags]burning man 2007, green man 2007, eco-art, crude awakening, big rig jig, mike ross, daisy, elena cunningham, john cunningham, duane flatmo, armored carp, kinetic sculpture, lorna li[/tags]

Green Man 2007 – Photos from the Playa

lorna li — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:01:43 +0000

Images from Burning Man 2007 are up. Here are a selection of my favorites. To view more of my photography visit my Flickr profile.

[tags]burning man 2007, green man[/tags]