TRUE STORY
God Spoke to Me This Morning
And he made me laugh
It is true. God spoke to me this morning.
I have a transcript of the conversation, but you need some background information before we get to that. Please stick with me.
Dean Graziosi is a best-selling author with an estimated net worth of $40million. He once paid £10,000 to have half a day with a business coach. He credits his success to the advice he received from that coach, Joe Stumpf.
Remember, it cost him £10K. It cost me slightly less to learn it from Paul. But I’m going to give you the advice for free. OK, it is not entirely free because you have to pay to be a reader here. But, you know, pretty free.
It is called the 7 Levels Deep Exercise, and it is a tool that will improve your writing. I promise.
The exercise cuts through the voices in your head and gets to your heart. If you can get to the heart of your why, as Victor Frankl said, you will be able to bear almost any “how”.
You will be able to bear the dark side, that voice in your head that whispers to you and says you are not good enough, that you are an imposter.
The exercise is quite simple. Grab yourself a notebook and ask yourself:
Question One
“Why do I want to be a successful writer?”
The following six questions follow from your answer to that first question. They all begin with: “Why is it important to you . . .”
So, what did you write?
If you wrote: “So I can make money,” then your next question is:
Question Two
“Why is it important to you to make money?” Whatever your answer is to this question, you then go deeper: “Why is it important to you that . . .” Fill in whatever you gave as your answer to question 2. (e.g., you are financially secure). And so on until you have gone 7 levels deep.
If things go according to plan, you will gain insights around questions 3, 4 or 5. You will switch from your head to your heart and uncover your deepest why.
You can find out more about how to do the 7 Questions Deep exercise in this YouTube clip. Maybe come back to it at the end if things are not clearer by then.
The first time I did this exercise, I hit a problem.
Question 1
I asked myself: Why do I want to be successful in life? Answer: Because otherwise, what is the point of being here?
Question 2
Why is it important to you that there is a point to being here? Answer: Because otherwise, there would be no point in being here.
I just kept going around in circles.
I thought about it some more and figured out that I don’t really want to be “successful”. I am enough.
So, I tried again with a different question.
- Why is it important to you to NOT want to be successful? Because “success” takes me away from my authentic self.
2. Why is it important to you not to be taken away from your authentic self? Because I am enough
3. Why is it important to you that you are enough? Because we are all enough.
4. Why is it important to you that we are all enough? Because people have forgotten this. Because the desire for “more” takes us away from the present moment.
5. Why is it important to you that people have forgotten this? Because in the forgetting, people have lost their relationship with themselves.
6. Why is it important to you that people have lost their relationship with themselves? Because without that connection, they move away from authenticity and vulnerability.
7. Why is it important to you that people have moved away from authenticity and vulnerability? Because I want to help others know that they are enough. Because I want to help myself and others heal by being authentic and vulnerable in my writing.
NOTE: You are meant to stop at question 7. But I am autistic and never do things by the rules. I kept going deeper. So deep that God spoke to me. Behold!
8. Why do you want to help yourself and others heal by being authentic and vulnerable in your writing? Because I am wounded, and others are wounded. Most of us are wounded.
9. Why do you want to help yourself and others heal by being authentic and vulnerable in your writing? So that I can feel connected to others.
10. Why do you want to feel connected to others? Because I am human.
11. Why do you want to feel connected to others? Because I have often felt disconnected, misunderstood, less than.
12. Why is it important to you that others understand you? Because I feel “less than” and know I am not. I know I am enough.
13. Why is it important to you that others understand you? Honestly, I’m not 100% sure that I do.
14. Why is it important to you that others understand you? Because I have been misunderstood most of my life.
15. Why is it important to you that others understand you? Because I fear that I will only heal when I have had external validation of my “worth”. [Oh dear!!]
16. Why is it important to you that others validate your “worth”? Because I don’t value it myself. [Double Oh dear!]
17. Why is it important to you that others validate your “worth”? Because I don’t really value myself. I fear I am not enough.
18. Why is it important to you that you don’t value yourself? Because I know I am wrong.
19. So, why do you want external validation? Because I am shallow.
20. So, why do you want external validation? Because I don’t trust myself
21. So, why do you want external validation? Because I feel like a failure.
22. So, why is external validation important to you? Because my ego is fucked.
23. So why is external validation important to you? Because I have low self-esteem?
24. Are you sure? Not entirely. Sometimes I think my self-esteem is too high. Sometimes I think I can do better than others at things.
25. Why is external validation important to you? Because I want my friends and family to know that I am capable of achieving something. (OH DEAR!]
26. Why is it important to you that your friends and family know you can achieve something? Because I have not achieved my potential.
27. Why is it important to you to achieve your potential? Because Alison read my palm and told me I had been born with so much potential and had wasted it. Back when I was only in my 20's. And that has stayed with me.
28. Why is it important to you to achieve your potential? Because I am worried that I have wasted this one good life.
29. Why is it important to you that you may have wasted this one good life? Because I want to succeed. [What the FUCK??]
30. Why is it important to you to succeed? Well, I didn’t THINK it was. Now I am worried.
31. Why is it important to you to succeed? Because I feel like a failure and want to prove myself wrong.
[OH FUCK!!]
32. Why is it important to you to succeed? Because I feel like a failure.
33. Why is it important to you to be successful in life? Aah, so now we start at the beginning again. Because my ego is out of control.
34. Why is it important to you that your ego is out of control? Because I want to tame the fucker.
35. Why is it important to you to tame your ego? Because that is the route to enlightenment. Isn’t it?
36. Why is it important to you to reach enlightenment? Because my ego is WAY out of control?
37. Why is it important to you to reach enlightenment? Well, isn’t that the whole purpose of being here?
38. Why is it important to you to have a purpose for being here? Because otherwise, what is the point of being here?
39. So you don’t think there is any point in being here if you don’t have a purpose? Well, now I am confused.
40. Why is it important to you to be successful in life? Maybe it isn’t.
41. Well, now you are talking. Who the fuck are you? Am I talking to God?
42. Why is it important to you to think you are talking to God? Because I have always wanted to talk to God.
43. I have always been here. I have gone all goose-bumpy now.
44. Why have you started to think that God might be inside you? OMG. You read minds.
45. I am here. What do you want to ask me? Am I enough?
46. Indubitably. Is that even a word?
47. It doesn’t matter whether it is or not. Just have fun with words. I am laughing now.
48. That is good. Laughter is good. I feel lighter.
49. Lighter is good too. Thanks God.
50. You’re welcome. Come back anytime.
So there you have it, my friends. Take it from God and just have fun with words.
Postscript: for the record, I don’t believe in God in any religious sense. I don’t think the Bible is a fax from God. I don’t even like the term “God”, if truth be told. But I do believe in an all-pervading energy that connects all living things. I believe in awe and mystery and that it is OK not to know. And for want of a better word, “God” works for me as representative of a profound sense of one-ness.
While you are here, can I recommend this article by Toni The Talker. It is really worth clicking on the link to the book that isn’t really a book.
