move you ahead. Each of the methods in this book offers a way for you to
consciously intervene to change the unconscious thinking you had been us-
ing up to now. Doing this ensures that your future brings you the results you
consciously intend. Our shorthand way of expressing this is:
The Future ≠The Past
The future does not equal the past.
Instead of “why” questions, train yourself to ask “how” and “what”
questions and others like them:- How can I move ahead more quickly?
- What do I need to change to progress more easily?
- How can I get others to help me?
- What other capabilities do I have to possess in order to succeed?
The creative part of your mind lives in the present and thus deals
with your intuition and feelings. It has the ability to invent new
ideas for future use. You use your creativity in the VCR method in
the appendix to give your mind a new and more resourceful view of
a past event. To apply the skills of goal setting and planning that
you will be learning, you must use your creativity.Commitment beyond Reason
There may be times in your progress toward a significant goal
when, by any sense of logic or reasoning, the right decision is to
give up. At this point, you may have little to show for all the effort
that you have invested. Success appears to be so far away that it’s
worth much less than the additional effort required. Struggling
harder in this situation isn’t the answer. Instead, renewing and
strengthening your commitment is far more effective. Commitment
is a function of the creative part of your mind and defies logic.
Commitment is a matter of focus. It relies on your ability to focus
on the things that you choose as important and to pay no heed to
those you decide do not matter. An example of this from my (PL) life
is that in the mid-1960s, I served as commanding officer of a ninety-
five-foot Coast Guard patrol boat engaged in search and rescue oper-
ations in the offshore waters of New England. The North Atlantic
winter isn’t pleasant on a boat that small. Although weather condi-
tions were a constant consideration, they did not determine whether
we went on a rescue. We dealt with the weather to survive, but we to-
tally ignored it when deciding whether to proceed or, once under-
way, to continue. This commitment was so strong that there really was138 Your Mind Is Not a Democracy