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After I published the ebook a week ago, I’ve been getting some feedback. Thank you to all who responded. I will be releasing a new version of the ebook, but first I’d like to share a few moments from my “blooper reel”. (Edit: A reader asked me if this will be a new book, or just a new version. I see more books in the future, but this refers to a new version of the present book.) As I mentioned in the podcast, I haven’t vaulted to where I am now. I tried a lot of different methods, techniques, and applications. Almost all of which have been discarded at one point or another. The few gems that actually worked are the ones I kept and what I use now.
Sit back, relax, and grab some popcorn. It’s time for some prat falls and pies-in-the-face.
The lead-in.
For those familiar with my story, I worked for years at a fast food job. In my early days as a shift lead, I worked the graveyard shift. Most of the people who came through were cranky, intoxicated, or (usually) both. When the bars and parties let out, it’s an instant flood, resulting in delays. In “fast food” that’s a bad combination. I’m a sensitive soul, and at the time I didn’t have the tools to deal effectively with the emotional bashing I’d get each night.
The technique.
Necessity being the mother of invention, I decided to use a visualization technique: I would imagine that there was a light in the drive-through window. When I would open the window and put my head in it, the light would shine only on the uniform, leaving my face a shadowy profile.
In the short term, this seemed to work fairly well. I was able to operate and the customers didn’t seem to get so nasty as they ordinarily would.
As I continued to use it, though, I found myself spiraling down emotionally. I hadn’t read anything on emotional intelligence, the emotional guidance scale, or release techniques. But when you are trying out a technique and suddenly you are feeling like either you aren’t important, or life isn’t all that interesting…. there’s a glitch somewhere.
The post-mortem.
I stopped using the technique and over a couple of days I realized what the difference was. By imagining my uniform without my face, I had sent the message to my inner mind that I was a non-entity. I was just the uniform, and had nothing else to contribute or accomplish or enjoy in life. Big glitch.
Deciding that a fast-food job isn’t worth me denying everything there is about myself, I decided instead to try alternate methods. Like so many things, I eventually found that the greatest source of power was from within. I tried going “dark” for a bit and ruling the drive-through with an iron fist, but that didn’t work either: Not my style, and it doesn’t really work on people who are intoxicated. But I digress.
When I looked at this application of visualization I cooked up, it seemed pretty solid. Only by experimentation (or experience) could I tell that it would backfire. In retrospect, the lesson provided by having this lesson blow up in my face has greater value than the technique would have had if it had worked.
Do you have any “bloopers” to share? If so, please leave them in the comments!
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