Under the circumstances

The circumstances are heavy indeed. Systems work hard to maintain the status quo.

The teacher is doing the best they can. But the principal and the board and the regents and the parents…

The board member got elected with great intentions. But the state and the unions and the parents…

The textbook publishers want to do better, but the boards and…

You get the idea.

The circumstances conspire to put us under them.

The option is to start small, as small as possible. Small enough to work, big enough to put you on the hook. Build something that works.

And then, the challenging task begins: Get someone else to do it too.

The Future is about learning to create.

There is no formula for creating. I cannot teach you a technique for creating. However, you can be empowered to create by making certain Distinctions, and having a first hand experiences of the principles of creation.

When we think of creating we most often think of creating objects, such as a painter creating a painting, a poet writing a poem, a carpenter building a piece of furniture, or a manager creating a plan.

The purest and most powerful kind of creation is creating possibility - creating the possibility for something or some situation to exist which did not exist before. There are two domains in which to create possibility:

1) Create possibility for yourself (this is done through shifting identity, shifting the internal conversation)

2) Create possibility for others (this is done by shifting the external conversation)

We are creating all of the time. Every movement of our body, every word, every place we look or place our attention, every word we speak is an act of creation. We are already at source. However, almost everything we create we are unconscious of. This is unconscious creation. If we create unconsciously, then everything created conforms to laws Below The Line, and can only serve our psychological defense strategy - our survival conversation.

Most people are not creating. Most people are reacting to circumstances or even responding to circumstances, solving problems, or operating out of a set of Beliefs, mottos or platitudes, etc. Relief from these problem circumstances is the primary interest of someone who is operating in this domain.

When most people are faced with an opportunity to create, they take the situation and adjust it to fit into their existing belief system, and then go about living within their comfort zone. Perhaps at the edge of their comfort zone, but nonetheless, within their comfort zone. Creation does not happen in the domain of our psychological comfort zone, although one can become comfortable in an unconventional way in the domain of creation. Creation always pushes on oneself. There is a kind of heat to it; it demands something of us, but once you get bitten by creation you will never ever want anything else.

When you are a creator, your relationship to life becomes more involved, more vital, more precious, more exciting, and more beautiful. For me and for some other people I know, creation is often like a perpetual state of being in love.

Here at Rasa Floors you are fortunate that you have a leader who knows what he wants. And what he wants is very interesting to him, and it could be to you to. He wants to create Quantum Growth for Rasa Floors. He wants that you are twice as big as you are now in less than two years. He wants Rasa Floors to have $18,000,000 in volume; which is $1.5 million per month beginning ____________.

Most people would say it can't be done, or that it is too difficult, etc., and then they would be committed to prove it by not creating it. This is reasonable. No one in the world would say you did a bad job if you continued to grow at your present rate. Yet Michael Rasa is committed to creating Quantum Growth.

Most people would look at the unreasonableness of Michael's request and decide that it would be a lot easier for him to adjust his desired results to fit the existing methods and procedures which are known and familiar rather than to adjust the methods and procedures so as to accomplish his goals.

The $18,000,000 will not be found by waiting around for them to show up by themselves. These results must be created.

How are the results to be created? The fact is that we do not know the specifics of how the results will be created. We do however, understand the creative principle known as Directed Tension.

Directed Tension is the result of the force that results between two conflicting but simultaneously held perceptions. The two perceptions are:

1) A clear vision of the results desired

2) A clear vision of current reality.

Normally, two things cannnot occupy the same place at the same time. A human being has the capacity to have two things occupy the same place at the same time, and be aware of both of these conditions at the same time, the vision and the current reality. The tension of the perceived difference between what is sincerely desired and all the parts of that vision which are lacking in present reality produces a natural force (Directed Tension) to correct the condition. Reality is directed by this tension to move towards the desired results.

For example: If I am in charge of speaking to referred clients about just exactly what they need to get a job done so that we can order materials, load up the trucks and schedule work crews, and I handle 15 jobs a week, and the vision which I have chosen to commit to is to double my throughput, that is, to handle 30 jobs a week, who would I have to be to make that happen? What are all the things that don't match? What action steps can I take right now to move in the direction of making current reality match the vision?

Once reality matches with the vision, the creation is complete, and it is time to establish a new condition of Directed Tension. Any successful manager has mastered the skill of creating Directed Tension, and teaches others on his or her team to do the same.

CREATING POSSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF (land this now)

When you really commit to something it produces a shift in who you are. Before the commitment who you are does not include what you are committed to. After you commit, who you are actually includes what you commit to. Committing changes who you are. When you ARE different, then you have different possibilities. One way to create possibility for yourself, then, is to commit to something.

For example, my friends daughters are totally into horses. They breathe horses. The walls of their rooms are covered with horse pictures, bridles, horse shoes, ribbons from jumping competitions, bundles of horse hair from their favorite horses. Now, my friend never particularly liked horses. As his children grow and change, he keeps recommitting to them. And at one point he realized that committing to his children meant committing to horses. All of a sudden he has horses in his life simply because of his commitment. In this case, to his children.

Once you learn the mechanics of commitment, you will be able to create things that you never before dreamed were possible for you and those in your life. Big commitments will no longer be a problem or a burden. Rasa Floors doing 18 million dollars in business will not push on you, like a problem.

What happens if Rasa Floors does $18,000,000? What is in it for you? Do you want that? (take answers)

What's in it for you besides all the percs and bonuses Michael gives is that you get to learn to be a creator, and you can take that with you.

Can you commit to making that happen? I want you to seriously consider this question. If you have doubts about it, I want you to speak truthfully about your considerations.

(Ask individuals. Do not get a mob fantasy agreement. You need real communication from individuals. You are bringing a commitment into the body of Rasa employees and staff. Take your time. You don't want it to conclude here. You need time to land commitment as an experience in the whole group.)

If not, what comes up for you? (begin to identify the voices which are showing up)

One standard answer to the invitation to commit is: "I don't believe it is possible." which is really "I don't know how." The truth is that "I don't know how" is a totally separate and irrelevant consideration to the commitment to create $18,000,000. The commitment always comes first, and then the knowledge of how to make it all happen comes after the commitment. What we are always dealing with in the face of commitment is our internal voices which disempower us.

CONTINUE WITH COMMITMENT

Can you commit to Rasa Floors making $18,000,000 in ____________?

This act of committing to produce $18,000,000 is a completely free choice.

If it is not a free choice then it is not a commitment. It is an obligation.

If we are committed to the result of $18,000,000 then we have to do it even if we don't know how to do it. The commitment comes first.

Only after a commitment is it necessary to actually figure out how to do it.

(If practical time and space and energy objections arise, agree with them - what they are saying is completely true under normal circumstances. Then begin to show them that these are not normal circumstances. Their considerations are not wrong or bad, but definitely not valid anymore.)

Say, "Yes, you are correct. Under normal circumstances this could not be done. Lucky for us, this is not a normal situation because Michael Rasa is the kind of man who makes impossible things happen."

Commitment is a speech act. It is a declaration, to begin with. A kiss is more than a kiss.

Can you commit to Rasa Floors being 18 million dollars in _________?

(YES!!!!!)

(commitment has landed in Rasa now)

If you create what you have always created you will get what you've always gotten.

It is possible to make our creating conscious. We can only do this by being someone other that who we have always been. Becoming someone else is called Shifting Identity. The new identity has possibilities available that original identity did not.

As mentioned before, we can shift identity by making a commitment.

If we are committed to keeping our agreements, for example, then when we regard ourselves internally, or we look at ourselves in the mirror, who we train ourselves to see is integrity, or impeccability. The experience is, "I am integrity." This is a totally new way to be, a totally shifted identity. The new identity inherently has a totally new set of possibilities.

We shift identities many times during a day. We shift identities with each person we relate to, even over the phone. We are different with our children, our mates, our neighbors, a police man, a bank teller. We actually enjoy shifting identities. That is why movies and theater are so popular. We can identify with the different characters. That is why costume parties are so fun, and dress up occassions, and going to the beach in swimwear, etc.

Most people shift identity unconsciously. A creator learns to shift identity consciously to serve a purpose. If a person has the ability to consciously shift identity, then they can be whatever they want or need to be to create whatever they want to create. If you do not have the capacity to consciously shift identity, then you are automatically a victim to your masks.

A mask is driven by a psychological imperative. (I need to look good, etc.)

THE MASK - SHIFTING INTERNAL CONVERSATIONS

EXPERIENCE: SHIFTING IDENTITY

putting hand on face, moving it away, putting it back on the face and experienceing yourself behind your mask.

WHAT IS UNDER THE MASK?

(Bernhard wanting to leave and us wanting to stay.)

Who people are is the conversation that is coming out of their mouth right now.

We commonly assume that the present conversation is the only possible conversation, and that we can have either this or that.

Conversations can be shifted such that we can have this AND that, and that it is a win win situation instead of a win lose situation.

There are many ways to shift conversations.

Shifting external conversations requires that you give things the time they need so they can occur in their own time - shifting external conversations cannot be rushed. (Whereas, shifting internal conversations can be instantaneous: BANG! It's shifted.)

The most important skill in shifting a conversation is Responsible Listening.

When two conversations are being created in the same space at the same time, there is a conflict of conversations.

Just because you experience a conflict of conversations with someone else does not necessarily mean that they experience a conflict of conversations with you.

Most of the time we unconsciously try to avoid a conflict of conversations by only getting in the same space with people who are in agreement with us or with whom we have previous understanding. If we can avoid a conflict of conversations then we can pretend that our conversation is the only conversation which exists. We can then be identified with our conversation about ourselves, other people and the world. This feels comfortable and safe to us. It feels normal to us.

When there is no conflict of conversation, nothing can change.

A creator does not let his or her fear stop them from moving towards conflicting conversations.

In order to shift an external conversation, we must first be willing to tolerate the discomfort of experiencing a conflict of conversations.

A shift of conversation has occurred when one of the conflicting conversations "wins" by becoming predominant, and there is a new agreement or understanding.

The conversation which wins (becomes predominant) is the conversation which is more fluid. (has more possibilities, is bigger picture, can contain the other conversation - not by control but by clarity, context, wisdom)

The value of engaging other people with whom you have conflicting conversations is that you may discover someone who has a conversation more fluid than yours. By engaging them, they may create the possibility that your conversation shifts to agree with theirs and therefore your conversation becomes more fluid. There is no top end.

Some of the ways you can create a fluid conversation for yourself:

Learn to move orthoganally (demonstrate finger going through fingers, and Dennis Rodman studying other people's moves) to the unstated assumptions of the space.

Learn to stay awake enough in situations so you can speak from a different domain than the dominant conversation.

Declare to yourself that "Something else is possible here."

Use questions to direct the other persons' attention to a new mutual benefit or value.

Make the other person the most important consideration - it's not about you. It's about them. Be interested rather than interesting.

Commit to the other people's commitments.

Discover the truth of the statement "I already have everything that I need" and declare this to yourself, so that your life is not about survival anymore.

Ask yourself the question: "What am I creating here?"

Always be aware of the purpose which the converstion you create serves. Is it serving your psychology? Or is it serving your commitment? In each moment, with each word, you choose which purpose it serves. If you are not aware of making this choice, then your conversation is serving your psychological purposes (ie. your stories, survival conversations, positions, defense strategies, games to get payoffs, etc.)

Choosing valuable projects? Who is choosing?

Versus serving something greater than yourself, e.g. E.C.C.O. or your Bright Principles or Archetypal Lineage

There exist almost unlimited worthwhile challenges all around you right now.

Previous to now those challenges were impossible, because you were already producing the maximum that you were capable of.

Now you have begun learning about creating.

Creation happens through Directed Tension

First we have a clear vision of the desired result.

Then we have a ruthlessly honest perception of current reality.

The contrast between the vision of the desired result and the perception of current reality produces the force which moves us towards the results.

Since we were already working at maximum, then Quantum Growth for Rasa Floors can only be created by us if we become different.

How do we become different? By Shifting Identity.

How do we Shift Identity? By Becoming Committed.

Our commitment has created the Possibility for us to be whoever we need to be to make Quantum Growth happen in our department, and to play as a coordinated team with all the other departments.

Who we were before now did not include us working as a team together to create $18,000,000. Now this is who we are. We have committed to fulfilling that vision.

The commitment has shifted our identity.

Before we were limited my our internal conversation, the voices, who we thought we were. Voices like: "I don't know how" we can shoot. This shifts the internal conversation.

Then we discover internal inspiration. We discover the force of creation is "I AM!!!"

Now we can create the possibility of Quantum Growth for others.

First we must be in contact with others.

Then we discover that their internal conversation does not yet include the possibility of Quantum Growth. That is okay.

What we have discovered is a conflict of conversations. Their internal conversation does not include Quantum Growth. Ours does.

How do we create possibility for others? By inviting them to shift their identity. We can show others the value of the vision of Quantum Growth, and show them the specific exact details of current reality, and then show them that by paying attention to the details we can in fact, step by step, create the reality of Quantum Growth. And doesn't that sound valuable for everyone and fun and exciting?

This is where we are going. We are committed. It is happening. Do you want to be a part of this?

When the others (sales people, craftsmen, suppliers) commit to the vision of Quantum Growth, they have shifted identity, they have become it, and then together with them you can go about to include someone else who has a conflict of conversations with the vision.

In this way Quantum Growth for Rasa Floors is a done deal. The chalk has hit the floor.

There is a magical ingredient to causing a creation to be completed enough to be released.

That ingredient is an insanely neurotic commitment to getting it done no matter what, meaning, no matter what else is happening around you, no matter what attractive invitations are made to go do something else with very attractive people.

Ones entire life can change tracks to a new future if you complete a project.

That is the scary part of finishing a project and getting it out the door, getting it delivered, getting it in some finished form that others can experience what you created. This is because completing a project makes you more visible in the world. Then instantly and automatically the world and its people will treat you differently.

Your completed project inspires other to get their projects completed and they may want your help. You receive their respect.

But you have to go through the insanity of actually getting it all the way fucking done and out there.

Yes, the other actual creators respect you for that. You become their brother in the insane world of getting epic shit done.

I (Clinton)know this from many projects which I have not completed, and a few projects which I have completed, for example my most recent book No Reason published by our own publishing company Thoughtware Press.

And I am working on the next manuscript now. I am half-way through the editing. I hate doing the work because it is so difficult and it takes me so much time that I could use for other things - like I am doing right now writing on this website - and... I will fucking go insane enough to get that fucking project done because it is a good book and I want it done and out there in the world.

The insane commitment comes from knowing that I only have the time allotted to this life. It may seem like a lot of time but it is not so much, after all. Projects use up time. The radical insane commitment comes from just fucking really wanting the thing to exist. That is all. Nothing else will do. Not deadlines. Not pleasing someone. Not impressing people. Not making money. Not being famous. Only wanting it to be a real thing in the world.

This insane commitment shreds the neurosis of trying to make it 'perfect' and pushes it through until it actually exists. It feels like the 'ring of fire' of giving birth to a baby must feel. No way out of it. No way except through.

You? You, of course, will do whatever you do, like everyone does, in the end.

Your job is to ground things in reality.

Gounding, like pushing roots into the earth, and branches into the sky.

It takes force to dig into the soil and move rocks out of the way and push through all the other bushes and trees to reach enough sun and rain to live.
It takes force to elegantly navigate people's reactivity, people's small vision of what is possible, all the restricting rules in people's minds that must be followed or they are punished by their own mother or fatherland.

Most times a thing will not become real through effortlessly convincing, or showing what could be, because people are mostly avoiding responsibility for creating what they love. They are not alive enough themselves. They cannot help you. You are the magician.

This is your job. It is your job because no one else can do it. The other villagers are too afraid to learn magic because they would have to source themselves from Radically Nothing, like you do.

You are an antenna from other dimensions, but the antenna includes a transformer, transforming stuff from other dimensions into this dimension. This takes everything, crushing, blending, mashing, forcing, fierce heating, shaping...

The work of the alchemist is real.