Video Blog Transcription:

(00:00):
Welcome to the Natural Way of Being Video Blog. This video is titled “Outcome versus Process Orientation. Our culture is very outcome-oriented. We want results. Our boss and our workplace want results. We want two-day shipping from Amazon, and we want instant answers from the internet.

So it only makes sense when we offer an intention, we tend to view it and measure it in terms of its outcome, as in, "Is the thing we want here yet?"

However, when we offer an intention, a true intention, anyway, it creates a partnership with life. And Life or Spirit or God or the Universe has much more of a process-type orientation. So what I mean by that is when you offer an intention, Life kind of takes you on a journey for you to awaken the thing you want in your life.

(01:05):
And so there's a real tendency to offer an intention and create a journey or a process with Life, but then to measure it in terms of its outcome or whether it's here yet. And this creates some conflict. They are two different paradigms that we’re putting together in a way that creates conflict.

So until we have the final outcome of the thing that we want in our life, in exactly the way we pictured it, we probably don't feel like we've made any progress. Our mind from its outcome orientation tells us either you have the thing or you don't. And if you don't have the thing, you really haven't made any progress.

Meanwhile, we could have made all kinds of progress on this journey or process that we've been in, but it just hasn't taken form yet.

(02:02):
And the other thing is, a lot of the things we want have obstacles. So we want an intimate relationship that we can feel like ourselves in, or we want to be part of a community and that we feel like we belong in, or we want work or a livelihood that we feel is true to our life purpose.

And a lot of times our culture doesn't value these things the same way that we do. So there's a little swimming upstream. If culture values one thing and we value something else, there may be obstacles. There may be these external obstacles.

And in addition to that, we may have internalized some of the values and belief systems of our culture. So we have these limiting beliefs that are also obstacles for us. So we have internal obstacles as well.

(02:58):
So there's an old saying in psychotherapy that says 90% of psychotherapy is actually working through our resistance, and it's only 10% of the work that we actually bring the thing into our lives. And this of course applies to life coaching as well.

So from Life’s perspective, Life or Spirit, it understands this, right? So it's going to take us on a journey so that we can work through our resistance, work through our fear, work through our obstacles and our limiting belief systems so that we can allow the thing to unfold in our lives.

So for example, say the thing that you're intending is you want an intimate relationship, and say you've been at it for a year. You've been dating and going through all the various experiences. You've been in a relationship for a while, and it didn't work out. And here you are a year later.

(03:57):
And also for the sake of our example, assume that you've been working through the fears and the limiting beliefs as you go along and say you're 80% of the way. So you're right there, you've removed 80% of the obstacles. And you're about to have this breakthrough and actually allow yourself to have an intimate relationship.

But your mind is going to say: “Today again, you had a date, and it didn't work out. You thought that this relationship was going to work and it didn't. So you're at square one. I mean, you're absolutely nowhere. You're basically starting over.”

(04:35):
So what I'm suggesting is we need a different set of eyes, a different perspective to measure our progress when we set an intention. To look at it more from the perspective of Life, the way Life does, as a journey or as a process. Did we work through some fears? Did we unplug some limiting beliefs? Did we let go of some of the resistance that we have toward it? And then acknowledge those things.

So I'm asking you to take another look at where you're at before you throw in the towel, before you give up on your intention, because you might be a lot closer than you think you are.

So anyway, that is my video blog for this week. Thank you for watching. I hope you have an awesome week and that you're able to acknowledge the progress that you're making on the things that you'd like to have in your life. So thanks a lot, and I'll see you in a week.