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Pushing Through Deception

Pushing Through Deception: You know the feeling; You decide to start something new and all you see are limitless possibilities. Your mind races with potential and you are certain that success will be yours.

Then you wake up the next day and a sliver of that enthusiasm has waned. Later that same day, you begin to see some holes in your strategy. By the next week, your passion is on life-support and your mind is racing to come up with the next big thing.

It Happens to All of Us

If the above scenario sounds a bit too familiar; take heart and know that you are not alone. What you are experiencing is very typical, common and, actually natural.

Most of us are addicted to Variety. We love change, new things, excitement and the potential of greatness. in the NASP world model, this initial stage is called the “Inception Stage” and most of us begin a new Inception Stage countless times during our lives. During this stage, you have no limits and can only see the glowing potential of your new endeavor. Sure, you may have completed some strategic planning, discovered the potential pitfalls and areas of concern, but your mind is most likely filled with excitement and what the future can, should and may bring.

Unfortunately (and fortunately) the Inception Stage has to end in order for you to grow. And what the Inception Stage grows into is the most challenging growth stage of all.

Welcome to Deception! Enjoy Your Stay
By definition, deception means to be deceived, lied to, tricked or any other term used to describe the act of being told or shown something that is not true. When you move to the Deception Stage, your inner-voice, aka your subconscious mind, will find its vocal chords and begin stretching them to maximum capacity.

This voice will tell you and show you that your grandiose plans are too hard to complete. That your goals are just too far out of reach and that you would be better off making some concessions or scrapping the whole thing and move on to something else or back to something comfortable.

You have reached the “dip,” where dreams go to die. You’ve reached the point that the vast majority of us concede and demonstrate our superior rationalization skills. When you hit the Deception Stage, you are fighting not only any external opponents that may lay in your path, but, more importantly, you are facing a tremendously skilled warrior in yourself.

The inner warrior is focused on keeping you safe and sound. It wants you to be comfortable and will be whatever it can to make even your slightest advances towards growth a challenge.

Why would your subconscious mind want to hold you back? To fully answer that I would suggest learning more about the personal development programs offered through NASP, but here is a little insight and suggestion based on some personal experience.

What is Known Versus the Unknown

The most probable reason why the Deception Stage reveals itself is actually meant to be a protective measure. Your subconscious mind has been listening and recording to everything you’ve done throughout your entire life. Once you hit maturity, your subconscious mind has learned what it takes to keep you (and therefore “itself”) alive.

The concept of breaking ranks with your tried and proven traditions causes a sense of discomfort to your subconscious mind. And if your subconscious is feeling discomfort, it is going to do what it can to make you uncomfortable. Unfortunately for your subconscious mind, it doesn’t understand growth and sees anything that “feels” like growth as a threat to your security.

But don’t be so quick to blame your subconscious mind; it is only trying to keep you safe. It does this by sending strong emotions to your conscious mind that are intended to make you stop your growth initiative. Typical feelings you should expect to feel when you enter the wonderful Deception Stage are frustration, boredom, loss of interest and no longer believing that whatever changes you are trying to make are worth the effort.

If you give up, you have given in to the deception of you subconscious mind and you will, most certainly, start the back at the Inception phase with yet another wonderful, guaranteed and failsafe idea. And the cycle begins again.

My Only Advice

The Deception Stage has ended billions of dreams and sent millions back to the drawing board. If you begin the Inception Stage with honesty and true passion, your best defense during the Deception Stage is to consistently remind yourself of your vision. Write out your intentions on a sheet of paper or create an electronic file that you can reference on your smartphone, and read your intention everyday. This will keep your vision always in the front of your mind and will keep the passion behind your intention strong.

When you feel like quitting, re-visit the reasons why you started on your journey of growth and see if you still have passion about realizing your intention and if your feelings of quitting are based on life changes or if your thoughts of quitting are based on deception.

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