Month: October 2015

here’s nothing more frustrating that a slow driver in the left-hand passing lane.

This is a time when you know you’re right. You can practically see the page of the driver’s manual that says, “The left lane is for passing. As soon as you’ve passed, return to the right lane.” You may have even seen highway signs posting the same instructions. This is a situation where it really is true. They really should get in the right lane if they are driving slowly. So is it worth doing The Work on it?

The Work of Byron Katie is a simple tool for self-inquiry. But the mind can turn it into yet another way to feel bad about yourself. Here are two ways I’ve noticed that the mind tries to do this…

The mind will prove whatever you ask it to prove. If you ask it to prove why this is a really serious problem, or why this whole problem arose in the first place, the mind will do it.

By working my past experiences, the future seems to care of itself. The future gets brighter and more hopeful as I keep doing The Work on my past situations. This is what Byron Katie means when she says that The Work is preventive maintenance. But there’s also value in doing The Work on upcoming Issues.

We’re all looking for shortcuts. So it’s natural when doing The Work to start recognizing patterns. And to create a little template based on those patterns.

Are you limiting yourself to three examples? Three is a nice guideline for finding turnaround examples. But it doesn’t have to be an absolute. For example, sometimes finding just one example for a turnaround is all I need to see a shift in my perspective. At other times, three examples barely scratch the surface of my belief system. Sometimes I need more examples. A lot more.

One of my clients did a fascinating piece of work recently. She has been out of work for a while. And while she is very good at what she does, she is not so good at time management and productivity. This resulted in her coming under review in her last job, and eventually she quit that job to avoid a possible firing on her record.

My writing teacher had a great piece of advice. He used to tell us to go “one inch wide and one mile deep.

If you have the money and the time, I recommend Byron Katie’s nine-day School for The Work. I have participated in it twice as a participant and once as staff. The School is packed full of exercises and activities designed to mirror the transformation Katie went through after her awakening to reality.