Richard Branson on his love for risk
October 19, 2009 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
Mind Technology and the GRE Exam
October 1, 2007 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
As I setup to give myself every possible advantage in posting a high score on the GRE, I’m working on setting up some mental techniques using some of the best from Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis, Sport Psychology, Physiology Training, etc.
Knowledge is an amazing process involving an incredible array of memory, associations, emotion, senses, deduction, and many more. And while it goes without saying that education is absolutely vital for success, progress, development, etc. Yet, unfortunately, I also believe that almost everyone starts and continues to learn about fixed things, people, concepts, etc.., And almost never really learns how to learn; The actual process itself of learning, development, intelligence, etc,.
Traditional learning and education usually include repetition and exposure, which isn’t good enough for me. Some people have photographic memories, some people are consistently creative, some can understand, integrate, and apply some of the most complex concepts. And the best part, is that we have the same mind-body/neurological system. Unfortunately, in order to excuse themselves from responsibility and owning this amazing potential that each of has, many people rely on the defense which puts it out reach “it’s genetic”, “they just better than me”, “I can’t do that because…”. I fully believe that we are not afraid of what we can’t do, but acuatually afraid of what we can do and daring to be great.
Enter tools from meditation, visulization, NLP, Hypnosis. They say that NLP is the art and science of human achievement and excellence and can create the ability to sharpen the amazing tools of the mind-body. How? More to come, soon…
The Alpha Project
January 19, 2007 by Ryan Merlin · 2 Comments
What is The Alpha Project?
There is a place in the human psyche, a small place that everyone has. It is the place that dreams are real, potential is unlimited, achievement is only secondary to passion. It is the place where ideas & creativity flow and vision is born.
It is the place you can feel in every part of your being, that knows you have a purpose, to contribute and change the world. It’s where seeds can be planted, cultivated, grown, to produce unbelievable results. It is the fruit of human spirit that does not buy into the limiting beliefs that surround us. It will never settle for less.
Most people, ignore it, deny it, escape it. Some realize it and breakthrough to become innovators, leaders, and champions. And every so often, someone will use it to change the world.
The Alpha Project, is my quest, my mission, to find the best of the best, when it comes to realizing and developing that ability in the people that dare to dream, including myself. Those who know what’s possible, what might be possible and are willing to go for it.
“Alpha” has some very powerful meanings attached to it including:
Definitions of “Alpha” from Google
the brain wave frequency range from 8 – 14 Hz. in which there is focus and the beginnings of a state of balance. Alpha is the frequency range of light level meditation.
www.synchronicity.org/Glossaryp.html
Slow brainwave activity state of hypnosis (resting but awake). Also known as hypnoidal. Alpha is slower (deeper) than Beta, the awake state, and faster than Theta, a deep hypnotic state.
www.hypnosis.edu/glossary/a.asp
An alpha male or alpha female is the individual in the community to whom the others follow and defer. Humans and their nearest species-relatives, the chimpanzees, show deference to the alpha of the community by ritualized gestures such as bowing, allowing the alpha to walk first in a procession, or standing aside when the alpha challenges. Canines also show deference to the alpha male in their pack, by allowing him to be the first to eat and the first to mate. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_(biology)
A measure of performance on a risk adjusted basis.
www.investinginoptions.com/glossary_A.html
A measure of selection risk (also known as residual risk) of a mutual fund in relation to the market. A positive alpha is the extra return awarded to the investor for taking a risk, instead of accepting the market return. For example, an alpha of 0.4 means the fund outperformed the market-based return estimate by 0.4 %. -0.6 means a fund’s monthly return was 0.6 % less than would have been predicted from the change in the market alone.
www.vss2000.com/glossary/a.asp
The first testing stage of a new program. The alpha stage occurs before a program becomes a beta version.
www.7designavenue.com/glossary.htm
A measure of the difference between a portfolio’s actual returns and its expected performance, given its level of risk as measured by beta. A positive alpha figure indicates the portfolio has performed better than its beta would predict. In contrast, a negative alpha indicates the fund’s under performance, given the expectations established by the fund’s beta.
www.brandywine-online.com/Glossary.asp
What about your dreams? Where did they go?
Take A Quantum Leap In Your Creativity And Results
December 10, 2006 by Ryan Merlin · 2 Comments
One of my all time favorite Einstein quotes:
“The significat problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of think we were at when we created them”
Initially, this sounds like he is making one point, which is, in order to solve a problem we have to think out of the box. That we need to introduce different ideas, perceptions, beliefs, assumptions, etc.
But the second piece to this is the last 3 words. “we created them”. This is the key to anything! Take a minute right now and let this sink in,
Everything in your life right now, the people, circumstances, amount of money, health, problems, beliefs, etc. are the cumulative and direct result of your decisions. You are 100% responsible for it all.
So here’s the magic, the key to unlimited creativity:
Change Your Goal. Change Your Mind.
What do you mean? What goal?
I mean, is instead of trying to be creative and change your results by expecting yourself to come up with some great idea, some new innovative approach, some creative strategy; to take a different approach. Shift your goal to challenge your own thinking. Make it your intention to change your own mind. Take a look at everything you can see and understand right now, then challenge it all.
Just like winning, creativity is a habit. It is the ability to consistently see things differently from the way others see them, to break from the automatic conditioned response, and then having the character or courage to trust yourself. That’s why the most successful people over history are often sociopaths.
The following questions are some of the most powerful ways that I’ve found, that allow you to take a Quantum Leap in your thinking.
- How can I leave room for improvement?
- Perfection should never be the goal. Make Progress the ultimate goal. This creates space for anything new and is the only way change will be possible when there is opportunity for it to happen.
- What’s missing here?
- What am I not seeing? What are my blind spots? Where am I wrong?
- I’ve found it usually helps to ask people you trust to give you an honest response, because it’s always too tempting to agree with yourself.
- How can I look at this differently? Can I see it from someone else’s shoes? How would a child view this situation? How would someone from another culture see this?
- Play devil’s advocate with something widely accepted, popular, thought to be “a given”. Ask, “why is this crazy?”
- Where else have I seen something before? How is this different?
- Borrow solutions from similar situations in completely unrelated topics. Psychologists know that people create the same type of situations in different areas of a person’s life. For example, a trial attorney needs to feel in control in the court room, but that can also get played out at home when he cross examines his wife and kids.
- Meditate. Doesn’t have to be formal, just plan some time to work with your mind.
- This is probably one of the most important things anyone can do to spark incredible creativity. Similar to the first one, it creates space. It opens the mind to new and revolutionary ideas, thoughts, perceptions etc. Meditation makes the mind fertile ground for that one small seed that will grow to be a mighty oak tree.
Now, collect your ideas, keep a notebook/journal nearby. Inspiration and creativity come in bursts, sometimes when you’re trying but most of the time when your not. Collect it all, no matter how crazy. Compile it. Read it many times when you’re in different moods. Have others read it.
Bottom line is that everyone has genius ideas. It’s not a question of ability, it’s a matter of trusting yourself to change the world.
Topic: Money – Invest Your Time Where It Counts
December 6, 2006 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
If you were to keep track of a typical day for you, how much of your time would be spent building towards your own personal goals? I’m not talking about just trying to make money and make a living. I’m talking about taking small consistent steps towards creating the life that you dream of.
Everyone wants to find the easy way to riches. And I won’t argue that it’s not nice to hit the jackpot and trip over a large pot of cash. But the chances of that happening are poor. Take a minute and think about when you’ve felt the most happy and fulfilled. Isn’t it when you’ve reached goals or achieved something that you though wouldn’t happen, or didn’t think you could pull off? Every time I ask people when have they felt the most alive, the most fulfilled, I get a huge variety of answers of the specific situation. But the format is the same. You faced a big challenge, you had doubts, people told you it wasn’t possible, somehow you found the strength, and you slayed the dragon to return a hero.
Bottom line being that you set a goal that was beyond your current reach, you believed that it was possible in spite of also being unsure, and so you thought it was worth investing your time into achieving it because it is important to you. That is the key to happiness. The key to fulfillment in anything that you do. But it’s so easy to get distracted to find that immediate gratification, that escape. But I’m here to tell you that it is impossible to escape your way to happiness. Like anything else that has value, you have to earn it. In fact, the reality is that if you aren’t pushed to earn it, what happens? It ends up not having value anyway and gets taken for granted.
Over time, any goal, any dream, any idea can be created. That’s why time is our most valuable asset. As with money, consistent investments, consistent actions towards any goal compound to create exponential growth. The power of compounding was said to be deemed the eighth wonder of the world – or so the story goes – by Albert Einstein.
So where do you invest your time? Honestly! surfing the net, watching TV, working to make someone else rich at your job, reading blogs? Hah!
What if you were to develop the habbit of taking one small step, one small action every day towards your goal. Plan it into your day. Every morning wake up and spend at least 30 minutes doing anything that focuses your attention on your goal. Think about it, write about it, talk about it, meditate on it. It’s not as important what you do, but that you are actually making it a commitment to focus your attention on what it is you truly want.
But how can you be? You ask. Don’t I need to know how to do it, the right thing to do? Shouldn’t I buy the secret formula to buying properties with no money down on TV for $399? The truth is that by taking very small consistent steps that you’ll find what works best for you personally. It is absolutely necessary that you enjoy the process, that it’s something you love doing. By taking action and making small adjustments along the way, you WILL find something that makes you both happy and rich.
What would it take to remind yourself to plan and do one thing towards the realization of your goal everyday? To create that habit? Winning is a habit. They say that habits are hard to break but just a few winning habits is what makes the difference between financial freedom and living paycheck to paycheck.
Ok, so how do I do that?:
Rule #1: You absolutely HAVE TO create some space in your life. Plan in some time to be creative, to relax to think about what you want. Take some time out of your normal routine. Allow yourself to explore, to ask how you can do it, be creative.
#2: Write down any thoughts and ideas that come up no matter how crazy it sounds.
#3: Let go of it.
What? What do you mean let go it? I’m trying to make it happen here!
That’s exactly what I mean. Do whatever you can to forget about it. Do something else, go to work, read a book or some blogs 
. When you take your attention off of the problem that is when you stop constricting your options to the few ideas that were already there, and instead open up your mind to the incredible amount of possibilities that you may have never even considered before.
#4: The most important step: Take any small action. Seriously anything. Write it down, talk about it, read about it, talk with others that have been there, talk with trusted friends. Action lead to commitment. The more action you take the more committed and invested you become. So “just do it”.
When you invest just a small amount of your time in doing this consistently, it becomes a habit. Winning is born out of a winning mentality that allows someone to invest in their own ideas and creativity. Their own vision of what it means to win. What would it take to take a small step towards investing in your vision and realizing your dreams today? And Tomorrow? And the Next Day?
Related Posts:
How To Raise Children To Be Rich
Your Surrounding Environment
“Mind the Gap”
Surrounding Context & Determining Value
This Week’s Power Topic – Money – Your Surrounding Environment
November 30, 2006 by Ryan Merlin · 2 Comments
From This Weeks Power Topic – Money
In working on understanding your own beliefs about money, take a second and write down the 5 people that you have the most contact with in your life. Think clearly about those 5 people;
- How do they view money?
- How do they make money?
- How do they spend money?
- How much do they have?
- Do they talk about money?
- Do they take calculated risk, or do they gamble?
Think about it. These are just a few questions but begin to really paint a picture of where a lot of your influence comes from. If you want to be rich, you have to condition your mind to think rich. Even the strongest people are influenced by their environment to some degree. The key is to understand how much and in what ways that happens. But this is where you always have the important choice to make; are you going to create your environment or let it create you?
Where you are at in your life right now is the sum of all your decisions, thoughts, beliefs, influences and resources. And the same mind that got you to this point is not going to get you to where you want to go. So start giving yourself new input. But first you have to create some space
- Stop. That’s right, stop right now anything that you’re doing (ie. reading my blog).
- Understand where you are at now. What’s good, what’s not?
- Decide what you really want. Where do you want to be?
- Name 1 or 2 people that are there right now. People that you can understand and model from.
- Get excited! think to yourself, “I can do that too!”, of course you can.
- Now: Act On It!
Create a supportive environment by surrounding yourself with those people that can push you forward towards where you want to go. What would it take to have someone with the influence you want show up in your list of 5 people?
Winning is a habit, built by taking little steps at a time towards your goal. Unfortunately so is losing. That’s why teams like the Bulls, Yankees; Companies like Google, Whole Foods; and People like Warren Buffett, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, are Winners, is that they’ve learned to develop that Habit of Winning. The ability to consistently take small steps to constantly improve and become the best. They cut out any dis-traction. Do you have your list of influence you want in your life? I know I do.
You don’t have to be great, to become great!
Related Posts:
How To Raise Children To Be Rich
“Mind the Gap”
Surrounding Context & Determining Value
Secrets of Greatness
This Week’s Power Topic – How to Raise Children To Be Rich – Teams? Coworkers?
November 27, 2006 by Ryan Merlin · 2 Comments
I was just reading over this wikiHow article on how to raise children to be rich, which is pretty neat because it stirs up some some great personal questions about how you were raised as well as your own personal beliefs. The interesting thing though, is that it is very similar to motivating and inspiring teams and coworkers. It’s what psychologists call “social proof”. When we don’t know how to act in a certain situation, or don’t know what to believe when it comes to a huge topic like money, we look too others to model and imitate. Looking at my own beliefs about money I can almost hear the voice of my parents. saying it, as that old tape plays in my mind. If I had a choice is that what I would choose? Definitely not!
But true to Ivan Pavlov, and His dog (below) 
it’s usually a raction rather than critical thinking. That is…unless you consciously decide Before hand what things mean to you and then condition that with small repetitive steps. Who is deciding how you deal with money, parents, advisers, neighbor? What is your modus operandi, save, spend, hoard, invest, donate? Where does that come from?
Most imporantly, everything you do communicates something; to your children, to the people that work with/for you, to the people that do business with you. Even though it can sometimes be hard to discuss, the message usually still comes across. I’ve heard people talk about how money doesn’t really matter (even in commercial real estate), but the truth is that money ALWAYS matters. Everybody is happy when times are good, but how do you react when things nose dive, or even plateau and become stagnate? How do you treat the situation & people, are you trusting that it’s going to work out, that everything happens for a reason, that “within difficulty lies opportunity”, that you trust in yourself or your team or your business to find the problem and work with it? OR do you deny it, get defensive/attacking, controlling, stingy? Everyone has had experience with both, on the giving and the receiving sides.
Bottom line is that confidence and trust have to go together. Confidence comes from memories of being able to take action in the past to create your desires (money, relationships, sport performance, etc). These memories are called references which essentially give you the fuel to keep the fire burning. But if you think about it, you also have to have trust or rather faith. That you can continue to produce good results in the future. It’s not hard to see that
Success always has to come from the inside out. It has to start on the inside. You can’t consistently dupe people into taking your path if you don’t follow your own path. Which begs to show that if the people you influence don’t believe they can create wealth, then it’s a good indication that you might not either.
If you want to inspire others, if you want to be an authentic leader, whether it’s your children, coworkers, team or customers (to believe in your brand); you have to be AT LEAST as confident, trusting, and inspired about creating that mind set yourself first. After all you can’t give away what you don’t have.
So this week I challenge you to notice your own habits and feelings when it comes to money, especially with it being Holiday season! I’m going to write about some examples that I notice. Feel free to email me with some of your own or just post it here =).