We all have ideals and values we want to uphold, and as we encounter resistance, we begin to form and strengthen our ideological positions.

Watch this video of a pastor in Ohio, who is standing up for what he believes. In his mind he is fighting the “secular jihadists!” It’s good against evil and god is on his side.

He is fighting “evil,” just as George Bush is doing, just as Osama Bin Laden is doing, just as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is doing, just as Hugo Chavez is doing…

Isn’t it wonderful we have so many people fighting evil? If we keep it up, all the evil will be gone in no time! lol

Now, this man, no doubt, is really standing for values we can all relate to. He wants children to be raised with good values, he wants us all to be good people, etc., etc. It’s the tactics that we must call into question. Are his tactics really even forwarding his own objectives in the long run? Is defeating our ideological enemies a sustainable method of positive change?

Looking deeper than an ideological position, what is formed by caring, passionate people who are trying their best to stand for something is what I’d call a psychological position, which becomes a barrier that frames our view of reality–barriers beyond which we cannot see.

This man is fighting the ACLU, an organization of human beings who are standing for people’s rights. Because they are supporting legislation and solutions that conflict with the ones he thinks are correct, they must be the evil enemy. Indeed, he cannot see people when he looks at them. He cannot see caring, passionate people who are also standing for worthwhile values.

Beyond the specific strategic solutions they support, the ACLU is simply standing for human beings, for their freedom, for their dignity. Who can oppose that? No doubt this pastor shares the same values. So why can we not collaborate and co-create in ways that work for all of us?
Rather than all of us fighting evil, why don’t what if we start standing together more for the values we hold in common?

The day will come, I do see, when all the world will view our current ways of thinking and communicating with one another as quite silly. Literally silly–ridiculous even. People of all ideologies will come to see how living this way, at the level of position, is antithetical to all of our values, and it feeds our devolution into people who cannot use our god-given (however you define that term) faculties of human consciousness.

I believe we can all rise to the level of vision. We can learn to think, communicate and interact at higher levels of consciousness; and, indeed, many of us are discovering how to do this at present.

Does our future demand finding the one and only true belief, joining the army of the righteous and defeating the evil ones?

Or does our future require us learning to rise above such positionary thinking?

No one needs to be afraid, for giving up positionary thinking does not mean giving up your ideals or compromising your values. It only seems that way, because from a position there is not much vision. I say, we as human beings are visionaries by nature–meaning we have the innate capacity to live at the level of vision. And I say it’s time we learn to make this shift in thinking.

“I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” –Anne Frank

Please comment…

Just recently I mentioned the formation of a campaign to find, unite and train one million visionaries, each of whom are dedicating their lives to stand for all of humanity and create a world that really works for everyone.

When we speak of “visionaries,” we are not speaking of people with a special “gift” for thinking big, thinking creatively, etc. We are speaking of people who choose a certain kind of path in life. Most people do not choose the visionary path (at least not at present).

Many people focus on achieving “success,” “financial freedom,” etc.; however this is easy to do without living a visionary life.

Many people also focus on “making a difference,” “leaving a legacy,” and “doing my small part” to “change the world;” yet this is easily done without living a visionary life.

Further, people focus on attaining “salvation,” “enlightenment” or “transformation.” Once again, pursuing these objectives is quite easily done without living a visionary life.

You can live a visionary life while pursuing any of the above objectives, however most people dare not tread in the realm where the visionary lives. The visionary life is anything but “easy.” Indeed, it is a road less traveled.

What we tend to do in life is seek noble goals, values and ideals, while staying safely within the realm of our psychological/intellectual position. We could say this is living a “positionary life.” Or living beneath the level of vision.

If this is so for you, then you’d be content with actions and solutions that compromise your highest values and ideals, and your path of conscious/spiritual/intellectual growth/evolution. You might not act like you like such actions and solutions, but you’d tolerate those actions in your life, as if there is no other practical alternative.

Thus, in various areas of your life you’d see 1) a great disparity between what you say you value and how you act, OR 2) that you’ve come to accept very low values, dreams and ideals OR 3) that you are not consciously evolving both your values and your actions to higher levels as you could be (more about this later).

Here’s the kicker… Living beneath the level of vision, one can often not even see much evidence for 1, 2 or 3 above (Unbridled self-honesty is more accessible and prevalent at the level of vision). Thus we cannot see how much we cannot see, and so we think there’s not much that we don’t see.

Look around at the world today, and what do we see? People who are perfectly content with compromise solutions, as if we as human beings are not capable of rising to new levels where compromise is not necessary. As evidence of positionary thinking, I’d point to the acceptance of compromise as a valid, worthwhile and even noble approach–in life, in marriage, in international relations, in politics, in business, etc.

Visionaries in general do not espouse compromise. Visionaries face what few do. Visionaries are more like warriors than dreamers, in that they walk the path, they face what there is to face, and as a result a vision that others cannot see emerges. In the same way that the man who does not climb the mountain cannot see what’s on the other side, those who do not walk a visionary path cannot see what the visionary can.

I am eager to share more about the One Million Visionaries campaign and how Vision Force will be partnering to recruit and train the one million visionaries… watch for some exciting announcements… soon!

Entreprenuers dancing naked around the camp fire? Maybe…

Yesterday when I received an Evite from a local group called Bootstrap Austin inviting me to an evening discussion titled Entrepreneur As Hero, I didn’t think twice. That morning I’d had a revelation of sorts, when I’d seen a new vision for working with entrepreneurs in a new way (more on that later). And with all the seemingly magical synchronicity happening in my life recently, it was a no-brainer.

Just weeks ago, I’d sat down for a bubble tea with a friend who offices next to me, Kevin Koym, and he’d expressed his mission in life in terms of inspiring the maximum number of people possible to take up entrepreneurship. He sees entrepreneurs as revolutionaries who step outside of “what is” to create “what can be,” and his current entrepreneurial enterprise provides a methodology and internet-based tool for entrepreneurs to collaborate at higher levels. It was Kevin who’d turned me onto Bootstrap Austin and the fire dancers.

So recently, as I’ve received the standard emails from people who are of the mind that business, entrepreneurship, capitalism and money are somehow bad… somehow to blame for the ills of the world, the drum of the entrepreneurial warrior within has been beating more loudly. I see entrepreneurs as today’s heroes, the ones who are standing for a better world and risking everything to bring it into existence. They are the warriors and creators of today.

So, I showed up early last night with local Vision Force Boot Camp grad and ally, Audrey Parker, at the home of one of the local bootstrap members and was welcomed by a man whose face I did not recognize, but whose name I did. He introduced himself as Michael Strong, and I knew he was somehow involved with Flow, another Austin-based entrepreneurial network. Turns out he’s the CEO, and come to find out he is a pioneer in education and independent learning and has founded innovative Socratic, Montessori, and Paideia schools and programs around the U.S. He has a passion for freeing young minds “from the matrix.” Talk about synchronicity…
He introduced me to Bijoy Goswami, founder of Bootstrap Austin and the Bootstrap Network, who was already engaged in the topic of conversation of the evening, entrepreneur as hero, and relating it to the recommended reading, Joseph Campbell’s book, Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Soon, other Bootstrappers showed up and as I met each of them I continued to feel as if I was coming home to reunite with family. These were conscious entrepreneurs and visionary thinkers. Where have I been all my time in Austin. How is it I’d not met these people sooner?

It doesn’t get cold too often here in Austin, but this night was quite chilly and so there was a fire in the fireplace in the living room. That’s where we sat down in a circle and began what would be a 3 hour conversation about the heroic life journey called entrepreneurship. We talked about entrepreneurship as a path to enlightenment, and the almost unavoidable and continual expansion of consciousness that happens along that path, as one must continually face one’s self and evolve beyond one’s limitations.

Refrencing movies like The Matrix, Braveheart and Star Wars throughout the night, we talked about how today’s culture conditions us so much to be outwardly focussed and paranoid of failure, and about how we’re missing the kind of rituals that could help us as a culture mark our inner progress along our entrepreneurial paths in life. All evening I couldn’t help but notice how it felt as if we were warriors of the same tribe on a spiritual journey, and at some point I even brought up the idea… What if once a quarter, we went camping and celebrated our failures, struggles and triumphs around the campfire?

While that may or may not happen, what I do see emerging in the next decade are new cultural traditions and structures to support people in living entrepreneurial/visionary lives. I see that visionary thinking and an entrepreneurial approach to life is the way of the future, and I am so excited for what is to come.

I strongly encourage all entrepreneurs to get involved with communities like Flow and the Boostrap Network. We may live in a world where entrepreneurship as a lifestyle is increasingly growing in popularity (some surveys have shown 7-8 out of 10 highschool students want to be entrepreneurs), yet we still live in a world that blames successful entrepreneurs for society’s problems. How ironic that the very individuals who are, as Ayn Rand might say, lifting the world on their shoulders and taking humanity to new heights are often those blamed for our problems.

I use the term entrepreneur very loosely to mean individuals who are risking a lot to bring something new of value to humanity into existence. (Aren’t we all entrepreneurs in spirit? Don’t we all yearn to live a heroic life, creating value?)

Do entrepreneurs do what they do out of greed? Is there a limited amount of wealth that entrepreneurs and capitalists just greedily fight for at the expense of others? Or is wealth created? And who creates it?

The Vision Force forums have just been released (shhhh… it’s kinda private, even though it’s the headline on our home page). We’re not doing much advertising yet as we’re still in “stealth mode!”

As smart as you are, you’ve probably guessed we’re up to something really big behind the scenes. Can’t fool you, can we? So, check it out, VisionForce is ramping up to facilitate what we see as the greatest shift in conscious thinking in history. Sounds a bit far out, I know. Still, that’s what we’re up to. The world needs drastic changes, and it starts with our thinking. With the shift in thinking that is already underway, tremors will soon be felt  through the fabric of society. Life as we know it is about to look radically different.

Our new forum area can handle mass quantities of people.  We’re starting fresh with no members and no posts–so there is a clean slate for us all. We’re nowhere near even done building the forum area, but in line with our new thinking here at VisionForce, we want YOU to help up us build it. We want the best and brightest, we want the visionary few (that’s you, right?).

For the time being, the boards are primary to be used as study rooms for our various courses. These are not the kind of forums you’ll find everywhere else on the internet. We’re asking every single person who plays here to have as their foremost focus in the forums to be their own personal evolution.

In other words, we are asking you to make “the shift” as you learn and help us create the shift. So, you should be conscious to make certain sub-shifts in your behavior. Here’s one such shift:

away from positionary posting >> towards visionary posting - from relating to new concepts as a threat to my paradigm >> towards new concepts as opportunities to upgrade my paradigm (or build a new one).

It’s characteristic of the Positionary Mind of the Past to filter new concepts and distinctions through what one already believes and then to show others (on forums) what’s incorrect about or missing from the new ideas. We see the usefulness of this in on-line forums that display little more than positionary arguments which do nothing but entrench people in the positions they already held (insert big sighing, eye rolling emoticon here).

Yes, you and I have a lot to share. Afterall, learning and self-development are a few of our highest values. And of course, we want people to see us in all our brilliance. Perhaps how we can best do that here is by being more willing than most to question our existing thinking and behaviours. The greater mark of wisdom will be how much we’re willing to question even the conclusions at which we’ve already arrived.

from displaying knowledge >> towards exercising wisdom

Socrates was considered wise, not primarily because of his ability to deconstruct others’ beliefs with his questioning, but because he never used that ability to assume or claim that he was right. He continually held his own understandings up for scrutiny and questioning.

In view of such inadequacies, Socrates himself professed his ignorance, but others still claimed to have knowledge. Socrates believed that his awareness of his ignorance made him wiser than those who, though ignorant, still claimed knowledge. Although this belief seems paradoxical at first glance, it in fact allowed Socrates to discover his own errors where others might assume they were correct. This claim was known by the anecdote of the Delphic oracular pronouncement that Socrates was the wisest of all men. Wikipedia

We encourage questioning of the new concepts and distinctions–that is part of the socratic method and a hallmark of any wise person. However, rather than focus being on protecting what we already know, showing others how smart we are our how well we can pick apart new concepts and distinctions–rather than by applying the socratic method outward on others–let’s focus first on what we can learn from the new concepts and distinctions–and apply the socratic method on ourselves!

This shift in thinking is part of our overall shift in consciousness from the Positionary Mind of the Past to the Visionary Mind of the Future.

(If, by slim chance, you happen to be reading this and you’d rather tell everyone how much you already know, well then, there are hundreds of thousands of on-line forum boards that would welcome you! For the rest of us, we’re up to leading the way to a whole new world in thinking and human behavior.)

With that in mind, enter the forums of self-inquiry–a haven for those of us who know that change happens first inside our own mind and heart.

When you watch the video of Fox News interviewing former President Bill Clinton, think about the prescious time we *all* waste as we operate from our positions.  Then please post your comments on this topic:
Think about all the time we waste attacking and defending, the time we waste preparing to defend and promote our positions, etc. This is a much, much bigger issue than the topic in the video. How much time do you and I spend in this positionary game?  (And please, no posting of your position about whether Clinton did enough or not to get Bin Laden, as that has nothing to do with our evolution from the Positionary Mind of the Past to the Visionary Mind of the Future, which is one of our primary focuses here at VisionForce.com.)

I shared my feelings in an email to several of our lists yesterday. Funny, the only negative responses I got were from men. This one was typical:

“Yes! You are a Sap!! Now don’t send me your crying a** s**t anymore!!!” (asterisks added)

Of course, we only email people who subscribe themselves to our lists. And this fella was subscribed to one of our “Warrior” lists, so he was probably wanting to get emails that made him feel more… well… manly! LOL

Ok, this leads me to a great point. There is, especially in the West, a blind spot for many of us guys… and it’s not just guys as many women share this.

It’s a relationship to emotions, specifically tearful emotions as weakness. To make this association (even if just subconsciously) is to deny yourself access to one of mankind’s greatest powers.

There are, to be certain, many displays of emotion that are evidence of weakness. The child throwing a tempertantrum, because he can’t get his way, for example, is a prime example. The child, exaggerating his situation, as if he is a helpless victim who deserves our pity is… well, pitiful.

When adults display tears and emotions in this way, it is by our cultural standards, quite pitiful even shameful.

We usually learn that such displays of tears are seen as weak, so we learn to convert our feelings of inferiority, victimization and weakness to anger and agression–without the tears.

You can see this in non-tearful tempertantrums of the teenager… as well as in the adult teenagers, as often displayed by the angry macho male type.

Now, of course, anger can be a useful emotion. But it’s interesting how displays of such non-tearful tempertantrums are often viewed as acceptable responses to circumstance, while tearful, poor-me responses are not.

In many cultures, rallying in the streets in fits of rage, is not only acceptable but something to be proud of. I can’t help but wonder, what our world would be like, if such displays of anger were viewed by the majority of “alpha males” as pathetic, weak reactions. Yet, many of our most visible “alpha male” types in sports, politics, Hollywood, religion, etc. commonly display such pitiful, weak responses in life… which elicit the respect (or fear) from many of their peers and those who emulate them.

(I believe there will come a day when we come to see any such “positionary” reactions to circumstance as weak and shameful… and we’ll see humanity elevate ourselves to
much higher standards of behavior and interaction. To what I’d call visionary standards.)

Personally, I’d be very embarrassed if I reacted to life’s situations the way many macho male types do. For most of them, there simply is no visible third alternative. It’s either be a wuss or take control and force your view, your will, your position on others.

I’d feel like a reactionary wuss if I wrote someone the kind of tempertantrum-type email I got from the fella who sent the email quoted above.

From the world of the positionary, there just don’t seem to be many real ways to access power other than forcing your position on others.

Let’s look specifically at how the macho male type can access more genuine power.

At intense levels, feelings such as sadness, love, joy and honor all produce tears in humans. What these three emotions share is a deep connection to values–to what things mean to you. Your son is born and you feel such immense joy that tears come to your eyes. Your son dies and you feel such immense sadness that tears come to your eyes. Any time you get present enough to how much your son means to you–how much you love him–there will be tears.

The more we cut off access to our feelings (for example, to avoid a display of tears), the more we cut off access to our power.

Think for example of the person at the funeral who is weeping at the loss of his son , who has never really gotten present to how much his son means to him,… until he was gone forever. What a tragedy. Had he gotten present to his intense love for his son, while his son was alive, he would have done and said many things differently. This power to make different choices and take different actions was unavailable though, because the man did not want to feel his feelings.

A man may love his wife, yet the less present he gets to the feeling of love, the less he will act and speak in a way that honors the value of that relationship.

Here’s where honor, the feeling, comes in.

Love and honor are almost indistinguishable, and often felt at the same time. Love arises from being present to what someone (or something) means to you–feeling deeply connected to and valuing someone (or something).
Honor is a deeper cut at love. It has to do with not just getting very present to a value and it’s worth to you; but getting present with your choice to honor that value in the face of challenge. Honor can also be felt as you see others in this light.

Honor is an incredibly powerful emotion. It’s a uniquely human phenomena, because it requires a level of self-consciousness not possible to animals. It’s what’s at the root of the range of heroic actions we see in the world that we refer to as the “human spirit.” What inspires a person to face incredible criticism and even risk to his/her own life? Most often, it’s a feeling that is born from getting present to what is worth standing for. It’s a uniquely human emotion called honor. And it’s far different than pride or happiness.

The feeling of honor is literally a “force” of consciousness that can be accessed at will. In our new product called, Visionary Mind, honor is one of the two natural forces of consciousness that are practically cut off from us as we grow up. The other is vision.

Visionary Mind explains both of these forces in some detail and shows how these natural forces of self-guidance are short-circuited through our relationships with authority growing up. It also shows how that conditioning still guides us today in our moment to moment choices through VisionForce’s proprietary Inner Conflict Diagrams and models. Then, Visionary Mind gives you simple exercises that give you the powerful experience of both honor and vision. You come to experience these as guiding forces in your day to day life, and watch the new actions you take. You simply show up in a heroic way in relation to what is most important to you in life. (If you haven’t gotten that program, get it shipped to your door today.)

Love can have you do great things. Add honor to the equation and you’ll do much greater things–naturally.

Mr. macho is cut off from these heroic dynamics and is guided much more by positionary dynamics such as fear and pseudo-pride. He can, for example, feel good about himself by making himself look somehow superior to another. Pseudo-pride is a poor substitute for genuine honor.

It’s an honor-yielding vision that drives a Gandhi or MLK to make the impossible happen. It’s an honor-yielding vision that drives many great inventors, entrepreneurs, and social innovators. It’s the feeling of honor that often has parents make incredible sacrifices for their children–without experiencing it as a compromise.

The shift from a positionary mind to a visionary mind is what I see is next (and Now!) for human beings. It’s a fundamental shift in the way we relate to ourselves, our values, our responsibility and each other. And it’s what we’re all about here at VisionForce.com.
The “alpha male” of the future will be an inspired visionary, not a macho positionary.

Women, are more likely, as I see it, to be making this shift first, as they tend to have more access to feeling their emotions and thus feeling the powerful emotion of honor.

Here’s a video from one woman’s experience of vision and honor.

Who will lead the way? Women? Men? Does it matter? What about you? Who will lead your family, your community? Post comments below.

To get the complete Visionary Mind home study program shipped to your door, go here.

“Not I,” cries the emerging visionary, as he dives off the edge of the bridge.
For some, life is an escape from the big questions.  Perhaps even for most, to seriously question one’s fundamental conclusions about one’s self and the world is akin to bungee jumping from a tall bridge with an untested cord. For these people, jumping up and down on solid ground with a bungee cord attached to their feet, or watching someone else bungee jump, is about as close as they’ll ever get.

Psychologically, this is the extent of how daring most of us early 21st century humans are when it comes to questioning the intellectual ground we walk on.  We have no safe tools to leap from the bridge, and so we dare not risk the survival of our psychological identity by inquiring deeply into the nature of things and ourselves.

Indeed, life to this point has been a battle of idealogical positions.  We’ve each managed to survive by finding solid footing and holding our ground. To leave the ground we stand on is anything but safe–and anything but fun… without the right tools that is.

Beginning with a new on-line course, tentatively called, Visionary Thinking, VisionForce will present tools for the visionary thinking.

Have you ever thought about the psychological dynamics behind your thinking processes?  What, for you, makes one answer more valid than another?  Or one question more valid than another?  Consider that we all have thinking habits, which we are not conscious of, that guide our thinking.  Trying to become a truly visionary thinker without questioning these hidden processes is akin to someone trying to become a champion golfer without questioning their golf swing, taking lessons or getting coaching.  Up until now, the visionary thinkers have been those born with the both the “talent” and the “luck” of an environment that developed that talent.

What might VisionForce have to offer the sport of Visionary Thinking?  We have thinking tools that might just make this game so fun that visionary thinking eventually becomes “the next big thing.”  A sport anyone can become proficient in.  Visionary Thinking is not what is taugh inside our on-line programs or our first-level boot camp.  Those programs awaken and evolve you as a visionary, and give you tools to continue your evolution, but what we are talking about here is something altogether different.  Tools for thinking about your thinking.  Ways to see your visionary “golf swing,” and learn concepts and skills to improve your score.

The impact of such thinking tools on your life (and the future of the world) could be enourmous.  But without such tools, not only can such a game be as scary as bungee jumping with unproven equipment (so scary that we never even seriously consider doing it, thus avoiding the fear), but it’s not fun either.

Modules for this new course are in the works as we speak, and we’ll be looking for beta-testers.  Oh, and our new home for visionary beta-testers is coming very, very soon (and yes, it’s free.).  Are you interested?  Post your comments and questions below.