My Strange Life
I'm slightly different.
Summary
If you followed me for the day you might think I’m strange. Good chance anyway. I think it’s a good thing. Maybe that’s strange.
So excited for the Best Possible Life book launch tomorrow. Please consider sending a copy to a friend if you love them! (Perhaps send a copy to someone you would love if they were to apply the principles in the book. 😎)
One aspect of living the Best Possible Life is that you regularly get the sense—perhaps like Picasso at the easel—that anything is possible. This may mean examining your beliefs.
Note: Please pray for an end to the on-going wars around the world, especially Iran and Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, as well as an end to authoritarianism everywhere. Go to Amnesty International or International Rescue Committee to see how you can help.
I’m strange.
I know.
I do a lot of things differently than most people. As part of my morning routine I hyperventilate and then hold my breath and stick my face in ice water 4x. I do 15-20 squats or more as part of my going-to-the-bathroom routine. I play the same music, in the same order every day when I wake up. I always ask people’s names wherever I go, (except perhaps elevators). I tape my mouth shut when I sleep. I listen to some books/podcasts/sermons multiple times, often as I fall asleep (e.g. I’ve listened to the same five chapters of a book over 100x). I sit in a deep squat for two minutes when I brush my teeth. When I’m going good, I swish coconut oil in my mouth in the mornings.
Perhaps my strangeness comes from what I believe. Let’s take a look:
I believe…
* that everything I do impacts everything else I do (I try to remember that how I do anything is how I do everything).
* that there’s a universal positive, focused energy that, when you can connect with it, you become unstoppable.
* that the core of this universal energy is love, and when you remove all that’s not you, all that’s temporary and superficial, you’ll find love at the center.
* that I’m either walking in love or fear, in some measure of either self-expression and creativity or self-protection and comparison; selfless curiosity or self-centered entitlement. It’s always one or the other, every moment of the day.
* that my default is self-centeredness, and if I don’t have a specific plan to overcome this natural state, I will move towards fear.
* that courage is the great equalizer, because courage overcomes the greatest obstacle (fear) and accesses every other resource—and we can ALL take courage.
* that we have divided hearts, because we also have in our spiritual DNA the opposite energy. It’s a natural frequency that allows any human to connect with another human from any part of the world—the frequency of sacrificial love.
* that the greatest thing that holds people back in any endeavor is fear and that the most successful people in any field are still afraid, but they’re not afraid to be afraid.
* that Easter is real (Jesus was raised from the dead) and since I believe in that miracle, I also believe…
* that anything is possible—when you believe.
My life is not for everyone. In this season, I live out of hotels, eat almost every meal from a restaurant (or Whole Foods buffet), and do some strange things. But, like Martin Scorcese said, “The most personal is the most creative.”
May you live the creatively and sacrificially, so you can experience all the joy that awaits.
Love Jim
PS
Tomorrow, March 31st is release of The Best Possible Life! Remember to grab your copy online or at Barnes & Noble (in the US)!
How is it different from Inner Excellence?
It’s much shorter and written for readers young and old to delve deeper into the central crux of the issues raised in Inner Excellence—training the human heart. It’s a book about the spiritual life and serves as a concise summary of Inner Excellence. It also has:
The Three Worlds Model - a model of living and performing that I use every day in my life and my client’s lives.
The 3 Inner Excellence Principles — also principles I use every day and only briefly mentioned in Inner Excellence.
An FAQ section for atheists at the back of the book — many of the major questions answered, like how can an all-powerful, all-loving God allow suffering and atrocities?
Pre-order your copy of The Best Possible Life here… ❤️
The Inner Excellence YWAM Retreat is sold out! ❤️
The Inner Excellence/YWAM Homes of Hope retreat is coming soon!! April 9-13 in Ensenada, Mexico. Check out the Inner Excellence Freedom Project website to register for the next one in November!
Substack paid subscriptions are open!
My team is still dreaming of how to make the most impact for all of you that want more Inner Excellence. It’s $7/month (USD) or $75/year. There’s regular Q and A — next one is in the works!
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Hi Jim, thanks for all that you do. I’ve been working on my morning routines (1 of which being listening to the 20-minute Presuppositions preliminary-section of the IE audio book.) I’m curious what songs you listen to as a part of your morning routine - open to sharing? -RP
Can’t wait to read it!! Already inspired….the way you do anything sets you up for everything else you do - one of my favorite realizations.
What I’m learning now is that in order to be prepared for every next thing I need a transition signal and a minute to close the tabs in my mind and let what I’ve just worked on be complete for the moment until I come back to it.