How to Say Yes to Fear

Accept Fear

Accept that fear is a part of our nature not apart from our nature. Let’s realize that no matter how far we have come to get to where we are now, how strong we have gotten, how much we have advanced in our careers, or our social lives, families, and spirituality, there’s a lil’ fear in us all that we just can’t seem to shake off.

It’s good though.

Stop shaking it off, and embrace it—we’re stuck with fear for life. Write your fears down on paper no matter how small, big, embarrassing, or petty you think it might be. If we are to cooperate with our fear, we need to embrace the damn thing, right?

Acknowledge the Fear

Acknowledge that the fear is there—in you, and do what most of us if not all of us are afraid to do, ‘thank it’. 

What did you say Bernard? Thank our fear? Yeah right! Why?

Okay, okay, let's make one thing straight here… who caused the fear in the first place? YOU did, that's right… it was… you. 

Now I know we have plenty of reasons about why it’s not our fault that we have the fears that we have. But, it is our experience of something bad that may or may not had happened to us which creates the fear. Also, in our memory, there’s a bunch of stored data like: ones that protect us, ones that excite happy emotions, and ones that causes us to feel sad or fearful over something or someone that doesn't do any of us any justice.

If we look deep enough into our very essence, we can dig out the little worms called fear, and do the worst to those slimy suckers—eat them. 

It might be a surprise for must of us to know that we might be carrying the fear of others once we do go deep. We might find that often times we are exaggerating or exercising the fears belonging to our friends, neighbors, spouse, and colleagues into our subconscious mind. Yes, fear is contagious, isn't it. Not if we are conscious of our fears first…

Integrate with Fear

How do we eat fear… well, in actuality we can’t, since it is already inside of us. So what to do with fear? Hug the damn thing already! It’s your baby, and like a babyyy, we have to take care of it until it’s well enough to walk off to ‘Fear College’. 

Okay maybe I lost you…

What I mean is, you have to cultivate your fear into a strength, not a weakness; not something you run away from, but something that you understand is a part of you—forever. And it is your job to make it become a proactive tool in your nervous system not a reason for any of your failures or not doing what you came here on earth to do (whatever you decided that would be).

Do you Really Know your Fears

Study your fears, learn why you have them, read over, and over again what these fears mean to you. After you have done so, do something about them. One-step-at-a-time, divide your fears into several parts, and fix the mixing screws in them e.g. 

I am afraid of heights.

Why?

Because when I was a child, I witness my father falling, permanently injuring his spine from a ladder while trying to put christmas lights around our house. Now he cannot walk, and I am afraid If I reach such tall heights, I could share a similar fate or worst.

Divide the fear:

• Father’s fall.
• Young Age.
• Ladders.
• Falling in General.
• Being Handicap.

Now, what if it isn't heights that you have a fear of but rather it’s the fear of being handicap?

Or what if it isn't being handicap that you have a fear of but rather it’s the fear of falling?

Do you see where I am going with this. Once we can reduce our fear(s) into lowest terms, we can start wiggling that little fear warm out of us and into our focus. 

Concentrate on your Fear Joyfully

Once the fear is in our focus, OBSORB it.

How?

Do the littlest thing you can to get you in the arena with your fear(s), and observe it closely. 

If you're afraid of falling, take judo classes to learn how to fall properly. 

If you're afraid of heights take diving board lessons and so forth.

We should concentrate on how we can work with our fear(s); we should not let it consume us, and we should not let it control our lives. Our Fear is often there to help us and teach us a lesson; when we do not follow through with these lessons, our fear punish us, like if were it’s child, rather than the other way around (as it supposed to be). 

Don't Quit When You're Tired

The Finish Line. 

We all have aspiring goals, we all want to do something, be somewhere, or be somebody other than who we are currently being or doing. Here's the problem... actually... There is no problem, the problem lies within ourselves.

If problem is defined as: 

Problem: a thing that is difficult to achieve or accomplish. 

Then we are the ones who create problems; the ones we imagine. 

Because we create goals for ourselves that takes a set amount of duration to achieve, and that we believe to have a difficult setting like that in a video game, we create problems. 

Why do I say we imagine problems?

Because we're trying to be something or do something but we feel or think that we can't—in our minds; we imagine it's hardship, and that 'hardship' becomes a reality for most of us. 

We're focused on the finish line, that BIG GOAL(s), but we never really do reach it... Why? 

The 'problem' is believing in problems. 

Confused yet? 

Bare with me....

Show your Work. 

Like all math problems, we are always asked to show our work, right?

Face the music, most of us are not content with our current state of affairs because we don't 'show the work'. We destroy the paths that leads us to becoming the greater version of ourselves in the process by completely focusing in on the problem and not the actual work; the solution. 

This is the epiphany of being a sloth. 

Hey, but I'm not here to bring anyone down. I love people. I, likewise yourself, is that 1% of 100% that makes up people. So bringing anyone down would be reflected onto bringing myself down. Duh...

Okay, it's time to write this down. Write down all of your goals on a sheet of paper. Then on the back of that same sheet of paper, write down the steps you think that you will have to take to get you closer to each one of your goals. 

Show the work ON PAPER. 
Then, make that call, or register for those classes, or start that business campaign, or whatever steps that will take you one step closer to those goals. ASAP. 

Be Gorilla Strong. 

"Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired." 
- Robert Strauss

In the beginning, middle or end...
It's going to seem like things aren't working out, things just aren't going your way—at all. like all of your efforts so far was all for nothing, because, "hey, where are the results? I'm busting my ass here!"

Calm down, calm down... No, actually don't calm down, at least not just yet. You need to keep pushing forward... But not with force. 

Am I irritating you yet?

You're at your breaking point, you can feel it. I've felt it. Many times. I can't tell you how many times I felt like quitting but I didn't, I kept striving. Well I can tell you, but this isn't about me, it's about we, the Warriors. 

There's a wheel of fire that keeps burning within us, if it stops, then it'll burn our souls. 

Was that extreme?

Good! It should be, that's how we should tackle our dreams—our big goals. Our soul depends on it. 

Remember, the reason why you're working this hard in the first place is because you believed in yourself. If you didn't, then you probably wouldn't have even started this journey. 

We can't quit, not yet. The gorilla will beat our asses to death if we do. We can't let 'them' know that we feel beaten even when deep inside we really do feel beaten. 

The Finish Line is an Illusion. 

Man, when we were toddlers, crawling was the hardest thing ever, we flopped like fish on dry land. Then walking was the hardest thing to do, afterwards, running without falling was difficult. But we mastered the process, didn't we?

We wanted to kick it a bit further, we wanted to know how to ride a bicycle, dance, swim, skate, drive a car, do yoga, longboard, surf the waves, play soccer, basketball, baseball, the list goes on...

"Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal."  - Earl Nightingale

When we succeed, did we succeed? 
Not ever, not as long as we're alive. Our very essence is to keep creating, it's to keep being better versions of ourselves. 

I believe that we came here on earth to discover who we are over and over again. To sum up someone's life is impossible, unless we give up on our dreams and goals. We can't do that, we can't quit when we're tired. If we do then the gorilla is gonna beat our asses—to death. 

- Bernard

THE Hero's Journey 2015

The Current lifestyle

The comfort zone, where the Hero is used to being. His/Her life is usually redundant. We see his/her everyday current life. He/she may or may not like it, but he/she is ‘comfortable’ there.

The Summon of the Hero

Something stirs, shakes, threatens, entices or sparks in the ordinary world. The hero comfort zone is disrupted. It could be a problem or an opportunity. It could be dramatic or something as small as a phone call. It could be negative or positive. 

The Reluctant Hero

The Hero may be eager (or pressured) to answer the call, but he/she feels some kind of resistance. Perhaps fear, especially fear of the unknown. Doubts. Feelings of inadequacy or insecurity.

One way or another, the Hero feels reluctant to leave his/her comfort zone.

 MENTOR

The Hero comes across a person or thing or inspiration, etc, that gives her/him something she/he needs; perhaps an object, advice, confidence, training, etc. Getting this will dispel much of the fears, doubts and resistances she/he had in the previous stage, and give her/him the strength and courage to proceed despite any fears, that she/he may still harbor.

Breaking Through the Threshold

This is where the quest truly begins. The Hero either voluntarily start, or she/he is pushed along. But at this point, she/he leaves the familiar lifestyle and enter the unfamiliar. The unknown.

OBSTACLES

The Hero is out of his/her comfort zone. To make it worse, he/she is presented with increasingly difficult challenges and hurdles. They test him/her in a whole bunch of ways. The Hero must overcome each. Also, The Hero will find different characters that play the role of allies and those that play the role of enemies or villains. The allies will help the Hero prepare for the next challenge, and the enemies will toss challenges at him/her.

Approaching the Threat

This represents either an actual location that has danger in it, or an inner conflict the Hero have not yet faced until now. As the Hero approach, her/his fears and doubts resurface, the Hero must prepare to jump in. The Hero does so by gathering all her/his skills, insights, powers, etc that she/he have so far collected on this journey.

The Ordeal

The Hero must face dangerous physical test or deep inner crisis to survive. This is where the Hero use the strengths she/he gathered
in the last step. But only through some form of ‘death’ can
the Hero, be re-born, experiencing a form of meta- physical resurrection that somehow gives her/him greater power and insights necessary to reach her/his journey’s end and fulfill her/his destiny. This is the step after which atonement, or at-one-ment, happens. In that the Hero finally abandons the self-generated split whereby he/she had initially, at the start, set up a ‘monster’ that he/she feared.

CLIMAX

The has now achieved her/his goals or quest. The Hero may not have known it, but all the previous steps were there to prepare and purify her/him for this step. Once the Hero defeats the enemy or challenges and survived ‘death’, the Hero starts becoming a new person, the Hero is transformed into a new state. The Hero is stronger and has the prize (the new insights into Life, an object of great importance, new power, new relationship resolutions, etc).

But the Hero cannot rest here, there is still a danger of losing the treasure, the prize! 

The Return

This is the reverse of the Call to Action, whereby fear and anticipation of danger is replaced with a feeling of acclaim, vindication, absolution or exoneration. The Hero is free of fear or guilt. The Hero needs to go back to the ordinary world, and at this point he/she still may need a push or some help. The Hero may need to choose between his/her own personal objective and that of a Higher Cause. Often, the return is simple. The hero, having captured the prize or treasure, has to escape back home, often being chased.

RESURRECTION

The Hero is tested once more, purified by one more sacrifice. This is the final battle. In this test, the trick is for the Hero to retain the wisdom gained along the journey, integrate that wisdom.

Return With The Elixir

Finally, the Hero returns home a to the Ordinary World as a changed person. The Hero will have grown as a person, learned many things, faced many fears and dangers and even death. But now the Hero looks forward to starting a new life. The Hero’s return home also activates the resolution for the story’s other players, such as elimination or neutralization of enemies, reward of allies, and end of doubt. The Hero, returns to where he/she started but things will never be the same again.

The End
...
The New Beginning
…

For a great example of this, take a look at my book Juice Kids for free July 12 - 15

 
http://www.amazon.com/Juice-Kids-Bernard-Noel-ebook/dp/B00Y2ORKQC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434079317&sr=8-2&keywords=JUICE+KIDS+book

- Bernard Noel

Write Suggestions Not Complaints

What is it this Time!?

Alright extroverts, don't kill me for this but...

Write your complaints, do not say or express them immediately because they can make matters worse. Use all the resources that you have available to you at the moment to change your negative matter into a positive manner. Everything happens for a reason, most of the time it is to kick our asses into shape/gear. 
It makes us move forward to stop being complacent; it brings us closer to those life changes that we have wished upon a star for. 

Write a list of all the complaints that you have, and then, write possible solutions for solving them. All of them. 

Complaining Feels Good

Let's admit it, we like to complain about things because it makes us feel better. (For those who will not admit this, stop reading from this point on, I'm wasting your reading energy.)

We get the complaints out of our system—like pooping. And poof—the constipation is gone. 

But...

Little do we know how hazardous this is for our life system; health, wealth, relationships, you name it. We can't improve by complaining to our boss about work conditions, to our wives/husbands about her/his habits, to our children about their misbehavior or constant poor decisions. However, we can make great changes if we first write down our complaints on paper and make several possible solutions. 

Any Suggestions? 

After you have written all of your complaints, throw them away and hold onto the solutions ONLY. Present the solutions as suggestions instead of complaints to the person you want to present it to. This will save your future! Suggestions are good because they do not make commands, bitch and whine, show aggravation, or even make the other person (receiver) feel bad. 

It's an opinion that you are bringing forth to the light to make your life easier, and the people around you as well. 

Having no complaints keeps you stress free, having open-minded suggestions makes your life easy. Next time you have a complaint, say it to the paper first before anyone else. 

- Bernard Noel

Write Why You Should Get Paid More

Excuse Me

Excuse me, why are you getting paid this (?) amount of money? You definitely should get paid more. 

Wealth is in the mind not the body. We get paid for how much the company we're working for value us as employees and or how much value we put within ourselves. Let's write down why we should get paid more. 

Invest in Thyself

Write a list of reasons why you think you should get paid more because indeed you do. I don't care if you're making more than the norm or less than the average, you deserve to get paid more. We were born abundant by nature, it's time we reclaim our abundance of wealth. 

In your writing be crystal clear as to why you deserve your wealth; write down places that you would like to visit, things you would like to buy—big or small, important people you would like to meet, restaurants you would like to dine in, companies you would like to start, charities you would like to build, friends and family you want to be able to support. Be specific in your details as to why you deserve your wealth. The Galaxy is your LIMIT not the sky. 

You Are Already Wealthy. 

Being wealthy is our birth right. We are all born debt free, until we learn how to create debts for ourselves.

We have millions of financially illiterate people teaching their students how to be just like them. A lot of people have advice for money (including our parents) but yet at the same time, they do not know how to manage money themselves.

They say, "get a credit card to build credit," and "you never know when you may need one for an emergency.” Yet little do they know, that doing so often times put us in more debt than we were in before. No one teaches (or know how to for that matter) anyone how to be financially literate, that's because there's not that many financial teachers out there—that teaches for free or cheap.  

So we go off blowing money like maniacs, then suffer the circumstances for our expenses.

It is time that we start managing our money on paper. Begin by writing all of your debts down and make a solid goal (deadline) in which you will be paying off each person or businesses "I-O-U's." Adding on, make sure that it's reasonable and manageable based on your income. 

Money Is Just An Idea

Money is an idea, it's a medium of exchange for other people's product or services. 

When you have the right idea(s) you're going to attract money. You will either magnetize money to you or repel it. Everything that's been into your life, you have attracted into your life.

The more you vibrate your mental thought into not having any money; I'm poor, broke, I can never afford this, I don't have enough, and etc… the more money will consistently dart away from your life. What you want to do is make money run to you even when you think that you have had enough. 

Do it with a mental picture of yourself having more money than you can ever possibly imagine. 

 Write down this mental picture just as you see it. Then, recite it in your mind and re-read it everyday. 

Hundreds of Millions of dollars is being transferred between Japan and New York over night; just vibrations, transferring to one computer to another. You can tune in on this vibration by implying your ideas on paper. Write and recite all the reasons why you deserve more money. 

Pay Yourself First

Let's save 10% of our paycheck.

This is an example: 

If you are making $350 a week, divide that by 10, in which will give you $35 to save. 

 If you are making $782 every two weeks, divide that by 10, in which will give you $78.2 to save.

However much it is that you make, divide it by 10 then save it. 

Now, that $35 / $78.2, you do not touch!

It is the money that you owe YOU. In essence, become your own employer and employee—pay yourself first. We should treat every dollar that we make as an employee. If you spend a dollar, you get rid of an employee. Now how is it that you will have a successful business (YOURSELF), if you have no one to work for you? You will end up wearing yourself out, working more than you have to. 

Dollar Bandage

We all deserve to get paid first, we were born wealthy but lost our wealth due to a lack of proper financial teachings and management. 

manage your expenses on paper—write down how much money you are spending a month, then ask yourself why.

Learn your spending habits and eliminate whatever is creating a dent in your pocket. Write down the wealthy version of yourself in extreme details, then work on it—hold the ideal until it becomes real. Seal your dollars with bandages!(Rubber-bands)

- Bernard Noel

Five Secrets Every Photographer Should Know

Written By Jwar

Edited by Bernard Noel

hen you look through the view finder of a camera what do you see?

You see through the eye of the camera just as you would with your very own eyes, well partially, with the exception that the camera eye is adjustable; we call these Lenses, and they come in various sizes and shapes—altering our view of objects, places, and as well as people. 

With the right techniques you can have the ability to capture a world never been seen—pictures that would have only been capable of being sought through in mans own mind's eye. Pictures that tell stories or even sometimes draw you into them, literally. With the secrets that I'm about to tell you, you'll be a professional photographer in no time. In fact, there should be no surprise to how many likes you'll find in your next social network post of a pic you took after reading what I have to tell you and following these steps. I'm not boasting here, I'm only telling facts. 

Here are the five secrets to start building and capturing worlds that our naked eye can only but imagine:

Secret #1

The Focal Ratio between Your Lens and Eye

Knowing the role of lenses in photography is a crucial part of photography. Period. let's face the it, if you don't know the rudimentary rules here, then you might as well stick to your iPhone or Android.

Become a full and cropped frame expert by using these sensor formats for a fluent and costumed piece.

f you have 24-70 mm lens in a full sensor camera, then set the lens for maximum zoom (70 mm). Both of your eyes should be completely opened and focused. Now keep your one eye at a view finder and the other into the farther distance. Through this way, you can find a reference point beyond 70 mm and in a wider format.

Cropped: The crop size should be 1.6 and zero point should be around 55 mm. It is same as 55mm * 1.6 =. 70mm. The images will then be accurately viewed. 

Secret #2 

Customized White Balance

A customized white balance should be your first priority, like tying your shoes before running. You wouldn't run with your shoes untied, you'd be hazard to yourself and others—just so as with customized white balance, not only would it be a hazard to your reputation as a photographer but also to that 'perfect picture'.  

First of all, what is White Balance?

White balance is a feature in digital cameras and video camera to properly balance color. For a tricky mixture of lights, look around for the white balance before shooting. Different lights can affect your scenes, therefore always use the customized white balance as your main key point. It is highly suggested to use a white wall instead of a colorized one to get a specific effect. In this type of case if only having a colorized wall as an option, a piece of white paper can be used. 

Do what the expert photographers would do, first, focus then zoom into the paper while the focus is locked. After cropping out all the edges, the capturing of tint and color temperature is completed. After completing this process, go into setting, press the custom white balance, now select the image and press OK. 

Screen shot of the Menu: Go to white balance setting and select custom white balance.  This will make your image spot on, if it didn't move anywhere else. And if all fails, try and try again until you get it by your standards; repeat the process until reaching the desired effect. Always keep the histogram open to see if the RBG waves are matching.

omething you ought to know.

Another method to achieve pure white:

There is a setting within the camera which allows you to control the blue and orange hues. However, it is not the same streamed lined ability to control the tint, which is the green and the magenta.

old your horses—or should I say camera. Don't get too crazy setting up the colors for photography. You can stream line in camera as a raw video. This would be a much more appropriate time to nail down the desired white balance. The frames you're working with are not as rich but full in details. Even the slightest adjustment ruins the image quality. Correcting the color in video is slightly trickier and requires more color correction experience.  

Secret #3 

Edit Your Work In Daylight

personally find it much more rewarding and progressive to touch up images during daylight hours. It may be considered strange at first, but working at night with fluorescent lights in your work area may confuse your gamut, and you can make poor judgement with your images. Try it, sit at night and go to work and see for yourself the difference. Then, compare and contrast, look at your images during the day. You will clearly see the difference the day makes as the color you thought you saw during the night, wasn't at all right.  

Secret #4

Locking Focus Button

The second best button after the shutter button is the locking focus switch. It is an essential function every photographer should be aware of. When you press on the switch button, if the subject moves it will be stationary and NOT refocus and lose time. When turning off the focus button you are only left with the lock function. Personally I often focus with half the shutter pressed and I find myself not needing to refocus. 

This would be the best technique while shooting lifestyle photography.  

Secret #5

Check Your Work On Multiple Devices 

Always act upon suggestions.

fter finishing the color correction you may noticed that a reference point does not appear. However, most screens are not calibrated. There is no need for fancy overly technical devices.  Just common sense is required. I suggest that before the final touch-ups, to export one image and post it on a social media platform for a trial. Take your second screen; iPad, iPhone or etc... and have a look at your pic from it to avoid that hooligan light. For this reason, it distorts your perception of what's really white.

Once again, day light  works the best.

I hope that these tips help clarify the proper techniques to take the image you imagined and make it come alive. Practice these secret tools and you will surely notice an improvement in your photography.

For more on Jwar visit:

http://www.jwarstyle.com/blog

Write the Friends You Want

REBUILD

A friend is a gift you give yourself

- Robert Louis Stevenson

It would be great to have exactly the type of friends that we want around us. The type of friends that inspire us, show us the light when we are left in the dark, make us laugh with unique jokes, friends we share amazing similarities and differences that we value within each other. We can start attracting these friends right now—on paper. Let’s rebuild friendships that we have and create new ones that help us grow by writing them on paper.

LET GO

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. 

- Plautus. 

Some of us have friends that we value, and some of us have friends that we are unsure truly is our friends—it is just hard to say. Might be because that some-what of a friend doesn't always have our back, or only responds to us when he or she is in need of a favor. Well, it is time that we check our friends list and edit the good from the bad. Write all of your friends on paper, if you cannot remember all of your friends by-heart, the ones that didn't make the cut or that you have to think really hard about, are probably not your true friends—they do not belong on your friends list. Edit them out. You want to keep'em? That's fine too but please don't hold onto them for any security reasons. 

Write the Right People in Your Life

Friends are born, not made. 

- Henry Adams

Give the friends you want in your life, birth!  Let's write down exactly the people we want around our circle. If you had an entourage, how would they act or look like? What group of people do you want around you? Entrepreneurs, film professionals, musicians, happy people, wild and spontaneous people, chill and philosophical people, artistic... The list is endless. Choose who you want in your life now, then write them on a sheet of paper—do not waste a single minute. The right friend for you is around the corner. 

Imagine having a professional artist as a friend who urge and guide you with the art life you left years ago that you just recently thought about resurrecting. He or she can converse with you on different topics of art—modern or old, catching up on what you have missed; architecture, painting, fashion trends, art culture and so forth. What about the art exhibits you could both attend to stimulate your minds! Maybe it's a friend that you can go to and share your most intimate feelings with and without being judged doing so is the type of friend to your liking—nothing extravagant right. Whatever it is, write it down and start attracting them into your life now. You can have a friend that makes you instantaneously laugh no matter your mood; where there's never a single dull moment with him/her. If you think you're stuck with the friends you have now, and that you will never meet and have a deep connection with someone else, that is absolutely false. There's no limits to how many friends to have, there's no limits to say that we can only have friend who exist in your current circle. What is limited is our current state of reality, mind you, that can be shifted instantly on paper with a few strokes of our pen. 

They WILL Come

There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met. 

- William Butler Yeats

After we have our written friends on paper, expect them to manifest like expecting your birthday this year or the next. 

By your shear will, the friends that you want in your life will come to you in ways you can’t imagine, but you have to meet them half way. You have to beplaces that these friends are most likely to appear. To illustrate, If you want more friends who are humanitarians and down to earth, start going to volunteer work sites. The next protest you see involving human rights that you see, your ass better be there—seriously. If you are serious about meeting these type of people, create bridges and allow them to enter your life. There are communities of all sorts of lifestyles. Find one that suits you, be part of it, talk about what they talk about. Why? Because those are the type of friends you want don't you? 

- Bernard Noel

Write Your Xmas List NOW

Cure Procrastination

Fellow procrastinators, I behold in your mind's eye the key to having a successful Christmas this year:

a sheet of paper and a pen. 

Now, now, before you shoot the messenger or kick him in a dark bottomless pit that looks like a black hole (300 movie), I come in peace, not to become pieces. :--)

Yeah, you know who you are, Mr. Last Minute, December 24th—I'll shop now guy/gal.   

No Budget No Doubts

Before we start writing, we have to cut all ideas we have about budgeting for the time being. Oooh, a painful notion for anyone who is in the accounting field. The more we focus on "Will I have enough money this year to get everyone a decent gift?", the more we become prone to procrastinate our Christmas giving. 
We need be clear and confident about our ability to offer gifts to our friends, colleagues, and family. So let's start by writing "I can afford to give decent Christmas gifts to everyone I care about.” 

Santa Started His List in January

The reason why we don’t have the money or think we don’t have the money for the Xmas shopping is because we plan too late. What happens when we plan early, we make room for budgeting. The idea here is that we need to write the plans down—the christmas list, so we can have our subconscious go to work on them. Santa doesn’t wait last-minute, he does it now, after all, he’s a business man. Let’s get our list ready now… just words on the paper—no need to panic, no need for budget sheets.

The Gifts Will Come to YOU

After we have written our list down, we will start to notice how we are constantly "magically” inspired by everything around us. The gifts that we wrote will suddenly some how appear on sale or someone will be selling it for dirt cheap, or even perhaps someone will give it to us for free. We will get that extra bonus we wanted, and instead of spending it on a $200 date, it will go towards that three, two, or one gift that cost $200. It’s all relative. We have to know what we want to give to that person(s) in advance, to let the universe do its work to bring us closer to it.

Hence, skip the budgeting I say!

Wrong Chimney?

Sometimes we can make wrong gift selections or that person may change his/her mind about something they always said that they wanted; the gift you were going to give to a couple who are your best friends—broke up yesterday, Jimmy doesn’t like bikes anymore—he’s into airplanes now, Cindy wants to go to Europe instead of Asia—time to change that refundable airline ticket. These things happen but because we wrote our list in advance, we will be ready for them.

So Merry Xmas to all... in ADVANCE!

 

- Bernard Noel

Write Creative Solutions

Problems are Self Generated

The reason why we have problems is because we create them out of curiosity, negligence, desires, insecurity and the worst; fear. When we write these problems down and get to the root of them we can see how we are usually the cause of them, whether we like to admit to them or not. 

Cause and Effect

How can I be the cause of all of my problems? Get real Bernard!

But I am being real—in the sense that when we look at our problems from within, we will see that it reflects us like a mirror. Write down all of your problems on paper and then think about their causes. How did they occur? Immediately we are probed to say that others are at fault for our problems. 

Keyword: our problems. 

Yet if we look closely at them, we will see that our problems cannot exist without us—they need a host, and we can decide to continue to allow them to run our lives or run them out... ahem... write them out. Each problem has a cause, hence, because you make a choice, A-B-C and X-Y-Z happens. 

"Oh, but I did not cause someone to hit my car today." But you did choose to drive today and perhaps you did choose to excavate or dramatize the accident as a huge problem. Let's face it, accidents happen right... or did they happen prior to a previous choice that we made? Tricky. 

Let's start by writing down the cause of each problem that we face without judgment; without blaming David, the cheating husband, Jessica, my dumb brother or that stupid driver. Once we are free from judging others, then, can we truly start solving problems. 

"But it's their fault!" 

Yeah, yeah, I know. 

However, you made a choice that you're not seeing clearly. What was it? 

Simplify to Lowest Terms. 

Mathematics was never my favorite subject but I did and still do, love to simplify. Once we simplify our problems by writing in exact details how they occurred in the first place, and see that it was in our actions, momentum, fear, misjudgment or pure ambition that stimulated them, we will see that it all leads back to us—back to that choice we made. Find it, cultivate it and accept it, then, move on with your life.

There are no wrong or right choices, every choice is right. What is right or wrong is how we handle the results. 

"Easy for you to say, it's not that simple!"

...Well, that's also a choice. 

What the Problem Instead of Why

Once we have simplified, it's time to stop asking why did this happen to me or had to happen to me. 

We often ask why, why, why. But how often do we ask what? As in, what can we do about this problem? 

Okay, I get it, he cheated on you and you don't know why. Or she left you without giving you a reason, you got fired for something stupid, etc... How many times will you reiterate this redundant story? It's time to write a new story. Like, what will I do next? Uh-huh, that's right, the one we avoid so much—moving on with our lives. 

Write down what you can do with a current problem; include all possibilities, then exercise them—exercise, another word we like to avoid. ;--)

Stop being a masochist to your problems. Write those problems down; heal, reinvigorate and press forward with solutions. 

-Bernard Noel

Write Unexpressed Thoughts

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Words Meant Said 

We often say the words that we did not mean to say and we end up hurting someone close to us, or even sometimes colleagues. We also do not express the words that we want to say sometimes, which can feel like mental suffocation. Writing what we want, or rather what we would like to say to the people around us is the best way to ensure we will say what we really mean. Doing so can open doors; specifically, the best door ever—our mouths. 

Written Words are louder than Actions 

Some of us feel that we lack clear communication skills and that our non-verbal expressed thoughts are inferior to those with bigger vocal cords. That is not the case; our voice is as big as anyone else's no matter our shape, size, race, or nationality. Some people in general are loud mouths or outspoken because of the traits that they picked up from their childhoods or mimicked according to their surroundings. Yet that does not make what is coming out of their mouths clearer than our non-verbal expressed thoughts. They say that actions speak louder than words, on the contrary; I believe written words speak louder than actions. 

Actions Without Words

When there is no command there is no action. The command must be said in our mind in order for the body to obey. In essence, what happens when we construct our thoughts into written words? Our actions are most likely successful, this includes verbally pronounced and physically expressed; when we write what we want to say or do, it is more likely profound. 

Go General

Write down how you would like to act and react to people. There's no need to specify in our writings because there are always different circumstances where we would have to alter our actions, so play with it—have fun. Write particular things that you have not said in the past or want to say in the future. Without targeting a specific person or thing; generalize the topic. 

Words Matter

Doing this brings us closer to alignment with our true voice (the unspoken you). Next thing we know, we will be able to express exactly what's in our minds. It’s not easy, it takes practice, and writing is our best sparring tool. 

This is turning words into matter:

When an actor goes over a script, after careful study, reciting his/her lines over and over, he/she then focuses on becoming the character; executing those words into action. 

And we believe the actor—we listen to his/her clear expressions. 

Write down what you want to convey especially if you're not good at doing it from the top of your head. Become the character that you were seeing while writing these unexpressed thoughts, then, execute! Just like the actors.

-Bernard Noel

Write What Makes You Different

The Freedom of Being Different

Ever notice the person or perhaps been the person that would rather sit on the floor or on the steps to read a book or eat lunch? Meanwhile, everyone else is sitting at a table or on a lofty couch for such the activity; he, she, or us would be completely oblivious to the attention many people may give us for not conforming. This is just an example of the freedom of being different—there are millions of other examples too, but my aim is at the point. Not just any point—the point on our paper where we can write our wonderful differences and then marvel at them. 

Write Your Freedom 

What makes you different? Find out what by realizing what you like to do different from everyone else. It could be something as simple as liking to drink your Starbucks coffee with a straw from a Starbucks cup or reciting words to make you feel good whilst looking at your reflection in the mirror every morning. Whatever it is, write it down—this is the prime definition of "doing you". After you have written what makes you different, try to realize or should I say feel your way into this being free by being different.  

Soak it in...your freedom that is. 

Step Outside of Conformity

I'm not talking about teenage rebellion here. What I'm saying is:

If you do what the crowd does, you'll get what the crowd gets. 

Write down what pleases you, and be specific to exactly how you would like to be pleased by adding supreme details. Have no other way you would like being, behaving, and having what you want in life except what you have written on that paper. Defend the fortress that makes you—YOU. 

Enjoy Your Birth Right

Freedom is our birth right, and it has been so since the day we were born; out of our imprisonment from the walls of our mother’s womb. What we carried afterwards, from a toddler, child, adolescent, and to adulthood is traits; which we picked up from our environments to create our own unique personalities.

By writing these traits down, studying them, and relaxing "in them", we can truly be in peace with ourselves. Being different is the freedom of life, being like other people is the prison.

-Bernard Noel

Writing for Therapy.

Everyone wants to be Heard. 

Your voice is as important as the president’s or Martin Luther King’s. Everyone has a voice and every voice should first be written, then heard. 

We are attention-seeking beings, there's a reason why we have a voice and there's a reason why we have ears—that is, so we can listen to each other. Not just hear—listen! Sure, anyone can hear you, just make a loud sound, but not having anyone to listen to you, now that is the factor here, and it could be quite frustrating. 

Listen to Yourself Constructively

We all speak to ourselves, probably not out loud but surely in the cave-walls of our skulls. Now let's take that a step further by actually writing these thoughts down: The unspoken words. The best therapy that I've found in my journey of life is writing down how I genuinely feel on paper. What I mean by this is writing your exact feelings about a particular subject, place, person or thing. 

A "getting it off your chest" mechanism; the best way to release stress is out. Wouldn't it be nice to not put the heat on someone, place, or thing yet rather on paper, where it's safe and no one can get hurt?

Throw Away the Pain

We often hold our tongues when someone hurts us, but what if we constructed those feelings into writing; cursing that person to an oblivion, expressing how mad he or she got us, then throwing it away—seeing how something as petty as silly shenanigans or an argument can get us in a rut for nothing. It's always important to throw away the "dirty papers". Why?

What you give onto others you'll end up giving to yourself and that includes hurting people. If someone hurt you and you try to get back at him or her for revenge, what you're actually doing is hurting yourself. Because, either that person will resent you or wish you harm in return, not speak to you again and put you on the blacklist, or straight up fight fire with fire. It is a no win situation. I'm not saying get punk'd around. Man-up if you have to but choose your fights wisely. Is it worth your time? Time is money and money is energy. So is it worth the investment? Write it down first; make the smart decision to get pass your predicaments with constructive writing. 

Writing is the Greatest Medicine

Many people result to smoking, alcohol, or a lust for drugs for the sake of being stress free or suppressing emotions. Bad idea, this is not a long-term fix, it's a temporary fix. Which in the process gradually decays your body after a certain peak in your life. 

It's so revitalizing to see how writing down my emotions on paper, 15 minutes a day or more, makes a strong difference in my social and personal life. There's not a day where I feel like I need a substance to drown in for the sake of repressing my emotional needs. The most natural thing you can do besides writing is meditate but writing how you feel down is much more powerful because you're not just being passive, you're actually releasing your strong emotional will with the power of your own words on paper—where no harm could be done on anyone or thing. 

It's Not a Secret 

Now getting these thoughts on paper is fun and it is a great place to find a therapist. You should always be your own therapist before allowing anyone else to enter your domain. 

And it is better safe to view yourself; dark desires, hatred and etc. before letting anyone else in. Only when it's "okay", when you have constructed those words together properly enough to do them onto another ear, should you let the cat out of the bag. 

This is not for the sake of keeping it all to yourself. Every problem will be heard on to others eventually, especially to those that you love and are close to. However, I think it is safe for you to check if it's necessary to speak these words how you first intended to or even at all. Words are powerful—they start wars!

Don't Forget to Throw Away the Trash 

After you have finished writing your dirty papers, it's time to clean up. Start with a fresh sheet of paper and write how you would like to feel rather not feel. 

THROW AWAY the dirty papers from any lurking eyes that may "mistakenly pick them up". Words unsaid but written are as equally as powerful than words spoken, if not, even greater. We all have our flaws and insecurities, if the wrong person picks up these dirty papers, they may cause a lot of damage.  How that person interprets the dirty paper may cause you to have to move out-of-town next week or get suited for a war. This all depends on the person's level of sensitivity which we can avoid all together by making sure that it goes into the waste composite to a wasteland very far away from home.

-Bernard Noel

Write to Design Your Life.

Do the Labor

Gather your tools. 

Paper and pen. Refrain from tablets, iPads, and smart phones. (Just for this once.) Writing by hand, I feel, will have much more value to you. Think of it as if you were writing a scripture, a scroll, a blue print to your life, and the key to it all is in your authenticity; your very own genuine handwriting, no matter how ugly you think it may be. 

My personal preference in tools include a fine point pen, like 'Le Pen (Marvy Japan)', and for paper, a 'Moleskine 3.5 x 5.5 pocket notebook'. Which you can find on: http://www.moleskine.com/us/

Who Are You?

Trying to figure out who you are, if you're still trying to find you that is, can be a slight pain on your psyche. Truth of the matter is, this is what we were placed on earth for, to experience who we are as individuals. It can be very stressful and confusing when other people are trying to define you, especially loved ones. Deep inside you know who you are but can't define it... or find it? We are forever seeking ourselves through people around social grounds and these people are exactly who we need to help find us. 

Note Thyself. 

Write down people's perception of how they view you. Ask people who are close to you, who and what do they think of you. 

Who are you in their eyes really? 

Then, challenge these inquiries. Study your notes on you based on their ideas. Afterwards, think about any changes you think need to be made, based on your audiences eyes. 

You Are the Star of Your Own "Show"

After you've accumulated enough details about how people perceive you, it's time to write the change. Yup, that's write—sorry, I mean right. Many philosophers say that you have to make the change in you to see the change in the world. But yet when many people think about or even go about this quest, they don't know where to start. That's because they don't have the blueprint. The blueprint is writing down exactly how you want the world to see you. Be the star in everyone's eyes; the model people want to be like, simply by writing who you want to be. Always write in present tense starting with "I am" this now or that now. 

Make Sure That the Ego Acknowledges What You Wrote?

Now that you've jotted down how you would like to be perceived, it is time to go to war with the ego. A lot of books, teachers or psychologists would give you a means to hushing the ego; drugs, meditation or some type of discipline. However, I'll make it simple. The ego cannot die, if you drug down the ego it'll come back fighting even stronger. If you put the ego to sleep with meditation it'll come back in an uproar. If you kill the ego... well how can you kill something that is a part of you?

Writing down who you are on paper is half the design. Reciting who you are after you have written it—is your goldmine to stabilizing it as fact. 

Your new paradigm will alter the ego. Notice how I did not say kill, or put the ego to sleep. Alter the ego, which means you will have convinced the ego that your new state of 'being' is the actual you and your ego will stop the fight and join you. 

Write Again. 

You know who you are now, or at least close to it, you know what people say or know about you is either partially true or not true at all. You wrote down who you are and now you have something to prove, but it doesn't work overnight, continue endlessly on the subject of you until you get YOU right. Remember, we came here on earth to experience life so we will always be making adjustments in our life and in a constant need to change this or that no matter how small or big. So you can't stop writing when you think you've got it. Stop writing when you have experienced all that you want to experience in life. You are your own creator of life and the pen and paper is your key. 

Doubts? 

Wait, hold on... Does that mean that I will never stop writing?

Not until you die... We text quite often don't we, the majority of us do. This is the future isn't it? Modern time folks!

Why, it's the thing to do. So there should be no reason as to why we can't take the time to do this activity. It's just the same as texting right? Well, I'm sure there can be a debate against the whole texting is like writing ordeal but that's okay—go ahead. Don't waste your breath here, because my point is not an argument. It's an idea, a shortcut in finding who you really are. 

You can stop writing whenever you feel like it however, without your blueprint, you can end up somewhere you don't want to be, hate the person you're becoming, or worst, someone else could be writing your life for you. 

-Bernard Noel

Write your manuscript in one season

HAVE A STORY TO TELL?

What is your story about? (Write this in one sentence.)

Focus on gathering all of your ideas for your story in a clear and compact sentence. Once you can do this, or should I say master this, you will now have a story to tell. Keep it simple.

WHO ARE THE CHESS PieCES OF YOUR WORLD?

Who are your characters?

It's important to know how many characters will be playing in your stories and the purpose that they will be fulfilling throughout the journey as the role of your main character(s). 

DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS?

What makes them unique? 

(If you don't have an idea of who your characters really are, neither will your readers.)

Create the mind and body of your characters, including psychological behaviors. Do they have any habits, fears, phobias, fettishes, things that they're hiding, twitches? How do they speak? This can be determined in the characters strengths, insecurities, background, upbringing and so forth. It's important for you to know all the gritty needy details of these character(s) that you are giving life too. However, it is not necessary for the readers to know what you know, only that it is conveyed through the showing of your words. 

WHAT ARE WE GEtTING AT?

(Where are you bringing your readers to?) What is the objective of the story? 

The goal(s) of your character(s) should be introduced earlier on in the story and progressed or even sometimes changed based on the obstacles that he, she or they have to face. Knowing this in advance will give you more freedom to play with your characters and have fun in the writing process. Never will you be faced with writer's block, and if you do stumble upon writer's block, it'll be minor. 

WHY ARE YOU WRITING THIS AGAIN?

Constantly fuel your mind as to why you started writing your story in the first place. Have an automated reminder for your influence. For example, for my story Juice Kids I constantly reminded myself how happy, awe inspiring, funny, and very mysterious I wanted the story to be for kids all around the world. I even designed a vision board that continuously gave me the juice I needed to get things going. 

WHO is YOUR AUDIENCE?

(What age group?)

If you want to write for kids, like I did, then you have to remember or practice the elements of amusing children. Think like a kid—I mean it! If you're writing for young adults then you have to step it up a notch and start getting into what teenagers are into nowadays. Because unlike kids and adults, teens are more prone to what's current. Which means that they are susceptible to modern trends and urban phrases; if your characters are saying words like "Holy mackerel!" Then you are out of date unless your book takes place in the time in which that term was used.  

1st Month

Write Trash. 

Write without stopping for the need to edit.

Most of the time our first manuscript or draft is always filled with errors anyways right? So why bother perfecting it as you write. You'll be wasting too much time on an irrational effort. Remember our focus here is in having you finish your manuscript in one season! Even if you feel like there's a lot of grammatical errors, who cares, just write it down until its all finished! So write trash!

2nd Month

What did you write?

Revise and edit your work until you iron out all of the wrinkles. This is when editing becomes vital. Do your revising, then send it to an editor to re-revise your work. Editing your work all by yourself is not the answer; there's always something in which your eyes did not catch. 

3rd Month

Know your story!

Polish out the plot holes that you may have. Make sure that there are no missing details that are vital to the story. See that the plot is clear and can be understood not only by yourself but also the masses. Your editor will also be of help in this phase. 

You're ready for a third eye!

Find someone you know that is an avid reader (who can also be your editor) who can clearly understand your story and validate that it make sense in the world of literature. Do not take upon someone who reads partially or does not understand literature. Not only will you be wasting your time but you'll be wasting his or hers too. You need a judge who 'in the court of literature' can honestly say that your story is book material. 

-Bernard Noel

Writing a Children's Book (fiction)

KEY POINTS:

• IMAGINATION (LOTS OF IT)
• THINK LIKE A CHILD
• MAKE THE DIALOGUE FUN
• HAVE THE DIALOGUE ASK QUESTIONS CHILDREN OFTEN ASK AND THEN ANSWER THEM
• KEEP IT SIMPLE
• READ DIFFERENT CHILDREN BOOKS

IMAGINATION is one of the key aspects to anything in life and in children's books you will have to exercise it to your max potential. Picture a boy who goes off on a quest to find a giant balloon, more immensely colossal than the size of his hut in his village. He encounters creatures of all sorts; those who want to avail him find this massive balloon and others who want to illude the boy so that they can victual him. Playing with these key conceptions alone can put you on a frolicsome inditing journey and who knows where you might end up.

THINK LIKE A CHILD, that's the way to go, if not then you'll probably bore your young readers asleep. It's consequential to ask yourself what would a child say, feel or do. If you have children of your own or know someone who does, perfect, listen to them. Listen to how they play and react to one another and even to adults, then implement this into your story. 

MAKE THE DIALOGUE FUN, why else would kids be fascinated with your characters if they're just plain out dull? Even in non fiction books there are characters who verbally express outlandish things, things that makes readers say "ah" or "ha ha ha". Integrate jests into the commix, jests that may sound silly to an adult but will make KIDS laugh. How do you do that? Watch one episode of Spongebob or any animated Disney films. Watch how the experts make their "words play".

HAVE THE DIALOGUE ASK QUESTIONS CHILDREN OFTEN ASK AND THEN ANSWER THEM. This alone intrigues your young readers to dive even deeper into the story that you optate to tell. This especially applies to long chaptered books going over 300 pages. What keeps children motivated to read more usually stems from their unanswered questions which the characters in the story are endeavoring to answer.

KEEP IT SIMPLE, you don't want to do too much by adding unnecessary jargon or big words. These are kids we're talking about people; stick to words like "hardheaded" or "stubborn" instead of "obstinate" or "intransigent". If you have your young readers going back and forth to the dictionary way too often then, more than likely, you'll end up losing a reader. 

READ DIFFERENT CHILDREN BOOKS, that's right, it's not about beating your prosperous competitors of the juvenile genre, its about knowing why and how they succeeded. And what better way to learn then from "thy enemy"? Except no one is genuinely your enemy. The only enemy is your pen and paper or that keyboard and monitor in front of you. Reading other successful authors work not only amend yours but it may also inspire you to take a 360 approach to how you may want to convey your story differently.

Good fun writing  -

Bernard Noel

Check out my book where I first used this process - 

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