The Hindu Business Line : Discipline problems are not money problems

Do you believe that winning the lottery would solve all your problems? If yes, please note that such a notion is `lie eleven' in Steve Chandler's 17 Lies that are Holding You Back & the Truth that will Set You Free, from Magna Publishing (www.magnamags.com).

"The whole concept of the lottery is based on what Gandhi insisted was one of life's few true evils: Unearned money. It is the concept that ruins more businesses and individuals than any other: Something for nothing," explains Chandler.

Lying begins, he says, when you start telling yourself that money is what is missing in your life. "Because money is not what's missing. What's missing is the ability to make it and keep it. Action builds that trust, and we lie to stay out of action."

Also, it is not as if lottery winners lead a happier life ever after. In most cases, it is just the opposite that happens. Chandler cites Jerry Dennis' `Money for Nothing' which documents `many sad stories of people who won millions, only to have their lives become much more difficult.' They suddenly find that the world treats them differently from the ones who have earned their wealth. "Distant relatives call and ask for financial help... People who become millionaires in the lottery are often treated with jealousy and a kind of contempt."

Lucky winners?

The author reasons that unexpected horrors befall the `lucky' winners because they try to equate their discipline problems with money problems. "They tell themselves that money is the answer when it's not. The answer is action. How to develop a reliable course of action that would provide more than enough money. They lie to avoid this action."

Dennis puts it this way: "Many lottery winners have been disappointed to find that, instead of a free ride on a gravy train, they've only been given a new pair of shoes for the same old dusty road, or, as one winner put it, `the same problems, just with bigger numbers.'"

Happiness is totally separate from outside events, good or bad, says Chandler. "It's an internal adventure, and it's based on our ability to grow a sense of purpose that we can fulfil."

The book begins with a thought-provoking quote of Tracy Goss, from The Last Word on Power, thus: "Death is not the most profound loss or tragedy in life. That which dies inside of us as we live is a far greater loss. The loss of possibility, a loss that comes from running our personal rackets, has ravaged the lives of too many individuals who could have otherwise transformed the world."

Apart from the `lottery' lie, the other 16 lies that the book speaks of include beliefs such as: "There's something wrong with me. I'm too old for that. I can't because I'm afraid. I'd love to do that, but I don't have the time." Beneath each lie lies a fear, says Chandler. What fear? "Fear of the unknown." As a result, instead of plunging into uncertainty, we bank on a lie to walk the easier, softer way.

The ubiquitous lie

An almost ubiquitous lie is this: "The longer I have a habit, the harder it is to break." Untrue, says Chandler. He explains how the right brain pictures things, and then the left brain `figures out a way to live into that picture.' For, "to the brain, perception is reality."

To start a new habit, therefore, we should start sending to the brain "the picture of what it is we want, the behaviour that we want." Once enriched with enough pictures, a clear intention gets formed inside; and "the deeper the intention, the stronger the sense of purpose."

Remember that changing is nothing; "maintaining is everything." People change in a nanosecond, assures Chandler. "People go from smoker to non-smoker in an instant. People go from drunk to non-drinker in a heartbeat... How long I've been doing something means nothing. The action I take to create a new self-perception means everything."

The last lie in the book is, "I am helpless." The way out of this lie is to listen to one's own conversations, guides the author. "The goal of self-honesty is awareness. Awareness first of the lies, and then awareness of the truth." Chandler nudges you to realise that underneath the 17 lies there is just one lie: that we are helpless. Also to realise the truth: `that we are powerful'.

Intro tries to wean the reader from sending lies deep down inside, and exhorts one to stop the con job that can become `a life-long stratagem of self-deceit.' Why then do most of us go on `operating on a small percentage of our potential'? The widespread popularity of self-deceiving might be due to its effectiveness, postulates Chandler.

Self-deceit gets the job done. "It takes us out of the game. It sits us down at the end of the bench so we don't have to play. It even puts a cool towel around our necks, a towel in which we can hide our faces if we become ashamed that the world is passing us by."

Refreshing read.

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