Cross-Pollination

I'm an avid reader who usually has about 5 or 6 books going at the same time. Here's what I'm reading now: "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill, "See You at the Top" by Zig Ziglar, a biography on Jackson Pollock by Naifeh and Smith, "The Heart of Commitment" by Scott Stanley. I also read to my wife each night before bed, which currently we are re-reading the Harry Potter series so we're on book 5, the Order of the Phoenix. Plus I'm occasionally dipping into Dr. Phil's "Ultimate Weight Loss Solution," and "How to Have Power and Confidence in Dealing with People" by Les Giblin. The books themselves help me stretch and grow but the process is intensified when the ideas of one book correlate with those in another. So allow me to give you an example of what I call a 'cross-pollination' of ideas I've gotten from some of these books.

I've been struck by a concept of protecting yourself and your commitment. Consider this statement by Napolean Hill in "Think and Grow Rich:" 'The conscious faculty serves, therefore, as an outerguard to the approach of the subconcious.' An 'outerguard'- protective language. It coincides precisely with Scott Stanley's observations on commitment in marriage, taken from Malachi 2:15- '... So guard yourself in your spirit...' He explains that the word 'guard' in Hebrew literally means to set a hedge of protection around something." That in turn reminded me of how Dr. Phil related it to weight loss. He talked about structuring your life to fit the commitment. We all have willpower, but we also have a willpower that isn't so powerful at times. If we rely solely upon our willpower, we will fail miserably when our willpower isn't strong enough on a particular day. However, if we structure our lives in a way that our commitment is protected, then we ensure our success even in times when we feel weak.
This kind of excites me. You see, I'm a man. And I've learned that men are lazy- to a point. You see, we will work our butts off in order to be lazy. You know? We will put far more effort into finding a way to get something done on autopilot, than the amount of energy it takes to actually do the thing we're trying to do in the first place. So this whole idea of protecting your commitment seems to me to put effort into aspects that will then kind of put you on autopilot. Then you sit back and enjoy the benefits of your successful career, marriage, weight loss program, etc., etc., so on and so forth. Cool.

Sounds like my plans need to include plans for defense, as well as offense; for protection, was well as action.

The problem, I'm discovering are those little voices that claim (1) I deserve to have such and such (or do such and such)- even if it runs counter to what I ultimately want, and (2) that I shouldn't have to live up to my plans and goals, however good and noble, because I am free to do whatever I want. The curse of freedom: coming soon to a blog near you.