Direction

Some folks don't take direction well. If that's you, you'd be well served to pay attention to this mini podcast.

Grasshopper Notes are the writings from America's Best Known Hypnotherapist John Morgan. His podcasts contain his most responded to essays and blog posts from the past two decades. 

Find the written versions of these podcasts on John's podcasting site: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1628038

"The Grasshopper" is the part of you that whispers pearls of wisdom that  seem to pop into your mind from out of the blue. John's essays and blog posts are his interpretations of these "Nips of Nectar." Others have labeled his writings as timeless wisdom. 

Most of the John's writings revolve around self improvement and self help. They address topics like:

• Mindfulness
• Peace of mind
• Creativity
• How to stay in the present moment
• Spirituality
• Behavior improvement

And stories that transform you to a wider sense of awareness that presents more options. And isn't that what we all want, more options? 

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Transcript

Direction 

Some people have a hard time warming up to direction. In the past, I would put myself at the top of that list, but for me, the wind changed direction.

A little backstory  . . . I was a radio program director in my broadcasting days. Part of my job was offering direction to the on-air talent. And from my experience, I can safely say that most men don’t take direction well. It’s a matter of pride.

Many men figure they should already know that which they don’t. Direction for them causes lots of frustration.

It reminds them of what they don’t know but think they should.

The gap between where you are and where you think you should be always causes internal friction. 

Directors need a tough hide, and the knowledge that many whom they are offering direction to, don’t think they need any.

Reminds me of a story . . .

Many years ago I was working in Kansas City at a radio station and I told a joke on the air that was offensive. I didn’t think so at the time. But, the program director got some phone calls of complaint. He could have come into the studio and flat out told me “Don’t do anything like that again.” That would have been met with lots of resistance. He knew better because he was a savvy director.

Here’s what he did say, “I’ve just received a number of calls about the remark you made. I can tell the calls are orchestrated because they all use the precise same wording in their complaint. I’m not going to tell you not to do it again, but if you do, I’m giving them your home phone number.” He then walked out of the studio. Now that’s direction.

He offered me a different choice besides “My way or the highway” which is necessary at times, but, by and large, is the least effective form of direction.

Men and women both share the following in common about direction: If they don’t like who it’s coming from, it’s a lot harder to carry it out.

Here’s my direction to those resisting direction: “Enter adulthood!” 

I’ve mentioned this story before but it bears repeating here. My hypnosis mentor, Dr. Dave Dobson had us do an exercise where we would imagine being told to do something by someone in authority whom we didn’t like. The minute we reached that feeling of discomfort, we were to look down at our hands and laugh aloud.

The purpose of the exercise was to let us know that there will always be people telling us what to do no matter who we are. He said whether we were the President of the United States or Bill Gates we would have people telling us what to do. The exercise was to learn to laugh at the reality instead of getting caught up in the frustration. The exercise interrupted our patterned way of poorly responding to direction no matter what direction it was coming from.

You know, it would be wonderful if we could like everybody, but that’s not happening anytime soon. The adult response is to separate the wheat from the chaff, or said another way, “Don’t confuse the message with the messenger.”

So let me pose a question: Which direction is your life headed? Is it going to be more of the same – railing against reality OR is it time to change direction?

Walking against the wind can be refreshing at times, but if you do it as a matter of course, it’s no longer special and it’s counter-productive.

Let me quote The Grasshopper here: “You can't go in a new direction with old habits.”

Remember this: Direction is only a suggestion no matter how forcefully it’s stated. You do have a choice. You already know where the old path leads. The only question left is: Are you adult enough to head in a new direction?

All the best,

John