Meditation, Visualization, Writing a Proposal for your Employer
(Part One)
We are going to show you how words like expedition and journey are not activities reserved for only those with deep pockets. Here you will see how by willing to step out of the mold, by following a different path, how you also can have a Big Life filed with excitement and challenge. Toward that end, let's find you both the money, time and where with all you will need to become a TransAm cycling veteran in the flesh and not just in your dreams.
If your summer's are not those of a student, your job and what to do about it will often be your first consideration with regard to your system of support. Until you learn how to minimize your cash flow and how to stop creating new bills, as we will be showing you later on, many of you likely feel so trapped under the load of your financial responsibilities, no matter how heavy or light, that you cannot see a way out. How you can function without a weekly or biweekly paycheck so that you can stay one step ahead of your creditors is a total mystery to you. And even if you can put together the needed war chest that can get you to other side of this concern, whether regular pay will be there when you get back stands as another roadblock to any scheme you may propose for yourself.
We wouldn't be here however, if there weren't ways around all of this. Here you will need to probe deep within for your most creative self. Here, quiet time is a crucial element in finding yourself with the expanded such thinking required to move forward.
Toward that end, I present this excerpt from the chapter entitled "Power Without Money" from "How to Move Mountains with Love", the book I have in a holding pattern until our ride is complete. The concepts I detail here will give you some new ideas for how to transcend any of the circular thinking that may keep you bottomed out:
Project Solving
Take the notebook you will have purchased for this occasion and in big
words write down any question you want to have answered, any mountain or
molehill you want to move, any mood or quality you want to acquire. Expect
solutions as you pretend that it is here that you send mastery to your
everyday world each and every time you close the door. You can begin with,
"How can I...., Where is..., Who will...". Put a question mark beside each
request, draw a big circle around it and lay it down next to you.
A good way to keep track of the things you would like to work on or those questions you may want to more fully explore is to jot them down as you go through your day. You can even set up a meditation list. You can use it like a menu to pick from when your special hour arrives. Get yourself into shivasana (a meditation position described earlier in the chapter where one gets comfortable as he or she lays flat on their back with palms facing the ceiling), cover yourself with a blanket, close your eyes and utilize the relaxation techniques discussed in the meditation section above (counting backwards from 50, watching your breath as it passes back and forth over you nostrils, step by step feeling your body parts melting into the floor, etc) .
Once you feel your awareness shifting away from the world, you can turn your attention to the answers you are seeking. When thoughts do begin to present themselves to you, the question you have circled in your notebook will act as a magnet to bring in those notions that are related to the specific project you are working on. Often, possible solutions will come in bunches, so when they come, roll over on your side and write them down on your notebook.
Then get back into shivasana and try to build on what you have just received. Keep asking for more answers. Keep asking for new ways to look at your question.
If you want to know how to do something that requires that you make your sessions interactive with real world circumstances you may want to project solve over a number of days, even weeks or months. Whether your sessions require an interactive dialogue or are solvable in one or two time periods, it will help to consider the following recommendations.
Spend a few moments with those answers that come in. Then, once you've deliberated on what you've received for however long feels comfortable, write it down. Keep your mind focused by asking for other possible variations. Then, make a note of what does come in. Make each new thought separate by placing a bullet or a large dash beside it. Try to be as brief as possible. Only write down enough to be able to effectively jog your memory when you later review your session. Remember that your notes are for your eyes only. Do not try to edit what gets on to your piece of paper until you study the results at a later time.
By writing down your thoughts in this way, you have created an energy which continually forces new thoughts or ideas into your mind. You keep things moving in the cosmic soup that envelops all of us. Don't, however, worry if you can't get anything at all. There may be times when you can't get anything moving during the time period you have allotted. Know that that is fine too. Always affirm, whether you get information or not, that, when you do leave, answers will present themselves to you all day long. Tell yourself also that you will move with ease through whatever you may have in front of you.
With certain projects, it may seem that everywhere you look, there is a hurdle to jump. Going back to your inner drawing board on a daily basis will help you to stay calm and remain on target as you move through one obstacle after the other. Your inner work will also help you effectively match a lot of the data you will collect against other level wisdom.
Ultimately, you want to get to FLOW, that place where you trust that every silent urging, every hunch is taking you where you want to go without needing to stop along every step of the way. However, in order to successfully weave other level answers into the very tapestry of your life in this way, making them interactive with the project at hand, you must still keep the pump primed. And the way you do that is by making quality alone time available for yourself on a daily basis.
In order to keep these sessions dynamic, to keep you looking forward to them each day, you may want to vary how you use them. You may want the peace of pure meditation for a few days, even weeks with a few problem solving sessions sprinkled in between. Or you may just want to totally reverse how much time you spend doing either.
Visualization
Another way to develop mastery with your alone time is with visualization.
You can use it to broaden the scope of the morning programming I suggested
to you at the beginning of this chapter.
We hear visualization talked about a lot like it's some brand new kind of
magic that requires specialized training. And yet, at the beginning of the
18th century when he nearly conquered the known world, Napoleon made use of
this skill. As he moved his armies around on a make believe playing field,
he was known to say, "Imagination is everything, imagination rules the
world".
When we look at sport we also see the benefits of disciplining one's dreams. In this realm, it is widely known that many world class athletes employ visualization skills as a part of their everyday and pre-event training. They see themselves on the winner's stand and they hear the applause long before the contest ever begins. The winning basket, the record breaking vault, the day's fastest sprint, many were first seen in the mind's eye of the victor long before they ever happened. You don't, however, have to be field general or an Olympic caliber sportsman to get the benefits of what has been also called creative visualization. You just need to know that the subconscious mind cannot differentiate between that which you envision and that which has already happened.
In order to successfully visualize, then, you will want to, again, use the relaxation techniques suggested in the meditation section above. Shift your attention away from the busyness of the world. Once you have fine tuned your awareness in this way, move the focus of your thoughts to what you want to possess, achieve, or enjoy. Feel yourself driving it if it's a car (or preferably a bicycle) that you want to own, being applauded if it's a speech you plan to give or sitting on the beach if it's a vacation you want to take. Make the entire scene as real as possible.
Add colors, people, sound and all the sensations that you will feel when you find yourself in possession of whatever it is that you seek. Let your imagination run free. Dare to dream. Then see if you can make what you see, hear and feel even more grand. Keep pushing your mind for more details.
As new ideas begin to flood in don't be afraid to deviate from the norm of all those around you. Before you start acting on any of the information you will have received from the exercise above, however, you might just want to begin with a more standard approach. Here you may just want to test the waters by communicating your desired dream to your superiors. Schedule a meeting with whoever it is that signs your paycheck. If it is a big company you will want to do this with Human Resources, and explore the possibilities of your taking some time off for our ride. Perhaps there is a sabbatical program you can enroll in or some added vacation time you may be able to take if you were to do so unpaid. If you are afraid that if any one were to find out about your proposed scheme, that you would be soon terminated, then do this research behind the scenes.
If it does not look like there are any options you can exercise here, perhaps you can involve your employer in your ride. Here you will want to do the inner work I excerpted above for you from my book. Toward that end, here are some ideas I came up with:
Offer to wear a company T-shirt and pose with it at each state border that you cross. Offer to write a weekly report for the company newsletter. Offer to get their logo and name silk-screened on to your bike shorts, bike fairing or helmet, maybe you could wear a button, all in exchange for a little time off to bike the nation with us.
Company's' no matter how big or small love to see their name before the public. Be creative here. Think of ways u can make both of you win!
If you choose to take this approach, do be certain to present this to them in writing. Be careful not to let them see your scheme as half-baked. If it doesn't look like it has been thought out beforehand, they can hardly be expected to think that you will do any good for them or for yourself on your ride. Here you might try this format:
What is the National Bicycle Greenway?
The NBG is a nonprofit organization dedicated to consolidating and choreographing the efforts of US trail building organizations in laying in place a nationwide network of bicycle highways that will in time connect the coasts and criss cross America from north to south and east to west.
Why the Ride? By filling the nation and then Washington DC with bikes next summer, the NBG looks forward to initiating a nationwide discussion about the importance of building infrastructure that connects all of the states with one another as what will in time become a contiguous labyrinth.
Where?
Cyclists will be leaving:
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Boise, Boulder, Lincoln, Des Moines, Flagstaff , Albuquerque, Tulsa, Saint Louis, Springfield, IL, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Austin, New York City, Boston, Miami
for Washington DC and GreenFest 2000, A Millennium Renaissance for Human Powered Mobility! Organized by retired Col. Dan Petkunas, GreenFest 2000 will feature a 24 hour Critical Mass ride as a thank you to our lawmakers for the passage of TEA 21, a bill that will direct billions to people powered transportation.
When?
Individual cyclists can leave whenever they need to leave to be able to make the August 20 GreenFest celebration in Washington DC.
Groups will also be leaving from the major anchor cities as per the NBG Departure Schedule.
How?
Each rider will make the ride his or her own with the info the NBG has provided at their site. They have been building their database on the web since March of 1998. They have interactive maps and data bases telling riders where to eat, sleep and play, they have ride partner classifieds, even an on-line book using a coast‚to-coast ride as a model, which explains all of the mental and physical tools that are needed for longer tours, along with much other information that is all based from their main ride page.
My Dream
Talk about how you have always wanted to cross the country under your own
power and see America first hand. Talk about how now with the NBG ride,
that you will get to take advantage of the research we are doing on this
topic and that you will be so caught up in the cross country momentum that
will sweep the nation next summer that you can't help but succeed.
I will be gone for
State how many miles you plan to ride a day on your way to GreenFest 2000
and how you can fly home to be back to work within a short while after your
ride finishes.
My Route
Here you will want to indicate which major cities you will be passing
through. This will give your employer a chance to see if there are any
suppliers or people they sell to along your way that they can have you
visit on their behalf. As your company's ambassador, some of your visits
could result in media exposure for both your company as well as for your
host. Be sure to suggest this.
Why it will make you a better employee
Try here to apply our ride to whatever you do for your employer. If it is
customer service, for example, talk about how your ride will broaden your
view of the world and make you a better people person. You can use "Why
TransAm" for other ideas:
What's in it for _______ (Your employer's name)
Suggest the silk-screened logo and other promotion ideas mentioned in the
first paragraph of this section. Talk about how it will make them stand
taller in their immediate community especially as a green purveyor of
commerce.
Draft a Sample News Release
------------------- sample----------------------------------------
Thanks to the generous support of ______ (employer), _____ (your name) will
join the many thousands of other cyclists who will be biking across the
United States this summer to call for the building of the National Bicycle
Greenway (NBG). _____(your name) a _____ (your title) at _____ (employer)
expects to arrive in Washington DC on August 20, 2000 for GreenFest 2000 ,
a celebration asking for a Renaissance in human powered mobility.
Use the next two sentences to describe what your employer does and then close with:
By making it possible for _____ (your name) to live the dream of crossing
America on a bike, ______ (employer) is showing how one business in ______
(your city) can speak to the many environmental and transportation problems
our world faces today.
------------------- sample----------------------------------------
Create a Web Site
You can use all of the above as the format for a web site. If you can't do
one, or don't want to invest the time or money in a web publishing program,
find a friend who can. If you were to give the above text to him or her on
a disk, along with a picture of two, it should be a very simple matter of
formatting your work accordingly. And if you cannot locate such a person,
you can try your Internet Service Provider. They usually have a stable of
what they call web consultants who can do this kind of work for you for a
pretty reasonable price. You will then want to take the result of their
work and put it on the free web space most providers make available for
their clients. If you can't find a home for it, or for that matter won't
have Internet service while you are away, we can house it here. Either way,
it will be linked to Stav's interactive data base and you will be flagged
from here as one of our TransAm riders.
Professionally Packaged
While a web site is great, your proposal will still need to be in printed
form. In fact, if you can't get it webbed, this is far more important. Most
people still like paper, something they can feel in their hands. Make sure
your proposition is typed up and do try to give it some polish. For
example, put it into a clear plastic presentation folder. The more
professional, the better your chances of coming away a winner.
Make Allies out of your Co-Workers
While you are going through the above exercise, do make certain to make
allies out of your co-workers. Don't endeavor to do your ride to give
yourself bragging rights over them. Instead make them a part of the
cheering section you would do well to create long before you hit the road.
You might even try to get them involved, for example, in the home group we
will be showing you how to build in a later chapter. Look for ways that
they can take up some slack for you while you are away and look for ways to
reward them for doing so even before you go. Get them interested in your
ride. Suggest lunch-time training rides with them. Build a sponsor page at
your web site that signals their contribution to your ride (note: later in
the chapter, we will be showing you to practice the detachment that will
also be needed here so that these well meaning people do not stand in the
way of your actual departure0.
With all of the above said, know that if you are a good worker, the cost of retraining a replacement for you is often more cost prohibitive than if your employer were to give you a little more time away from the job. The question both of you need to ask yourselves here is what would have happened if you were to become ill or were to have had an accident.
If switching jobs and starting fresh were already thoughts that you found yourself entertaining, maybe you could view our ride as a vacation between the two. Since it is a largely accepted fact that the best time to look for a job is when you have one already, it might be a good idea for you to create a resume or upgrade your old one and start shopping it around. Here you will want to contact a few of the employment agencies found in your local Yellow Pages so they can do the actual looking for you.
Ordinarily, they will want to meet with you before they go out and try to find a match for your services. This should not be a problem, however, since many of them work after the standard work day is complete. Here you can schedule to meet with them after your own day on the job is finished.
If you explain your situation to them and keep it on the hush hush at your work, no one needs to know where you will be working once you have finished your TransAm. Here, of course, you will need to let your new employer know that you cannot begin until our ride is complete. Or if they want to bring you on sooner, make sure they know that you will need a few months off to bike the US with us.
And if it only makes sense for you to take a few weeks off instead of a few months you can still ride with us to GreenFest 2000. For this you will just have to start a little closer to DC and factor the added expense of a train or plane into your getting there. Here is when groups will be leaving from specific cities across the US:
To Summer of 2000 Newsletter
