Eldon Taylor’s International and New York Times best selling book, (ad) Choices and Illusions, states that “the real meaning in life comes from what you give, not from what you take… that the “warm fuzzy feeling” we derive from a true service experience, going to the aid of another in need, is the best feeling we can have when we put our head on the pillow each night“.
(ad) Choices and Illusions does a great job at explaining, in a very down to earth way, how your mind works, why some changes can be so difficult to make and how you can take control of your own mind to create the life of your choosing.
Eldon states that, his lifetime of work shows him clearly, that the only way you can possibly discover your true self and become the person you were meant to be, free of self destructive patterns and ideas, is…
By doing the following:
1.
Understanding the way your mind works;
2.
Becoming fully aware of the 24/7 effort made by many to program your thinking;
3.
Being able to look at yourself and your ideas with fresh eyes, questioning all of your beliefs;
4.
Reviewing the full experience of your own life and those of your friends and family members so you can stand back and see the big picture; and
5.
Knowing the full potential of your mind and the importance of controlling your inner beliefs to thereby create a goal and a pathway to it.
It is with this aim in mind that Eldon Taylor offers you his revised edition of (ad) Choices and Illusions.
Enjoy this selection of excerpts from Eldon’s book…
1.
Paraphrased, J. Krishnamurti said, “Choice is an illusion. Do I do this, do I do that? All of this is confusion. I can only choose when I’m confused. When I know clearly, there is no choice”.
Thirty years ago, Benjamin Libet showed that there is activity in the subconscious milliseconds before a conscious thought occurs.
In other words, our so-called conscious thoughts are given to us by our subconscious. Indeed, we have recently learned that the subconscious, or unconscious (here I use these terms as synonyms), makes 90 percent of our decisions for us.
In fact, an MRI technician can know what we will decide many seconds before we know our own decision, simply by watching the brain in real time. That fact alone should give every thinking person pause to reconsider the content of his or her own mind.
2.
The unconscious has all manner of mechanisms, such as our response to compliance principles, biases, context-bound definitions, defense strategies, and so forth, plus it makes almost all of our decisions for us.
So are we just products of good old nature/nurture, programmed by the “media-ocracy” that is our environment and thereby not much more than sophisticated automatons performing on cue?
Now, I like to ask at this point in a lecture, “What was your last original thought? Truly original?” and usually I get the same answer: silence.
3.
I recently attended a continuing-education course sponsored by the Institute for Brain Potential, and there were two take away points emphasized in concluding remarks by the presenter, Dr. Kateri McRae. Those two points are worth repeating over and over again.
The first, you absolutely can change. It turns out that you can change your personality, your IQ, your habits, and even physical aspects of your brain. You can increase gray matter and more. Second, and of utmost importance, you can only change what you believe you can change!
You can only change what you believe you can change! Share on XLet me say that again: neuroscience, not some mumbo-jumbo lingo, but hard science based on actual observation, says that you can change only what you believe you can change! Remember that the next time you tell yourself something is impossible.
4.
Language labels everything, and once that is done, that which is labeled is “diminished“, in the words of philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard.
Words, however, have still other emotional domains that they anchor, or they function like search words in a web browser. When input, they trigger a host of related sites stored deep in our memory.
Our language usage, the value and meaning we attach to words, can blind our rational thinking. We could effectively argue that genius escapes this language barrier, for genius goes beyond the boundaries, sees the common differently, and gains a perspective not formerly found.
5.
It would amaze and horrify you to know the extent to which others engineer our thoughts. Billions and billions of dollars have been spent by governments and marketing researchers to determine exactly how our minds work, especially our unconscious or subconscious (I use those two terms in this instance as synonyms).
What have they learned? Here are just a few of the discoveries made by those in the field of what today is known as scientific marketing…
Using MRI to view the brain functioning in real time, it has been demonstrated that showing a smoker the surgeon general’s warning on a pack of cigarettes excites a reward center in the brain that motivates them to smoke more. Message: put the warning on more sides of the pack and make it bold.
It has been shown that subliminally flashing a smiling face on a foreign flag predisposes one to feel more favorably about the country the flag represents.
The result is, “What was your last original thought?” If you choose to continue to take in every advertisement and sound bite without questioning, without discernment, then you can expect no more than a result based on others’ desires. It is your choice, and this one is not an illusion unless you choose not to make it.
6.
There are two ways to be tied up in the world. In one way, another person binds you. In the other way, you choose to hold on to a tiny thread attached to anything and refuse either to let go or pull hard enough to break it.
As long as we blame, we effectively rob ourselves of our own empowerment. Share on XIt’s interesting that this is how elephants are trained. Tying elephants when they are very young with large chains causes them to soon learn that they are attached, and if they try to run the ground will suddenly be jerked out from under them and they will fall and hurt themselves. When these animals are fully grown and could easily snap the chain, they are content tied only with a small rope.
Similarly, blame is a bind—pure and simple, it ties you up!
As long as we blame, we effectively rob ourselves of our own empowerment. After all, if it’s not my fault, then there is nothing I can do about it. The “everything sucks and then you die” attitude, the “it’s not my fault” approach, and similar beliefs strip individuals of the power to affect their own world.
7.
Thinking out of the box, so to speak, is the kind of thinking all of us must do if we are to get out of the box. The box many people find themselves in is self-defining and confining. The walls of the box are fear, anger, lack, and the like. Some circle the walls, pacing like trapped animals, failing to look up from their feet enough to see just how easy the walls are to step over.
The walls of the box are fear, anger, lack, and the like.
The longest journey, Lao Tzu stated, begins with a single step. Recognizing the walls for exactly what they are and how they got there is the first step in freeing ourselves. Deciding to step out of the confines of “the same old, same old” is the next step. It is a new, genuine choice. It is a change in beliefs.
The longest journey begins with a single step. -Lao Tzu Share on XEldon Taylor, in his book (ad) Choices and Illusions encourages you to examine your own thoughts to find the dissonance and, therefore, discover your own truth. Leading you through some of the miracles in his life in the hope that you will remember the miracles in your own and so assisting you in finding more meaning in your own life. Eldon provides his thoughts on the best tools for reversing negative effects and enhancing your own personal empowerment.
The Flower Pot Story by Dr. Eldon Taylor is about the choices we make and how to think of a higher choice. Four different choices will result in greatly different results…
I recommend you (ad) buy your own copy of Eldon’s book and read it from cover to cover.
Also, enjoy The Good Luck Story by Dr. Eldon Taylor, which is an excerpt from the book too… You can watch that at the top of this post.
The excerpts posted posted above, truly are only the tiniest tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many life lessons and solutions that this book has to offer you.
Plus, you’ll be introduced to (ad) InnerTalk, a patented subliminal self-help technology that has been researched by numerous independent universities and institutions and been demonstrated effective at priming how you speak to yourself.
Explore This Idea Further
Optional prompts to help you make the ideas your own.
I use AI as a thinking companion, not as a replacement for my own thinking. These prompts are simply another way to explore the ideas in this article and see how they might apply to your own life.
You don’t have to use AI to benefit from them. You can copy a prompt into a notebook, write about it in your journal, talk it through with someone you trust or simply sit with the question and see what comes up for you. If you do use ChatGPT or another AI tool, treat its responses as a starting point for your own thinking. You remain the person who decides what is useful and right for your life.
How to use these prompts: Choose the one that appeals to you, copy the complete prompt and paste it into ChatGPT or another AI tool. You can answer its questions and continue the conversation as you go.
1. Apply This To My Life
Use this prompt when you want to connect the article’s ideas with something happening in your own life.
Help me explore how the Forward Steps article “What Are Your Life Choices And Illusions?” could apply to my own life.
Use the Forward Steps article above as your primary source. Pay particular attention to its ideas about how our thinking can be shaped by unconscious patterns, outside influences, labels and beliefs; questioning what we assume to be true; recognising the ways blame can reduce our sense of empowerment; and noticing the “walls” of fear, anger, lack or old patterns that may keep us confined.
First, ask me a few thoughtful questions about a situation, decision, belief or recurring pattern in my life where these ideas might be relevant. Keep the questions conversational rather than making me complete a questionnaire.
After I answer, help me see my situation through the ideas in the article. Point out assumptions, influences, patterns or possible choices I may not have noticed, while clearly distinguishing what comes from the article from your own interpretation.
Then give me a small amount of practical, personalised guidance about what I might consider differently or explore next. Build on my answers rather than giving me a generic self improvement response. Keep the guidance grounded in the article and focused on helping me recognise where I may have more choice or possibility than I currently see.
2. Reflect More Deeply
Use this prompt when you want to explore what your choices and illusions might be telling you.
Help me look beneath the surface of the Forward Steps article “What Are Your Life Choices And Illusions?” and discover what its ideas might reveal about the way I think and make choices.
Use the Forward Steps article above as your primary source. Help me reflect on its questions about whether my thoughts and decisions are genuinely my own, how my environment and other people’s messages may influence me, how language and labels can shape what I see, and how beliefs can create either limits or possibilities. Also explore the article’s ideas about blame, self empowerment and stepping beyond the familiar “box” of old patterns.
Start with one or two particularly thought provoking questions rather than giving me a long list. Wait for my answers and then respond thoughtfully to what I say.
As we continue, help me notice assumptions, contradictions, patterns, possibilities or perspectives I may not have considered. Don’t tell me what I should believe or turn this into a psychological analysis. Keep bringing the conversation back to what the article actually teaches and help me think about its ideas with fresh eyes.
Continue building on my responses so this becomes a genuine exploration rather than one large response that ends the conversation.
3. Turn It Into Action
Use this prompt when you are ready to do something about a life change rather than simply think about it.
Help me turn one useful idea from the Forward Steps article “What Are Your Life Choices And Illusions?” into a small change I can actually make in my life.
Use the Forward Steps article above as your primary source. Focus on its ideas about questioning beliefs and assumptions, becoming more aware of influences on our thinking, recognising the “walls” that keep us in old patterns, taking responsibility rather than remaining trapped in blame, and recognising that change begins with believing change is possible.
First, ask me what situation in my life I would most like to look at differently or change. If necessary, ask one or two more questions so you understand the situation.
Then help me identify the one idea from the article that is most relevant to me. Suggest one or two realistic actions that naturally follow from that idea and explain how they connect with the article.
Help me choose one action and turn it into a simple plan I can realistically begin. Keep the plan small and manageable rather than giving me a long list of tasks. Encourage progress rather than perfection, and continue building on my answers if I want to explore or adjust the plan.
Tip: You don’t have to use all three. Start with the one that feels most useful to you right now.
Hi, I'm Thea Westra at Forward Steps (forwardstepsblog.com)
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