CDT08 | Knowing Is Half the Battle

 
 

Date: February 28, 2022

Welcome back to the podcast! More specifically the Conscience Driven Therapy Series.

A quick review on the structure of the series:

Conscience Driven Therapy

Learning to Transcend the Human Condition 

PART I: THINGS WE CANNOT CONTROL

Chapter 1: A Lot of Things Came Before Us

Chapter 2: We Were Sent In a Specific Direction

Chapter 3: There Were Landmines & Minefields Along the Way

PART II: THINGS WE CAN CONTROL

Chapter 4: The First Step Toward Health & Healing

Chapter 5: Hold on to the Good - Release the Bad

Chapter 6: Locus of Control & ETOTO

Chapter 7: Understanding the Battle

Chapter 8: Knowing Is Half the Battle

Chapter 9: Transcend Human

Chapter 10: Becoming a CDT Ambassador

Minute of Transparency: Anger Management (Part 2)

Chapter 8: Knowing Is Half the Battle

  1. First understand. Then act.

  2. Living proactively

  3. Developing a Personalized Plan of Attack (PPA)

// 1. FIRST UNDERSTAND. THEN ACT.

Some of you may be thinking, "Haven't I heard that before? It sounds so familiar! First understand, then act."

Well, you're close. You're probably thinking of this phrase made popular by the late Stephen R. Covey:

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

This is Habit 5 from the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

His phrase is based off an even more popular concept:

  • Which is the idea that we should listen before we talk

  • The concept that God gave us two ears and one mouth so we should listen twice as much

Great ideas and super helpful.

So our phrase is similar - but at the same time suggests some altogether different:

  • Which we've hammered away at over the past two episodes

  • Our phrase suggests we first need to understand something - then we can act on it

  • And in our scenario - understanding doesn't just happen by listening

  • We come to an understanding about something in numerous ways

    • By hearing it

    • By seeing it

    • By reading it

    • By watching it

    • By feeling it

    • By smelling it

    • By tasting it

    • By experiencing it

    • That's a very sensory list isn't it?

    • But it makes sense - human beings learn about things through their senses

    • And if we tune in to those senses - we can come to a full understanding about new things

Obviously there are good and bad things we come to an understanding about:

  • For me - coming to understand of Chicago Style Pizza was life changing:

    • One of my favorite experiences

    • If you've never had Giordano's Chicago Style Pizza - you haven't actually lived

  • But I also came to an understanding of death at a young age when a few of our cats got out of the house and were killed by a couple neighborhood dogs

    • Not one of the best experiences in my life

    • But at the same time - it provided a new understanding - one that I hadn't experienced yet

And in both of these scenarios - I acted upon my new understanding:

  • When I came to understand how good Giordano's Pizza was - I made a point of having it whenever we ventured into Chicago

  • When I came to understand death, and the fragility of life - I never looked at animals in quite the same way. I held them closer, loved them more and thought a lot more about their safety

But in both scenarios - it was the same process:  

First understand. Then act.

// 2. LIVING PROACTIVELY

Being "proactive" is something we need to spend some time on next.

Because it fits perfectly into our little equation First understand. Then act.

Now it isn't there - you can't see the word itself - because it lives in the white space between the two phrases.

So technically - we could say it like this: First understand. Then be Proactive. Then act.

But that just muddies things. I like it better short and to the point.

But we can still talk about being proactive - because it is a required step - even though we didn't call it out.

And in order to understand the concept of being "proactive" it might be good to look at the opposite side of the coin - which is to be "reactive."

Need a good illustration? Look no further than my road rage as a college student...

That is being "reactive" in a nutshell. Reacting to my anger with a definite lack of wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

Unfortunately - this is part of the Human Condition - and possibly part of our Human Nature.

It just might be set as the default response mechanism when we are born.

It's the animal inside of us - the desire to react to stimuli in our environment immediately.

In the animal world we call this reflex behavior, or instinctual behavior. There's just something in the animal that tells them, and compels them to respond in a certain ways.

So we came by it honestly. But if humans are supposed to be more intelligent than animals - there must be something else we're capable of doing.

And obviously this is related to our cognitive abilities:

  • Thinking

  • Planning

  • Analyzing

  • Problem Solving

  • And yes - thinking proactively

So to summarize:

  • Once we come to an understanding about something

  • We are in a good position to be proactive about that information

    • To think ahead

    • To plan

    • To analyze and problem solve

  • And then to act upon our conclusions and put the plan into place

And that's really all I want to say about being "proactive." Although it will come up again next week in our conversation on Transcending Human...

// 3. DEVELOPING A PERSONALIZED PLAN OF ATTACK (PPA)

So here's where we find ourselves...

We have come to a new understanding about the Controversy, and we've decided we want to be "proactive" about it.

So what does that look like? What do we do next? What are the action steps in being "proactive?"

Glad you asked...

I'm going to slap a fun little name on it, and create yet another acronym for us to remember.

Our "proactive" next step is called a Personalized Plan of Attack (PPA).

To me this makes perfect sense:

  • Satan creates Personalized Temptation Plans (PTPs) for each of us

  • God has an Eternal Life Plan (ELP) for each of us

  • So why shouldn't we get a plan as well?

A Personalized Plan of Attack (PPA) is a worksheet that provides the following benefits:

  • It helps us plan ahead - decide some things in advance

  • It provides a foundation upon which to build

  • It is a physical reminder to remain strong on things we used to waver on

  • And it is a tangible reminder that we're living life on purpose

So let's walk through a Personalized Plan of Attack (PPA)

Name | Personalized Plan of Attack | For Immediate & Ongoing Use

The Big 3 Questions: (From Chapter 4: The First Step Toward Health & Healing):

  1. Where did I come from? (A question of Origin)

  2. Why am I here? (A question of Purpose)

  3. Where am I going? (A question of Destiny or Destination)

Important Concepts within the Big 3 Questions:

  • God

  • Satan

  • The Human Condition

  • The Sin Virus & The Antidote

  • The Eternal Election

  • Death & Eternal Life

My Value: (From Chapter 4: The First Step Toward Health & Healing):

  • Read this statement: "I have unimaginable value simply because I am a Child of the Creator"

  • How strongly do I believe this on a scale from 1 to 10:

    • 1 = Do not believe it

    • 5 = I'm never quite sure

    • 10 = Fully believe it

The Direction I Was Sent: (From Chapter 2: We Were Sent In a Specific Direction):

  • People (Family of Origin, who I was raised by and other impactful people)

  • Places (My home, city, town, state, country and culture)

  • Things (Everything else... Though many of these may wind up being Landmines or Minefields)

BIG Things From My Past: (From Chapter 3: There Were Landmines & Minefields Along the Way):

  • Landmines:

    • Negative life events (things that happened to me)

    • Negative life events (things I played a role in)

  • Minefields:

    • A pattern of negative life events (things that happened to me)

    • A pattern of negative life events (things I played a role in)

Recognize the Dangers: (From Chapter 7: Understanding the Battle):

  • Weaknesses: Things you already know you struggle with

  • Blindspots: Things you are likely to fall for

Think Positive: (From Chapter 5: Hold On to the Good – Release the Bad):

  • Assets (positive things outside of myself):

    • From my past

    • In the present 

  • Strengths (positive things within me):

    • From my past

    • In the present

  • How can I lean into these today, this week and in the future in order to grow?

Think Rationally: (From Chapter 6: Locus of Control & ETOTO):

  • Everyone experiences unhealthy negative emotions, and reacts to things in unhealthy ways from time to time because:

    1. We react based on how we're feeling

    2. Because we fall for cognitive distortions that trip us up

  • I need the use the ETOTO Worksheet in order to dispute my irrational thoughts and beliefs:

    • Remember - the worksheet includes the Disputation Process:

      • Which has two elements:

        • The Spiritual (which includes listening to your Conscience)

        • The Psychological (the process of evaluating your thinking)

    • Examples of irrational thinking:

      • Nothing good ever happens to me...

      • She makes me so angry...

      • If I lost my job I would die...

      • If I go outside something terrible could happen...

      • There is literally nothing going right in the world today...

Get Proactive: (From Chapter 8: Knowing Is Half the Battle):

  • People:

    • Who are some people I need to spend less time with?

    • Who are people I should spend more time with?

  • Places:

    • What are some places I should avoid?

    • Where should I spend more time?

  • Things:

    • What are some things I need to do less?

    • What are some things I need to start doing more often?

Next Steps:

  • Follow the above plan

  • Re-evaluated PPA for effectiveness on a regular basis

Now there you have it...

A quick walkthrough of the Personalized Plan of Attack (PPA)

If you'd like a clean copy of this worksheet to use in the future - head on over to the Patreon Page - I'll have it uploaded there this week.

Now this is NOT an Easy Button. We talked about the Easy Button in Chapter 5: Hold On to the Good. Release the Bad

At the end of that episode we talked about it being as simple as reframing your world view:

  • Letting go of the Landmines & Minefields

  • And focusing on your Assets & Strengths

Easier said than done - and as we've learned today - there are some other important things in there that need addressed.

And developing our own Personalized Plan of Attack (PPA) is anything but easy:

  • It requires time and energy

  • It requires us to think about our past - which may be difficult

  • It requires careful thought and reflection

  • It requires honesty and transparency

  • And it requires that we do the hard work of Disputation

    • Being ruthless with our thoughts and beliefs

    • Turning irrational ones into rational ones

But if we're willing to do this hard work - we're on the path to success. The road to health and healing. The road to purpose and meaning in the future.

Let’s land the plane:

This week, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Where are you at in the "First understand. Then act." process?

    • Are you still working on the understand part?

    • Are you ready to start thinking proactively?

    • Or are you ready to act?

    • If you're like me - you're in all three phases in different areas of your life...and that's ok. Because life is a journey, and we're always learning…

  2. When it comes to living proactively:

    • What does that look like for you?

    • What are you doing in order to decide in advance?

    • In order to plan for your future?

  3. Would you be willing to develop a Personalized Plan of Attack (PPA) this week?

    • If so, head on over to the Patreon Page and sign up to get your copy

Thank you so much for joining us again this week - we're getting close to the end!

Next week we continue with:  Chapter 9: CDT09 | Transcend Human

We'll talk about what it means to live the Transcend Human lifestyle.

With that, have a great week, and as always, keep Transcending Human!


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CDT09 | Transcend Human

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CDT07 | Understanding the Battle