Sample Pages

 

Introduction
“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.”
Bahá’u’lláh

“Greatness is…discovered in goodness, humility, service and character.”
This book is about greatness in ordinary people. It is not about becoming famous, powerful or rich. It is about discovering the gems of your own natural greatness and polishing them into jewels. It is about acknowledging difficulties and moving past them. It is about finding your purpose in life, being your best self and having a positive impact beyond yourself. It is about the discipline of personal mastery.

”Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Gil Bailie
Public-opinion pollsters have reported that those held in highest esteem by most of the people interviewed are neither the great artists nor the great scientists, neither the great statesmen nor the great sports figures, but those who master a hard lot with their heads held high.

Life is wonderful! Life is difficult. Which is it? Or, can it be both?
Victor Frankl showed us that we can and do choose our state of mind. Through the remarkable story of his Holocaust survival[i] we learn that, regardless of the external circumstance of our life, we have choices. He was an inspiring model. How can we do what he did?

”Difficulty is the nurse of greatness.”
William Cullen Bryant
This book, conceptual and practical, is about understanding and unlocking the capacity in each of us. The pathways to that inner greatness are through the brain’s vast neural circuit systems. When we see how amazing these pathways are, understand how they work and learn how to use them, we have discovered a tool of enormous power.

Over the past twenty years I have given lectures, in a program I called “Pathways to Greatness,” to more than ten thousand participants - from the corporate setting to the factory floor, from churches to penitentiaries, from treatment centers to the community-at-large. Many have asked that a book be made available so they could continue the process of deepening their understanding of the principles put forth and to share with others what they learned. I present this book to fulfill those requests.

My intention is to provide, in understandable language, some of the recent findings about the mechanisms of our brains. Then I offer some simple mental tools to rewire your brain so you can become all you can be!

Often at the close of the eight-hour program (usually presented over a span of four days), participants approached me and commented, “Hal, this is fascinating stuff you have shared with us. But how do we know that it works?” The principles, ideas and explanations find their origin in years of research, experimentation and, most importantly, in my own life experiences, but they only become real through the power of personal stories. Stories from my own life are woven throughout the book and serve as the most profound source of my knowing that this material works. To further help you access that power, I also share stories about how people have put these tools into practice and liberated their own greatness.

I am a seeker and a synthesizer. For years I have read articles and books on the brain, creativity, cognitive science, and self-help. While each contributed to my personal life and thoughts, the work of Peter Senge is especially noteworthy in the unfolding of this book. In 1990, Peter Senge’s book, The Fifth Discipline[ii], arrived as if a gift from God. The discipline of systems thinking helped me recognize that the Newtonian approach to understanding cause and effect and stimulus-response did not accurately explain many of my own experiences. Systems thinking acknowledged the interconnectedness of influences upon a being. It further recognized that the cause often led to more than one effect and could also produce some unintended consequences. Time delays separating a cause from its effect can obscure one’s analysis. I began to comprehend that the reason some self-help attempts worked and others did not had to do with the systems nature of things…and people. It also helped me to understand how we live in a world of systems embedded in systems.

The coming together of all of these influences has culminated in the curriculum with its corresponding techniques. My ability to express the concepts in this book in a cogent way has been significantly enhanced by my running into and marrying Sharon Eakes (See Chapter 1, Life Begins Anew), whose background in psychology enriched the material. Her voice throughout this book lends feeling and expression to my ideas.



[i] Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search for Meaning. New York: Washington Square Press, 1985.

[ii] Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday, 1990.

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