Volley Ball Pencils and Outliers

Let me tell you another true story.

The health club I belong to has an elite junior volleyball program for middle school and high school students. According to their web-site, the program has had 250+ athletes who went on to play volleyball in college. Their teams are competitive at the national level each year and several have won national junior championships. These volleyball players are dedicated athletes that practice several hours each night and play in tournaments just about every weekend.

During the winter and the days when I am not able to run outside, I run inside at the health club which includes the this elite junior volleyball program. As I am running laps on the running track around the volleyball courts, I am able to observe the volleyball practices.

One thing I noticed is that a majority of the volleyball players are female, high-school age players that all look the same. They are all tall, about 5’8″ to 5’10”, thin, all have shoulder length hair, tied up in pony tails. They all are wearing the same volleyball club uniforms, so they all look very similar, almost identical. It is very difficult with just a casual observation to tell any of the players apart.

To me, the volleyball players reminded me of box of pencils, volleyball pencils. A group of very uniform individuals.

“The volleyball players all look so similar, I call them Volleyball Pencils.”Stephen Lesavich, PhD

The volleyball pencils remind me of those individuals in our society who live in and controlled by the collective energy of our society which I call the “car carrier effect.”

Being part of the collective energy often means you are living in a passive, dis-empowered state. You are reacting to this collective energy based on what is already programmed in your own subconscious.

In most instances you are not accepting responsibility for the decisions you do make and are not trying to co-create your own life in any positive way.

Of course there were also other athletes on the volleyball court. Athletes who were taller, shorter and had different body types than the other athletes on the volleyball court. These athletes were the “outliers.”

In statistics, an “outlier” is a data point that differs significantly from other observations.

An outlier is typically a person whose thoughts and actions are significantly different than the majority of other people.

Malcom Gladwell, in his book, Outliers, explains why outliers are some of the most successful people in the world and why they separate themselves from the collective energy of society.

One type of outlier is a person who understands how their subconscious works.Stephen Lesavich, PhD

Your subconscious mind loops through your own behavioral patterns that have been programmed and stored based on both positive and negative experiences you have had in your lifetime.  Your subconscious is full of your own programmed behavior patterns.

Many research studies have shown that your subconscious mind influences most of your daily decisions, choices, and thoughts. It regulates about 95% of the choices that you make each day.

For example, your subconscious directs you to avoiding touching a hot stove, crossing an intersection only when the WALK signal is active, grabbing an umbrella when it is raining outside, driving through a green light and stopping at a red light, etc.

To change your behavior patterns, you need to re-program you subconscious mind to alter any established negative behavior patterns. Re-programming your subconscious mind allows you to live in an active, empowered state, in which “miracles” commonly occur.

However, your subconscious mind will likely cause you to trigger emotionally and even physically uncomfortable whenever you attempt to change any of your established behavior patterns.

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PODCAST: VOLLEYBALL PENCILS AND OUTLIERS

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So how can you overcome resistance to re-program your subconscious mind to become a successful outlier?

1. Use Declarations Daily.  A “declaration” is a formal or explicit statement or announcement of a state or condition that you already know to be true.  It is a commitment to a desired result.  It is a statement of direct instructions to program into your subconscious for what you are co-creating in your life.  Declarations typically start with, “I am …” or “I declare …”  For example, “I am happy every day.” Your declarations must be stated in a positive, present tense as your subconscious does not react to negative past or future tense statements. Your declarations must also be based on positive emotions such as happiness, joy, peace, love, etc. For example, if you are scared, you would not say, “I will not be scared.” This declaration includes both a includes both a negative word “not” and a future tense word, “will.” All you subconscious will understand is “scared.” Instead you could say this declaration, “I am confident.”
2. Visualize Daily. You reprogram your subconscious mind with daily visualizations. Visualization is a technique where spend a few minutes each day to imagine positive scenes that feature you and the realities you desire to co-create in your life. Visualize whatever you want to attract in your life as it is already there with the proper positive emotions and positive feelings. Concentrate on the feelings of your desire and not the actual objects of your desires. Concentrate on how your visualization makes you feel. Your subconscious mind will create new patterns and adopt your visualizations as new realities in your life. Your subconscious mind creates new programs much quicker when you “feel” the corresponding positive emotions as you visualize the new realities you are creating in your life.
3. Be Consistent Daily. Your subconscious mind needs to be reprogrammed through constant and consistent practices. State your declarations and do your visualizations daily. When you are creating new behaviors, you make incremental steps each day in reprogramming your subconscious. It typically takes a few weeks to a few months of consistent practice to reprogram your subconscious. Reprogramming your subconscious mind redefines your beliefs, values, emotions and behavior patterns in a positive way. Your reprogrammed subconscious mind then sends out energetic signals as your new vibrational offerings that the Universe does and has to match with the energy of your frequency and vibration to draw what you desire into your own reality. It is the way the Law of Attraction, which says, “like-attracts-like.”

Reprogramming your subconscious to become an outlier allows you to make a positive impact in your own life helps you co-create the life you truly desire.

I am definitely an outlier. How about you?

Out There on the Edge of Everything®…

Stephen Lesavich, PhD

Copyright © 2021, 2023 by Stephen Lesavich, PhD.  All rights reserved.

Certified solution-focused life coach and experienced business coach.