Book Club: Be Extraordinary!

This month we are finding out how to develop an extraordinary mind!

Vishen Lakhiani writes about the various aspects of our lives, especially when we were growing up, that have a profound impact on how we view, deal and respond to challenges and events.

There are ten laws that, if used correctly, can help you to break free of old mindsets and constraints. Vishen begins by defining levels of awareness. He raises many uncomfortable issues and suggests things that you may find a little too unconventional. It is, therefore, best read with an open mind!

I have to admit that I was not loving the book initially. Vishen makes up words and defines concepts in “his” way. I also found the stories about very famous leaders such as Richard Branson, Elon Musk et al. a bit irritating; not in their message but more in the way Vishen narrates. However, after getting into the book a bit more, I didn’t mind so much as the content was making sense.

Living in the Culturescape – fundamentally, how you were shaped by the world around you.

The ten laws flow through the evolution of the mind via questioning and challenging the rules of society (he calls these brules as in bullsh*t rules).  These may involve being taught from an early age that if we want to be happy, we have to work hard, get married and have children, save money and not be frivolous and so on.

A lot of these (b)rules are outdated and should, therefore, be “updated” in our consciousness to allow us to be truly happy and extraordinary. By stepping outside of the relative bounds of the culturescape, you can free yourself.

Awakening – once you understand the culturescape you can start to choose your own version of the world.

Once you realise which of the rules we have been brought up by are skewed at best, entirely false at worst, you can perform what Vishen refers to as Consciousness Engineering. The idea is that we frequently upgrade our technology yet we fail to do the same to our beliefs or habits. Essentially, we need to upgrade our hardware (which is our “models of reality” and ridding ourselves of disempowering beliefs and replacing them with healthier ones) and our software (our “systems for living” and developing good habits that empower us to innovate and grow.

Recoding yourself – transforming your inner world to what is needed to be extraordinary

The next phase is to begin recoding yourself by defining what makes you happy and then identifying the goals and visions which will make you feel fulfilled. There are three laws within this area but, in essence, Vishen states that you have to be happy in the “now”; to be “present”. By adopting such an attitude you will love what you do, will attract like-minded people and, as you work towards your overall vision, things will fall into place as you remain excited about where you want to get to.

Becoming Extraordinary – put everything into practice and change the world!

Finally, you will embrace your quest to become extraordinary and, by listening and taking action, Vishen claims that the universe will provide. You will not be afraid to dream, to be bold and to do things you wouldn’t have thought possible.

If this all seems a bit too difficult, and let’s face it, there are many aspects of self-development that are challenging or that make us uncomfortable but throughout the book, and on his website Mindvalley.com. Vishen provides many simple tests and exercises to enable you to fully hack your own internal systems and become extraordinary.