Switching the I and the E - The Millimeter Rule

It really can be about the little things.  And, in addition to all of those big things you're juggling (or trying to juggle), those little things can make all the difference.

My beautiful wife, Lindsay, has an amazing regimen and system set up for herSelf - for inspiration, for motivation, for reminders, for scheduling, for mantras, for support, for boosting herSelf up, for connecting with herSelf and the universe.  It truly is wonderful, and it's helped her immensely with her days (and weeks, and months, and beyond), her focus, and led to much (continuing) success.

One of Lindsay's recent mantras/affirmations/visualizations involved receiving a beautiful (paying) role in a Sundance-caliber independent film.  She would connect with this outcome/goal every day, as she also took active steps toward bringing herSelf closer to it.  Linds hit a block of some sort - she could feel it, and I could tell she was experiencing it.  She still continued, though, to give it the time it needed (How many people do you know, including yourself, stop your outcome/goal pursuits once you hit a block?  Recalling New Year's Resolutions....).

One day, I was looking at her "Receive Board" and noticed her goal read "I recieve with gratitude..."  Recieve.  It said "Recieve."  And, as most of us learned as kids, "'i' before 'e' except after 'c'"  Receive was spelled incorrectly.  Nothing drastic needed to happen; there didn't have to be any overhauling or stressing; no major changes were needed.  All Lindsay needed to do, now that she realized what was slightly out of place, was switch the "i" and the "e."  She needed to turn "Recieve" into "Receive." 

Why am I telling you this story?  Well, the next day - yes, literally, the next day - Lindsay recEIved an email calling her in for an audition for a beautiful (paying) role in a Sundance-caliber film.

Tony Robbins, a MentorMagnet of mine (I'll throw up a blog post about that later on!), talks a lot about the incredible value found in millimeters - in a millimeter difference between this and that, here and there, "ie" and "ei."  His references are in the game of golf and in plastic surgery/visual beauty.  I'm not much of a golfer - I've played twice... and it was wasn't pretty - but I do know it's a game of precision.  Tony talks about the huge difference found in millimeters when it comes to your swing and contact.  When a trainer helped him change up his swing, a slight variation on grip and approach, his golf game improved tremendously.  It was the difference between hitting the ball one millimeter off its sweet spot with the right angle that would either send the ball off wide left or right into the water, top it along the ground, or cleanly sent it through the air to the fairway or green.  One millimeter.  

He also speaks of a client of his, one of the top plastic surgeons in the world, and a book this client had written studying what makes someone's face "gorgeous."  What he came to discover, through many measurement, much research and practice, was that a woman's face was considered "beautiful" or "gorgeous" if the distance between the top of her upper lip and the bottom of her nose was the size of her eye.  One millimeter more and she had an "average" face.  One more millimeter and she was "butt ugly."  Two millimeters between "gorgeous" and "butt ugly."

What's the difference between a smile and a frown?  A puffed, strongly-poised chest and slouched shoulders?  Giving up one day because "it's not working" or "it's never going to happen" and waiting those extra 24 hours to find whatever little change was needed brought your outcome/goal to you?  It's a matter of millimeters that makes a massive difference.  If you're willing to open your heart and mind to the tiniest of adjustments - letting pride, standards, rules sit this one out - then you may just bear witness to more and more of your dreams coming true and goals coming to fruition.  Keep your eyes open, stay attuned to what's happening within yourSelf and on the outside, be willing to forgive yourSelf and make a change if necessary.  Who needs big changes when all you have to do is shift everything by a millimeter.

There's a visual that many people have of what their journey to success should look like: 

Sometimes the journey is messy.  But the twists and turns in the journey are incredibly valuable - in the short- and long-term.  You start in the same place, and you finish in the same place.  It's all about the ride, so ride out your millimeters to success and be ready and conscious to switch your I's and your E's.

What millimeter shift can you make in your life?  What tiny change will bring about greater success, fulfillment, freedom, prosperity?  It's only a millimeter, so it's easy to find your way back on track if you stray too far.  Try it out and see how your life's millimeters make all the difference.



All the best and yummiest to you.