Mastery: A Technology for Excellence and Personal Evolution

Copyright © 1988 by Tim Piering

A11 rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission from the author except for brief paragraphs for book reviews.

ISBN, 0-931325-02-l (printed version)

eISBN: 9781626755499

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 88-090866

First Printing: August, 1988 Printed in the U.S.

Second Printing: December 1991

e-Book Printing: April, 2013

Originally published by Sun West Publishing Co.

Sierra Madre Ca. 91024

For more information on Mastery and other topics see,

www.masteryandbeyond.com

Mastery Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Note from the Author

Chapter 1 The Preparation

• Opening

• Never Stop Working On Yourself

• My Path - Studying The Process Of Change

• How To Read This Book

Chapter 2 The Basics

• The Radio Voice Revisited

• Bedrock - The Place That Doesn't Move

• Success 101

• A Discussion On Time

• Your Allies

• Beware Of The Middle Ground

• Golden Quotes On Time

•Golden Quotes Goals and Action

Chapter 3 Going For It

• Action - The Brick and Mortar Of Success

• Developing A Bias Towards Action

• My Secret Technique

• Hitting The Target

• How Going For It Doubles The Impact

• Ghost Stories

• Tying It All Together

• The Power Of Motion

• How To Install A Go For It Way Of Living

• Blessed Are Those On The Firing Line

• Golden Quotes - Goals and Action

• Golden Quotes - Going For It

Chapter 4 Wealth In The Big Picture

• Wealth Building Principles

• Net Worth

• Context Of Wealth

• The Toll Position

• Make More Pies

• The Runaway Train

• The Next Age

Chapter 5 The Different Yous

• Buyer Beware

• Would The Real Tim Piering Please Stand

• You Don't Know About Your Yous

• The Different Yous

• Engineering A Masterful Human Being

Chapter 6 Using Your Mind

• The Conscious Mind Flashlight

• A New Mental Operating Model

• Mental Change Formula

• Sensory Based And Inner Voice

• Thoughts From The Inside Out

• Using Trim Tab Changes To Turn Your Ship

• Habituation

• Change and Relapse

• Mind As Body - Body As Mind

• The Organization's Effect On State Of Mind

• The Secret Of Parallel Mental Agents

• Mind, Trance, And Dream States

• Advanced Mental Model

Chapter 7 Your Perspective

• Perspective - The Beginning Of Mastery

• The Common Denominator In Happiness

• Two Perspective Focus and Problems

• Perspective And Memories

• Perspective And Shaping Reality

• The Beginning Of Wisdom

• Perspective And Evolution

• Looking Back On Perspective

• Golden Quotes On Perspective

Chapter 8 Way Of The Warrior

• Introduction To The Way Of The Warrior

• Learning's From The Martial Arts

• The Way Of The Warrior

• The Way Of The Adventurer-Healer

• Be Careful - Don't Go Too Far

• The Warriors Focus

• Konku Dai - The Warrior's Daily Routine

• Konku Dai Empowerment Routine Diagram

• Your Cubic Centimeter Of Chance

• Golden Quotes - Warrior

Chapter 9 Accessing Your Spiritual Side

• The Opening

• The Radio Voice And Deep Inner Guidance

• What Is Your Life About

• Another Whole New World

• My Findings On Spiritual Development

• Some Simple Powerful Truths

• What About Gurus

• Serendipity And Context

• Science Or Tibetan Gods

• The Ancient Wisdom Of The Tao

• A Sense Of God and The Game of Life

• Even The Master Checked It All Out

• My Dark Night Of The Soul

• Down Times And Breakthrough

• The Number One Human Problem

• Steps For Fast Evolution

• A Small Crack In The Box

• Golden Quotes On Tough Times

• Golden Quotes On Evolution

The symbol on the cover is an ancient Chinese character meaning wise principles and teachings from the past contain hidden treasures. When sorted out and applied, they not only strengthen and elevate personal character, but actually shape the world. The mountains represent a combination of a broad, solid base supporting spiritual peaks. These two symbols summarize in one swift stroke what this book is about.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge those people close to me who put in many long hours on this book: Drea Besch, Judy Jolly, Mary Charles, and my wife Sheila for your splendid job of editing, and Nita Alvarez for the excellent book cover.

Next, I would like to acknowledge my teachers too numerous to name. All those who have gone before me and dedicated their lives to growth and evolution of human beings. I give special thanks to John Grinder and Judith DeLozier who pioneered and developed NLP and the late Milton H. Erickson for being so willing to share their technology and genius with us.

And finally, I would like to acknowledge you. The people who work on themselves. I dedicated my first book to you. I said you were like a huge jetliner that was stuck on the runway. With proper effort, you could get off the ground, above the rest and become extraordinary. However, in this book, the metaphor evolves. Instead of being a jetliner, you can evolve and become a beautiful, soaring bird. Instead of just flying straight, you can dive, twist, and soar with real artistry. You can live a life you never dreamed possible. This book gives you the tools for living a life of mastery. I acknowledge you for the courage it takes to keep going-for-it. You make it all worthwhile.

Note from the Author

It has been 25 years since I first published Mastery. I have received many letters and calls from people all over the country whose lives were impacted by this book and it continues to this day. For that reason, I have decided to re-publish it as an e-Book. After considerable thought I decided to re-publish it in its original format. It serves as a baseline. I will produce a follow-on book providing my observations and experiences for the last two and a half decades. As you mature you grow more wise because as we say in Mastery, life will process you. I have a lot more to share which could not possibly fit in an updated version of the original text. I was also planning to change out and update the graphics. They are quite dated and from the early days of the first Mac's appearing on the market. But I decided to leave it all as it stands in its original format. The principles are solid and do not change much over time other than widening and deepening which I will cover in the follow-on book which will be titled Mastery and Beyond - from Excellence to Enlightenment. I appreciate you, my fellow travelers, who do the best with the gifts you have been given. My wish is to help you achieve Mastery in your body, mind, spirit, work, play, and relationships.

Tim Piering

April, 2013

Chapter 1

The Preparation

Opening

This is a book about evolution. It is a book about my evolution and perhaps your evolution. Since writing my first book, Breaking Free to Mental and Financial Independence, a lot has happened. I have changed more in the last 2 years than in the previous 10 years. This book documents these changes.

I feel that I have been blessed with a special talent. That talent is to act as a transducer of ideas; to take complex and diverse concepts and boil them down to the core, show how they are connected, and make them understandable in everyday language.

Most esoteric books just describe the end result. They tell you what it is like to be wise. They tell you how it is to be ecstatically happy. They say that when you are enlightened, you are one with God, and your life is pure bliss. They don't tell you how to get there. In my opinion, mainly because they don't know themselves how they did it. They are mostly describing the end state.

The one thing that makes this book different from the rest is that it actually shows you step-by-step how to get there.

I know because I've done it. I have the experience. I have mapped my evolution in little bite size chunks and fed it to others. They have gotten the same results. That's why I am excited to share it with you. It's been tested in the arena. It's been tested in life.

In the day-to-day, nitty-gritty, practical real world. It is very fulfilling to see it work so powerfully. It makes the time and effort to write this book worthwhile.

In America today, on one end of the spectrum, there is a lot of information about becoming successful. On the other end of the spectrum, there is a lot of esoteric information. But there is a gap in the middle. This book is meant to fill that gap. What do you do after you become mentally and financially independent? That is what Mastery is about.

I dedicated my first book to the 747 jetliner. I saw so many people not even coming close to living up to their full potential. They were stuck on the runway. The 747 is a metaphor for you and your great potential. Once you get moving down the runway and take off, it is more beautiful than you can imagine.

Once you have gained a certain working ability and success in achieving mental and financial independence, you are now ready for the next step: real Excellence and Mastery in living life.

There are very few books out there on mastery in living life. That middle area between the success and enlightenment philosophies. You are beyond the rah-rah of Positive Mental Attitude and not yet ready to sit in a cave on the mountain. That is what mastery is about. It is a balance and integration between the two. Not too weird in the esoteric sense, which most Americans shy away from, and definitely beyond the go-get-'em success philosophy. Mastery integrates the most powerful technologies of many worlds. That is why it is so powerful. There is no inbreeding of thought here. I use everything. I try everything and I keep the technology which produces results. This book maps similarities between disciplines.

If you find a working truth in lots of unrelated disciplines in different time periods, it must be good.

Then you test it and see for yourself. As Americans, we have been pretty arrogant. Our technology has made us the most powerful nation on earth.

Yet we are like a young kid with too much power and not enough wisdom.

We often snub the knowledge from other cultures. Yet those cultures are mature in the areas of spirituality and mastery in living life. There have been many cultures before us that have recorded this wisdom. This book combines principles spanning from Eastern philosophy to Western psychology. It integrates East with West. It integrates left brain with right brain.

It integrates the practical and material with the esoteric and spiritual. It is probably one of the most powerful books you will ever read. I make that claim because the work I do with people has dramatic and powerful results.

So our metaphor has evolved. The 747 jumbo jet that lumbered down the runway, had to use a lot of energy. Once it is airborne, at least it is up and enjoying its potential by flying. If you have had a taste of breaking free and getting out of the rut, you know what I mean. You will never go back. You are off the ground and flying. Now you can shed the concept of a jumbo jet and take on the concept of a bird. Now that you are up in the air we are talking about excellence and artistry in flying. That is what Mastery is about. Artistry in flying. Excellence in living life.

Never Stop Working On Yourself

It has been two years since I wrote my first book and frankly I had not planned on writing another book so soon. However, my life has changed so much that I wanted to capture how it happened on paper. Books are a guide or roadmap. If I don't capture the technology, it may disappear and I wouldn't be able share it. My hope is that this book lives for you. In other words, it alters your life. I can read two pieces of writing on the same subject. When I finish, one version has been interesting, but has no impact. The other version is so powerful that it changes my life. It is as though the words have an energy to them. I know that the person writing it is really conscious, and his intent comes through. It is as though the words themselves have energy.

This book is about my evolution. I am sharing it with you so it can be your evolution too. I figured if I wrote it down, it could help you. Sometimes when you're headed up a path which is difficult and not well-traveled it's wonderful to meet someone who has already explored up ahead. They can point the way. You don't feel so alone and your trip becomes easier. I hope to provide that for you. I have found that as you advance, there are fewer people around who can show you the way. That is because you are starting to push the edges. You are out on the skinny branches, so there are fewer people there. As you move away from the pack, it becomes harder to find good teachers.

I know that when you start to work on yourself at the level we are talking about, you pull away from the mainstream. You move up to a whole different group of people. It's called the Island Theory. You move out of your present group of islands (peers) simply because you have outgrown them. So you may feel alone for awhile, but don't be disheartened, you will move into another group of more advanced islands. Islands of quality. I know it's tough at the beginning when you are working on yourself, but just know you will be finding others on your new level.

The Island Theory

It is important to create a positive atmosphere to support you. Often you don't have that, but don't ever stop. Follow your heart. Let this book help support you while you search for those other islands. In Los Angeles, we have a large group called the Inside Edge. It is made up of powerful people using the latest technologies for human excellence. In addition, there is a real heart space present there. That is one of the places where I get recharged. In fact, we have created a reality the way we want it. It is so empowering that the normal way of living is now substandard and unusual. Imagine being with hundreds of powerful, loving people. There are so many energy sources there that it is impossible not to leave totally charged up. You need that type of support. The Inside Edge is in the process of spreading and hopefully will go across the U.S., but until it does, get yourself supported. Use my book, other books like it, and associate with other positive and powerful people to empower you.

Whatever you do, don't ever stop. Follow your heart. I can truly say that the treasures that await you are beyond your comprehension now.

Just stay on the journey and you will see. I know, because I'm around it all the time. You may have to trust for awhile until you find out for yourself. I'm telling you it is there. It is really there. I wouldn't be spending my time doing this if it wasn't. I could be making ten times the money I am making now just in real estate alone. But I love this work and it is more important to me. Perhaps I'll even make a good income doing this work. Why not have it all? Especially when this work makes a difference. I guess I have come to a point in life where I have done many things and I now ask myself what contribution I want to make to the world. This is it. This is my work.

When I can help someone have a breakthrough in life, it makes me so very happy. That is my level of commitment to you. I just want you to know, don't stop. I'll do my best to help you. All I want you to do is keep doing it.

Your only job is to keep at it. Just fulfill that part and it will all work out. This operating procedure is critical for your success.

You can make many other mistakes and drop out other techniques, but don't drop this one. Always keep at it. Most people quit because they don't see the results.

If you knew for certain that it would really work, you would not quit. If you knew how good it could really get, you would not quit.

I'm telling you that it is true.

I'm telling you that honest to God, it gets that good and it will work 100% of the time if you just stick with it. I've been up and down the road a lot and have helped lots of people. I know the ropes. You may have to go on faith for awhile, but don't stop. You will see. It will all come true as certain as day follows night. It is impossible to keep at this and not have results. But if you don't keep at it, you are automatically out of the game. That is why I am emphasizing this so much.

Then, when you become a master, all I ask is that you have a good thought about me and share what you know with others. Is it worth the effort? A thousand times yes!

Once the change and evolution becomes part of your system, it's yours forever.

Most people have given up the dream. Most people don't really believe in their guts that they can live heaven on earth. As you work on yourself, you will see what I mean. I truly hope you experience what I am talking about. That is my wish.

The only thing of a lasting nature is you. All else fades. You take you along wherever you go. The only way to make a better you is to Work on Yourself. When you do, everything else changes. It is truly a miracle. When you work on yourself, even the universe will help. It is the best investment you can ever make.

My Path - Studying The Process Of Change

The books that I write are a reflection of my life. As I look at them, a pattern emerges. I'll explain. My first book covered success techniques and contextual technology. This book covers neuro-science and the spiritual path. That book was mostly left-brain. This book is mostly right-brain. That book was micro. This book is macro. Together they combine as powerful partners for producing change and an integrated life. I did not expect to take this path. I had no idea I would head in this direction. Yet, it all came together in a most powerful and delightful way. Here is how it happened.

Success Philosophy And The Process Of Change

The first very important book that I read as a young man at age 25 was by Napolean Hill. The name of the book was How to Raise your Salary. In that book, like most other success books, the author studied successful people. When you study successful people you notice that they set goals, are persistent, enthusiastic, etc. So the author says that these are the things to do to be successful. That has been the basis for almost all success strategy up until this present time.

The person reading the book then tries to emulate all of the traits of the successful people. What happens in reality is that you try to be enthusiastic, persistent etc. but real world situations upset the apple cart and you get upset. Acquiring these traits using that method was a slow process. You may work at them for 5 or 10 years before they become set. It is often difficult to stay enthusiastic when you are on the firing line in the business world and things are going wrong. But you keep trying if you are persistent and gradually you acquire the trait of enthusiasm. The process is slow and arduous. It just takes too long. Far too many people give up before they acquire the success traits. Up until now, there was no other way to do it. In fact, most success authors say that it is hard work and it takes practice to acquire success traits.

The authors did the best they could. They described someone who was successful by observing how they acted and what they did. They said if you acted like them, you would be successful. I can't argue with that.

The problem is in getting people to consistently act like that.

I would read a success book and try to do the things that they said. After awhile, the effects would seem to wear off. Only a small portion would seem to stick. Then I would read another book or go to a seminar and it would get me up for awhile but pretty soon I would be in the same old pattern again.

I asked myself the question, How can a person really change? I have watched people read a book or go to a seminar, get excited and do things differently for about 10 days. Then What? They slip back into the old way of operating. I could call it the 10 Day Syndrome. The same thing happens again and again. In about 10 days, the change dies and they are back in the same old habit patterns. If they persist over the years, they gradually change but it seems like the slow road to

Often, people become discouraged and stop trying because the books and seminars do not seem to make much difference.

The 10 Day Syndrome

Highly Excited after the Seminar

Back to the Same Old Routine

If you look at it, only about 5% of the people seem naturally motivated from within. The remaining 95% need external stimulation to take consistent action. So, what does it take to really change? A change that will last longer than 10 days. I have looked at this seriously. If a person can become motivated from within, then actions flow naturally. The external stimulation is good, but without it, most people run out of steam. By external stimulation, I mean goals and a master mind support group. Imagine the velocity you can generate if you were fired-up from within. So I had a lot of questions at this time, but not the answers. I was looking for a model which created lasting change in shorter time using internal motivation.

Contextual Technology

I then discovered contextual technology which said that you could take any action you wanted regardless of how you felt. You create your own reality. Your word was what counted. Your word became law. You did what you said you would do no matter what. You created your reality from your language. This is what contextual technology said. It also said that only action counted, so forget your thoughts and feelings. That was in the area of psychologism and did not apply.

I lived in this context. I did what I said I would do no matter what. I made promises and kept them no matter what. I took actions regardless of my thoughts and feelings. I took actions just because I said I would. People even said that if Tim Piering said something, it was as good as done. The only problem I had with this method of operation was that it was tough. It really took constant discipline. And it wasn't much fun. In fact, the contextual people said that life will not be comfortable when you are really moving. They were right.

I lived like this for several years and associated with other people who did the same. What happened was these people began to burn out. Eventually, they became so overloaded they just broke down. They could no longer function at that high rate of speed. Many just quit and others made promises that they broke. They said they would do things, but lost their commitment.

I was getting closer to what I was looking for as a powerful vehicle for change, but I was not there yet.

My Conclusion

I came to the conclusion that you can artificially stimulate someone to action for only so long and then they burn out. I didn't make this up, I observed it. This was just a result of what I was noticing happening to the people around me. I surmised that you can go against thoughts and feelings for only so long and then you have breakdown. Basic beliefs and behavioral systems eventually seemed to win out. You can't ignore psychologism, it is too much a part of human functioning. The founders of contextual technology seemed able to keep it up, but the guy on the street had a rough time. Also, the contextual technology lacked heart in my opinion. It was cold and impersonal. I wondered,

Why couldn't we have our cake and eat it too? Why couldn't we still perform actions, live as our word, and have that flow from our thoughts and feelings?

I noticed that people who operated from their feelings seemed to be happier and more balanced, although they did not get as much done. Contextual technology produced big results, but it wasn't easy or comfortable. Something was missing.

It was about this point in time that I started to write down my plan which included the best and most powerful techniques from success philosophies and contextual technology. It was the best I could come up with yet, I felt something was missing. I had the yin, but not the yang.

Neuro-Science

About the time I was observing burnout in the people doing contextual work, I had the deep sense that there must be a better way. There must be a way that is easier and more natural to achieve success and produce change in people. A friend of mine had done considerable work and study in the new field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP for short. I became fascinated with NLP because it was a powerful new way for producing change at a subconscious level. Using NLP, it was now possible to change negative patterns and replace them with positive patterns very quickly.

I dove into the whole area of neuro-science. It seemed more powerful than standard psychology. It did not focus on why someone had a problem as much as it went in to rewire the mental circuits so more powerful resource states were elicited. I went on to study subliminal technology which deals with visual and audio commands that are below the conscious thresholds of seeing and hearing yet have an impact on the subconscious. I studied superlearning in which people learn things quickly by relaxing and listening to music at rhythmic beats while repeating information in certain intervals. Ericksonian Utilization was my next area in which you use your client's resources to create change. I learned how metaphors map similar circumstances which the mind grabs and applies instantly to the problem. I loved Milton Erickson's work. It was so gentle and yet the most powerful I had ever seen. With one sentence, he could change a person's whole life pattern. Now that's powerful. He had compassion and heart in his work that was missing in other technologies. I was onto something big.

Putting It All Together

I studied everything I could get my hands on. I went to every seminar, read every book, and started to test all of these new technologies. What happened was remarkable. I took a group of six people and we met six times. I integrated everything I knew. I mixed all of the technologies together. We used them to improve our mind, body, spiritual lives, and career. In a three month period of time, we all rated our change and improvement in these areas. The group, on an average, more than doubled their effectiveness and production in all those areas. A whopping 100% increase in three months. This was exciting. This was powerful. This was the type of change that had been missing.

A powerful direct re-programming of the subconscious was the missing element. Now I had found it.

The reason change took so long before was that you had to go through the conscious mind and it screened the input. I found