There are probably very few who will read this, who haven’t heard many stories about entrepreneurs, actors, musicians, the rich, the famous – or not, who have built empires, gained fame or success from the ground up, beginning with little or nothing. Each will have an amazing story to tell which will inspire and provide the determination for we mere mortals, to pursue our goals.

Such biographies, whilst valuable additions to our education are not necessarily available when they are most needed – in the heat of battle. Mid-crisis, we don’t necessarily have time and often not the presence of mind, to jump on the PC and google an inspirational story.

These success stories are heavily scrutinised and extrapolated to produce ‘how to replicate the author’s journey’ formulae. On reading these ‘recommendations’, for me there is always a void. The analyses manage to skirt around but never hit the mark, the heart of the solution!

The message is usually the same: yes determination is paramount to success, as is hunger, focus and perserverance. All these messages permeate through but always, there is something missing.

Is it that they are lacking heart, strength or true grit?

Nope, they are all present – they are missing the ZERO!

Not to be confused with “they are missing nothing”, the Zero is common to each success story I have ever heard. So what is it?

Well, it’s a definite TIME – Time Zero – that time where each of our story tellers had absolutely nothing in their life ……………………….ALMOST!

The ZERO is the time when nothing superfluous is blocking your mind and you can concentrate on the really important things in your life. Removing the clutter of unimportant entities restricting your progress frees you to focus your energy, concentration, determination and perserverance on productivity. As in all things, nature does it best – consider the tree with a damaged limb……..the tree’s energy is diverted to the “crash site” where it spends lots of time and resources attempting to repair the wound. This action impedes the natural growth process, the tree fails to flourish and it looks quite ‘sick’. Once it has decided that the limb can’t be saved however, the life juices cease to flow to that part of the tree, allowing the core system to function as it was designed – the tree ‘smiles’ by flowering and returning to full health……there is no more leakage – you are focused completely on important things. Internal dissonance disappears and happiness levels hit new heights – a movement of creation like no other. We become aware of the power we possess, our strength of creativity and emotions. We are both in place and in power.

So, I have to lose everything?

No, not so radical as to discard the wife and kids, resign from work, dump the house and car then throw your clothes in the middle of the street!

The Zero of which we speak is NOT the cosmic void, but the stripping of all unnecessary materialism, divesting oneself of those customs and traditions that society dictates we adopt so as to appear ‘normal’! Relax, it doesn’t mean we have to trade in our souls, the fibre that makes us who we are, nor indeed the clothes on our backs. Rather, we need to lose the masks that disguise our true being and the superstructures that focus our life blood on the ‘wounds’, rather than inner health. As with our tree, we need only to sacrifice the ‘damage’ – not start all over again from ground zero.

Most of us will experience difficult periods in our lives – some unimaginably so. It’s true that the difficulty of ‘dismissing the broken pieces’ increases but the healthy core is most definitely ‘a keeper’! Whatever circumstances have misshapen our lives, we began life as a winner -- THE single sperm cell that overcame millions of competitors to begin the miracle that is the unadulterated human body. Whatever life sucking parasites have attached themselves, you the host, remain intact and still in possession of the potential that surpasses all imagination. Action is what’s required and if you’ve made it this far into this article, you have already taken the first step. Isn’t it worth the journey if it results in enabling more time to spend with the family we love, the leisure time we miss, the things that fulfil us and make us happy?

We know it dwells deep inside us and the Surfing the Pips creed dictates that our external selves must connect with our innermost being, in order for us to realise our potential as successful individuals.

Great in theory right? But what about in practice?

As often happens, we must act on two levels, one internal and one external. Two planes operating quite separately but definitely dependant; one on the other. For practical purposes however, this distinction can help us:

Outside Plan

It’s neither rocket science, nor new but the first step in healing is to prepare a simple list. You know, the things that you would take to the dessert island and could not do without: people, activities, water, food, bedding. Be serious and put some thought into the list; would your life be intolerable if you had to live without the three televisions? Each of us will have a few similar items on our lists but outside those similarities, there will be differences. If there’s a rule of thumb, 100 items on your list is far too many (continue culling) and most minimalists will arrive at around 20. If you have to carry those items, which load would you prefer?

Outside of the minimalist 20, most lists will be full of ‘useless’ items, material and emotional ‘baggage’.

In compiling the list, some will discover they can actually do without a car or their artwork, others their favourite meal or those that are single may well discover the five bedroom, triple garage mansion on 2acres is a little over the top for their needs. What about the clothes you haven’t worn for 2 yrs.? Do we really need to harbour the enmity we feel for those who may have wronged us or the burden of guilt we feel for some small wrong we committed ourselves? All these ‘things’ and emotions are holding us prisoner and we are empowered to free ourselves.

The declutter process

The material items on our list are by far the easier to dismiss but what do we do with them? There will most often be better options than simply throwing them out with the rubbish. Clothing and most material items can be sold at flea markets or better still given to charities who redistribute them to the needy.

The actual process may seem overwhelming but remember “the journey of a thousand miles began with a single step” and it is normally the hardest to negotiate. You simply must begin but not tomorrow, next week or the first of the month or “when you get the time”. Is it not folly to believe that the time we don’t have today will become available to us tomorrow or next month? Yes, UNLESS we change our habits and routines, the notion is ludicrous.

As in every process of our lives, once you have begun, the task becomes easier, then comfortable and usually right through to enjoyable or rewarding. The important, no ESSENTIAL thing is that you stop procrastinating and BEGIN – perhaps with the easiest or for some, going right to the top (the hardest) is a good starting point. Like all lifestyles, there will be times when we sneak a few burdensome items back into our lives but with the process we now have in place, they won’t last long so don’t stress.

Internal Plan

We have arrived at ‘Trader Island’ – do we want to be here, do we need to be here?

It is entirely possible that you believed that the most practical and immediate way for you to change your current predicament can be monetary gain via trading. You may find however, that trading in this phase of your life is exactly what you DON’T need or want. If that be the case, just like all the other ‘baggage’ items – cut it loose before the ‘symptoms’ become obvious. Devote your time to those “Top 20” items that you truly need in your life.

Like any other ‘time wasters’, if trading is not an IMPORTANT ITEM on your list, your will not be able to tune it in to your inner being. We can all recognise things we have done in our lives against our ‘gut feeling’ have ended poorly – right? The inner self screams and we must listen or pay the price.

Is it so difficult to understand then, that you must REALLY want to trade to succeed at it…, that you must understand any method that you choose both externally and internally, not just the execution rules but the philosophy under which they were created……., that you must be comfortable and at ease with it………live it as any item left on your list?

The Surfing the Pips Method of Trading has been created on exactly that basis. Every superfluous, diseased item has been discarded – ONLY the important equipment remains on the list. Those precious things that take little of our time yet deliver on multiple levels, allow inner harmony and complement the other items on our list, not detract from or compete with them.

Anything superfluous left on YOUR list?