“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Introduction:
All of us arrive into this world into a sea of triggers, conditioning, programming, and otherwise patterning. Like it or not, “we” as individuals from birth become pattern recognizers. Often it’s associated with “physicality” (for example: Touch a hot stove, I get burned and it hurts…or “talk back to my mom and I get punished). Sadly for many youths, the conditioning and programming/patterning examples are far more intrusive and jarring than those. Take one look around and you can see the effects. There is another aspect to this conditioning though that is often overlooked or not appreciated. That is the entire realm of emotional conditioning that we go through as children. “If I act a certain way, my parents do “X” and I feel good…” or “If I do “z”, I feel a rush and that’s exhilarating.”
Obviously, this is a GROSS simplification of the complexity of humankind and behavior adaptation to one’s environment. That said, here we are. Individuals, from many countries, many environments, many different experiences, views of life, ourselves, humanity, etc. We ALL have our triggers. We ALL have aspects that set us off (that we don’t even know sometimes). We ALL…are connected (I believe), and so we have an incredible potential to not just “change crypto” or “change the world” but also…” change ourselves.” So how do we do this…as individuals, and then collectively, as a group, as an organization?
So why this philosophical introduction? Why talk about “triggers” and “conditioning” and all this? Aren’t we just a crypto? Isn’t “code” and “tech” the gold standard and all hail the command line?
For me…crypto is just another facet of humanity. It’s this thing…that’s allowing people to connect. Back not that long ago, the internet was this fledgling thing that allowed people to connect in ways never imagined. So what you are seeing, is almost the next evolution. People being drawn to aspects of crypto. And with that, you have a multitude of perspectives, energies, drives, triggers, all congregating around this “thing” called crypto.
So enter PIVX. Another coin, another blockchain, good code, integrity driven devs, cool. But what…what, makes this endeavor different? What motivates us? What matters most? Some of us have already had discussions around this. Some of this is spilling over into the governance model. I’m sensing that perhaps a self-selection survey (I can even create) that answers a few basic questions….to allow any newcomer to see “who” we are…could be invaluable to presenting why this community (and thus coin) is different.
So ok…that’s great. A lot of us are sensing the energy-momentum behind PIVX…and it’s unlike anything we’ve experienced in crypto. This is my attempt to try and quantify why that is, and present a model of adoption for “our core” value system. It’s not complex. But it also gets VERY personal….something that might make a community that promotes “privacy” and “anonymity” squeamish. The thing is, it doesn’t HAVE to be publically personal. Rather, if we truly want to bring into existence and “have” this community and crypto…it all depends on “who we are/be” at the core. Let me explain using 3 words.
HAVE. DO. BE
These 3 words represent much of the thinking, teaching, views, and conditioning for many individuals and is often how we end up viewing the world and opportunities. How often/quickly do you revert to thinking “ok, what do I have…what can I then do with it…and then I’ll “be” ok or “be” set for life?”
Let’s use some examples.
“Ok, I have $5. I really want to be a millionaire. But I only have $5. Well shit. What do I do. I can’t do anything. Maybe I can do something. I guess I’m going to have to figure out a way to do something so I can “be” a millionaire and be ok.”
Or…let’s look at the education system at large…You are trained and conditioned (but it’s an education so it’s ok right?) to feel:
- Well, you need to have an education or you need to have some knowledge to then
- Go do some job or be able to do a career in order to make money so you can
- Be set for life or be happy or be content or be fulfilled or be ok.
So you might be asking yourself “I don’t get the point” or “I’m not really sure where this is going. That’s ok. Let me add something to those words.
HAVE. DO. BE
Why is this a scarcity-based model? Because your desired output (being) is dependent on starting with what you have. So your identity, who you are, who you ‘be’ relies on what you have.
Well, what you have can be stripped away, can’t it?
- You can lose your house. lose your car. lose your family. lose your mind.
What you do, can be changed or altered as well.
- You can change paths, or become disabled, or lose your vocation.
So think about that for a second. If you frame your world or your company core, or perspective in this order…your whole identity can feel like it’s in peril (which in this construct it “is”) because it’s all dependent upon things that can be lost. Thus the anxiety people have. Thus the corporations that have such a tense or negative feel to them because the individuals and company as a whole is focused on trying to “be” the best or arrive at some point…as an outcome of the work they are doing by starting with something they “have”.
This is scarcity. This is a perspective of limitation. This is also what could be considered a fear based model (regardless of if you even feel afraid). And there is no judgment about “fear”….it’s not right or wrong. Fear is something we’ve inherited throughout years…and it’s wrapped into a physiological response (fight or flight) trigger response. It can be useful. That said, there can be MORE useful responses to situations as well than a fear-based model of making decisions (especially when it comes to business or organizations. Think about it. We all know the feeling of being freaked out, and our bodies become tense, and we go into a mode of “what do I do? Run? Fight?” Physiologically speaking, your entire central nervous system goes into override, your body flooded with another type of neuropeptides and opioids all designed so you can hyper focus and attack the issue at hand. There is NOTHING wrong with this (it’s a good thing to have this response…especially when a lion jumps out at you and you need to take action right away). Where the issue can come into play, is you can literally hack your mind into operating in this state (by accident over time). Imagine “leaders” of a company making decisions stuck in this mode? No feeling…no ability to perceive awareness and other options. Instead, it’s do or die. Yes, this can be good for quick decision making, it lacks the ability to see the entire spectrum of possibilities. On top of that, there is no room for emotion, feeling, fluid movement. Those core processes have been shut down (via the fear-based mechanism), reducing decisions into “what is going to preserve me or preserve this company.” Again…scarcity mode.
We all come into this life with a purpose. That purpose (macro sense) doesn’t change. Why? If it changed, it wasn’t a purpose then, right? Along life’s path your vision changes, though. You alter your eyesight (or it’s altered for you) and you perceive things differently, and you change elements and aspects. But your core purpose…that remains.
So in the above setup of HAVE. DO. BE…..this is a very old model of framing one’s views. It’s taught regularly, indoctrinated via education systems, corporate structuring, etc. Is it useful? Well, you can certainly end up filthy rich…and a company can certainly “grow” with this model. But I can guarantee it’ll be a continual process of fear based decisions which are rooted in scarcity and thus a sense of control, limitation – which breeds greed and selfishness and “fight or flight” choices (in evolutionary terms…that turns into protecting myself over others).
Lastly, with the HAVE. DO. BE. framework model, you adopt a language of fitting your words into a pattern. Rather than being free to speak and create, you are constantly “worried” about what you say because you are having to do something to arrive…so you carefully chose your words to fit a system. You labor over what to say because you are trying to make them fit your perception of what the other person wants to hear in order to make things work (or you are confined to your words to try and mentally make them fit. You develop a system where instead of being present and in the conversation, you put your mind on bypass and into a state of thinking about “what” to say next.
So when we think about a COMPANY or ORGANIZATION now (the above tended to be focused on an individual, but it can be applied to any groups of people)…if from the start, if from the core the focus is set up in a HAVE. DO. BE model….we’ll run into the same problems and come up with the same “solutions” as we always have. If we present an image of “this is who we’d like to be” and then backtrack to “well, this is what we have..be it tech, or a platform, or a program, or a market cap….ok, so now what do we do. We go sell? We go make partnerships? We go get money to build more tech? And maybe if luck is on our side we’ll make it and have a platform that changes governance and makes everyone happy and rich?”
Now you can see (perhaps). You’re limiting your possibilities. You are literally capping your options. Your “arrival” as a company is hinged on things that are impermanent. Thus, your core identity is dependent on that…what you “have” not “who you be.” People pick up on that. That energy of scarcity, we feel. And it doesn’t feel good. And you will as a company make decisions based on limitations, and focused on “what you have or what you can do.”
So what if there was another way. What if as a person, as an organization, there was another option to frame your perceptions, to frame the focus and development, to allow for growth and opportunity. It’s simple. Let’s use the same three words:
In the top, we’ve discussed how this is a fear-based scarcity model of conditioning. The bottom setup….well, let’s look at that.
BE. DO. HAVE.
It starts with being. Be it you as an individual, or “you” as a company. It all starts there. Who are you? What do you want to be? Working through those questions, getting a foundational focus of that core…then allows you to make the next hard step. “DO”. This is a leap. Taking “action” from the core outward. Putting energy into something, learning something new, etc. But remember, it’s merely now an extension and exploration of your core. Your core is set, or at least it’s not dependent on what you do. So you work. You labor. You do. Through that energy effort, you then arrive at “have.” Perhaps it’s a multi-million dollar company. Perhaps it’s a family. Perhaps it’s an off-grid home. Whatever it is…the funnel starts with being, and expands outwards. How much more room is there to grow and arrive at “having”….when the funnel looks like this?
If you start at the “bottom” with being…that sole focus…that core, the funnel of options expands outwards into opportunity (and an abundance of options). If you start with what you “have”, the funnel of options contracts (scarcity) to attempt to arrive at a narrowly focused “being”.
This is why as an organization, or movement, or even as a person…”WHO YOU ARE” or “WHO YOU BE”…in the moment, now, right now, is so ever powerful. If you can embrace that aspect, then your world opens up in front of you, instead of it feeling like it’s a narrow cattle shoot.
So if you “get” your core. WHO YOU BE. Then, you get to explore what it is that you do. All stemming back from “who you be.” Maybe it’s something that doesn’t fit. Ok, well, who you are/be…doesn’t change. That feeling..that purpose, remains the same, allowing the energy of the person (or company) to still be rooted. Instead of operating in a “we’ll be something someday” there is a grounding and powerful focus of “who we are/who we be…today!” That for anyone, or any company, is empowering. The pressure is “off” to have to be something or work/do to arrive. You have already arrived. What now you are working towards (doing) is the “having”. And that then….is a much different energy flow. You can waltz through life then open handed…why? Because there is an abundance of having to be had. There is more wealth surrounding us and available than we all realize. There is a freedom to be had as well (having). How so? Think about it from education. If instead of focusing solely on knowledge or “having a degree” or “getting an education”, we “taught” children how to be. How to be loving. How to be relational. How to be inquisitive, engaging, curious, how to be themselves, and not some forced pattern of our ideal…. So what if…just what, if the education was focused on being. With that level of self-empowerment…then go do. They learn to do, to engage, to act, to experiment. Through that opportunity cultivation, they begin to self-select the facets that are empowering to them as individuals…and arriving at “having” that is truly rewarding.
Wow…so what does this mean for PIVX?
I believe we’ve tapped into this. There is a feeling (in general) about the people. Us. It stems from us as a core. Who we “BE”. THIS…honing down on this message, this focus, and rooting into that core, will allow us to truly grow, see the opportunities, allow for the energy flow, and ultimately, I believe, set PIVX apart from any other crypto project out there. All the others appear to be modeled on scarcity. Let’s embrace the abundance that’s already here, present, right now. It starts with being – and explodes from there.
