The James Dicks Blog

Let’s look at a very simple strategy to understand. It’s quite difficult for most of us to accomplish; it’s called compartmentalization. I think that it’s safe to say that we all face tough times in today’s financial market place.  Personally and professionally, we are all faced with certain decisions that we simply just don’t want to deal with each and every day. 

So what do you do?  I got nothing, right? Wrong!  We have to act.  We have to make something happen or the problem will never go away.  So how do you do that?  How do you deal with something that you can’t do anything about? I bet that some of you out there right now reading this have faced certain depression, feeling that things just can’t get any worse, that the world is closing in on you; especially when it comes to your financial lives.  You probably have wondered how you got to this place while feeling hopeless.  DON’T!  It always gets better! Yes, it may get a little worse, but it can always be worse.  Something I know for a fact is that it always gets better.  You just have to move the ball along and make something happen. 

So how do you do that?  Well it’s no secret you have to look at life as a series of events.  Each event has to be dealt with to the best of your ability.  What you do is create a space in your mind filled with tiny compartments, boxes so to speak.  Each thing that you have to deal with goes in one of those boxes.  You simply open the box and put the problem in it.  You have to do this subconsciously but if you write it down you will help commit it to your subconscious.  Once there it stays there in that tiny compartment until opened so you can deal with it. 

So let’s say you owe a bunch of money to your creditors.  Well, that one is easy.  You don’t deal with any of them until you need to.  So as I always say, you have to have a plan and then work the plan of the day. That helps with your compartmentalization of the problem.  Each Monday you open the tiny box in your mind that deals with these creditors and give them all a call.  Pay the ones you can work out payment arrangements with and tell the ones you can’t pay you are still thinking about them.  Then CLOSE the tiny box in your mind and move on!  Seriously, close it and don’t look back until next Monday.  You don’t need to deal with it anymore this week.  You don’t need to stress about it, get anxiety, or have another sleepless night. 

You see if you can’t do anything about it then you don’t need to deal with it, at all.  This doesn’t mean go to sleep depressed wake up a week later only to find that you still have the problem but bigger.  What this means is that when you go to bed, close all the tiny little boxes in your mind because there is nothing you can do about it until morning. 

When all else fails, go to my number one rule – Communication.   Communicate with whoever can to help solve your problem.  That way you don’t have to have anxiety build up to a boiling point only to lead you back to the mere fact that you still have to communicate.  Open the compartment in your mind that “stores” the problem, communicate and deal with it, then close it and move on.  Don’t reopen it or think about the problem until you can do something about it.  

This is very hard to do, but if you practice you can master it and once you have done that your life will be so much easier that you simply can’t believe it.  You see we all try to solve problems that aren’t ready to be solved, meaning that with faith that the good Lord will provide you simply have to be ready and act when the time is right.  So, if today is not right and you can’t do anything to fix the problem yet and you have already communicated as best you can simply move on to the next compartment and deal with that situation.  You will find that you will have the best sleep you have had in years. 

So open up your mind and accept the fact that you can’t solve all your problems at one time, create a space in your mind that will compartmentalize all your problems and then leave them there until you are ready to solve them.

On my way into work today and I heard a news report where Hollywood actor, Tom Cruise, revealed that the teachings of the Church of Scientology helped him beat dyslexia. Cruise said at the age of seven he was diagnosed as having this language-based learning disability that can include problems in reading, spelling, writing and pronouncing words.

He said, “Nobody gave me a solution and I wanted to know why the system had failed. Finally, as an adult I learned to read perfectly through the method of [Scientology's late founder] L. Ron Hubbard.”

In the United States, researchers estimate the prevalence of dyslexia to range from three to ten percent of school-aged children, and are more common in boys though some have put the figure as high as 17 percent.

I think this is fantastic that yet another person has overcome this sometimes debilitating disorder and I should know since I was diagnosed with it in the early 80’s. I wish it had been sooner. I had all the classics symptoms; poor spelling, placing decimal points in the wrong place and making basic number switch mistakes. It was difficult for me to read, I would become bored, had headaches, my level of comprehension was extremely low and the words were blurry and hard to read. I could easily look at a magazine article and lose focus.

But I, like Tom Cruise, did learned to read perfectly, and even better. I now read at an average rate with 100% comprehension level. Best of all I didn’t have to follow the teachings of Scientology to do it. Great for Tom but its probably not for everyone. Let me share my story on dyslexia in the hope that it will help someone else, pay it forward I ask you do the same.

I remember heading out on the town one night and while riding in a friend’s car I grabbed his Ray-Ban sunglasses that had a yellow tinted lens in them like a shooting safety glass color. I put them on and as I looked at the road signs coming up I was amazed at how clear they were and how big and bold the letters on the signs appeared. I asked my friend what type of prescription he had and to my amazement he laughed and said there was no prescription. I couldn’t believe it! Seriously it made that much of a difference, and this was well before I had any idea of about my dyslexia. I certainly struggled through school and had all the classic symptoms. In fact, I had made it through to my late teen years before ever really reading a book from front to back.

I actually borrowed my buddy’s sunglasses and began wearing them all the time; I still have them today. He may still want them back – hope he isn’t reading this. My uncle saw me wearing them one day and asked me why I was wearing them indoors so I began to tell him the story and he smiled. He began to tell me about The Irlen Method.

The Irlen Method is the only research-based color method backed by over 4,000 school districts. Used by educators since 1983, this patented method and color-based technology was discovered by Helen Irlen, MA, LMFT, the nation’s leading expert in perceptually-based reading and learning difficulties.

The Irlen Method is a non-invasive, patented technology that uses colored overlays and filters to improve the brain’s ability to process visual information. It is the only method scientifically proven to successfully correct the processing problems associated with Irlen Syndrome.

My uncle then told me that both my cousins were tested and had started using their color lens. He offered to pay for me to go for the tests. It was a little harder back then because I had to travel to get tested but it was definitely worth it. The testing was very easy and it worked. To my amazement, I ended up with a pair of glasses with a red lens, no prescription. I remember reading several books shortly after getting my glasses, including Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy, a 700 plus page book, and I was so excited. It was certainly the biggest book I had ever read cover to cover and all because of the research from Helen L. Irlen – thanks Helen.

If you would like to learn more or get tested then visit her site at http://irlen.com. Today they make it much easier for testing and will actually come to your home; it’s inexpensive but it’s priceless. Okay enough with that I am not selling her services I don’t need to they sell themselves, what I am saying is that you can spend a few hundred dollars and teach yourself to read versus following the teachings of scientology.

Here is another example. The other day I was at lunch with a friend of more than 15 years. We were working on a project and he was telling me how bad his eyes were killing him and that he had a headache. We started talking and I told him about the Irlen Method, I gave him my sunglasses which had a color tent, and told him to look at his computer screen he was amazed like it was the first time. I told him to go to an office supply store get a few color report covers, the see through ones, and place them over the text to see if it made a difference. I saw him the next week and he told me he got the colored sheets and was using them to put over his computer screen and explained that he was able to read more than he has ever read before and called Irlen and that they were coming to his house to test him and his younger son. He is now a believer for sure.

By the way, if you don’t have dyslexia it really won’t make any difference to you when looking through color sheets or lenses. Here is an example; if I put a news article into your word program we would see the same thing – or would we? We wouldn’t but if I told you to change the font size from say eight point to ten point and then make it bold that’s what I would be seeing when I put on colored lenses with no prescription, truly amazing.

Recent studies indicate that dyslexia is particularly prevalent among small business owners, affecting roughly 20 to 35 percent of U. S. and British entrepreneurs. Researchers theorize that many dyslexic entrepreneurs attain success by delegating responsibilities and excelling at verbal communication.

Other world renowned celebrities who suffered from dyslexia are Richard Branson (entrepreneur ), John Chambers (CEO of Cisco), Keira Knightley (actress), Jay Leno (talk show host and comedian ), Guy Ritchie (film director), Orlando Bloom (actor), and many more.

Pay it forward -

All my best,

James Dicks