Meet Brytt Cloward.
The first time I met Brytt was at a Genius Bootcamp. His questions revealed an analytical mind, and his scrutiny of the experience revealed some uncertainty about whether or not learning more would be a worthy investment of his time.
I wouldn’t say he was exactly wary of our assurances and promises, but he did not appear to be 100% on board, either. When I spoke with him that weekend, he was still trying to figure out what he wanted. He knew things needed to change, but had a hard time deciding the details of his rabbit.
Honestly, after Genius Bootcamp was over, I wan’t sure if I’d hear from him again. But he started working through the Mindset Mastery (self-guided) course, and then — seemed to vanish.
A year and a half later, his graduation application came in, and I’m thrilled now to be making the announcement:
Congratulations Brytt on becoming a Mindset Mastery HONORS Graduate!!
As always, whenever someone applies for graduation from the course, I have some questions:
Q. What was your Phase 1 experiment? (Did you accomplish the inconsequential goal?)
My Inconsequential Goal was to create a free sandwich.
It took me longer than expected to create it, but when it came, it came easily and naturally. I was really wanting to continue through the rest of the course, but was committed to doing what it said. It took me about a month and a half to get the sandwich.
At first I was trying each day to visualize and to try to cause the sandwich to come to me faster. However, I found that the more I focused on it, the more frustrating it was that it wasn’t coming.
It was very difficult to keep the goal in mind and not give up on it. Especially since it was inconsequential for me. I found myself wanting to justify changing the goal or just giving up on it or forgetting about it or just moving forward with the course.
The longer the goal took, the more these temptations loomed.
When I shared my frustrations with Cari [Skrdla], she suggested that I needed to relax and let it come to me. This was so opposite what I expected.
So I did that. I didn’t stress and worry about it, which meant I stopped stressing about wanting to move forward in the mindset course. I re-focused on my family, work, and other projects. I stopped trying to make it happen each day, but I didn’t lose faith in it. I just decided it to let it happen as it would. I had to remind myself to just keep to it and trust it would come.
I had expected to get some sort of coupon, gift card, free sample or something like that that for my sandwich. Instead, it was brought right to my office.
One day at work we came in for lunch and there was a pile of free sandwiches, waiting for me. I ate one and finished my goal, which allowed me to move forward in the course. Our company provides a lunch on Wednesday, and has for a couple of years now. But they have never brought a sandwich because the lunches are keto and bread and keto don’t really mix.
The interesting thing is that I had actually envisioned a free sandwich from Jimmy Johns. The first time I ate there was during boot camp in Arizona. So I kept envisioning a free Jimmy Johns, but when I wrote my goal, I just stated it as a free sandwich. The sandwich at work wasn’t a Jimmy John’s, but it technically fulfilled my written goal, so I moved forward.
Well, about a year later I walked in to get my Wednesday lunch (sounds like a paper sack…) and there it was, a delicious ‘FREE’ sandwich. I was surprised by it because I wasn’t really focused on it. It isn’t really what I had visualized, but it did come. I guess you have to be open to having what you want show up in whatever way it will, and apparently the gestation for Jimmy Johns is longer than that of other sandwiches!
Q. How effective were you at being able to think truth in spite of appearances in assignment/lesson 18?
Over the past few years our family has grown 6 six children and our house was feeling very small. It was 3 bedrooms with no basement, and though we loved it, things were falling apart in it because of the size of our family.
Our older children also felt like they just couldn’t invite anyone over because there was no place for them to be. In August we felt like we should put our home up for sale. The timing wasn’t really great with work, I was still trying to figure out a way to expand our income.
When we looked at houses it seemed like we had only one choice, trade our larger yard and smaller home for a smaller yard and little bit larger home. Both my wife and I wanted to move into something that would be more permanent for us if possible, but we knew it would need to be bigger than what I was generally comfortable with spending.
Our home sold quickly, but it was very difficult to find a replacement home. We felt like were were scraping the bottom of the barrel with what was available. But then, on a whim, we looked at a location about 50 min further south than we had thought of moving and found a great house. It was even bigger than what we had thought we needed, but felt like it would actually fit our family very well. The cost was less than similar sized homes that we had been looking up further north, but it was still going to be a pretty big stretch for us financially.
After working through the numbers and the details, we found a way that we could technically afford it, but neither of us wanted to be house poor. I went to the Lord and let him know that we wanted this home, but I really was ready and happy to pass on it if it was unwise or if he had different plans for us.
His answer was that we could purchase it if we’d like and he would teach me how to afford it and thrive here. So we purchased the home.
Over the next 8 months it was a roller coaster. We had sold all of our furniture so we could get new furniture that fit the home. We then came to find out that because of COVID, all furniture was months out. We had literally no where to sit, no table to sit at. Our kids were sleeping on mattresses on the floor and they would eat at the counter while mom and dad stood to eat or sat on the floor.
We also came to realize that there were a lot of older people in our neighborhood, but not many teens for our kids to connect with. Taking care of a larger home came with much more cleaning and somehow more laundry. My wife and I kept hoping that we would get settled in and hit our stride as a family, but it seemed like everything was falling apart.
My work was going through a shake up, so financially things looked less stable. Our kids were unhappy and far away from their friends. And the homey feeling we were hoping for wasn’t manifesting in our large furniture-less home with a smaller yard.
I found that there was a temptation to wonder if we had made a mistake. Especially as I looked at finances and that we were still at the edges of our budget with this home. If anything changed for the worse at work, the home could be in jeopardy. Our kids wondered if we made a mistake moving an hour south away from the connections and friendships we had grown. My wife wondered if the inspiration she had felt to move here and start a homeschooling group would really work out, especially since it seemed like our family was struggling.
Through all of this, my wife and I kept reminding ourselves that it was part of learning how to live at a higher level. I reminded myself that God had told me he would show me how to afford this home and to be patient and faithful as he taught me the lessons I needed. It was helpful to be able to identify fear as just that, fear. When we chose to counteract it with faith, our outlooks brightened.
Over time things improved. The furniture came, and we love it. The friendships with the community are developing, and we love them. Our kids are finding new positive groups to interact with. And my work has taken a new course that has allowed me to start my own business and increase my income. I think we have been pretty effective in speaking truth in spite of appearances, but we definitely have not been perfect!
Q. What was your goal or intention for the Phase 2 experiment?
I decided that I wanted to be able to say and feel: “I am so grateful and excited that I found a way to increase our family income by $3k every month! Taking the first step was easy and I’ve already received $1500 and I’m excited to receive the other $1500 by the end of the month!”
Q. Describe your experience?
I had been earning the same amount of income for the past 10 years and it just wouldn’t budge. Our family had grown past the edges of our budget and things had been tight for a few years.
Every time I would think about getting a new job or starting a new business, I would feel confusion and hopelessness. I didn’t even know what direction I wanted to go and was too afraid to try something for fear that it wouldn’t work and my family wouldn’t be provided for. So setting this goal was a big step for me.
I had no idea how I would create more money each month, but determined that an extra $3k a month would make a big difference in relieving stress on our family.
After I set the goal, within 2 weeks I had an opportunity to provide business consulting for someone my wife had met. The first step of meeting with him was easy. I put together a proposal that would pay me $1500 a month.
They came back with a proposal of $500 a month and a royalty on sales. I had “found a way” to increase our family income by over $3000 a month. While what I experienced didn’t match my goal statement exactly (yet), it provided exciting progress that I had never experienced before.
I was able to get a feel for what it was like to work for others in my own business. It gave us the extra finances to shift to a new home and relieve some of that pressure. What is really exciting is that it gave me the experience to know what I was looking for.
About 5 months later an opportunity arose at work to shift my career and start working for myself. Because I had already experienced this with my consulting, it was much easier to envision and act on. I had already caught one rabbit, and envisioning the next in detail, like Richard did with feeling the muscles and fur in the rabbit’s ears, was much easier.
Taking the step also was much easier this time. The opportunity truly fell into my lap, like a rabbit showing up in front of me. Today I have my own agency with multiple clients. Our income has increased over $3k a month and is on track to grow at an exciting rate!
It has been a exciting and humbling to see these principles work for me and my family.
Q. Did you face a Terror Barrier during the course?
The biggest terror barrier that I broke through was purchasing our new home. Even when I got my answer that God would show me how to afford it, it was still a pretty big leap of faith to do it. I couldn’t see how it would come together, all I could do was trust that He was taking us through this journey and, with Him as my mentor, it was headed somewhere great. The breakthrough is coming as I trust him, remember my vision, and choose to act, to do something, even when I don’t see the path in detail.
Q. What would you tell someone who is facing their fear right now?
Fear is just fear. Recognize it for what it is. It often comes when every we experience the unknown or change. If you have your vision, and the support of God in your goal, then just believe that it will workout.
Don’t abandon the vision, revisit it and relive it in your mind and heart. Trust that the change you seek is in motion and the fear is evidence that change is already occurring within you. Allow yourself to live with the fear, acknowledge that it exists, then do something to bolster your faith and act.
The time of fear will pass, your growth is just on the other side!
Q. Any final, last words?
I’m excited to understand this creation process more and to start using it in my life more.
I had no idea how it would take me over a year to complete Mindset Mastery. More importantly, I didn’t realize how much it would influence my thinking and my ability to move forward in my life.
Over the past year I have gone from feeling 10 years of being stuck in my career and stuck in my income level, to starting my own business, increasing my income by 60%, and doubling the size of our home.
More importantly, my wife and I are starting to dream again, together. I am a much more active participant in our goals and dreams for the future, now that I understand and have experienced the creative process. It has been an invaluable addition to our marriage and our family.
I love how my thinking has shifted from being a ‘realist’ who must see all the details aligned in perfect order, to someone who can dream a new possibility and trust and use eternal law (and partnership with God) to align my path towards it.
If you’ve started the course, but stopped, I encourage you to revisit it and finish. I had a dry spell for about 5 months where I didn’t work actively on it. However, as I look back I can see that the seeds I planted early on grew even when I wasn’t actively studying the course!
Like Leslie says, you plant the seeds, then go about your life. If you do it right, according to eternal law, they start to sprout and grow because they are good.
I’ve seen that I don’t have to be perfect at the process. It is not about my perfection or power or ability. It is about getting aligned with how life works and beginning to work with it. When that happens, it’s like the dam is breached and life starts moving and flowing.
Thank you Leslie and the Rare Faith team for all you have done to make this journey possible!
Well done, Brytt, and congratulations!
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