Almost Instant State Change
                                                                        By Kevin Creedon (1960 - 2013)

Think of a problem. Those four words are used repeatedly throughout NLP trainings because most of the time NLP techniques are used in a prescriptive manner. That means that, after the fact, we can examine a problem, make new choices and mentally rehearse a more ideal performance in the future. But what about those events that we didn't prepare for? Is it possible to shift from negative feelings to more resourceful feelings in the moment, without prior planning or an external trigger?

 Shift Happens
I remember a time when I had to travel from New York to Boston for an important family event. Very early on a hot August morning, I went to pick up the rental car I had reserved a week before. The rental agent told me that, because some cars hadn’t been returned yet, I'd have to wait until one came in or make other arrangements. I finally got a car—two hours later. Now I was stuck in morning rush hour. Worse, there was a lot of repaving being done on the highway and the heat left a lot of overheated cars stalled on the road.

When I finally got to Boston (having missed the wedding and most of the reception) I was in an awful mood. One of my nephews, who was six at the time, asked me why I was so grumpy. I told him the whole story: the car rental, the traffic, the heat... And then he said, "But Uncle Kevin, you're not driving now."

Instant state change! One moment, I'm grumpy and reliving all the unpleasantness of the morning, and the next I'm enjoying myself.

At that point, I knew that positive state changes could happen suddenly, and faster than any NLP technique I had learned so far. But I didn't know how to generate them for myself. They were always a reaction to something external, usually something someone else said to me. Yet I was very curious about how we could learn to do the same thing for ourselves.

 Emotions are Choices
William Glasser, M.D. in his book Choice Theory makes a strong case for the idea that emotions are choices, even when they don’t feel like it. Using my trip to Boston as an example, he would say that the reason I was grumpy with my family was not because I spent most of the day stuck in traffic, but because at the reception I was choosing to generate grumpy emotions.

Whether or not emotions are choices is true, it is a very useful assumption. Here's an experiment. Pretend that you are grumpy and mentally label your experience each of these ways:

1. I am grumpy.
2. I am feeling grumpy.
3. I am choosing to feel grumpy.

What are the differences for you? Which gives you the greatest freedom (and responsibility)?

When I taught my first Master Practitioner class, at graduation one of my students told me that he had just solved a big mystery: that much of what I taught in class was geared toward recognizing that we can choose how we feel. This was a powerful revelation for him—he had spent much of his life being angry, thinking he had no choice about it. He asked me why I didn't just tell everyone at the start that emotions can be chosen. "Who would have believed me?" I asked him.

Some people try to suppress or hide their emotions. Others venerate them, with the idea that ALL emotions have to be fully expressed, preferably with an audience, before an emotion is complete. I don't think emotions should be suppressed or avoided, but I’m surprised how often what I’m feeling seems to have been chosen blindly, without considering more than one possibility.

Here's another experiment to illustrate the ephemeral nature of emotions. Think of a small task that you can do, should get done and have been putting off. When you think about it, what emotions do you feel?

Next, ask yourself "Is there any reason I can't put off deciding how I'll feel about doing this until after it's done?"

Notice what happens. In my experience, both with myself and with my students and clients, if the answer is no, the negative feeling spontaneously disappears and we go and do the thing that we had been putting off.

Kevin Creedon's work lives on in and throughout the lives of the people he's touched in his unique way. A part of his legacy has been captured and preserved on this best-selling DVD - Bang Bang!

Anne Marie worked hard to finally secure her coveted, hi-profile dream job, one which had glamour, power, and prestige attached to it. The job gave Anne Marie the ability to influence the direction of politics and policies in the USA and around the world. It also kept her at the office until the wee hours of the morning - and away from home for extended periods as well. This dream job did have its perks though: Trips to exotic countries, attending exclusive engagements and ritzy events, mingling and dining with titans of industries and influential heads of state.

Ann Marie thought she had it all. But in less than two years she called it quits, giving up the position she fought to get, saying it wasn’t what she thought it would be. Why? The demands of the job weren’t fulfilling a personal need, a value important to her – family. She had a husband and two teenage boys who she wanted to spend more time with.

To understand one of the reasons people do the things they do we need to look at “Values.” Values are subjective; they vary from person to person and are contextual.  This means that what’s important you, what you are valuing in a career, for example, will be different from what’s important to you when it comes to owning pair of shoes. In short, a person’s behavior oftentimes is satisfying the values they consider dear to them in a particular context. The good thing is that values aren't set in stone; like human beings, they can change over time. If we work from this premise, then in order to learn what someone’s values are in a given scenario, all we need to do is ask: – What’s important to you in X? And Listen! (x = specific context: For example, family, friends, career, car, clothes, vacation, etc.

Ann Marie’s situation, of achieving a goal and then abandoning it, isn’t rare. As observers we are sometimes stunned by the actions of certain individuals, people who are in the public eye, or within our own private social circles. From our point-of-view we think what they did was bizarre, prompting us to say something like, “Why did they give it all up? They had it all. “I” would have never done what they did. I don’t get it, etc.” To the outsider, upon first glance, Ann Marie’s decision to quit seems strange. But asking the question above, in order to unearth what her values are in the context of a career, would show that by leaving the dream job, no matter how attractive it was, Ann Marie was adhering to her values. Spending time with her family is important to her. The rigors of the job prevented this from happening. So she did the next best thing…

Values give rise to behavior. So before we go condemning someone for an action they took that you clearly wouldn’t have if you were in their shoes, so to speak, dig a little deeper and find out that person’s values are in that given context and were they (values) being satisfied.

There are times that humans do have to endure the gauntlet to discover what’s important to them. But we can save ourselves time and eliminate, if not, reduce disappointment in advance when we:

 1= Ask ourselves the same question posed above (What’s important to you in X?) and - pay attention - to the answers and emotions that arise.

2= Write down the answers you get.

3= Then find out if the desired goal or behavior you seek will fulfill these values.



©2013 John Johnson All rights reserved! Subscribe to our mailing list for workshops, newsletters and events. Go to:  www.nlpsuccessbydesign.com

                           The Art of Relating
                                                                                          By Owen Fitzpatrick

One of the most important distinctions I have learned about relationships is the different between ‘having a relationship’ and ‘relating to your partner’. Far too often, we talk about it and think about it as if it is a static entity. The truth is that you and your partner are constantly changing, evolving and your relationship is too.

By seeing your relationship as a still object, you fall into the trap of not reminding yourself to continuously ‘relate’ in the most effective way. When you change this perspective and you begin to explore ways of relating to your loved ones, you can have a massively positive impact on the relationship itself. Of course the very word relationship puts a sort of limit on the concept as a noun… but I am more talking about the way that we actually relate to the concept.

For example, some people say that they are ‘in’ a relationship and not ‘having’ one. This can be okay as long as we are thinking of the relationship as something that is traveling and moving. Far too often, we find ourselves struggling with the fact that what once worked with the other person no longer does. By reminding yourself that you need to continuously relate, it makes things a million times easier.

Relating itself is about learning from the person what they are thinking and feeling and what they need and want from you as well as expressing your own needs and wants to them in the most effective way possible. When your ‘relationship’ is no longer taken for granted you get to do this is really wonderful ways!




Owen Fitzpatrick is an inspiring, engaging and entertaining speaker  NLP Master Trainer, specialized in Charisma, co-author of 'Conversations with Dr. Richard Bandler' , co- author of ‘Choose Freedom’, an international bestseller. ‘Not Enough Hours’, a bestseller in the Irish Times Bookcharts and ‘NLP for Charisma’. Owen was the presenter and expert of the primetime show ‘Not Enough Hours’. He  is co-founder of the Irish Institute of NLP along with Brian Colbert. Founder of the Online Charisma Training Academy", and author of the soon to published book "The Charismatic Edge," as a trainer Owen is one of the most well respected authorities in the area of NLP:  www.owenfitzpatrick.com

              Become that You…                                                                               by                                                                                  by John G. Johnson

I just finished reading The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle, written by celebrated business-leader and trailblazer the late Jim Rohn. The book is based on what Mr. Rohn believed are the five pillars for success:

• Philosophy – the thoughts you adopt and live by.
  
• Attitude – the energy and intent you give to a situation.
  
• Action - what you do.
  
• Results – metrics- progress and results how you are moving towards your goal. 
  
• Lifestyle - the kind of life you create for yourself by adopting the four principles above.
  

Not only did Mr. Rohn have a unique life perspective, he was clearly skilled in reframing scenarios into useful and empowering points of views. And he was famous for his quotes as well. For example, “Your income is related to your philosophy, not to the economy!” (How relevant is this today). Mr. Rohn’s common sense writing style can easily lead someone to think his book is a quick read. However, any serious reader will realize that The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle is laden with thought-provoking insights that are worth reflecting upon. Take for example – Mr. Rohn’s statement that:…

“…Success is something you attract by the person you become…Success is not something you pursue. (That’s like chasing a butterfly. You just quite can’t catch it)… Success is something you attract by being an attractive person….

What does Mr. Rohn mean by “success” and “attractive”? To most people the words automatically convey ‘money’ and ‘beauty’. But there are so many other definitions – that’s personal to everyone. Regardless of the myriad of associations those words call up, if we take the entire statement as a whole one of things we can conclude is that: Stagnation doesn't work; if what you are doing isn't working, meaning you don’t like the feedback you are receiving, then you need to adjust, grow, change, acquire the necessary tools – whatever those need to be - to help get you to your destination.

I’m reminded of two real-life examples: ONE - Debra Ehrhardt struggled for years in both New York City and Hollywood to become an established stage actress. This was her life-long dream; it’s what she trained for many years to be. She did everything “within the expected box” trying make things happen. You name it Debra did it… Auditions after auditions, sending out resumes and head-shots, responding to casting calls, etc... And still no one gave her any roles. She came close… but, still – nothing.

Debra realized that if wanted to be a working actress then things had to change; she had to become more than just an actress. Fortunately, unrestrained desire and ambition were on Debra’s side. If no one wanted to offer her a role, give her a break, then she would write her own roles. She learned the craft of playwriting and the business production side of the theatre industry and then mounted one-person plays in which - she – was the: producer, promoter as well as its star.

Her first play attracted network TV executives who eventually bought it. That being history, and still hungry to work the stage, Debra wrote a second one-person play, and won numerous prestigious awards for it. Her current play, Jamaica Farewell, in which she’s once again the producer, promoter and star, continues to be performed in sold-out theatres in the USA, Canada, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. It also caught the attention of a serious hi-profile movie mogul and is currently in the process of being turned into a major motion-picture.

TWO- Poverty and  a lower caste family was what Kalpana Saroj was born into in India. Strangers, even family members called her horrible names when she was young. Getting beaten up on her daily eight mile trek to school and forbidden to drink from certain water wells was a common occurrence. Kalpana’s mother even told her to accept her fate, meaning there was no way out. At twelve Kalpana was forced into an abusive marriage. She eventually defied social pressures and left it, but doing so had its negative social consequences. Too much to tolerate, Kalpana tried taking her life - but survived.

This proved to be a turning point. She now had several options:(one), accept her fate as her mother said, (two), do a better job of  taking her life, or (three), change her circumstances for the better – something people within her caste rarely had achieved. Kalpana took option three…to live the life that she wanted, despite what others expected and thought of her because of her social status – an untouchable.

Kalpana left her tiny village, made her way to the big city, Mumbai, and got a job in the garment industry paying her 15-cents a day. She taught herself how to use a variety of commercial sewing equipment which made her marketable, and as a result saw her income rise. At age twenty, she applied and received a government loan and opened her first business. It turned out that she had the gift for running a business. One successful venture led to another to the point that people who had a failing enterprise - regardless of what caste they came from - sought her consultation and offered her highly lucrative business opportunities. All this culminated in her becoming a titan in business. Today, in her early fifties, Kalpana’s worth millions and her combined companies are valued at over 100 million dollars. In addition to that, she met a businessman whom she married – by choice!

We can infer a lot from these examples. One thing is for sure: Debra Ehrhardt and Kalpana Saroj are successful by their standards. Both had to become more than what they were, doing whatever it took, whether it was by acquiring new skills, cultivating the appropriate mental attitude, adopting a new philosophy, etc. so they could change their circumstances and design a lifestyle on their terms. “…Success is something you attract by the person you become…”


©2012 John Johnson All rights reserved! Subscribe to our mailing list for workshops, newsletters and events. Go to:  www.nlpsuccessbydesign.com

The Psychology of Money, Prosperity and Wealth
By: Kristine Hallbom and Armand D'Alo

What stops people from succeeding financially and having ongoing prosperity in their life? The answer is generally focused around the belief that financial success is not a possibility. There are many people who have unconscious barriers that prevent them from having the wealth and abundance that they deserve.

If you have limiting beliefs about money at an unconscious level, it will be difficult to move though your financial limitations because your unconscious mind will dampen your efforts to succeed. This is why some people end up living from paycheck to paycheck their whole life--because at some level they don't believe that they're capable of doing better.

At a conscious level, most people think they're doing everything possible to achieve their goals. However, there still might be some unconscious part of them that doesn't believe they can obtain success. The more a person avoids that unconscious part, the more obstacles will continue to show up in their every day life. That's the way the mind works.

For example, think of all the people you know who read the think and grow rich books, attend financial seminars, say daily affirmations, and still have money problems. All of these things they're doing are worthwhile, yet they often don't get to the "core" of their issue, which usually involves some type of limiting belief.

People have many different unconscious beliefs about money. Some of the more common ones we've come across are:

·         You have to work hard to make money.
·         I will never be rich.
·         Having money isn't spiritual.
·         Life is a struggle.
·         Money is hard to manage.
·         You need money to make money.
·         It's too late in my life to think about getting wealthy.
·         I don't have the magic ingredient that is necessary to be successful.
·         I can't be successful because my parents weren't successful.

These types of beliefs limit people because they're looking for the answers outside of themselves, when in reality the keys to prosperity exist within themselves. Wealth is not what a person has. It is a state of mind. The people who succeed in life from a financial perspective have positive beliefs about money, wealth and prosperity. They understand that wealth is an internal experience.

Instead of focusing on all the possible ways to get rich, many people spend a lot of time obsessing about what they don't have. An interesting pattern develops in which they become angry or resentful over their situation, which creates more limitations and barriers in their lives. It's so easier to get ahead in life when you're coming from a peaceful state of mind, versus an angry or resentful frame of mind.

The first step in understanding the unconscious patterning of a person's financial situation is to explore the deeper nature of how they represent money.

For example, a person with money issues may have had parents who lived in poverty, and they subsequently formed a "Depression Era" mentality. Hence, an unconscious belief was developed that the person will always have to struggle financially because that's what their parents did. Or they might have had a parent tell them over and over again that they'll never be successful, and eventually they began to believe it.

It's very common for children to unconsciously form limiting beliefs around money at an early age. These types of limiting beliefs are referred to as "imprints" in the field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). An imprint is basically a memory that is formed at an early age, and can serve as a root for both the limiting and empowering beliefs that we may form as children. Some of the beliefs that we may develop at early ages are not always healthy, and are created as a result of a traumatic or confusing experience that we have forgotten. How we unconsciously and consciously view the world in terms of money is generally based on such beliefs.

Identifying your limiting beliefs is a critical first step. Once you've identified what some of those underlying imprints/beliefs are, you can use different NLP and life coaching processes to quickly move through those obstacles, thus allowing you to see and experience all of the financial opportunities that are really available to you.

Beliefs About Possibility

The primary psychological difference between those who do well financially and those who don't revolves around beliefs about possibility. For example, many people don't even view financial success as an option. They don't have the capability to open themselves up to all of the possibilities that are available for achieving prosperity. Often they'll get stuck in a monthly routine and are unwilling to take risks or try something different because they're afraid that they'll end up being worse off than they already are. What these people don't realize is that it's common to have to take a step backward in order to move forward.

Many millionaires have gone bankrupt at some time in their life and then in a short time will completely turn their financial situation around for the better. Moreover, many people who start up their own businesses often lose money in the beginning. However, they do this, trusting that their new business will expand to a point where they're earning a nice salary while collecting a tidy profit.

Not everyone has to take risks or step backwards to get ahead, though it's important to consciously open yourself up to the idea of what is possible for you. In order to embrace this idea, you must first have the ability to change your daily routine by doing something different. This includes learning how to view your world through the eyes of prosperity and abundance, instead of lack and poverty.

Try this on for a moment:

Think about something that you want and all of the possibilities that you have in achieving it. Ask yourself, "What is possible?"

Now try something different.

Think of something that you don't have, but that you'd like to have. Think about all the reasons why you don't have it and how you wish you could have it.

Notice which one of those makes you feel better.

Hopefully, the first statement made you feel better because it was designed to expand your unconscious and conscious frames around wealth and prosperity. It's amazing what can happen to a person once they change their attitude and beliefs about possibility. Once people begin to shift their thinking, they start seeing results almost instantaneously. The shifts may be small at first, but as they continue to embrace their new way of positive thinking, a lot of magic opens up for them.

For example, many years ago a number of Vietnamese "boat people" immigrated into the United States. Many Americans were concerned about the strain that would be created on welfare and other government services as a result of these people coming into the country. Interestingly, many of the Vietnamese who went into business for themselves ended up doing extremely well. Why is that?

An obvious answer might have to do with the fact that the Vietnamese people came from a country where if they said the wrong thing, they would get shot. Then they came to the United States where the worst thing that could happen was that someone would call them on the phone and harass them because they didn't pay a bill.

If you come from a world where death is a moment to moment reality to a place where options are endless, then there is no reason not to try everything. Instead of being angry or bitter about having to leave their country, they were grateful to be alive. Instead of sulking in self-pity, many of them adopted a creative attitude that revolved around the question, "What is possible?"

Consequently, when they moved here, two or three Vietnamese families would live in a confined space. They went out and got minimum wage jobs and pooled all of their money together. When they got enough money, they would buy a business and the whole family would start working at the business. Once the business became fairly successful, they would buy a piece of real estate. Then they would buy more real estate, and so on.

For these Vietnamese people, success was an affirmation of what is possible, because everything was possible to them. All they had to do was prioritize what they wanted, and then categorize the different possibilities in achieving. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they stayed positive and kept a laser beam focus on their long-term goal of wealth and financial prosperity. People can do anything they want. The question is: what are they willing to do to get to their possible outcome?

Wealth is a State of Mind

Often people will confuse who they are with how much money they make. Whether someone makes a million dollars a year or $15,000 a year, everyone still has the capability to achieve a certain degree of financial abundance in their life.

For example, when the Nazi's took over in Germany, there were very many wealthy people in the society who had their lives ripped away from them and they ended up in concentration camps. Viktor E. Frankle or Anne Frank were in situations of the worst poverty, yet they actually had an abundant life.

In Man's Search for Meaning, author Viktor E. Frankle said that the one thing that a person has that can never be taken away from them is their attitude.

"We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man, but one thing: The last of his freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

Frankle, a psychologist, adopted a creative attitude that helped him survive the nightmare of living in a concentration camp. He was able to manifest internal prosperity by exercising his right to do so. This same attitude led him on a path towards achieving and living an abundant life once he got out.

Wealth and Self Worth

When it comes to thinking about prosperity, it's helpful to understand that it's a resource that flows through us. We are a conduit for prosperity. Once this is realized, then we start to identify with the fact that we're the ones who choose how to channel this resource. Viktor Frankle made this distinction in the concentration camps. Every single one of his material possessions were stripped away from him, including his shoes. The only thing he had left, was the ability to believe in himself and to embrace the idea that he was still a good person, despite the fact that everything had been taken away from him. This was an important distinction for Frankle to make, because then having money was no longer a question of his self-worth.

Money doesn't determine who you are; it's simply a resource. Having a strong inner sense of self is what is truly important. Money is merely an external element. Once people stop equating their self-worth with money, then the doors of possibility swing open for them because they're willing to try more things. Once they start feeling better about themselves, they become less fearful and are open to trying something completely different.

It's a matter of getting clear on your financial goals, and then declaring to yourself, "This is what I want and there are several ways of achieving it. There are several possibilities for making it happen. If something doesn't work, then I'll try something else."

And if the next thing doesn't work out, then it's simply feedback that you need to try something else. It doesn't mean that you're a failure or a terrible person. It simply means that there is something out there that will eventually work and that something is outside of you. You are still the same person on the inside, no matter what.

Measuring one's self-worth by how much money one has can be devastating. For example, there was a woman who had 17 million dollars set aside for her in a trust fund by her parents. It would pay her out at least $800,000 a year in interest as long as she was breathing. This person found her identity and self worth in the lifestyle that she lived and how much she owned. During one shopping spree, she spent $18,000 in the lingerie section of her local department store.

Most of the actions that she took when it came to spending large sums of money were the result of comparing herself to her sister. The sister was in the same situation; she also had a trust fund that paid out a lot in interest. However, the sister never looked at money as an aspect of her identity. She never determined her self-worth by how much she had.

All it meant to her was that she had something to fall back on if there was ever a problem. She married and started several businesses with her husband. They became extremely successful in their own right and it turned out that after many years, the income from her trust was relatively small compared to the income generated from the businesses they had developed.

Interestingly, the woman who based her identity and self-worth on her pocketbook spent large sums of money to keep up with her sister. She eventually went bankrupt. This is an extreme example of someone who measures their self worth on how much money they have.

The woman's situation became even more complicated when she started comparing herself with her sister, which is also a statement about her self-worth. It's common for a person to compare their financial status with someone else and, sadly, this is the root of much of the emotional pain that people carry. People have a tendency to compare themselves with their friends, co-workers, family members and so on. When people compare themselves with someone, what they're actually doing is making a judgment about themselves and the other person. At some level they're basing their identity and self worth on external elements.

When someone decides to stop comparing themselves to others, they'll begin to notice amazing shifts in their life because they'll be viewing life from the inside looking out. They'll be internally referenced, which will enhance their self worth and identity because they'll be determining who they are from their own heart. They'll no longer give other people the opportunity to determine who they are, because they'll already know themselves at a very deep and spiritual level. Instead of basing their self worth on external elements like a paycheck, they develop a strong inner sense of self-worth which gives them the courage to try new things-thus expanding their opportunities.

For example, there was a janitor who made only about $1,800 a month. After doing some beliefs work with NLP and financial planning, he decided to start his own business. He began by saving money and then he bought all the supplies that he needed. He kept his regular janitor job, but he took a new cleaning contract on the side. He then got another contract and hired somebody else to help him out. After a period of time he decided to quit his janitor job and started his own cleaning company. He eventually made a tremendous jump in his monthly salary, and had a sense of freedom that he had never experienced before.

What is interesting about this story is that the man was still doing janitorial work. What changed was his self-worth. Instead of thinking, "Oh, I'm just a janitor, I can't do anything else. I'm not smart enough, I'll never be rich," he began thinking, "What is possible? What are some ways that I can achieve wealth? Everybody needs someone to come in and clean. Homes need it, schools need it. They're hiring me to do it, why don't I just get on the other side of the fence and start up my own business!"

That's how you open up possibilities. It starts with a dream. Then it's a matter of turning that dream blueprint into reality. As a person begins to embrace their own self worth and open themselves up to the idea of what is possible, they'll attract wealth and prosperity into their life. The outer world is truly a reflection of our inner world. If someone is feeling good on the inside, generally it will show on the outside and they'll draw positive experiences into their life. That's the way life works.

References
(1) Hallbom, T. and K. Hallbom, Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, (Beverly Hills, CA: The Holistic Book Project, 1993) Neuro-Linguistic Programming, p. 382
(2) Hallbom, T., Dilts, R. and Smith, S., Beliefs: Pathways to Health and Well Being, (Metamorphous Press, 1988)

The Wealthy Mind Program, offered by Tim and Kristine Hallbom and Armand D'Alo, teaches individuals how to create the attitudes, behaviors, and ways of thinking that deliver wealth. Visit their sites today. www.nlpca.com/ and thewealthymind.com/

                Tips to Building a Better Martial-Arts School                                                                                                                                  by John G. Johnson


Tip 1:

Make sure GOALS are clear..
Enrolling a student just because they want to “take classes” seems like common-sense on first glance. Yes, you can do that, and get paid. But you will never the true reason(s) why they joined. And if they enrolled into your school with pre-conceived expectations – and those expectations aren’t met – then the cost is that you’ll lose that student. Period.

Instead, interview each prospective student to make sure that you know specifically what their goal is and that it’s crystal clear – to you - and to the student. It’s fine if someone has more than one goal. You then build your curriculum around each student’s goal, or goals. Doing so keeps your classes interesting and challenging. It’s a Win/Win for everyone. And creating a curriculum this way also significantly reduces one of the many reasons students drop out…class is boring!

Tip 2:

TEST and welcome FEEDBACK…
Even though you have a working curriculum, you still have to check (TEST) to make sure everything is going as planned. Students drop out for a variety of reasons. Some of these you can fix others you can’t. For example, if you realize a student has reduced his/her attendance or wants to quit, inquire into the reasons for their decision. Get feedback (FEEDBACK /FAILURE).  You then use this information to make adjustments to your curriculum. Also, metaphors are powerful. Don’t believe your made-up story as to why “you think” your students aren’t showing up. Go to the source – the student – to get the specific information you need. This is within your control. If someone moves away and distance prevents them from attending, that’s something out of your control.

Tip 3:

Your STATE OF MIND transfers…
QUESTION: Who are you? And WHY do you want to teach? You need to answer these questions for yourself. If teaching is something you want to do, and you are congruent with your intent, then it will show; it will be converted into enthusiasm, passion. Your students will absorb these states and will be inspired. They’ll want to push themselves. This in turn will translate into student retention. If you lack the appropriate states-of-mind, and are teaching from a consciousness that’s bland, wimpy and lacking enthusiasm… your students will also pick this up as well. Some will even make mention of having ho-hum feelings after a class workout and don’t know the source – which is you! Humans are always learning. Your students will model your state of mind and attitude. Everything flows from the instructor.

Adding to this, the best instructors know that teaching isn’t about them, the Instructor. It’s about the students (SELF/OTHER). Having your attention outwards allows you to track what’s going on in real-time, whether during a teaching session or during non-teaching moments. The benefit of possessing this ability is that you can creatively make adjustments to situations occurring in-the-moment that’s to the benefit of the student. Adopting the proper teaching frame of mind makes it easier to enter this uptime mindset.

©2012 John Johnson All rights reserved! Subscribe to our mailing list for workshops, newsletters and events. Go to:  www.nlpsuccessbydesign.com

Women, Divinity & Purpose – An Interview with Linda Kay Klein
(Reprinted with Permission)

 
Linda is a writer, speaker, and spiritual strongwoman based in New York City. She directs the Work on Purpose program for Echoing Green, a global nonprofit that unleashes next generation talent to solve the world’s biggest problems.  Work on Purpose inspires and equips people to create careers that are both right for them and good for the world.

 Linda sits on the advisory board of Our Inner Lives, a project of Feminist.com, for which she also writes the “Fierce, Faithful, and Free” column. 

What are you passionate about?

Last week I led a workshop for a group of college students. I encouraged them to talk to strangers on the subway. To tell their whole truths to someone they will never see again for just 5 minutes and to see what happens.  They looked at me like I was insane. But who else do they expect to tell their truths to!  They’re not going to tell it to their bosses, not their best friends, everyone they’ve got to worry about what they think of them—and they better tell someone, and quick, or they might forget what their truth is altogether…so why not a stranger? Some of my favorite memories were made with people I never saw again.

I am passionate about authenticity, honesty, humility, showing up fully with all my flaws, my jokes that fall flat, my lack of answers, all of it.  I am also passionate about other people coming along on this journey with me, because when we do, we see one another. And when we see one another, anything can happen. Injustices can be overturned, wounds healed, divides collapsed, wars ended, and revivals begun

Do you believe you know your purpose in life? If so, how did you come to this conclusion?

Ah, purpose. This is something I think a great deal about. In fact, I am the director of Echoing Green’s Work on Purpose program. So…“purpose” is literally in my job title.

It is fortunate then that, yes, I do believe I know my purpose in life!  It is to inspire people to be honest with and good to themselves and one another, and to live life fully.

Today, I live my purpose out by helping people create careers that are both right for them and good for the world through the social entrepreneurship and social change organization Echoing Green.  I also live my purpose out by writing about women, sex, and God—which I think of as my “soul-work”—for my Fierce, Faithful and Free column on Feminist.com, my Man-Made Girls blog, and the book that I am writing about eternal girlhood in the evangelical Christian church.  And I live it out by singing with my gospel choir, by putting on my “Dancing Alone” mix and getting down in my apartment as often as possible, and talking to strangers on the subway.

 Do you engage in setting goals? If so how do you hold yourself accountable?

I absolutely set goals! I believe that purpose is created, not found (though creating it does take a bit of finding), and creation of any kind takes work.

I have what I call my Life Strategic Plan, which includes my personal vision, mission, and objectives, as well as a series of goals and strategies for completing those goals for the upcoming year. This is a living document and is not meant to be adhered to strictly, but just to provide a bit of direction.

I also keep a weekly Action Report, which is basically a glorified to-do list, in which I document all of my long-term goals, short-term goals, and action steps I will take toward them each week.  Action steps include everything from purchasing a book on sex and spirituality to reaching out to an editor I admire.

I try to wake up 40 minutes before work each day in order to update my Action Report, and to tackle a few things on it while I drink my coffee.  But I am gentle with myself when I don’t do it.  After all, life is for living, and sleep is a delicious thing.

When analyzing an opportunity in your life (professional or personal) what questions inform your choices?

The number one question I ask myself is “What does my gut have to say about it?” My gut is very smart, much smarter than either heart or my head. In fact, I think that our guts—that small voice we can all find in our innards, is the very same “still small voice” that Elijah heard, and that the church calls the Holy Spirit.  Remember that story?

 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.

-       I Kings 19:11-13a

 

What self- care habits do you engage in (yoga, time with a close friend, reading, etc).

Every Thursday is LKK Day.  This is the untouchable day in which I can do anything I want, as long as I do it alone.  It is the thing that keeps me sane in New York City.  Often, I do yoga on Thursdays.  I could use more self-care honestly, but this is one thing that has made a huge difference for me.

Why do you think it’s so common that women in our society put themselves last and how can we begin to shift that cultural attitude?

It is deep in us—our history, and our collective understanding of ourselves—this notion that we are worth less than what we can offer to others, which in essence means that we are worth less…than others. That’s what happens when the patriarchy lasts as long as it has.

This will only change when we women begin to see themselves as equally valuable. There is some pretty stellar work going on to help get us there—work within education, religion, economic development, art, and more.  It will take all of it.  And more. Some of my favorite Echoing Green Fellows doing this work are Shining Hope for Communities, and the Op-Ed Project.

Best way to celebrate your own successes.

I tend to go with cupcakes.  But I am open to other suggestions….

 

Linda is a writer, speaker, and spiritual strongwoman based in New York City. She directs the Work on Purpose program for Echoing Green, a global nonprofit that unleashes next generation talent to solve the world’s biggest problems.  Work on Purpose inspires and equips people to create careers that are both right for them and good for the world.

To stay in touch with Linda you can visit her blog at: www.manmadegirls.com

Business Lessons from Usain Bolt
By: Cherryl Hanson Simpson

When Usain Bolt finished the 100 metres final of the 2012 London Olympics in a new meet record of 9.63 seconds, the eyes of millions of people were keenly watching his performance. With his brilliant accomplishment, the Jamaican sprint star demonstrated to his many fans around the world that he is indeed a legend in his own time.

In addition to his athletic prowess, I am inspired by Bolt for reasons outside of the sporting arena. After the 2009 Berlin World Athletics Championships, I reflected on some of the lessons that the sprinter could teach us about money. Discipline, self-belief and persistence were just some of Bolt's habits that could also help us to achieve our personal and financial goals.

Bolt's attitudes, actions and achievements continue to give us examples that are worthy of emulating. After watching him win another gold medal for Jamaica last Sunday, my thoughts turned to areas in his life that could educate and encourage entrepreneurs. Let's look at some of the business lessons that we can learn from Bolt.

Choose a business that you love

It has been said that if you find a job doing what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Watching Bolt run, it is obvious that he enjoys his life's work of competing in athletic events around the world. With a smile on his face and a dance in his step, Bolt makes the arduous mission of winning races look almost easy.

Similarly, running a business can be more fulfilling if you are operating in a field that you really love. An entrepreneur's life can often be filled with challenges; so when the tough times come, it is easier to keep going if you are truly motivated by your daily tasks. You will also find it easier to attract customers when you are passionate about your business.

Be an expert in your field

I am quite sure that Bolt would not enjoy his athletic career as much if he wasn't very good at it. One of the reasons that he is reaping bountiful rewards is that he is an expert sprinter who always delivers exceptional results. While Bolt's ability to perform well is partially due to his innate talent, it is also a product of many hours of gruelling training and strategic coaching.

While it's great to be fond of what you do in business, more is required for your success as an entrepreneur. It is important to be knowledgeable and proficient in your field of endeavour, as you need to provide outstanding offerings to attract and maintain your customers. Whatever your business, ensure that you continually seek advice and development to upgrade your operation.

Keep your customers happy

It is a pleasure to see the tremendous response that Bolt receives from his fans wherever he goes. As a natural showman both on and off the track, he knows how to please his audience and leave them wanting more. Despite the pressures that come with being in the public eye, Bolt always seems to be happy to sign autographs, pose for pictures and make charity appearances.

If you want your business to stand out from the rest, take a page from Bolt's book. Think about how you can 'wow' your customers by meeting their needs, offering incentives, and going above and beyond the call of duty to serve them. What would it take for your customers to leave with a smile on their faces and the resolve to come back for more of your product or service?

Marketing makes the difference

With his engaging personality, photo-ready antics and viral 'To Di Worl' pose, Bolt is a marketer's dream come true. He has been able to attract many sponsors because he delivers a package that goes beyond his ability to run. His promotional income could outperform his on-track earnings, and places him among other sports superstars such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.

To increase the earning capacity of your business, make use of innovative marketing tactics. Even if you have the best product or service in the world, you won't get sales if no one knows who you are or where to find you. Like Bolt, go for the international stage by using strategies such as online sales and social media involvement to market your business.

Don't get complacent

As Bolt discovered recently, if you underestimate your competitors it can have devastating results. When 100-metre World Champion Yohan Blake stunned the world by beating him twice at the Jamaica national trials, it was definitely a wake-up call for Bolt to focus more on his preparations to defend his Olympic titles.

While Bolt was able to recover quickly and regain his position as the world's fastest man, it may not be so easy to reclaim a lost business advantage. If you're doing well in your enterprise, be aware that the competition has its sights set on taking your place. Use surveys, focus groups and direct communication to ensure that you stay on top of changing customer demands in your industry.

So as you celebrate Bolt's phenomenal victory, think of other ways in which he could inspire you to be more successful in business!

Cherryl Hanson Simpson is a Jamaican entrepreneur, Money-Coach, Business mentor, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. She enjoys talking and listening to people and helping them to achieve their dreams. Her upcoming book, "The 3 Ms of Money" will reveal all the secrets she learned about financial success. Read more about Cherryl at: http://financiallysmartadvice.com and http://entrepreneursinjamaica.com/

The honeymoon effect
By Jurriaan Kamp
Editor-in-Chief, Ode Magazine


Biologist Bruce Lipton on how to use the creative wishes of the conscious mind to lead a healthier, happier life.

I want people to understand 
that we are creating this world. That we are creating our own lives. That our realities and experiences are not accidents.”

At the end of a long conversation about cell membranes, evolution and (sub)consciousness, I ask Bruce Lipton what his most important message is. The response comes without a moment’s hesitation, and with his characteristically enthusiastic voice, he sounds like yet another self-help guru or motivational speaker. But he isn’t.

Bruce Lipton is a stem-cell biologist who taught at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and performed pioneering research at Stanford University before writing his bestselling book, The Biology of Belief, in 2005. His message does not come from quick pop interpretations of quantum mechanics but from work with cell cultures in a lab. These experiments showed that environments and circumstances not genetic makeup, dictate how cells behave. For Lipton, genes don’t control our lives; our environment does, and more importantly, our perception of that environment.

Preparing for my meeting with Lipton, I was struck by various reports in newspapers and magazines about pharmaceutical companies developing drugs that target mutations in specific genes and about collaborations between big pharma corporations and biotech startups promising a new growth market for medicine. The message was very different from Lipton’s: Now we’re cracking the genome; we’re about to discover the causes of many diseases. The time for even smarter—and even more profitable—medicines has come. Lipton call this “the central dogma”: DNA controls all biological life as we know it.

“I used to embrace the central dogma, and I taught genetic determinism at medical school,” says Lipton. The argument, first stated by the English molecular biologist Francis Crick in 1958, swung the pendulum in the nature-versus-nurture debate decidedly toward nature. It was a depressing concept to Lipton. “We don’t pick our genes. Genetic determinism basically says whatever happens to us is a consequence of the genes we received at birth. That means my fate is not in my hands anymore. We become victims of our genes.”

Apart from that fatalistic outcome and despite all the pharmaceutical claims of individually based genetic medicine, genetic determinism may have had its day. Lipton’s research shows a different perspective. He took genetically identical stem cells and put them into separate Petri dishes and then changed the environment. He saw cell cultures crashing in bad environments and instantaneously recovering their health when they were moved back to good and supportive environments. Identical cells developed in different directions when the environment was changed. Different information led genes to evolve in different ways. So genes don’t control life; they respond to information.

“It’s the environment, stupid,” Lipton writes of his experiments in The Biology of Belief. Lipton’s discoveries are part of an emerging new biological paradigm that presents a radically different view of the evolution of life: epigenetics. Epi means “above” in Greek, so epigenetics means control above the genes. “It turns out that as we move from one environment to another environment, we change our genetic readout,” Lipton says. “Or if we perceive that our environment is not supporting us, then that perception also changes our genetics.”

The implications are profound. Change your environment, and you can change how you think. “We are not locked into our fate, because we have the freedom to change the way we respond to the world,” he explains. “We are masters of our genetics rather than victims of our hereditary traits. Our fate is really based on how we see the world or on how we have been programmed to experience it.”

When he fully grasped the meaning of epigenetics, Lipton’s life took a radical turn. He left the lab and the academic world, wrote his book and began to teach. He realized that whereas the scientific community is gradually embracing epigenetics as an alternative to the “central dogma,” the general public is largely unaware of the impact these new insights could have on our daily lives. “The media worsens the situation by misleading the public with a neverending onslaught of stories presumably identifying a gene that controls this cancer or that malady,” Lipton writes in The Biology of Belief.

So Lipton is on a mission to explain how our realities are created by our beliefs. “We know from science that our genes don’t control our lives, but if we believe that they do, they do,” Lipton says. To change our reality, we need to change our beliefs. That’s why the subtitle of The Biology of Belief is Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles. That’s also why Lipton operates in a field seemingly populated by self-help gurus who talk about the New Age “law of attraction,” which states that focused positive thought will lead to the desired outcome. Same message, different—non-scientific—inspiration.

The challenge of changing beliefs has become a key part of Lipton’s work. He talks as much about consciousness and the mind as about his past experiments in the lab. “The function of the mind is to create coherence between our beliefs and the reality that we experience,” he says. “So whatever we have programmed into our minds, those beliefs will shape not just our genetics but our behavior to conform to those beliefs as well. If we have positive beliefs built in our minds, then our behavior and our genes will lead us to health and happiness.”

Still, the way to health and happiness à la Lipton is more than positive thinking. “We generally perceive that we are running our lives with our wishes and our desires,” Lipton continues. “But neuroscience reveals a startling fact: We only run our lives with our creative, conscious mind about 5 percent of the time. Ninety-five percent of the time, our life is controlled by the beliefs and habits that are programmed in the subconscious mind. You may hold some positive thoughts but that has very little influence on your life because of the limited amount of time you actually run with your conscious mind.”

Even though we may embrace the message that we can change our reality by changing our beliefs, it is hard for us to change our beliefs because we mostly run our lives on autopilot.

Lipton explains that there is a good reason for the automatic “playback” function of the subconscious mind. As children, we learn to walk. While we do so, our lives are determined by the process. It takes all our energy and attention. The same happens when we learn to drive later in life. But once we have acquired these new habits, the subconscious mind automates the procedure. Whatever seemed almost overwhelmingly difficult at one point now is simple. We don’t even think about it anymore when we put one foot in front of the other or drive home from work.

However, we don’t just record simple motor functions like walking or driving. In the same way, we also record perceptions and behaviors. And we do most of this recording in the womb, during the second trimester of pregnancy, and during the first six years of our lives. “The fundamental programs in your subconscious mind are not your own wishes and desires,” Lipton points out. “They are behaviors you copied from other people, primarily your parents and your family and community. Your beliefs are actually their beliefs, their wishes and desires. You are ‘playing’ behaviors that were downloaded into you when you were a small child. And it is not very likely that these behaviors are what you are looking for today. You are sabotaging yourself!”

This is, of course, not a new discovery. Sigmund Freud used psychoanalysis to uncover these programmed patterns. Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy may have brought a better understanding of why we behave as we do, but people rarely succeed in fundamentally changing their lives through these methods.

Lipton points to the different ways in which the conscious and the subconscious minds learn. The conscious mind learns through inspiration: reading a book, going to a movie, having an exciting conversation with a friend or a teacher. The subconscious mind is not creative and it automates procedures, or forms habits, at low frequencies in different parts of the brain. “You can talk to a tape recorder all you want; you won’t be able to change the program. You have to re-record to change the program,” Lipton says. This explains why insights one may gain from a good psychotherapy session do not necessarily translate into different behavior, different fundamental beliefs and therefore a different reality. Its insights speak to the wrong mind.

The good news is that more and more promising techniques to deal with the subconscious mind are being discovered at this moment. Lipton speaks about good results with hypnosis, subliminal tapes and “super learning” techniques. He dedicates a special section in his book The Biology of Belief to a simple energy-psychology technique called PSYCH-K that personally helped him undo “self-limiting beliefs.” All these techniques feed information directly into the subconscious. “Using these modalities, you can rewrite beliefs that you may have held in your subconscious mind for already 45 years in a matter of just minutes,” Lipton explains. “In 15 minutes, you can change a belief that has been affecting your whole life.”

The impact on medicine is profound. “Our health is really based on our perception and our beliefs and attitudes,” he says. “When we find ourselves in a negative environment, or we perceive ourselves in a negative environment or we are running from behavioral programs that are self-sabotaging, these beliefs generally contribute to disease. If you want to recover health, you don’t need to add medicine. You actually have to return yourself to a supportive, healthy environment. I have seen in the lab that cell cultures can crash and then recover when their environment is improved.”

To illustrate his point, he adds that research has shown that 90 percent of the cases of cancer and heart disease, the two biggest killers on the planet, have nothing to do with genes but everything to do with lifestyle. “A lot of medicine comes down to adding chemicals to support unhealthy lifestyles,” Lipton argues. “It is not about healing people but about helping people to maintain a lifestyle. You don’t need these drugs. What you need to change is your lifestyle. You don’t need a doctor; you need a coach. That’s what the new medicine is all about.”

Yet that radical vision faces a major obstacle: A pharmaceutical company with a mission to improve health through techniques that cannot be patented would not be very profitable for its shareholders. “Theoretically, medicine is a compassionate practice; it is about helping people,” Lipton says. “But in reality, it is not. Mainstream medicine generates profits from sick people. That is by definition inhumane. Medicine has to be nonprofit. Once you put the profit motive in there, then healing people would minimize the profit of the corporation. Obviously, money doesn’t create healing. It’s the opposite: Money prevents healing.”

A conversation with Lipton is more like a high-speed monologue. A simple question unleashes a torrent of words from his brain. Although we speak over Skype, I can sense the urgency with which he wants to tell the story of how we can lead healthier and happier lives.

He tells about the day he was 7, when he peeked through a microscope in the classroom for the first time. Afterward, he ran home and begged his mother to buy him one. Lipton had seen his future. More important, he had seen a tiny world bursting with life. What he saw through the microscope was not a “thing”; it was a community, with endless elements and pieces moving together.

“Even the most primitive organisms on the planet, bacteria, all live in community,” he says. “They are always in communication with each other. Organisms don’t live alone. The more complex systems become, the more sharing of the workload, you see.” He pauses briefly. “You are not an individual. You are not a single entity. That is a misperception. You are a community of 50 trillion cells.”

Lipton’s second book is called Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future (and a Way to Get There from Here). Darwinian biology, with its focus on the survival of the fittest, has led us onto the wrong path, according to Lipton. “When you start talking about the survival of the fittest, you start talking about the individual. Nature doesn’t really care about individuals.” From the perspective of evolution, it is not about the individual human being; for Lipton, it is about humanity. “We are not individual entities; we are one giant collaborative superorganism,” he says.

Lipton argues that a revolution will occur when we recognize that each human being is a “cell” in the same body. “We may learn that killing or terrorizing each other or our environment is self-destructive. In fact, there is a name for what we do. When the cells in our bodies fight each other, we call that ‘autoimmune disease.’ What humanity is going through right now is a very bad case of autoimmune disease.”

Yet Lipton is optimistic about the future. “I used to be a pessimist,” he says. “When I started to understand the nature of evolution and how everything is powered by the formation of community, then I saw that the emergence of the Internet is doing exactly that—it allows all the cells to be connected. We are beginning to see the coalition of human beings from around the world recognizing that we are all one. That’s our evolutionary destiny.”

Lipton takes hope from what he calls the “honeymoon effect.” We all remember moments when we were deeply in love. We felt healthy and energetic. Life was so beautiful it was like heaven on Earth. “That honeymoon effect was not an accident; it was a creation,” Lipton argues. “You personally created that.”

When we fall in love, our conscious minds, with our wishes and desires, are running almost full-time—not 5 percent of the time, but 95 percent. That condition can be life-changing. “The only difference between heaven and hell on this planet is the difference between running on the creative wishes of the conscious mind or running on the sabotaging, disempowering beliefs of the subconscious mind.”

Lipton pauses, then raises a question. What if you programmed or reprogrammed your subconscious to contain the same wishes and desires from the conscious mind that created the honeymoon experience? “At that point, we would all be living in heaven on Earth all the time.”

Jurriaan Kamp has always believed in heaven on Earth.

Reprinted with Permission. Article Source: Ode Magazine

 
There is an adage that says, "Show me an excuse, and I will show you a failure!" Emmy-award winning actress Kathryn Joosten certainly wasn't someone wallowing in excuses!

Some of us can learn quite a few things from this woman of action!