October 5th, 2016
I was first introduced to Anthony Robbins as a teenager. I don't know how I ended up with his cassette tape, Awaken the Giant Within, but I listened to it over and over again. I had to decide on my Magnificent Obsession and figure out what was keeping me from it. Tony stated that all our behaviours are about avoiding pain or getting pleasure. This was how you understood behaviour. What is the payoff? What am I avoiding?
I have since read some of his books, watched him on You Tube and, recently, I noticed a documentary about Tony on Netflix, I Am Not Your Guru. The documentary is all about his six day Date With Destiny Seminar in Bocca Raton. He offers this seminar every year in different locations and each seat costs just under 5G but the place is packed!
The documentary takes you through each day and you get to witness one or two interventions per day. This is really powerful work. Granted, some parts are a bit flashy, like a Las Vegas show but the people are doing some deep thinking about the life they want to lead. Tony says the goal of this seminar is to teach people "how to re-shape yourself so you can enjoy yourself. To Uncover who you are, reclaim who you are, meant for anyone who is hungry for more".
Day 1 is Preparation Day. He explains that we go through problems in life but they are gifts because problems keep us moving and we are meant to grow. When we stop growing, we are not happy. His aim on day one is to get to the source of problems because when you address the real issue, not the tiny stuff that you use to distract yourself, you can change your whole life in one moment. He asks the audience what is keeping them from reaching their dreams, from achieving their vision.
Day 2 is Evaluation Day. He gets people into teams. They share insights from day one and he has them examine patterns that they are not aware of but seems to be controlling them.
Day 3 is Discovery Day. They show a very poignant intervention with a young lady who was raised in a sect and taught that all she was good for was sex, this was how she served God. Tony obviously feels a connection to this woman. He sees her pain and helps her see that she now has the power to make different choices. He hooks her up with some training and support and has her pick three men in the audience that feel safe to her. They are tasked to check up on her once a month for six months. They created a bond that lasts beyond the seminar.
Day 4 is Relationship Day. Tony addresses the challenge of relationships, where we feel deeply, where we are raw, where we grapple with not being "enough". He says we develop visions for our business but not for our relationship. We need a vision of what we are creating together. He works with a couple who is off balance. The woman is more masculine and the man is more feminine. She wants him to be more masculine. He also desires this but he has had no male role models. He feels lost. Tony works with him and, we are told, they go home and have some pretty wild sex that night.
Day 5 is Transformation Day. Tony starts the day by talking to audience members who have not had one insight since the start of the seminar. He warns them to get out of their heads. The groups create posters with their vision, goals, mission statement and primary question, the question they ask most often that directs their life. He has people imagine their ideal life and describe it.
Day 6 is Integration Day. The groups work on anchoring their vision for their life into their nervous system. They jump, attach this vision to each sense and proclaim their intention at the top of their voice. Tony asks them to think of early memories and figure out what stories they created from these experiences, the meaning that was assigned to them. He takes them through a visualization exercise. They each recall three times in their life for which they feel gratitude. Again, he attaches these memories to the five senses. He then has participants stand, stretch and make their joyful sound.
You can tell that these people are feeling energetic, re-born and changed from this experience. As the crew follow Tony from Day 1 to Day 6, you can see that he is very focused and disciplined and that he is energized by his work. His wife is also very compassionate. She stands with him at the end of the seminar and she is seen hugging and interacting with people throughout the seminar. Tony's last directive to his devoted fans is "Leave the past behind and go make your life a masterpiece".
Very inspirational work!!
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Showing posts with label authenticity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authenticity. Show all posts
Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Wednesday, 11 May 2016
Book of the Week-The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha
May 11th, 2016
Prior to our trip, I ran out of time to go into town and purchase a book. The Happiness Equation caught my eye on a table at Walmart. It's a thick and heavy book, impractical for a trip but it appealed to me and I purchased it anyways.
I like to read when the Vincent and the girls have gone to bed. I curl up on the couch with a cosy blanket, enjoying the quiet. This book had me hooked from the start. It's filled with quirky little diagrams and observations.
Neil talks about this community that lives long, healthy, happy lives. The key is "Ikigai". They all have a sense of purpose, a reason to get up every day. I started to think about my Ikigai. My daughters are mine-loving them, nurturing them and teaching them the important stuff in life. What is your Ikigai?
The author then divides the week into three buckets of 56 hours: one for sleep, one for work and a third to pursue our passion. I was impressed with this, 56 hours per week to pursue my passion. That sounds like a lot! My passions are learning, reading, teaching, creating, writing, public speaking and offering art therapy workshops to children and adults.
In the book, Neil describes how being at work provides social interaction, structure, intellectual stimulation and a story (you are part of the company's story re: who they are and what they are trying to accomplish). He explains how our delusions about retirement being the golden years where we get to do nothing rob us of the four Ss (social, structure, stimulation and story). We are meant to keep working and if we love what we do then it doesn't feel like work.
He believes happiness is only 10% affected by our circumstances, the other 90% comes from our perception. He explains that we pursue success thinking it will make us happy but we need to focus on our happiness first. Neil differentiates between three types of success: making money, earning the respect of others and, feeling proud of ourselves. As long as we depend on others to feel successful, our achievements will never be enough. That's why it's so important to find our bliss and dive in, then we can feel fulfilled.
We are encouraged to achieve a more balanced life by dividing our time evenly between doing and resting. In order to make time to think, Neil recommends we limit the number of choices we make every day to avoid decision fatigue and use that energy constructively. He also believes we need tighter deadlines so we have no time to procrastinate. One of the ways he did this was having 5 minute speeches at his meetings. That way people would get to the point. Everyone felt that their time was well spent. He also proposes having some down time where you can not be reached or distracted so you can just feed your brain.
My favourite part of the book was the three tests on page 245. The point of these tests is to find your authentic self. The tests consist of three questions:
1) What would you do on a Saturday morning if you had no obligations (you are completely free to do what you'd like)?
2) How do you feel when you put yourself in a new situation?
3) Who are the five people closest to you and what do you love most about them?
Neil says the five regrets of the dying are all related to authenticity. It's important to be true to yourself in order to live a happy life. What keeps us from being authentic? Fear. That is why we are encouraged to take action every day. Is there something we can do, even something small to move towards happiness ad fulfillment? Do it. The more we do, the more confident we become in our ability to get things done.
This book really got me thinking and moving in the right direction. Here is another question for you to consider...If you did not need any money, what would you do with your time? Where would you be? Who would you spend time with? What activities would you continue to pursue? Can you find a way to bring this into your life now?
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Prior to our trip, I ran out of time to go into town and purchase a book. The Happiness Equation caught my eye on a table at Walmart. It's a thick and heavy book, impractical for a trip but it appealed to me and I purchased it anyways.
I like to read when the Vincent and the girls have gone to bed. I curl up on the couch with a cosy blanket, enjoying the quiet. This book had me hooked from the start. It's filled with quirky little diagrams and observations.
Neil talks about this community that lives long, healthy, happy lives. The key is "Ikigai". They all have a sense of purpose, a reason to get up every day. I started to think about my Ikigai. My daughters are mine-loving them, nurturing them and teaching them the important stuff in life. What is your Ikigai?
The author then divides the week into three buckets of 56 hours: one for sleep, one for work and a third to pursue our passion. I was impressed with this, 56 hours per week to pursue my passion. That sounds like a lot! My passions are learning, reading, teaching, creating, writing, public speaking and offering art therapy workshops to children and adults.
In the book, Neil describes how being at work provides social interaction, structure, intellectual stimulation and a story (you are part of the company's story re: who they are and what they are trying to accomplish). He explains how our delusions about retirement being the golden years where we get to do nothing rob us of the four Ss (social, structure, stimulation and story). We are meant to keep working and if we love what we do then it doesn't feel like work.
He believes happiness is only 10% affected by our circumstances, the other 90% comes from our perception. He explains that we pursue success thinking it will make us happy but we need to focus on our happiness first. Neil differentiates between three types of success: making money, earning the respect of others and, feeling proud of ourselves. As long as we depend on others to feel successful, our achievements will never be enough. That's why it's so important to find our bliss and dive in, then we can feel fulfilled.
We are encouraged to achieve a more balanced life by dividing our time evenly between doing and resting. In order to make time to think, Neil recommends we limit the number of choices we make every day to avoid decision fatigue and use that energy constructively. He also believes we need tighter deadlines so we have no time to procrastinate. One of the ways he did this was having 5 minute speeches at his meetings. That way people would get to the point. Everyone felt that their time was well spent. He also proposes having some down time where you can not be reached or distracted so you can just feed your brain.
My favourite part of the book was the three tests on page 245. The point of these tests is to find your authentic self. The tests consist of three questions:
1) What would you do on a Saturday morning if you had no obligations (you are completely free to do what you'd like)?
2) How do you feel when you put yourself in a new situation?
3) Who are the five people closest to you and what do you love most about them?
Neil says the five regrets of the dying are all related to authenticity. It's important to be true to yourself in order to live a happy life. What keeps us from being authentic? Fear. That is why we are encouraged to take action every day. Is there something we can do, even something small to move towards happiness ad fulfillment? Do it. The more we do, the more confident we become in our ability to get things done.
This book really got me thinking and moving in the right direction. Here is another question for you to consider...If you did not need any money, what would you do with your time? Where would you be? Who would you spend time with? What activities would you continue to pursue? Can you find a way to bring this into your life now?
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
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