Do you make lists?

It's could be because you are greedy - I bet you never thought of it like that before?

For me it's like this: I want to do a lot - that's where my greed comes in. It starts becoming too much, so I think - make a list. Prioritise it all. That's the usual approach, right?

Except the greed stays, my list gets longer, you keep piling it on. No relief.

I love being distracted by silly little things.

Filling out a bank form and sending it off. Cleaning my candle stand of wax. Wiping away those annoying smears near my kitchen trash - all worthy causes in their own right, but totally useless to my mission. I get even more keen when I have a lot on my plate. Hmmm.

Why do I do them? Why do you do yours? (Or have you got all this figured out already?)

A member of ATSuccess recently made a throwaway comment about our struggle to sell Alexander's practical theory: "The whole 'What is it?' thing."

Don't you hate that question?

Not because you don't have an answer, because you have too many answers! How do you explain what we do?

It really dropped home: our core marketing dilemma. No-one knows what we are selling them. Heck - even the people teaching it are often not 100% sure what it is!

Realizations are like jewels - precious things, and too few of them. But a realization is much, much more. It is abundant energy: it is a force to move you from apathy and emptiness to action and joy.

Why so few? Why so rare?

We live too much thinking: “I know.” Speaking for me, I am always right. I always know. I am built that way - it is biological as much as it is psychological. We have our right, and we stick to it. Alexander hit upon that - it was his breakthrough discovery, and the most misunderstood and abused.

In this post, I am giving you a heads up on what I am planning next for ATSuccess.

First I want to thank you all: having you as members of ATSuccess, learning from you, figuring out what kind of service works best; this has been a stimulating and exciting journey for me. It's had it's ups and downs (but mostly ups) and it has been a privilege to witness many of your personal struggles and triumphs.

Like you, I was surprised at how personal and deep it became between us. This is more than just biz development, it is personal development.

A few years ago I decided to drop my obsessive list-making.

I wanted to see what happened...

Nothing. Life carried on much the same. I messed up just about the same. BodyChance kept growing. The complaints against me didn't get disportionately bigger.

It wasn't a breakthrough, but nor was it a breakdown.

Huh?

I marvelled at the ease of it all. I stopped taking notebooks to meetings. I just took me: my mind, my awareness, my instinct, my intuition. I listened, I reacted, I decided and I forgot.

Or did I?

I don't think I forgot.

I have been reading Richard Koch's (no relation) 80/20 Principle to decide if I will spend $10,000+ flying to Chicago in September to be part of his 3 day seminar on the Star Principle.

The Star Principle is a biz concept Richard built atop of the 80/20 Principle, and it helped him amass a fortune of $250 million. You don't often find guys like this giving seminars - good to listen. Not cheap.

Two lines jumped out at me, one funny, one serious. First the funny one:

An odd throwaway remark on Facebook, perceived as a criticism, can send me off on a silent rant against an unsuspecting soul (who has most likely forgotten I exist.) Yet it happens. Often. A remark in a meeting, a well-intentioned joke - gems, a source of joy if I let them.

I can know when I react that I am criticizing me, not the person I perceive doing it. It's a moment sent to wake me up, to draw my attention to an aspect of my life that hitherto has been hidden from my knowledge.

Who's criticized you recently? What did they say?

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."
Henry Ford.

There's a sultry breeze blowing through from Tokyo right now, and looking out, I can see evidence of autumn coming. Fallen leaves and my own planning for the new term.

In Japan, September is the beginning of the cultural time. There are concerts, dance companies are visiting, all kinds of events are being announced to attract people. What happens in your country? Is this a "beginning" time in your market?