How brave are you?

Read on, and you will understand why I am asking this question.

This morning I was reading Peter Drucker – a famous management consultant who often worked in Japan - and a sentence in his book jumped out at me as quite profound. He wrote:

"Individual self-development in large measure depends on the focus on contributions."

How you can contribute to Society is a tricky question.

Years ago, when it was not so fashionable, I was involved in the work of Werner Erhard.

I’ve spent a long time making a fool of myself.

Publically, loudly and with a lot fanfare. Or at least that is how I felt sometimes (foolish) and that is how I was told by others (sometimes). Yet as Brené Brown rightly points out – while risk taking opens you to the possibility of ridicule and hurt, it also opens you to all those other juicy emotions like vitality, joy, enthusiasm, love.

Do you know what it’s like to be a rabbit?

As a mammal, you’ve got brain circuits that resemble a rabbits. Heck, all mammals have the same blueprint – same bone structure, same muscles, same control systems. Of course each species has its own spectacular adaptations, but our human penchant to anthropomorphize has a sound physiological basis.

Why am I going on about rabbits?

Right now I am in the process of ripping apart my past to find a way to my future.

Contained within my past is a modus operandi that I conceive holds back my ability to act effectively and efficiently. To get to the future, I think I need to understand my past.

Maybe you identify this same tendency in you? I am certainly not alone in this…

Recently I posted on Facebook, and got quite a response.

It was an insight I’d had into my own behaviour – which I am posting to Facebook all the time so what’s new? Yet this one hit a chord with a lot of folks! I was surprised by the rich reaction it garnered. Many people commented, I got unsolicited emails privately, and now I’m reading a book about it!*

When did another person last say to you: “You don’t understand!!!”

Whenever a person tells you that, they are right. You don’t understand their story. You only understand your story about their story! It’s natural, except…

How do you get past that?

Previously in my blog – “Standing Is Just A Story You Tell Your Self” – I asked you to explore the way that you and others stand…

Senses are reliable.
Senses are unreliable.

Depending on how you think – both are true, and neither are right.

It’s a bit like light as particles or light as waves. Whichever conceptual approach you take, you find irrefutable evidence to support your concept. That is, until you think differently.

Isn’t all life like that?

People don’t buy when they are confused.

And Alexander's discovery is the mother of all confusing things!

I’m celebrating today the start of our 2nd ATSuccess annual coaching program with 9 teachers signed up, and another still on the fence. (BTW: the group is closed, this is not a sales letter).

Last month, in BodyChance’s Yoga Pro in Japan, I asked for a show of hands:

“Who has trouble explaining what they are doing here to their friends?”

All the hands went up.

What did you feel when you woke up today?

How did you make sense of it?

You don’t need to make sense of your positive experiences – they are wonderful! It is the negative experiences you want to examine. When you experience a strong negative emotion, what do you do?

My guess is that you give this negative experience a name.

You call it “tired” or “worried” or “depressed” or “sad” – whatever. Words are called forth to give your experience a name.