Monday, November 26, 2007

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Programming

Posted: 26 Nov 2007 02:52 AM CST

Millions of people sit down every evening for an hour or two to receive their programming. Some sit down for their programming during the day.  There is even special programming for kids.

The programming helps us to adapt to situations, it helps us to find things to talk about with other people, it helps us to show the appropriate emotions or lack of them at the appropriate time.

It is done via an electronic box that most of us install in our own homes, many have more than one.  The programming is transmitted into the box and then to the people via changing lights and sounds.

This is not some distopic sci-fi fantasy, this is normal life for many millions of people.  Of course far from all of the programming is bad, there is much that is excellent, the crucial thing is to be aware that it is not our own.

It is conditioning, like so many other messages we hear.

The FTSE in the UK, Dow and Nasdaq in the US, being mentioned at the end of every single bulletin, builds an entirely disproportionate level of mystique and importance around share trading.  Wouldn't global and local: happiness, peace or wellness indices be more relevant?

When they say at the end of the news bulletin "that was the news" they give the impression that nothing else of interest or merit has happened. 

The TV tells us who is "good" and who is "bad", it tells us which side to be on in any given situation.

We invest 12 or more years in our educational programming, learning; that evaluation is done by someone else, that mistakes and failures will be punished by public humiliation, that subjects that qualifications are more important than confidence.

Out education tells us to be obedient and to conform.

The result of all of this conditioning is that many of us do not really know our own opinion and we lack the confidence to state it anyway.

One of the things I frequently recommend to clients is to go on a media detox.  Cut out TV and mainstream news for one month. Then go back to it and see how your perspective has changed.

In the spirit of simplification I have decided that all of the stuff I was offering was getting too complicated and I really needed to rationalise things and tidy up - so:

Total Potential - All of my public workshops, excluding the Advance, will now be incorporated into a full time retreat.  The retreat will deal with all issues including work, relationships, wellness, crisis and so on as well as stretching participants who want it to a higher spiritual level as well. 

Total Potential Retreat starts on the 7th of January at the beautiful Ca'n Pujola in S'Arraco, Mallorca.

As a special launch offer anyone booking four nights in January or February, before the end of the year, will get a fifth night free.  It is only €100 or £70 per night so it is comparable with holiday kind of prices.  For more details see the web page or call 0044 (0)7775 658534.

Advance - The Advance is a wonderful event that is for anyone who would like to inspire authenticity in others.  We have had cooks, actors, artists, musicians, coaches, consultants, lawyers, designers and others, who all now form a special community of authentic practitioners inspiring others to be authentic in their own authentic way.

For 2008 there will be two Advances, one in Mallorca, 5-7 March, and the other in California 4-6 April.  For more details see the web page or call 0044 (0)7775 658534.

Coaching - I will continue to do the coaching, which I love.  To witness people transform their lives in exciting and positive ways is so wonderful.  The coaching is either done on the phone or you are very welcome to come for some intensive coaching over a few days - a 'fix' as I call it.  For more details see the web page or call 0044 (0)7775 658534.

Corporate work - The corporate work gets more and more exciting with global corporations getting excited about the potential of authenticity at a high level.  This takes the form of both workshops and executive coaching.  If you would like to bring the benefits of authenticity to your business or your employers business give me a call and we can find out what the best way is 0044 (0) 7775 658534 or see the web page for more details.

with love

nx

neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator
Authentic Transformation - join the evolution
talk - 07775 658534
write - neil@authentictransformation.co.uk
act - www.authentictransformation.co.uk

We pay more to be distracted than we do to anyone except the government and the bank. Compare the amount we pay sports and pop stars with the amount that we pay to educators or health care workers, for example.

Neil Crofts - Authentic - How to Make a Living by Being Yourself - published by Capstone October 2003

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Monday, November 19, 2007

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Stop

Posted: 19 Nov 2007 02:58 AM CST

We spend so much time being busy - just stop.

It is a Monday morning, the start of a busy week (probably) - just stop.

As a society we tend to value busyness over thinking time.  We talk about some one being a hard worker, like that is a good thing and we might criticise someone for "navel gazing".

We have been conditioned to believe in being busy.  It made sense for those governing us, our bosses at work, the church and the government.  They did not want us thinking too much about things, they just wanted us to be obedient.

What this conditioning holds us back from doing is stopping and checking the direction we are going in, because it is the direction we are heading in that will determine the outcome, not the individual tasks.

For many of us the direction is around in another loop.  Hoping, just hoping, that somehow it will be better this time around.  The same loop at work, the same loop in our relationships, the same loop in our lifestyle.

Navel gazing is good, it helps us figure out where we are going.

So stop now, today and do a bit of navel gazing.

Stop and think about where are you going with all this busyness. Are you pursuing your dreams and ambitions or someone else's?

Stop and think about your relationships - are you being the relationship you aspire to have with your partner, your parents, your children, your boss?

Create 10 minutes in your day, while you are waiting for someone or something just to think about the big stuff.  Break out of the loop and start to go in your direction.

For a guide book for your journey see www.sevenstages.net

I am also really excited to announce the launch of the Authentic Transformation Total Potential Retreat - the retreat will run most of the year at the fabulous Can Pujola, in Mallorca.  The retreat will help participants find and be their authentic selves and have a lot of fun along the way.  Think of it as an authentic activity holiday.  We are taking bookings starting on the 7th of January at only €100 (£70) per night plus food and flights.  See www.authentictransformation.co.uk/transformation/works.html for detials.

Really looking forward to seeing you here.

with love

nx

neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator
Authentic Transformation - join the evolution
talk - 07775 658534
write - neil@authentictransformation.co.uk
act - www.authentictransformation.co.uk

Make no comparisons. Be whoever you are.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Awake

Posted: 12 Nov 2007 08:18 AM CST

Psychologist and hypnotist Charles Tart describes the the sate that many of us live a large part of our life in as being in a hypnotic trance.  Our education, the media, jobs and so on all combine to hypnotize us into a dream state where our lives follow the program that is set by society.  

Another view of society as a trance was in the film The Matrix where the programming of peoples minds was represented by the whole artificial experiential world of The Matrix.

Within the trance we are sure that this is "reality".  We are sure that there is no real choice.  We are sure that the path we are on is the only one.  We are afraid of challenging the trance.

And yet we all awaken, we all enjoy moments of clarity, consciousness, enlightenment, authenticity.

From within the trance, these moments appear to be unreal, appear to be false, idealistic, unrealistic.

From a state of being awake it is the trance that appears to be unreal.

What is real?  Take a look at this clip, before you decide.

How would we know if our life was a being lead from within a trance?

The clearest evidence of our level of awakeness or consciousness is in the level of responsibility that we feel.  When we are within the trance it is difficult to feel responsibility much beyond our selves or our immediate tribe (whatever form that may take). 

When we are fully awakened we feel and act on a sense of responsibility that spans all life the past and the future.

Within this it is important to bear in mind that our level of wakefulness varies (and therefore responsibility) with circumstance.  There will always be situations that can bounce us back to our sleeping state.  The journey is abount spending more of our time being more awake.

If you feel a big sense of responsibility and your life's purpose is to inspire the evolution of consciousness or to inspire authenticity in others you may be interested in coming to the Authentic Transformation Advance - the last one was "Amazing" - the next ones are in Mallorca in March and California in April - take a look at the video and the web page to find out more.

If you want to wake yourself up, from the 7th of January we will be opening Authentic Transformation Why Me?  This is a full time centre in Mallorca where anyone looking for a deeper understanding of life can come and stay for as little as a week or as long as they like for €100 per night excluding flights and food.  Please e-mail for details.

with love

nx

neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator
Authentic Transformation - join the evolution
talk - 07775 658534
write - neil@authentictransformation.co.uk
act - www.authentictransformation.co.uk

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of the earth. Your playing small does not serve the world. Theres nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people wont feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do... And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As were liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

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Sunday, November 04, 2007

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Save the planet

Posted: 04 Nov 2007 02:07 AM CST

There is much talk of the need to save the planet. 

But is this what we mean?

Is this the job that needs to be done?

The planet will in fact survive.  It is highly unlikely that we could destroy it - although it is not beyond us to try.

Also the implication of the word "save" is that somehow the planet got into this mess on it's own and we now need to intervene.  It is a bit like the old joke "I saved a guys life - I let go of his throat".  If we could just stop what we are doing that would save the planet.

What we really mean is that we humans want to save ourselves AND our lifestyle.  On the whole we don't actually want to return to a new stone age where we live hand to mouth off the land.  

We have made huge progress in many ways and it would be a shame to let it all go and regress.  However it would not be the first time it has happened.  All previous civilisations have regressed, largely through environmental mismanagement and the population demanding more from the land than it could give.  

Which is, of course, precisely what we are doing right now.

The lifestyle we have created, with relative affluence, widespread travel and awareness of other cultures gives us both the means of our own destruction AND the means to transcend to the next level.

This is our choice.  We can choose to continue to rip the plugs out of our life support system or we can choose to use the wisdom we have gained and the wealth that we have accumulated to invest in a peaceful and sustainable future for all.

We were not born to destroy, we were born to learn and very often we learn by trial and error.  We can choose to learn from the 'errors' of previous societies or we can choose to become the next one.

What we were born to learn was precisely how to live sustainably and peacefully, it is not a trivial challenge and yet we are tantalisingly close.  I believe that the key is for us to let go of dogma, to let go of being ruled by the thoughts and ideas of others, whether they are religious, capitalist or environmentalist and learn to listen to and be guided by our authentic selves.

We are all born good, we are all born powerful and we are all born to contribute.  Along the way most of us get confused by the conditioning and dogma of our society.  The conditioning we are brought up with is always and inevitably based in the past, and yet as children we are the future. 

We need to let go of dogma and conditioning and focus on the future, focus on solutions that work for everyone.  That is the minimum threshold for any decision - does it work for everyone?  Does it contribute to those with an environmental conscience?  Does it contribute to the commercial bottom line?  Does it honour religious practice?  Does it work for those rooted in authoritarian structures?  Does it work for those seeing the world through a mystical lens?   Does it work for those with an exclusively survivalist world view?

In short we all need to evolve as individuals to the extent that we can and, in doing so, contribute all that we can to the rest of society.

For more thoughts and ideas about how you can evolve or help others to evolve see www.authentictransformation.co.uk

If you want to inspire others to evolve then introduce them to this newsletter and encourage them to subscribe.

For an easy to read and practice self coaching manual take a look at Seven Stages of Authenticity.

Let me know if I can help.

with love

nx


neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator
Authentic Transformation - join the evolution
talk - 07775 658534
write - neil@authentictransformation.co.uk
act - www.authentictransformation.co.uk

Past is memory. Future is imagination. Reality lies in the now.

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