Friday, June 26, 2009

Intriquing Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YVuWBnlMxg

Long time friend and graduate of one of our Tokyo seminars years ago, Anthony Willoughby, was recently captured on video at TedX in Japan. I thought you might enjoy it as much as I did.



Robert

What Do We Value?

“Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other.”

Erma Bombeck


Been to the supermarket recently? Joined me in the guilty pleasure of reading the tabloid headlines recently? (If you either bought the magazine or believed the headlines, call me. I’ll help you get the counseling you need!)

Perhaps every society has worried that its culture was declining; however, our current reality seems truly scary. Many surveys of American teens report that “being famous” or “getting on TV” is either at the top or near it when asked what their goals are.

Have many of us have been lousy examples or just failed to teach our young people about true heroism? I mentioned in response to a recent comment on my blog (http://extraordinaryseminar.blogspot.com/) that due to being in a full leg cast for several summers as a teen, I read almost every book in the local library’s biography section. As a result, I can tell you more than you want to know about famous black biologist George Washington Carver’s peanut research.

More importantly, I gained a deep appreciation and respect for people who were truly extraordinary and the prices they paid for their accomplishments.

I’d love to hear how you feel about my observation that we seem to be rushing headlong into valuing the wrong things. Am I on to something here? Please respond on the blog so I can share your wisdom—and my reply—with all of my extraordinary readers!

With love and respect,

Robert

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Are You Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places?

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

Rumi



My personal journey of growth and discovery plus my experience in hundreds of seminars and with thousands of people informs me that most people—beginning with me—are somewhat hard wired to look outside ourselves for answers.

My business mind reminds me that this is the marketing force behind our sales results. After all, when people do look “outside” they often turn to companies like Extraordinary People for answers. My strategy in founding Lifespring, ARC International and now Extraordinary People has been the same: allow people to think that we have “the answers,” get them engaged in our work and then enroll them into the reality that the only valid and valuable answers come from within.

A profound process is to follow this Sufi poet’s counsel and do the necessary and sometimes painful work of self discovery; to identify and clear those “barriers within yourself” preventing you from full self expression; to cease seeking for love and move yourself to a place where you can simply allow it to flow.

With love and respect,

Robert

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Unlimited Gifts vs. Limiting Beliefs

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Confucius

“It is no failure to fall short of all you might dream. The failure is to fall short of dreaming all that you might realize.”

Dee Hock


It’s a “two for one” Extraordinary Minute!

Long time readers know that I’ve previously used the quote from Dee Hock (founding CEO of Visa). When I found the Confucian quote, it seemed appropriate to use both of them—kind of two sides of the same coin.

My work with many thousands of people in Lifespring, ARC International and now Extraordinary People has taught me much and left me wondering about even more.
One of those questions is “why do otherwise extraordinary people with unlimited gifts limit themselves in terms of vision and commitment?”

I know of the power and role of limiting beliefs and there seems to be much more “in our way.” If you have some thoughts on this subject, I’d love to hear them.

With love and respect,

Robert

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Trust Yourself

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”

Golda Meir



I must confess to not knowing a lot about former Israeli Prime Minister Meir. My impression of her—mainly from news reports—is one of great strength, sensitivity and clarity as she served her fledgling nation during times of crisis after crisis.

In this quote and in many of her other writings, she speaks a positive, future oriented language seemingly untied from her people’s tragic history.

Pretty good model for living an extraordinary life, methinks!

With love and respect,

Robert
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