Archive for August, 2007

James Brausch’s latest post shows the power of perception and mindset.

Brausch recently closed his mentoring program to avoid negativity. Yet he has let himself get sucked into a horrible vortex of negativity surrounding recent events with the CDBaby contest. I think the most ironic part of this is that Brausch himself has voiced the difference between causality and correlation.

I was going to address the selective perception and attributed meaning to each of his complaints. I’ve already started to feel the yucky state building and so I’m done with that train of thought. (James if you want my perception get in touch and I’ll take the time and energy to frame it in such a way that I can share.)

I have no way of knowing if the contest was rigged or not — and it doesn’t really matter. Brausch is now asking for opinions on what he should do about his perceived slights. He has outlined several possibilities including suing, reporting to the FTC, and writing it off as a learning lesson. I think those are all cop-out lose-lose solutions.

First off Brausch you need to pull your head out of your associations [I was being tactful but he is not so…]. You could double disassociate and treat it as a question from one of your protege’s students. You could also go back and pop all the unwanted emotions off your timeline for the last month. You seem to know something about NLP — physician heal thyself.

Next go back to why you decided to participate in the contest in the first place. I was under the impression that you set out to get the record deal. That or the warm fuzzy feeling of decimating the competition or whatever else — have the glitches (human or technical, intentional or circumstantial) honestly had an impact on your initial goal? You’re allowing what seemed like good fun (woohoo! comes to mind) to be tainted by your interpretation of arbitrary events. The deck has always been stacked against you and yet you’ve become one of the 2%. Why should this contest be any different? (Hint, it isn’t.)

Someone claiming to be Derek from CDBaby posted a reply that Brausch has a factor of two lead on the second place. Independent of who is announced winner of the contest I think everyone has won. Well, everyone will win when Brausch recognizes how many more people (800?) he will be reaching and helping. That is what you love to do, isn’t it James.

Many other win-win-wins are obvious to me. All of Brausch’s new customers (like myself) won with the help embodied in his CD and bonus products. You won by being exposed to CDBaby and Brausch. CDBaby won from the exposure and sales. All the bands who participated won more sales, more exposure, and more momentum.

Finally, I think the biggest win for CDBaby and the other bands (and you if you’ll accept it) is expanded vision of what is possible. Before Brausch showed up on the scene Derek thought that selling 100 CDs would be winner material. Instead, with Brausch raising the bar, the second place band seems to have sold about four times the expected highest seller. I’m going to guess that the rest of the top ten are similarly skewed for the better by Brausch’s pace setting.

So what should Brausch do? I think he should drop the negativity and do what he had planned to do a month ago when he committed to this contest. Or several years ago when he started his blog to help others succeed. Besides, it’s time to think Costa Rica not CDBaby.

But that’s just my opinion. Feel free to share yours.

I’ve been thinking about yesterday’s post and I couldn’t leave well enough alone.

I have decided that all of your purchase price on Brausch’s CDs (including shipping) will be directly credited towards any one of our live trainings or home study courses over the next two years. This includes NLP Practitioner, Master Practitioner, and a number of other events we have in the works.

And just to confirm my insanity this offer is on any quantity, not just the 50 to claim the huge package from yesterday. Invest in Life Management 101, then submit your receipt and subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming events.

Last offer of the week and of the contest. I have gone all out for Brausch. I have collected a ton of relevant resources to improve your life and your learning. I know you’ll love them!

Are you ready to further integrate your mind and body? My friend and associate Kathy is a Yoga instructor and fellow NLP trainer. She has volunteered two titles from her Yoga in a Chair series of audios. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to unlock your physical potential and experience a great example of NLP in action.Get started accelerating your learning with a copy of my audio course on speed reading before it is even released. Learn, among other things, the three main stumbling blocks to effortless reading and how to put them behind you. You will also have online access to additional support materials as they are released.

And to wrap up the audio portion of the offer there are still a few slots open for the call where all your questions about NLP and accelerated learning are answered. The only way to get on this call is by helping me help Brausch win the CDBaby contest.

To make sure that you have a solid foundational knowledge of NLP and its applications I am also including a printed and bound copy of the materials used in a number of NLP Practitioner courses (including my own). Joel and Debra have brought together a marvelous resource for using NLP in a variety of ways with a special emphasis on physical and mental health.

As you may be aware most people have more senses than just vision needed to read a manual. Many individuals also prefer learning by watching and doing. In order to further serve you in your NLP education I am also including the full recordings from one of our NLP Practitioner trainings. You will get a taste of what an NLP Practitioner training is really like. You will not have the benefit of one-on-one attention and feedback, but this will be as close as you can get to an NLP training in your living room.

To claim this outrageous bundle you need to order 50 copies of LM101 and submit your receipt at the support desk before noon Eastern Friday. Remember to include your NLP questions for the call.

For less than a third of the cost of a live NLP Practitioner training you get it all.

• Yoga in a Chair – Neck and Shoulders
• Yoga in a Chair – Hips and Low Back
• Learning to Learn Primer – Speed Reading 101
• Q&A call – NLP and Accelerated Learning
• NLP Training Manual – Healing with Language
• NLP Practitioner Training – Full 5 DVD Set

You’ve got less than 48 hours to order Brausch’s CD and submit your receipt for this package.
Take advantage of this chance to learn from exclusive audios and videos filled with NLP content and delivery before I change my mind. (Kathy is amazed at how much I’m offering. If you see another offer this good please tell me about it!)

After talking with Dr Martin Russell, who is also helping Brausch, I’ve decided to extend Friday’s offer and up the ante.

I recently met Dr Russell and instantly liked him. (Anyone who has trained with John and Richard is someone worth meeting!) He has taken a more direct path to helping people, both as a medical doctor and as a counselor, so if there are areas that you’ve been struggling with and have exhausted the options available Dr Russell may be a good choice.

Dr Russell has an offer on the table for another 24 22 hours. He is offering a copy of one of his self-help products with two copies of Life Management 101. I propose that you buy 5 copies and take us both up on our offers. And just to sweeten the deal you will get access to a teleseminar where I answer all of your questions about NLP, accelerated learning, and how they can help in your business and personal life. (If enough of you take us up on this offer I may even be able to convince Dr Russell to be on the call, Australia or not!)

Purchase five copies of Life Management 101 and send me your receipt (and your questions) before 5pm Eastern Tuesday. You’ll get prompt access to my “Intro to NLP” with the teleseminar details soon after. Remember to include which of Dr Russell‘s products you want and I’ll take care of making sure you get that. (Yes, those of you who already purchased will get access to the call as well, but if you want in on Dr Russell’s deal you’ll have to purchase more copies.)

I wonder how many NLP techniques and patterns you will notice as Dr Russell’s products guide you in self healing. And did you notice the rest of Dr Russell’s offer?

As promised today it’s win-win or no deal. Steven Covey’s book establishes win-win or no deal as the fourth habit. He differentiates between a number of possible outcomes from an interaction. For the “fresh from the PowerPoint” bullets check here.

The fun part of win/win is that it requires an inordinate amount of perspective, or at least some empathy. We need to be able to recognize whether what I am offering is honestly a win for the other party. Okay, let’s assume you’ve successfully distinguished a win for the other person from a non-win. Here’s the real challenge: what is a real win for you? Are you going for the gold at the expense of your morals? Are you winning the rat race but leaving your friends and family behind?

Ecology is a term used frequently in NLP. It isn’t quite referring to saving the whales but close. We are more interested in the full impact on your life of your proposed “win.” Independent of what you think you’ll gain with your win we need to look at what you may be leaving behind by “winning”. Here is a permutation of questions that is quite handy as an “ecology check”:

• What will happen if you win?
• What won’t happen if you win?
• What will happen if you don’t win?
• What won’t happen if you don’t win?

These questions can help you recognize non-wins such as being in the same place after your win, being in the same place with a new debt after your win, gain of something you want and loss of something you have and love, etc…

Most people can understand win/win. Adding the “no deal” clause just gives the opportunity to agree to disagree amicably. This is what I proposed Friday. When you feel that buying copies of Brausch’s CD is a win then I’ll throw in something extra. Meanwhile you help me win and help Brausch win too. If not, I’m happy to find another option. Or you can suggest another option that would be a win for you. Or we can agree to disagree and go our separate ways. You are going somewhere, aren’t you?

What stumbling block do you cherish so much that you let it keep you from getting where you want to be? How much quicker will you get there with the help of those who have gone before you?

Flexibility is freedom. The more flexible you are in your relationships, in business, and in general the more likely you are to “win”. (I haven’t explained the concept of “win-win or no deal” yet! Tomorrow’s post will make it all clear.) No matter what you consider a “win” for a given situation the most flexible wins.

Muscular flexibility is based on being able to stretch beyond their resting state. They lose flexibility when they maintain unnecessary tension or form in such a way as to restrict the ability to stretch. Behavioral flexibility is analogous.

So how do you develop flexibility?

A physical fitness method is to approach the current limits of a muscle group and then apply a controlled, even tension to pull the muscles beyond their previous stretching limit. Often the tension is applied via a force like gravity, a different muscle group, or a work out partner.

A chiropractic approach to built-up tension involves a controlled session where the doctor quickly “breaks through” the offending stopping point in the process of realigning the underlying muscular-skeletal system.

A physical therapy version uses controlled exercise of a joint (and it’s associated muscles and connective tissue) through it’s full range-of-motion. Often this involves a series of assisted motions through the ROM before assigning certain exercises to allow the patient to work the full ROM unassisted.

All of these methods are controlled. All involve an outside person or force. All go beyond the edges of what was previously possible.

This is why I like people like Richard Bandler, Tim Ferriss, and James Brausch. They push us beyond where we were before, offer a controlled system to follow, and/or stretch our perception of what is possible.

I had someone mention that Brausch seemed a bit extreme in his LM101 (see the previous post). I’m happy with extremes. They improve my “range-of-motion”. And just because I’ve gone to the extreme in a controlled setting doesn’t mean I must operate there. The flexibility of being able to go to these extremes gives the ability to win in more and more situations.

Are you ready for me to help push, pull, and prod you beyond your current limits? Go get three copies of Life Management 101, send the receipt, and add some NLP tools to your box.

James Brausch is having a contest. I intend to win. I will need your help.

Brausch intends to win the promotion contest for August over at CDBaby. To do that he is having a contest to promote his “Time Life Management 101″ CD. From what I’ve listened to so far I am quite impressed with LM101. It is very in sync with what I teach here.

Our first win-win-win proposal:
(there will be more coming next week)

1. Purchase three or more copies of LM101 before noon Eastern on Monday
2. Copy and paste your email receipt into a ticket at the support desk
3. Receive a full copy of “An Introduction to NLP” before it is removed from the market at the end of the month.

You win by getting LM101 and the full “Intro to NLP” package (including all the uncut videos) for less than the price of the audio version.
Your friends or family win when they receive a copy of LM101 from you (Christmas is coming!) and it transforms their lives.
I win Brausch’s contest.
Brausch wins CDBaby’s contest.

If that isn’t win-win-win enough for you let me know what it will take for you to purchase 5, 10, or 25 copies of LM101.
When I choose your idea I’ll include a special bonus.

Today I was telling my new friend Greg over at Tape Records about NLP. After telling him about NLP’s roots and some of the techniques for healing he asked if I saw clients in a theraputic setting. And while I have helped a few close friends I shared that my calling is in education not therapy.

For whatever reason the idea of “education not therapy” was still rattling around in my head as I drove home. Then it slowly dawned on me that education versus therapy was a false dichotomy — there is no separating the two.

Effective therapy is about changing behaviors. Changing behaviors requires either some new knowledge or a shift in awareness — both of which fall directly into the domain of education!

True education is from the “drawing out” of what is in the pupil. To ignore the reactions, emotions, and language of students would be ridiculous. Is there anything else to draw out? And what is to be done when something is “blocking” the drawing out process? Clearing those self limiting beliefs and interrupting the destructive patterns is typically considered the domain of therapists.

I wonder how much better our “education system” would be if teachers had the knowledge, awareness, and behaviors to explicitly deal with these sorts of thing. Where could you apply a little “theraputic muscle” in your own life?

Be Unreasonable by Paul Lemberg is an awesome choice to wrap up my summer reading. It has loads of my favorite features in a non-fiction book: pushes boundaries and comfort zones, preaches what is practiced, randomly distributes exercises, and is a very easy read.

Lemberg has distilled the essence of behavioral flexibility in the face of cultural norms. He suggests “unreasonable” alternatives to situations that only seem reasonable to cattle (let me chime in with my own guilty “moo” before you fire up the branding iron). Stand up, look around, and realize the crowd is standing around chewing their cud. Be Crocodile Dundee in NYC — ignore convention when being unreasonable gets you results.

“If we set the bar low enough we can trip and still make it over.” –C.S.

Another fun area of “unreasonable” is expectations. This is very much a mindset issue — your own and others. My version of what Lemberg is saying: we need to break free from our limiting beliefs and start living up to the immense potential contained in each one of us. Oh yeah, then we can expect (and receive!) the same unreasonable performance from those around us too.

For more unreasonable-ness you’ll need to pick up a copy of the book. If you buy it today you can head on over and claim your bonuses. If you haven’t gotten my special report “You Try But…” this is the best place to pick it up for free. Not to mention the dozens of other bonuses available.

Honestly, acting on the information in this book is worth more to your bottom line than what Amazon charges. The bonuses are just that, bonus. Heck, buy it now, collect your bonuses and if the exercise around page 18 doesn’t more than pay for the book I’ll buy your copy from you. Is that unreasonable enough for you?

Where have you been settling for what is comfortable and reasonable instead of living up to what you’re capable? How many patterns does this book need to interrupt to justify $20 and a couple hours invested?

It turns out that Abby has more prescience than her Daddy, or just got lucky.

At the Bristol Renaissance Faire there was in fact a zebra. And a llama, and a camel, and a coatimundi, and a flock of cheeky goats, …
And she got to pet them all (except the coati).

When she asked to pet a panda at the county fair tomorrow I was careful what I promised!