Most will agree that from a political and economic perspective, 2009 was a year of transformation. With a new President and new Democrat Congress, our political landscape certainly transformed. And while 2008 started the financial firestorm, 2009 was really the year of economic adjustment for the United States. We transformed from a nation of carefree abundance to a new reality of cautious consumption. Anxiety and uncertainty became our new economic reality.
While the macro-transformation of our political and economic world was occurring this past year, I personally experienced a micro-transformation during 2009. It is this personal transformation I would like to share with you today. If you are like me, you may feel the macro-transformation of politics and economics is not something that is within our control in our daily lives. But the personal or micro-transformation that I experienced has occurred directly from my choices and effort. The result has been a profound, and most likely long-lasting, shift in the quality of my life. Would you consider transforming your life in 2010?
It was exactly one year ago when a new friend introduced me to Landmark Education. Landmark’s keystone program is the Forum. The Forum is promoted as a program specifically designed to bring about positive and permanent shifts in the quality of your life. I attended the 3 day and one evening program in late February. A few weeks later I attended the Advanced Course and then completed a 10 week seminar in the late spring/early summer. I reviewed the Forum in the late summer and then attended a Communications Course in November. The education has equipped me with a new way of being (or a new technology) that has dramatically improved the quality of my life.
In a nutshell, I now have a real friendship with my younger brother, something that we had not experienced in many years. The communication, feelings of love and affinity between myself and my other siblings, my father and step-mother have evolved and become more genuine. I’m able to express myself more clearly and confidently with friends. I listen to what others say. My business has improved as the result of the clarity I’ve developed in the product and value I offer to my clients. I’m more confident. Financially, I’ve stopped looking at the world through rose-colored glasses and have made several key decisions to streamline and simplify. I adapted the phrase Dealing Powerfully with Reality to face the truth head-on. Saying things will work out without shrewdly confronting a situation with clear thinking, powerful choices and decisive action is the difference between hope and faith. Hope relies on luck and external happenings while faith relies on one’s choices and actions.
To summarize, my relationships with the people I love has improved, I’m more confident, I’m dealing more powerfully and purposefully in the areas of finance and business. I’m less stressed when faced with difficult choices. And I have a new sense of inner peace.
Transformation isn’t about fixing or improving or making better or more. To fix or improve is past-based. Transformation is about the future, new possibilities and new ways of being. It’s a freedom from the past. It’s honestly looking at where you stand in the present and creating a future based on where you want to go, not a future based on where you’ve been. Giving up the past is the key to future freedom and new possibilities.
As 2009 comes to a close, I begin 2010 with a new technology, or way of being, that allows me freedom from the first 51 years and endless possibilities for the next 49 years. Looking within was difficult, frightening and frequently not very flattering. I had to admit shortcomings and demons that I wore comfortably like an old pair of gloves — they fit perfectly. I realize these old gloves – despite being so comfortable – were no longer getting the job done. They needed to be retired. Is 2010 the year you consider transforming as opposed to simply fixing and improving? … imagine the possibilities!
Next Blog Title: Resolutions versus New Beginnings
Next Blog Date: Monday, January 4, 2010