en*light Life

The following is a review of the UPW (Unleash the Power Within) Seminar Weekend in Long Beach, CA. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc. are written up separately to pack in more information.

Prologue (before the Seminar): Lesson learned – Arrive Late!

Day 1 of the seminar started off in frustrated panic as we rushed to get parking (lots were full), and get a good seat. After clearing up ticket issues at Customer Service, and being herded like cattle into an unorganized line by the even more unorganized event staff, we were instructed to stand for over an hour before being allowed to sit in our seats. The explanation from staff members: “Tony likes to see the mass crowd of seminar attendees pile into the auditorium all at once.”  A lady standing near us confirmed that this was the case at previous Tony events she had attended.  Lesson learned: Show up late!  The way things are set up, it really doesn’t matter if you show up when doors open, or show up late, getting a good seat is luck of the draw, and because Tony starts late, you won’t miss anything if you show up slightly later than the scheduled start time.

After the annoying start, the thought entered my mind that perhaps Tony is so confident in his ability to change our state of mind into a more positive one, that he purposely initially creates an environment of frustration (i.e., long wait to enter the auditorium) for the pure challenge. Whether or not this was his intention, after a grand entry and pumping up the audience, it’s hard not to have his positive energy rub off…

Lessons Learned from Day 1:

Ever wonder if you can get psyched enough to walk across hot coals with bare feet? Day 1 is essentially prep for doing just that.  Why this method? Answer: walking on hot coals is supposed to be symbolic of facing your worst fears head-on. The rationale being that if you can walk on the hot coals, then you can do almost anything. In order to get primed for walking on the coals, Tony teaches the following:

• The #1 thing that stops us from moving forward in life and accomplishing goals is fear. Our 2 primary fears are: 
  • We are not enough
  • We won’t be loved

Application – learn how to use fear to your advantage, rather than letting it rule you!       

• Understanding  what controls and determines the quality of our lives via change in physiology, focus, and language
• Uncovering why we do what do (e.g., habits), which are driven by our primal needs (certainty, uncertainty/variety, love/connection, significance); and spiritual needs for growth and contribution.
• Dance with your fear, as it is only energy (that you can use to work for you)
• Find the words and motions that change your state
• Train yourself to be certain 100% of the time, and walk around like you are a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1 -10 from lousy (1) to fantastic (10).

Other tidbits of wisdom learned on Day 1:

• The 3 mandates of a leader are:
  • See things as is (not worse)
  • See things better than it is (have a clear vision that drives it
  • Make it as you see it (convert vision to reality)
• Happiness comes from progress - “If you are at the table of success for too long, you are not growing. If you are not growing, you get (lazy) and unmotivated.”
• Rule of the universe: Grow or Die
• Main excuse people give for not achieving goals: Not enough resources (which includes time); however, life is never a resource issue, it is about resourcefulness. Success = resourcefulness
• The only things that keep us from getting what we want, is the story we tell ourselves (not having enough time, kids, etc.)
• When you are grateful, you are happy
• Take the best of someone, and breathe it in (and keep it in your heart).

Tip: Dress Warm!

The Anthony Robbins event will leave you freezing your butt off! It was so cold that the man himself and opening speaker remarked how cold the room was; however, when I followed up with the staff members they confessed that the auditorium was purposely fixed at the cold temperature. Not sure if Tony wanted to keep us awake and jumping around (during stretch/exercise breaks), or if he really didn’t plan on us freezing, but make sure you wear layers and closed-toe shoes.

If you are interested in learning how to have more successful and fulfilling relationships with the opposite sex, we highly recommend the workshops developed by Alison Armstrong for PAX.  She has created an extremely eye-opening series of workshops that explain the differences in how men and women think, communicate, and act in relationships. 

Understanding Women workshop

Men, PAX provides two coed courses. They offer a workshop titled Understanding Women: Unlock the Mystery, which provides you the opportunity to better understand women, and have more fun and satisfying relationships with them. It is advertised as being “for anyone who wants to understand why women do what they do – how they think, act, speak and listen – and how to work with it instead of being frustrated by it!” 

Co-Ed Workshop  (In Sync With the Opposite Sex)

PAX also has a coed workshop titled In Sync with the Opposite Sex LIVE™ , currently offered on CD (see below) and sometimes Live, which teaches men and women to “understand how the most basic instincts of men and women pit us against each other in the world of dating and relationships” and how to change this pattern to develop satisfying relationships.

Our male friends have also found the audio books/books below to be intertesting and informative.

Understanding Men

Alison Armstrong’s material is based on years of research with men, which has led to an amazing understanding of men and their stages of development.  This knowledge opens a new opportunity for compassion, respect, and understanding between the sexes.  After her workshops you will no longer buy into the old clichés about men—instead you will have a newfound appreciation and respect for how amazing men are and how amazing and satisfying relationships with them can be.   

PAX provides a free introduction to the workshop series called Making Sense of Men™.  It is a free three-hour seminar for women only, which promises to teach a new way of understanding men. You‘ll learn how men are responding to you and how to gain their attention and affection.  It also introduces you to the language men speak and explains how this is sometimes the complete opposite of how women think and communicate.

The fee-based workshops for women occur in a series and include the first, and most popular seminar, Celebrating Men, Satisfying Women, which is a fantastic seminar for women. We couldn’t believe how much we learned about men in this  weekend workshop. This is an empowering, informational seminar that allows you to experience an entirely new way to relate to men. It has the potential to change your relationships with men in the most simple and profound ways.   

Cost of Workshops are typically in the $400 range, but PAX offers payment programs ($99/month). We also highly recommend the following products by Alison Armstrong:

If you can’t attend a workshop, this is good start:

This book teaches the stages of men via a story. This book is also on CD; however, I notice that my friends/family did not like the book on CD; but loved the book.  

If you don’t want the story version of the stages of men, this is a brief overview (note: this is usually given out for free at the Making Sense of Men introductory course). The information is gone over pretty fast, (thus, the reason why Armstrong created the story-telling version above), and advertises her seminars.

When he was just 14 years old, Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba built his family an electricity-generating windmill from spare parts, working from rough plans he found in a library book called “Using Energy” and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home. 

William appeared at the TEDGlobal Conference  (video can be viewed here) where he talked about his invention, and shared his dreams: To build a larger windmill to help with irrigation for his entire village, and to go back to school. Following Kamkwamba’s appearance at TED, there was an outpouring of support for him and his modest but hugely promising work. Members of the TED community got together to help him improve his power system (by incorporating solar energy), and further his education through school and mentorships.

You can read the ongoing details on his blog (which he keeps with help from his mentor).

In 10 more days we will be in Long Beach for Tony Robbin’s Unleash the Power Within LIVE seminar.  Tony Robbins has scaled the frequency of his marathon Unleash the Power Within seminars live (in person) to approx. 2 times a year. We are set to attend the upcoming one in Long Beach next weekend (August 10-13, 2007).

Stay tuned, as we will provide a full review of the seminar.

In the meanwhile, I found this video that is supposed to be like a Cliff’s Notes version of the long seminar that we are attending. Hope you enjoy!

BUYER BEWARE: If you purchase an Unleash The Power Within seminar or other seminars, make sure that your event is LIVE as Tony Robbins has pre-recorded and recorded live seminars. For example, the seminar we are attending is the seminar where the man himself (Tony) will be there, but the seminar is also recorded live and can be viewed simultanously in remote locations (including San Francisco, etc.). The crazy thing is that the remote seminars are around the same price!!! We felt it would be well-worth the extra airfare/hotel expense for the live experience.

 For more information on Tony’s events, click here

We wanted to take a moment to share this inspirational video of a speech that Steve Jobs’s gave at Stanford University.  His wish to all to “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” is a great message, and powerful words to live by!

For a text version of Steve’s powerful speech:

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html 

Powerful Speaker and self-published Arun ‘Yogi’ Parekh inspires followers and readers at his lectures (pictured above - photos courtesy of artipresentations.com). In his new book, Success is Your Birthright (My 5 Power Principles) Parekh teaches that success and happiness is what each person seeks in his/her lifetime, which can be achieved by the following 5 power principles:

1. Vision - having a clear vision of where you want to go
2. Values - having a vision that contributes to the world in a positive way and is in line with personal values.
3. Visualization - visualizing what is wanted materializing into your life
4. Positive attitude - maintaining positive thoughts, mitigating negative thoughts, and surrounding self in a positive environment
5. Inner voice - your conscience/inner guide

Although Parekh doesn’t claim to be presenting anything that hasn’t already been taught by his proceeding mentors, he does argue that his fifth principle, Inner Voice (i.e., your conscience, or source of moral/spirtual guidance) is often overlooked as a key factor of success. Listening to you Inner voice when you are at a crossroads is a key factor to ensuring your success and happiness. Woven throughout the 5 power principles must also be Desire for what it is you want so that you may manifest the object of success or happiness that you seek.

Overall, I think Arun ‘Yogi’ Parekh is a wonderful speaker and philosopher that delivers a simple, yet profound message to his audience. His stories, and nuggets of wisdom that he presents in a format similar to Deepak Chopra’s talks, make his events well worth attending.

More information on Arun ‘Yogi’ Parekh, his events, and new self-published book Success is Your Birthright, can be found on  his website: www.artipresentations.com

Other Publications by Arun Parekh (discounted on Amazon) at:

I am somewhat new to the whole cleanse experience, however, after receiving lackluster results after months of “dieting”, I started researching causes for my slow weight loss (yo-yo of 5-7 lbs loss over 6 months). I kept reading about the importance of doing a cleanse prior to a full-diet regime, so finally I bit the bullet, went to Whole Foods, and bought what was recommended as the ‘complete cleanse’ program by the helpful salesperson in the Supplement aisle.

After 2 weeks of swallowing a dark brown concoction of Psyllium-based powder (2x’s a day), followed by other herbal concoctions comprising of sweet bitters, etc. (also 2 times a day), my system was actually regular. Most importantly, my cravings for salty snacks (chips being the culprit of my failed diets), and sweets subsided. When going through a cleanse, some people report cold-like symptoms which is supposed to be symptomatic of the toxins clearing your body. Once my body started responding to the cleanse (after about 2-3 days), I had symptoms of a mild cold which lasted for a couple days.

Also, I found out after the fact, that there are some good cleanses that you can take in the pill form (my Chinese herbalist recommended the popular Super Cleanse, for more details see: Nature’s Secret - Super Cleanse, 200 tablets)

After the cleanse, I started a diet that supported the cleanse. My choice was Dr. Robert Young’s pH miracle diet, and products. My main goal was accomplished – cleanse my body (as something must have been out of whack for me to not lose weight), and I started losing weight. Also, I started being able to ‘tune more’ into my body to recognize when I needed water, more veggies, more protein, etc.

With summer bbq’s, and holidays laden with too much junky, salty, fried, or sweet foods, it’s a great time to cleanse out unwanted toxins, junk food cravings, and maybe even lose a couple of lbs. This time, I am going to try the popular Nature’s Secret Super Cleanse, and get back on Young’s diet for further balance.

Recommended Reading: The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health By: Dr. Robert Young

A Marketing Plan for Life: 12 Essential Business Principles to Create Meaning, Happiness, and True Success  (By: Robert Michael Fried)

This gem of book is written for anyone trying to bring more purpose and direction for their life beyond their job title. The premise of this book is that if we spend as much time planning our personal lives as we do our careers, we can live an enriching life, and gain personal success with less anxiety. This is a simple concept, but it makes sense. How many times have you sacrificed sleep, exercise, family, or mental health for your career? We all do it! 

Written like a workbook, Marketing guru Robert Michael Fried walks you through how to write your own 12-point life plan, via various exercises that guide through what matters most to you, discovering your life purpose, strengths, and what he describes as your “authentic” self. Fried’s life plan mirrors the successful marketing strategies that he used as a marketing executive for several Fortune 500 companies throughout the years. If you are a business owner, you’ll recognize how Fried’s life plan parallels a business plan.  For example, Fried’s first life point is figuring out who you are, and who you want to become, which parallels the first step of writing a business or marketing plan (defining the business you are in). 

Overall, I highly recommend as a workbook for life coaches, busy professionals, business owners, and anyone looking for a little direction in their life.

(photos courtesy of christoperhoward.com)

The great thing about Christopher Howard’s three-day Breakthrough To Success weekend is that his passion for helping others live their lives to their fullest potential shines through.  Chris has a very thorough knowledge of his topics, and he infuses his transformational teachings with charisma and humor.  During the weekend Chris:

• Brings together the worlds of psychology, quantum physics, and spirituality to help participants experience true transformation over the course of the weekend. 
• Utilizes hypnosis and Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) techniques to help participants to break through the barriers that prevent them from living the lives of their dreams and achieving their full potential. 
• Keeps participants engaged through active participation. 
• Teaches the importance of showing up and participating 100%, for it is through total and active participation that transformation becomes possible.

Christopher Howard has a very ambitious and humanitarian mission:

• To get these tools for transformation to everybody on the face of the planet. 
• To have people leave the weekend with a new vision for their future and a plan for achieving their vision. 
• To help people change their thinking, and in doing so to change the world.

To achieve his ambitions mission, Chris makes this transformational weekend available for no cost through referrals.  We decided to attend the weekend on the assumption that we had nothing to lose by checking it out since it was free.  We had no idea that the weekend would go so far beyond our expectations. 

• We witnessed the transformation of ourselves and of hundreds of others over the course of three days. 
• Suddenly things that have held us back from achieving our visions and living to our full potential seemed to disappear, and all of our dreams seemed possible. 
• The weekend went far beyond being simply motivational by providing real tools for creating the life and the future we desire.  We are now using these tools to take action and make our dreams a reality—and we’re bringing you along for the ride!

If you are interested in attending the Breakthrough To Success weekend free of charge, you can go to www.chrishoward.com/register and enter the code 400500 to register.  This code can be used to register as many people as you would like.  You can find out more about what Christopher Howard is about and the courses he offers at www.chrishoward.com.  He offers courses in the U.S., Australia, and the UK.

Also, by Christopher Howard:

Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie,  and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, comes back with a new solumn tale that although is a quick read, offers a profound message. The narrator is introduced to Chick Benetto, who tells his tale of a second chance, or one more day with his mother, Posey Benetto.  Chick is a broken man that is an alcoholic, divorced, has-been baseball player, who hits rock-bottom when his daughter doesn’t invite him to her wedding. During a suicide attempt, Chick has a profound experience that saves not only his life, but provides him with a second chance to make things right with a lost loved one.

Overall, this was a great, fast read that is featured here on our site for it’s great message. It’s a little something “for the soul”. Curl up with this book over the weekend, and you start the following week with more purpose and appreciation for those loved ones in your life. Enjoy!