This post quotes Chris Hughes, who has been very successful in the personal development field. He blogs that he just completed the Landmark Forum, and describes the course and what he got out of it. I especially like how he talks about realizing that he made decisions that he wasn’t good at certain things, particularly sports.
How to Transform your Life in 3 and a half days
This past weekend I attend a weekend “seminar/workshop.” It’s called Landmark Forum. Many of you have probably heard about it. I have had several people BEGGING me to attend over the years. They were all so EMPHATIC about it. And even with their curious enthusiasm, I never went. I thought, “Yeah, yeah yeah. I’ve been to these things before. They are all the same.” I could not have been more wrong… more ignorant. The Landmark Forum is unlike ANY personal growth book, audio or seminar I have ever experienced. There is absolutely NO COMPARISON.
Everything in the world of personal growth has been an addition to that which I experienced in the past. It has been in attempt to fix, alter, better or add to my past experience. The Landmark Forum, instead of additive learning (adding to what you already have), will foster transformational learning, leading you to TRANSFORM your life, creating new realms of possibilities, rather than altering or adding to what you already have. It’s interesting that I was not allowed to take notes for the 3 1/2 days of the seminar, yet the shifts that occurred and the benefits received, again, can not be compared to any other event I have attended, wherein I did take copious notes. The transformation can be compared to riding a bike. When learning to ride a bike, you didn’t take notes, you just got it. And once you got it, you never lost it. That’s what happens in the Forum.
You will be given access to what you DON’T KNOW that you DON’T KNOW. I got to swim in this never before explored area of my mind and I had many, many, many breakthroughs that make my life being the same, an absolute impossibility.
Let me share one of the minor breakthroughs and realizations I had (I had many, some of which are very personal and which rocked me to the core and gave me deep understanding of why so much of my life doesn’t work, even with all that I know and have experienced).
Any of my readers who know me well, and have invited me to participate in any sport, have probably heard me say, “Oh I suck at sports.” I have declined invitations to play sports dozens of times over the years. Now the truth is, I don’t suck. I’m not that great, but I don’t suck. Even sports I have never or rarely played, I’m still alright at. I don’t “suck.” Prior to this weekend, I had never considered why I always tell people that I suck at sports. It’s not true, so what’s up with that? I figured it out in the Forum.
Several times during the weekend, someone Assisting in the back of the room would bring a note to the Forum Leader (Richard). I noticed that sometimes Richard would read it and put it on the podium. Sometimes he read it and put it in his pocket. And sometimes he would read it, crumple it up into a ball and throw it in waste basket about 3-5 feet behind him.The first ball of paper he threw into the trash went right in. For some reason I was struck by how confidently he did the job. That was a great shot! I thought. There was something about watching that happen that captivated me. Later he did it again. Two points! It went right in the waste basket, no rim, just right in, just like the first time. And again, I was captivated. Great shot! I thought. He is so confident. I continued. And later he did it again. And again it went right in. Man he is good at that, I thought. He is so confident. So committed. He knows he going to make the shot. Why don’t I do that? I almost always miss the basket, even if it’s right in front of me. The thoughts were coming about one a second. Then this understanding came out of know where. I don’t commit because I believe I will miss, therefore I hesitate and don’t follow through and therefore am the very cause of missing and therein reinforce my belief that “I miss.” (I hope you will read that last question twice. It is WHY most people don’t succeed in life.)This realization lead me to think about how I approach all sports, and perhaps even much of, if not all of life. Thinking back to my child hood, every time I was at bat, I was thinking, What if I miss? When out in the field, and the ball had been hit to me, I thought, I hope I don’t drop it. When shooting a basket, What if I miss? When hitting a golf ball, What if I shank it? I realized that my whole life has been plagued with fears of failing, of looking stupid and wondering what people might think. Where does this come from, I thought.
Inexplicably, my thoughts took me to my very first sporting memory. It was soccer try-outs. I was 4, maybe 5 years old. It was my turn to kick the ball, so “they” could see how “good” I was. I remember two rows of people. One on the left and one on the right, and me and the soccer ball in the middle. The ball was on the ground about 5 feet in front of me. I ran toward it and kicked! My foot almost missed the ball entirely. I kicked the very left side of the ball causing it to shoot quickly to the right. The ball went more right than it did forward, and I felt like an idiot! I felt like everyone was watching. I remember yelling at my shoe if you can imagine. Stupid shoe! Stupid shoe! Then I bent over and starting hitting my shoe with my fist. Stupid shoe! Stupid shoe! How redonculous huh? I realized that in that moment I determined that, I suck! And that became my belief about myself in regards to sports, and who knows what other things. My life has been less than whole and less than complete because of something that happened nearly 32 years ago. And again, this is just one of the lessor meaningful breakthroughs I experienced.
