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Annual Tranceformations
Posted by Joseph Riggio on Sunday, December 30, 2007While we often want to “restart” at the beginning of the New Year, I find that taking the time to reflect and appreciate what transpired in the year coming to an end always serves to inspire me for the year coming up ... and ending in gratitude for what I already have somehow seems more deeply satisfying than endlessly looking forward to what I might have, or have not, “someday.”
Howdy all ... and welcome to the Year's End!
Well it has been a good year all in all in the Riggio household, albeit with its ups and downs. I think I make this judgment against the weighted value of each thing that I track for in my life and when I do that I'm left with the overwhelming sense that I am truly blessed indeed!
For example it has been a tough year in some ways with a court battle that I came out the worse for at the start of the year. I have to say that I learned a few things about the injustices of our legal system and the farce that plays out as justice ... truly eye opening in the worst possible way for me on one hand ... and on the other a transformational revision of some of my most fundamental thinking. And, while that particular episode will wind up costing me about $750,000 or more before I'm done with it, the learning is probably worth a few million to me - at least one in terms of pure educational value and another couple in what I'll be able to turn it into over time (you know the lemons into lemonade rule, once you "GET IT" you'll find that it becomes a simple choice you make ... or not).
Yet set against that, it has also been one of my most successful years in terms of designing, producing and delivering MythoSelf® programs, working with some new clients, developing new models and also setting things in place for some new and extremely potentially prosperous partnerships in the upcoming year. So when I balance it all out, what could have been a devastating loss at the start of the year played out as a couple of lessons learned and somethings to put behind ... where they, the characters involved and the farce of the drama, belong ... as well as some fantastic successes and the tremendous memories that go with them.
Then I think, "What about closer to home?" Again, against the backdrop of some difficult times my family and me have pulled together as we always do and are finding ourselves closer to one another and what we hold to be most important than ever before. And, in this category all those I love are healthy ( if not necessarily all wealthy `;~> ) and I know I'll always have them in my life regardless of what else may come ... a pretty specific prediction that I made a while ago that has proven out in every way. A true blessing as I've said. While "loyalty and honor above all" means little to most, and everything to a few I also got to find out something about who my friends are ... so in the face of what could have been very difficult times the outcome has been that I've learned who I can count on and who will be there when the proverbial manure hits the fan (among some other important things)!!! Heck, "What's that worth?"
In addition it has been one of the most successful years in my history as far as I can recall in terms of taking things forward for me professionally. Material I've been working on for a decade or more has begun coming together in new ways that will be exploding in 2008. It seems like the incredible diligence to staying the course has led me to my own personal Shambhala, where much of what I've been aiming at seems to be in the process of unfolding completely ... like the bulb of a precious and rare flower planted long ago, tenderly cared for and nurtured finally coming into full bloom.
I think the only word I can apply to this year ... would be "GRATITUDE" ... simply, incredible gratitude.
Best regards and ... have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!,
Joseph Riggio
Princeton, NJ
Just to tempt you a bit I thought I'd pass out a few tidbits about some of what I have planned for 2008. I'll be sharing some of the flavor of new programs I'm developing and the ways I'm spicing up some of my existing programs over the next few weeks. For example, here's what I'm planning for my Power & Language tele-coaching series in the first half of '08:
The premise of the entire Power & Language tele-coaching program has to do with how language and power interact ... and how those who wield power use it to make things happen and get things done, both on their own and with others. So I've decided I'll be offering a Tour de Force" on some of the most profoundly powerful aspects of language that I know of ... incredibly powerful ways of using language that transform those who apply them.
What I'll be presenting will be based in part on John Searle's work on Speech Acts.
Assertives - speech acts that commit a speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition
Directives - speech acts that are to cause the hearer to take a particular action, e.g.: requests, commands and advice
Commissives - speech acts that commit a speaker to some future action, e.g.: promises and oaths
Expressives - speech acts that expresses on the speaker's attitudes and emotions towards the proposition, e.g.: congratulations, excuses, thanks
Declaritives - speech acts that change reality in accord with the proposition of the declaration, e.g.: baptisms, pronouncing someone guilty or pronouncing someone husband and wife
John Searle, (1975) "A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts"
However I'll be doing my best to put it all into simpler terms and make it a bit more accessible than John Searle sometimes does in his academic writing. And I'll do this by offering this material in a more accessible structure as well as in more accessible language for most people, unless you're a doctoral student (or graduate) in analytical linguistic philosophy.
For example I'll be addressing Searle's taxonomy of speech acts as follows:
Assertives = Observations —vs.— Expressives = Opinions/Judgments Declaritives = Pronouncements That Can Change/Create Reality Directives = Requests and Offers ... Ways of Changing the Future and Enrolling People Commissives = Promises, Agreements and Commitments ... Relationships, Trust and Outcomes
Specifically, I'll be presenting the ways in which our speech acts, both interpersonal and intrapersonal, impact our way of being in the world and the results we get ... or fail to get, both on our own and with others. And, I'll be expanding on the work of Searle with some of the early work of Bandler and Grinder as they were in the process of developing what later became NLP (neurolinguistic programming).
What I'll be pulling out from their early material comes from what they called the "Meta-Model" a means of directly working with Transformational Grammer/Syntax and Semantic Wellformedness.
Simply put ... this is the stuff of transformational magic in the domains of personal and professional development, as well as the source code for developing elite individual and team performances. And it will be exactly what I lay out in detail so you can put it to immediate use in your own life with the start of the 2008 season of Power & Language.
And ... best of all you still have a few more hours to take advantage of the Power & Language 2007 Year End Special Offer, and all you have to do to get in on the first three months of Power & Language in 2008 while it's still 100% FREE is click on this link to send a letter to Nancy with the subject 2007 Year-End Special Offer.
For your convenience I'm copying out the complete original offer for you below:
Normally, I offer two free months when you sign up for my Power & Language" tele-coaching program or my monthly audio newsletter Unconventional Advice, but if you click here to send a letter to Nancy with the subject 2007 Year-End Special Offer I'll sign you up for three months on both absolutely free ... with no obligation or risk, and then if you decide to continue you'll get the complete access to the entire Power & Language archives as well ... over two year's worth of tele-coaching calls available for immediate download!
BUT I ASSURE YOU I WILL NOT MAKE THIS OFFER AGAIN IN 2008 ... just click here to send a note to Nancy with the subject line 2007 Year-End Special Offer and she'll come back to you with all the details before the clock strikes 12 midnight on January 1st 2008 ... ACT NOW!
[Note: This offer is only available to new subscribers, existing and past subscribers of either Unconventional Advice or Power & Language are not eligible for this offer.]
Don't wait for the ball to drop! After midnight tommorow (1 January 2008) you'll miss this incredible window of opportunity ... so ACT NOW ... click here and send your email out to Nancy before the clock strikes twelve ... 2007 Year End Special Offer !
(4) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Joseph,
Thank you for all that you have offered during the year. At HeroPath in 2008 we also exepct an increased intake of teens to the Empowered Workshops to get the mythogenic self experience as a result of more effective prommotion. Also I have noticed that the people I speak to get more charged up about it and become more willing to assist. It has been great that Hilary and my daughter Hannah have attended your workshops and got the own benefits for themselves and the family. It is fabulous that you have presented you work with precision and excellence when I have been present where lesser trainers would have faulted with distractions such as you have had this year. I wish you and your family well in health and adventures yet to come upon.
Love from Des and the Smason-Barry family
Joseph,
Thanks for a moving blog. My heart goes out to you for the difficulties and challenges you (and your family) had to face and for the way that you moved through 2007.
2007 was a landmark year for me too. Poverty, a boss from hell, stuck in a job I hated, the loss of a soulmate, solitude, broken down hundreds of miles from home without means… I could go on with an extended list. The above description is just that though - a description of the events that took place using commonly used words. What I actually experienced was somewhat different. 2007 was a crucible where gold was separated from chaff. 2007 was a unique laboratory where I was the test subject as well as the professor. I started the year realising I was incompetant at using the trainings to full effect that I had attended in the past. In my laboratory, I was forced, in my isolation, to fall back on who I was and to use whatever experience, wisdom and intuition that was mine to deal with the events that came my way. The result was a system of change unique to me that works in me being able to chose and change my reality and therefore the experience relative to any event that comes my way. A system that is an extension of who I am and of the belief systems that I hold dear. A system, it seems now, of great value to others. After some further ‘clinical trials’ it will be ready to be launched into the world.
2007 was a landmark year for me and a platform for me to embrace 2008 as a year where all is possible.
I have a great admiration for you for the way you dealt with your 2007 - you chose mastery over victimhood and you emerged triumphant. An extra special toast is in order.
Adrian
Hi Gents ...
Thanks for the comments and compliments. I’m not so sure that there was any other choice that I’d make than the one I have on the platform I’m now working from ... but I do understand how from another platform the choices I’ve chosen might seem more unique.
In every case have a stupendous New Year ... to you and all of yours.
Joseph
We need transformation!
