Photo courtesy of thinkpublic and Flickr
“This is not a self-improvement programme”
– Jan Chipman
Last night I did a Facebook Live broadcast with the provocative title, “Why self-improvement stunts your development”. I acknowledged that this may seem like a strange statement coming from someone whose books are in the “Personal Development” section of the bookstore. Nevertheless, it turns out that “self-improvement” may have been slowing your evolution personally and professionally.
To be clear: it can be extremely useful to
– learn skills (E.g. learning to cook, to drive, to speak Spanish, to play tennis, to use a computer etc),
– improve your physical health (E.g. eat healthier, exercise regularly etc),
– change your circumstances (e.g. move house, change jobs, start a business etc).
These are all fine, but we make a huge mistake when we think we need to improve or change who we really are. When I say “who you really are”, I’m not talking about your personality or your ego; I’m talking about your true self, that sense of “I am” that’s experiencing each moment of your existence. When I said this on the Facebook live last night, someone asked “Do you mean my divine self?”. I explained that’s one way of talking about it, among many. Synonyms include divine self, true self, inner self, being, true nature, your essence, beingness, god-self, consciousness, true identity, etc.
You see, who you really are is before time, space and matter. You’re not your personality; you’re the one who has a personality. You’re not your body; you’re the one who has a body.
And that one, that true self, cannot be improved in any way. And it cannot be hurt or damaged. There’s nothing wrong with who you really are, so there’s nothing that needs improving. And as you realise this more and more fully for yourself, you free yourself to evolve in alignment with your true nature. Here’s a brief excerpt from my first book, CLARITY: Clear Mind, Better Performance, Bigger Results (©2013 Jamie Smart):
“like the tree in my garden, it is your nature to grow. Clarity of understanding unlocks the self-love, gratitude and acceptance that are the sunlight, rainwater and nutrients of your personal evolution. While you don’t get to decide the timescale, increases in consciousness and clarity of understanding are inevitable for you when you get out of your own way, let your wisdom guide you and start enjoying your life as it is today.”
By the way, one of the ways I love to wake people up to who they really are is by creating powerful learning experiences, and I was wondering… would you like to ‘sit in’ / observe / ‘be a fly on the wall’ during one of my 3-day 1:1 Intensives with a client? Here’s what I’m thinking: Ever since I wrote in RESULTS about how Ankush Jain sat in and observed while I did a 3-day 1:1 Intensive with a client, I’ve had lots of people come to me and ask how they can do the same. The motivation is clear: while lots of coaches love the idea of offering high-value, multi-day intensives, very few coaches actually have a reference experience for them: they haven’t experienced what a multi-day intensive looks like, sounds like and feels like. Basically, it can be tough to do something when you don’t have any kind of reference for it. So I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I’ve come up with a way for you to sit in while I do a 3-day 1:1 Intensive with a paying client, and then de-brief with me between the sessions. Would you like to see/hear more? If yes, watch your inbox for an email with the Subject Line: Sit in on an intensive
Big love
Jamie
Jamie Smart
Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach
PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:
1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Keynote” in the subject line.
2. Apply for the 2017 intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme
If you want to be part of the class of 2017, this year’s intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme starts in September. There’s an early booking price if you apply by this Friday, June 30th. You can find all the details and get your application in here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/clarity-coach-training-sh/
3. Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group
Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group and connect with the growing community of like-minded transformation professionals who are passionate about exponentially increasing their grounding, impact and their livelihood. You can join for free at www.JamieSmart.com/expo
4. Join the next intake of Project Glasswing
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at Coaching Package Power this month. Stay tuned for details… If you’d like to work with me and my team on growing your practice… email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Project Glasswing” in the subject line.
PLUS: check these out :
Get your free Exponential Practice Scorecard book www.JamieSmart.com/scorecar
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast
Listen to Your Exponential Practice Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/pod
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults