The term “interesting times” is an ironic description of uncertain and volatile times; the times we’re living through at the moment. In the decade since I first wrote my book CLARITY, the levels of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) have been increasing, and the signs are all around us:
In part 1 of this article (Click here), we took a look at some of the challenges and confusion we’re facing as a species, as massive global changes collide to create an uncertain landscape and some troubling consequences – not least an unprecedented rise in chronic psychological suffering. Here in part 2, we explore the challenge – and the huge opportunity – represented by the current mainstream understanding of psychology.
(A simple solution to stress, pressure and burnout in the NHS)
As you may know, the issue of stress and burnout is pretty much an epidemic in the world of healthcare, so it’s one of the places where subtractive psychology has so much to offer. Why?
Because in a domain where people are insanely busy, and have crucial, life and death decisions to make, something that actually takes things off your mind automatically and uncovers your innate clarity is a godsend.
Myths of The Mind, Body, Spirit Marketplace Number 1
What are the personal development myths that keep us trapped in a cycle of seeking?
I’ve been around the whole ‘personal development’ world for quite a while, and I’ve been captured by (and in some cases, seen through) some of the big myths and illusions that fuel the industry.
I’m sorry to say that I’ve also propagated some of them.
I’m not happy about that, but it was part of my own learning journey. So once I saw through them, I cleaned up my act, and I’ll keep doing that as I see through more of them.
In the meantime, I thought I’d write a series of articles about the more prevalent ‘MBS Myths’ that still seem to be popular in our community (and often far beyond it). Have a look, let me know if you resonate, and feel free to add your own!
My team and I have been taking time out for reflection over the last few months. We’ve been giving a lot of thought to the changes, challenges and confusion we face as a species, about the ways in which we’re rising (or failing to rise) to those challenges, and about what all of it means in terms of where we go next as a company and a community. I’m excited to be at the point where we’re ready to start sharing all of this and finding out what resonates with you.
A lot has changed in the world since 2009, when I first came across the principles behind clarity and realised that this understanding quite simply represents the future of psychology and hope for humanity. As many of you already know, I knew at that moment it was time to move out of the NLP business and completely change direction.
It’s 2019 and our timelines have been full of questions about new year’s resolutions; should you have them? Which ones are worth having? How do you stick to them? Etc. Back before I was introduced to the principles behind clarity, new year was a really uncomfortable time for me. Here’s why:
I had all kinds of “I’ll be happy when” goals (e.g. around my health, my finances, my love life), but there was a problem: I either failed to achieve them (and felt bad about it) or I achieved them, only to discover they didn’t deliver the hoped for happiness, wellbeing and security. In fact, it got so bad that one year I proudly announced that my new year’s resolution was to STOP setting new year’s resolutions, just so I could avoid the uncomfortable feelings that always seemed to follow hot on their heels.
“Most people tiptoe through life, hoping to make it safely to death.”
Earl Nightingale, Author, speaker, radio personality
This is my last JST before we pause for the holidays, so I just want to take a moment to wish you and your loved ones a happy, peaceful and restful time over the next few weeks. I know for some people, this can be quite a challenging time of the year, so it can be worth remembering to take it easy on yourself and on the people you care about. A little kindness goes a long way, so I encourage you to start by being kind to yourself. At Clarity HQ, we believe the most valuable thing a person can do is discover how their mind works so they can wake to the truth of who they really are. We’ve got some very cool, brand new stuff planned for 2019 in relation to this, so I’ll be telling you all about it in the weeks and months ahead.
Almost everyone who gets impacted by the principles behind clarity asks some flavour of the question, “Why doesn’t everybody know this?” This is often followed by a deep desire to “get this out there”; to share what they’ve realised with people they care about (an endeavour that sometimes proves more challenging than expected). In this article we’re going to look at the essence of sharing this understanding with another person (or group of people).
Let’s start with a brief excerpt from my 2016 book RESULTS (© Jamie Smart 2016, published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd)
Last week I spoke at 2 conferences, the Ignite Conference in St Gallen, Switzerland and the Resilient Young Minds (RYM) Conference in Devon, UK (we’re going to be releasing my 15-minute keynote from the Devon conference on the Get Clarity Podcast later this week, so look out for that). On the surface, my topic for each conference was quite different, but the core of what I shared with each audience was the same, so that’s what this week’s article is about: the heart of clarity, resilience and wellbeing.
So let me set the scene. The audience at Ignite were business school students at St Gallen University, so my topic was ‘The Power of Purpose’ (a subject close to their hearts). At the RYM conference, the audience was a mix of young people and people who work with young people and my topic was ‘A Vision For The Future’, however… an earlier promotional piece for the conference had said I’d be talking about ‘Resolving the roots of youth violence’, so I wanted to make sure I covered that too!
“Deeper & more profound than sexuality, deeper than the longing for social power, deeper than the longing for possessions, is a basic & more universal desire in human nature; the desire for an orientation. The right direction.”
– William Sheldon, psychologist
You may already be aware that my team and I have been clarifying our message about who we are as a company and what we do. This is already having an impact on what we spend our time doing and how we do it. One of the things we’ve been looking at is the whole domain of mission, vision and purpose, so in this article, we’re going to be exploring the evolutionary power of purpose.