Monday 27 July 2015

Self Help? No! It should be called SHELF Help!

Self Help is a weird thing.

I have never understood why bookshops like Foyles or Waterstones have a Self Help section.  They should take the sign down and let people find it themselves!

Whats more, the books in the Self Help section, though very informative, should be called Shelf Help books because that's where the majority of them end up: on a shelf.  And sooner than you think too because the other name they should go by is 'I could help you if you can be bothered to read past page 22' books.

A whole variety of Self Help events are at your disposal.

Mountaineering. (Didn't see the point)
Parachuting. (done it)
Rock climbing. (Didn't see the point)
Waterfall climbing. (done it)
White Water Rafting. (done it)
Walking through a forest blindfolded and tied to 8 other people. (done it - don't ask!)
Problem solving exercises. (done it)
Bungee jumping. (done it)
Abseiling. (done it)
Zip line. (done it)

and of course...

Firewalking, Glasswalking and Board Breaking. (done it and train people to do it)

Self Help is like Self Abuse...you have to do it yourself.  No book can really help you unless you take action and put the teachings into practice.

One of my core beliefs that I impress upon my clients is that they should stop buying self help books and look at what books they already have and courses they have attended.  The answers they are looking for are probably in there already.  What's more, they probably haven't read them through anyway!

I remember taking a group of people in the Lake District in 1999.  We were about to climb a waterfall.  We met another group that was there and they were abseiling.  They were a group of Double Glazing Salesmen.

I watched one of them slowly making his way down a cliff edge to the ground.  He was exhilerated by the experience.  He was really charged up.  He started pacing around and ended up standing near me.

"You look really pumped after that." I told him.
"Wow, that was really something", he replied.
"Exhillerating?" I asked.
"Definitely! Definitely!" he said, punching the air.
"Do you think it will help you sell more windows?" I asked him.
"Definitely!" he said again.
Pause.
"How?" I asked him.
He suddenly froze and then started to grimace as he stood there silently.  He had no answer.  I could see his eyes flicking all over the place as the question bounced around in his brain, like a ricocheting bullet, as it looked for an answer.
In the meantime he started to deflate.  He started to calm down.  There was a visible slump.
Finally he came up with an answer.
"I don't know how, but I am sure it will!" he stammered.

Did I rain on that guys parade?

No.

You see there is something about the Self Help movement, of which I am part, that is like no other movement on earth.

It is almost impossible to quantify the benefit.

The dividends or benefits of any self help program are largely inexpressible.  You SENSE something inside you has just CLICKED over.  You can't articulate it.  You just have to go with it.

Firewalking and Glasswalking, areas that I was very active in for a number of years, are also unquantifiable areas of achievement.

There is normally a 2 hour training session before the fire or glass walk.  Well, there is when I train it.  But NO amount of mind altering and conscious expanding exercises and belief system manipulation will make walking on fire or glass possible.  It already IS possible.  What the training session does is make you believe you can do it and therefore be confident to take that first step onto the fire or glass.  The rest is just physics.  The state of mind is the belief to take the first step.

It's all to do with heat conduction and transference.

The result of a firewalk, glasswalk, board break, abseil, zip line, waterfall climb etc?  That's down to you.

One thing is for certain.  You will not be the same afterwards.  You will sense, in fact you will know, that SOMETHING inside you has changed.  It's as if a large dial, like the one on your oven or washing machine, has been turned to a different setting.

Just go with it!  Go all the way with it!

You may not know how it will help you but just be sure of one thing....IT WILL!

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