Going beyond ‘Beyond the Secret’

A panel discussion at UCLA’s Royce Hall on January 14, 2009 brought together life, dream and business coaches and motivational speakers featured in the new film “Beyond ‘The Secret’.” The brainchild of Holli Walker www.holliwalker.tv, the new film ostensibly takes the message of the relatively passive engagement of affirmation and visualization to a new level of action, activity, and movement.

I attended the discussion because I’m a sponge these days and look for the places to soak in the energy of positive and successful people. I am not a passive person – even my daily affirmations are written down 10-20 times/day. For me it is never enough to conceive and believe that something good will happen, I have to also act in order to achieve.

I heard powerful ideas that night that I intend to apply toward my personal and professional development. Important concepts like being in harmony with my purpose, and when doubt comes up, interview it! Or this – I cannot possibly know the gestation period when non-physical seeds are planted in my subconscious, although I trust these will grow at the pace in which they were meant.

More important –for me – was the taking note of the concepts I already put into practice. I heard confirmation that I am on the right path and that this is the right time for me to be on this path. The tools that experts suggest we put into practice are among those that I use today to build A Clear Path.

I understand that to dream means to risk. My dream of creating A Clear Path was certainly not without risk. Not the financial kind but the risk to my so-called reputation in my former world of being a well-paid administrator in higher education. Panelist Les Brown (www.lesbrown.com) suggested that when life feels too hard, I must hold my head up and stay close to what is happening inside me, rather than focus on what is around me, or happening to me. To risk means to trust – my personal power, the power of my intellect, the power of the universe.

Other panelists talked about working with good coaches, hanging around world class thinkers, asking for help, looking for results. Many of us don’t achieve our dreams because too many of us are surrounded by toxic relationships and negative thinking. Today I choose to surround myself with people whose values, integrity, and awareness are in line with my own. This is why I love social networking. There are so many smart people in my ever-expanding circle of colleagues and friends. Heather Milligan writes about getting a smart phone. Matt Skallerud described the “big 3” in terms of online marketing (blog, website, Face Book group). Delores Williams, my Tweeter guru who mentors newbies in the art of following/follower, and Ann Connor, a New Hampshire business coach, find value in what I do and believes that my goals are worth developing. While the income side of my business is making its way into my life the “start-up” advice I get all day, every day, stimulates me to keep moving.

Still, soaking up the good stuff is not enough to create personal and professional success. Perhaps more important is the giving away of what I have learned; to pay forward that which I gained from others. Like my clients who hoard bags and scraps of paper, my hoarding of the good stuff will do nothing to contribute to my growth.

A Clear Path benefits from the kindness and wisdom of my mentors, coaches, and friends. As a result of one of Matt’s pearls, I recently got an email from someone who saw my LinkedIn post from two months ago. Like the non-physical seeds, germination happens when it should.