Special Offers

Resource Links

****************

Jedi Training, "the Secret,"
and the Force
(click for podcast)

The Star Wars Head Fake
I’ve had my coaching compared to Jedi Training pretty often.  After careful consideration, I’ve decided that I’m guilty as charged, and I’m not going to apologize for it.  Star Wars was successful for many reasons beyond great special effects.  It used what the late Dr. Randy Pausch called a “head fake” to teach us without us noticing or putting up defenses.  This is a remarkably effective way to teach, and I employ and advocate it whenever possible.  If you’re not one of the 10 million people who’ve watched Randy’s Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon, give yourself a treat and watch it.  The term “head fake” is primarily used in sports like football, to describe using misdirection to fool the opposing team. The quarterback seems to be looking at one receiver, drawing the defense’s attention there, and then throws to someone else. The SF 49ers' Joe Montana was a master of the head fake. Misdirection “fakes out” our defenses, to get past them.

Star Wars used the “head fake,” to explore myths and archetypes, reaching us subliminally, bypassing conscious filters like skepticism and disbelief.  Without that bypass, our critical thinking would take us “out of the story,” and back into our detached audience member seats.  We need to be immersed to forget that dog-fights in the vacuum of space would be boringly silent.  

Furthermore, as in all good storytelling, Lucas used metaphors to speak to us more individually. Metaphors work with our own personal interpretations to create individual meaning.  Archetypes and myth speak to us about issues and obstacles we all face, and connect us with deeply shared core experiences.  If we pay attention, we can learn a lot from myths. Just ask Joseph Campbell.

Looking at Jedi Training from our Conscious Communication perspective, we focus on language.  “The Empire Strikes Back” gives us perhaps the clearest illustrations.  Do you remember when Luke was having trouble mastering his use of the Force on Yoda’s swampy planet?  Along with the physical training, there was a fair amount of philosophy and coaching going on, and the latter was chock full of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).


"the Secret" - Jedi Style
One aspect of the training was directed at intention and commitment (powerful entrepreneurial traits).  The obstacle of choice was raising Luke’s X-Wing Fighter out of the swamp.  Even though Luke had been successful using the Force to levitate rocks (metaphor – milestones) when it came to raising his ship (metaphor – Big Goal) suddenly a bunch of excuses came up.  It’s one thing to be successful at the steps leading up to your goal, but when it comes to taking on the Big One, self-sabotage often enters the picture.  “I can’t.”  “It’s too big.”  “Nobody’s done this before.”  Sound familiar?  This is why archetypes are so helpful; we recognize ourselves.

Yoda tried to verbally convince Luke of what was possible, but Luke’s defenses were too strong.  To know something, beyond feeling or thinking, we often need to have the physical experience, creating the criteria of precedence.  If it happened before, it can happen again.  So rather than convince Luke of what was possible through verbal argument, Yoda chose to raise the ship himself, and thus got Luke’s attention.



Luke’s verbal response “I don’t believe it,” was met with the lesson: “That is why you fail.”  When we put our intention into what we’re doing, and hold steady with the belief that we can do it, our odds of success skyrocket.  This is not to say we can flaunt the laws of physics and nature with our intention, but the outcome is far more likely to be successful when we aren’t shooting ourselves in the foot all along the way.  And this leads us to another very useful lesson.


Stop Trying; It's Useless
Trying creates enormous conflict between people and even within individuals.  The word “try” is loaded with built-in failure.  When Luke says that he will try, Yoda corrects him, “No!  Do or do not.  There is no try.”  This is one of the most simple, straightforward, and yet powerful lessons we can take from a linguistic source.  In reality, as opposed to the conceptual world, there actually is no such thing as “try.”  The clash between the conceptual “try” and the real world “do or do not” is where the conflict is born. 

Here is an experiment I’ve done with clients to give them the physical experience of knowing the word “try” to be an impossible real world action.  Put a pen on a table in front of you.  Now, “try” to move the pen.  Don’t move it.  I am not saying to move the pen.  The instructions are specifically to try to move it.  What does that require of you?  How do you go about trying to do something, rather than go about doing it?  What is different?  Does this seem a little ridiculous?  Why doesn’t it always seem ridiculous?  Why do we allow the word try to exist in our vocabulary?  It’s what I call a “squirm” word; the back door is built-in and wide open for our escape.



Okay, this isn’t entirely fair. There are times when we’re not sure if we can do something.  What then?  Well this is where you can actually have some impact on the outcome, through the wonders of Conscious Communication.  We know that we can’t just say don’t use the word try, as that creates a void, which is as useless as “don’t think of a pink elephant.”  We need a replacement phrase, like “do think of a blue elephant.”  Without changing the meaning, we can choose words that will shift our consciousness toward successful achievement.  Rather than, “I’ll try,” we can say, “I’ll do the best I can.”

Too simple? There’s the beauty of it.  Give this exercise some practice. There are several built-in motivators within this phrase, and you’ll be surprised by the impact it has on you and others. First there is the statement “I’ll do,” setting up a promise/commitment, and a foregone conclusion of success.  Then you add the quality of the effort you are going to bring to this commitment: “the best.”  “I’ll do the best.”  This gets followed by another affirmation of foregone success and belief in oneself: “I can.”  Put all three pieces together, and you have “I’ll do the best I can.”  This may not sound all that different from “I’ll try,” but stick with this practice for even a few days, and you’ll notice a distinct difference in your level of success.

Want to learn more about how to become the best you possible?  Come visit the web site, or better yet, contact me and see how we can design a program to fit your needs and desired outcomes.

     - Ian J. Blei


****************

Special Offers! - Thanksgiving Cornucopia Time


Thousands of dollars worth of SPECIALS
thru the end of November!


"I felt overwhelmed and was beginning to doubt myself and my success.  Ian helped me harness what I had within to do what was needed.  He's extremely insightful and effective, and in no time I found myself focused, organized, and best of all relaxed and stress-free." - T.U. - attorney, San Francisco Click to Schedule.