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MythoSelf Process Cheatsheet

by Joseph Riggio · May 15, 2016

I put together a new, more simplified “Cheatsheet” for the MythoSelf Process showing the structure, application, principals and essential notions.

This sheet updates the last modeling of the model I created, and it also simplifies the presentation into what are mostly a series of lists.

The really essential aspects of the MythoSelf Process model are layout in a kind of step-by-step fashion to show the structure of the model, how it’s applied and the foundations it rests on that facilitators and trainers operate from as well.

You can see it here:

MythoSelf Process Model Cheatsheet

Let me know what you think …

Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
Architect& Designer of the MythoSelf Process

New Hope, PA

Which Brain Are You Using?

by Joseph Riggio · Mar 29, 2016

Silent Brain Learning

NOTE: Read this article and watch the video first …

[The Enormous Power of the Unconscious Brain]

It’s a great article, but the journalist has it all wrong IMO. In fact he completely contradicts himself …

Silence is Golden

In the video you see the comparison between the journalist’s brain and the world-champ’s brain (that’s right the 10 year old is a world champion cup stacker … what have you done lately???).

In that video the journalist’s brain is lit up like a Christmas tree .. whle the champ’s brain is virtually silent. Yet the journalist claims he’s wired in the programming to his cortical processing to run the patterns he’s running without processing them.

That’s fundamentally absurd!!! (Go ahead, read the paragraph above again.)

The argument I’m making is that what the champ did was to get his brain out of the way (okay, not his whole brain, but the part we “think” with normally … or at least consciously … the cortical brain (the neocortex).

His brain is silent because it’s not working … and even the little blips we see have little to nothing to do with what his hands are doing.

That’s not about training the cortical processing, or learning to submerge the conscious processing function.

The champ used his neocortex to train his cerebellum to take over … i.e.: his Silent Brain!

Why Performance Mastery Is “Silent”

Performance is a function of the ability to act in response and relation to the stream of data flowing in the system that you’re operating in to create your intended outcome.

The more accurately you perceive and interpret the data present in the system, the more accurately you can adumbrate what’s coming next … and, make adjustment to your responses.

Ultimately, your performance is a function of behavior, i.e.: the actions you take and don’t take in response to the way you percieve and interpret the data in the system. The more closely your actions align with the simplest, most direct path with the least resistence between where you are in the present moment and what you intend as your outcome, the more elgant, efficient and effective your performance will be … let’s call this the “Path of Perfection.”

When you can act consistently and reliably along the Path of Perfection, you will gained mastery in that behavioral performance … whether that’s mastery in sports, communication, business … or some other domain of action.

This kind of performance, i.e.: mastery, is a function of processing done beyond the reach of cortical processing … or at least solely by cortical processing.

The primary driver of mastery at the behavioral level of performance is processed in the cerebellum.

This is the seat of the silent processing we see in the video of the champ’s brain …

He’s not showing activity in the neocortex, because he’s off-loaded the processing to the cerebellum and gotten his cortical processing out of the way of his faster, more elegant cerebellar processing.

Blind But Not Dumb

The cerebellum may be blind, but it’s not dumb.

Cerebellar processing operates differently from cortical processing because it’s non-representational.
We see this when the champ puts on the blindfold and still runs the behavioral performance as well as when he’s not blindfolded. Although he’s not getting any visual input his motor facilities still function as accurately in the task he’s trained them to do.

He’s using a combination of kinesthetic input and spatial mapping to function at that level of performance. This is the magic of training the vestibular and proprioceptive systems to take over for the more common sensory system processing task, e.g.: looking at the cups, his hands and what he’s doing with them.

The silence of the cerebellum is it’s trick. The cerebellar processing pathways are more efficient because they are closer to the direct sensory data. The cortex almost immediately transforms direct sensory data into representations, abstractions and intellectualizations … at least one step removed from the actual data itself.

One of the most obvious examples, especially if you have yet to master something at the level of the world cup stacking champion (5 seconds for that whole routine, again and again, even blindfolded) … is the transformation of direct emotional experience into an intellectualization. Anger, joy, grief, ecstacy … all have an actual body experience, a felt sense … but the way the average person experiences their emotions has as much or more to do with the associations they make with the way they label their experience.

Cerebellar Training & Learning

The basis of virtually all the work I do is framed in relation to moving unnecessary cortical processing out of the way of performance.
This is not saying there is no place for corical processing, of course our neocortex is one of our most amazing evolutionary gifts … but, all things at the right time and in the right place … preferencing cortical processing over all other kinds of “thinking” or kinds of neurological processing.

The real “trick” is knowing how to get the cortex out of the way, freeing it to do what it does best … i.e.: make connections in time and space that don’t yet exist … creating future memories.

To do that the behavioral part of performance must be off-loaded whenever possible to the more efficient cerebellum.

When the cerebellum is in charge of responding there is a direct line to taking action, that cortical processing must run through multiple channels to get to first, creating a slower, more cumbersome response.

For some people (especially those who remain untrained) in getting through the levels and complexity of cortial processing they run out of steam before they get to action, i.e.: they find themselves unable to take action or constantly hesitating and procrastinating when immediate action would have served them (and, possibly others) best.

Knowing how to organize yourself to take action is the key to mastery.

In otherwords, if you want to attain mastery you must develop the ability to train and learn at the cerebellar level of response.

When you’re ready give me a call …

(You’ll find my contact details here: Joseph Riggio DotCom)
Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
New Hope, PA

PS – The most effective way “cerebellar training” I’ve ever put together is my “Foolish Wisdom” group coaching program. I’m running a program in New Hope, PA in a couple of weeks on Saturday & Sunday, 16/17 April 2016.

Check out the Foolish Wisdom Workshop details here:
https://www.amiando.com/HSNIUBF.html

For Coaches & Consultants: Business Coaching, Mentoring & Certification Training

by Joseph Riggio · Nov 25, 2015

BECOME A MASTERFUL CHANGE ARTIST TODAY …

Rule #1: Transformation is not for cowards.

And, Remember … Rule #2:

TRANSFORMATION IS NOT MASTERY.

The Key To Mastery As A Change Artist Is A Combination Of Approach And Skillfulness … The Best Way To Gain Mastery However Is Under The Tutelage Of A Master Who’s Willing To Take You Under Their Wing And Guide You Deeply Into The Mysteries Of Masterful Change Work …

We work with a select group of individuals who are at one of a few phases in their exploration or pursuit of coaching mastery …

Exploring The Options Available … if you’re relatively new to coaching or consulting as a profession then you need to know something about the basics of the art of change with people … we recommend two approaches to building this familiarity, 1) experience some masterful change work yourself, and 2) spend some time with a master and a group exploring fundamental change work skills
Building Foundational Skills … if you’ve been around coaching or consulting as a professional for at least a little while it’s time to build the depth of your coaching and consulting skills to the next level … how to guide clients through the process of uncovering their interests and proclivities … the best way to help clients establish a direction in their lives … building strategies and plans of action with clients to lead them to creating the outcomes and results they desire …
Developing Deep Mastery … once you have begun to master the art of change work the next step is deepening your ability to work at extremely subtle levels … and this is a matter of mastering the art of relationship, because the real leverage in becoming a master change artist comes with knowing how to attune yourself with your clients and the experience they are having as well as the one they desire … this goes far beyond techniques and skills to the heart of who you are as a change artist …

Business Development for Coaches and Consultants

In addition to training in the art of change we also help the coaches and consultants we work with to develop as professionals running a practice and building a business. These are the extremely practical and essential skills that lead to a robust practice full of the kind of the clients you are best able to serve and most interested in working with as well.

For Coaches & Consultants: Professional Training, Mentoring & Certification

by Joseph Riggio · Nov 25, 2015

BECOME A MASTERFUL CHANGE ARTIST TODAY …

Rule #1: Transformation is not for cowards.

And, Remember … Rule #2:

TRANSFORMATION IS NOT MASTERY.

The Key To Mastery As A Change Artist Is A Combination Of Approach And Skillfulness … The Best Way To Gain Mastery However Is Under The Tutelage Of A Master Who’s Willing To Take You Under Their Wing And Guide You Deeply Into The Mysteries Of Masterful Change Work …

We work with a select group of individuals who are at one of a few phases in their exploration or pursuit of coaching mastery …

Exploring The Options Available … if you’re relatively new to coaching or consulting as a profession then you need to know something about the basics of the art of change with people … we recommend two approaches to building this familiarity, 1) experience some masterful change work yourself, and 2) spend some time with a master and a group exploring fundamental change work skills
Building Foundational Skills … if you’ve been around coaching or consulting as a professional for at least a little while it’s time to build the depth of your coaching and consulting skills to the next level … how to guide clients through the process of uncovering their interests and proclivities … the best way to help clients establish a direction in their lives … building strategies and plans of action with clients to lead them to creating the outcomes and results they desire …
Developing Deep Mastery … once you have begun to master the art of change work the next step is deepening your ability to work at extremely subtle levels … and this is a matter of mastering the art of relationship, because the real leverage in becoming a master change artist comes with knowing how to attune yourself with your clients and the experience they are having as well as the one they desire … this goes far beyond techniques and skills to the heart of who you are as a change artist …

Business Development for Coaches and Consultants

For Teams: Organizational Leadership Development

by Joseph Riggio · Nov 25, 2015

CREATING SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING … of yourself as well as other people in the system … regardless of whether you’re responsible for designing strategy, being part of the pack or taking the lead.

There are multiple ways to enhance your performance as a leader and the performance of teams of people you work with … but, one of the best is to create an environment that’s specifically aimed at creating transformational performance.

One way to approach behavioral change is external and focused on technique and knowledge, the other is internal and focused on attitude and identity. We differentiate ourselves in the way we build our approach to working with clients on the later … emphasizing internal growth and awareness, developing clarity, focus and understanding that is grounded in first in self awareness and then situational awareness … and only then determining the resources and behavioral skills that will enhance your performance.

Reach out to schedule a personal consultation call today …
Yes, I’d like to schedule a Free Consultation Call with Joseph

Why Aren’t You Following Your Bliss?

by Joseph Riggio · Oct 2, 2015

“Follow your bliss …

If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn’t know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”

– Joseph Campbell

Today I realized just why so many folks aren’t living the life they are capable of, making the difference in the world they can, or realizing the rewards that comes with being aligned with their bliss.

In my brain dump of what happened this morning for me and a friend over breakfast and a cup of coffee (or two) I’ll reveal what I realized and give you the structure I used to discover it, share some of the tools that helped me get there, and tell about how you can uncover your own bliss and begin living the life of your dreams in about the time it takes to share a leisurely cup of coffee with a friend.

I was having breakfast with a long-time client of mine who’s become a colleague and friend, Mike. We were at a nice little place near where I live about 2 miles west of the Delaware River on the Pennsylvania side. Nothing fancy, just clean good food, in a clean modern, small eatery.

We were chatting about this and that, when the conversation turned to how he is going about making a living today. That’s when things got interesting.

He’s got a classic problem that limits him from making the living he should be making in my opinion. From all accounts, using standard measures and looking from the outside in he’s doing everything right. However, I don’t use those measures and I always work from the inside out.

In some ways, all but actually having what he wants and deserves, he’s living the American dream. He runs his own business, doing work he’s really good at, calling the shots with what he does with his time and when he does it.
He makes a decent living, and the potential to grow his business much larger and more profitably is fantastic too. But, he’s still lost from my point of view.

Without going into deep details to protect Mike’s privacy I can simply say that he’s currently running a consulting practice. Within that practice his attention is divided at least three ways.

First, he consults with business clients helping them to grow their businesses, and he’s quite good at it.

Secondly, he works with individuals coaching them to improve their focus and personal performance as professionals.

Finally, he runs a small business where he uses all the skills he sells to others as a consultant helping them to grow their businesses.

It’s the first two pieces of his business that are causing all the issues he has as far as I’m concerned, even though those two pieces represent seventy percent of his income.

The third piece, the small business he runs outside of his consulting practice is where all the opportunity is, but he treats it like a hobby instead of a real business.

Yes, it’s true that he makes the lion’s share of his income from his consulting practice, and the lion’s share of that income comes from working on other people’s businesses.

Yet, the most consistent income he has, the income he can count on year in and year out, is the income from the small business he’s running – the business he runs like a hobby.

So we chatted a bit more. I drew out of him some critical details that you must know if you want to organize yourself and your life to do what you do best, to follow your bliss, and to get all the juice and sweetness that you’re capable of squeezing out of your life … in fact I’d say this is the only way to find out where the low hanging fruit is that makes what most folks call “work” effortless and joy for those who discover their secret calling …

Here’s some what I drew out of him …

His preferred way of working
His preferred way of relating to others
His default profile of dealing with authority
How he creates value and where he contributes most
What he wants to give to those he cares most deeply about
What his long term personal goals and dreams actually are
What would be possible if he consolidated all his efforts in one focused, singular, strong direction …

Of course there was more to it than just asking a few questions, like uncovering his personal mythology and autobiographical narrative that drove his behavior up until now … what’s prevented him not just from being all he can be someday, but who he actually already is right now.

After about a thirty minute conversation, where I used virtually all the skills I’ve developed over 25 years of working with clients of all kinds, of every age and background, including some who are struggling to figure out their first tentative steps and those who are stretching themselves beyond established positions as elite, high performers, he suddenly got it!

It became crystal clear to him where the opportunity in his life should be, where he had to focus his attention in the upcoming weeks and months, and when he does not only what’s possible, but also what his life will be like when he does.

He was excited about what felt like the scales falling from his eyes … and I was excited for him too.

We had completely discovered his real calling, how he can focus himself to align himself completely with his natural talents, skills and proclivities, and create the life he’s been trying to get to with all of the rewards that will come with living into it.

We then spent another ten minutes of so discussing the specifics of what to be doing, we uncovered the next three or four specific things to be doing immediately that will put the plan into action, and allow him to put all his eggs in one basket like he should have been doing all along.

I’ve literally had this conversation with dozens of clients, and I realized today how potent and powerful this specific protocol of discovery is for someone. You see in the past I’d only done this kind of thing for clients who had engaged me to work with them on an intensive or long-term basis.

This is just so important if you want to be having the experience of your life … the one that is uniquely your own!!!

There are just really two things that stop people from achieving everything they are capable of depending on how they are organized …

1) You don’t have the ability to have enough flexibility in the way you think about things and the choice about how to do things to make the impact in the world you’re capable of making … to, “put a dent in the Universe” as Steve Jobs said.

2) You don’t have the clarity to choose where to place your attention fully to focus your energy to create the kind of massive difference that you will once you have direction … “When you stand in that sliver of space that is completely and utterly you, then will you be truly awesome, wonderful, magnificent.” – one of my personal quotes.

The conversation I had with Mike this morning allowed me to help him get both outcomes, more choices and ways to think about how he could work on his “hobby” full time, and the ability to put all of his attention in one direction consolidating his energy with laser-like focus to achieve maximum results.

After our short chat he had both the ideas he needed to make a huge difference in his life and the specific ways to begin taking action that would make that difference possible and present for him too. This is the key to what makes this process of potent and powerful, moving past indecision and, linking together intention and action.

This is fundamental key to all success … taking meaninful, directed action!

Yet, what stops so many people isn’t that they aren’t willing to do what it takes actually, but that they get stuck because they don’t know where to put their attention, or what to do about it once they figure that out for themselves.

I’ve built a bit of a reputation for making dramatic changes in people’s lives over a cup of coffee at a breakfast table, driving around showing folks the local sites, smoking a cigar in my “other office,” or having a quiet drink and a chat together. The “trick” in the process is the intensity of attention I bring to our chat, my decades of skill and the converational quality of how I work with clients to help them discover the deepest, most natural part of themselves.

Today I realized that I can run this process with anyone who ready to discover their true passion, their true calling, their natural gifts and the direction for uncovering the life of their dreams … what we might call the ability to find and follow one’s bliss.

I hadn’t thought of it this way before, but I decided this morning to make this “Breakfast Discovery Process” available to anyone who’s ready to find and follow their bliss as a stand-alone service.

I realize that very few folks can afford to pay for a full-day or two of Intensive Private Work with me, that comes with six months to a year of follow-up access that some of my most elite clients fly in from around the world to spend with me at $25,000 to $45,000.

Even though my client thought what we did was probably worth at least $10,000 to hiim, I realized that it couldn’t even be the normal $2500 I charge for remote, virtual coaching by telephone or Skype if I wanted it to be within reach of just about anyone.

Maybe if it were just half of the $2500 I charge for normal remote, virtual coaching, $1250, it would be fair. Or, I thought maybe I could cut even that amount in half again … $625. That when it started to feel just about right to me.

But, I wanted to make it a no brainer!!!

How much would it have to be so that anyone who was really ready to get their personal formula for finding and following their bliss wouldn’t really have to think much about it???

Although, I think that I could easily charge many of my clients $625 and they’d jump all over it, or even $1250 and many would be signing up for it … I wanted to keep my promise to myself to make it affordable for just about anyone who was really, deeply ready to change their life and discover the path and direction to being living into their dreams.

So I decided tonight to make the “Breakfast Discovery Process” available for less than than even the number I’d come to earlier today, $625, and make personal, one-to-one “Breakfast Discovery Process” coaching with me available at just $447.

Here’s my ten step outline of how it will work if you’ve read this far and are still interested in joining me:

1) You’ll register and pay to block the time for private coaching via telephone or Skype with me.

2) I’ll give you access to my private client’s only, coaching platform.

3) Once you’re a registered coaching client you’ll get my detailed client “Discovery” questionaire and fill them out right there on my private client site and indicate they’re ready for me to look over.

4) When I get the notification that you’ve completed the client “Discovery” questionaire I’ll go in and review it completely to get ready for our session together.

5) You’ll schedule a convenient, private time to speak with me on my online private client appointment scheduler right there on my private client’s only, coaching platform.

6) At the appointed time we’ll speak for about 45 minutes and I’ll do the entire “Breakfast Discovery Process” with you (it can be anytime, like those 24 hour New Jersey diners that serve breakfast all day long).

7) During our call together I’ll be building a MindMap of what we discuss and give you access to it as well.

8)Then you’ll go in over the next week or two, review it, change it, add to it and fill in what’s missing based on what we discuss during our call.

9) When you’re done with that part of the process, you’ll notifiy me on the private client’s only, coachign platform and I’ll take another look at what you’ve done, make my notes and comments to what’s there … and,

10) Once you’ve reviewed the refinements I’ve made alongside your own notes you’ll be on your way, ready to re-start your life perfectly aligned with your following your bliss.

This is a powerful and potent way to get your life on track and to give yourself the boost you need to get going, and to know your going in the proper directon for you … living your life and not a life that was chosen and decided for you by someone else, regardless of where you find yourself today.

For the time being I’m running this program in a limited way to make sure I have time to schedule everyone who signs up in a timely manner, therefore I’ll only be scheduling a maximum of 4 people a week at first.

Once I have a better sense of the interest and time I need to invest to deliver what I know this process is capable of delivering properly I may expand the program, and expect I may need to adust what I charge for it as well. Anyone who signs up as long as the registration page is open will be guaranteed a spot in the program at the current investment level, and I will do my best to get you in as soon as possible on a first come, first serve basis.

If anything about my “Breakfast Discovery Process” resonated with you, and you’d like to experience and replicate what happened this morning when I had a chat over breakfast with my colleague, click on the link below, be one of the first to register for some private time with me, and we’ll get started figuring out the formula for you to begin following your bliss …

Get all the details and register here:
The Breakfast Discovery Process

https://josephriggiointernational.securechkout.net/2016-BDP-Coaching

All the Best,
Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.

New Hope, PA

P.S. – If you’re ready to fly, check out the details of the “Breakfast Discovery Process” and find out what we can do in about the time it would take for us to have a chat over a leisurely cup of coffee together:
The Breakfast Discovery Process (https://josephriggiointernational.securechkout.net/2016-BDP-Coaching)

Why Bother …

by Joseph Riggio · Sep 23, 2015

(… or, what is liminality, and what’s it got to do with you???)

It happens to everyone … the kind of trauma that causes a set-back, or downright stops you in your tracks.

The trauma doesn’t have to be big, although it might be, but even a small trauma can:

slow you down …
cause you to question yourself …
break your confidence …
lead you into a state of depression …
or … shut you down completely

My trauma knocked me right off the tracks … and at first I didn’t even know it!

In fact my trauma wasn’t a single trauma it was a series of three traumas that came one on the heels of the other in just a few short years … first a huge financial set back (in excess of $1,000,000 USD) … then major disruption and decline in my business to the point where we had virtually no new clients for almost a full two years … and finally, an overwhelming personal tragedy that virtually brought me to my knees.

What’s interesting is that virtually no one knew that these traumas had this affect on me. Looking in from the outside I seemed to just keep going, but the reality was that for a few years “my get up go, just gone and went.”

I knew on the inside that I just wasn’t particularly motivated to take the big steps forward I also knew that I was capable of, but couldn’t get myself to achieve.

This was the worst part … knowing that I was capable of doing so much more and not being able to get to it.

I was stuck.

I even knew what to do … but I just wasn’t doing it.

In my GETTING UNSTUCK program I talk about this as “Unconscious Limitations” … what you don’t know about yourself that holds you back from …

becoming yourself fully
doing what your capable of doing
realizing your full potential

… and …

getting the kind of results and outcomes that are possible when you’re operating at your best

This is how I was caught after one too many traumas to shake off quickly … as I was always used to doing in the past.

I was experiencing “liminality” …

Liminal Space

A “limen” is the smallest possible thing you are capable of detecting, or the threshold condition for an effect to begin.

Liminality refers to the “in-between” … when you are no longer in the world as you knew it to be, and you’re not yet beyond it to the next thing either … you remain “in-between.”

After a trauma, we’re almost always experiencing “liminality” and find ourselves stuck in “liminal space” … in a state of transition, not knowing where you are anymore nor where you going … at least not fully, or with any sense of deep comprehension.

What’s interesting to me is what causes us to experience trauma …

failing to succeed where we thought we would … or should
an off-hand, stray comment that leaves us reeling
personal loss like a failed relationship or a death
failing health, an accident or serious medical incident
financial, career or business set-back … or outright failure

When we look closely we might recognize that we experience sensitizing imprints on a regular basis. While we won’t experience everything bad that happens to us as a trauma, some of them are … and those are the ones that create set-backs in our lives that we may find difficult or impossible to get over on our own.

When this happens we’re experiencing “liminality.” … we feel lost, or even trapped, in a maze of our own making.

The Apathy of the “Lotophagi”

We may seem to have amnesia about our part in constructing the labyrinth we’re trapped in, usually because the construction happens in the blink of an eye … literally faster than we can think.

So when we realize stuck in liminal space, we seek the guide that will point the way out, or a map that shows us where we are, where the exits are located, and the paths open to us to get from here to there.

Sometimes we spend so much time in the labyrinth that we begin to become comfortable living within it, and it begins to feel like home to us. This is the mythical danger associated with the sophoric lotophagi, i.e.: the lotus eaters of the Homeric epic the Odyessy.

”I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships.

When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches.

Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars.”

The great seduction is to fall asleep, like Odysseus’ men in the land of the lotus eaters, to our own predicament, and to fail to notice that we are in the maze. Then when we arise from our slumber, finding it as hard as Odysseus’ sailors to leave the place where we find ourselves. Yet desperately seeking to find a way back home.

Coming Back to “Home Base”

When I awoke from my own dazed condition, and found myself deep in liminality, I realized I had to shake off the desire to doze again … peaceful in my apathy. I knew I wanted more from life than to coast through, because I had seen some difficult days.

The question was how to revive myself to a fully awake state. I knew that the first few steps would be the most difficult of all … and yet these were also the most essential steps I could … and would … take.

I also knew to that to fully enliven my drive to rediscover myself I had to fight the urge to accept the obvious as evidence of truth … I had to dig beyond that to my core, to reawaken my essential self.

So I set up a regimen that associated a sense of recursive, iterative inquiry to linking intention to action. I think the fundamental ground of performance is linking connection to action.

1) Remembering to link intention to action became my first step out of the maze.

Because I couldn’t discover what I didn’t know and couldn’t see for myself I had to work with what I had access to, my perceptions, my decisions, my behaviors and the results I produced.

2) Noticing the sequence that connected my perceptions to the results I produced, through my decision and behaviors, became my second step.

Then I knew to improve my performance, i.e.: to improve the linkage between my intention and the action I took, would be to record and measure the value of each link in the chain. I had to create a system to measure the value of the steps I took in moving through the sequence of perception, decision-making, behavioral response and results.

3) Establishing and tracking the metrics of my process became the third step beyond the threshold of the liminal space that had trapped me.

Once I could track the movement of my process in real time using the metrics I had established I was able to begin thinking about how to improve the process. Using the data I was tracking and gathering I began altering the things I was doing seeking to identify the things that made a difference.

4) Building a feedback loop using the information I was uncovering, and refining my process by focusing on what worked and eliminating what didn’t, became the forth step to improving my performance.

Now I had the skeleton key to the final step in my perfomance improvement process … the path out of the labyrinth of liminal space … uncovering what I could not see for myself.

While I still couldn’t notice what I couldn’t see for myself, my process left a trail of evidence I could and did begin to track that pointed to the invisible. Although my unconscious limitations remainded beyond my ability to recognize, I could notice for the contexts where I found myself getting limited … this proved to be the key to unlock the gate that freed me.

Instead of trying to figure out what was going on that was unconscious for me, I began noticing where I was limited and what my behavioral responses were in those contexts … then I began changing my behaviors without worrying myself about why I had behaved as I had before.

5) The final step in finding my freedom and fully regaining myself was choosing to do what was not automatic or familiar … I began exploring the idea of becoming comfortable with uncertainty, even the chaotic … and choosing intentional and unfamiliar actions that were most likely to produce my outcomes, even when they were counter-intuitive.

Following these steps I began rebuilding my business and my life. It took a little while but I woke up completely and re-discovered myself again. In fact in many ways my life today is more completely aligned with who I most am more than ever before.

It feels like the first time I can honestly say I’ve truly come home to myself since I was a child. I’ve regained the surety of being myself in a way that is usually associated only with the innocence of youth.

Yet, what may be most interesting to me is that I feel like I’m more aware of the dichotomies of life than ever before … and, in my newfound innocence I find myself simply able to accept them as part and parcel of life and move on.

Escaping the Maze … Beyond the Labyrinth

Now I’ve begun refocusing the work I’m doing too. It’s the same process I’m working with, but the focus is on choosing to limit what I’m doing with it and for whom.

I’ve been moving toward working with people and organizations in liminal space for the last few years, and I’ve amped it up even more recently.

These are folks who are in transition themselves, or lost between transitions.
Maybe it’s someone who is moving between jobs, or coming out of corporate/organizational life and trying to discover the next thing for themself.
I’m finding that I’m attracted to folks who are deeply confused about where they are in their lives, while doing their damnest to remain where they are and doing what they do … and not so strangely they’re attacted to me and the work I’m doing too.

Usually this is about going beyond the discovery phase and onto how they relate to others … leaving behind some of the folks who are most familiar to them … and making new connections, or reconnecting, with people who have now become important in their lives in new and exciting ways.

Sometimes the work I do involves groups or teams of people. I love helping people learn how to go beyond competition to collaboration … and to develop the communication tools necessary to begin performing at an elite level.

The most complete expression of the work I’m doing these days, the MythoSelf Process Professional Training, though is actually teaching the process to people who want complete access to it in their lives for themselves and to share with others that are important to them. Those who get hooked even stick around to become skillful enough to become certified MythoSelf facilitators themselves.

FWIW I’ve never felt more complete or satisfied!

I tell you all this to let you know if you’re struggling with liminality yourself there’s a good chance with some persistence you could come out the other side even stronger and more fulfilled than ever.

The hardest part of the journey is always taking the first step as they say … yet, it could be as simple as waiting at the edge of the river for the ferryman, ready with coin in hand to be ferried across the threshold to the other side.

When you get there look me up …

Buona Fortuna & Abundaza,

Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
New Hope, PA

P.S. – I’m running another session of GETTING UNSTUCK, the live webinar series, starting on October 13th. If you’re interested in learning more stay tuned and I’ll get you the details … if you can’t wait drop me a line.

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