Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Attraction works













"What you hold in your mind with energy and focus will tend to be created in your reality." – Joe Vitale

Staying in Ubud is invariably a pleasant experience. More than I saw elsewhere, people in their daily life seem to be keen on living harmoniously with themselves (or God or Universe), their community, and the environment. This is what the Balinese call Tri Hita Karana, which is their philosophy for keeping balance in life.

Just like anywhere else on the globe, the universe in the island of the gods moves rapidly and is ever in flux. Deeply aware of this dynamic, the Balinese people have over the centuries reflected it prominently in their culture of dance and music, which move with great energy and speed and thereby underline the need for keeping a balance as a continuous challenge in everyday life.

Meanwhile, the end of 2009 is drawing near, like a door closing slowly but surely. In preparing to cross the threshold, I like to reflect with appreciation on what the past year has brought, and then to anticipate with intent and curiosity what can come my way in 2010.

Such musings have been a private pastime for me for years, and I tended to keep to myself around the end of the year. In fact, my friends may not remember the last time they got a Seasons Greeting card from me in December - it just wasn't my thing to do. However, I feel that the time has come to adopt new habits.

Today, I started sharing some year-end reflections with my circle of friends, as a life sign and update to them, and with a warm thank you for enriching my life in 2009, either through our meetings face-to-face or through another communications we had in our shared universe.

What new things entered my life in 2009?

• Leadership coaching
• Integral theory and life practice
• Mind-mapping
• Spiral dynamics
• Facebook and Linked-In
• Building 2 new teams
• Attractor factor
• Ganesha
• Hair stylist
• This end-of-year message!
• Read on…

How did I move closer to my life goals this year?

Coaching. I reached much closer to my goal of being a 'successful leadership and life coach.' After completing my coaching course last December 2008, I received my diploma at the start of 2009. In mid-year, I expanded my knowledge and skills with a short training on the leader as coach. And after signaling my intention to the universe to increase my coaching practice while still holding my job as water adviser, I got the idea to start a leadership coaching program for water colleagues in my office. So I designed a program with options for a one-time 'orient' demo session, a 1-month 'discover' program, and a 3-month 'change' program. I got the proposal approved as part of my work plan for the second half of the year, and the announcement went out in October. Some colleagues expressed interest right away to start the program!

Advising. I moved forward in my role as 'respected water adviser,' and enjoyed working directly with clients and partners in several countries across the Asia-Pacific region, and with colleagues in my workplace. I was involved in building a team of regional experts and together we developed a guiding vision for water security in the region, supported by measurable indicators. I also supported the development of a team of water experts in my workplace, specifically to address water management challenges in river basins. As part of this work, I learned more about using the power of vision and examples to motivate people to embrace change.

Creating. I walked further on the road of growing into an 'accomplished writer and musician,' and developed several good concepts for future use in websites, books, and e-learning courses. However I didn't write as much and as often as I wanted, and am looking for ways to make it flow better, to find my style and my writing 'zone.' Well, I know the prescription: nothing else to do but write, write, write, and.... write! I also didn't play music as much as I thought I should, however I did take the chance to play my sax on stage again with a good band last October, including a solo rendition of Santana's Oye Como Va (see picture). I also realized my long-time dream to own an electric guitar. Now onwards to learn playing it in 2010!

What has helped me live forward this year?

Strength-based Leadership
. I spent time in the first part of the year reviewing what my talents and strengths are, guided by books of Marcus Buckingham and the online strength-finder test of the Gallup Organization. Buckingham describes a strength as "consistent, near perfect performance in an activity", and as something that makes you feel great while you do it", something that makes you strong! Working this out has helped me a lot this year, and I am now paying attention how I can leverage my strengths in my work and other life dimensions. So I focus less, and am less concerned with fixing weaknesses which will never turn into areas of excellence. Working with my strengths is more productive, and using my strengths makes me stronger!

Mind Mapping. Around mid-year I started mind mapping to replace my boring to-do lists, and as a creative outlet for exploring new ideas. After trying out various software programs, I settled on Xmind. I also took to carrying a small notebook and a four-color ballpoint pen to draw small mind maps by hand anytime, anywhere. After a few months, mind mapping has become an enjoyable routine, with more things to explore and plans to update every day. I love to use mind-mapping now!

Integral Theory and Life Practice. I discovered how integral theory focuses on the synthesis of different perspectives and methodologies, starting with a perspective that everyone is right, in the sense that everybody has some important pieces of truth, and can make a useful contribution to the integral whole. Drawing on both Western and Eastern traditions of psychology and meditation, integral life practice promotes balanced growth involving body, mind, shadow, and spirit. Prompted by my new friend in Soest, the Netherlands, I started reading about the work of integral philosopher Ken Wilber, and then delved into Wilber's books directly with a view to improving my own integral 'operating system' for work and life. It resonated with me! And Don Beck's writing about Spiral Dynamics added further perspective by explaining how individual people and societies can evolve in a positive spiral of 'memes' towards an integral level.

Attractor Factor. Some of the powerful messages in the 2006 book The Secret revisited me in the fourth quarter of the year, and I understood anew how important it is to focus on 'being' rather than on 'doing.' The law of attraction says that we experience what we think, and that what goes on in our mind is therefore critically important. As Joe Vitale captures it in the Attractor Factor, "what you hold in your mind with energy and focus will tend to be created in your reality." So I realized more profoundly that I will always attract more of what I think and focus on, and I questioned myself about what I have been attracting, what my mind has focused on. I have now started working on thinking and visualizing even better and bigger things, so that they can get attracted into my life and become reality, starting immediately. I'm having fun doing this!

What symbols did I use to guide me this year?

• Ken Wilber's four quadrants for an integral approach
• Positive spiral for adaptive management
• Ganesha as the lord of thresholds and remover of obstacles (see picture)

What did I discover about myself?

• My top 5 talents, from Buckingham's Now, Discover Your Strengths
• My signature strengths, from jotting down my likes and dislikes while 'on the go'
• That I should partner with people who have complementary strengths to mine
• That I still don't smile enough, according to two friends in Ubud

What books did I enjoy reading?

Now, Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham
A Brief History of Everything, by Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion, by Frank Visser
After Dark, by Haruki Marukami
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

What movies did I enjoy watching?

How Art Made the World, by BBC (old)
This Is It!, Michael Jackson's last work (new)
• Several nice movies, but why can't I remember their titles now?

What music did I enjoy listening to?

Dreams 3, by Café del Mar
The Best of Act One, by Anthony Warlow
Spirit, by Leona Lewis
• Didn't spend enough time making music myself

What surprised me?

• Portrait of a Russian boy who looks a lot like me (see picture), in the Hermitage
• Encounter with a sheep (see picture), in my friend's country home in Belgium
• 'Zorba the Buddha' and Ganesha symbolize the same ideas for life

What made me laugh?

The laughing head given to me by a friend at a Christmas party (see the picture). The grass started growing after a week of watering. What a nice inspiration for the new year!

What made me proud as father?

• See my older daughter take charge of her studies with good results
• See my younger daughter take steps to pursue her dream of acting

What were some of my favorite places to spend time?

• Balcony of my Manila apartment overlooking the Makati Sports Club
• Fully Booked bookshop in Manila's Power Plant mall
• Outdoor shower in Ubud, Bali (see picture of leaves on wall)

What new places made an impression?

• The new Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam
• Yudongxia Gorge in Guiyang City, People's Republic of China
• The labyrinth of waterways in Gold Coast, Australia
• The rustic Beukenhof hostelry in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands
• Restaurants in Madrid, the capital of Spain

What were my favorite things to do?

• Making presentations
• Coaching people
• Mind-mapping
• Preparing smoothies
• Traveling and connecting

What else was new in 2009?

• Mr. Anjo, my new hair stylist who gave me a new look
• Understanding spiral dynamics, introduced by Don Beck
• Facebook and Linked-in, which I joined in a modest way
• Rapid manifestation, putting the Attractor Factor into play

What will I aim for in 2010?

• Attracting my life goals by positive intent, being clear, and letting go
• Spending even more quality time with my loved ones
• Having a great time in coaching and team building
• Connecting and celebrating more with my friends
• Seeing my place in Ubud develop (see pool picture for inspiration)
• Further expanding my horizons

If I had to sum up this end-of-year reflection into one sentence, it would be Joe Vitale's statement that "what you hold in your mind with energy and focus will tend to be created in your reality." Since I can practice this several times in a day, the challenge of keeping balance in life is getting to be much more fun than before!

PS: Some friends have already replied that they felt attracted into making similar end-of-year reflections and writing down life goals.

Photograph: End-of-year reflections.

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