From tom@transcore.com Sun Jan 19 20:32:47 1997 Newsgroups: alt.self-improve Subject: alt.self-improve FAQ (part 3) From: tom@transcore.com (Thomas Wong) Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 20:32:47 GMT 5. Lifespring (From jmd@bear.com, Josh Glazenburg-Diamond) "I am a graduate of the entire Lifespring program--I took the trainings back in 1990, and found them to be incredibly valuable.I work as an investment analyst at a major bank in New York City. I came into the Lifespring trainings looking for breakthroughs in my career and in personal relationships (esp. with women), and all I can say is that since then I have more than tripled my income, and gotten married to a truly wonderful and beautiful woman (amongst other things). We just bought a co-op, and will be having our first child next year. My wife has also done the trainings, as have several of my friends and co-workers. Lifespring, EST, and a few other such trainings all have a common lineage. The basis was a research program at Stanford University back in the early 70's. This spawned an organization called Mind Dynamics, which later split up into Lifespring, EST, and the others. EST eventually mutated into Warner-Earhardt and then Landmark Education--with a program now called The Forum. Lifespring kept its name, but has undergone continuous modernization as new techniques in personal growth have emerged. There are now Basic and Advanced trainings, as well as several other workshops and programs. The Lifespring trainings are an opportunity to uncover and redesign the underlying assumptions out of which you live your life such that you experience a profound shift in your ability to relate to yourself and others, empowering you to fully engage your heartfelt commitments with freedom and passion. Participants often invite friends to a guest event--a free evening designed to allow you to learn about what the training is and how it can support you. It provides a small preview of the training experience. At the end of the evening you are given an opportunity to enroll in the training. At the moment I believe that the tuition in New York City $495, with a 100% money back guarantee. It may be lower elsewhere (it was when I took the trainings). I would say that it is worth attending. You can leave at any time, and there is no obligation to pay if you just attend the guest event. Oh, BTW, people who enroll their friends in the trainings do not get any rewards for it (no tupperware or toaster-ovens). Mostly people bring guests to these evenings because they see some breakthrough possible for them--not like something is broken, but like a higher possibility exists--maybe something that had not been thought of before. Often our friends see things that we do not. Your friend probably sees some possibility for you in the training, and that is why they have invited you. I say take the chance and go for it." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) (From stever@mit.edu, Stever): NLP was developed in the mid-70s by John Grinder, a professor at U.C. Santa Cruz and Richard Bandler, a graduate student. Neuro-Linguistic Programming, as most people use the term, is a set of models of how communication impacts and is impacted by subjective experience. It's more a collection of tools than any overarching theory. NLP is heavily pragmatic: if a tool works, it's included in the model, even if there's no theory to back it up. None of the current NLP developers have done research to "prove" their models correct. The party line is "pretend it works, try it, and notice the results you get. If you don't get the result you want, try something else." Much of early NLP was based on the work of Virginia Satir, a family therapist; Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy; Gregory Bateson, anthropologist; and Milton Erickson, hypnotist. It was Erickson's work that formed the foundation for a lot of NLP, thus the tight connection with hypnosis. Bandler and Grinder's book "Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, Volume I" is one of the best books I've ever read on how language influences mental states. NLP consists of a number of models, and then techniques based on those models. The major models usually associated with NLP are: (a) Sensory acuity and physiology: thinking is tied closely to physiology. People's thought processes change their physiological state. Sufficiently sensitive sensory acuity will help communicators fine-tune their communication to a person in ways over and above mere linguistics. (b) The "meta-model." A set of linguistic challenges for uncovering the "deep structure" underneath someone's "surface structure" sentences. [Sorry for the transformational grammar lingo.] (c) Representational systems. These actually appeared in Erickson's work and the work of others, though Bandler and Grinder took them much further. Different people seem to represent knowledge in different sensory modalities. Their language reveals their representation. Often, communication difficulties are little more than two people speaking in incompatible representation systems. For example, the "same" sentence might be expressed differently by different people: Auditory - "I really hear what you're saying." Visual - "I see what you mean." Kinesthetic - "I've got a handle on that." (d) The "Milton-model." This is a set of linguistic patterns Milton Erickson used to induce trance and other states in people. It is the inverse of the meta-model; it teaches you how to be artfully vague, which is what you use to do therapeutic hypnosis with someone. (e) Eye accessing cues. When people access different representational systems, their eyes move in certain ways. Lots of research has been done on accessing cues. Most of it has "proven" they don't exist. My thesis was on accessing cues and concluded the same thing. My real conclusion was that a person is too complex a black box to test this effectively. Also, eyes move in ways that are NOT related to information accessing. While I can visually tell the difference between an "accessing cue" and a non-accessing movement, I can't quantify the difference enough to base research on it. (f) Submodalities. The STRUCTURE of internal representations determines your response to the content. For example, picture someone you really like. Make the colors more intense, as if you were turning up the color knob on a TV. Now turn the color down, until it's black and white. For most people, high color intensifies the feeling, and B&W neutralizes it. The degree of color, part of the STRUCTURE of the representation, affects the intensity of your feelings about the content. (g) Metaprograms. These are aspects about how people process information and make decisions. For example, some people are motivated TOWARDS GOALS, while others are motivated AWAY FROM non-goals. TOWARDS or AWAY-FROM tells how they respond to their world; which one a person prefers in a given context will dramatically change how the person behaves. NLP has several techniques for diagnosing and intervening in certain situations. They have a phobia cure, a way to de-traumatize past traumas, ways to identify and integrate conflicting belief systems that keep you from doing the things you want, etc. I first read about NLP in 1978, and thought it sounded great, but couldn't possibly work. The founders made lots of claims about one-session cures, which seemed implausible. [Fourteen years later, I still think they overexaggerate at times, but I *have* seen two or three session results that rival traditional therapists' results over months.] In 1984 I took an introductory workshop and discovered, much to my surprise, that it worked well. After messing someone up to the point where he almost needed hospitalization, I decided to be trained in it fully, so as not to repeat the mistake. I find it works scarily well. So well that even someone with poor training in it can do a lot of damage. There was no quality control in the field, and a lot of people go around teaching NLP who know very little about it. Performing NLP techniques is a skill. Probably only one in ten NLP Practitioners are in the top 10% of NLP skill level, and maybe even fewer than that (:-). ONE WAY an NLP therapist might approach a client session is by understanding the cognitive structure of how a client creates a problem. They then help figure out the cognitive structure of an area of life where the client deals satisfactorily. Then they would teach the client to use the good strategy in the problem situation. For example: a friend of mine was obsessed with her ex-boyfriend. She was in such fear of him that she would fly into hysterics at the thought of him. Cognitively, she made a big, bright movie of him physically harassing her, with a soundtrack of him whining and lecturing her. The soundtrack seemed to come from around her left ear, and was in the boyfriend's voice. She had another ex-boyfriend who she was fine about. Cognitively, his picture was small, framed, and in the distance. The soundtrack was her voice talking about how nice he had been, and how the relationship was firmly in the past. The work I did with her involved representing the problem boyfriend with a small, framed picture. We removed the soundtrack of his voice, and added her narration, instead. The result: she stopped obsessing about her ex, and went on with her life, able to deal with him. Some people have run into NLP-trained people (including Tony Robbin's) who annoyingly mimic body posture to distraction, in an attempt to gain "rapport." They were poorly trained. Go out in public; watch couples; watch good friends. They walk in synchronization. They move in synchronization. They NATURALLY mirror each other's movements. NLP just noticed this, and says "if you don't have rapport, here's one thing to pay attention to." A common question is "Does knowing what's being done make it less effective?" I've found that knowing what someone is doing lets me barricade against certain things, but there are definite cases where knowledge is not sufficient to keep it from working. I was once in a group dynamics experiment where an outsider watched our group and pointed out to us how we kept getting stuck, because of certain behavioral loops we were in. EVEN WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE, we were unable to break the loops without incredible effort. And then our efforts to break the loops fell into the same loops. Certain aspects of NLP are like this: if someone is matching your representational systems and doing it well, even if you are aware of it, they'll still communicate better to you, as long as they're not incongruent about it. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ madnix!zaphod@nicmad.nicolet.com (Ron Bean) NLP began by studying therapists who were highly effective, and observing what they actually did, as opposed to what they said they were doing--often they did things they weren't consciously aware of, or couldn't explain adequately. For lack of any other explanation, it appeared to be "magic". The major discovery seems to have been that people don't all think the same way. Many therapists find a technique that works for several of their patients and try to generalize it to everyone, and then wonder why some patients are "resistant". NLP says the patient is not resistant, the therapist is! If it's not working, try something else. NLP practitioners start by asking the person a lot of questions about how their particular thought processes work (the "submodalities"), and also observing their non-verbal responses. Then they can suggest specific changes in the person's thinking that will have the desired effect. This is very much like a post-hypnotic suggestion, except that the person is not hypnotized (in the usual sense). It seems to me that a hypnotist prepares a person's mind to accept a suggestion, while NLP prepares the suggestion to fit the person's mind. The other thing that impressed me is that they never assume they know everything that's going on inside someone's head. When someone seems to be 'cured', they have the person project themselves into the future and ask "does any part of you object to the change?" There may be a "secondary gain" in certain situations that the initial "cure" didn't address. If there's an objection, they can deal with it right away, rather than waiting for the person to "fail" and fall back into the unwanted behavior (they call this an "ecology check"). Bandler's early training as a mathematician shows through in his precise use of language, and his insistance on checking his work. NLP Practitioners also use other techniques that are borrowed from various types of therapy, but they are not unique to NLP. Recommended books: -1- "Using Your Brain--for a CHANGE" by Richard Bandler. -2- "Frogs into Princes" by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. -3- "Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson," I & II, by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. -4- "TRANCE-formations" by Grinder and Bandler. -5- "An Introduction to Neuro-Linguistic Programming" by Joseph O'Connor. -6- "NLP: The New Technology of Achievement" by NLP Comprehensive Training Team. -7- "Heart of the Mind" by Connirae & Steve Andreas. -8- "Core Transformation" by Connirae and Tamera Andreas. -9- "Unlimited Power" by Anthony Robbins. 10- "Beliefs" by Robert Dilts. 11- "Persuasion Engineering" by Richard Bandler and John La Valle. For more information, read the alt.psychology.nlp newsgroup. The major provider of NLP seminars and books in the U.S. seems to be NLP Comprehensive found by Steve and Connirae Andreas. Another excellent source is Advanced Neuro Dynamics (AND) run by Tad James. They offer trainings in NLP, Hypnosis, Time Line Therapy, and Huna; their World Wide Web site has some very good introductory material on NLP. IDHEA Seminars is run by Rex and Carolyn Sikes. They perform NLP trainings. Rex is also one of the first people certified as a DHE trainer and Rex and Carolyn are the creators of the "Attitude Activator" tape. The NLP and DHE page run by Stever Robbins also has some excellent information. See References and Resources for contact information. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. The People's Network The following is an article (advertisement) submitted by Paul Boudreau (email: boudreau@niia.net, phone: 800-261-8044) that describes the purpose and vision of TPN. The Company The Peoples Network is a youthful, privately owned, debt free, over five year brain child of Jeff Olson and Eric Worre (NSA, Quorum, Texas Instruments, etc.). The company pre-launch was September 1994 and satellite program began airing February 1995. The official launch was on 20 July in Dallas TX at TPN's first international conference at Reunion Arena. The Peoples Network (TPN) was heralded by John Milton Fogg on AOL, as well as, by Scott DeGarmo of Entrepreneur Magazine. TPN is based, and programming is broadcast from the Dallas Communication Center, in Dallas, TX. This is third largest film production studio in the United Sates and is the birthplace of JFK (Stone), Leap of Faith, Robot Cop II, and more. The Products TPN's original product is nearly 200+ hours per month of satellite programming focused on self-education and personal/professional development. The company has already attracted over 50 of the top minds and coaches in every area of life mastery (business and finance, motivation and inspiration, family and relationships, communications and sales, health and wellness, fitness and effectiveness, etc.). Industry leaders including Jim Rohn, Les Brown, Brian Tracy, Bruce Jenner, Keith Klein, Denies Austin, Michael Gerber, Paul Pilzer, Mark Hansen, etc. have all aligned themselves with the vision of TPN. In addition to these top minds in several personal development fields via satellite, TPN involves its end consumers and representatives with these giants through the sales and promotions of live training and seminar events! TPN is a company with a long-term perspective. TPN's Peoples Direct distribution alliance includes a direct sales arm of Simon & Schuster Books (Books Plus - expected soon), Music Direct with Jimmy Bowen of Capital and Liberty Records, The People's Nutrition and Personal Care, hundreds of faculty products with TPN's Faculty Direct (CD-ROM software to training audios, to motivation videos, and print material). A New York based magazine with commisionable subscriptions and passive sales is expected soon. TPN's nutritional products are designed to provide people with the complete, balanced nutrition that is missing in their diet. The foundation of the system (Phase4+) is actually manufactured by a pharmaceutical company with the expertise of nutritionists, herbalists, enzymologists, and other health professionals. This product has many of the "sizzle" items such at 3 kinds of Pycnogenol, OptiZinc, ChromeMate, and Super Protein. Other nutrition products include Keith Klein's Opti*Meal replacement drinks designed for men and women. "Super Green" foods in Smoothie drink mixes (Sport, Smart, Energy, and Immune Smoothies), Inter-Cleanse (colon cleanser), Di-Gest (digestive enzymes), and Re-Shape (a whole food diet system). TPN's Peoples Nutrition has been the perfect addition to meeting the goal of "Supporting the Never Ending Quest for the Best Within You." This is a sample of just one of the product divisions in TPN. TPN currently has over 300 products; however, this is just the beginning in matching the goal to be the largest distributor of products, goods, and services that maintain the values of personal development. The Support TPN has turned training into a profit center. TPN's training division combines every aspect of training: personal training, home study, group training, audio & video training, live events and seminars all to provide an on-going, high performance training program at a distributors personal pace. The Executive Training Program ($295 wholesale) includes three video tapes, 14 audio tapes, a training transcript and work book, and a "business building tool box." Perhaps the most significant support tool (outside the large array of four-color brochures, prospecting video & audio cassettes, etc.) is the satellite itself. TPN has leveraged this device for informing the field affiliates with weekly corporate communications and weekly satellite business opportunity briefings. Frequent training is aired on a separate channel in addition to the training by being a product of the product ensures. Most of the training and support tools have bonus volume and comissionable aspects. This is truly a system where you can earn while you learn. Compensation Distributors initially earn a retail profit of 15-33% depending on the items and division. Bonus volume is not less than 70%. Quick start cash bonuses of up to $2000 are paid for entering the leadership position (a matrix-like organization of 12 people - 3 with 3). $1000 training bonuses are paid for helping others enter leadership. Finally, 5-10% commission are paid on up to 7 generations of leadership. There are no group volume requirements. Positions are based on structure/volume. Positions cannot be lost and there are no break aways. There are no sales quotas and $50 in personal sales volume qualifies a distributor for bonuses in each division. TPN is a product-driven company. TPN has taken something that has always been a secondary product (frequently not a profit center) in MLM -- training and personal development and allowed it to become the primary product. TPN further, in the spirit of successful internal consumption / product driven companies, has introduced nutritional, personal car, and other products to the marketplace that just make sense for our distributors and customers. Costs/Benefits Analysis The new Executive 2000 program has an initial start-up cost of near $1,000. This is a true representation of the total costs, distributor fees, product, tax, and shipping. Participation in E-2000 is not required; however, it makes the most sense. There is a $1,000 incentive package with audio tapes, Regional and International Conference tickets, and MasterMind Leadership Event tickets for the new distributor. Further, this method qualifies you automatically for the maximum bonuses and commissions in every division each and every month in a convenient and efficient way. I was so impressed with the E-2000 program I converted from my original involvement the day I saw the program. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Scientology/Dianetics The Church of Scientology (originally called Dianetics) was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. The probable goal of someone in CoS is to become a "clear". A "clear" is someone who is free of all "engrams". An engram is a trace left by a traumatic experience that limits your happiness. The major book on CoS is called "Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard. For more information about Dianetics and CoS, check out a separate newsgroup called, alt.religion.scientology. It should also be mentioned as a word of caution that many consider Scientology to be a cult and that a number of ex-members report the Church using intimidation and control tactics while they were members and after they left the Church. There is a Scientology Orientation Seminar which you can sign up for at your local Church of Scientology (cost $15.00). You can also call 1-800-334-LIFE for more information. There are two Web pages specifically for critics of Scientology in the UK: -1- Martin Poulter, http://mail.bris.ac.uk/~plmlp/scum.html -2- Steve A, http://www.demon.co.uk/castle/scientology.html For information on the darker side of Scientology see the following Web pages. -1- http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/rnewman/scientology/home.html -2- http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/home.html -3- Electronic Frontier Foundation, http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Legal/Cases/CoS_v_the_Net/ -4- Skeptic Magazine, http://www.skeptic.com/03.3.jl-jj-scientology.html For general information on Scientology: -1- Dave Touretzky http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/ -2- FACTNet http://www.lightlink.com/factnet1/ -3- FACTNet archives http://www.xs4all.nl/~fonss/ -4- Bob "Sloth" Bingham http://www.sky.net/~sloth/sci/sci_index.html -5- Tilman Hausherr http://www.snafu.de/~tilman -6- Modemac http://www.tiac.net/users/modemac/cos.html -7- David Dennis http://amazing.cinenet.net/scientology.html -8- Daniel Tobias http://www.webcom.com/~dtobias/sosueme.html -9- Jerod Pore http://www.well.com/user/jerod23/clam.html Misc Infomation: -1- http://www.tiac.net/users/modemac/atack.html, "The Total Freedom Trap: Scientology, Dianetics, and L.Ron Hubbard" by Jon Atack History of the CoS and its founder; Origins and evolution of doctrine and practice; Organizational structure of CoS and subsidiaries. -2- http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/media/time-5.6.91, "Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" Time Magazine cover article, May 6, 1991. -3- http://www.demon.co.uk/castle/xenu/, "The Road To Xenu" by Margery Wakefield. First-person accounts of security checks, bullbaiting, living conditions of Sea Org children, the OT3 "wall of fire", being put in an Ethics condition, the RPF, having to disconnect from her father. -4- http://www.demon.co.uk/castle/penny.html, "Social Control Within Scientology" by FACTnet director Bob Penny. Ever wonder how people get trapped by a cult like Scientology? A companion to Wakefield's "Road to Xenu", this book by an ex-Scientologist explains the mechanisms, explicit and subtle, by which Scientology subverts the independence of its members. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- C/ Popular People and Media 1. Richard Bandler & John Grinder Richard Bandler along with John Grinder, are the co-founders of Neuro- linguistic Programming (NLP). Richard is the creative driving force behind the development of NLP and the new field called Design Human Engineering (DHE) which has evolved from NLP. In 1988 Richard was arrested for murdering a dominatrix and was later acquitted. He is currently teaching advanced NLP and hypnosis trainings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, etc.) Stephen Covey is the author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" which has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for the past several years. The subtitle of 7 Habits is "Restoring the Character Ethic". This sums up how Covey's work is different from many other approaches. While at Harvard doing his MBA he researched a large portion of the self improvement literature going back as far as the 18th century. What he noticed was that early on the work focused on character traits and principles and that long term success depended upon this. Early this century, the focus shifted to what he calls the "personality ethic" which became the dominant theme in success literature. In the personality ethic, success is viewed as a function of personality, public image, attitude, skills, and techniques. If you learned the right techniques and could impress the right people and you would be successful. Much of Covey's work is focused on restoring the character ethic as the principle focus, skills and techniques can only be successful in the long term if they are built upon a strong character ethic. Covey received his PhD from Brigham Young University where he spent many years as a professor in the School of Management. He is also the founder of the Covey Leadership Center and the nonprofit Institute for Principle-Centered Leadership. Stephen and his center are widely sought by major corporations as speakers and consultants. In addition to his 7 Habits he has authored, "How to Succeed with People", "Principle-Centered Leadership", "First Things First". In addition to his business writing Covey is also very popular among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for writing books dealing with religious and spiritual topics. Some of these books are, "Spiritual Roots of Human Relations", "The Divine Center", and "Marriage and Family Insights". ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Tad James Tad James is a leading trainer of NLP and Hypnosis around the world. He received a Bachelor's degree in speech and a Master's degree in Communications from Syracuse University. He began his business career managing a radio station in Wisconsin. In order to become successful as a broadcaster, Tad devoted himself to learning sales, business, and management. He married and gradually developed a successful business career, first in broadcasting and later as a business consultant. As problems developed in his marriage, he began to seek answers. He looked to Transcendental Meditation and for a while, it seemed to solve some of the problems he was dealing with. His work required a move to Hawaii to manage another radio station, and eventually, with investors, bought a radio a radio station and made more money. After his first marriage failed, Tad married again and continued his quest for further answers. He became involved with NLP and Hypnosis and, today, is a Master Trainer of NLP and holds a Ph.D. in Ericksonian Hypnosis from the American Institute of Hypnotherapy. He is a member of the faculty of the Ericksonian Congress which is held bi-annually. Tad is also the developer of Time Line Therapy and is the author of several books, including, "Time Line Therapy and the Basis of Personality," "The Secret of Creating Your Future," and "The Lost Secrets of Ancient Hawaiian Huna." Tad currently spends his time teaching seminars all over the world and in addition, recently became President of the American Institute of Hypnotherapy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Anthony Robbins (Editor Loren's Note: The following comments on Tony Robbins are based on personal recollections of past discussion in the group and personal experiences, additional contributions are as always more than welcome). Anthony Robbins is one of the most prolific self-improvement personalities currently around. He is probably best known for his infomercials pitching his 24 cassette self improvement program called "Personal Power". He is the author of two bestselling books, "Unlimited Power" and "Awaken the Giant Within". He started his public speaking career giving seminars with Harvey and Marilyn Diamond on physical health. Soon they parted company and Tony began offering seminars on a fairly new subject called Neuro-linguistic Programming. After a very short training, he began to aggressively promote himself at the "foremost NLP practitioner in the world". For a short time he was a business partner with John Grinder who helped invent NLP. He began going on television shows like Sally Jesse Raphael and cure people of serious phobias right there on the spot. Soon he was asked to write a book and put together a series of tapes based on the live seminars he was giving all around the United States. His infomercial soon followed, which made him very famous. Tony is now involved in running at least 8 companies from financial planning to a Fijiian resort to his self-improvement seminar company. In recent years his schedule has reduced the number of live seminars he does around the country, but he still does an average of 5-6 seminars a month. Tony's programs vary tremendously and have a large scope. His material varies from changing your values and beliefs to managing your emotional states. One simple technique he teaches is called "Morning/Evening Questions". The idea is that when you wake up in the morning, you ask yourself questions that will put you into a peak state and focus you on the positive, exciting, truly motivating aspects of your life. For example you might ask, "What am I really excited about in my life?" or "What am I really grateful for in my life?" or "What could I accomplish today that would really make life better for myself and those around me?" Tony's philosophies focus on contribution and creating value for others as an integral part of creating success for yourself. If you create more value for those around you than anyone else and do it with a sense of fun and enjoyment, how can you fail to be happy and successful? Does the Personal Power tape program (as seen on TV) really work? As anyone who reads alt.self-improve for very long, you will find that there are many, many Tony Robbins enthusiasts in the group. This question is one of the most frequently asked. In general when this question is raised, a wide variety of answers are naturally given ranging from "Personal Power totally turned my life around" to "It's a good program and I got a lot out of it" to "it didn't help me very much." I've heard very few really negative responses. The program is fairly costly: ~$179. Success in this like anything depends very much on one's commitment to follow through and apply what you learn. Is attending a live seminar worth the money? Attending one of Tony Robbins live seminars, as almost any who has been will tell you, is a fairly amazing experience. Tony is a vibrant, energetic, and very entertaining speaker. His shortest seminar lasts on the order of 10-12 hours (Strategic Influence, cost ~$179) to the 9-Day Mastery Program (cost, ~$5000). His seminars are very high energy and there can be anywhere from 250 - 3000 people attending a single seminar. In spite of the large attendance Tony seems to make the seminars very personal and interactive. Not everyone who goes feel that it changed their life or that it was an amazing experience (especially those who shell out $,5000). General comments are usually very positive and I seriously doubt that Tony has lectured to any non-capacity crowds in the past few years. I have heard several people say that the Mastery program was not worth $5000. Most people seem to feel that seminars such as "Unlimited Power Weekend" and "Strategic Influence" are fun experiences if not wonderful investments. Tony's popular Personal Power tapes was updated as Personal Power II in 1996. However, according several users of this group, most of the contents were the same as the first version. Some said there was a 5% change. For information on how to contact Tony Robbins' company see References and Resources. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Marshall Sylver What is the general opinion of Marshall Sylver's Program "Power, Passion, Profit"? Nearly all the comments recently have been quite negative about this program, but the number of people who have actually listened and those that have only seen the infomercial is hard to determine. Here are some assorted comments from people who HAVE listened to the tapes: -1- Joe Slattery writes: "His tapes sound like you're listening to "Eight hours of cliches on how to get off your butt." His examples reduce his discussion to incorporate the rare ten-year old who wants Passion, Profit and Power." His section on "Passion", although he says his comments apply to all relationships, really apply 75-80% to troubled love lives. If you've listened to Tony Robbins as much as I have, you can't help but notice the virtual quotes. (Like "the quality of your life is the quality of your communication", even though that isn't Tony's quote either.) What I did like--he dares to discuss the possibility that being a nice guy is part of life long success in all areas of life. -2- ajop@aol.com (Ajop) writes: "Yes there are some universal truths that Mr. Sylver covers that others do. Why? because they are true and need to be said. Heck, a lot of Tony's book is based on Bandler and Grinder, which is based on Erickson. Take all the good things of the world and time transform them into an understandable straight to the point program that gets to the subconscious of people's minds and creates the change people want, and you have Passion, Profit & Power. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- D/ Reference and Resources 1. Resource List The following listing of information has not been fully verified. Please advise the editors if you know of any mistakes or updates. Accelerated Learning Association 50 Aylesbury Road Aston Clinton, Aylesbury Bucks, England Director: Colin Rose Advanced Neurodynamics (Tad James) 1-800-800-MIND (6463) [Orders] 1-808-941-2021 [Information] email: mind@aloha.com Australian Institute of NLP P.O. Box 1 University of Queensland St. Lucia, QLD 406707 369 2821 Buzan Centre (USA)(407) 881-0188 Buzan Centre (UK)(0202) 534572 Church of Scientology, 1-800-334-LIFE CoCo Systems Ltd., (UK) 0494 434464 (from the UK) +44 494 434464 (from elsewhere) Est, 1-415-882-6300 (San Francisco), 1-408-522-9600 (Sacramento) Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics, 1-800-447-READ, Fax: 939-1680 Franklin Quest, 1-800-654-1776, 1-800-977-1776 Guthy-Renker, 1-800-274-4910 IDHEA Seminars (Rex Sikes), 1-414-335-9700, 1-800-739-7453, (414) 355-4777 (FAX) Jim Rohn International, 1-800-929-0434 Landmark Education, 1-415-882-6300, 1-916-648-1060, 1-408-522-9600 Life Long Learning Association, 1-519-725-2152 Marshall Sylver, 1-800-92-POWER NLP Books Etc. 1-800-783-1184 (Colorado) NLP Comprehensive, 1-800-233-1657 NLP Meta Publications, 1-415-464-0254, Fax: 664-8044 New Jersey NLP Institute, 1-800-35-NLPNJ, 1-201-770-1084 New York Training Institute for NLP, 1-212-473-2852 New York Milton H. Erickson Society, 1-212-628-0287, 505-6141 (Mailing list) Nightingale-Conant, 1-800-323-5552 Option Institute, 1-413-229-2100 People's Network, The, 1-800-799-2713, 004-422-2122 x590 (FAX) Robbins Research International (US), 1-800-445-8183 Robbins Research International (UK), 0044 71 376 0808 Seminar Software, 1-214-361-4227 Theta Technologies, 1-800-395-9148 (order), 1-206-222-6962 (customer service) Timeworks, 1-708-558-1300, 1-800-323-7744 (order) Zygon Inc (206) 885-9200 * Internet Web Sites Advanced Neuro Dynamics Web Page (Tad James), http://www.aloha.com/~mind/ Altered States of Consciousness (Hypnosis FAQ), http://www.utu.fi/~jounsmed/asc/asc.html American Society of Training and Development, http://www.astd.org Big Dreams (hypertext personal/business success newsletter), http://www.wimsey.com/~duncans/ Cooper, Dr. Morton, http://www.voice-doctor.com Covey Leadership Center, http://www2.pcy.mci.net/marketplace/covey/ http://www.ozemail.com.au/~covey/ Creativity Web Page, http://www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/ Forum Graduate Association, http://lute.qnet.com/~fgainc Huna, http://www.hypnosis.com/nlp/hunach1.htm Hypnosis Information, http://www.hypnosis.com/ IDHEA seminars, http://www.rain.org/~da5e/idhea.html Institute of HeartMath, http://www.webcom.com/~hrtmath Leading Edge Communications, http://www.cadivision.com/ Home_Pages/accounts/leadedge/home.html Marketing for Success & TPN, http://infoweb.magi.com/~jbsmith/ Mind Gear, http://www.netcreations.com/mindgear/ Mind Media, http://www.mindmedia.com/ Mind Tools, http://www.gasou.edu/psychweb/mtsite/index.html NLP and DHE, http://www.nlp.com/nlp NLP Seminars Group, http://www.purenlp.com Option Institue, The (Happiness is a Choice), http://www.option.org Psychology Self-Help Resources, www.gasou.edu/psychweb/resource/selfhelp.htm Richard Bandler, The First Institute of NLP and DHE, http://www.dnai.com/~1st_isnt/ Stanford University News & Information Services, http://www.reference.com SelfGrowth Homepage, http://www.selfgrowth.com Stellar Business, http://corp.tig.com/stellar/global/index.html SuccessQuest (Magazine for Entrepreneurs), free, email to "MAALLEN@DELPHI.COM" Self Esteem Mailing list, self-esteem-self-help@netcom.com. The People Network, http://www.ns.net/~sjmoore/tpn.html Time-Line Therapy, http://www.hypnosis.com/nlp/tltbop.htm Tony Robbin (free book info), http://www.cvt.co.uk/success/jim.html Thought of the Day Mailing List, galvin@tam2000.tamu.edu Trance-Action Consultants, http://www.trance-action.com TranceNeet, http://www.trancenet.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Software Packages (1) (From a reader) "One of the best selling software packages of all time was Mind Prober, by Human Edge Software. I was quite surprised not to see it mentioned in your list of self-improvement aids. Human Edge is now out of business, but there are a few amazing software packages currently out there that cover each of the areas you have mentioned: learning and intelligence, motivation, and sales and negotiation. The best of these are grounded heavily in strongly validated research in social and behavioral science. I know that Neuralytic Systems of Redwood City has put out a brain-builder called IQ smarts that assesses one's strengths in areas of Analytical (Abstract/Symbolic), Creative (Lateral/Associative), and Practical (Problem Solving/Memory) Intelligence. It then selects a series of exercises that bring stronger areas to bear on weaker ones. I believe that Human Edge had also put out products called Negotiation Advisor, Sales Advisor, and Motivation Advisor. Whoever bought them out may still own the rights to these packages. Those products generate a frightfully accurate assessment of the personalities of both individuals involved in a negotiation and generate a report with incredibly specific strategies for dealing with the other person. I have all of these on my shelves. Being interactive and adaptive, I have found software to be much more effective than broad global strategies. Software can provide very individualized solutions that a book or a set of tapes can not. (2) (From roberts108@aol.com, RobertS108) Dr. Delgado has released a 3 hour audio CD covering many of his health strategies (Tony Robbins quotes from Delgado extensively in his Living Health audio program). The CD covers: exercise, nutrition, life extension, and disease elimination. This is available from Seminar Software. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Reader Ratings of Books/Audiotapes/Seminars The question frequently comes up about "What do people think of product X?" This appendix will try to create a fast way of viewing the general opinion. Obviously no product can be summarized with a single number and hopefully this won't discourage questions and discussion, just provide a more concise way of capturing the general view. You can vote for a book, audiotape, seminar that you have experience with by sending me a list with your vote. The easiest way is to just cut out the list below and put your vote out to the side. If you are posting a book review, including a rating on a scale of 1-10 and they'be added to this list automatically. Books Average/Voters ----- -------------- As a Man Thinketh (Allen) 9.25/2 Three Magic Words (Anderson) 4.0/1 Frogs into Princes (Bandler, Grinder) 9.5/1 Structure of Magic (vol. 1) (Bandler, Grinder) 8.75/2 Structure of Magic (vol. 2) (Bandler, Grinder) 4.0/1 Use Your Brain For a Change (Bandler, Grinder) 9.0/1 The Magic of Rapport (Michael Brooks) 8.5/1 Procrastination (Burka, Yuen) 5.0/1 Genius (Buzan) 5.5/1 Make The Most of Your Mind (Buzan) 7.25/2 Speed Reading (Buzan) 6.25/2 Use Both Sides of Your Brain (Buzan) 6.5/1 Use Your Perfect Memory (Buzan) 7.0/1 The Artist's Way (Cameron and Bryan) 10.0/1 How to Win Friends and Influence People (Carnegie) 6.8/7 Wealthy Barber, The (Chilton) Creating Affluence (Chopra) 9.5/1 Perfect Health (Chopra) 6.0/2 Quantum Healing (Chopra) 7.5/2 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Cialdini) 10.0/1 Richest Man in Babylon (Clason) 9.0/1 You Can Negotiate Anything (Cohen) First Things First (Covey, Merill, Merill) 9.47/3 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey) 8.57/7 Principle Centered Leadership (Covey) 7.5/1 DeBono's Thinking Course (de Bono) 9.5/1 I Am Right You are Wrong (de Bono) 7.5/1 Lateral Thinking (deBono) 7.83/3 Use of Lateral Thinking (deBono) 7.0/1 Fit for Life (Diamond, Diamond) 6.75/2 Fit for Life II: Living Health (Diamond, Diamond) 6.75/2 Your Money or Your Life (Dominguez and Robin) 8.0/2 Gifts From Eykis (Dyer) No More Holiday Blues (Dyer) Pulling Your Own Strings (Dyer) 6.0/1 Real Magic (Dyer) Sky's The Limit (Dyer) Your Erroneous Zones (Dyer) 6.0/2 You'll See It When You Believe It (Dyer) 6.0/1 Overcoming Procrastination (Ellis) The Evelyn Wood 7 Day Speed Reading and Learning Program (Frank) Man's Search For Meaning (Frankl) 8.33/4 Creative Visualization (Gawain) 6.5/2 Financial Self Defense (Givens) Super Self: Doubling Your Personal Effectivenss (Givens) 10.0/1 Wealth Without Risk (Givens) 7.0/1 How to Audition for Film and TV (Renee Harmon) 8.0/1 You Can Heal Your Life (Hay) 5.0/1 Choices (Helmstetter) 8.5/1 Master Keys to Riches (N. Hill) 9.5/1 Think and Grow Rich (N. Hill) 8.2/6 Time Power (Hobbs) Dianetics (Hubbard) 4.0/3 Mega Brain (Michael Hutchinson) 6.0/1 Mega Brain Power (Michael Hutchinson) 8.0/1 The Lost Secrets of Ancient Hawaiian Huna (Tad James) Secret of Creating Your Future (Tad James) 4.0/1 Time Line Therapy and the Basis of Personality (Tad James) Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Jeffers) 8.5/1 Survival: A Manual on Manipulating (William Jones) 8.0/1 Happiness is a Choice (Barry Neil Kaufman) 10.0/2 To Love is to Be Happy With (Barry Neil Kaufman) 10.0/2 Breakthrough Rapid Reading (Kump) How to Take Control of Your Time and Your Life (Lakein) 8.75/2 Profiles of Genuis (Jean Landrum) Mastery (Leonard) 8.0/1 Thinking Better (Lewis, Greene) Psycho-Cybernetics (Maltz) 7.88/4 Greatest Salesman in the World (Mandino) 6.33/4 Greatest Reaches of Human Nature (Maslow) 9.0/1 Mastering the Information Age (McCarthy) 9.0/1 Always at Ease (McCullough) 2.0/1 Time Management for Unmanageable People (McGee-Cooper,Trammel) Life 101 (Peter McWilliams) 9.0/1 The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (Dan Millman) 8.5/1 Unlimited Selling Power (Donald Moine and Kenneth Lloyd) 9.0/1 The Power of Positive Thinking (Peale) 8.0/1 The Road Less Traveled (Peck) 8.75/2 Age of Propaganda (Pratkanis and Aronson) 7.0/1 Outrageous Betrayal: Werner Erhand's Dark Journey from est to Exile (Stephen Pressman) Don't Shoot the Dog (Pryor) 7.0/1 Executive Time Management (Reynolds, Trammel) Magic of Rapport (Jerry Richardson) 9.0/1 Awaken the Giant Within (A. Robbins) 8.13/4 Giant Steps (A. Robbins) 7.5/1 Unlimited Power (A. Robbins) 9.0/5 Do You Really Need Eyeglasses (Rosanes-Berrett) Overcoming Indecisiveness (Rubin) 8.5/1 Wishcraft (Sher) I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What It Was (Sher) 5.0/1 10 Natural Laws of Time and Life Management (Hyrum Smith) Accelerating (R. Sterling) Maximum Achievement (Brian Tracy) Hope and Help for Your Nerves (Claire Weeks) Getting Organized (Winston) Secrets of Closing the Sale (Ziglar) See You At the Top (Ziglar) 8.0/1 Don't Just Do Something, Sit There! 8.0/1 Audio Tape Programs Average/Voters ------------------- -------------- Succeeding Through Inner Strength (Nathaniel Branden) Power of Persuasion (Roger Dawson) Basic NLP Practioner Training (Tad James) 9.5/1 Personal Power (Anthony Robbins) 9.0/2 PowerTalk (Anthony Robbins) 10.0/1 Unlimited Power (Anthony Robbins) 9.0/1 Power, Passion, Profit (Marshall Sylver) Action Strategies for Personal Achievement (Brian Tracy) Psychology of Achievement (Brian Tracy) 6.0/1 Psychology of Winning (Dennis Waitley) 6.5/2 Seminars Average/Voters -------- -------------- The Forum 8.0/2 Lifespring Basic 9.0/1 Lifespring Advanced 8.0/1 Photoreading Breakthrough to Inner and Outer Influence (Tad James) Huna Introduction: The Lost Secrets of the Ancient Hawaii (Tad James) Secret of Creating Your Future (Tad James) Time Line Therapy Training (Tad James) Mastery (A. Robbins) Date With Destiny (A. Robbins) Strategic Influence (A. Robbins) 9.5/1 Unlimited Power Weekend (A. Robbins) 10.0/1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Who's Who Listing of Professionals in alt.self-improve Listed here is a guide of professionals in alt.self-improve who offer various information, services, and products. You may correspond with them directly. Please use your judgment when using these professionals. You shall not hold the editors responsible for your actions. If you want to be included in this listing, please submit the following information to : - Your name. - Your e-mail address. - Your expertise (limited to 25 words). - What you want to offer (either free or for a fee, limited to 50 words). (1) Kelly Baquet (bultpruf@popd.ix.netcom.com) * My background is primarily the entertainment industry, but my true love has always been personal development. I heard the most amazing tape called "Dead Doctors Don't Lie." Entertaining. Informative. Provocative. When I realized that tons of other people will reactive EXACTLY like I did when THEY hear the tape....the next step was easy. A home-based business, using this tape to do the "hard" part. E-mail for a free copy of the tape & details. (2) Paul Stephen Boudreau, Jr. (boudreau@niia.net). * Purdue University degree in Physics and Psychology. Several years of experience in industry and social work. Several years of experience in Multilevel Marketing or Network Marketing. Currently working towards NLP certification. * To the readers of alt.self-improve, I would say: "Consider being a part of the home-seminar revolution." Think of getting all the value of the top minds in your home. No more travel, no more complex schedules, etc. TPN brings 240+ hours per month of self/professional development programing for 50 cents/hour. In addition TPN can open up new profit centers for you as a home-based business. (3) Robert-Michael Kaplan (Beyond_20/20@Sunshine.net). * O.D. and M.Ed. Author of "Seeing Beyond 20/20" and "The Power Behind Your Eyes." * I educate and assist individuals in eye sight improvement training. My Vision Fitness programs utilize "natural vision" methods and they are available as workshops, private consultations, and retreats. Email me for details. Phone: (604) 885-7118, Fax: (604) 885-0608. (4) Aaron Lewis (ASL2@ukc.ac.uk). * Memory, memory techniques and learning; language learning; and occasionally my physics degree. * I have written an article on memory which is as good as any commercial product and is freely distributable (i.e. FREE!). Email me, and I'll send you a copy. I hope to find a space for it and various other memory-related materials on the WWW before long; in the mean time, I welcome your inquiry about the above subjects! (5) Paul "the soarING" Siegel (soarsegl@ix.netcom.com). * Writer, seminar leader and counselor on developing a grand personal vision. Author of DESIGN YOUR FUTURE: Live Your Vision in the Ever-Changing Learning Society. * I'm offering: (a) FREE - a Vision Palette, a questionnaire to help you define yourself so you could paint a true vision. (b) FREE - a chance to be a part of a learning community on self-development. Just tune into: < http://www.tricky.com/design-your-future.html >. (c)HALF-PRICE - My book, DESIGN YOUR FUTURE. Phone: 1-800-706-8474. (6) David Riklan and Michelle Weintraub (usd38778@interramp.com). * Self Inprovement Online is the most complete guide to information about personal growth, self-improvement, self-help, human enhancement, self- actualization, self-awareness, and personal power on the Internet. It has links to companies, organizations, magazines, and other resources. Visit < http:// www.selfgrowth.com >. (7) Rex Steven Sikes (rssikes@execpc.com). * We are a full service NLP and DHE training institute. We run the full gamet training programs and carry audio, video and book product. We also teach my developments in the fields of DHE and NLP, as well as my developments with accelerated learning known as Mind Design(tm). Email: cksikes@execpc.com to receive a free product catalog and training guide. Homepage: < http://www.rain.org/~da5e/idhea.html >. (8) David Smith (bladex@bga.com). * I moderate a closed mailing list for graduates of the Landmark Forum. Those interested should e-mail me for an application. Thanks. (9) Thomas Wong (tom@transcore.com). * Self-help approaches, communication skills for foreign-born, NLP, Eric Morris System of Acting, and metallurgical engineering. * I can discuss and provide reference sources on self-improvement subjects and communication trainings. My book, American Communication Training ($9.95), can be purchased at (800) 507-BOOK. Visit < http://www.transcore.com >. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- E/ Sample Hot Topics for 1996 Memorizing Body Movements Speed Seduction Retards Landmark Brainwashing Speed Reading Time-Line Therapy Self-Help Methods & Strategies Concentration Improvement Help? Public Speaking The 7 Habits Happiness from an NLP Perspective Goals Vs Principles Feeling Guilty When Asking a Woman Out Missing the Key Hostile People Die Early Power Talk Weekly Word of Wisdom Partner with Mark V. Hansen Scientology and John Travolta Seeking Suggested Books for Reading Tony Robbins Info Sought Religous Respect Self-Improvement Newsgroups? Kevin Hogan: "The Psychology of Persuasion" 73855 Perceptions from Only Your Name Personal Power I Versus Personal Power II Baby Boomers in Mid-Life Crisis Speed Reading Books What Pascal Forgot (NLP) Howard Berg's Mega Reading Scientific Proof (NLP) Audio or Books Jesus, CEO Happiness = Mentally Ill? Power Metaphors Yoshiro Nakamats Interviews with Grinder & Bandler The Nature of Reality Books on Family Any Good Books on Confidence & Self-Esteem? Concentration/Focus Exercises Zygon's Supermind Best & Worst Pickup Lines Any Good Books on Confidence & Self-Esteem? Carlton Sheets EN Quotations #1 Advice on the Advice Given Here Improve Growth Rate? Personal Organizer Conquering Cancer or Any Disease Meaning of Life ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End