Aviv's Blog

The KEY: Your Spiderman

Aviv Shahar — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:59:46 +0000

The Key is about your uncelebrated Spiderman and Spiderwoman-the person that came to your rescue just when you needed. We wish you all good things for 2009!

You and I would not be where we are without our Spiderman or Spiderwoman. We all need help. We all needed someone to stretch out an arm. To give us opportunity. To show us it can be done. To say, “You can do it”. To believe in us. To raise us up.

There is a “Spiderman” impulse in all of us. We love to help. To make a difference. “The receiving is in the giving.” When you help someone, you are being helped. In our leadership events we encourage participants to share their Spiderman story. Stories about someone who helped them. Rescued them. And stories about when they helped and rescued someone else. One after another managers share their Spiderman stories. Simple stories. Amazing stories.

There are perennial messages coming through these story circles:

None of us got to where we are on our own.
We were all inspired by someone. We were all given a chance.
You become a great achiever through the help and support of others. Everything special, every unique accomplishment has been the work of more than one person.
One moment, one word or sentence has the power to change the course of a person’s life.

Here is a Spiderman story told by Stu in one of our leadership events.

Man On Wire

Aviv Shahar — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:52:17 +0000

If you have strong nerves, do not miss the movie Man On Wire, the story of Philippe Petit who walked on a wire between the Twin Towers. It is a story of passion; a story about living on the edge, beyond the rules of what cannot be done. Petit found freedom and safety where no other human walked before and where no human will ever walk again – on a wire in the clouds.

The greater fascination is not the extreme stunt or the world fame – it is the process, the developmental journey of mastering his skill and competence. The uncompromising concentration and total commitment to his art form. And how that fashioned in him a different gravitational pull, allowing him to literally walk on a cloud.

One more thing. Better not watch this before you go to sleep. It takes a few hours to unwind the state it will produce in you.

Reclaim Your Can-Do Power

Aviv Shahar — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:02:18 +0000

Intention is an energy deposit. Agreement is an energy investment.

To reclaim and build your can-do power and energy levels apply the *KUA* criteria to intentions and agreements. KUA stands for Keep / Update / Absolve:
Keep it - act on the intention; deliver on the agreement.
Update it - realign/ adjust the intention; renegotiate the agreement.
Absolve it - let go / cancel the intention; forgive the agreement.

You are an energy system. Everything you do involves energy. You generate, absorb and use energy. The energy reservoir you are is made up of multiple energy levels. What diminishes your energy diminishes your capacity to do and enjoy. What enhances your energy builds your capacity to do, be and enjoy.

Intention realized creates energetic return. Agreements kept and implemented create energetic dividends.

Intention not realized wastes the deposit. Agreement not kept and not fulfilled drains the energetic investment. Wasting energy deposits and draining energy investments diminish your charisma, weakens your immune system and depletes your can-do power. Stress is a symptom of energy depletion caused by intentions and agreements not acted on. You free up and renew your energy by applying the KUA process - Keep, Update, Absolve.

A Memorable Life

Aviv Shahar — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 04:57:08 +0000

An A to Z reflections and strategies for living a memorable life:

A. You are here to transform the world. To bring light to darkness.
B. To be memorable you must live a memorable life.
C. To create a memorable life, you have to apply wisely your most precious assets – your time, your energy, your focus and your talent.
D. Make your purpose your growth trust-fund. Make daily and weekly deposits.
E. Invest your Energy, Time and Focus (ETF) in your purpose trust-fund. You will be amazed at the ROI multiples.
F. You transform the world by transforming you. By investing and growing your precious assets. By realizing the potential of this moment. By being at full in it.
G. Create a legacy, invest time, energy and focus in the growth and development of others.
H. Investing in others will bring the greatest rewards. It will also bring pain and grief. Yes, agony and ecstasy live side by side.
I. Why would you put your energy, time and focus (ETF) into anything unless you intend for it to be transformed for the better – unless you wish it to be the best it can be?
J. An action a day keeps debris away. Frustration is a symptom of unrealized energy or incomplete action. One action every day. A step forward every day. Such is the pace of great success.
K. You grow at the edge of your envelope. At the point of meeting the unknown. Where you expand beyond to meet your unknown.
L. If you are to transform, you cannot stop at the half point, at “trans”. You have to complete the journey to find the “form”. To trans-form.
M. You cannot stop time. Time moves on its own accord. You can be present in it or not.
N. Time in absentia is not yours. Your time is time you salvage from absentia by bringing focus and energy into it. By creating light in darkness.
O. To be memorable you must first be present. The greatest gift you give another is “presencing” your time in theirs. It’s being present.
P. Energy comes and goes; wanes and resurges. Your point of greatest impact is to master your energy triggers and cycles and apply this self-insight in your work to realize your goals and purpose.
Q. Peak performance, peak focus and peak presence happens when you bring your multiple energies to a point of efficacy – when your action becomes the synchro-point of your physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual capacities and energies.
R. When you feel guided, helped and supported, your call is answered. An extra something else is being added to you. Unseen. Spiritual.
S. Curiosity, the love of adventure and learning keeps you fresh in the valleys, and in between the peak points.
T. Wake up to discover the new music that wants to be played today. Find the problem you carry the solution for. Discover the mystery you are here to resolve.
U. Make your conversations memorable. Elevate. Expand. Transform. Make new things possible.
V. You are here once. You, in this form, at this time is a once in a galaxy collective experience event. Make it worthwhile for the galaxy. Make it worthwhile for you.
W. Listen. Listen inside. Listen outside. Make connections. You are here to make meaning. To magnify meaning. To magnify meaningful connections.
X. Live to love. Love to evolve. Evolve to be all that you can be.
Y. You are not alone. Your Maker left you free to be what you choose to be.
Z. It / He / She are nearby to watch and see.

Found In The Crowd

Aviv Shahar — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:42:50 +0000

Here is my reply to David Brooks “Lost In The Crowd” commentary on Gladwell’s “Outlier s.”

Your results and success is an output of unique multiplication combination of the following elements:

Elements largely “not in your control”:
1. Your gene pool
2. Your family and upbringing
3. Your social environment
4. Important figures / influencers in early life (teacher, neighbors, relatives)
5. Pivotal events that left indelible impressions
6. Political and economical circumstances
7. Situational serendipity

Elements largely “in your control”:
8. How you use your time
9. How you direct your energy and apply your talent
10. What peak experiences you create to guide your efforts
11. The character you fashion through your choices and work
12. Your intentions, focus and concentration
13. Your self-insight
14. Key relationships you cultivate

Each one of us is a unique logarithmic configuration of the elements above (plus other elements we left out) with varying degrees of influence of controlled and less controlled elements. Personal growth and development experts focus on the elements you can control. Academia and policy experts seek solutions in what shapes your opportunity which you have no control over. We need both to fashion integral optimal approach.

Woodinville In White

Aviv Shahar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:01:38 +0000

The Lady Snow is visiting our town…

The Co-Creational Act – Releasing Hidden Light

Aviv Shahar — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:59:38 +0000

A Solstice Post – an excerpt from the writing: God, The Universe Embryo.

When I look up at the night sky and see the bright stars engulfed by darkness it brings to mind the majestic human story down here on Earth. This is a powerful contemplation that takes me from the here-and-now inside light itself… to then travel all the way back into the core of our humanness and the evolution that presses its way upon us now.

There is light and there is ‘hidden light’, which our scientists call dark matter or dark energy. Recent observations conclude that 95 to 96 percent of the universe – all the space in between the stars – is dark energy. Like the stars, so too the human is engulfed by darkness, the void that contains all that has not been lit yet. Our work is to claim the void, to fill it with presence and release its hidden purpose and light. This is how we participate in the co-creative act, inside ourselves and with all that surrounds us.

When you meet a stranger, the space between you is a void. Then you begin a conversation. You exchange references and views. You find areas of shared interest and commonality. You create streaks of light in the void between you. Then a new thought appears; an innovative idea shows up, and you get energized. Your conversation transports both of you to a different place and time. You find yourselves on the edge of discovery, creating a new world of possibilities. Inside that space, inside such a conversation, hidden light gets released from its concealment as you become participant in the co-creational act.

(God, The Universe Embryo – Originally written on October 1998)

The Vitality Secret

Aviv Shahar — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:15:25 +0000

“I Am Not Aware I Am 100 Years Old” says composer Elliot Carter in his conversation with Charlie Rose on his birthday. Carter’s 100th birthday was celebrated with the NY Symphony playing his new work, Interventions for Piano and Orchestra.

What is the secret of extraordinary vitality and creativity? What keeps him going at 100 years old?

Carter gets up every morning ready for the adventure of discovery. He gets up to discover the music inside him. He never feels like he has already reached the top of the mountain. He is still climbing. He is focused on his work and he enjoys it.

We can all learn from Elliot Carter the secrets of vitality and creativity. Try this for 10 days:
1. Get up ready for the adventure of discovery.
2. Create and develop the ideas and music you hear inside.
3. Focus on your work and enjoy it.

What Chris Can Teach Us About The Anatomy Of Compassion

Aviv Shahar — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:01:05 +0000

Chris was a good engineer. He was one of a dozen engineers on his team to answer service calls. Methodical and thorough, Chris was well respected by his team members. Still, he was not the star type. Quiet, a little shy, never seeking center stage, Chris’s focus was on the task at hand. One day his team took ownership of a new service contract. JD was the chief contact on the client end. Within a couple of weeks it became clear that JD was a demanding and extremely high maintenance client. Every Tuesday or Wednesday with no exception, the phone would ring and JD would be on the line, sometimes even twice a week. If that was not enough, JD did not make his calls easy on the team. He was impatient, angry and thankless. The team felt that his calls were abusive and obnoxious. JD was “burning” one engineer after another. Within a few weeks, there was absolutely no one prepared to take his calls. People learned to recognize his voice and when they heard it, he was immediately transferred to Chris. Chris was the only person on the team who was ready and willing to service JD’s calls. He would patiently reply, talk JD through the technical issues and resolve every problem presented. Chris never seemed to get offended or upset with JD’s demeanor. He serenely and compassionately solved the problem and moved on. It quickly became a legend that Chris was somehow able to handle the most difficult client the company had, and that slowly, gradually, JD began to change. Not that he was pleasant but he seemed to respect and like Chris, even when he remained difficult for anyone else to handle. One day someone asked: how can you be so understanding and patient with such an abusive client? Chris replied: Every time I take the call I remind myself that I have to deal with this man for twenty or thirty minutes, but he has to deal with himself all day long, seven days a week. This thought immediately fills me with compassion.

This week, when someone annoys you and you are about to lose your temper, think about Chris. Realize that most often frustration and anger is an expression of people’s own pain and struggle, which they are unable to contain or rebalance. Remember, they are not against you; they simply struggle to live with themselves. Have compassion for them. Remember they have to live with themselves all the time. If they behave this way with you, it must be very difficult for them to live with themselves. Be thankful you live with you. Understand that at times you have to deal with people in great pain, and you cannot always help, but you can have compassion for them. Live and let live.

From Breakdown To Breakthrough

Aviv Shahar — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:34:35 +0000

Breakdowns herald breakthroughs. Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs.
What was is no more. Companies that were strong and stable are faltering and failing. Political, economic and social structures are collapsing. Every day brings new headlines. You wake up to find out that the world has changed. In the darkness you begin to see the stars.

These are signs of transition; of big systemic transformation, an epoch change. Fear abounds. What was true yesterday is no more. Rapid changes bring confusion and uncertainty. Inside the chaos are the seeds of new opportunities. Wherever a door is shut, a new window opens up. Growth, hope and possibilities are found amid destruction. Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs. Stars shine in the dark.

Get centered. Take a deep breath. Focus.
Do not fight change. Relax into it. Ease into a new discovery. Move from looking backward to looking forward.
Be confident. Trust yourself. You have overcome greater difficulties.
This too shall pass. Know that all is well. Yes, all is well.
Take time for yourself. To think. To reflect. To re-center. To plan. Re-discover you. Reconnect to purpose.
Attend to your network. Give and find support. Go out of your way to help.
Lead. Open new doors for yourself and for others. Dare to step up.
Be gracious. Create a space. Make allowance. We all need our time. Some a little slower. Some a little faster.
Count your blessings. Health. Companionship. Friendship. Beauty. Humor. Meaningful connections and conversations.
Better days are coming. Greater opportunities for you are ahead. To contribute. To be present. To find what you are here for. To Serve. To Lead.