Entrepreneur Geek

I am participating in the “Self Expression and Leadership Program” (SELP) of Landmark Education these days.

The experience so far is – well, different! In the Landmark Forum and Advanced Course, you learn a lot of things. You complete with people, you create possibilities for yourself. Both the courses are fast and power packed. The leader drives the course.

SELP is different. The course structure is different. There is a community project that each participant does, a group and a coach, and then the course leader. There are weekly classes, and things get very demanding! A lot of people say that SELP is difficult and very confronting.

I agree. And I strongly believe that’s the design of the course. That is what takes us to a higher level. The design of the course creates leaders.

My community project is OpenCerti. It’s a community driven certification for PHP. Most of the discussion and material about the project is on my blog. I invite you to contribute! Everybody can contribute!

More later…

Hello!

I attended the Sunday evening session for Graduates in the Landmark Forum yesterday. Ferdi was leading it, and I got a lot out of it. I have had earlier sessions with Praveen Puri, and Ferdi’s was different. I liked yesterday more than other Sunday Evenings I have attended. Simply because of the content covered.

There was acknowledgement of graduates first. Then the distinction of choice. We normally decide and don’t chose. To decide is to select based on reasons. To choose is to select freely, after reasons. This is a very important distinction and get make life a lot easier if you get it right.

The interesting part came after this, when Ferdi distinguished sex, love and money! The three things everybody wants. I had got the distinctions of sex and love earlier, but never heard about money. The core concept was that we have a problem with money because we treat money as a scarce resource. If we shift that view point, a lot of things will change. Money does not make any real difference. It’s an enabler. And is available in abundance if you stop treating it as a scarce resource.

The next part was about life being a game. I remember reading or hearing something similar earlier, yet it was a profound conversation. I must dedicate a full post for it.

I really enjoyed the session. It provided a lot of value to me. And it was good to see my Dad and colleague Yogesh complete the Forum. I would recommend all Landmark Graduates to attend the Sunday Evening sessions. Don’t wait for the participants to invite you. Just go!

I attended a special introduction to Landmark Forum yesterday. Led by Ferdi D’souza, it was indeed a special evening. The Prabodhan Thakare Mini Theatre auditorium was packed and people kept coming in. They had to arrange for a separate hall for the late comers!

Ferdi has been associated with this work from 1979. That means he is into this for all my life! So it was good to hear him.

I have already completed my Advanced course, so the basic introduction was familiar. I had my cousin with me, and a lot of things opened up in the discussion with him about Landmark. He mentioned there is nothing wrong in his life that he needs to do the Forum. Everything is going fine, albeit a bit slower.

We talked. I got to learn a lot of financial concepts from him and also realized he has matured a lot. Our interaction has not been high. I think we used to talk more when we were younger! I knew he was doing well, but it was the first time I was talking so personal to him. I think it was a lesson for me. Establishing a connect with your relatives is so easy. It just needs the first step.

Ferdi distinguished about Rackets – the persistent complaints we have about people around us. In an introduction, the leader takes up an exercise with the participants to give them a taste of the Forum. This was that part. I could revise the distinction and it opened up new opportunities for action.

I also caught up with friends I had done my advanced course with. People are in different spaces. Many feel that the touch of Landmark is diminishing as they carry out their lives. To keep it alive, it is important to keep in touch with the group. I agree with them! If you have a friend you can talk to, especilly in the Landmark language, you can implement the technology easily.

It was a nice evening! Lot of learnings, good time with friends, and some time away from work! Worth it!

A few friends are doing their Self Expression and Leadership Program (SELP) right now. From what I am hearing and seeing about it, SELP is extremely powerful program. One of the things in it is to take up a community project. I am really inspired by these projects! And am eagerly awaiting my SELP in December.

Avani has taken up Project Dhyaan. Project Dhyaan is all about spreading Peace, Love and Happiness around; about empowering people to have this for their entire lives on their own. This is done via meditation, and the project is implementing meditation for school children. You can read up a summary about the project here and contribute if you wish to.

Kapil has started Children for the World and they plan to setup centers where kids can have fun, enjoy and learn in the process.

Raju has taken up cleaning up of the society premises, constructing a garden, a gym and proper road for the society.

I am not sure what Atul has taken up, but he mentioned that he is confronting and overcoming all his reasons through the project!

Found these sites about Landmark today:

aboutlandmarkforum.blogspot.com

Great efforts!