Lazy
Success Newsletter
July
27, 2006
In This Issue:
- LWS REPORTS -- The Philosopher's
Stone(d); the most amazing seminar ever!
Dear
Friend,
Right now, I'm in an unusually
exuberant, emotional mood!
Last night, I got back from the most
amazing vacation of my life!
(barring my honeymoon in Rome many years ago, but
that's a different story...)
At the last possible minute, I got pulled
into a week-long seminar that was really half-vacation, but that was
the genius of it. Half of the days, the 100+ of us spent in an
air-conditioned hall entranced by a VERY engaging philosopher / life
coach / corporate coach.
His name is Dr. Esa Saarinen, and he looks
like this:
(REALLY, that's him in
his most
conservative attire! Hee hee...)
... and half of the days we spent freely
discussing the themes in small groups and enjoying the wonders of
Paphos, Cyprus:
Relaxing on board the Jolly Roger II
The seminar was titled "Tulenkantajat", which loose translated means "Firebearers". Which in essence means that the seminar was designed for "Leaders of today and tomorrow".
But that's really just a faint idea of it. Read on and I'll tell you what it was really about...
This
little report may sound a little bit different than our usual Lazy Way
To Success newsletters, and for good reason.
Also, I don't know how
well I'm able to convey exactly what I feel right now, and why it's
important to you. But I'm going to try.
There is a
deeply relevant point I'm making, and I sincerely hope you will read
through my mini-rant to get to it. It's good for you, I promise.
I'm too choked up right now to say much more. See you next month!
Juho Tunkelo
www.lazysuccess.com
PS. Next time, we'll have a profoundly practical topic about choosing your battles and getting ahead doing less.
I'll leave it at that. 8-) Make sure you tune in!
"The Philosopher's
Stone(d)"
Dr. Esa Saarinen -- everyday
philosopher like no other
I have never met a person who is so much a contradiction in appearance
and what's inside as master philosopher Dr. Esa Saarinen.
He may dress up in a leopard-pattern jacket for a presidential
reception. He may don his "Mickey Mouse" shoes to an interview for an
American tv show, prompting the host to reportedly exclaim off-screen:
"My God, is
he on drugs?!" (of course, he was only making a point)
And yet, he has both stellar academic credentials and an uncanny knack
for LIVE philosophy that has the ability to transform entire lifes on
the spot. The seminar in Paphos, Cyprus was a rare, superb example of LIVE practical philosophy at its very best!
The 100-strong audience consisted of entrepreneurs, students,
world-class executives, actors and even some celebrities. Yet everyone
was at ease with one another, there was no apprehension or awkward
comparisons, an atmosphere of total trust prevailed throughout the
week. Everyone gained something from the other.
The absolute genius of the seminar
was this: there were NO concepts to "learn" or to memorize, no audience
presentations, no group workshops, not even dialog during the lectures.
In other words, the audience was completely
"off the hook", having been given permission to completely relax and
trust the situation. And the Master Philosopher himself was very casual
with us, completely friendly and approachable.
As a result, the movement of thought, the positive impressions, and the
wonderful interactions with one another were flowing completely freely,
producing in each something that wouldn't have been possible in any
other kind of setting.
Dr. Esa explaining the finer points of the Human Way to live
- the James Bond philosophy of life
- how
to cure the Holding Back Syndrome
- the importance of "Star Moments"
- creating a personal circle of magic
- thinking about thinking
- using micro-behavior to change negative systems around you
- producing approval in 2 seconds flat
And on and on... (does that sound like philosophy is a "dead" subject today?! :-)
I know it's impossible to convey the mindblowing concepts in detail,
because of the experiential nature of it, and also because they were
presented in Finnish. Perhaps one day I can convince Dr. Esa to tape
one of his English language seminars that I could share with
you.... (he has had public lectures in about 15 countries, all roaring
successes)
The festive "Firebearers" receiving their diplomas...
And oh boy, we laughed, we cried, we exchanged experiences and marveled at such completely fresh views to life, to personal development, to living life FREE of all
"normal" expectations and living from a profoundly Human perspective
that enriches all. In every sense of the word.
Also, there was a guest appearance by one Dr. Pekka Himanen, another Finnish luminary, a celebrated philosopher and author (his book The Hacker Ethic, with prologue by Linus Torvalds, has won him some wide acclaim).
His themes about creating enriching (vs. discouraging) communities
touched a nerve with us, spiced with how to dodge the debilitating
effects of "perfectly acceptable being" in various situations such as
doing less to achieve the minimum at the workplace... (ahem)
Now, I'll try to do the impossible and distill one central theme from the seminar that is also relevant to you, dear reader.
(disclaimer: this is my personal interpretation)
And that is the über-concept of living life from a Profoundly Human perspective.
We all have our lives filled to the brim with different tasks relating
to jobs, family, money, etc. And on the other side of the equation
there are different rewards that we get IF
we just perform bigger and better and more tasks. More money, better
relationships, a bigger house and car, nicer vacations. A true
treadmill familiar to most.
As desireable these "goodies" are per se, most of the people today are
stuck in this perpetual quest for these ever-growing rewards that
require ever-growing performance in every area of life. And that is
making people profoundly unhappy!
So what might be the solution? For lack of a better expression, a System Intervention. Step outside of the system, and start living life from your heart, using your own discretion and your own integrity.
That doesn't necessarily mean that you need to quit your job or look
for a new spouse. On the contrary, it means you allow yourself to LIVE
EASIER, to shed a Human Light to that matrix of tasks & rewards.
I know that may sound vague, but really it's not. It's also
PRECISELY what the
Lazy Way To Success teaches.
That there IS a better, easier, more DIGNIFIED way to live.
You only need to give it a chance to work on you, to grow on you.
That is all.
Thank you Esa, from the bottom of my heart. I will never ever forget what you did for me and the
100-odd others.
See you next year in Paphos.
A gorgeous sunset view from our 5 star hotel's pool
(where we had many breakthrough conversations!)
