John
(James) Angheli, MBC, M.Ed, FALCS
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 An
Autobiographical Note:
Back
in 1997, on a beautiful warm afternoon, on twelfth floor of RMIT
University that overlooks Melbourne's field of skyscrapers, I made
a decision that was to affect the rest of my life - to follow my
calling, no matter where it led.
It
was towards the end of my study of an Architecture degree, and Napoleon
Hill's story of the great warrior - who when faced with a powerful
foe decided to 'burn his own ship', so that there was no way back
and thus be totally committed to victory - was ringing in my ears.
'Commit
to victory!', my inner voice was telling me.
'Make a decision. Burn your ship and follow me.'
I
did. I stepped off the path of safe career and went to pursue a
calling that went against the good opinions of those around me.
This was especially tough, for having come with my parents from
Transylvania less than a decade before - as to be afforded all the
opportunities of life in Australia - to then pursue a career in
'life coaching' was something they not only saw as risky, but they
didn't even understand what it was.
But
I knew I had to make this choice, for when I came to the end of
my life, I would be the only one that would be answerable to the
desire entrusted to me... I would be the only one saying "I
wish I had lived my life differently". No one else.
Honestly,
at the time I didn't quite know what 'life-coaching' was either,
or where this was leading me. Back then, there were no courses that
I could just switch to, nor any clearly defined set of practices
or career plans - so I simply embarked on a long road of much self-education
and experimentation.
All
I knew is that I wanted with all of my being, to be part of this
emerging movement to live our lives by design. Building
design was one thing, but the design of our lives, was something
else altogether... I desired above all else to support
people in the process of living happier and more fulfilling lives.
For
ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by the power of
our mind, our power to alter our environment, and the wisdom of
those that offered 'prescriptions' in realizing our highest potential
- from books, to audios, to eventually attending all sorts of seminars.
Furthermore,
I had this burning desire inside to create
such empowering experiences - what I called back then as, "Design
Life Enhancements" - and played around with arranging many
such guided visualizations that could take one into heightened states
of well being.
So
since then, I've been in a laboratory of sorts, experimenting with
just about any tool for personal development that offered the possibility
for unleashing more of our Genius - from psychological counseling
tools, to hypnosis and NLP, to any number of metaphysical practices.
I became an active researcher into the science and practice of self-actualization,
critically analyzing and distilling these principles, in both informal
and formal academic settings.
Throughout
my work in facilitating goal-oriented coaching, group workshops
in personal development, hypnotherapy and meditation classes, it
became more and more apparent of a fundamental lack of a formal
structures for nurturing greatness anywhere. While there are many
that can talk 'about it', in pointing out the direction - very few
are interested in walking the path with you...
In
fact I noticed two major trends:
I.
First, there is a growing trend in the personal development industry,
to keep manufacturing quick-fix, feel good information, with little
regard for the effects these ideas produce.
While in medicine for example, when it comes to the treatment of
an illness, there is a clear differentiation between the opinion
of a trained physician and someone who isn't - in personal development,
there seems to be less discrimination. In fact, much of it centers
on cosmetic changes, creating some sort of 'appearances of success'
and in emphasizing the quickest results, with little or no effort.
If
you have watched the TV show, 'The Simpsons', this was parodied
well in the episode, 'Bart's Inner Child'. In here, the self-help
guru Brad Goodman prescribes the solution to self-actualization
to be letting go of all 'should's' and just, "Do What You Feel
Like". This
in turn led to everyone in the city taking short-cuts, acting on
their basest impulses, and ultimately almost causing a disaster.
Tellingly, Homer Simpson concludes to leave personal development
to others and to watch TV instead.
II.
While 80% of personal development is of the first variety, there
is a second form, which is genuine. About 20% of personal development
books, audios, online and live courses/ seminars do feature both
grounded and inspiring information for self-actualization.
The
only challenge with this though, is that you have few resources
available in actually carrying out these good intentions and ideas.
As I covered in the opening of the course, 'How
to Make Change Happen' -- change doesn't just happen because
we intellectually know better. Most of us are aware of our short
comings and that there are better choices we can make. But it's
the act of 'doing what we know' that trips us up.
I
started Self-actualization Learning Center for the purpose of addressing
these two major short comings - i.e. in habitualizing the principles
and practices that have been modeled from high achievers themselves.
Staying away from the clutter of innumerable tips and subjective
opinions, in this center I seek to present a research-based, philosophically
sound and elegant journey into self-actualization. Most important,
I want us to habitualize these principles.
My
purpose is to help with change efforts, by providing a powerful
framework - to make the whole process of personal development, as
simple as following a gym program. This is the whole reason behind
the programs here. It's here to practically support the realization
of your dream life, as a whole - by following an exercise plan for
habit-formation, which makes a meaningful and lasting difference.
It
is my great hope, to live out this mission set out here to its
fullest, and to walk the path of self-actualization, together
with you.
with
love,
John Angheli
The
most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large
part of one's self to others… We are one, after all, you
and I. Together we suffer, together exist, and forever will recreate
each other… Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as
if limits to our ability did not exist.
We are collaborators in creation.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1968
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