FSOC – The bliss factory

When I was 12 years old, I bought a beat-up old electric guitar for 50 dollars.

I didn’t know how to play the guitar, but I wanted to be a guitarist. I decided that once I got one I could teach myself.

So I started.

I was terrible at it, but I was determined to get better, so I practised.

Little by little, I started to improve, but it was hard. My fingers hurt. I spent lots of time feeling frustrated. My parents were sick of the sound of it.

But I had a special advantage.

I *loved* playing the guitar. Every time I discovered a new lick or mastered a difficult piece, I felt elated. By the time I was in my mid-teens, I was obsessed, practising anywhere from 3-5 hours a day.

I kept getting better at it.

There’s a wonderful quote by Howard Thurman who said:

”Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Sounds simple, right?

Simple, but not always easy. It raises questions, including…

– How do you discover what makes you come alive?

– Once you know what it is, how do you just “go do that”?

– And (perhaps as importantly) how do you deal with the obstacles to doing it?

As you may have read, I recently realised that I’d been caught by a subtle version of the “I’ll be happy when” illusion (aka ‘the hidden hamster wheel’) that I described in my book CLARITY.

In a nutshell, my most recent insight into this resolved as a kind of “Horse A vs Horse B”

Horse A: Living in a beautiful feeling for life NOW, guided by wisdom (I ride the waves that life sends) aka a God-guided life.

Horse B: I can have a beautiful life once I’ve accomplished X, resolved Y or achieved Z (an ego-guided life).

I chose (and continue to choose) Horse A, and interesting things have started happening. Here’s one of them:

Six months ago, a friend of mine told me he was taking guitar lessons, and learning to play jazz guitar. It turned out the teacher lives just down the road from me, so I took his contact details, but then I didn’t do anything.

See, I haven’t played guitar in over 20 years. I mean, I pick it up now and again, but I haven’t really been playing.

Life got in the way. I had other priorities. I got busy.

Oops.

Learning and playing guitar makes me come alive. I always loved jazz but could never ‘get it’ well enough to play it.

So apparently it’s time. Earlier this week, I scheduled my first lesson with the jazz guitar teacher, and something strange happened…

Ever since, I’ve been listening to loads of jazz guitarists. Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Frank Zappa, Django Reinhardt, John McLaughlin, George Benson… (the list really does go on and on).

It’s like the volume’s been turned up on one beautiful part of my life that I’ve been overlooking. And I was wondering…

Q: What makes you come alive?

Let us know and have a beautiful day,

Big love

Jamie

PS You can read the original ‘Horse A vs Horse B’ article HERE. 

This week’s podcast

INTERVIEW – Ian Watson – Trusting in the invisible

In this episode, you’re going to hear a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with my dear friend and colleague, Ian Watson. Ian and I have been in each other’s lives for the past 20 years, and those years have included many twists and turns as we’ve encountered obstacles, followed our inner guidance and found our way forward (sometimes more easily than others). Some of the topics we explored included:

– Following your bliss

– Trust in ‘the invisible’

– Being willing to take ‘the road less travelled’

– Doing what you love

– And much more

You can listen to the recording here, or wherever you get your podcasts: https://www.jamiesmart.com/065-interview-ian-watson-trusting-in-the-invisible-get-clarity-podcast/

Finally, as you’ve probably noticed, it’s sale season, so we’ve put some of our most popular programmes on sale with savings of up to 61%. 

We’re also giving away a free ticket to our ClarityLive! event (worth £695) with every purchase during our Black Friday sale.

The world is changing fast, and it’s never been more important to get clear on what you’ve got going for you, and on where you’re headed. In service of that, we’ve got programmes for coaches, for people who are looking to share the principles, and for people who are ready for a career change.

We’re giving savings of up to 61% on the programmes in our shop until Tuesday night

>> CLICK HERE to go to the Black Friday Sale and save up to 61% in our shop now.

When you make your purchase, you’ll get a free ticket to ClarityLive! (worth £695). We run our ClarityLive! event several times a year, so you can use your ticket whenever you want to join us.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Big love,

Jamie

Jamie Smart, Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker & Coach

PS Just to wet your whistle, here are a few examples of the self-study programmes you can get instant access to today:

1) The Language of Transformation Self-Study Programme – Save 61%
The Language of Transformation is a transformational journey into the language of insight and transformational change. Discover the ‘magic words’ that spark insight, impact & business growth.

>> The Language of Transformation: find out more, get instant access and save 61% here.

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Shifting to a career that’s both fulfilling and financially rewarding requires clarity, passion and an understanding of the fundamentals of career transition. But without a clear roadmap and expert guidance, the process can be overwhelming. The Career Transition Blueprint self-study programme can fast-track your career transition and save you years of disheartening struggle and stagnation.

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The 1:1 Coaching Intensive Unpacked Self-study Programme gets you behind the scenes of a 1:1 coaching intensive and shows you how to structure, deliver and enrol clients on high-value 1:1 coaching intensives.

>> The 1:1 Intensive Unpacked: find out more, get instant access and save 42% here.

All these programmes go back up to full price at midnight Pacific time on Tuesday, November 29th, so get a wiggle on if you want to avoid missing out.

PPS. NOW OPEN – The ClarityPro Membership Programme – open to new members

For the first time in a year, we’re opening the doors to The ClarityPro Membership Programme. It will help you to: a) Share the principles with anybody, on any topic and in any situation, B) Find your unique voice and develop your ability to share this understanding and c) Change people’s lives and have a real impact.

Learn More >> ClarityPro Membership Programme: (Open to new members)