In exchanges through Twitter with John Patterson of the Chicago Convergence, I was reminded and had time to really take in and reflect on something that inspired me and positively influenced me (especially in my business) called Landmark Education, which still impacts me today.

For those not aware of what Landmark Education is, the best way to describe it is as a truly “powerful” experience. I completed three of them including the Landmark Forum, the Advanced Course, and Self-Expression and Leadership Program (SELP).  To explain exactly what they are: the Landmark Forum, is 3-days that present the opportunity to take a look at any area of your life where you don’t feel empowered and address what it is within yourself to create possibilities and being powerful in that area of your life.  The methodologies in the Landmark Forum can be applied to all areas of your life.

For me, Landmark Forum was so powerful I continued on to the Advanced Coarse which allowed me to address possibilities beyond myself but with people around me – my family, my friends, clients, and others.  And then the Self-Expression and Leadership Program had me define myself as a leader in my community, in the world, and how I can truly impact and influence so many others.

So, why am I writing about Landmark Education in this blog?  Well, because so many of the things I’ve experienced in the Landmark Forum have greatly impacted my career and my companies, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to share with you.

Understanding my responsibility in everything I do and how my world is created by ME is one of the fundamental things that have significantly transformed my career.  Every client, every project, every person, who is brought into my businesses is a result of what I create for myself. This alone has allowed me to see remarkable results in my business and what I do.  It’s not enough for me to be mediocre, unless I want mediocre results.  So this pushes and drives me to do extraordinary things like writing thousand dollar grants and sponsorship proposals, travel to other cities and countries to seek prospects, call and reach out to people I may have never previously thought to and more.  This has allowed me to see phenomenal results including money, more clients, publicity, and other opportunities.  I like to say in order to see phenomenal results you have to start doing phenomenal things.

Especially in these trying times, one can no longer play small.

It wasn’t until I did SELP that I began to truly see myself as a “real” leader. I used to think being a leader took a certain amount of skill to truly influence people and that if people thought one way or were in a specific mindset that you can’t impact them unless they wanted.  To an extent that may be true, people do have to want to transform their career, their lives; however, there is a specific way that we as leaders can “be” that truly make a difference in the world of others.  In certain ways that I interact with my clients, business partners, the youth I work with, and others, I completely acknowledge how I am and how that causes them to “be”.  From my passion, my being authentic, and desire to see them being powerful and seeing remarkable things in their life, they begin to “be” that themselves.  It’s one of the reasons clients like to work with my firm, why my youth feel a sense that I truly do care and want the best for them, and people begin to see things for themselves that they may have never seen before.

I can go on and on with many things I can share but I’ll end with just a few things for you to take with you.

-          We often let fear stop us, disconnect yourself from your fears and you’ll see yourself as being powerful in the face of what has previously stopped you.

-          Don’t let your past dictate your today, as well as your future.

-          You create everything in your life…everything starts and ends with you.

 For more information about Landmark Education, visit http://www.landmarkeducation.com.