The Integram: an Integral Enneagram of Consciousness;  a model of consciousness, including all aspects, for designing practical paths of personal development and evolution.

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Several Workshops scheduled for companies in the SF Bay Area (both full and half day.)  These are internal workshops, so not open to the public. Depending upon time availability and demand, I'd like to start scheduling public workshops and talks next month. If you or your company would like to discuss a workshop or a talk, please visit the menu page and/or contact me for details. 

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Be the Cue Stick
(click for podcast)

It’s a hard thing to admit – that when we step back and reflect on our lives – we see so much of those lives as bouncing off of events and choices, rather than intentional aims. I’ve heard many descriptions of this dynamic through the years, including “accidental relationships,” and “just finding myself in this job,” or even “what am I doing here? Where do I want to go?”
 

It seems most of us live our lives much like billiard balls. We’re just minding our own business, and another ball smacks into us, sending us careening off-track. Maybe we’re rolling along until we hit a bumper and bounce off in a new direction until we hit another bumper or ball, and that energy sends us off again.
 

This is a story of reaction. It’s a perfectly reasonable story, if you don’t have an alternative. That’s where we can flip this whole thing on its head. Our belief that the way we’ve always thought, been, felt, done things is the only way we have is completely false. The belief is simply based in what we see or perceive at first, before we seriously examine ourselves.


You Need All the Pieces
Whether we’re making decisions or assembling a puzzle, our success is governed by having all the pieces. When we don’t, those holes in the puzzle become holes in our choices, and something down the line breaks. When we’re looking at what we’re doing and why, we need to have as much information as possible. In addition, the more we understand something, the more confidence we have about it. If we understand ourselves incredibly well, know what all the pieces are and how they fit, we’re going to be far more confident about ourselves and our choices.
 

This is why the Integram™ model is so useful in personal development and communication. What the Integram™ adds is a kind of inventory, starting with skills and foibles. That’s great, as it lets us know which muscles are strong, which need work, and what our starting baseline looks like. If that was all we learned, it would still be extremely useful and powerful. However, what I think is even more important is that it illuminates our relationships to everything, from words to concepts to feelings. Our relationship to every word, concept, or feeling changes how we hear it and respond or react. These differences in interpretations are the most prevalent disconnect we experience with one another.
 

The only way to cope and deal with all aspects of life is to be aware – extremely aware - of all the subconscious triggers from these relationships. Then we can understand both the way our interpretation either serves or not, and be aware and able to make the intentional choice or action. If we’re at the common level of autopilot where we’re merely bouncing off the pool table bumpers of life, that will be our entire experience. Good days, bad days, people pissing you off, or thinking we need them in order to feel happy are all interpretations of reality, not reality. And yet, we surrender to narratives all the time, and allow them to drive our lives.

These narratives we surrender to are usually quite old. They assert that we’re not smart enough, strong enough, good enough, and so forth. What’s really unfortunate is that they’re no more true or real than any other narrative we make up, accept, then form our lives around.
 

Identifying these non-serving scripts is very much like de-bugging cerebral software. First we need to become aware that something’s not working. Then we need to identify the code that isn’t functioning (serving you) which is usually hiding in our subconscious, so bringing it to light is step two. That’s where we take all the pieces out of the box, and lay them out on a table. Finally, we need to replace that code with new code that does function.


Reclaiming Your Autonomy
Where most systems break down, is in neglecting your need for that code to be natural and authentic to you. They usually attempt to replace your “buggy code” with what works for the practitioner, rather than the client (you.) Just because something works for me doesn’t mean it will work for you. When a tactic, process, or script doesn’t fit – generally because of Perception Lens Typology differences – it doesn’t stick. Staying with the programming metaphor, it’s like trying to run PC software on a Mac or Linux operating system.  It doesn’t matter if the new code is spectacular if it doesn’t fit your operating system.
 

Your Perception Lenses direct your interpretations; they control the relationships you have to everything. Understanding why you have a trigger around being respected or people being loyal helps you to not just react when that trigger gets hit. You can mindfully examine your triggered reaction, assess what would serve you better, in a way that’s still you, and implement a new response to the trigger.
 

Then by using the same mental process you’ve used millions of times already in your life to memorize things or establish habits, you can “burn in” the new response as neural pathways.
 

What if you could re-route your patterns, so that exactly the things that made you procrastinate, now make you take action? What if you could re-train yourself to regulate your emotional reactions to things that upset you for days, so that they only upset you for hours or minutes? What if you could turn envy into gratitude, anger into mindfulness, or fear into contingency thinking? You can. There’s no reason for you to be in the passenger seat of your own life, wondering what just happened or why things happen to you. You can live a life of intention and design. This is the power of personal training for your mind. You can stop being the ball getting bounced around, and take your rightful place as the cue stick.

Want to learn more about how to become the best you possible?  Come visit the web site, or better yet, contact me and see how we can design a program to fit your needs and desired outcomes.

     - Ian J. Blei


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Resolutions - Schmezolutions!

People make New Year's Resolutions every year, and it's almost cliché how we don't stick to them. If you put a new coat of paint over the air bubbles and peelings of the past, it won't stick. This year do it differently than ever before. 

This year make everything else possible by de-bugging your old cerebral software, re-coding, re-wiring, and running at optimal.

This month I'm offering my Dynamic Discovery Session at half price to anyone using the code: Schmezolutions. The full 75 minute session including operating system identification, insight into what's really in your way, and a kickstart process for taking control of your life for only $93.50!

Just put Schmezolutions in the Subject Line of your email, along with your contact info, and we'll schedule.

“Working with Ian, he helped me see the underlying framework that drives my personality, which unlocked hidden potentials and allowed me to step up in both career and relationship. Specifically, I stepped into a primary lead role, running our workshops from the front of the room (something that I had feared and avoided for years.)" - C.C., - Boulder, CO

 Click to Schedule.

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Welcome to the Integram, where consciousness meets intentional design.   Enjoy!

The Optimizer
Ian Blei,
Director of the
Institute for Integral Enneagram Studies and
President of
Optimized Results
415.826.0478

Kind Ambition

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Kind Ambition:
Practical Steps
to Achieve Success
 Without Losing Your Soul
 

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Kind Ambition is about you having the tools to slide over to the driver’s seat of your own life.  Circumstances will always be changing, seemingly thwarting our plans, but we don’t have to be  thrown around by them. You can be in charge of your choices and actions more than you might imagine - yet.

Kind Ambition is written for you, as a practical guide you can use right now.  It is a collection of  insights and actions designed to help you move forward and get more out of your life at home and at work.  The chapters hold to a formula of first giving you a new way to look at things, then offering you tangible Action Steps to try them out, and finally some things to notice when you do.

Kind words for “Kind Ambition”

"If you are interested in success, whether it is in running a large organization, a small business, or leading a satisfying life, you will find a right blend of rules, wisdom and wit in a digestible fashion that will serve to accomplish your objectives. The notion that kindness can be blended with ambition and made to work and serve the "bottom line" is enlightening, uplifting and satisfying."

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“An easy to use guide for anyone who wants to achieve real  growth and success. His sensible and practical tactics solve age-old challenges with real, how-to solutions. Best of all, Ian lives his work!”

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" We all face obstacles in our lives and careers. Some of these come from within, subverting our conscious intentions. The  good news is: they can be overcome.  The techniques and processes found in this book will help you on your way."

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 Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters

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“A scientifically-based, spiritually-awake, (and smart and funny) guide to making the most of your life.  Ian Blei provides the know-how, the inspiration, the structure and all the tools you need in  this straightforward and inspirational book.”

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Star of Unapix film, “Dance Me Outside”

" Ian Blei shares his deep insights in simple and straightforward ways.  His work continues to inspire me whenever I feel I'm getting stuck in some area of my life."

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