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EFFORTLESSEVOLUTIONA NEW PARADIGM FOR PERSONAL CHANGE- INTRODUCTION “When we experience our own desire for transformation,we are feeling the universe evolving through us.”- Barbara Marx Hubbard“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at theresults.”- Winston ChurchillI know what it's like.You're scanning the cover of the latest personal development, spiritualityor business book as you turn it over in your hands, and you have THEHOPE. We've all had THE HOPE, & some of us have had it dozens or evenhundreds of times. THE HOPE is a feeling, with a soundtrack that goessomething like this.“Maybe this is it, the answer, the thing that's really going to work.Maybe this is the solution I've been looking for all these years, thebig one, the thing that finally going to get me there. Maybe, justmaybe, if I read it all the way through, & do all the exercises, &somehow find the discipline to follow the plans it gives me - maybe ifI do it right this time, then maybe, just maybe it's going to work.”And why do we have THE HOPE?We have it because we're convinced that there's somewhere to get to, &that “there” is better than “here”. And “there” comes in a variety oftantalising flavours that look something like this: Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change2www.saladltd.co.uk
I'll be [happy / secure / fulfilled / peaceful / better / successful / ok] whenI . get the money / the car / the yacht / the house - the “there” ofstuff. find the right work / hobby / exercise / pastime - the “there” ofdoing. have the right partner / friends / children – the “there” of people &relationships. write the book / start the business / learn the language - the“there” of accomplishment. can take a year off / travel the world / eat at the best restaurants.The “there” of lifestyle. achieve time-freedom / financial freedom / social freedom – the“there” of freedom. lose the weight / stop smoking / start going to the gym - the“there” of self-improvement. change my thinking / my limiting beliefs / do my affirmations - the“there” of psychology. meditate properly / find the right practice / get enlightened - the“there” of spirituality. accept myself / love myself / just let go – the “there” of surrender.You may have tried none, some or all of the above. You may have madebig changes & improved your life in a variety of ways. Or maybe not. Attimes, you may have felt like you're nearly there, like you're very close,like the pot of gold's just around the corner. And yet.No matter how close you get, doesn't it always seems like there's a littlemore you need to do? A little further to go? Just a little bit more to fix,change or heal? Or a LOT more?I know, because I've done it – everything on this list & more. I got valuefrom many of my efforts, but sooner or later, after a week or a month ora year, I'd find myself feeling like I was back where I started, feeling likethere was something missing, something wrong, something I couldn'tquite put my finger on. Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change3www.saladltd.co.uk
As it turns out, the story behind that sense of “something missing”doesn't just stop you from enjoying your life to the full – it actually standsin the way of you having the life you really want.And it's not your fault.You see, as strange as it may sound, you've fallen into a trap. And it's atrap that's so subtle, you've probably never even noticed it. Subtle,powerful and all-pervasive.But I'm getting ahead of myself.These days, I spend most of the time living “there”, but I didn't get herein the way you might expect.In brief: I grew up in an alcoholic household & started drinking heavilywhen I was 12 years old. At age 19 I was a scholarship engineeringstudent & a full-blown alcoholic. The alcohol was like rocket fuel for mylife – I got jobs, was promoted rapidly, & started experiencing many ofthe trappings of success: expense accounts, foreign travel, luxurioussurroundings.But on the inside, I was falling apart.Then, at the age of 30 I got married. A month later, her bags werepacked so I decided to stop drinking in order to save my marriage.Oh yeah – I missed one. I'll be happy when I get a cigarette / a drink / aline of coke – the “there” of addiction.That was in 1996, & I haven't had a drink since. Today I live a happy,fulfilling life that's beyond anything I dreamed was possible for me, buthow I got here is a story of struggle, frustration & heartbreak (much ofwhich I could have avoided if I'd known what you're going to bediscovering in this book).Just to give you an idea, in the time-period from 1996 to 2008 I. Felt like I was a fraud & worried constantly that I'd be “found out” Moved to London Attended my first personal development training Quit my job & became a consultant Began a spiritual journey Read hundreds of personal development books Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change4www.saladltd.co.uk
Started a business with a friend Was terrified of having to get a job again Overcame my fear of public speaking (mainly by doing lots of publicspeaking) Lost weight, gained weight, lost weight, gained weight, lost weight,gained weight Experienced depression, anxiety and obsession Spent countless hours talking to a Freudian psychoanalyst Participated in various addiction recovery programmes Learned NLP, got certified as an NLP Trainer & started teachingothers Had two children (Matilda & Tallulah) Went on dozens of personal development courses Got dumped by my wife & almost fell apart Went on a journey of awakening my masculinity & learning moreabout women & relationships Struggled with worry, anxiety & suicidal thoughts Was paralysed by a combination of fear of failure & fear of success Built a successful training & educational product company (Salad –www.saladltd.co.uk) Tried my hand at stand-up comedy Learned Krav Maga, the Israeli martial art Built a tribe of tens of thousands of people who follow my work Had numerous false horizons, thinking I'd finally “got it”, only tofind myself back where I startedBy the end of 2008, I was unhappy, stressed-out & at the end of mytether. I felt like I'd been giving it everything I had for over a decade, &while my some areas of my life were better than ever, in many ways I feltlike I'd been running on the spot.It was shit or bust. I was on the verge of giving up.Then I was introduced to the understanding you're going to bediscovering in this book. It's nearly three years later, & they've been thebest three years of my life. I'm experiencing a sense of peace, security &aliveness unlike anything I've had before. And as my sense of wellbeing &clarity has continued to increase, my external circumstances have beenimproving too. Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change5www.saladltd.co.uk
The good news is, it can be replicated - the clients I work with are gettingsimilar results. Here are a few examples. Uncover your passions - Two clients (a couple) who recentlyrelocated to the UK didn't want to fall into the 9 to 5 grind, butanything else felt unobtainable. Nine months after discovering theprinciples you're going to be reading about in this book, living a lifethey love has become their day-to-day reality. They've discoverednew passions, and in the next few months they're moving to theSouth of France to live their dream of making organic soaps andskin care products. Overcome fears and obstacles - I introduced one of my clients tothese principles over lunch one day. When I checked in with her aweek later, she revealed that a lifelong fear of public speaking haddisappeared, and that she'd given a presentation to her team atwork. The amazing thing is that I didn't even KNOW she had a fearof public speaking until the told me it had gone. Her fear vanishedonce she got an understanding of what you're going to be learningin this book. (It's been a similar story with clients suffering from arange of fears, worries and anxieties). Beat stress and start living from wisdom - Another client, asuccessful businessman, has had the stress of running multiplebusinesses replaced with a sense of calm that allows him to makegreat decisions and enjoy his life more. For him, the principlesyou're going to be discovering have translated into better businessand big increases in revenue, but he says that the changes in hislife are worth far more than money. Live a life you love - A young entrepreneur has made his dreamsof passive income and living his purpose a reality – a reality that'stranslated into international travel and spending his days doingwhat he wants to do at just 27 years of age. The things you'regoing to be learning in this book have enabled him to shake off hislimiting beliefs and create a life he loves. Make a difference - A coach who wanted to create a successfulbusiness helping others has done just that, attracting numerousclients within months of learning the principles in this book. A yearlater, not only is his coaching business thriving, but his family life isbetter than ever, and he has a sense of confidence and self-beliefbeyond anything he'd previously experienced.While the circumstances in these stories are great examples of the powerof what you're going to be learning to make a real difference in people's Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change6www.saladltd.co.uk
lives, there's a deeper story that's both more subtle and more powerful.This deeper story relates to your EXPERIENCE of life. Again and again, myclients and the other people I know who are learning these principles arereporting radical changes in their experience of life. Security and wellbeing - You start to feel an increasing sense ofwellbeing, security and peace of mind that comes from within. Thevery qualities that people have been trying to get from outside ofthem start to show up from the inside! Richer relationships - You notice your relationships with family,friends and loved ones getting deeper and more connected. Evenrelationships with clients and colleagues start getting richer andmore enjoyably “real”. Innate wisdom - You start to get in touch with your innateguidance and natural wisdom, leading to better decisions. Yourexperience of life starts to take on an “effortless” quality. It's notthat you don't ever work hard at anything, but it's with anincreasing sense of engagement and enjoyment. Increasing confidence - You start to notice self-doubt fadingaway, to be replaced by a sense of increasing confidence andwillingness to take action. In fact, people often start taking inspiredaction on projects they'd been trying in vain to make progress onfor years. Sense of purpose - You start to feel a sense of purpose, and reallybeing part of life. Often there's a sense of gratitude and happinessthat seems to be for no reason at all, other than the enjoyment ofbeing alive. Helping others – You start to notice that you're making a realdifference in the lives of other people, able to help in situations thatused to seem baffling (coaches, therapists and change-workers findthemselves suddenly able to make quantum leaps in the impactthey can have with their clients using the insights you're going to begetting throughout this book).These stories are echoed over & over again by my other clients, and bythe other people I know who are working with the principles you're goingto be discovering. The discoveries you're going to be experiencing foryourself as you read this book have been used to transform people's livesin incredibly diverse areas: Working with gang members in maximum security jail in the USA Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change7www.saladltd.co.uk
(I've sat and talked with convicts who say they've never felt sohappy and peaceful in their lives since learning what you'll bereading about. In fact, some of them even had their sentencesreduced when the parole board saw how much they'd changed). Consulting with large organisations, including Blue-chipcompanies, advertising agencies, sales forces and even the USArmy. They've harnessed the power of what you're going to belearning in this book, and the results they've seen in terms ofemployee engagement, results and profitability have confoundedwhat people thought was possible. Helping heal people with serious clinical diagnoses like clinicaldepression, paranoid schizophrenia and psychosis. The principlesyou're going to be learning have been tried and tested with some ofthe most severe of mental problems and “personality disorders”. Transforming inner-city housing projects that were labelled aspolice “no go” areas, with high levels of truancy, addiction andabuse. When they saw the same principles you're going to bepointed towards, the people in those projects grew into acommunity with high levels of mental health, and associatedchanges in behaviour. Healing alcoholism, drug addictions and eating disorders. Theimpact of what you're going to be learning about in this book isprofound and lasting for human beings in all walks of life (eventhose who have been pronounced “incurable”). Working with couples and mediating a wide variety ofrelationships (often in seemingly intractable positions). Theprinciples you're going to be learning have created harmony,connection and shared perspective where it was thought there wasnone.The amazing thing is that all of the things you've read about above havebeen achieved without the things we're usually told we need. without the use of techniques, tactics and interventions without needing to stress, struggle or strive without resorting to regimes, discipline or pressure Without having to remember, reframe or manage your thinking Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change8www.saladltd.co.uk
It may sound extreme, but the understanding you're going to be exposedto has earned the label “Effortless Evolution”. Best of all, the changes thatyou can expect from your deepening understanding of the material in thisbook share three important qualities: Your transformations will be NATURAL. The insights andtransformations you're going to experience are a perfect fit for youand your life. They're going to be a natural expression of who youare, rather than trying to fit yourself into someone else's model. Your transformations will be SUSTAINABLE. Because thetransformations take no effort to “implement”, and because they'resuch a natural fit for who you are, they're easily sustainable. It'stime to wave goodbye to struggle and backsliding. Your transformations will be GENERATIVE. This means that thepositive impact of what you'll be learning will show up in manydifferent aspects of your life, without you having to “make ithappen”.The reason I'm writing this book is to save you the decade or more ofsearching, struggling & unnecessary suffering that I went through.Because that's the good news – you don't have to go through any of whatI've done. You can cut to the chase, & take a shortcut that gets you to thesame place in a fraction of the time. You don't have to wait. You can startliving the life you desire sooner than you think!But first, a question:Q: If you're caught in a trap, what's the one thing you have to do beforeyou can escape?A:You have to realise that you've been caught in a trap.Until you realise you've been caught in a trap, you're very unlikely to getout of it. But once you know about the trap, & you can see how it works,then escape is pretty straightforward. Especially if other people haveescaped from the same trap, & can show you how.So in the first chapter, I'm going to show you the trap, how it works, andwhy you've been caught in it until now. But before I do, I need to sharesomething very important with you – something you may never havethought about before. Jamie Smart 2011Effortless Evolution: A New Paradigm for Personal Change9www.saladltd.co.uk
experience of life starts to take on an “effortless” quality. It's not that you don't ever work hard at anything, but it's with an increasing sense of engagement and enjoyment. Increasing confidence - You start to notice self-doubt fading away, to be replaced by a sense
