Enslavement to the Mental Illusion "I Have No Time Now"

One of the excuses I used to hear from other researchers when I still worked in academia is "I have no time now". It's so sad that many people in academia have enslaved themselves, whether consciously or unconsciously, to this mental illusion. The present moment is the only time that is and has reality. No living human has ever experienced the future except in his or her mind. If they don't live the present monent, they are actually not living except in their mental solitary confinement.

I don't remember exactly when I came to this realization but I do remember that I realized this quite suddenly. But after this sudden realization that I had been trapped in this mental prison all my life in academia, I told myself to leave it as soon as possible though after the necessary preparation for the transition.

I really want to believe that working in academia doesn't and shouldn't mean a life sentence in such mental solitary confirment. But unfortunately, I don't remember meeting anyone who isn't trapped there to a greater or lesser extent. This mental enslavement seems to be engraved in the very structure of academia. I wish I were wrong. And I'm more than glad to meet researchers in academia who are fully mindful of the present moment and aren't trying to keep pursuing this constantly moving future they'll never be able to capture.

PS: A conversation between two researchers in academia:

"Why have you stopped reading books?"

"I have no time now to read books as I have to write papers."

First 10 of the 60 Lessons in the Marketing Seminar by Seth Godin

On September 15 I joined The Marketing Seminar by Seth Godin, which has turned out to be the most amazing learning environment and experience I've had so far though we have only finished the first one sixth. It's very difficult to explain these unique learning environment and experience to those who haven't been there. I'm sure that those who have already been there will completely agree with me.

This seminar is more than just about marketing. It's a journey of self-discovery prompted by 60 thought-provoking questions by Seth Godin and accelerated by exchanging comments in a community of close to 1000 like-minded people from all over the world.

In order to allow you taste a little bit of what I've been experiencing, I'd like to share with you the prompts from two of the first 10 of the 60 lessons and my answers to them:

Marketing Audit

1. What do you make?
   • I offer online service of life coaching based on the teachings of Chabad Hasidism.
   • (I'm leaving my tenure as a senior lecturer in Hebrew linguistics at an Israeli university at the end of this month and officially launching my new business in the beginning of next month.)
2. What's it called?
   • Jewish life coaching.
3. How much does it cost?
   • A package of eight one-hour weekly sessions costs $800.
4. Who is it for?
   • For those speakers of Japanese who feel stuck in their midlife in general and in their marriage life and work in particular.
5. How do you reach your audience?
   • Through the website, blog, Facebook and newsletter.
6. When you reach them, what's the offer, the promise?
   • They will become aware of the control by their ego as the main source of their being stuck.
   • They will have a clear vision of their true self liberated from the control of their ego.
   • They will become able to plan SMART goals to enable a fundamental transformation that is aligned with their newly discovered vision.
   • (This section needs further elaboration - the offer and the promise must be more specific and concrete.)
7. Do you spend money on marketing? On what? How much?
   • Yes.
   • On Facebook.
   • About 45 dollars shekels every other month for promoting the Facebook business page, and another 30 dollars every other month for promoting announcements about the business.
8. Who is the competition?
   • There is no competition in Jewish life coaching in Japanese.
   • But there are a number of other life coaches in Japan(ese).
9. How do you compare to the competition (be specific)?
   • I offer Jewish life coaching based on the teachings of Chabad Hasidism, which I've been studying formally in Jerusalem, where I live.
10. Clearly, you don't have 100% market share, and just as clearly, the customers of your competition aren't stupid. Why do they buy from someone other than you?
    • Because of the Jewish part of my life coaching, which offers the so-called long short way instead of the short long way as is common in other methods of life coaching.
11. Would your customers miss you if you were gone? How easy is it to replace what you offer?
    • Perhaps nobody else will be able to replace me as a Jewish life coach for speakers of Japanese. "Jewish" here has double meanings - I'm a (multilingual) observant Jew and my life coaching is Jewish.
12. Do you have specific measures of marketing success? What are they?
    • Having at least ten new paying clients every two months.
13. What are the demographics of your target market?
    • Speakers of Japanese in their midlife.
14. What about the psychographics? What are they like?
    • Those who feel stuck, especially in their married life and work.
15. What else do people who buy what you sell also buy?
    • Online courses in Chabad Hasidism that supplement my Jewish life coaching.
16. If you could change your offering to make it more appealing, how would you change it?
    • To make my message more easily understandable to more potential clients.
17. What would change if you were forced to justify charging twice as much for your product?
    • I have to double the benefits of my coaching.
18. When someone tells a friend about what you offer, what do they say?
    • My coaching is fundamentally different from other methods of coaching.
19. What problem do you solve for the customer?
    • The root problem of many other problems in life - control of life by the ego.
20. What problem do you cause for people who aren't yet your customers?
    • My message may not be clearly articulated, thus may not be sufficiently understood.
21. What's the risk of using your solution?
    • Those whose level of consciousness is not high enough may fail to appreciate it.
22. Which intermediaries need to be recruited to help you grow? (Retailers, media, etc.). Be specific.
    • Former clients who can spread the word.
23. Make a list of marketing tactics you've used to reach new customers.
    • Website
    • Blog
    • Facebook
    • Newsletter
24. Make a list of marketing assets that you own (brand, mailing list, distribution arm, etc.)
    • Website
    • Blog
    • Facebook
    • Newsletter
25. Are you primarily a brand or direct marketer?
    • I'm not sure yet.
26. What change are you trying to make in your customers?
    • They will become aware of the control by their ego as the main source of their being stuck.
    • They will have a clear vision of their true self liberated from the control of their ego.
    • They will become able to plan SMART goals to enable a fundamental transformation that is aligned with their newly discovered vision.
    • (This section needs further elaboration - the offer and the promise must be more specific and concrete.)

Positioning Yourself

• Make a list of all the things desirable to the people you seek to change.
  • Desired change per se: getting out of the mind-made prison, which negatively affects thought, speech and action in intra- and interpersonal relationships
    • They may have to reach the rockbottom to starting seeking this change as I did, but I'd like to help them avoid this by making them realize that they don't have to wait until then.
  • Foundation of coaching for the change: no foundation vs. non-Jewish spirituality vs. Jewish spirituality
    • My potential clientele seems to take an initial interest in my service because of their interest in things Jewish.
  • Way of coaching for the change: the short long way vs. the long short way (details below)
    • My potential clientele has to hear my explanations to see that the second way is desirable to them though it may seem counter-intuitive at first.
• Then, pick two of those things.
  • Foundation of coaching for the change: no foundation vs. no spiritual foundation vs. non-Jewish spirituality vs. Jewish spirituality
    • This scale doesn't necessarily mean that Jewish spirituality is superior to non-Jewish spirituality.
    • The kind of Jewish spirituality on which my practice of Jewish life coaching is based is Hasidism, or to be more precise, Chabad Hasidism, one of whose main teachings is to transform darkness into light.
  • Way of coaching for the change: the short long way vs. the long short way
    • The short long way: You'll see the change more immediately, but you'll easily revert to the original state, so you end up repeating the same process again and again.
    • The long short way: You'll see the change more slowly, but the change will be more lasting, so you don't have to repeat the same process.
• Set these on two axes, and decide where in that graph you'd optimally sit for your customers. What is your position on these axes?
  • Foundation of coaching
    • No foundation at all: some of my competitors
    • No spiritual foundation: many of my competitors
    • Non-Jewish spirituality: a few of my competitors
    • Jewish spirituality: me (no competitor so far in my specific geographic market)
  • Way of coaching
    • The short long way: most of my competitors
    • The long short way: me
• What are you committed to being on behalf of the people you wish to change?
  • Focusing more on what they want or need rather than on what I want to offer
  • Delivering my messages in a way any potential client of mine can easily understand, feel identified with, and feel like working with me
  • Actually, my marketing efforts are also going through the long short way. ;-)

Farewell to Academia

I officially left my tenured position in Hebrew linguistics at one Israeli university the day before yesterday and started a new business as a Jewish life coach for speakers of Japanese yesterday though I still have to register this new business in the tax authority here.

I spent the last two years on sabbatical taking three coach training courses and many other courses, the most significant of which for me was Torat Hanefesh or Jewish psychology based on the teachings of Hasidism.

With the end of this two-year sabbatical the longest chapter in my professional life also came to an end. I worked about 30 years in academia since I started teaching in the university when I was in the second year as a PhD student in Hebrew linguistics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

One significant life event I experienced before I started this last sabbatical of mine made me realize that time had come to leave this comfort zone and follow my new bliss - Jewish life coaching. The Jewish part of my business is the incorporation of some teachings of Chabad Hasidism, which I started learning formally at Torat Hanefesh about two years ago and have come to embrace, though not fully yet.

My last day in academia the day before yesterday was just another normal weekday. But before I retired at night, I expressed my gratitude to everyone and everyting I encountered during this long period, without whom and which I'm not what I am now. If I'm to choose one word that best describes my present feeling, it's serenity.

Now I'm deeply convinced that no life experience is wasted and challenges we experience in life are here to serve us for our spiritual growth.