Saturday, April 30, 2016

Truths, Facts, and Predictions: A Freedom Focused Vision of the Future

Chaos leads to Conflict & Creation
As America and the world increasingly devolves into political and domestic chaos, what does the future hold for our troubled land and the nations we have traditionally led?

At Freedom Focused, we think this is an important question.

The precise answer is that nobody knows exactly what future years and decades will bring.  However, we believe that an approximate answer may be plausibly postulated on the basis of historical considerations and present observances.

Historical precedent is one of the best indicators of what is to come.  On the other hand, it also remains blind to the unprecedented.  By balancing these two variables, I believe it is possible to attain a measure of prescience about the future.

The purpose of this article is to present three (3) basic historical truisms and four (4) basic contemporary facts as a preface to making three (3) bold predictions about what the near-mid-term future holds for America and the rest of the world.  My first prediction predictably follows historical precedent and spells bad news for America.  My second and third predictions suggest an unprecedented turn of events that will stand in stark contrast to historical precedents and holds out great hope for America and the rest of the world.

TRUISM #1


Historically, great powers have almost universally grown lazy and debauched in the midst of their own preeminence and prosperity.  Indeed, in the long run it seems as though power almost always leads to powerlessness with the blame lying squarely with the once powerful.  To illustrate the consistence and profundity of this truism one must merely reflect upon the fact that every superpower our world has ever known has eventually fallen (or been greatly diminished) over time.  Sadly, the United States is heading down a similar road of diminished power, influence, and moral authority with even greater alacrity than many previous superpowers.

TRUISM #2


Periods of economic expansion and prosperity are almost always followed by periods of economic recession and fiscal contraction.  Periods of extreme economic expansion and prosperity are typically followed by economic depression and/or war.  The lead up to both world wars of the last century provide examples of this pattern.

TRUISM #3


Good and evil are REAL forces that work in the minds and hearts of men and women in this world.  Despite what postmodernists claim to the contrary, there is no degree of human intellectual sophistication nor social evolution that can categorically extricate evil from the human race.  Whenever and wherever evil is presented with opportunity or an upper hand, it will seek to please and aggrandize itself by destroying whatever (or whoever) stands in the way of its nefarious ends.  Because evil does (and always will) exist in this world, those who are good (who would also be wise) must be constantly vigilant in keeping it in check.  Those who don't, are eventually overcome thereby.

FACT #1


The unprecedented prosperity of the past two generations have, since the 1960s, influenced the United States to become socially prurient, culturally idle, politically cowardly, and militarily soft.

FACT #2


Sub-superpowers around the globe are currently engaged in an undeclared arms race.  These nations include China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

FACT #3


ISIS and other terrorist groups (primarily Islamic extremist groups), while militarily feeble, have obtained a foothold in dozens of nations around the world and remain determined to wreak as much havoc and engender as much terror as possible.

FACT #4


The response of the Great Western Powers (U.S., Britain, France, Canada, and the E.U.) to ISIS and other growing military threats increasingly resembles the response of those same powers to Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Hikeki Tojo in the 1920s and 1930s.

No sane person ever wants a war.  During the last century, the Western Powers were certainly the saner of the world's great powers.

Following the defeat of Germany and the Central Powers in World War I, austere terms were set forth by the victors in the Treaty of Versailles.  Such terms embittered the vanquished and squashed its economy.  Even worse, the terms were never fully enforced.

The victorious and sophisticated Western Powers managed to convince themselves that "enlightened man" would never again engage in the horrors introduced by the Great War.  Moreover, they understandably sought to avoid such a conflict at all costs.  Culturally bruised and economically battered from the greatest conflict in human history up to that point, their long-sought for peace led to a foolish complacency that failed to take into account the lessons of history.  Thus the so-called "war to end all wars" morphed into a "war that was even worse" in the span of a single generation!

To the credit of the post-World War II powers, a full cycle of generations has passed without the world engulfing itself into a World War III.  But are we truly safe from entering into such a feared conflict in the not-too-distant future?  Sophisticated postmodernists of the present era will tell you we are.  They like to speak of inhabitants of the twenty-first century as being too wise and mature to ever spark another conflagration on par with previous global conflicts.  They will tell you we have collectively risen above such things.  Their claim is that we are too smart to ever allow ourselves to repeat such dreaded mishaps of the not-so-distant past (my own Grandfather landed on Utah Beach in June 1944; it wasn't all that long ago).  In fact, a good friend of mine (who in many regards is a postmodernist) recently communicated great optimism to me that we are past stooping to the levels the world lowered itself to in the world wars of the last century; I hope he is right!

For the sake of all of us, let's hope the postmodernists are right.  But since postmodernists are typically wrong about just about everything in the long-run, let's be wise and avoid gambling any of our chips away in their predictably poor-handed pile of cards.

What would an authenticist say about the future of our country?  As one who at least aspires with all his mind and heart to carry the banner of authenticism, I humbly implore your attention to a few predictions.

Grave Days May Lie Ahead
PREDICTION #1


Using only history as my guide, I predict Americans can expect a coming conflict (and perhaps a preceding or concurrent economic depression) in the coming decade that will prove historically analogous to the worst economic recessions or conflicts our nation has ever endured.  History, in conjunction with all the present signs, provide us with enough data to make at least a translucent call on this point.

To read more about how I arrived at this predictive conclusion, click HERE.

PREDICTION #2


Unlike former superpowers who fell from grace and were eventually conquered (or greatly diminished) by the rise of their foes and competitors, I don't believe America is destined for this ultimate decline.  Make no mistake, we are presently in decline, and grave days do lie ahead; nevertheless, I remain confidently optimistic that come what may, the United States of America will ultimately rise to its call to both sanctify its inner core and stave off external foes to continue to stand as the world's military—and more importantly, moral—leader for decades and even centuries to come.  

I also predict that following the conflict, the United States will, over the course of the following two decades, come to lead the world in nearly every quantifiable category.  This means that despite throngs of naysayers, the 21st Century will indeed become a new American Century.

When historians look back on the conflicts that are to come, defeating our external foes will not be viewed as our greatest challenge to victory.  Rather, the process of personal, internal sanctification will be touted as our greatest achievement—and the key to our success in battle (literally and metaphorically).

And who will be the vanguard of this victory?  It won't be the politicians, although they have been and will continue to be right on the forefront of getting us mired in the deep muck that is coming.  It won't be the military, although a rebuilt and robust military will ultimately extricate us from its immediate clutches.  It won't be our economic strength, which may largely fail before it rebounds and prospers.  Nor will it be our industrial capacity, although we will rely on the same for basic subsistence and continued progress.  No, victory will not primarily come from any one of these sectors.

PREDICATION #3


The true leaders of the greatest revival of American power and moral leadership in the world will come from authentic educators, and their greatest work will be done after the visible conflict has already been won.  Who will lead this revival?

The answer is: FREEDOM FOCUSED and its exponents and advocates.

How will we do it?  By fundamentally transforming American pedagogical processes to provide character, leadership, and life-skills education that is undergirded by the philosophy of authenticism as opposed to the philosophy of postmodernism, which has, for the most part, polluted our culture since the end of World War II.

Click HERE to read more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM

Click HERE to learn more about Postmodernism

The movement of authenticism will begin small as individuals read these articles and sign up for the Freedom Focused blog and buy our seminal textbook: Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

It will grow very slowly at first.  In the midst of our chaotic country and world deeply adrift in selfish striving and other profligate diversions, few will pay much attention to our message... until things start to get really bad.  Presently, Freedom Focused will be largely ignored as a relatively lone voice in the wilderness—much like Churchill was largely ignored as he warned vehemently of Hitler and the rise of the Third Reich in Germany in the 1930s.

Political pundits of the 1930s scoffed
at and ostracized Churchill for his
inflammatory caveats regarding Germany's
rearmament and aggression.  In the end,
Churchill's warnings were fully vindicated,
leading this inspired leader to the offices at
#10 Downing Street where he successfully
led the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany 
and Imperial Japan.
As things worsen, however, collective America will begin to wake from its stupor and start to accept the reality that if we don't make a big change, we may very well become obsolete, or worse, extinct.  As that reality sets in, Freedom Focused—like Churchill—will grow in influence and gain a larger audience.  Over time, multitudes will discover that we hold the secret to success, and possess the knowledge and capacity to serve a growing populace in desperate need of Existential Growth.

Initially, most will seek the education and training we offer for survival (literal or metaphorical).  Later, as they begin to taste the sweet fruits of genuine authenticism and savor the rich rewards springing forth in their personal and professional lives and relationships, they will begin to seek after Existential Growth for its own sake—with all of its abundant satisfactions and deep human fulfillments concomitant thereto.

In time, schools, colleges, and universities will begin to embrace the SAL Theory and Model and other, related constructs to the point where, at some distant day—decades down the road—the better part of America—and a growing percentage of the world-at-large—will be devoting up to 25% of their overall curriculum to character and leadership-based courses and training that are rarely if ever offered today.

Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

Entire courses will be made available in topics such as honesty, integrity, courage, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, spirituality, social and emotional intelligence, personal finance, self-thought processes and training, mental health, and good vs. evil.  Courses such as these—and many others that contemporary postmodernists would laugh at and never allow under the roofs of their "sophisticated" institutions—will be required fare at most of the nation's public and private schools and universities.

These schools will not be mandated to carry such curriculum.  There will be no governmental fiat or injunction to install these pedagogical measures.  Rather, humbled by the national crucibles just recently passed through, the collective populace will desire such a curriculum of their own volition in an effort to spare their children and grandchildren from the disasters they themselves had to face.  Like a blitzkrieg, this movement will begin to sweep nation's under its feet.  Unlike a blitzkrieg, its spread will come at the request of those in its wake rather than combatively coerced by thug invaders.

What then will be the result of this remarkable educational shift?  The answer is that America—spurred on by this powerful pedagogy of personal leadership—will enter her greatest period of collective growth and prosperity in her 250-year history.  Contemporaries of these future generations will look back and chuckle at how far we thought we had come in the second decade of the twenty-first century.  Citizens of the mid-twenty-first century will view those at the turn of the twentieth century much the way Americans of the 1990s and 1980s reflected back on the 1920s and 1930s.

What then comes after that?  I purposely refrain from making any predictions beyond this.  I am not a prophet; I am a philosopher-historian, poet, and pedagogue; I therefore openly acknowledge that my historical-educational predictions could turn out to be faulty.  But come what may, Freedom Focused is destined to prosper and proliferate because it operates under a standard of truth, transparency, integrity, decency, and competence.  No organization thus endowed could ever fail except by abandoning its own principles.

As for further predictions, such as those concerning "the end of the world," religionists provide many clues from their sacred texts that you may or may not find value in perusing.  As a secular institution, we are not in the business of trying to call such shots.  We are, however, very interested in the next 30-50 years, and therein lies our focus.  We believe a stellar comprehension of the past combined with an incisive observance of the present can provide at bare minimum a translucent vision of the future, and these are our general predictions.

We invite you to begin bolstering the movement of authenticism today by signing up for our blog, visiting our website, and buying our seminal textbook.

The more prepared you are for the coming conflict, the greater the odds become that you will live to see and enjoy the wonders and prosperity that will follow its successful conclusion.  We hope you'll join our movement, which will not only survive the coming conflict, but will in fact lead America out of it—and beyond.

God Bless the United States of America—a blessed land of promise—now, and always.

Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

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SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.

Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.

Note: Freedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation. As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures. We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.


Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.


To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."


Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.


Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen.

Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.


  

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Postmodernists vs. Authenticists: An Existential Comparison

Six Intelligences
of Existentialism
In past articles, I have written a fair bit about postmodernism—and the AGE of AUTHENTICISM that is beginning to gradually eclipse it.  The purpose of this piece is to capture the deep chasm that exists between the THOUGHTS and BEHAVIORS of acolytes of these two strikingly different ages and ideologies, which, to varying degrees, have been battling each other in cyclical fashion throughout human history.

I will compare and contrast these differences by descriptively measuring them against SIX components of the Self-Action Leadership Theory of Existential Intelligence.  These six components are: Mental intelligence, Physical intelligence, Spiritual intelligence, Emotional intelligence, Social intelligence, & Moral intelligence.

In reviewing this article, keep in mind that no human being is all postmodernist or all authenticist.  Nearly all authenticists have postmodern proclivities of one form or another, and nearly all postmodernists possess redeeming qualities.  Nevertheless, it is true that generally speaking, every individual is always either heading in one direction or the other.  Thus, in the end, you cannot ultimately find yourself in both camps; you do choose one or the other, and more specifically, one of nine gradients of one side or the other.  (Note: there are nine different levels of Existential Growth and Existential Atrophy.  Authenticist ideology leads one to higher levels of the former - EG. Postmodernist ideology leads one to lower levels of the latter - EA. )

Cognitive Differences  


The Mental Component
A postmodernist believes there isn't any absolute truth and that all "so-called truth" is dynamic and relative to each person's unique life experience. In other words, "truth" (lower-cased) can be flexibly bent to the whimsical exigencies of individual human beings and the perplexing quagmires into which they often entangle themselves as a result of their own choices. To a postmodernist, consequences, along with truth and metaphysical natural laws, are also arbitrary rather than absolute.

In essence, postmodernists seek to become a law unto themselves rather than adhere to, or even admit that any real natural laws governing human behavior may exist outside of or beyond themselves.

An authenticist recognizes that "Truth" (upper-cased) is not only absolute in nature, but that it exists outside of any human wish or inclination. To an authenticist, truth never changes, nor can it be altered. Human beings either choose to seek it out and heed it, or to disregard its tenets and caveats—with relatively predictable long-term consequences following the freely chosen thoughts and behavior of each individual. Authenticists seek to learn about natural laws and then dedicate themselves to living in harmony therewith.


Behavioral Differences  


The Physical (or Behavioral) Component
Postmodernists are fundamentally REACTIVE.

When things go wrong in a postmodernist's life, he or she looks outward for someone or something to scapegoat for his or her problems or misfortune. Postmodernists are fundamentally part of the problem(s) rather than part of the solution(s).

Authenticists are fundamentally PROACTIVE.

When things go wrong in an authenticist's life, he or she looks inward and asks the following questions: 1). How am I contributing to this problem, or how am I a part of the problem? 2). What can I personally do to solve this problem or improve this situation? and 3). In what way(s) do I need to change my thoughts and behavior or purify my character to improve the problem or situation long-term? Authenticists are fundamentally part of the solution(s) rather than part of the problem(s).

Theosophical Differences 


The Spiritual Component
Postmodernists typically don't believe in a Higher Power, or if they do, their belief is one of convenience and caprice. The very concept of faith in what one cannot see or sentiently detect is anathema to a postmodernist because it spoils the notion that the postmodernist him or herself is on top of the universal existential food chain.

Even worse, the acceptance of a Higher Power would create spiritual accountability for one's thoughts and behaviors, something postmodernists are loathe to consider, much less acknowledge. They don't always seek after darkness in an explicit sense; it is just that their pride and vanity won't allow them to make room in their own world for any God that would outrank or otherwise interfere their own self-perceived demigod status. Postmodernists also discount the notion that there is life after death. Doing so makes it much easier to rationalize a whole host of destructive and damning inclinations, behaviors, and lifestyle as being okay—or even good.

Authenticists almost always believe in some form of Higher Power, although their specific spiritual or theological beliefs differ widely. Such faith engenders humility regarding the lowliness of their own existential station, and their reliance on Higher forms of being to access the knowledge and power to to advance existentially themselves. Most importantly, such faith illuminates the existential duty one has to seek after truth and to choose right and good actions over wrong and evil ones to the best of one ability—all while continually seeking after the empowering aid of unseen forces of light along the way.


The Emotional Component

Emotional Differences  


While postmodernists usually don't believe in a Higher Power, this does not mean they do not have strong, spiritually-oriented feelings. Quite to the contrary, a postmodernist may experience spiritual-esque feelings as potently and powerfully as any authenticist. The difference between the two is not necessarily that one feels more strongly than the other. The difference lies in the thoughts and behaviors a postmodernist chooses as a result of the feelings he or she has experienced. 

An authenticist feels strongly about the reality of absolute truth and aligning one's thoughts and behavior in harmony therewith.

A postmodernist feels strongly about whatever one feels strongly about in the present moment. He or she focuses on aligning his or her thoughts and behaviors with augmenting the emotion as well as embracing whatever "itch" one feels most inclined to "scratch" at any given point in his or her life, without giving much thought to the long-term consequences.

The Social Component

Relational Differences  


Postmodernists view relationships mainly as a means to an end. The quality, therefore, of a relationship for a postmodernist is judged by what one personally gets from the relationship. As a result, postmodernists usually choose to cultivate fleeting, short-term, and sentient or sexual-based relationships rather than investing the time, effort, and sacrifice required to obtain deep, enriching, long-term relationships that fulfill the deepest needs human beings have for authentic interpersonal connectedness.

Authenticists, on the other hand, view relationships—and the quality thereof—as an end in and of themselves. For an authenticist, one's primary role in a relationship involves what he or she can give to the other person, how one can personally nurture the relationship, and how one can promote Existential Growth in the other. By secondarily prioritizing one's personal pleasure or external rewards in relationships, authenticists paradoxically magnify and intensify the same, making both parties truly rich (both internally and externally) in the relationship.


The Moral Component

Ethical Differences  


To a postmodernist, ethical concerns are arbitrary and relative. This does not mean postmodernists are casual or indifferent about ethical concerns. To the contrary, postmodernists are sometimes the most impassioned and vocal about issues surrounding ethics. The problem is the standard by which ethical issues are judged to be issues of concern. Rather than being rooted in natural law, such standards are invariably constructed by postmodernist themselves. There is no absolute standard upon which to base ethicality beyond the pronouncements of postmodern potentates. Thus many ethical issues in postmodernism revolve around ideological pet projects rooted in the mercurial whimsy of mankind's baser instincts and more prurient proclivities.

To an authenticist, ethical concerns are absolute and irrevocable. This view does not negate the possibility of "exceptions to the rule" in situations of ethicality, for authenticists understand the great truth that truth itself is often paradoxical. What it does mean is that ALL thoughts and behavior (including any exceptions to the rule) must align with absolute truth if one's cognitions and actions are to qualify as being ethical and moral.

The Existential Component

Ontological Differences  


Postmodernists who persist in postmodernist ideology are easy to spot over time, and reside in two basic camps.

The first camp, which is by far the largest, includes the vast multitudes of individuals who grow old physically having never advanced beyond the EDUCATION (first), BEGINNER'S (second), or PRACTITIONER'S (third) stage of Existential Growth. This camp also includes those who may have advanced to higher levels, but then digressed backwards to one of the lower three levels over time.

The second camp includes postmodernists who are extra talented or clever who descended to the lower levels of the DARK SHADOW. Such descents are widely noticed, admired, and heralded by multitudes of their fellow postmodernists along their descent to the bottom-most rungs of the DARK SHADOW. After descending to such depths, they may experience much fame and adulation from other postmodernists, and even many immature or naive authenticists who confuse their worldly achievements as being indicators of Existential Growth and maturity.

Postmodernists in this camp often enjoy much financial remuneration and prosperity. Sometimes this remuneration is earned quasi-honestly be means of their talent and cleverness. Often it is earned quite dishonestly by means of seduction, manipulation, and downright deceit. Despite the seeming success and grandeur achieved by these individuals, the passage of time always leads to an infamous and ignominious legacy—and sometimes to physical ruin as well.

Authenticists who persist in the authentic living described in my book—Self-Action Leadership—are easy to spot because they are continually growing up—not literally so much as figuratively, in an existential sense. In other words, they are perpetually progressing to higher levels of Existential Growth as defined in the Self-Action Leadership Theory.

Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

Authenticism pursued to its end results in SELF-TRANSCENDENCE (level 8) followed by one's entering the CREATION STAGE (level 9), which marks the beginning of world altering contributions and a legacy that lives on positively, constructively, and indefinitely.

To sum up, and put very bluntly, postmodernism—and the postmodern potentates and populace that supports and promotes it—is/are the problem in our world today.

On the other hand, authenticism—and the authentic and humble practitioner's and parishes that undergird and enliven it—is/are the solution in our world today.

We at Freedom Focused invite you to join us in bringing about an end to the postmodern period and replace it with an AGE of AUTHENTICISM.  By so doing, you can start the process of becoming part of the solution(s) our world needs, rather than contributing to the problem(s) that presently engulf much of our post-postmodern world.

Click HERE to read more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM

Click HERE to learn more about Postmodernism

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SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.

Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.

Note: Freedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation. As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures. We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.


Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.


To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."


Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.


Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.


Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen. Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.











Monday, April 11, 2016

The Universal Applicability & Appeal of Self-Action Leadership


Self-Action Leadership (SAL) was intentionally written with a universal audience in mind.  Unlike many self-help or personal development books that focus on a single audience or undertaking (e.g. business/corporate, education, fitness, parenting, etc.), the principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model are specifically designed to benefit anyone at any age, in any group, facing any kind of life challenge or obstacle.  It is, quite literally, a one-size-fits-all guide for self-improvement and holistic personal growth.

According to Christopher P. Neck, an Associate Professor at Arizona State University:
"Jensen has accomplished a task that is very difficult for any author to achieve, and that is to produce a single text that is highly relevant to multiple audiences at the same time. Because of the universal applicability of basic self-leadership principles, his message is germane not only to persons struggling with OCD, depression, or other forms of mental illness, but to civic leaders, business professionals and workers of all kinds, educators, students, athletes, parents, and children—in short, to everyone. Indeed, I do believe that virtually anyone who reads this book will be able to take something away from it that will improve his or her life in a significant way. As an author myself, I am amazed at Jordan’s achievement in writing one book that carries the potential to reach such a wide variety of people—and that is the beauty of it."  Click HERE to read Neck's entire COMMENT.
For the past SEVEN weeks, we have been publishing individual articles that specifically articulate how Self-Action Leadership knowledge and training can benefit SEVEN different, targeted audiences.  In this week's post, we are including links to these seven articles (see end of article for links).

 No matter who you are, you will be able to find your own life's unique niche of experiences among these seven different audiences.  We invite you to scan this list to find the audience[s] that best fits your needs and then carefully read those article[s] that most ideally relate to YOU.

We then encourage you to share these articles with your colleagues, friends, and family members.

While the dawn of the AGE of AUTHENTICISM is already underway, it is just in the beginning stages.  Every person who adds to their knowledge and application of SAL-oriented principles and practices—whether you learn it from Freedom Focused or somewhere else—is like adding another brick to the massive structure of societal change for which ground has already been broken.  We invite you to join us in putting the morally penurious pages of postmodernism behind us by welcoming in a whole new age of thinking and being—an age where authenticity and integrity win the day, and eventually the era.

The SEVEN Audiences of Self-Action Leadership are as follows:  (Click on an audience to access its specific article)


AUDIENCE 1:  Individuals


AUDIENCE 2:  Students of all ages


AUDIENCE 3:  Educators, including Administrators, Teachers/Professors, etc.


AUDIENCE 4:  Business Professionals (Leaders, Managers, & Workers)


AUDIENCE 5:  Parents & Families


AUDIENCE 6:  Elected Officials and other high profile Leaders & Role Models


AUDIENCE 7:  Persons dealing with mental illness



........................................................................................................................................................


SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.

Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.

NoteFreedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation. As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures. We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.


Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."

Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen. Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.


Self-Action Leadership for Students

What do YOU remember most from
what you learned in your school days?
Looking back on your college or preparatory education (high school and below), were there ever any textbooks you read, or assignments you completed that were so special you decided not to sell them back or throw them away after your final grade was posted?

I know I have.

As I reflect back on the 19 years I spent enrolled in formal schooling and the thousands of different individual assignments I completed, there are only a few that really stick out in my memory.  Among these more memorable academic projects, TWO stand out above the rest in importance to me.  They are also two of the only hard copy assignments from my school days that I actually saved.

The most important assignment I ever completed was my doctoral dissertation.  This assignment holds great value for me not merely because it was the longest (1,149 pages) and most time-consuming project of my academic career, but because it formed the basis of nearly everything in my new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

The second most important assignment I ever completed is something I specifically wrote about in my dissertation.  It was a capstone project (in lieu of a final exam) in a leadership course I took at Brigham Young University as a college freshman in 2001.

The name of this project was a "Personal Leadership Statement."  It consisted of a 10-15 page paper whereby I was required to formally articulate vitally important things about myself, my life, and my future.  Some of these things included my personal vision, mission, values, goals, standards, etc.

Unlike most other school assignments over the years that I eventually threw away and forgot about, I held on to my Personal Leadership Statement.  More importantly, I continued to work on it even after my final grade had been posted.

Not only did I continue to work on it diligently, but I also began to flesh the concept out more fully whereby I eventually produced my own, original scholarship on the subject.  Thus was born the Freedom Focused Self-Declaration of Independence and Self-Constitution.

Click HERE and scroll toward the bottom of article to read more about writing your own Self-Declaration of Independence & Constitution.

Click HERE to watch a video of Dr. Jordan Jensen explaining the principle of writing a Self-Declaration of Independence & Constitution.

My Self-Leadership Textbook in College
 Of all the courses I took throughout my entire academic career, that leadership class I took at BYU ranked highly among my favorites.  I enjoyed it thoroughly not because I had an outstanding professor (he was okay, but not one of my favorites).  I enjoyed it because the material, aside from being very interesting to me, was, in fact, all about me.  As an agent of destiny—and all human beings are—can there be many things more fascinating and enlightening than learning about what we can individually think about, say, and do to become our best selves and maximize the potential we possess for happiness, success, and most importantly—to contribute positively and constructively to the welfare of others around us and the planet-at-large?  To me the answer to this question is a resounding no!

As such, I'll never forget how cool I thought it was when I went to the bookstore and purchased my textbook for this course because it was all about these very things!

As you can imagine, this was definitely one of the textbooks I ended up keeping for future reference.  Later, I purchased an updated edition of the same text, which I used extensively during my doctoral research and writing.  In fact, of the 400 different books, articles, and other resources I cited in my doctoral dissertation, I referenced this one textbook more than any other.

John H. Zenger, an international leadership expert and renowned author of The Extraordinary Leader, has said the following about leadership education:
"The old paradigm of separating core academic curriculum from leadership, character, and life-skill education in America's schools is gradually beginning to shift. The time is coming when classes in leadership will be equally as important as those in mathematics, biology, or English; and from a career standpoint, possibly more important."
An Updated Version of my S-L Textbook
I Cited Liberally in my Doctoral Dissertation
Zenger's views effectively mirror our own vision of the educational future of students now in school—as well as those yet unborn.  We foresee the day when students from kindergarten up through the graduate level will be as likely to be toting around textbooks, e-books, apps, and URL's containing information about Self-Action Leadership, character, and life-skills as they are in reading, writing, math, science, history, technology, etc.

Indeed, we envision a day when society will collectively recognize that it is as important to do right as it is to read fluently or to calculate correctly—and that directing one's life and career morally and ethically as guided by a highly developed conscience is even more important than being literate and numerate (as important as those things clearly are).

We predict that this growing recognition will eventually spawn a seismic cultural-educational paradigm shift where a majority of lawmakers, educators, parents, and voters alike will recognize that being a highly developed human being—existentially and morally speaking—requires the same kind of rigorous study and practice that is required to become a highly developed anything else (doctor, lawyer, plumber, builder, engineer, teacher, leader etc.).  As such, proper allocations of time, resources, and human capital will gradually be invested to avoid falling behind the rest of the world and fail to rise to the full extent of our potential as Americans.

In the spirit of this vision and movement, we enthusiastically embrace the dawning of a new age—even an AGE of AUTHENTICISM.  In support of this vision, we invite YOU to begin today to become a student of Self-Action Leadership.

How?

Simple... we have written a comprehensive textbook replete with principles, practices, and even homework assignments that facilitate your completion of the SAL Master Challenge and your subsequent receipt of Freedom Focused's distinguished diploma* and medal.  We invite you to buy and then read this book, complete the SAL Master Challenge contained therein, and then share the book and challenge with others.

Click HERE to read more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM

Click HERE to read more about the SAL Master Challenge.

As one-by-one people accept this invitation and take on this challenge, the movement will gather increased momentum.  Over time, we will, with accelerated alacrity make the desperately needed societal shift away from the self-centered, nihilistic philosophies of postmodernism and into a bright and sunny new age of authenticity and altruism founded on the self-mastery and inner security that can only come from a holistic commitment to personal discipline and excellence.  


Click HERE to buy Dr. Jordan Jensen's book — SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP



If you are an INDIVIDUAL interested in accelerating your own Self-Action Leadership development and Existential Growth, click HERE.

If you are an EDUCATOR, click HERE to learn how you can start providing your students with an education in Self-Action Leadership to take your classroom, school, or district to the next level

If you are a BUSINESS leader, manager, or professional, click HERE to learn how you can start providing your colleagues and subordinates with an education in Self-Action Leadership for the benefit of your office interaction and bottom line.

If you are an ELECTED OFFICIAL or other high profile LEADER or ROLE MODEL, click HERE to learn how you can start promoting Self-Action Leadership to your constituents in an effort to make our nation and world the best it can possibly be.

If you are a PARENT or CAREGIVER, click HERE to learn how you can start providing an education in Self-Action Leadership to your children or dependents to increase self-reliance and encourage harmony in the home.

If you or someone you knows is struggling with MENTAL ILLNESS click HERE to learn how you can utilize Self-Action Leadership to bolster mental hygiene.

Notes:

* The SAL Master Challenge diploma is not an accredited diploma.


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SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.

Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.

NoteFreedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation. As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures. We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.


Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."

Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen. Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Self-Action Leadership & Mental Health


We often have very little insight into the
depth of other people's inner struggles.  
In the quiet heart is hidden
Sorrow that the eye can’t see. [1]


Throughout history, tremendous stigmas have surrounded issues of mental illness.  Unlike a broken bone, a lacerated limb, or other physical ailments discernible to the eye, it is often difficult—or even impossible—to determine precisely what is going on in someone's heart and head.

In comparison to physical injury and illness, mental misfortune and malaise constitute a profoundly enigmatic science, which, despite all of our progress in the field, often gets the best of many patients and clinicians throughout society.  Recent tragedies involving mass shootings and other violence have led to calls for increased allocations of time, effort, and resources to address the pandemic of mental illness.  Freedom Focused generally supports these initiatives.  In doing so, however, we wish to issue a few important caveats.

First, it is important to draw a clear distinction between diagnosable mental illness and bona fide evil.  There is a difference between the two.  Many postmodernists disagree with this absolute distinction.  They generally dislike the term "evil" because its presence in the dictionary interferes with their philosophy that right and wrong don't really exist in any objective, concrete sense.

To a postmodernist, fiends like Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein—and in more recent times, Adam Lanza, Dylan Roof, and Jihadi John—are not necessarily evil people.  Rather, they are mentally ill persons who are struggling with family, social, or economic issues that contribute to their propensity to lash out violently against innocent victims.

Freedom Focused disagrees vehemently with this notion.  While these demons in human form may indeed suffer from mental illness and a variety of other deep issues, their actions—however you try and spin it—are diabolically evil, and insofar as they choose to commit such heinous crimes, they choose to become evil themselves.

While we must never cease our efforts to discover the scientific realities of mental illness, we must likewise refrain from making the catastrophic error of associating it with evil as if the two were one and the same.  One may certainly influence the other, but they are by no means synonymous terms.

Click HERE to learn more about postmodernists and the postmodern period.


Click HERE to learn more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM that has begun to eclipse postmodernism in the 21st century. 

Second, it is important to understand a common misnomer that exists among the general populace with regards to mental illness.  The error I speak of involves the notion that mental illness affects only a small percentage of the human race and afflicts the population in strict black-or-white dichotomies—meaning a person is either mentally healthy (or stable) or he or she is mentally ill (or troubled).

In reality, no one in the world is perfectly sane.  Likewise, no one is completely deranged.

Instead, ALL of us exist along a continuum of mental health.  This continuum ranges from utter psychosis on the far left side to perfect mental health on the far right side, with a wide spectrum of varying types and degrees of neuroses in between.  As such, you can rightly argue that while none of us is entirely nuts, all of us struggles to one degree or another with our own mental hygiene.  At least that is what the esteemed psychiatrist and best-selling author, M. Scott Peck has suggested.

According to Peck, the “tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness [and] since most of us have this tendency to a greater or lesser degree, most of us are mentally ill to a greater or lesser degree, lacking complete mental health” [2].

At first glance, such a statement may be provocative to some.  It may even be offensive to those prone to affixing negative stigmas to mental illness, or others who may be deeply mired in the morass of their own cognitive distortions about life and themselves.  Nevertheless, Peck’s assertion is technically accurate based on his own definition of mental illness, which, once again is: “[the] tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them.”

If we are to grow as self-action leaders, it is essential that we come to see things as they really are—meaning as objectively as possible—and not merely as we would wish they would be, or even worse, as we may have deluded ourselves to believe they are, when in actuality they are quite different. Effective self-action leaders must face up to the facts—the reality—of their problems if they are ever to solve them [3].

The SIX components of Existential Growth
Please don't misunderstand, Dr. Peck and I are not trying to call you or your loved ones mentally ill or "Crazy."  There is a BIG difference between having a clinically diagnosable mental disorder and merely struggling with a cognitive distortion or two.  What we are attempting to do is to call your attention to the reality that everyone can progress to higher levels of mental health and hygiene than what we presently occupy.

The journey to the land of complete mental health is a never-ending journey which we will not finish in our lifetimes.  Just like physical, emotional, social, spiritual, moral, and Existential Growth, we each have the opportunity to progress in our own mental health a bit at a time over the course of our lives.  And none of us will ever achieve perfection in this world.

Because none of us is completely healthy mentally, we can all benefit from the principles and practices outlined in the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model.  This is because an overriding purpose of the SAL Theory & Model is to help individual self-leaders become self-action leaders by making a commitment to personal and professional honesty, transparency, and integrity—a commitment which can create the building blocks of growth, success, and holistic health, including mental health.

Despite the fact that no one is perfectly healthy mentally, the vast majority of human beings do NOT have a clinically diagnosable mental disorder.  A minority of us, however, do.  I say "us" because as you may already know, I myself have a clinically diagnosable mental disorder.  It is called obsessive-compulsive disorder, or just OCD for short.

A picture of me
a few years after
contracting clinical OCD.
I was diagnosed with OCD in 1997.  In the intervening two decades, and for several years before I was officially diagnosed, I struggled mightily with this malaise of my mind.  In addition to my OCD, I have also suffered comorbid depression as well (it is common for depression to accompany anxiety disorders like OCD).

Because of my personal experiences with OCD and depression, I know what it feels like—from a clinical standpoint—to be mentally ill.  I have personal experience with thoughts and emotions that produce the sense that I am teetering on the edge of insanity.  It is not a pleasant place to reside.  Indeed, there is a reason I named the chapter in my book that retells my experiences with mental illness, "OCD is Hell." The bad news is that I have struggled greatly, and to varying degrees still do struggle, with my own mental health.

The good news is that I was able to obtain the knowledge and secure the help I needed to successfully manage my disorder.  The key word in this statement is manage.  Note that I didn't say I am completely healed or that I never experience any lingering symptoms of OCD or depression; I do—on a daily basis.  However, I am about 80% better than I used to be, and that kind of progress has enabled and empowered me to be happy in my personal life and successful in my professional life.  In other words, while I do have OCD and depression, and while I will likely continue to struggle with lingering effects of both for the rest of my life, I don't have to let these demons of the mind destroy me.  I can ultimately win the battle for my own mental health.  I can remain the sovereign ruler of my mind and heart.  I do not have to abdicate my throne to an internal foe that crops up against my will.

A saner, wiser me
nearly 2-decades later.
This realization has generated enormous power in my life, relationships, and career.  But it didn't just happen by magic.  A lot of honesty, humility, and hard work were required.  It wasn't easy, but it was possible.  Furthermore, the results were so staggeringly successful in my life that I decided to design a Theory and Model of self-leadership and write a book to clearly explicate the process so that others might unlock the secret to overcoming their own personal demons—whether they involve struggles of the mind, heart, spirit, body, relationships, or even existential issues.

My book is called Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.  It shares intimate details of my experiences with OCD and other life challenges.  More importantly, it tells the story and outlines the steps of how I overcame these obstacles to find security, love, prosperity, and fulfillment.

If you or someone you know struggles with mental illness of any kind—and remember, we all do to varying degrees—I invite you to read this book and share it with others.  While doing so cannot replace vital help that is available from professional counselors, psychiatrists, good habits of health, nutrition, and exercise, God (including spiritual and religious approaches), and medication (when necessary and professionally and legally prescribed), it can serve as a potentially ideal self-help manual that will empower you to further extend the reach of your own personal power to learn, grow, and eventually overcome whatever challenges of the mind (or otherwise) that you face in your life.

Click HERE to read about Dr. Jordan Jensen's battle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Click HERE to read Part II of Dr. Jensen's battle with OCD

Click HERE to buy Dr. Jordan Jensen's book — SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP

.........................................................................................................................................................

Note: This article is one of SIX articles in a special series dedicated to different AUDIENCES that Freedom Focused specifically targets with Self-Action Leadership training. We invite leaders and managers of these different audiences to click on links below to read the articles pertaining to your field or constituency.

Click HERE to access article for  BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS (Leaders, Managers, & Workers)

Click HERE to access article for  EDUCATORS  (Administrators, Teachers, & Staff)

Click HERE to access article for  STUDENTS & INDIVIDUALS

Click HERE to access article for PARENTS & FAMILIES

Click HERE to access article for ELECTED OFFICIALS, LEADERS, & ROLE MODELS

Click HERE to access article for PERSONS dealing with MENTAL ILLNESS


References:

[1] Hymn #220, Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1985, p. #220).
[2] Peck, M.S. (1978). The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth. New York, NY: Touchstone. Pages 16-17.
[3] This paragraph (and the one preceding it) is taken nearly verbatim from pages 20-21 of Volume 1 of Jordan Jensen's Doctoral Dissertation, available for free download at URL: http://www.freedomfocused.com/Intellectual_Material.html

.........................................................................................................................................................


SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.

Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.

NoteFreedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation. As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures. We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.


Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."

Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen. Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.


The Power of Personal Experience

  Chapter 13 The Power of Personal Experience   Our personal experiences profoundly influence who we are, how we see the world, and what  ...