Marketing the unmarketable

I asked Garret Kramer, one of the world’s top sports coaches what he promises teams and individuals.

He replied: “I assure clients love, support and a resolute point within. Other than that: zilch.”

Wow. I said. Because shit where do you go with that as a coach? I want to walk into a business and promise increased profit or into a school and promise higher grades or into a community and promise each individual higher income, better health and more friends.

But the truth is that I can’t.

I have seen the most extraordinary transformation in myself. I know that I am now connecting with people I would never have thought possible, being offered projects I would never have dreamed of, living from a curiosity and openness that is the polar opposite of the fearful, self-protective way I used to live.

I know what I have seen in my clients - businesses taking off, estranged families re-uniting, extraordinary creative feats, anger, fear and stress turning to peace and engagement to mention just a few of hundreds of different outcomes...

But because this understanding is based on each of us receiving own personal unlimited wisdom, I really have no idea what will happen when people start realising the truth of who they are and what they have access to. I know it will be beyond awesome. I just don't know exactly what it will be.

And, as Garret says, when we are clear that our entire experience comes from within, it defies logic to begin the conversation by talking about the things on the outside that shape shift like the weather.

From the point of view of conventional marketing, this sets up those of us working and coaching from the inside out understanding for quite some challenge. But the truth is that to offer ‘worldly benefits’ is to sell woefully short the magnitude of what we really offer.

This is what I have seen as the reality of what we coaches who work from this understanding really bring to our clients:

The claim: Better relationships! The reality: Love.

How we perceive another person is a reflection of our state of mind in any given moment. A ‘relationship’ therefore is an illusion created out of thought and whether it is considered good or bad can change from one thought to the next. It just doesn't make sense to talk about relationships. There is no such thing.

To offer 'better relationships' is to hand out stones when we are sitting on a pile of diamonds. In truth, we are offering the possibility of unlimited compassion in the understanding that we and other people perceive the world through our current state of mind which is out of our control. We help people see through their judgements and insecurities and realise that they are the origin of their experience. As a result we watch them start to fall head over heels in love with the world and the people that they are creating moment by moment.

The claim: Find your purpose! The reality: Watch the bigger plan unfold.

The further we go in this understanding, the more we realise that knowing the purpose of our life is an utter impossibility. We will never ever know the domino cascade that we begin with even the most casual meetings or simple actions. Our reach and impact is exponential and impossible to quantify or qualify. In which bit of that infinity lies our purpose?

We have no idea of the next thought that will occur to us let alone the reason why we are receiving it. We point our clients in the direction of the ever-present wisdom and infinite creative intelligence that is guiding them. What that is, why it is there and what they will do with it is beyond any of us to know.

 

The claim: Have more self-esteem! The reality: Lose any sense of self.

How desperately we crave more self esteem and self confidence. That is until we realise that there is no self to esteem and no self in which to have confidence. The deeper we go in this understanding, the more we realise that everything we think about ourselves is, of course, made of thought.

As we take our clients deeper in this understanding they begin to let go of everything they have ever believed about themselves, who they are, their personality and identity. Instead they take up their place as a channel for pure inspiration and creativity. Who they are is impossible to describe. There is no beginning. No end. Esteem? Really?

The claim: Be more productive! The reality: Play your game wholeheartedly.

When we realise that concepts such as success and failure are simply made up, it becomes nonsensical to work to the point of stress or burn out to feed those illusions. Productivity for the sake of producing or impressing or securing no longer makes sense. Instead we help our clients treat everything they do with a lightness and playfulness that keeps them alert to fresh thinking and new ideas. We help them drop any idea of what they think productive means and to simply put their entire being into whatever occurs to them to do.

Claim: Stop the negative thoughts! Reality: Ride the craziest wildest roller coaster into the truth of life

This is the big one. Everyone wants to control their mind. People are grabbing their coaches, therapists, yoga teachers and counsellors by the lapels and shouting in their faces: TELL ME HOW I CAN STOP THESE THOUGHTS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TELL ME NOW. TELL. ME. NOW…

The absence of thought? That’s not going to happen. We create our world through thought. Only thinking peaceful thoughts? What would that even be? Kittens and clouds? Constant feeling of security? Good luck with that.

The truth is that to offer control of the mind or of thoughts is to offer a flat line of no experience. We offer the opportunity to explore what is really going on and the chance to get to the mind-blowing truth of who they are. Above all, we help our clients to continue experiencing all the highs and lows of being human with the insight and understanding to see it all for the magnificent impermanent gift of life it is.