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What Do Arnold Schwarzenegger And Dale Carnegie Have In Common?
Session 9 Of The Dale Carnegie Course Is About Developing Mental Flexibility While Having Fun
About two months ago, I saw a blog post from someone who had taken the Dale Carnegie Course and at the time of the post, he had just completed Session 9. The post was relatively short and talked about building self-confidence by making people do things that seemed foolish or having people performing activities so that they could learn not to take themselves seriously.
Being an instructor for the program, I know that this session typically draws a lot of interest, comments, and quite a few giggles in the classroom.
But very few people really understand the amazing impact that this session can have on participants if the participants have the right mindset.
For those of you who have taken the course, you’ll probably remember Session 9 as the session where you really had to step outside of your comfort zone. For those of you who haven’t taken the course, you're likely to hear a lot of talk about it from your peers and co-workers who have taken the course as the session where they had the most fun.
Session 9, however, is one of the stronger sessions in the program that helps develop a person’s mental flexibility in dealing with real world situations.
What A Master Trainer Revealed About Mental Flexibility In Session 9
When I first took the Dale Carnegie Course, participating in Session 9 was quite a stretch for me. I had always thought of myself as a shy introvert person. And in this session, the instructor was asking me to do some things that no one in their right mind would do. At least, that was my perspective, which tells you just how limited my perspective was at that time.
Then I started my journey as an assistant. Each time I assisted in a program, I got a new and different perspective on this session. Not only did I see how the session affected some of the participants, but I also became aware of how restrictive my own views were and how some of those views needed upgrading. The real revelations, however, came after I went through my NLP certification and then after I completed my training as an instructor for the program.
During my Instructor Certification, I was fortunate enough to have two top-shelf Master Trainers. These individuals had in-depth systemic knowledge of the program; they knew how each of the different sessions operated together as well as the effects on the participants in their real world activities. I think that if you asked any of the other trainers or Master Trainers about these two individuals, you would come away thinking that these two individuals were the equivalent of Master Yoda and Mace Windu of the Jedi Knights.
Anyway, they gave me a holistic perspective of the program and revealed to me why we do what we do in Session 9. After completing the instructor certification process, Session 9 ceased to be the magical session that held a special place in my heart. Instead, it became the cornerstone for developing a special ability in people. That ability is the mental flexibility to put “you” on hold and assume a different role. If you have the ability to assume a different role, you can gain a different perspective on a situation. That perspective can provide you with critical information, something every strategic thinker, sales rep and manager desires.
Learning Mental Flexibility From Arnold Schwarzenegger In The Movie, Total Recall
One way to get a better view of this concept is to go back to the 1990 movie, Total Recall starring our beloved Govenator, Arnold Schwarzenneger.
If you will recall, this was the flick where Arnold played a lowly construction worker named Doug Quaid. Bored with his life, Doug bought a mental vacation to Mars from the company Rekall. However, after getting his “vacation”, he discovered that he was actually a top operative for the Martian government and his memories had been replaced so that he could work undercover to destroy the Martian underground resistance.
The challenge here was that Doug initially requested to take his mental “vacation” as a secret agent. So throughout the movie, we are never quite sure of what’s real. Was Doug living out his dream vacation totally encapsulated within his lobotomized mind? Or was Doug actually a dream role about to be assimilated by the more sinister operative as it resurfaced into the real world?
If you don’t feel like going out one dreary Saturday evening, then rent this movie, pop a bag of unsalted popcorn into the microwave, sit back and enjoy about 2 hours of fast paced action-adventure entertainment.
In the movie, however, one interaction really brings home this concept of mental flexibility that we explore in Session 9 of the Dale Carnegie Course.
When Doug goes into Rekall, he is met by a sales rep whose name is, and I kid you not, Bob.
Bob sells Doug on a trip to Mars. Actually, he facilitates the sale. Doug sold himself before he walked through the door.
While Doug is starting his paperwork, Bob says, “While you look over the paperwork, I’m going to familiarize you with some of our options.”
Doug, resistant to trying something different, says, “No options.”
Bob says, “OK. You’re the boss. Can I ask you a question? What is it that is exactly the same about every single vacation that you’ve ever taken?”
Doug responds in an exasperated voice, “I give up.”
And Bob says, “You! You’re the same. No matter where you go, there you are. It’s always the same old you. Let me suggest that you take a vacation from yourself. I know it sounds wild. It’s the latest thing in travel. We call it the Ego Trip.”
And from there, it’s an all out downhill ride with no brakes.
The main concept to explore here, however, deals with taking a vacation from “you”.
The Myth Of "This Is Just How I Am" And The Power To Be Free
In the programs I’ve instructed, there's always been at least one person that, when asked to do something differently, would respond, “Well, this is just the way I am “.
In fact, when I look back on the first time I took the program, I see that I was one of those people. I was a shy introverted person and there was nothing in the world that was going to change that. That was just how I was.
While only one or two participants would actually say, “this is just how I am”, I found that the majority of participants would silently hold on to their self-perceptions like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver. When we asked them to try something differently, or when we asked them to get up and speak, they would passionately hold onto what they perceive as their “old selves” while hesitantly stepping out to try something new.
Because they would hold on to that definition of themselves, they measured their progress by how far they strayed from their point of origin and how much anxiety that small journey into unfamiliar territory caused them. Consequently, they only made incremental gains.
A few participants, however, released their self-perceptions and reached for something new. They effectively peeled off their persona and stepped into another role to become someone or something else. The paradigm shift, however, occurred not when they assumed another role, but when they realized that they could let go of the original role that they had lived for the majority of their lives. They realized that they were free to be whatever they wanted.
They became flexible enough to "take a vacation from themselves" and in the process, they attained the freedom to choose what they wanted to be.
Session 9 Mental Flexibility Exercises: Practice Being Someone Or Something Else
I remember facilitating one particular class where I had a participant who was paralyzed at the thought of participating in the Session 9 “festivities”. She just couldn’t do it.
So I took her through a quick NLP intervention using a disassociation process similar to the process used in the NLP Fast Phobia cure.
After having her separate from her “old self”, I told her that her “old self” was completely protected in a chair on the sideline and ready to be picked up again after the exercise. Additionally, I told her that her “old self” had given her permission to be anything that she wanted. She was now totally free to be or do anything for the next two minutes. And for the next two minutes, she was going to be the giant in the Jack and the Beanstalk story.
This girl, normally a shy and reserved person, got a devilish look on her face and she went absolutely bananas! She was wild! No one in the room could believe that it was the same person.
When she was finished everyone applauded wildly. No one could believe it.
When the applause died down, I told her that her “old self” was still perfectly safe right where she left it and she could now “go back to it”. She looked at the chair where she left her “old self” and then looked over at the center of the room where she had just been. Then, she pointed at the chair, looked at me and asked, “Do I really have to go back to ‘that’?”
This is the real power of Session 9. We provide people with the flexibility to choose the skills, abilities, demeanor and behaviors that they need to get the job done in whatever environment they happen to be in.
We give them an environment where they can experiment, and the coaching they need to take a vacation from “themselves” enabling them to realize their full potential.
So the next time you happen to be watching Total Recall, remember that Rekall isn’t the only place that can give you a vacation from yourself.
Try Session 9 in the Dale Carnegie Course.
See you at the party!
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