Summary:

This handout provides information about writing personal statements for academic and other positions.

Contributors:Jo Doran, Allen Brizee Last Edited: 2012-05-08 09:59:04

The personal statement, your opportunity to sell yourself in the application process, generally falls into one of two categories:

1. The general, comprehensive personal statement:

This allows you maximum freedom in terms of what you write and is the type of statement often prepared for standard medical or law school application forms.

2. The response to very specific questions:

Often, business and graduate school applications ask specific questions, and your statement should respond specifically to the question being asked. Some business school applications favor multiple essays, typically asking for responses to three or more questions.

Answer the questions that are asked

Tell a story

Be specific

Find an angle

Concentrate on your opening paragraph

Tell what you know

Don't include some subjects

Do some research, if needed

Write well and correctly

Avoid clichs

For more information on writing a personal statement, see the personal statement vidcast.

Read the original post:
Purdue OWL: Writing the Personal Statement

The Nihilism of Contemporary Europe

While most of his contemporaries looked on the late nineteenth century with unbridled optimism, confident in the progress of science and the rise of the German state, Nietzsche saw his age facing a fundamental crisis in values. With the rise of science, the Christian worldview no longer held a prominent explanatory role in peoples lives, a view Nietzsche captures in the phrase God is dead. However, science does not introduce a new set of values to replace the Christian values it displaces. Nietzsche rightly foresaw that people need to identify some source of meaning and value in their lives, and if they could not find it in science, they would turn to aggressive nationalism and other such salves. The last thing Nietzsche would have wanted was a return to traditional Christianity, however. Instead, he sought to find a way out of nihilism through the creative and willful affirmation of life.

On one level, the will to power is a psychological insight: our fundamental drive is for power as realized in independence and dominance. This will is stronger than the will to survive, as martyrs willingly die for a cause if they feel that associating themselves with that cause gives them greater power, and it is stronger than the will to sex, as monks willingly renounce sex for the sake of a greater cause. While the will to power can manifest itself through violence and physical dominance, Nietzsche is more interested in the sublimated will to power, where people turn their will to power inward and pursue self-mastery rather than mastery over others. An Indian mystic, for instance, who submits himself to all sorts of physical deprivation gains profound self-control and spiritual depth, representing a more refined form of power than the power gained by the conquering barbarian.

On a deeper level, the will to power explains the fundamental, changing aspect of reality. According to Nietzsche, everything is in flux, and there is no such thing as fixed being. Matter is always moving and changing, as are ideas, knowledge, truth, and everything else. The will to power is the fundamental engine of this change. For Nietzsche, the universe is primarily made up not of facts or things but rather of wills. The idea of the human soul or ego is just a grammatical fiction, according to Nietzsche. What we call I is really a chaotic jumble of competing wills, constantly struggling to overcome one another. Because change is a fundamental aspect of life, Nietzsche considers any point of view that takes reality to be fixed and objective, be it religious, scientific, or philosophical, as life denying. A truly life-affirming philosophy embraces change and recognizes in the will to power that change is the only constant in the world.

Nietzsche is critical of the very idea of objective truth. That we should think there is only one right way of considering a matter is only evidence that we have become inflexible in our thinking. Such intellectual inflexibility is a symptom of saying no to life, a condition that Nietzsche abhors. A healthy mind is flexible and recognizes that there are many different ways of considering a matter. There is no single truth but rather many.

At this point, interpreters of Nietzsche differ. Some argue that Nietzsche believes there is such a thing as truth but that there is no single correct perspective on it. Just as we cannot get the full picture of what an elephant is like simply by looking at its leg or looking at its tail or looking at its trunk, we cannot get a reasonable picture of any truth unless we look at it from multiple perspectives. Others, particularly those who value Nietzsches early essay On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, argue that Nietzsche believes the very idea of truth to be a lie. Truth is not an elephant that we must look at from multiple perspectives under this view. Rather, truth is simply the name given to the point of view of the people who have the power to enforce their point of view. The only reality is the will to power, and truth, like morality, is just another fig leaf placed on top of this reality.

Throughout his work, particularly in The Antichrist, Nietzsche writes scathingly about Christianity, arguing that it is fundamentally opposed to life. In Christian morality, Nietzsche sees an attempt to deny all those characteristics that he associates with healthy life. The concept of sin makes us ashamed of our instincts and our sexuality, the concept of faith discourages our curiosity and natural skepticism, and the concept of pity encourages us to value and cherish weakness. Furthermore, Christian morality is based on the promise of an afterlife, leading Christians to devalue this life in favor of the beyond. Nietzsche argues that Christianity springs from resentment for life and those who enjoy it, and it seeks to overthrow health and strength with its life-denying ethic. As such, Nietzsche considers Christianity to be the hated enemy of life.

As the title of one of his books suggests, Nietzsche seeks to find a place beyond good and evil. One of Nietzsches fundamental achievements is to expose the psychological underpinnings of morality. He shows that our values are not themselves fixed and objective but rather express a certain attitude toward life. For example, he argues that Christian morality is fundamentally resentful and life denying, devaluing natural human instincts and promoting weakness and the idea of an afterlife, the importance of which supercedes that of our present life. Nietzsches aim is not so much to replace Christian morality with another morality. Rather, he aims to expose the very concept of morality as being a fig leaf placed on top of our fundamental psychological drives to make them seem more staid and respectable. By exposing morality as a fiction, Nietzsche wants to encourage us to be more honest about our drives and our motives and more realistic in the attitude we take toward life. Such honesty and realism, he contends, would cause a fundamental revaluation of all values. Without morality, we would become an entirely different species of being, and a healthier species of being at that.

Nietzsche contends that humanity is a transition, not a destination. We ceased to be animals when we taught ourselves to control our instincts for the sake of greater gains. By learning to resist some of our natural impulses, we have been able to forge civilizations, develop knowledge, and deepen ourselves spiritually. Rather than directing our will to power outward to dominate those around us, we have directed it inward and gained self-mastery. However, this struggle for self-mastery is arduous, and humanity is constantly tempted to give up. Christian morality and contemporary nihilism are just two examples of worldviews that express the desire to give up on life. We come to see life as blameworthy or meaningless as a way of easing ourselves out of the struggle for self-mastery. Nietzsches concept of the overman is the destination toward which we started heading when we first reined in our animal instincts. The overman has the self-mastery that animals lack but also the untrammeled instincts and good conscience that humans lack. The overman is profoundly in love with life, finding nothing in it to complain about, not even the constant suffering and struggle to which he willingly submits himself.

While it is hard to give a definitive account of the eternal recurrence, we can undoubtedly claim that it involves a supreme affirmation of life. On one level, it expresses the view that time is cyclical and that we will live every moment of our lives over and over an infinite number of times, each time exactly the same. In other words, each passing moment is not fleeting but rather echoes for all eternity. Nietzsches ideal is to be able to embrace the eternal recurrence and live in affirmation of this idea. In other words, we should aim to live conscious of the fact that each moment will be repeated infinitely, and we should feel only supreme joy at the prospect.

On another level, the doctrine of the eternal recurrence involves Nietzsches distinctive metaphysical notions. Nietzsche contends that there is no such thing as being: everything is always changing, always in a state of becoming. Because nothing is fixed, there are no things that we can distinguish and set apart from other things. All of reality is intertwined, such that we cannot pass judgment on one aspect of reality without passing judgment on all of reality. In other words, we cannot feel regret for one aspect of our lives and joy for another because these two aspects of our lives cannot properly be distinguished from one another. In recognizing that all of life is one indistinguishable swirl of becoming, we are faced with the simple choice of saying yes to all life or no to all life. Naturally, Nietzsche contends that the yes-saying attitude is preferable.

Link:
SparkNotes: Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900): Themes ...

"Religion and culture are ever changing, ever transforming. . . . We are the transformer, maker and creator of our own religious and cultural traditions."[1] "Women, Religion, and Culture" seminar, Beijing Conference

" . . human culture will change in the next millennium as a result of conscious evolution."[2] James Redfield, Celestine Prophecy

"He has put eternity in their hearts."Ecclesiastes 3:11

Do you go to church back home?" I asked Karin in her native Norwegian. The blond, blue-eyed exchange-student was visiting our church, and I had enjoyed catching up on the latest news about Norway. But now it was time to move on to my special assignment. Since her host family found it difficult to communicate with her about spiritual things in English, they had asked me to find out whether she was a Christian or not.

"No," she answered.

"Are there many Christians in your school?"

"There are some who go to church at Christmas or Easter."

"That sounds like me, back when I lived there. We only went to church on Christmas Eve, and no one took it very seriously. But now I am more interested in spiritual things. I keep wondering how people who don't know God face things like cancer and death? Do you ever wonder what will happen to you when you die?

"I'll go to some sort of heaven. I'm a nice person."

"How do you know you're nice enough? Who sets the standard for the niceness needed to get into heaven?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Probably God."

Sensing both disinterest and annoyance, I quickly brought the conversation back inside the boundaries of her comfort zone.

Did Karin's reasoning sound familiar? It did to me. She admitted that God might set the standards, but she doesn't know Him, so she simply imagines what He wants. In other words, she sets her own standards.

This new-paradigm thinking is changing people everywhere. Karin believes there will be a heavennot because God says so, but because it comforts her and hides the finality of death. Why throw out a good idea? But her view of heaven is little more than a pie-in-the-sky hope. Like most people today, she has no firm basis for questioning the exciting New Age pieces of the puzzle she calls heaven.

A New kind of Heaven

You met Barbara Marx Hubbard, president of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, in chapter 5. When she spoke at the Renaissance of Christian Spirituality conference in San Francisco, some of her followers urged me to buy her book Revelation which was dictated by a spirit "voice" called "Christ." I bought it, and shuddered as I read her occult interpretations of God's book of Revelation. Those who know God's Word would notice its eerie likeness to God's original message. Those who don't know the Biblical version could easily think this is it.

"Now you see through a glass darkly," wrote Mrs. Hubbard, twisting biblical truth into a confusing mish-mash of occult ideas. "Soon you will see face to face. Now your are in pain. Then you will be in joy. Now you fear that you cannot manage a complex planetary system. Soon you will know that the planetary system is guided by a cosmic template. . . . A New Heaven and a New Earth shall you create."[3]

Heaven, she continues, "is but the next stage of your development, with many more to come."[4]

Since the "voice" first spoke to Barbara Marx Hubbard in 1980, it has taught her about a "collective transformation" that will take place when a "CRITICAL MASS" of "individuals align to shift the basic thought form of earth from fear and separation to unity" and thus "shift the consciousness of the earth" and lead to a new "birth."[5] If humanity cooperates with the plan, each human "mind will be consciously connected with the Mind of God."[6] Those who don't will be "selected" for destruction.[7]

Does this sound too strange to be relevant? It shouldn't. Much of this teaching is seeping into mainstream churches as well as the rest of our culture -- not because the masses are listening to Barbara Marx Hubbard, but because her source is the same as theirs. Occultism cloaked in "Christianese" has become part of our common language, challenging us to study God's Word and "test the spirits."

Listen carefully to Mrs. Hubbard's words, for Satan is counterfeiting everything that's good these days -- even good things like joy and laughter:

"An uncontrollable joy will ripple through the thinking layer of Earth. The co-creative systems, which are lying psychologically dormant in humanity will be activated. From within, all sensitive persons will feel the joy of the force, flooding their systems with love and attraction. It will be as irresistible as sex. It is supra-sex, the innate capacity to unite to create the next step of evolution..."

"As this joy flashes through the nervous systems of the most sensitive peoples on Earth, it will . . . . cause a shift in the consciousness of Earth."[8]

We should never fear genuine joy, but we need to guard against all false manifestation of spiritual power. If the "good feelings" that follow spiritual experiences don't line up with Scriptures, beware.

In other words, know the genuine truth well enough to recognize the counterfeits. The lies come in all kinds of wrappings and disguises. You may have heard of Arianna Huffington, one of the fast-rising female stars in conservative political circles and Washington society. The title of her latest book, The Fourth Instinct, refers to a spiritual force with "power to transform ourselves and our world."[10] You know she is not talking about God when she calls it "the bridge to this next stage in man's evolution and the voice calling us to cross over."[11]

"Even those who are not looking for 'a new heaven and a new earth'. . . recognize that what the millennium requires from us above all else is a psychological shift, a spiritual breakthrough,"[12] she says. The Fourth Instinct "is an evolutionary spiral based on a different set of imperatives -- for now the survival of the fittest will be the survival of the wisest."[13]

The wisest? According to whom?

Not to Christians who are still "clinging to the old"[14] world-view or paradigm which offers only "the bankrupt solutions of yesterday." They know all too well that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God," for "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." (1 Corinthians 3:19-20)

Instead, Ms. Huffington urges her flock to follow a "universal force that will lead us beyond the last horizon of our known self toward a wiser, more loving, more luminous state of being."[15]

That brings us back to Barbara Marx Hubbard. "To be wise now, is to . . . . take the evolutionary perspective and see the world in process of transformation,"[16] she says. "Wisdom is to see reality, not as a static set of things, but as a . . . process leading toward godhood for humanity."[17]

Strange and mystical, isn't it? So is James Redfield's top-selling thriller, The Celestine Prophecy. It's huge readership proves the appeal of this occult message. Like Mrs. Hubbard and Mrs. Huffington, Redfield urges humanity to practice the psychic skills needed to produce a "critical" mass in order to speed our evolution. That means rejecting church leaders who block the new awareness.

When a local United Methodist church announced a weekly discussion group on the Celestine Prophecy, I decided to check it out. On my first visit, I found a group of about twenty men and women sharing their strange "coincidences", angelic visitations,[18] and other mystical experiences which supposedly led to a "conscious evolution" the focus of Barbara Marx Hubbard's message. Perhaps they believed, as Redfield promised, that they would one day transform into "pure light" and simply "walk into heaven."[19] In spite of the church setting, no one ever mentioned the likely possibility of counterfeit spirits. Apparently, the group viewed all kinds of spiritual feelings and experiences as good. Redfield's lie had become more believable

"For half a century now, a new consciousness has been entering the human world, a new awareness that can only be called transcendent, spiritual . . . .

"Once we understand. . . how to engage this allusive process and maximize its occurrence in our lives, human society will take a quantum leap into a whole new way of life . . . .

"All that any of us have to do is suspend our doubts and distractions just long enough . . . and miraculously, this reality can be our own.[20]

During the last Celestine Prophecy session, the teacher told us that we were close to becoming the "critical mass" of evolving minds that would catapult us into the next stage of "our" spiritual evolution. There we would accelerate the pace of our evolution and voluntarily limit reproduction and consumption. "Whole groups of people who have reached a certain level [would] become invisible, and the barrier between this life and the other world" would begin to crumble.

"Would we still have criminals?" asked a woman.

"There would be no need to steal, for all have the same values," answered the teacher. "We're moving toward heaven, a state of being where people are valued for their essence. . . . Fundamentalist people live . . . in a state of fear. . . . But someone who is truly spiritual, is serene. She lives in a state of grace."

"My sister-in law is like that," said another women. "She is wonderful. Always in that state of serenity, even when things get really hard."

"What does she believe?" asked the leader.

"In God. In Jesus Christ. She hurts a lot, but she has perfect peace."

The leader changed the subject.

The Sin of Separation

Did you ever read Aldous Huxley's futuristic classic, Brave New World? If you did, you may remember the occult ritual used to enforce planetary peace and oneness. No one could escape the hypnotic drills that quenched individualism and raised group consciousness: "The group was now complete, the solidarity circle perfect... Twelve of them ready to be made one, waiting to come together, to be fused, to lose their twelve separate identities in a larger being."[21]

Huxley's Brave New World carried a warning that few have taken seriously. Today many of its scary ideas are more pervasive than when Huxley first suggested them -- not because his voice sang louder than others, but because so many others sang in the same choir. Since their message fit both current trends and academic liberalism, it began to resonate through our educational institutions at every level. Today, it's preparing a new generation for social revolution, and radical feminists want girls to lead the way.

United Nations leader Robert Muller may not care which sex leads the revolution as long as Huxley's unity becomes global reality. "Conflicts will diminish as our global, universal, spiritual and cosmic awareness increase,"[22] he assures us. Ripe for change, many are listening. The fact that Mullers mystical unity matches the spiritual evolution taught by Barbara Marx Hubbard, Arianna Huffington, and James Redfield multiplies the influence of all four.

Muller is no small player in the global transformation. As the former under-Secretary of the United Nations and the current Chancellor of the UN-sponsored University of Peace, he may be the world's most enthusiastic promoter of the kind of international education system outlined by the radical feminists in Beijing. His World Core Curriculum, which laid the foundation for global education in the United States and around the world, is based on the messages received from the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul, the spirit guide channeled by occultist Alice Bailey.

Does all this seen complicated? It is. I wish we could ignore these lies and occult networks. We probably could, if they weren't already transforming our churches. But since they have twisted the way Christians see God, heaven and everything else, we can't ignore them. Too many people are falling into the trap.

Another window into the widening web of globalism opened at the 1994 "Women of Vision" conference in Washington DC. The highlight of the event was the World Peace Ceremony which joined the audience of 500 women and 50 men in a universal prayer for peace. Many had tears in their eyes as they prayed to a cosmic force, not God, for universal love and forgiveness.[23]

Among the guests at the conference were Barbara Marx Hubbard, the Dalai Lama's sister Jetsun Pema, and Ann Rockefeller Roberts, president of the Fund of the Four Directions (remember all those sacred circles that honored the four directions) which helps wed the Rockefeller fortune to New Age globalism and Native American spirituality.

Robert Muller was there as well. Do you see the many mystical marriages that will help usher in the new global societythe counterfeit heaven on earth? The "Mind" behind the new global spirituality sends the same basic messages to all his ambassadors, whether they call themselves New Agers, Neopagans, or even "Christian."

The connections are important, because no single group could win the world to these new ideals. That radical feminists like Bella Abzug claim the right to speak for all the women in the world may seem absurd, but so what? She, Muller, Hubbard and all the rest are each playing their part in the globalist orchestra determined to raise global consciousness and speed the paradigm shift. They may be strangers to each other, but the evil puppeteer behind the scenes knows how to pull the strings and guide the action. That's what counts. Few realize that the angry idealism of feminist activists can be used by hard core globalist to reach a more ominous goal. As economist Dr. Thomas Sowell wrote in his review of Road to Serfdom,[24]

"Idealist socialists create systems in which idealists are almost certain to lose and be superseded by those whose drive for power, and ruthlessness in achieving it, make them the "fittest" to survive under a system where government power is the ultimate prize.... The issue is not what anyone intends but what consequences are in fact likely to follow."[25]

In other words, idealists can persuade, but they seldom rule. Idealism can awaken the masses and inspire a revolution, but it seldom governs. During the first part of the Russian revolution, ideology paved the way to change. But the manipulative power of Communist forces soon seized the victory and captured the throne.

Like the radical feminists at the Beijing Conference, Muller and other UN leaders have no tolerance for non-conformists. When speaking at some of the 1995 events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Muller shared his vision for the future: a united world where all would live in harmony sharing a common set of human rights and responsibilities. People were free to believe anything -- as long as it was pantheistic, monistic and polytheistic. Even cross-less Christianity would fit. Biblical faith would not.

When the moderator invited questions from the audience, a man stood up. The startling exchange that followed left me with an uneasy insight into a form of intolerance that is incomprehensible to most Americans. The man's two questions seemed thoughtful and legitimate by traditional Western standards. Wouldn't you agree? He asked,

"In a pluralistic world, would a centralized institution tend to become insensitive to ideas other than its own? And if the UN becomes involved in spirituality, could it cause church-state violations?

In response, an angry woman in the audience stood up and shouted, "In Oklahoma we saw the result of men who hate our central government." She stormed out of the auditorium.

Sounding just as angry, Muller leaned into the microphone and began denouncing both people and nations who oppose global controls. After venting his anger on the USA for its reluctance to show wholehearted support for UN policies, he swore and left the podium. Is this the kind of tolerance the UN touts? Could Muller be so accustomed to approval from like-minded globalists, that he can tolerate nothing less?

Persecution

Muller's hatred for those who disagree permeates the global transformation. It doesn't matter whether the occult links in this movement are called witchcraft, feminist spirituality, Native American shamanism, or simply global spirituality. All envision a world where all human minds are connected to some kind of a global mind -- a "collective unconscious," a "Global Mind," "The Mind of God," or simply the "Goddess."

Since all versions of this occult spirituality follow the same occult master, they share a common hatred for the biblical God and His truth. "The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil,"[26] said Jesus. It hates us, for the same reason. Therefore, opposition to the cosmic plan can be costly. As Barbara Marx Hubbard warns us,

"The selection process will exclude all who are exclusive. The selection process assures that only the loving will evolve to the stage of co-creator."[27]

Those who are "loving" in Ms Hubbard's eyes will be linked to the cosmic "Mind" she follows, and it will inspire their attitudes and actions. Genuine Christians would be "selected" out of Hubbard's evolutionary scheme. It sounds like a scary fantasy, but it comes close to what God told us would happen.

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you," said Jesus, "and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake." (Matthew 24:9)

Remove the phrase "all nations", and He could have been referring to almost any time during the last two thousand years. Long ago, Roman Christians fought lions. Missionaries to Asia, Africa and South America were tortured, burned and stabbed. Untold millions were tormented and killed by Communists who rejected Christ but not impersonal psychic powers. And Nazi resistors faced the gas chambers along with the millions of Jews.

For two centuries, the spreading influence of Christianity calmed the seething hostilities of occultism, and God's people found a momentary haven. But our shelter may soon be ravaged by the coming millennial storms. "Many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another," continued Jesus. "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved." (Matthew 24:10-13)

Endure? Where does endurance fit into the American dream? Or into contemporary church teaching? Or the feminist movement?

Endurance is almost a forgotten virtue, isn't it? Yet it's crucial to the battles ahead, whether end times are near us or still far away. Either way, it's time to prepare for radical changes. For the biblical and historical pattern shows us that when God's people or nations ignored truth, returned to paganism, and worshipped other gods, everyone suffered. With a heart that ached over the pain of His people,[28] God would pull back His hand of protection [29] and allow His people to face the terrors of life without Him -- usually droughts, famines, wars and plagues.

Eventually, the people would see what life was like without the Shepherd. The priests would roll out the dusty old Scriptures, tear their clothes in despair of their own rebellion, repent, and pray for healing. God always forgave and restored, for then as now He wants nothing more than to bless His precious people.

In spite of the glaring similarities between ancient Israel and today, there are some sobering differences. The vast communication network for occult indoctrination, the proliferation of seductive spiritual counterfeits, and our ignorance of occult dangers have set the stage for potential occult dominance that knows no precedent. In light of Biblical prophecy, could the oft-repeated cycle have become a downward spiral?

I don't know. God hasn't told us His schedule. Jesus gave us some signs to look for, but not the starting date for the tyrannical world government prophesied in Revelation 13. Only one thing is certain. The dreaded reign of the final antichrist [30] will come, but it will last only a moment in time.

"Learn this parable from the fig tree," said Jesus after telling His disciples about the false prophets, lawlessness, apostasy and persecution that would characterize the last days. "When its branch... puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the very doors... Watch therefore..." (Matthew 24:32-33, 42)

It's much easier to focus on daily needs than to look at eternal things. But God tells us to be alert and ready, not distracted from His concerns.

"As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be," said Jesus. "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.... Watch therefore..." (Matthew 24:37-39, 42)

The first lesson in watchfulness is to know and love truth. The world ruler will use all kinds of exciting miracles to prove his divine power, and most people will believe his boasts. For "the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth..." (2 Thessalonians. 2:9) Pray this will not happen to those you love!

The second lessons follows. Since those who love truth will be hated by the world, we need to fix our eyes on the eternal life that no one can ever take from us. A story I heard long ago shows the joy that comes with a heavenly focus. I may not remember the exact words, but the story goes something like this.

Back in the second century, Roman authorities told the Christian leader Polycarp to stop warning people about paganism and cease telling them the life-saving truth about Jesus Christ. He refused.

"Then we'll take all your possessions," they told him." Go ahead," he said. "My God has promised to supply all I need according to His riches in glory. He will take care of me." (Philippians 4:17-19)

"If you don't stop preaching, we'll take your wife and children and kill them," they threatened.

"You can't kill them," he answered, "for they belong to God. I will spend all eternity in heaven with them."

"Then we'll kill you."

"That would be best of all, for I would go immediately into the presence of my Lord. Nothing could be more wonderful."

Polycarp's martyrdom only magnifies the joy of His eternal perspective. His faith lives on as a rich reminder to us that when we are joined to Christ through the cross, we have an eternal treasure in heaven. That assurance doesn't diminish our present life; it makes it richer and fuller.

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain," said Paul. Living or dying, he enjoyed the privileges of citizenship in heaven. Either way he would serve the God he loved. Death would have been easier, for while he lived, he was stoned, imprisoned, chained, tortured, starved, and beaten for his faith. Yet, he radiated hope:

Heaven is Forever

What unseen things did Paul "see"? What thoughts comforted him when His body ached, his food was gone, and his friends forsook him?

Friends and food may be important, but they meant little compared to "the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."[31] Nothing could weaken his confidence that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"? (Romans 8:18) Part that glory would be a whole new beautiful body in place of the old broken one:

Instead of pain and loss, there would be an inheritance -- something so wonderful and glorious that we can't even comprehend it with our present earth-bound minds. Paul saw only glimpse, but we can sense his anticipation:

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:16-17

Special blessings would be reserved for those who suffer for His sake.[32] Among the first in line would be those who gave their lives to do His will, but received little or no human praise for their faithfulness. In heaven, their "Father who sees in secret will reward" them with a love that far exceeds our finite understanding.[33]

While God, in His perfect justice, promises special rewards for those who gave Him their lives, all of heaven's citizens will find their "cup" of happiness overflowing. This final joy will be far deeper and fuller than all the earthly delights combined. Lacking earthly words for heavenly glories, the Bible can only use inadequate images like mansions and streets of gold to symbolize the very best the human mind can communicate. But those barely hint at the wonder and magnificence of our future home. "For now we see in a mirror, dimly...."[34]

New bodies, a new earth, no more pain, a heavenly inheritance that will last forever. . . While those promises delight my heart, they can't compare with the best of all: meeting our Bridegroom "face to face." We will stand before a wonderfully real Person, the King of the universe -- not simply an impersonal "glory" or radiating "light" as New Agers tell us. Many saints have described that heavenly moment, but no earthly words can do it justice. Paul tried: "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,"[36] he rejoiced, "and thus we shall always be with the Lord."

Do you see the contrast between the evolutionary one-world spirituality and God's unchanging heavenly realm? Unlike the new paradigm with its evolving human consciousness that absorbs human identity, the biblical truth is that we individually will spend eternity in the presence of Jesus Christ, who "is the same yesterday, today and forever."[37]

John, Jesus beloved friend and disciple, sensed how the wonder of Gods eternal nature would touch our human lives in that moment of transformation: "Beloved, now we are children of God," he began, "and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Then he nudges us to take hold of this magnificent hope and keep it as a banner in our hearts: "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)

This hope changes us even now. Almost imperceptibly, a new understandinga more perfect and heavenly paradigmbegins to guide our hearts. "We can't feel at home in this world any more," goes an old song, for we realize that "our citizenship is in heaven!" (Philippians 3:19-20) Like the heroes and heroines of God's hall of fame (Hebrews 11), we fix our eyes on the heavenly city that beckons to all God's sojourners. The eyes of our hearts turn to Jesus, "and the things of earth grow strangely dim."

"Face to face with Christ my Savior," sang Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer who saw eternal realities more clearly than most people with eyes that see. Her songs still encourage thousands of believers to walk with God all the way home:

Here is the original post:
Heaven is Forever, A Twist of Faith - Crossroad.to

Opening the iTunes Store.If iTunes doesn't open, click the iTunes application icon in your Dock or on your Windows desktop.Progress Indicator

Opening the iBooks Store.If iBooks doesn't open, click the iBooks app in your Dock.Progress Indicator

iTunes

We are unable to find iTunes on your computer. To download and subscribe to Alan Watts Podcast by Alan Watts, get iTunes now.

To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to download and subscribe to podcasts.

Alan Watts is one of the most widely read philosophers of the 20th century. In addition to his 28 books, Alan Watts delivered hundreds of public lectures and seminars the recordings of which have been preserved in the archives of the Electronic University. Alan's eldest son Mark Watts has reviewed and cataloged these talks to prepare them for public broadcast. In 2005 Amber Star of Zencast.org created Alan Watts podcast to help disseminate these lectures to a new iPod listening generation . Today the Electronic University and Zencast.org are pleased to present the highlights of the spoken works of Alan Watts.

Alan Watts has been such a major influence in my life. Every lecture series is filled with insight and elegant explanations of Taoism, Life, Zen and the world. His approach is refreshing, honest and beautiful. As we all know how "the world peoples", Alan Watts has been the most inspring 'peoples' in this century. His unique humor and well balanced stories pulls everything together which makes the world a peaceful place. Thank you.

This is such a valuable resource. I am a teacher, and have been telling my students in an off-hand way about these podcasts, and suddenly find out that there's a movement afoot. Dozens of my students are talking about Watts, reading his books, and discovering their true Self - all on their own. All I had to do was suggest it. Having these in a podcast format brings Watts to a new generation, who otherwise might not have discovered him. Thank you for the podcasts, and thank you to Alan Watts for helping us all know who we truly are.

recently (summer 2007) someone has decided that it would be a grand idea to add music which over-powers Alan's voice. Even worse is the inserting of adverts in the middle of his talks. This has marred a five-star podcast and it is very disappointing. I am fine with a brief message (15-20 seconds) before or after the dialogue to sell Watt's related gear; but spending several minutes on musical interludes and the hawking of for-profit items is nearly enough to turn me off the podcast. I'll hang in for awhile longer but if the words of Alan Watts are further tampered with - I'm out.

Discover and share new apps.

Follow us on @AppStore.

Discover and share new music, movies, TV, books, and more.

Follow us @iTunes and discover new iTunes Radio Stations and the music we love.

Original post:
Alan Watts Podcast by Alan Watts on iTunes

Become a Masterful and Successful Coach, and a Truly Effective Leader, with Our Core Energy Coaching Process -- the Foundation for Sustainable Change and Success

The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) offers the most comprehensive and experiential coach training programin the world, having built a robust curriculum that trains you, the individual, or your company, in an inside-out coaching methodology. Our approach creates significant and sustainable change and will transform your life and business, and the lives and businesses of those you coach, with unparalleled results.

Our Core Energy CoachingTM process and Energy LeadershipTM framework are exactly why our students and clients dont just learn how to become leaders they truly embody its very definition, showing-up invigorated, authentic, and motivated by the opportunities before them; and, in turn, motivating those around them. As a result, iPEC is the first choice for those seeking a professional and progressive coach training or leadership development program.

Maybe you're a back-to-work mom, or someone in career transition, looking for a flexible and rewarding career as a Certified Professional Coach. Perhaps you're a Fortune 1000 CEO, or a business owner, looking to super-charge your business. No matter what led you here, iPEC's coach training and leadership development programs will help you to bridge the gap from where you are to where you want to be. Our multi-disciplinary approach to training gives you the knowledge, tools, strategies, and skills to create sustainable change for yourself, your clients, and your teams. And, our combined coaching methodology and leadership framework give you the unparalleled ability to transform lives, businesses, and organizations from the core.

Become A Certified Coach

Some of the most successful careers in professional life, business, and executive coaching begin with iPEC. Learn how you can specialize in a variety of coaching disciplines and deliver meaningful results, faster, with our proprietary Core Energy Coaching process.Become a Certified Coach

Leadership Engagement Programs

Lead the way to high performance by buildingenergized and engaged teams through authentic leadership. Learn how iPEC can help increase engagement, drive performance, and transform your organization from the core.Create Engaged Teams

Education Professionals Program

Become a certified provider of our Coach Centric Leadership for Education Professionals program. Learn how this unique business opportunity can help Education Service Agencies transform school districts from the core with measureable impacts on educational leadership and student achievement.Explore Partnership Opportunities

Read the original post:
iPEC Coaching | Life Coach Certification | Health Coach ...

Our coaching courses have been designed to ensure you have all of the necessary skills to make a positive and lasting difference to the Organisations and individuals you work with, delivered by full-time professionals who make their living as coaches.

Our core programme. This Diploma course teaches you all of the fundamental skills and tools required to begin your journey as a professional coach or add coaching skills to enhance the job you currently do.

Change and conflict management within organisations, business leadership, work/life balance, career management and team building are some of the areas involved.

Specialise in working with small business leaders. People who form the backbone of the local economy. You already know them, they run the businesses you pass every day on your high street.

By adding the power of NLP to a solid underpinning of coaching techniques, you can really make a difference in your own life and in the lives of those you coach, a great addition to your coaching skillset.

This programme will give you additional tools and techniques to continue developing your coaching skills. Select from our one-day workshops to achieve a CPD for Coaches status.

If you are a qualified coach who wants to continue on the coaching journey and master the art of coaching then adding additional coaching theories and models to your repertoire will definitely be for you.

See original here:
Life Coaching, Corporate, Business & Executive Training ...

Listen and watch this in-depth, gritty interview with Jesse Elder and John Spencer Ellis.

Concrete Loyalty: 4 Ways to Make Your Fitness and Coaching Clients Love You Forever One of the greatest challenges that we face in the fitness and coaching business is client retention, and this is largely the case because our clients needs will often change from season to season. Its also one of the primary reasons []

Personal branding is a somewhat ambiguous phrase that gets tossed around a lot by business coaches, marketers, and branding experts. But what does branding really mean, anyway, and how can you use it to score more clients and set yourself apart from other coaches? The first thing to understand is that branding is not marketing. []

As a coach, trainer, or wellness entrepreneur, you need a strong online presence to connect with prospective clients, win new business, and increase your brands visibility on both a local and global scale. That means you need to spend thousands of dollars per month on expensive SEO services, right? Not necessarily.

Being a good boss means hiring talented people and getting out of their way. ~ Tina Fey If you only make one positive change in your business this year, let it be this: start outsourcing more of your tasks to freelancers online.

Youre waiting in line for your usual Monday morning cappuccino at the local cafe, and thats when you see it: a bulletin board covered with the business cards of makeup consultants to dance classes to ah, yes other local fitness business.

Do you ever feel like youre doing everything right to market yourself as a coach or trainer, but you still cant get ahead? If your online presence is sluggish and youre constantly scrambling for new clients, you might be courting the wrong target market. Your target market should consist of your ideal customers the []

My fellow fitness trainers and coaching experts: sooner or later, you are going to need a vacation (and Id advocate that you take it sooner, rather than later). For this reason, the best part about the summer is that many of your clients are already going to be taking theirs which means that, between []

Excerpt from:
John Spencer Ellis America's #1 Fitness Business Expert ...

Our Mission Statement:

We Educate, Empower and Transform Lives, so that people can be Equipped to become Successful and Happy in theirCareers, Personal Lives, Relationships, Family and Finances!

We Educate, Inspire and Equip passionate people, with ourAdvanced Transformation Coaching Techniques and Evolutionary Coaching Systems.This enable our Coaches to really go out there and make a Big Difference in the World.

Andiswa Ngqondela

Making the choice to become a Leader means that we must be a Good Example to others!

This is a Course where you will gain the Education, Tools and Skills as an Internationally Certified Life Coach, Transformation Coach, Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner and Negative Emotional Therapy Practitioner or you might just choose to do this course for personal gain.

Whatever the choiceyou will get exactly what you want with hands-on practical experience!

Perhaps you already know what you really want, and therefore you have start thinking about how you can get it? You do know it is crucial to make commitments that will lead to action so that you can greatly enhance your life and get what you want!

This realization and choice will finally help you with your new-found courage to DO and BE. At this juncture, you will experience New Hope, New Successes, and New Forms of Happiness. You will finally be on your way to Happiness and Success!

We cannot experience happiness, unless there is first a capacity for enjoyment. And for that, you may need to go back in time to remember lifes simpler pleasures and the manner in which you were once able to appreciate them.

You have NOT lost your capacity to enjoy; you have only misplaced it. You can find it again bystart doing what you love!

Galaxy Anju West

When we are in a career that we truly dislike, we will always be unhappy because it is impossible to find joy in things you choose to dislike!

In our Academy we strive to help, change and transform every person in the Training to become happy in who they are and what they do, because that will make our Coaches, Coaches of LifeTHE BEST!!

Glen Weldon

There is a reason you are looking into this and it was not by accident. You know that there is more to life and that you have a destiny to fulfill.

Do You Want The Following?

Whethersomeone isunhappy, have a low self-esteem, feel frustrated, have anger issues, suffer from depression or just feel totally alone in this worldthey can with no doubt be transformed through our Advanced Transformation Coaching Techniques and Revolutionary Transformation Coaching System.

We have put this course together with the aim to help others and thereforeoffer a sense of hope, possibility, and empowerment in a world that often makes people feel small, hurt, ineffective, and helpless.

Marinette Le Roux

Our goal is to teach youawesome insights into this New Breakthrough Science in a way thats Easy to Understand and Really Interesting.

Dare to believe that something inside you is greater than your circumstances!

What kind of Tools will this Training give me?

This is just a few examples of the skills and tools that you will learn and gain from our Life Coach Training Course. For a more detailed description, please click on the link below:

This is the only Transformation Life Coach Training of its kind, because we have been there and we totally understand how frustrating it is to feel unable to move forward. We have more than just the Pedigree Status which does not mean that much to us anyway. Our Journey started 14 years ago and the success on our results can speak for themselves. We choose to learn from people that walk the talk and have the success story from where theyve been to where they are now and what they have accomplished.

Kirstie England

Our Life Coach Training Academy gives you more than any other training institute in South Africa, because our foundation of Empowerment is the Powerful Combination of Life Coaching Methodologys, Neuro-Science, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Success Mind Set Strategies and the most Advanced Positive Psychology.

With our International Accredited ANLP and COMENSA courses you can now successfully empower and transform yourself and other people. Become a Certified Life Coach, Transformation Coach, Negative Emotional Therapy Practitioner and Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner today and learn how to use your full potential in achieving all your goals and achieve a sense of Inner Happiness from within. At our revolutionary and powerful Transformation Coaching Academy we equip people to start living their dream and destiny!

After completing our training you will be Certified as a:

Take the Courage Now and find out exactly how easy it is to Become a certified Life Coach, Transformation Coach, Negative Emotional Therapy Practitioner, & Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner Today!

We deliver powerful transformation for every single person joining our Academy. We have one aim and one mission: Transforming & Empowering Lives!!!

Dont take our word for it. Read and Look at what some of our Trainees had to say about our Transformational Life Coach Training Course below the Submission Form.

Aira Klopper Professional Hypnotherapist

P.S. Fill in the form now and we will send you all the information you need and when you love what you see we will contact you to answer any other questions.

You changed my life! Thank you, thank you, and thank you! From believing that I cant do stuff, to believing that I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to. Words alone cannot describe how incredible this experience was for me. A week of growth and freedom that I will carry with me for rest of my existence. I am empowered, free and have this unconditionally love for life! It was an awesome experience. I will keep you both in my memories for always.

Love You.

Renat Kitshoff

Before this life coach training I knew that I was powerful, strong and destined for great things. Now, I believe it! The course has shifted my view on my power and capabilities regarding my life and circumstances. I know I am great and do not have to be apologetic about it anymore. Burk and Isobel have such beautiful and pure souls. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I am humbled by your love for your work, yourselves and others. Nowthat is Motivating!! I appreciate you and this opportunities. May you be blessed mightily for your efforts! P.S. I had the best time of my life! Warm Regards Doris Msibi TV Presenter

From day one, minute one, I enjoyed the energy of Burk and Isobel that lasted throughout the week. The course offered a whole lot more than I expected with so much extra added material, value and insight. I cant express enough what the practical training was providing to me. The experience that Burk and Isobel impart is delivered with passion and tangible enthusiasm. I recommend that anybody wanting to have an awesome life changing experience get in touch and enroll today so that you too can enjoy the rest of your life to the fullest. Ray Booth

What an amazing week!!I have had so many breakthroughs in my personal life that I almost feel like super woman! The different transformation coaching techniques that I have learned during the training has been phenomenal. Each techniques has given me a new perspective on the brilliance of our mind! Thank you for an earth-shattering week. I am so confident and have so much self-love that it feels like it is ooooozing out of me! Teresa Barnard HR Manager

Let me answer this Question by posing a Question What did this training NOT do for me!!!??? It exceeded my expectations by miles and milesDuring and after the training, I knew that this was different to any other training I ever attended. The level of professionalism cannot easily be matched and the outcome for me personally is absolutely phenomenal! Thank you, Burk and Isobel. Keep up the great work. You are most definitely Leaders in transforming lives. My life will never be the same again. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Johan Cronje

This training has been the greatest gift I could have given myself. It has given me a brand new start in life and I am so excited about the next 100 years that I am going to live. I have realized that I am limitless and have the tools now to live this limitless life. Every limitation I ever had has been transformed into a new goal and driver focus. I have the ability to create much more love, joy, peace happiness, success, health and abundance of money than I ever dreamed possible! Thank you Burk and Isobel for imparting this to me and with you as my role models I undertake to empower others with this vital knowledge. Lorraine Harvey

Wow, wow, wowBang!!! Burk and Isobel! Your Love, Your Faith and believe in medid make all the difference! It could have been book knowledge, BUT, as you Coach from the Heart, it made a great difference to me. Thank you for the Grace you showed me and you taught me about choices, but for your Peace, Love, Joy and Patience to wait and allow me to experience my own Learnings! Thank you for teaching me that there is no Mistakesonly FEEDBACK, to learn and finding new ways to do things and to look for in life. You have imparted a model to me and I am so grateful for this experience!! Thank you.Love You! Elza Gill

What a life changing experience. It went beyond any course and became an experience that has changed my life forever. It has made me, the me, I have always envisioned and knew was inside of me. I have let go of my past limiting beliefs and am filled with self-love and confidence that will help me live my every day to its fullest and to grow! It has inspired me to help others see their true inner selves and experience this feeling I feel right now after completing this training. When I look deep inside, there are no words to describe what this training has done for me. I am a new me. A Me that I love unconditionally. A Me that cannot wait to see what the future has in store and the potential that it carries. Neha Patel Civil Engineer

Gosh!! Where do I start?? I now fully believe that I am full of infinite possibilities. I know this like I know the sun will rise tomorrow. Being here has been a true gift! I have been in touch with parts of me that I forgot about and I refused to accept that they were there and now that they are gone, I cannot wait to start living my new life, which started yesterday anyway I am truly blessed for having trained again with you. So thank you, thank you, and thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you for always loving unconditionally. May God continue to bless you, so you can continue to be the Beacon of Hope, which you both are. Love Ruth Shimwanza

Oppad na dag 1 vir die NLP Life Coaching Course, het ek trane van vreugde gekry. Ek het net geweet dit is die regte besluit, want binne my weet ek daar is meer tot my lewe. Ek het vergeet wie ek is en waarna ek in staat is. Die kursus het alles binne my oopgemaak, ek voel vernuwe in my menswees! Ook onthou ek nou hoe Powerful en suksesvol ek is. n Gedrewe individu wat BERGE kan versit. Burk en Isobel, ongelooflik dankie vir die geleentheid om weer heel te kan wees. NAMSTE:I honor the best and highest within you! Nelene Flemming

I feel like my purpose is clear, I am a happier person. I now believe more in my abilities and I feel like the future is out there for me to create what I want and have a positive impact on the lives of other people. As a Business woman I feel more confident, I feel I can truly achieve anything. I know what ever I do is going to be successful. Before the training I doubted my abilities but now I cant wait to start. I know I am great and everything is possible because I do believe in myself. This training has totally changed my life. Thank you so much guys for all your hard work in preparing and delivering this material. I will see you Burk for the Masters Training Program. Yes I will. Manako Marumo Business Women

Indescribable!!! Burk & Isobel you have taken me through my deepest darkest journey one I have evaded for 45 years I came to learn to help others and found myself. How liberating to find forgiveness, understanding and Love!! With your skill, knowledge, love and discipline I can walk onto a new Whole life, free of the emotional baggage that toxified and robbed me for all my life. I am immensely grateful, blessed, inspired to share this experience for the greater good. My New, Best life has just begun!! Elsabe Veldman

This training was profound and empowering. The life skills and tools that I have been, gifted will serve me and allow me to continuously empower myself. It will also assist me with mentoring, learning and empowering others and enhance my goals and my life purpose. I am deeply grateful for the gifts, knowledge and wisdom that this fantastic team have entrusted me with. May you both keep up this amazing work and keep serving humanity. Love, Light and blessings. Didier dHotman

Thank you so much!I have really had the desire to spend more time with you and absorb the energy. I have learnt a lot even though it is a refresher course. I realized that I have grown a lot and (not but) have so much room for growth. I have heard and picked up things that I have missed during my first Training and you have definitely upgraded your course a lot. This refresher has certainly fired me up even more and also allowed me to deal with deeper issues (content vs. context thank you Isobel). Burk, the way you helped me with my sadness was incredible because I can trust you and know that you really care. What I take home with me is: Your sincerity and authenticity. Bless you Burk and Isobel! Rene van Wyk

At long last I was able to let go of 40 years worth of baggage. After this intensive training, I am now grateful to be able to say that I feel whole again. I feel inspired to get on with the rest of my amazing life. I nearly did not make it to this course, but thankfully the universe conspired to make it so. By living their purpose, Burk and Isobel helped me to start discovering mine and placed me in a position to play a constructive role in the lives of others. I am truly grateful and hope that, whoever reads this, will find the courage to do the same. Pieter Honiball

Oh, I cant begin to tell you how grateful and happy I am that I did this course. I have been stuck! I actually now feel like I am on a roller coaster or on roller blades Nothing will ever stop me again. I believe I am going to touch the lives of people in the most remarkable way. Today this door of the lecture room represents for me a breakthrough symbol. As I get out at the end of this last day I will be crossing the Rubicon, into a whole new world, the beginning of my bright powerful forever Jackie Kekana

The biggest thing I have experienced is my irritability with myself small things going wrong around me and even with other people have decreased significantly. The need to be in control, to be this Always-in-control-of-myself person has subsided. I am sure I will confuse other people less by becoming more congruent of the person I really am Loving and Peaceful. I have also come to the conclusion that instead of focusing on success and wealth, I can rather focus on peace, personal power and opportunities the other things will follow naturally. My new DFF is already having a big impact on me. Thank you Burk and Isobel! On the first day I was still unsure if I made the right decision to do this Life Coaching Course, but by the second day I was convinced and todayBowled Over!!! Melinda White

Life Coach Extraordinaire Firstly it shifted my way of looking at life. I know now that my life is my creation. Burk and Isobel a true gems to this Planet and absolute gift to us all. Burk and Isobel made Life Coaching & NLP like second nature to me. I am Positive and inspired to conquer every hurdle and challenge that life presents. I am totally fearless and this world is mine. The process was so carefully and caringly presented. I am now and forever grateful for this Gift. Thank you, Burk and Isobel. I can openly say that I am empowered. I love you both and I wish for you and your family lifes richest Blessings and amazing health, wealth and longevity. Please maintain your autonomous nature!! Krishna Sivan Reddy

This was one of two massive life changing experiences for me. Ill never be the person I was before I came on this course and for that I am extremely and utterly grateful. I feel I have been given a second chance on life and I can now have the life Ive always dreamed of the life I deserve! Burk and Isobel have made such a significant change in me and to them I owe everything. No amount of money is worth the experience and value and empowerment that I received. Even my handwriting has changed a bit for the better This has been the greatest, happiest and most empowering journey of my life and its only the beginning!! Thank you Michelle Naude

The course exceeded my expectations. I came here to be trained as a life coach but got more in term of changing certain thoughts vales and behaviors that were an impediment in my life preventing me to do what I am capable of. I will always value the teachings, the learnings and transformation coaching techniques I have learned and will use them on and with my clients to help them to transform their lives. I wish I had this course earlier in my life. I will also continue applying everything I have learned on myself. I would like to commend Burk and Isobel for their passion in Life Coaching, for them, one realized is not just an income generation business but a calling! Maria Mabetoa Senior Manager

Wow!!! I have learned so much, not only about helping others, but also have I learned so much about MYSLEF my whole BEING! The transformation coaching techniques I have acquired I will carry with me always spread these amongst many to make this world a better place on step (person) at a time. I will forever be in your debt. Thanking you from deep within! Jurgen Gross-Heitmeyer HR Manager

I made the most awesome personal shift in the last week with Burk and Isobel. The learnings and the tools to handle those things in life that was holding me back is priceless. I feel that the learnings will be part of my life forever. I know that one day I am going to inspire people the same way Burk and Isobel inspired me. I am never looking back again. I have the tools to get the life I want. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. Tiekie Barnard Business Consultant

I have read many books and I have studied my BCOM & Civil Engineering. I have been through many courses in my personal life and corporate life as an executive. This course was excellent, excellent in the methods, processes and the simplicity in the presentation. I now have tools I can apply in my everyday life as a Civil Engineer, Sport Coach and as a Life Coach. Sport coaching is my hobby and the methods I have learned can be directly applied in that (sport) field of work. Riaz Cassoojee

Burk and Isobel Thank You!! You both have changed my Life! I came in here thinking I was just going to learn how to talk to people, but you have shown me a whole new way of life! What I have gained in this training is priceless and I will take it with me wherever I go! I will live it, apply it and share it with an enthusiasm and vibrancy that I have discovered in this training! For me, I have grown tremendously in the last week! I am a new person radiating from inside out! Thank you, thank you and thank you! Love and light to you both! Razia Shaikh

It took me more than a year within myself after I made the actual commitment to get to go through the Transformation Life Coach Training Course. Needless to say, I walked in quite skeptical after reading about their transformation coaching techniques, but I knew that I needed something different because what I tried up to now did not work. I was tied, physically and mentally and at yet another cross-road in my life. During this week of walk and growth I started to make the links in myself of the change needed and I just did not only received the tools of how to do it but I also did experience it myself. Wow I know the way, made easy and practically by Burk. I am well on my way to a new life, with a better me in the world and I can help others as well! Thank you. Bez Bezuidenhout Industrial Psychologist

The course is well structured and presented excellently. The preparation and Illustrations are excellent. The Presenter is passionate about his work and is able to retain the attention of learners for a much longer period. The training manuals are professionally presented including the corresponding DVDs that are enjoyable and easy to follow. These transformation coaching techniques in combination with Life Coaching is a very powerful practical and pragmatic approach that has contributed enormously to my understanding of the role of factors underlining behaviours. It is practical and applicable. I would have no qualms in recommending it. Its benefits are incalculable. Many Thanks Phineas Mabetoa Psychologist

This training reignited my passion for quantum physics. I feel limitless. I am now confident that I am in the right direction and coaching is 100% for me. I realized now how not to go about my life. I realized that love and gratitude need to come first. Burk is amazing. I will now use him as my model and mentor. Ive realized that I need to walk the talk in order to create valuable change in my clients. Sheri Zinn

Thank you so very much for everything! This past week has been an amazing experience and journey. I have learnt so much about myself and cant wait to start a new, more positive road ahead for myself and in helping others. Burk and Isobel, you are both Inspirations and such lovely people. Best Wishes. Debbie Jamieson

I came to the training very narrow minded and uninformed about the subconscious mind. During the training, fear, insecurity and emotional baggage serviced. I was able to effectively deal with it all! My confidence level was at a very low and insecurity plagued me in every attempt of train to step onto and really do something big with my life. With my self-image picture changed and all issues dealt with, I am unstoppable. It was very powerful techniques that I have experienced and being equipped with so that I can more effectively help and change my practice and financial state. I am fully equipped now to dream big dreams without nagging limiting believes sabotaging my success and future. Thank you very much Burk. It was a great course! Henk van Zyl Pastor

This changed my life and I know it will continue into the future for the first time I feel I have tools that I can use for myself and others. My dream is to be part of something to change the world for the better. This is my lift-off, this plane (me) was long enough on the runway time to fly now, reach new heights breaking new boundaries. I feel physically and emotionally excellent. Thank you for everything. I see the outcome: A better world, filled with Gods love, with people creating heaven on earth! Ansa Smith

This was the most enlightening course I have attended in many, many years. It changed my life and given me hope for the future. I am excited about my future. Thank you so very much. Deidre van der Merwe

I experienced myself being part of everything and today everything is now part of me. Talking is all you need to do with Burk and Isobel to know they are real!! A gift of life for life! I see every single person in the group has changed hearing their changes and feeling their changes.WOW!! Thanks for inspiring and leading! Pierre Holtzhausen

It was totally invigorating. I am more positive and excited to go out and show the world. There is so much more that I learned about myself and how to live a better life. It is empowered me totally in every way and also given me way more confidence. Thank you, Burk and Isobel. Sandy Pillay

This was a life changing experience. I am a totally different person, everything seems easier now. I see the world as a new beautiful place filled with opportunities which are waiting for me to grab and use to my advantage. The training is the best and exceeded my expectations. Burk was amazing; you and Isobel have become angels I want to keep forever in my life. I am more confidence, I am free all thanks to you guys. Phakeme Mthembu

What I paid for this course, to what the fruits of what I learned will beit is definitely going to be millions in rand terms. It was truly life changing! Any business or sports man or woman must go through this Transformation Life Coach Training with Burk. Thank you. Werner van Aswegen Regional Manager Momentum

For more written Testimonials Click Here For more Information about our Courses, just Click the following Link: Course Layout

We are tired of the B.S. promises and teachings to become happy and successful from people that teach from what they learned through books instead of teaching from their heart, facts and own living experiences. We want to implement and learn the things that are proven to work!!!

Turn your passion and story into profits and make 2015 youre Best Year Ever!!!

View original post here:
Transformation Life Coaching Courses | Life Coach Training ...

Business>

A business coach works with clients to hone their skills in all areas of business, including executive coaching (for seniors) and interview coaching (for potential employees).

More on Business

Confidence>

Confidence coaching teaches clients ways of developing their confidence and self-belief. A confidence coach focuses on improving how someone feels about their abilities, skills, behaviour and appearance.

More on Confidence

Career>

Career coaching helps those who are unhappy in their career by exploring ways of improving their prospects and happiness at work. Key values and skills are factored in to a career action plan.

More on Career

Health>

A health coach motivates and supports people to lead a healthy lifestyle. They enable clients to realise their health and fitness potential and set goals to improve quality of life.

More on Health

Personal development>

A personal development coach will guide clients through a process of self-help. By evaluating the self, clients can adopt strategies to make long-term positive changes that foster success and happiness.

More on Personal development

Motivation>

Coaches specialising in motivation will teach clients ways to motivate themselves and others. Motivation coaching can be used to enhance all areas of life including work and relationships.

More on Motivation

Leadership>

Leadership coaching equips people with the skills and confidence needed to perform effective leadership and management in the workplace, home and relationships.

More on Leadership

Work/life balance>

Life coaching can help people to organise their lives in a way that supports a work/life balance. Coaches work with clients to prioritise areas that provide happiness and fulfillment.

More on Work/life balance

Relationships>

Relationship coaching involves working with clients to identify key relationship issues and ways of resolving them. Coaches can provide dating tips, help with relationship problems and offer tailored marriage advice.

More on Relationships

Read the rest here:
Life Coach Directory Find a Life Coach or NLP ...

FREE Tarot Card Reading

To ask the ancient Tarot oracle a question, type your question in the space provided, and indicate the general "theme" of the question using the checkmarks below. Then click "Read my cards!" and your reading will appear within a few seconds.

For best results, you should ask a "yes or no" question about some situation in your life that is currently occupying a lot of your thought and attention. The more your question accurately reflects what is really on your mind, the more useful and relevant the answer will be!

YOUR QUESTION:

What is the general "theme" of your question? Action or activity, energy, health Emotional issues, feelings, moods, relationships Thoughts, plans, ideas, communication Money, possessions, work, rewards

Card images are from the deck designed by A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith in 1910, currently published as the Rider-Waite deck by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Interpretations and programming by Gregory Ellison. Astrological attributions and minor arcana keywords based on the Golden Dawn system as first elaborated by S. L. MacGregor Mathers. Elemental dignity analysis based on method elaborated by Paul Hughes-Barlow.

Read more:
Conscious Evolution - FREE Tarot Card Reading