nine gates

When I started to meditate in 1989, it was still seen as something weird.

I was only 10 so that is perhaps a little weird. But I had a good reason:

Karate.

Growing up, my life story was something like this:

School.

Train Karate (meditate before and after each session together with all the other students).

Play Trumpet.

Meditate at home.

Read books about the mind.

(and being tragically in love with this one girl - but that’s a different story)

I’d spend hours, weeks, months and years learning about the mind-body connection. Working with your breath is equally as important in a Karate fight, as when hitting the high C on the trumpet.

Then, at 16 I learned “Transcendental Meditation”. They say it’s a “magical”, superior kind of meditation. That’s bollocks.

But I was 16 and hopeful - plus my mum paid for the outrageously high fees (thanks mum!).

And as I meditated, and I read and went on workshops, I felt pretty good about myself.

I waited for that magic.

And waited.

I learned Tai Chi and became a Tai Chi teacher.

Still no magic.

I kept at it. Searching for something magical to happen.

It never did.

At least not the kind of magic I expected.

If you’re on your own self-development journey, you know that you’ll run into walls. You’ll wonder…

• “What do I really want?”
• “Am I on the right path?”
• “Why is this still happening to me?”
• And of course:
• “Who am I (really)?”
• and
• “Where am I going?”

I’ve asked these questions myself many times. And as I’ve been working as a leadership facilitator and coach for the last 15 years, these existential questions have come up a lot for my clients too.

Now, I’m not going to be one of THOSE coaches who humble brag about their achievements and high-profile clients.

I am just going to say this:

Over these years I’ve gathered a bag of gold nuggets - valuable insights, tools and experiences that produce outstanding real-life results.

And as much they help me and my clients at work and in life, I’m convinced they’ll help you too.

Pinky swear.

So here is THE problem, everyone is trying to solve:

(drum roll)

How do I live a good life?

It’s a simple question, but it’s not always an easy question to answer. In your own way, you are on your path towards your own version of this ‘goodness’.

We all are.

And on our path, we hit roadblocks.

All. The. Time.

It can be infuriating, discouraging, painful, tragic and comedic.

But when we hit those roadblocks, we look for solutions.

That’s where things get tricky.

Really tricky.

Think of a time when you had an argument with a friend. Whatever the issue, there are many ways you may have dealt with this conflict.

Below are a few options, but which option (if any) did you pick?

Did you try to…

• correct the flawed thinking of your friend?
• just let it go?
• give in?
• induce a bit of guilt?
• go about it the Spock way - with reason and logic?
• push your point forcefully?
• crack a joke, to keep things positive?
• seek support from others?
• silent treatment?
• etc.

I’m going to make a claim here - whichever option you chose, it wasn’t random.

In fact, the way you tried to solve this problem is probably how you have tried to solve other problems before. And if nothing changes, it’s how you will try to solve problems in the future.

Now, fellow non-robots, this doesn’t mean that we always behave exactly the same way.

But.

It means that we adopt certain patterns of behaviour that we repeat over time.

And the more we repeat these behaviours, the more they influence the direction our lives take.

(Slow clap)

But that’s just the beginning.

It’s likely, that how you solve conflicts is also how you go about other challenges. How you relate to yourself, how you make decisions, or lead your team at work, or raise your kids, or which hobbies you pick and so forth.

It’s all connected.

It’s connected, because we use patterns that we are most familiar with, but not always the ones that would be most effective. It’s what comes easiest.

Hence, you apply the same mindset in different situations.

In a way, does your pattern choose you more than you choose it.

Patterns are automatic, immediate and low effort. You acquire them when you’re very young still. It’s your mind’s way to handle life. To save energy. To reduce complexity.

Over time, you forget about them. They just become your way of being. Your second nature. It’s who you (think you) are.

So whatever you do in your life, these patterns are always with you. They are your survival tool. But more than that. They are your window, through which you look at life.

A way of perceiving the world, of feeling and thinking. An attitude. A personality. A mental space.

A big issue with personal development is, that we may embark on all sorts of trainings, workshops or retreats,

but

if we remain locked inside our automatic patterns nothing really changes, we may even end up making things worse.

For example…

👉🏻 a perfectionist, who tries to become even more perfect by correcting flaws.

👉🏻 the A-type personality person, who tries to find new ways to be even more productive.

👉🏻 a hedonist, who jumps from book to book, from idea to idea, from seminar to seminar, looking for ever more stimulation.

And so forth.

These patterns are all forms of profound hypnosis.

10 years ago I studied hypnotherapy for a while. One of the most important lessons I took away was, that we’re constantly asleep in some shape or form.

These patterns are ways of being asleep. They bypass our critical thinking (awareness) and they control what we focus on.

That’s the definition of hypnosis.

If you remain in this hypnosis while trying to “grow” you are likely to stay trapped within the boundaries, set by this hypnotic state.

So instead of making things better, you perpetuate them. Or make them even worse. It’s great for people who want to sell ever more workshops to you. But it’s not so great for your actual progress.

So, to create meaningful progress, first, we have to wake up to how we are asleep.

And for this reason I created nine gates.

In terms of the gold nuggets I mentioned earlier - I’ve poured many of them into this programme. It’s designed to shed light and to transform your hidden hypnotic patterns.

It combines, meditation, trance work, enneagram theory, critical self-reflection, non-directive coaching and visualisation to create a journey of self-discovery.

No filters, no make-up, no posing, no bs - but an honest look behind the curtain of your mind.

I sincerely believe, that this is one of the most important steps on anyone’s growth journey. We cannot truly grow, not truly “live a good life” if we remain blind to our blindness.

So let’s make it more concrete. What’s the benefit?

With nine gates you will:

• Discover and work on the root cause of your personal challenges, not the symptom
• Create closer and more healthy relationships
• Remove inner saboteurs that dampen your progress
• Discover who you really are behind the layers
• Learn about the inner workings of the mind
• Protect yourself from attempts of manipulation and domination
• Find a deeper sense of meaning and fulfilment
• Strengthen your autonomy and independence in thought and action
• Become more skilled at recognising and harmonising conflict situations

For each of the 9 session you will need ~23 min. of uninterrupted time.

In each session I guide you through one fundamental pattern. I have created a step-by-step process that helps you to discover and transform how these patterns show up in your life.

As an added benefit you won’t only start to see yourself in a new light, you’ll also be able to understand how other people tick better.

Almost like wearing X-ray goggles.

Now, do you remember that “magic” I was looking for, when learning meditation?

Well, over time I realised that this “magic” is hiding where I expected it the least. Like the silence behind the music.

Pragmatically speaking, the solutions to our problems are often hidden exactly where we are least likely to look.

With nine gates I hope to accelerate your process of discovering those hidden places sooner. So that every day, there is a little bit more magic for you.

*Cheesy little violin tune*

P.S. Oh and you’ll find a bonus on the inside too. You can sign up to check out more info there if you like.

In a nutshell, it’s a special kind of modified music, designed for deep-brain stimulation. The technology has kindly been provided by my colleague and friend Diego Taccuso.

I don’t know about you, but I always feel reluctant to sign up for yet another “thing”, but I promise you not to spam you with emails and to keep your personal information safe.

All information is being hosted and kept secure by thinkific, one of the most highly regarded learning platform providers today. (and of course you can always remove your information)

Having said that, if you’re curious, just sign up to enjoy one full session for free. You can decide afterwards if want to continue.