Hey tribe of journeyman and women So I just finished recording the previous episode about how I got a hundred students in my first few months of opening a Kido dojo and I realized I'm in a good space in the proper space to record this episode, which is kind of the follow-up of So going from up to low of how I lost most of those students and Why I think this is a good moment for me to record it is because I got into kind of this emotional space of feeling back into the time and And that period I have to be honest was very emotional for me. It was a difficult time And I don't even I I'm an open book. You know, I share everything and I'll actually explain why I do that just in a moment But I am an open book. So I do tell that story about how I lost it. I never guide that but I also I don't know if I really I guess I sometimes I do interviews for podcasts because of you know, I'm known for martial arts journey and There's certain times when I'm invited to do a podcast and and I mentioned that kind of that happened Maybe I mentioned it in a few videos But I never really on record went through details of what specifically happened at that time and how it rolled out that that my students lost faith in me and been in me, which Not don't don't confuse it. It's not when I started my martial arts journey and the question that you know, that's not that it was actually more related to my spiritual practice and My understanding of what's right and wrong. So anyway, I'll explain to you everything in the story but Yeah, I'm kind of in that emotional space where I it's a tough Subject so Don't expect me to cry or something. I don't cry often for good or bad, but But that's that there is an emotional kind of baggage there and I think it's one of the reasons I'm sharing these stories with you is Because I feel well first of all, it's a quick side note But when I started this new journey people were concerned that I will be like a self-help guru guy and they're like, oh Last thing we need is another self-help guru guy and the thing is I hate that Whole world myself as well. And actually this story might be a very good one to explain why I don't like that whole culture of self-help gurus myself or gurus in general but also Also, too, I don't want to be the one like that as well And I think the best way to do that or or ask myself like what's the deal like why do people hate Self-help gurus like smart people and I think for a good reason I think part of it is because they're pretentious They're like the something that worked for them they go out and tell you like oh, this is how things work And I will teach you you know I will I know the way and I will tell you but the thing is we're all individuals we're all different and What applies to me doesn't necessarily apply to you and on the other hand instead of me telling what's right and what's what's wrong I Embrace the power of stories as I think stories There's such a good vehicle of sharing experience because What I went through I won't tell you know like this won't be a tongue of you to you like this is right or this is wrong but I'll just share my emotional share my My story and you can make your own conclusions You know, it's a legit real story with hopefully enough emotional baggage So you could see that it's real and you could feel those motions and hopefully you will take something valuable from it So I'm not here to teach you something, but I'm here to share and hopefully give you a chance to Learn from my mistakes at least a degree And so yeah, that's the reason why I'm sharing the story and I'm sharing these stories when I'm making this video serious I'm hoping that that's a great way to offer value because I expose myself and part of my character is which I'm grateful of is I do dive into the fire sometimes and I do get burned sometimes because of that as well But that burning they teach that teaches me lessons which sometimes are unique or they're not easy to find and they're not easy to get and Then they become valuable and then if this subject is interesting to you then hopefully You can learn from where I got burnt from or gain some experience knowledge. Well, I think you got the message. So That's the intro and without further ado. Let's get going So and oh, okay. Well side note, you don't have to necessarily listen to the previous episode About how I got those members in the beginning You can if you want to but you don't have to but the story does continue that for the first few months of me opening my dowjara I was only 22 years old. I keep getting confused whether it's 21 or 22 Always forget, but I was young as hell and back then at that day was funny because I thought that that's natural That's the way to go. I was like a lot of people would tell me like a lot of my students were way older than me But they were like really, you know loyal and respectful, which actually initially I was concerned about I was like, oh I'm 22 years old. How will people believe in me? So I thought myself. I need to do such a good job That they would and I was able to pull that off initially Sometimes I had those funny cases where not everyone but some adults would come in especially in the Thwayna Which is still kind of a bit of an old-school country. It's changing, but it still is Older people they would come in and they wouldn't respect me at all because I'm this young guy But by the end of it after they would see how I teach and they would see how much I know They would suddenly change completely and they would be super respectful to me and that was funny. I was like dude come on, you know Be a more authentic me more honest But anyway, so my most my students were way older than me and they were like, whoa Roka is he's so young and knows this knows that I was like, what's the big deal now? I look back.  How did I pull that off when I was 21 or 22?  I haven't Had so much independence. I hadn't lived in this reality that most people live in my reality was I finished high school I went to the spiritual school and what not So so my my experience was unique and and my understanding of what is reality was different than most of people That was actually one of the problems But so I initially I was just so passionate and so enthusiastic and so driven and And I believed a hundred percent and what I was doing it also believed a hundred percent in what my Aikido teacher did And he was a very significant influential Individual in my life personality I Worship him. I was super loyal to him.  So I completely was to go to him completely faithful and To some of you as it worked out, you know, I learned Some lessons the quick way and some of his advices were good But obviously, you know, there were some shit between that too and I took that as well And that's kind of the point of the story So We're in 2012 A few months in my students are completely In love with what we're doing and they're devoted to me and so on and I even had like a new Chidashi program as well Which is a living student program Where you have people living in your dojo and I had this young guy living in my Aikido school and learning for me All the time and I would you know consult him. I was like I was doing what my Aikido instructor did as well. It wasn't just Aikido is also kind of this self-help guru thing where I would go to meetings with my students and I would share them my wisdom and some of it was good some it was Not as good, but I was sincere and I didn't want to sell something just to sell I just really spoke about things I'd believed in and so I was trying to support people in their personal growth and that was part of the whole Community we had it was about self-growth About achieving your goals and so on and most of the stuff part of the stuff was what from what I learned from from my personal experience part of it was Things I took from my teacher and I believed to be true and I kind of passed it on No meditation knowing yourself enlightenment what not I spoke about them a few other episodes now the thing is which was a crucial part is I Think like six months was come everything was just like super good But I don't want to go into this part too much, but That I learned actually years later It's fairly recently when I got divorced I was like, I don't know eight months ago or so officially Was a longer process, but but I might my students told me to me that They did feel like when I got into that relationship That actually changed and I think it was true Like the first six months I was completely devoted to my students my heart It was my whole life was about them Improving their lives and when I got into a relationship, I guess, you know party that's human I got more focused also on the relationship of living with my ex now ex and But also so don't I go this too much, but he was also very demanding. I can admit that, you know, she she wanted She she did give me some space and freedom, but also she she she was very clear about setting a boundaries and you know not wanting me to spend too much time with my students and She sometimes felt like my students were abusing me now that I look back I don't think that was a fair statement But but she kind of also wanted to protect me and and held me back I think my students started to feel that that I'm not as devoted to them as I was before So that was part of it, but actually I think the more important part was that After about six seven eight months There's a few different layers here, but but one of the main ones is I started to see the same problems happening in my dojo in my community that I built The same problems that I witnessed and experienced in the community. I was living in in switzerland the akito school And that was surprising to me. I thought look these are different people This is a to a degree a different culture I'm a different person as well so why the hell are the same internal community problems coming up in In in my community And I'll tell you more about what they were but but I was surprised. I was I was kind of caught off guard And I thought this is kind of suspicious and part of it was probably the biggest one Leaving you on a cliffhanger so I could drink my coffee Was that my students were respectful to me, but they were also afraid of me Super interesting to think about that now that you look back. I was like 22 years old, right? think that And my students were some of them are 40 50 Some of them were younger as well, but but most of them were like they they were completely loyal devoted respectful, but also afraid They were afraid to fail in front of me. They were afraid to make a mistake They were afraid to say the wrong thing I guess because they just really idolized me And I was part of the problem. They really felt like I'm some Some out of this world human being You know, I was I was their spiritual teacher and I was this I was so passionate and devoted about anything that they felt that I'm something else I'm beyond And again, that was one of the problems but the thing is To a big degree that's exactly what my Aikido instructor did as well and not like he would come in and I didn't do that either I not like you would come in and be like I am a special human being respect me No, but but that came across through other acts and messages kind of internal kind of subconscious messages the way you act What I realized to be my mistake. I think later was that I didn't share I shared only the positive sides of my life. I only I was devoted to being an ideal human being And I didn't share with my students the dark sides of my life Like if I had trouble with my relationship or if I had some financial troubles I kept that aside because I thought I need to be perfect with them in order to inspire them The thing is they believed it The thing is they they took that As reality they really thought I'm some kind of a perfect human being and that inspired them But also when I started to fail When I started to do human mistakes When my limitations started to come out because Look at the fact that I was 22 years old. I didn't know so many things I didn't have like a proper relationship. I I didn't understand how money works.  I lived in switzerland We were most of us were afraid of my ketone tractor. We respected him, but we were also afraid me in particular I never wanted to fail him. I always wanted to make sure That I do only the right things and he in a way he punished us for mistakes I remember like me and my Roommate my black belt brother like you the black belt brother. Who's a great guy? We but we were both similar age. I was like 20 19 20 He was like 22 23 And we both kind of did something we that we knew that our ketone tractor might Not approve of and I don't remember what it was, but it was definitely something small now that looked back And we were walking towards the dojo and we're both freaking out.  It was it was subtle But he would he would give you a very hard time from making some mistake Although officially you're like you learned from mistakes and blah blah blah, but then if you fail He would let you know that And another terrible thing which I took from him He would never accept blame Very rarely very rarely most of the times and I was like a reoccurring parent that I later realized I personally now believe through my life experience that there's you know, there's always Metaphorically, there's always two drivers at fold Like one maybe is more irresponsible, but the other one was also in the wrong place at the wrong time At least 95 percent of time, right?  Like heavily He was never wrong Very rarely And now that I look back like oftentimes like he was not fair You know, he was saying the wrong thing. He was he was too judgmental He was too heavy He actually oftentimes created the conditions for our failure. Let's see didn't explain well enough what we should do or Or something like that, but it was always our fault You know, he always had that kind of draw to To tell you what you did wrong. He was very good at Making you think that it's all your fault And I think I took that on a certain level So one of the one of the things I took from him Which was again kind of his way of acting was always showing you only the good side of yourself Kind of trying to create that image that you're perfect In in subtle ways and the other one was Blaming you, you know getting a hard time from making a mistake And I did those both things because I thought that works I was embodying my teacher also. Obviously, I had my own vibe. I had my own methods But a big part of me was trying to replicate what my Aikido instructor did in order to achieve the the same great success he had But the thing is I realized that by replicating him I replicated not only the successes.  I don't want that I don't want my students to be afraid of me. I don't want them to To actually that was also the thing is that I was also developing a relationship where there was No independence. It was the opposite of independence. People are super dependent on me They didn't make their own decisions didn't make their own choices because they always felt like they have to call me and check About every decision because they were helping you run the dojo, you know, some I need them some of them are like instructors I give them some of our classes and so on They were really involved But they always had they always felt like they need to check things with me They always wanted to make sure that I was happy about those things And that made them dependent, which is terrible. That's not what you should do with people. You should empower them You should Give them the ability to make their own decisions not the other way around I need a cliffhanger in order to drink my coffee, but I think I'll just drink it now I'm just taking a break because now this is a bit emotional so When I realized that uh, now let's go back to so you kind of know the whole setup now Some that's come to the moment of my students starting to abandon me So one part was then realizing I'm a human being but I'm not perfect But also I made sure to do that too because I realized internally and truly I realized that's the right thing to do When I understood that my students think I'm perfect and they idolize me way beyond healthy standards That they're thinking I'm some perfect human being and you know, they're striving to be like that too I realized that's not real. That's fake.  I need to Let them admit my mistakes Which beforehand I didn't do because I followed the teachings of my teacher And they when they saw that they have that opportunity there was so much they had in store beforehand they were afraid to tell me that What I did wrong the mistakes I made the things they did not approve of that I'm doing but they respected me so much that they held that back they held it inside Or talked between each other again about that but not with me, which is again the terrible thing And then I gave them the conditions to To let me know what they think I'm doing wrong and there was just so much There was so much, you know, I for like an hour I remember that quite literally we're sitting in the dojo and they were just like You know, I didn't like it when you do this and then that and then that and then that they were kind of eating me a lie And I was painful But I knew I had to turn the interior. I knew I had to go through this I need to set the balance straight. Maybe, you know, I wasn't smart enough. Maybe I should have set some limitations But that's what I did, you know, I made that therapy for myself. I was like, okay Give me all that ship But I think for them that was also really difficult because that made them admit that I'm not perfect And that's that started to To create the process of them losing faith And again, I said it's kind of painful to look back because you know, I don't want to And this is not so I'm not going to do what I'm saying that you shouldn't I'm not About putting blame on my students You know, I can't say it's their fault, but But it was painful for me to kind of realize that It just feels like They because I only introduced a part of me. I only introduced the idealistic the perfected part of myself that that I started to realize they were loving only the The the the good side of me They were loving the sensei side of me and and you know, some people miss this Misunderstand this some people think Some people think that you know, I was pretending to be someone I wasn't and it wasn't true Like maybe you know, I was replicating some parts of my teacher, but I was really honest I was really authentic. I was like that was me, but it was only part of me I wasn't showing the dark side of myself and the the weak side of myself Which we all have But then I realized that's the part which my students fell in love with The part where I was semi-perfect, you know, perfect in their eyes And when they started to realize I'm not perfect that started to they started to lose faith in me. They thought So why are we believing what he's saying and some of the stuff I said was good Some of the stuff I said I still believe in myself. I was still teaching the things only which I really felt were true I wasn't trying to You know fake through But they started to disregard everything Because suddenly they they felt like I was not I was fake They didn't recognize that there were good stuff as well Like I'm kind of going in circles here but yeah, so so they couldn't take my That they couldn't in my interpretation. They couldn't accept the fact that I wasn't perfect And the more I admitted that I'm not perfect. I think the harder time they had And suddenly I started to feel and see that my students are leaving me They started coming in less They started being less enthusiastic and I understand why again. I take my own I admit my own mistakes and I admit that you know, I kind of Created my own downfall But it was painful, you know, we had such a close relationship I give them so much and then suddenly I'm like I see they're looking at me and they're just kind of look at me as a failure Some of the students stayed Obviously the passion is never again like that before I guess we're a bit of a cult In that way like the ultra passion But yeah, and it was a hard time because I felt I felt I realized that that moment that I don't have anymore I don't have any friends I realized my students were not my friends They were only I think friends, you know friends except for who you are they love you for who you are They love your both sides my former students loved only the perfect side of me I couldn't come to them.  They didn't want To admit they didn't want to hear that I'm not perfect in the way and so Yeah, so students started to drop down Numbers dropped down and I could still you know sustain the doger I had a lot of kids students yoga students were not involved in that I was more kind of just teaching yoga. I wasn't like creating a movement People love my yoga. Although, you know, it's a whole different subject But uh, yeah, stay with me. I'm just gathering my thought here. Um So the number dropped down and I and I felt like I have no I realized I have no friends I had zero friends in the city everybody knew me as that sensey guy and even Funny enough, I just remembered That also reflected in the level of the whole city because the whole city I was kind of well known in that city in shuli People were a lot of people are looking up to me even people who didn't know me And beforehand like I did not allow myself to drink beer outside I didn't want to give a bad impression about myself I did not allow myself to get drunk, you know, I always try to give that I always try to give the best of myself to people and then I started you know Try to become more human And people were actually even people who didn't know they were not happy that I was drinking alcohol outside I learned that you know from other people.    I felt like I couldn't be myself And I came to a wrong conclusion then I came to a conclusion that I cannot make my students friends Because when I started to be more friendly with my students, they also I felt like the respect level completely disappeared They started to take me as a friend. I'm like, ah, whatever whatever roka says And I understood that I do need to have some authority on some level and I don't want to go on a tangent here it's a whole story there too, but kind of the point of it was The students that I made into friends Wearing my students anymore. So I was like I was troubled and I was trying to guess so what I was trying to find a way I was trying to find so what works And for a moment, I thought I can't Be friends at all with my students And then I kind of distant my distance myself and I was kind of shutting myself in and that was painful to you And then eventually I started to realize you know what? Took a while But I realized you know what I need to own my shit That's also too when I read the book Always Start With Why by Simon Sinek, which was a very influential book for me and straight I started thinking like why am I doing this and how should I do it the best way? So there was a whole transformation process But eventually what I realized was that You know what? I need to own my human side And I realized you know what I'm not like everyone else There's a story I'll say it in a quick way, but a lion cub gets dropped grows up in between sheep And he decides that he's a sheep himself And he acts like a sheep And one day a while later Another lion comes in hunting And he starts to hunt the sheep and suddenly he sees the lion The sheep lion running right from him.  Why are you running for me?    Sorry for swearing a lot But so the the lion gets frustrated. He's like, okay, you're just hopeless. Let's let's go Let me check.  How do I know anyway? I think I have like 10 more minutes left on the other thing Yeah, man.  He's like, well, that's you. He's like, no, that's not me That's just a lion. He's like The older lion gets frustrated. He's like, no, look Roar and the Young lion the sheep lion. He's like, I don't know how to roar.  I am a lion I read the story a while ago and that story actually kind of helped me transform because I realized The the point of that story, there's numerous points, but the main point that I had in my mind was If you hang around and this is a bit bold, but but you know, stay with me if you hang around Sheep But you're a lion It doesn't mean in initially act like a sheep. It doesn't you're still not a sheep if you're a lion you're a lion And the thing I kind of realized at that transformational point that one of the mistakes I also did From being perfect trying to show you showing on my perfect side I kind of started to show only my human side only my casual side And I think that that didn't work either because my students were like, so why should we learn from him?   I'm not perfect But I'm not a nobody either I'm a mix and that's what I'm gonna own and I think that's when things started to pick up again


It is amazing. That was amazing. Why don't we... Joseph, isn't that cool? We figured out the secret everybody. That is... that was impressive. Now the question is, do we have enough wood? Firehack 101. Bring a leaf blower. Bring a leaf blower. Good job, Nate. Here's the car. Somehow we do it every year. Time for showers. We're home. We're home. Is that what you said? What'd you say, Seth? A little nervous to leave airplane mode. There goes nothing. Lord, let it rain. Oh man, it's coming in now. Welcome back to reality. Easy to unpack the car from our camping trip. It's delicious. Thank you, true love. Amazing salad. Love it. Getting those greens back in me. So, June is a crazy month every single year in a good way with the birthday, the wedding anniversary, Father's Day, and then our annual camping trip, which you just watched over the last couple days, catch-up mode. So, things are returning to some normalcy, which is really nice. There will be some traveling maybe like late summer, but for the most part, we're just entering in to more drone flying, more time lapses, more beauty, and more just spending time with loved ones here in this, you know, summertime. So, I hope you're all able to enter in a little bit to, you know, whatever you're doing this summer. Thank you, true love for the salad. It was delicious.


Felly, mae'n meddwl i'r TV. Mae'n... Ysgol 11 yma, Chelsea vs Everton. Mae'n meddwl i'r newid. Felly, mae'n gwneud yng nghymru. Mae'r ffordd yma yw ddweud yma. Felly mae'n meddwl i'r ffordd. Llewyddon, yma, mae'n meddwl. Palos a brenn yma. Mae'n meddwl i'r ffordd. Felly, mae'n meddwl i'r ffordd. Mae'n meddwl gwirio'ch gefnogi hefyd neu'r ffordd. Wg ddiogel ac brennwyd mewn gwirio'i ffordd yn dweud. Felly mae'n meddwl i'r ffordd, mae'n meddwl ei ffordd, mae'n meddwl ei ffordd. Felly mae'n meddwl yma. Mae hefyd yn ddech chi i gael y gweld. Joddan Pickford, Iwn meddwl. Unwch chi och ymateb yn ychwanethaf. Felly, Felly yr ystod hynny yn dweud sydd'n felhaid y rhaid fel hwn. Mae'n amlwg fel James Corman yn ddod flwyddwr ddarlut i bach ein risi'n ddarlut. Mae'n meddwl i'r hunain yn hefyd, at yn ei ddarlutu. Ond, mae'r ffordd ychydig yn y nadod o'r hufynod am folaeth yr ysgol. Mae'n meddwl yma yn y ffordd. y lefbach, ffytallu mi chylen co, one of our most steadiest players of the season, maybe our most improved players of the season, really put a foot wrong and again helps has helped massively with that defensive record because we have been excellent haven't we defensively, we've been, it's been the thing that's obviously kept us afloat this season, the clean sheets and just the general play defensively because we've done score goals so we've got to keep them out and really a team with our defensive record should be so much further up the league table, I mean we should be further up the league table anyway, you know, those pesky point deductions but certainly with the defensive record like that we should be so much further up the table but we can't put the ball in the back of the net sadly so, mi chylen co, lefbach, the backs of James Tarkowski and Jarrett Brandt where he picked themselves really being the partnership all season and hopefully that doesn't get broke up but you know in there for the rest of the season, that as I said the defence has been the backbone, the back five, I know the right back position has changed a few times but that back five has been as I said the absolute backbone of what we've built this season on and Sean Daish has done anything right he's got that absolutely spot on and we have to hope that it keeps doing that for the rest of the season it's you know it's gone before the baling game there was a bit of a sticky spell where we were conceding really seemed like conceding soft goals and set pieces and stuff so hopefully hopefully you know after last week's clean sheet the confidence has retained and we can keep on improving. Inter midfield there's actually a few choices isn't there really probably the most choices we've had for a while certainly it's sent to midfield and that's going to play a part in my decision making for this game. Amadew O'nana, back into the side after missing out I just think he's for me too much of a good play to keep the ball I fought against Burnley, we were so poor in possession and I think everyone who left that game was a little bit worried about the way we play and I just think with O'nana we keep the ball so much better listen is he everyone's cup of tea now fine it doesn't really matter but we do keep the ball better when he's in the side he takes risks he takes responsibility he keeps the ball good tackle and he's got you know he's good in the air isn't he so he is in there in that number six role alongside Idrissa Garnagay who again retains to the side obviously didn't play against Burnley because of the birth of a child fair enough decent excuse but I just think again he's so important for this side I think we don't always understand how important he is to the team but the way he breaks up the play the way he goes hunting for the ball I think can be it's so important and can be so important in this game certainly with the way Chelsea've got so many players who like getting on the ball that's their major strength they've got they've got you know three play behind the front behind the striker who you know might want to dwell on the ball a little bit too long and he's the ideal player to come and go and sniff the ball and and and take it away from them and on the right hand side I'm going for James Garner I think I left him out at the last my last start 11 haven't watched Ashley Young there and Jack Harrison obviously not in the side at the moment I think this might be a good opportunity to put James Garner on the right he started the season there and I think at that time we were hoping for more from our wide players and a little bit more dynamism and I think as the season's gone on I think those players just become more and more defensive and if you're going to have more and more defensive plays you might as well have someone who is who can play out there and he's got a little bit about him and we've seen the cross he put in for better against West Ham. Ashley Young has done a job I know he's not everyone's cup of tea he's done a job there and I think Garner can do a better job I don't think it's time to just reintroduce Jack Harrison into the side because I think most people recently have been saying really needs to come out the side so I think James Garner could do a job over there in a game like this again where you want to try and you want to try and stop the opposition from playing it and hopefully get some crosses into the box and use the ball better we don't those wire players aren't like based on full of pace incredible footballers and I just don't see the difference of having you know having James Garner out there as opposed to Ashley Young or Jack Harrison on the left hand side Dwight McNeill continue but hopefully Dan Juma will be available off the bench and give us something a little bit different but Dwight McNeill will continue and obviously his energy is set pieces and it's all round work later is what exactly what the manager demands of him and he does that again he's not he's not an amazing attacking player or certainly hasn't been this season anyway near what he was the second half of last season but and then you've got Dan Juma to come on and give you something just to something a little bit different and up front sorry oh well hang on one more isn't it just just behind the centre forward the corey continue again he hasn't been brilliant as he but I suppose it's just that feeling that he could pop up and be the difference he could be the the man who makes a difference and that's why I'm I think with James Garner playing on the right hand side I think we do need someone who has got the threat of a goal and can offer something else obviously I think he scored his last goal against Chelsea last time and this might be the opportunity so I'm gonna leave him in there and up front I'm gonna go for better because I just think if there's any kind of doubt about Dominic Harvent-Lewin then he shouldn't play should stay on the bench we've got three really big home games coming up in a week and I think we need to fit Dominic Harvent-Lewin and I think there's any if there's any yeah you know if there's any worry then just leave him on the bench don't risk him from the start because that's why we have better to to to take that off Dominic Harvent-Lewin so start with Beth I know Dominic Harvent-Lewin scored a couple of goals in his last two games but you know he can come off the bench if he's you know if he's uh if it's not too bad but I just think if there's any worries about him let's let's just let's just be cautious about the whole thing and play better from the start so that's my start on 11 let me know your thoughts in the comments who would you go for let me know um make sure to give this video like subscribe if you haven't already you want more great videos join us over on toffee tv premiere where we do daily live shows exclusive live shows and none of the videos have adverts and none of the podcast I've had there so none of those pesky adverts popping up stopping your enjoyment for the price of a coffee basically for a month come and check it out the link is in the description the QR code is coming up on the screen now see you later


As-salamu alaykum, sister Alima. Very good. Thank you. Thank you for joining us for today. This is a very special occasion. Thank you for inviting me here today. I feel very blessed to be here. I'm so glad to have you. So I will share with you that I was on my heart to spend time with people who are strong in faith but who live daily experiencing the highs and the lows but have some wisdom and experience and some skill set behind them that they can share with others who may be struggling. I think we all go through moments where things are good and then things get a little bumpy and when they're very difficult and it's really hard it's easy to isolate. But I think we lose perspective thinking that we're the only ones going through something. So very extraordinary to share in life's experience with one another and to learn from others' experiences. So that brings us here today. I'm looking forward to you sharing your story with us and before we begin I thought I would read what has really inspired me most recently from the Quran, Surah 93, La Dua, The Morning Brightness, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. By the morning brightness and the night when it is still your Lord has not abandoned you.  The last will be better for you than the first. Your Lord will soon give you and you will be satisfied. Did he not find you orphaned and sheltered you? Did he not find you wandering and guide you? Did he not find you impoverished and enrich you? So as for orphans do not oppress them. As for beggars do not berate them. As for the blessings of your Lord speak out. So I would like to know more about you and maybe it's best to start with the early days in your life. Yes, so Hamza Na, my name first off is Elena Madera Saini. I am a revert and I am going to repeat that again. I am a revert and I say it with a lot of thankfulness and very connected to what I am today Hamza Na. Growing up I was raised with six brothers and one sister. My mother is from Guatemala and my father he's Puerto Rican. And you know at a very young age my mom she moved here. She was a single child so she didn't have any family here in the United States. And my father you know when I was about five years old he pretty much walked out of us. He abandoned my mother at a very young age. We struggled a lot because she didn't have family here. And we found ourselves homeless. We jumped from shelter to shelter for quite some time. We lived pretty much relying on the church. So we knocked on church's doors and they helped us. They were the ones that brought us in and took care of us. So you know as I got older and I got more connected to the church they were very nice with giving and helping us you know at just to be normal. But I was missing that spirituality. I wasn't connecting to what they wanted me to believe. And so I around the age of 14 I decided to leave the church because it just wasn't for me. So around 14 15 16 I wandered around different religions. And I found myself not connecting. And I hit rock bottom.   I couldn't find ground. I couldn't find a connection. So around the age of 17 my brother called me one day and he goes you know and then I became a Muslim. And you know I was furious. I was very upset. I couldn't believe that he betrayed what we believed in. What we thought we believed in you know. And so I went a whole year without talking to him. I didn't want to say one word to him because I was just like he's not part of us anymore. But you know over time I noticed that he became a better person. And this was a clear sign of you give that one through your examples. And that's exactly what happened is you know I noticed him being a better person. He stopped going out and he was more giving. And so it made me wonder what what made him convert what made him change. So you know I remember ordering a book off of Amazon and it was a book by Yahya Emmerich. It was called What Is Islam About. So this book it you know I received it and within like the first 10 pages that I went into I decided to take my Shahada. It was like it was like a lot gave me hope for my life. I was lost. And so at the age of 18 which was the greatest day of my life I took my Shahada. And you know from that moment it was very very amazing to feel that connection. And something that I realized after I took my Shahada was that Islam is one of the very few religions that teaches you how to be independently spiritually grounded. And so which means this spirituality that you have this connection you have with Allah is a personal independent connection. And a lot of other religions you have to go to a place Sundays or to a person in order to feel that connection which this is how perfect our religion is that this is a personable religion with the Creator and you can practice it anywhere on this point which is Hamdillah that's what I was missing. So you know after I became you know Muslim and I took my Shahada I was like okay now what do I do now because I didn't have any friends that were Muslim I didn't have I didn't even know what a mosque was. So you know I the beauty of being a Muslim is that Allah brought us tools. He brought us everything that we needed in our life in order to live this life according to me. And this is the beautiful thing that we don't have to depend on anyone in order to find that guidance. So one of the obstacles that I had converting in was my mindset. So that was the first thing that I had to to challenge myself is that you know I would try to connect to the Quran and I was having a really hard time connecting to the Quran because my mind was Dunya. My mind was Jahlia. How was I supposed to pick this book up and connect to it when I couldn't understand me being a Muslim to begin with? So Alhamdulillah I was able to start reading about Aisha Radhila Huan, Khadija Radhila Huan. So I started learning from the Sunnah of the Sunnah. So I picked up Sahih Muslim, Sahih Bukhari and that became my guide. I embedded myself for three four years in learning about the great women of Islam in order for me to change my mindset. And when I did that it was like okay now I have a better understanding on how I could. So there's a few steps if you don't mind I go through. So that was number one. My first step into becoming connected to being a Muslim was learning the foundation of Islam and me having to be like one of the greatest you know trying. So the second step was my mind. So first was mindset. The second one was me trying to forgive. And you know unfortunately we're human we have this heart that sometimes sits and it's resentful towards our past and it's resentful towards people and how they treated us but I needed to learn how to let go. I needed to learn how to let go of my past and dwelling on it because I wasn't going to grow on this new journey that I had. And that was step number two. I needed to say if Allah forgave me of these ar-Rahman ar-Rahim I needed to be merciful to those and let go. He gave me a fresh start to my life. Why would I continue to linger on to that life? So I was like I gotta let go. So I have this rule now that when I wake up in the morning I press the reset button and I let go of whatever happened tomorrow because it won't free me from anything. It won't allow me to help anyone. So alhamdulillah that was step number two. Being able to forgive and forget some things. Step number three was kind of really hard because we are very attached to things on this earth. We're very attached to the people on this earth and I needed to learn how to put Allah first and emotionally to attach myself from people and things. And so for me I needed to take this heart and give it 110 to Allah because he's the only thing that will never set me up for heartache. He will never misguide me. And so it took a lot of years of me going through heartache and pain in order to realize I'm going to free myself from people and realize that they will continue to be used in my life unless I just put my heart to Allah and they won't be used against me anymore. And you know and to go a little bit in depth with the situation I always have this analogy of you know Allah he has 99 attributes right. Is there anyone in your life that you can say have all those 99 attributes? Absolutely not right. I don't think I can get past the third one right. We spend so much time loving people on this earth. They can't even get past three of those attributes. Why wouldn't we love someone that has 99 of them more than anyone on this earth? When you do that I promise you your heart will be freed of a lot of heartache. So once I was able to detach myself and get emotionally you know just grounded with Allah then I was it was very free for me. The fourth and final thing that I had to realize and I recently just realized this after I turned 40 was my purpose. And a lot of people they spend their time trying to build their careers. They're trying to build their wealth here. They're trying to build connections here. But once you hit the top of your goal what now? You spent all these years going to school and being educated at this and then when you get the peak of that then you feel like I'm still missing something and it's because you haven't connected yourself to your purpose and pleasing Allah and pleasing His creation and doing charity work. So for me once I hit that peak it was like okay I need to refocus and realize that the things that I love to do were just hobbies. The things that I were doing on this earth were just hobbies. It wasn't fulfilling my soul right? So Alhamdulillah now that I am working for a local nonprofit, Al-Misbah, I was able to now be be used as a tool for that purpose. This is wonderful. So wonderful. Tell me a little bit about this organization that you work for. I know you're even working behind the scenes here today. Well Al-Misbah is a local sacramental organization. They are they do charity work. They give food. We are helping like the refugees that come in. We're helping any needy family and we use a lot of our youth in volunteering and helping the community. We have go on classes. We there's so much going on in our organization that it's kind of like a community center as well. And it brings me back to home because I was pretty much raised in the Boys and Girls Club in a community center and that became my home. And now full circle I'm working for an organization that is Muslim organization and it's pretty much bringing me back to my roots and giving back to the community. So this organization it just touches my heart in so many ways because it gives so much buttock out to the community. Wonderful. And how amazing it is that even here at the organization and the CCU organization that it's mosque but it has so much outreach that it is able to give and there are so many people a part of all of the working parts of this that you come and you're able to expand and give and there's so much of that that happens and that's really I think part of the the hope of connecting more those working parts for individuals to share their stories of how they've they've aspired to something that helps others but you have to learn how to be comfortable with yourself comfortable with the Almighty Creator and it's a journey but we're all kind of in it together it's just a matter of connecting connecting a little bit more and that's what makes it so incredibly special. Are there any particular moments in time that you can think of where you were really spiritually struggling and when you were what brought you really for what was a reset button for you? So when I first had converted and you know my mom she's a she's a only child I was raised with no aunts and uncles I didn't have any family no cousins any of that so at one point I realized that I was on my own and I struggled a lot with the guidance part someone making me feel like I'm part of something was really really difficult for me at one point I tried to fit into different communities you know I'm Hispanic I come from Hispanic background so if I try to fit into a different culture I'm gonna clash because I'm not without a realistic I'm not part of that culture so I tried to find myself fitting in but it was working against me because it was like just because it's cultural doesn't mean that it's Islam right when I distance myself again and I put my trust and faith in Allah then Allah for a community to be to fulfill that so going back to us holding Allah's hand and trusting him he will bring people towards you that would be beneficial for your ahira if you ask him to so we forget sometimes that he is the one that is the all-doer right we put our trust in people to fulfill that but when you go back to Allah he's the one that ends up fulfilling it so whenever I would struggle returning to him he would fix it for me if the sincerity is there and the intention is there he will fix it for you do you have any advice for anyone of any age in their journey who is struggling that would really be an inspiration somehow looking to you as a person that has life experience what would you say so there's so many things to say but one of the biggest things you know me being part of this body and the resource director there I realized that charity actually fulfills my soul and a lot of people don't realize that you can do all your salons you can do everything in your life that is fitting to a lawn what he wants but if you're missing that charity part you're still missing avoiding your life we forget to take time into helping the giving and feeding people this is part of our Dean as well and when you do that then you get baraka you get baraka in your time you get baraka in your doings so something that I'd like to remind people it's just not about taking and doing the basics it's about giving as well so I always say if you're young and you feel lost connect yourself to a center collect connect yourself to a message that is doing for the people and I promise you you would feel like that void is gone if you feel have you ever experienced a moment where with regards to prayer and upholding the pillars of Islam where you felt either overburdened or you felt like you just are struggling to put in one more prayer have you experienced this and what inspired you to get past that and really more grounded in prayer and supplication we all human we all struggle we all have our lazy times and we all have those times we were busy but honestly when you really look at the wisdom behind prayer there's a reason for it and then in the time it couldn't be perfect whenever we think about the reasoning of prayer and us taking ourselves away from whatever is going on in this earth and shifting our thoughts and our intentions into what Allah wanted us to do it changes your perspective in your life and I think people don't really realize the history and the Hikmah behind the prayer and I feel like maybe you should read before just doing a lot of us we pray because our parents tell us to pray or it's watchable on us because we're Muslim but actually educate yourself on the reasoning behind prayer and a lot of people they don't really know it it's actually very beneficial for your soul and for your body as well so I feel like education is key when it comes to you know prayer and just to Dean I read it was a really general quote and I won't do a justice but it resonated with me because it touched on them part that prayer should be a cause for celebration it's the celebration of Allah our connectedness and celebrating Allah and since I read that and since it had such an impact that's how I see it now each year prayers a moment of celebration between me and Allah I think a lot of people they don't feel like that prayer is that open openness you have with Allah now some people are like oh I don't want to go to him and ask him because it's just a waste of time you know some a lot of people think that way like I'm not gonna but guess what he's always there waiting to hear you we leave him actually he never leaves us so it there is you can go to any therapist you can go to any counselor he's the best therapist and he's the best of counselors he fixes everything so when you tell people that it's like I would run to him you know like oh my god I gotta go run to my therapist and that's how she should look at it like whenever I'm having a time where I'm down and I'm not feeling well let me go to my son because a lot is very powerful and it saved me from a lot of things as well I'm a lot of home to a lot of work part but exactly wonderful I can think of so many additional questions to ask you but there is there anything wing on your heart is there anything you would like to say to the listeners to the watchers so I just you know really wanted to remind everyone like our religion our religion is so perfect like take me for instance I didn't have any guidance on how to practice Islam I went to his his tools and that was you know Sahi Muslim Sahi Bukhari the Quran those are sufficient enough to to guide you in this life and I feel like a lot of the youth they don't go back to the basics back to the roots of how Islam started so I would like you know to advise everyone go back to the basics and read up on history and that's how you're able to be Muslim on your own and build that connection with Allah on your own and it's gonna be enjoyable because you did it on your terms as well so like I always say this religion is so perfect and and you know you end up tailoring it of course according to the Sunnah but being comfortable and happy within it and she'll have a very thankful friend and you mentioned earlier in the heinesian's discussion that you had attended umrah can you share with us a little bit about your experience yeah so in 2017 I was invited to go visit it was it's been a life you know since I became Muslim 23 years ago to to visit that to visit umrah and go to the kaba when I went there I wasn't I didn't know what to expect but the feeling I had the connection I had with along it it brought a lot of peace to my life and it brought a lot of closure to my life and so it was an amazing amazing journey and inshallah I can go visit again because I also feel like if you go there it's an invitation from Allah yeah so I I say inshallah I'm gonna invite me again to come to his house and you know to take take on that blessing inshallah hajj next that's all again an invitation from Allah right absolutely wonderful it's truly been a pleasure chatting with you and learning more about you I'm hoping that we'll get together again sometime and learn even more in terms of what life has in store further down the road so yeah it's just like a lot of fighting for inviting me here and anytime I look up to you as well as sister we are indeed blessed beyond measure and it is wonderful to share our experiences and to be here in this moment so very grateful alhamdulillah and I will say in closing that we we are really a part of something so extraordinary wonderful maybe Muslim holding the pillars of Islam and there are such extraordinary people who are so dedicated to helping and to helping each other and I think that when we're walking past each other oftentimes you know we are in the hurry of our own lives in the hurry of our own ways but it's nice to actually take a moment and and really give a sincere a salam aleikum and realize that that person that you just walked past has probably spent 15 hours very disciplined in their prayer and dedication to their time with Allah and how special their their gift is and to be more connected I think is so incredibly important so you've inspired me and so grateful for MCC to bring people more closely together and and allow us to worship Allah more deeply we're enriched and alhamdulillah much more blessings will come and we'll strengthen in our worship and inspire and encourage each other


If the GM can't lift all the Gerbs books needed to run my character, he's vetoed. The 10-foot pole on the Stardia Equipment List cannot support the weight of an exotic dancer. Scorched Earth Day is not a holiday, even in Cyberpunk. Nothing in Victoria's Secret Catalog is available in Dragkinesian. Even if they are better in combat according to character generation, the United States Marine Corps frowns on octogenarians in front-line combat. No amount of background will allow me to name the character Biff Buttoms. State trippers are immune to the effects of the delirium, so I need to find another way out of that speeding ticket. No matter how well I make my fashion roll, the Emperor is not going to the ball dressed in a Catholic schoolgirl's uniform. Everybody was not gun-foo fighting. Even if my character is Canadian, that doesn't mean he can take a 1.524 meter free step. I will pick my character's girlfriend based on something more than how much fire support she can provide. I will not one-shot an Isen first. The plan will not continue until the GM finds out who Zantabek is. I will do nothing that tarnishes Hello Kitty's memory. Gravity-defying breasts while impressive do not count as a superpower. Even if my character is orthodox Jewish, I will check other characters' poles before trying to bury them. A NASCAR pit crew cannot repair all my vehicles damaged in one round. My character will refrain from appearing with Hitler in any history books, especially if I am chasing him with a wheat thresher. Fauner-Pawson's boy toy is not technically a position at court. I will only use the modules suggested tactics to stop the ground assault and ignore the squadron of Wild Wings 100 meters away. There is no such thing as a ballistic ram. I will not accuse the Traveler News Service of liberal bias. The Ewok does not appreciate the giant hamster wheel we put in his quarters, ingrate. I will not spend my entire mustard bonus on lottery tickets. If another player took the disadvantaged stutters, I can't take a crie. Black and Decker do not make droids, either. I will not blow all my points in extra limb just so I can play the superhero millipede man. Just because the great race of yes effects of sanity is minimal doesn't mean I should invite them over for dinner with the folks. The very concept of a hut lap dancer will earn me a dark side point. The M203 is not for long range bokeh ball. Getting someone to spot for me is not going to give me a bonus on a strength check. I will not heck somebody into looking like a pinata, especially in Mexico City. Instead of silence is required for the entire adventure, we are not naming the black ops operation Mime Crime. I will tell the noob the game is about post nuclear Europe and not love struck vampire before we start. You cannot tell if somebody is a power gamer by the faint smell of Gouda. I cannot fill a buster in the middle of my dying speech to buy the cleric more time. Even if we are told to pick a manly name for the game, genocyticals is a bit much. Not lure the bastard into an ambush by turning on the can opener. Jack LaLaine, wrong type of juicer. If unsure of what side of the road we drive on, the middle of the road is not a healthy compromise. Brute squads make poor bridesmaids, the reverse is not necessarily true. Even if the rules allow it, I cannot become famous for not becoming famous. There is no God of Wombats no matter how much I pray. If I have to explain to the Halfland sister while we dress him like a raccoon, we are all in trouble. No matter how cool it would be, we can't use the time machine to loan Ike a few A-10 squadrons for D-Day. I don't get a drama die just because of the GMPs. I will not waste wishes on professional sporting events. Hooking up with the gamer chick the storyteller with Anglin Ford gets me banned from the game.  I will not program the medical droid for aggressive dentistry. I will not dare the wage mage into trying to summon a class 20 spirit. Guardian mode is not just for flipping people the bird in the middle of battle. Even when we are issued a nuke, I am not allowed to touch it. I will stop trying to get a reality TV show for our Black Ops team. They are not going to stall 10,000 Eurikai with a fake toll booth. Pointing out the massive plot hole in the villain's plan is not going to stop her from attacking. Before we start, let's make sure whether everybody blows up if I shoot a shield with a last gun. Preliminary saturation carpet bombing does not automatically plan A. Even if I only get to swing a sword once per minute, I can't stop the smoke between attacks.  Wood chippers while useful aren't normal gear for a Black Ops. I will not tell the new players gelatinous cubes come in a variety of yummy flavors. The cleric is not tax exempt. No matter how much fun we are not retrofitting a tank with jump jets. I cannot mint my own currency. Just because they make a miniature without ability doesn't mean I can take that ability. I will not use the mass suggestion spell to make the elf babes to make out. Gnomes are not nature's tripods. Dwarves do not groom themselves like cats or baboons. Elves do too have nipples. Halflings are not to be used as currency. Bidgeo leans into pitch not a real kung fu maneuver. Even if the rules allow it, I cannot have a monofilament sledgehammer. If we can't fit the droid in the freighter, I can't play him. No matter how well I make the animal handling role, I can't break in a juggernaut of corn.  Motorcycle tires will cause aggravated wounds on a case by case basis. No feed affects hang time. We will limit the total amount of conversation on the topic of hot gnome on gnome action. I will not threaten to glue the old rules for gnomes over the new rules for elves mock too. Even if the rules allow it, I cannot disarm someone a melee with a longbow. I will not just dump the vampire in the umbra and call it a day. Growing a grotee will not give me a bonus for sneaking into the villain's lair. Portable plot hole is not a real magic item. I will not start a Ponzi scheme involving the entire party. Even if I couldn't attend a session when everything went to hell, it's still my fault. The Stanley Cup does not have the same power as the Holy Grail, even on Canadians. The MMORPG Convert doesn't actually have to role play in its first game. Characters wanting to join the party do not have to undergo the Flash Gordon Tree Monster Ceremony. I cannot have a pal and Gwen in my starting gear. Having a reputation for having a reputation does not grant me more reputation. I will quit hogging the legend chips. No digging out the boards of my character and reusing them. No using the grapple rules to change the course of history. I will not take on the entire dungeon using only one body part to attack. Eldar really hate it when you greet them with live long and prosper. No matter his condition, we aren't selling the villain's corpse as modern art. Count on a backup villain if we ace the first one in two rounds without damage. I will not give my preteen kids my work number, especially women of black ops. The monkey grip feet doesn't have anything to do with gripping monkeys.


We have a simple and obviously effective path to improvement. It is to eliminate waste, to stop doing things that do not yield us value in return. We have orientation to performance with tools like the black box to identify value cycles that create and deliver what we can value. We have both practiced using this tool in a number of different areas of civilization and have identified massive sources of waste. We have even developed a list of potential actions that have a good chance of finding mandate. Our next step is to look at our own potential for actions, looking for the greatest effect from the efforts we are willing to commit in support of creating change. The general process is to sample the public to identify highly likely mandates. It is then reasonable to use the same sampling to enlist leadership to do its job, leading the mandate effort that is overwhelmingly supported by the public. Then further publication closes the loop by establishing the mandate as a public reality. It becomes an assigned task for the leader. The process of modern leadership includes isolating citizens and bringing them together only where they end up opposing other citizens. It has such focus on division and competition as to deny even the possibility of coming together for much of anything. This is just a cost challenge for the one who commits to lead a change action. It is a cost that privileged leadership is almost compelled to put upon commoners. Little six-year-old Susie attends her first college football game. Her father notes that the purpose of the game is to move the ball to the end of the field. It is exciting but a bit puzzling. After the game, while her father talks to his old coach on the sidelines, she waters onto the field. It is several minutes later when she comes back from the end zone carrying one of the footballs wrapped in her arms and proclaims, I knew it couldn't be that hard. Our orientation to doing instead of accomplishing is part of our culture. Division creates drama, entertainment, not performance. Even in our legal system, led by a declaration of citizen rights and constitutional amendments, we have the intentional ignorance of proclaiming that this is actually about giving special people superior rights. It is the people who are hired into news organizations who have the right of the press, not the people who have equal protection rights to publish and speak. It is the right of church leaders and religious organizations to legal protection from government, not the rights of US common people who worship freely. With this lesson, we will be addressing that strong leaning toward isolation and competition with a simple and very understandable alternative. It is nothing new for us. We are humanity. There is nobody else. We are society. We are the public. There is nobody else. It is that same principle presented from the beginning of the course. We accomplish little working as individuals. Most of what people are able to get done come from many people working in coordinated efforts for a shared purpose. It is the nature of mandate that we are agreed. We have the capacity to present our sense of value to other people. We have been developing the communication tools and approaches that can reasonably assure that others who listen will understand that they too will find value. You are not alone. You do not have to contact half a billion people. If there is mandate, you only have to carry the message to others so that they too have potential to commit some effort to gaining what they value. If what you promote is a real basis for mandate, they will join in your effort. You do not have to do it alone.  It is human to come together to gain what all people value. And that is what we have been developing from the first. This lesson addresses efficiency and effectiveness in presenting a path to people gaining what people value. This is change that starts with you. We should not have any expectation of success from repeating the things that have not accomplished anything in the past. Doing them with greater effort and focus is unlikely to suddenly get them to work for us. Our path to performance starts with change, and change starts with someone committing to do something different with someone initiating a change action. We have five couples going out for the evening as a group by a show of hands. Four want to go to an Italian restaurant. The fifth prefers Mexican. Will the fifth couple stubbornly insist that the group dines Mexican or go along with the consensus of the rest? Calling for a second vote would be ineffective. As the matter has already been decided, there had been a high level of agreement the first time and all of them knew that they had reached this general consensus. Even the fifth couple let it be known that they would greatly prefer the other. It will not have any expectation of gaining new support. It would be their personal preference, not a serious challenge to the more popular alternative. The Purito principle is named after an early economist, Vilfredo Purito, who studied wealth in a segment of Italy. He discovered that 80% of the wealth was in the hands of just 20% of the people. With a strong orientation to socialism, he apparently found the inequality of this to be quite disturbing and unfair. Performance engineering notes are very different but quite practical understanding of the results. Things go wrong randomly. If we address just the most prevalent 20% of causes of error in the production process, it will eliminate 80% of the errors that would otherwise occur. If a business addresses the most common 20% of customer complaints, it will be eliminating 80% of the total number of complaints. This is the 80-20 rule or Purito principle. This 80-20 split is common to all normal populations, to all random occurrences. Our use of this principle is from recognizing that people are always normal. Our variations are random. Where our personal difference occurs randomly, this Purito principle is appropriate for our use. The powerful new understanding is that this can define effective agreement among people where 80% of any population of people are agreed and know of their agreement. They are effectively agreed as a people. This is our source of mandate. Mandate is effective when 80% of the people support some direction of action and when those people are aware that they really have found this level of agreement. We as people are variable. There is almost no chance of finding universal agreement on anything in a larger population due to our variability, but we do have a very real opportunity to find agreement in 80% of the people when we address human value-driven activities. There is nothing fair or unfair about the Purito principle's applications. It is just a practical reality, a part of what it means to be human. When opposition to an agreement is 20% or less, it becomes statistically insignificant. The people in opposition are not likely to even come together in opposition but act as individuals. And it is not that this is some hard and fast rule before which we must bow. It is not a universal truth. It is just a statistical observation of who we are as human beings. One important observation is how very different Purito decisions are than majority rule. A Purito level agreement is a group decision where majority rule sets some people to overcome others. Authoritative rule over people is based on a consensus so great that it effectively is a public consensus. Our technical side of business provides us with an approach to establishing mandate and it is called acceptance sampling. The need was recognized by business. They had materials that were generated by or purchased from other businesses. There are always variations, defects, that reduce the value of some items in a manufactured lot of physical materials. The challenge was determining whether it was economically feasible to accept a production lot for use. Was it worth the price that was asked knowing that it would have some level of random defects? The answer was acceptance sampling, a selection of a random sample from the larger lot and intensively inspected, these were inspected for errors that would interfere with their use. The technical study was too complex to use directly. It not only had to deal with the defects themselves but with how well a random sample actually represented the whole lot. For practical use, industry developed statistical tables that could be used to establish sampling plans. These were predetermined sampling instructions that would identify the number of allowed defects in a sampling from a larger lot to reasonably assure an acceptable level for defects in the larger lot. With just this short orientation, almost any inspector could apply the tables based on given criteria or requirements from the business. What the sampling plan provided was a sample size to select and a number of defects in that sample that could indicate an acceptable lot. If there were more defects than allowed, the entire lot would be rejected, not be purchased or not be accepted as fulfillment of prior business arrangements. This worked to good effect for both the provider and receiver so long as the criteria had been a matter of their agreement. As a curious side note, the military had lot-based acceptance sampling as a business foundation in the 1960s when I was most involved. It has shifted orientation to process sampling in its more modern application. This is just one more indication of shifting from decision-based lots on what suppliers have accomplished to decisions based on activities what suppliers are doing. This is wholly consistent with other observed changes created by influence of leadership. To bring this to focus, we also need to note a generally accepted reliability in the sampling plan. People in business, both suppliers and receivers, generally accept the decisions from the sampling process to be reasonable when it has 95% statistical reliability. What this means is that there is statistically less than one in 20 chances that a lot might be accepted under a sampling plan when it, in fact, has more than the acceptable number of defects. It addresses how reliable the data from the sampling is as to accurately representing the lot from which it is drawn. For our purpose in the development of mandate, we will be addressing the lot as the public. We have the acceptable defect rate of 20%. If there is more than 20% who do not support the action, it cannot be public mandate. That will be the basis for our acceptance that a mandate is reasonably potential for any proposed change action. The development of these sampling plans was to intentionally simplify inspection to the point where any inspector could focus on their inspection of items in the sample and just compare the results to the plan to know whether to accept or reject. Selecting a specific plan simplified the go-no-go decision to the number of items in the sample and the number of defects found. Our sampling plan for mandate uses a single criteria, some action intended to generate value for people. We select a sample, primarily those interested enough to volunteer to receive the criteria and compare the number in the sample to the number who would refuse to support that action. The simplicity is rather obvious. You use the criteria to sample by seeking out those in the general public who will volunteer to spend the time and effort to receive it. And the question is whether they accept this as something they would support or oppose. Each person opposed is approached as a defect and the sum of those in opposition indicate the number of defects in the sample. If the number exceeds that of the plan, it is unlikely to be accepted as a mandate by the rest of the public. If there are fewer in opposition, then the mandate is reasonably assured. Should the public become aware of their potential for agreement? The final statement is a hard limit on mandate. Mandate is inherently intentional and it only becomes effective as people are aware of both the criteria and the potential agreement of others. Specifically note how few people are required for these sampling.  A single person can, acting alone or with just a few others as support, do the sampling and establish a mandate potential. This is a level of empowerment that flies in the face of today's common use of polling or authoritative proclamation of direction for action. This is intentional in-your-face empowerment of a person by taking that first step in initiating a public instruction to those who otherwise would rule over actions, leading actions to their own best understanding of what they should be doing. The sampling can be so small because we are all human beings and that is a very real basis for coming together to proclaim values we all recognize. For review, these are personal freedom, prosperity, and trust-based social interactions. We can come together whenever we are able to enhance these. We can come together to mandate our receipt of what we value. We can come together to stop waste or interferences that deny our receipt of that value. But there is ever so much more empowerment here. Any sampling criteria that can get the support of 80% of the people in one public forum is very likely to have similar results in every public gathering. Unlike polling, any bias would have to be through seeking out some intentionally restricted population for sampling. And then the result of this effort is not a statement of popularity, but recognition is something that we are so agreed upon that it is likely to become the voice of the people in any public that becomes aware of it. It is still only a potential mandate, but this approach is an effective test whether that sampling criteria is the basis for such agreement that there is no supportable alternatives. It is worth a moment of your time to pause here and bask in the personal empowerment that comes into focus when you are able to establish a potential mandate. It is where a common citizen can speak for the public of all common citizens, even those who feel most privileged. You will see the cost of denying it. The potential is fact, no longer just belief in the popularity of taking sides in an issue. If this potential gets published to others, there is 19 of 20 chance that they will, as a public body, embrace what you have just established from that sampling. While it is not true power until it becomes an in fact mandate, you will have discovered an agreement that is a doorway to public-driven change. That door is open and awaits only publication for the public to step through it. There is ever so much more in this. Yes, you are wonderfully empowered. The limit is that you are in a position of influence, but it is only in those things that are public. It is in doing things that are wider public values, enough to come to agreement that it be done. It has not really empowered you, but given you a path to empowerment that was already yours for the taking, this is just a how-to realizing that ultimately human power that comes to us when we gather for a shared purpose. Consider a gathering of parents of students for a school. There are not some sampling of parents, but nearly 60% of all parents. This is a body of people who have volunteered to be there. They have supposedly gathered because the administrative educators decided to embrace an educational approach designed to promote acceptance of lifestyles that these parents do not consider appropriate. In accord with traditional authority, approach the school principal backed by system administrators, present the value of this for preparing all well-rounded citizens for the future. Empowerment is appropriate. One of you rises.  As this is parents who were concerned about this, it is likely that more than 80% of those present will actually raise their hands, especially seeing for themselves that this is a general consensus. You have just brought the public of parents to awareness of its agreement. You turn to those who did the presentation with something like, this is the public you are hired to serve. They get to see it too. An agreement that is negative to their choice as leaders. I need a few volunteers to help me present this to the city council. You have just directly empowered that population of parents and it is very likely that several others will quickly rise to join you. But that is just the beginning of empowerment. That is the shadow, not the reality. This is an in fact mandate as the agreement is already effectively published. The recommended action, which will be discussed shortly, is then to turn to the principal and administrators, gentlemen. We have hopes that you will help us establish a parental review process and go with us to the county council, presenting this as a recommendation. This is the same process suggested for sampling, without the need to do any further sampling or publication to establish the agreement among the people who are at that point representing the county population. For our purposes, the action is citizen empowerment. Citizens assuming a volunteer based management over the public authority that felt privileged to act to its own goals and objectives instead of what the public felt to be more appropriate. Those who act on privilege will try to do what they accept as right and proper. Others, commoners, are to benefit from their actions. They then consider those commoners as beneficiaries of their administration. Surely people do get good results because of their chosen actions. Others are not approached as customers or as owners. That is the nature of leader privilege. The more intense the leader's sense of privilege, the less responsibility they feel to answer to even owners. Privilege can often challenge what peasants would prefer for leaders to do. Local citizens are not peasants but owners of the local government and they represent the larger public directly. The power of ownership is theirs. And however they come together and find their agreement, they become the only real party in interest. Our potential for gathering the people in agreement is set before us in such situations. Though it is rare to have this obvious a situation, it does happen. The wisdom that you are learning in this study is to include those administrators you have just removed from active authority preventing what they would do as the right things. The act is to enlist them to lead, inviting them to take active leadership and accomplishing the public change that you have set in motion by active agreement. The purpose you learn in this class is efficiency and effectiveness and such things. You want to minimize the time and effort that you spend in initiating and managing changes rather than taking on personal responsibilities that are otherwise already assigned to those public leaders. Your desired result is what has such value to you in its accomplishment that you have committed time and effort to it. It is assignment to these leaders so that they become active in leading the change and assuring their ongoing authority of otherwise being in charge. This is arranging parental support for what they do. It is also enlisting them to the larger change through presenting a way to harness the support of parents. It is very likely to be both accepted and actively supported. I am sure that more than a few of you paused and stepped back at the thought of trying to bring the administrators and principal into the effort. But there is a great deal of intelligence in support of this. The purpose is getting something done, not the disempowerment of these officers. The performance orientation is toward coming together with them and arranging for these public employees to work for you. Just that quickly, you are the parents helping the school accomplish what you value instead of taking over from them. The effective mandate is specific, covering a single change. We need a variation on this for our sampling process. The efficient approach is to document the potential sampling, both the criteria and how many were contacted and done their rate of approval. Our purpose is getting things done and it includes bringing people together for what almost everyone values. In this case, that includes the initially contrary leaders. They may be a personal challenge, but they will almost certainly recognize the same value that stands behind the mandate. The purpose is to enlist them to lead the change. It is to call upon them as public leaders to lead where the public has decided to go. It is a call for them to establish the true mandate and then to become the voice of the people that has no public opposition. It is an offer to empower them, right along with empowering the people. They already have the pulpit for presenting the mandate to the public. They already have the motivation to harness the public under their leadership. However strange it may appear to those who are oriented to privilege, this is obvious personal empowerment for the leader. For your own commitment, you still have to perform the management of the mandate. Your personal initiation takes on a whole new wrinkle when you promise to carry the leader's responses back to the public that initiated it. It is a promise to publish not only the criteria and potential mandate, but the leader's decision to lead or not to lead it. Make no mistake in seeing this. It is the people assigning a leadership duty to the one in office. It is a promise of consequences following his or her leadership decision. It is also a leadership opportunity for the one in office. An opportunity to embrace what the people value and let everyone see his or her commitment to that leadership task. There are very few more enticing opportunities for someone in leadership than everyone they lead, seeing how they are fulfilling what the people would have them do. The other side of your commitment includes management, a plan for how the leader expects to accomplish the change which may well encompass services to the efforts from the wider population. The good news is that anything that reaches mandated one sample of people is very likely to have the same potential in the areas served by other leaders. If this becomes a public mandate, the public that mandates is likely to put forth the effort to contact citizens in other areas, initiating the same sort of mandate for other leaders, but to join in the public effort. The initial leader is likely to stay in leadership position as an initiator and be leading other area leaders as part of their mandated activities. There is a need for some sensitivity. Most modern leaders are not familiar with receiving orders from those they could rule over. A short time of adjustment may be required. This might be accepting a delay of answer for a set period, a delay while they sort out their own position and plan for action. It should be a limited time as this is the owner setting an assignment and the employee owes an answer. On agreement to lead, the leader has just empowered him or herself right along with empowering the people who will support the mandate. The first concern must always be establishing the in fact mandate. It must be published and it will be of greatest value if the leader is the one who takes on that task as the one publicly taking charge. There is a second side to the Pareto principle of the 80% who agree those who are personally seeking the valued result, it is likely that 20% or more of those 80% are willing to do something in support of the mandate. This is at least 16% of the public. It is an effective army of potential volunteers who are willing to step up to support any reasonable plan for accomplishment. These are people who will carry the message at need into the jurisdictions of other leaders. The simple truth is that the existence of a mandate empowers the public and there is no real alternative. Those who raise potential alternatives and issues may obstruct for a time but promoting any goal based alternatives are likely to spur public challenge. Mandate once established is a reality, not one alternative among many options. If the leader refuses to act on the mandate you have made a commitment to that leader and it is to publish his or her refusal to the very people who would establish the assignment. That leader has just put a work requirement on you, one of publishing that leader's refusal to lead. It is your duty and your place to bring the potential mandate to reality by your action enlisting others to the task as necessary, depending on how serious that refusal or how witnessed the attitude of refusal and the value that the leader would deny to the public, you can add new potential to the mandate that you communicate. It would not only note the refusal and pertinent facts in it but can also recommend follow-up agreement on reaction. This is a different exercise of mandate. It can suggest considering the refusal in later votes. It can suggest initiating a recall. It can even suggest firing the leader if the refusal is sufficiently harsh. It can be a suggestion to declare the office vacated by that refusal to lead. The action is then to petition those public officers who are able to fill the vacated office. It could set a duty upon them to recognize the abandonment and initiate the action to replace the officer who refused. Again, if there is sufficient agreement in the public, that action can also be mandated. In the final sense of the mandate, the public is the owner and there are no other parties in interest. In the following section, we will be examining the sampling criteria and some of the considerations for presenting a change concept to the public for voluntary receipt and possible support. That too can be done effectively and efficiently. It can minimize the commitment of time and effort while maximizing the value that it can deliver to those who receive it. Our subject is empowerment. And it is your empowerment by empowering others as well as yourself. I am indeed your technical support in this, helping you see what you might do and to see most clearly what it can cost to gain what you value. That is power. The power of choices that have previously been denied to people.