W10.02 You Authorize You – Be The Authority That Confers You Legitimacy!

Yesterday I pointed out that a Diploma in Alexander Technique is virtually meaningless. The only power it has comes from your mind – it dictates to you, and the idea of a piece of paper being imbued with such power is verging on the ridiculous. But it does. It’s a power derived from an unconscious need for acceptance by the tribe – it is an example of what Alexander called being driven by feelings.: the fear of rejection, the longing for acceptance. This drives all licensing systems. This is the source of their power over our behaviour.

People will tell you it is all about standards, it is about protecting the consumer – most of that is after-the-fact rationalizing of what is actually an unconsciously driven behaviour. Don’t buy into it emotionally. Any conscious investigation will reveal the fatuous nature of those claims. It’s all nonsense.

Really. It is.

To succeed in business you must get over the fact that you need anyone’s approval to do what you want to do. Providing it’s legal, ethical and moral to you, any further restriction is an artifact of your own mind. It took me many years to get over this artifact, and by “get over” I mean no longer being unconsciously driven to be a “good boy” so you will love me. These days I love me, and I don’t need you to reassure me. Oh what a relief!

So what does that mean to you and your business?

Well, once you wake up to this nonsense you can see that it has immense value for your business. You realise that there is no reason why you can’t “authorise” your Self to be an “authority”. David Gorman got so tired of all the ankle-bitting pettiness that happened while he was training people to be teachers of the Alexander Technique, that he just went off and opened his own LearningMethods^TM brand. Don Weed did similarly: given his Marjorie Barstow /Frank Pierce Jones eclectic lineage, his admission into STAT was difficult. So what did he do? Started a new brand Interactive Teaching Method (ITM) which now proudly boasts on it’s website:

 “The ITM has over 50 practising teachers, all of whom have completed a four year training course and passed several written and practical exams.”

Bingo! ITM is legitimate. Why? “Because we just told you we are.” And people buy it.

Steven Shaw and The Shaw Method. Get the idea now? It’s a new movement in the Alexander Technique community, and it only just got started. Please consider this path as your means to impact Society in a much deeper and broader way, while securing for your Self a business that supports you into retirement.

All these businesses leverage a brand name to authorize people to practise under this name. That’s how you build and protect your business. No-one can own Alexander Technique, but you can own your own brand name, your own system for teaching it, your own Certificate or Diploma for authorizing it.

However, don’t be fooled into believing that even a trademark can protect you. It’s another illusion, but since so many people still believe in this myth, even governments, it will work up to a point. However, I can’t tell you how many cafes in Tokyo have copied the Starbucks model – right down to having a circle for their logo, the same typeface, but different words and red or yellow instead of Starbucks green.

This is advanced driving now. You need your niche. You need a fabulous Service, and a Product that people buy. Then you figure out your back-end business, and this is part of that process: you create authority and legitimacy for your brand right from the start of launching your business.

So have some fun tonight – find a name for your unique version of Alexander's Discoveries.

TOMORROW: Celebrities and Alexander Technique – How Can They Help You?

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