I have ordered the ILP kit, and it is on its way. What can I expect? What have others experienced by subscribing to this life practice?

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JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W

Hi JC. Not sure what you mean by "What can I expect?"  I assume you know what to expect in terms of the physical contents as those details are posted on the product pages.

 

I purchased the IPLSK mid-December and I am pleased with what I got. Now this may not be the case with you, but I learned three things that were worth the price alone: the Big Mind process, the 3-2-1 Process, and Focused Intensity Training (FIT). Each of these techniques can move a person forward significantly in their practice. I can honestly say that my life has improved in terms of my emotional and physical well being in the short time I have owned it and in fact my commitment to my practices and goals is deepening.

 

Now, we have to be careful here because of an argument I often voice myself in regards to “self-improvement” or other similar systems: was it the IPLSK in particular or would any disciplined new approach have helped? Secondly, did the IPLSK cause a shift in my life or did a preceding and unconscious shift in my mind cause me to purchase the IPLSK? Did I smile because I felt better or did I feel better because I smiled? Either of these conditions can cause one to think it was the IPLSK that worked the magic when in fact it wasn’t.

 

Also because of these possibilities, it may be that one person gets a lot out of a particular new discipline and another does not. I settle the argument for myself however by siding with the behavioral or cognitive approaches – changing ones overt behavior will result in in mental changes. Consistent behavior modification will, through the wonder of brain plasticity, result in lasting psychological changes.  

 

Another factor that needs to be considered in regards to the ILP “working” for someone is personality type and psychographic profile. I have a strong Amber side to me so it may come as no surprise that I am a student of military doctrine – to the tune of about 8,000 printed pages of research documents. Whether you like to see these terms juxtaposed or not, the Integral path is a form of doctrine. So of course I like Integral and I like the ILP and therefore I am more likely to commit and get results.

 

I am also the right personality type, INTJ per Myers-Briggs, for the ILP. The four letters mean my source of energy is internal as opposed to external, my perception of objects and phenomenon is intuitive as opposed to concrete, my approach to the same is to respond with thought as opposed to feelings, and I am always looking for closure, decisions and action as opposed to discussion.

 

So, am I doing the ILP? To paraphrase the “spoon boy” in The Matrix; there is no ILP. You use the kit to design an Integral Life Practice that works for you. The “individualized” approach is a significant part of the concept. I have designed a program, not overly ambitious as Ken warns us against this, and I am still making improvements.

See http://www.kenwilber.com/professional/media/index.html.  A final comment in this regard is that I have not "put it away" since I got it. I still revisit it regularly, knowing there is so much more I can do. I expect it will take the better part of a year before I am doing it to my satisfaction. 

 

I believe that taking the ILP approach to the dimensions of my life has made a significant difference compared to not doing so. I realize that proof of that claim can only come as a result of long term social, psychological or medical research but it feels that way so far to me.

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Rick Bateman
Founder
Social Circles Canada - A New Kind Of Health Club
socialcirlces.ca
+48° 25' 43.45", -123° 20' 10.20" (hint: Google Maps)

Hi John:  It is late but I want to come back and respond to your question.  Mabye we can finally get a journal like thread going.   However, I could have started one before now and haven't for a lot of reasons.  I will check out those reasons and see if I am ready to commit.   I hope you are doing OK.  My parents death turned out to be so much bigger that I ever thought it would be.  It has been 13 and 10 years and I still miss them so much.  I will find the thread for that this weekend and write.

Later, Pattye

Dear Rick:  Your response was helpful for me.  I am an INFP so your input gives me what I have to work harder for.  As you said, the F is about how we respond about thoughts and does not mean we are necessaryily Feeling or Judging persons.  But as I understand it, the last letter surely is.  I wish that I could make a decision faster and be done with it.  On the other hand, Perception makes me a good Therapist since I always need more information before I can come to a conclusion.  I would think clients would appreciate that.  You seem so extraverted on-line but then again, I enjoy one on one or small groups where we can really talk about something except the "regular" subjects.  And your energy just floors me.  There was a time when I had more of that and I feel that most of it was spent on family. And whatever I was up to.

I really like the Myers/Briggs.  I know now what it is that I like about your Posts that give me food for thought and more.   Later  Pattye

Thanks Rick,

I always enjoy your post. INFJ here by Myers-Briggs. I like to call it Inner Nuances Fosters Journeys. I am refreshed in contemplative meditation, a practice I have used for 13 years. I also use Bill Harris' Awakening Prologue, but it is too expensive to upgrade. I thought I would see what ILP had to offer. Of course, we all shift, change, evolve, and we hope for the betterment of ourselves and the betterment of mankind. I think that is why most of US are here, right?

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JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W

Pattye,

I am hosting an International Metaphysics Meetup in February if you would like to join. We will be doing it by Instant Messenger. Only two others have joined up thus far. The link is http://metaphysics.meetup.com/284

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JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W

Hi pattye. Thank you for your kind and encouraging comments. You are correct re the last letter of the four; a J means an inclination to want to make a judgement or decision, to bring closure. I also think you are correct that NOT being a J would make you a good therapist. Although I am not a therapist, I imagine being a P, and remaining open to more information, would usually be the better environment for the client.

You are quite right that in some circumstances I am extroverted and have a significant presence. In fact at work, where I am responsible for about forty staff, I am very much an Alpha male, not at all what people would think of as an introvert, however I do remain an introvert on the interior at all times.

This book, The Introvert Advantage, paints a very comprehensive picture of the introvert type. We reviewed it recently at our HR book club. All of us bookworm innies just loved it of course. : )

 

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Rick Bateman
Founder
Social Circles Canada - A New Kind Of Health Club
socialcirlces.ca
+48° 25' 43.45", -123° 20' 10.20" (hint: Google Maps)

We are closely akin with exception, and that is what makes all of US unique. I took the Myers-Briggs test years ago, and nothing has changed my opinion much about my personality type.

 

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging
by Joe Butt Profile: INFJ
Revision: 3.01
Date of Revision: 6 Mar 2005

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Beneath the quiet exterior, INFJs hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life. Those who are activists -- INFJs gravitate toward such a role -- are there for the cause, not for personal glory or political power.

INFJs are champions of the oppressed and downtrodden. They often are found in the wake of an emergency, rescuing those who are in acute distress. INFJs may fantasize about getting revenge on those who victimize the defenseless. The concept of 'poetic justice' is appealing to the INFJ.

"There's something rotten in Denmark." Accurately suspicious about others' motives, INFJs are not easily led. These are the people that you can rarely fool any of the time. Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends. Such a friendship is a symbiotic bond that transcends mere words.

INFJs have a knack for fluency in language and facility in communication. In addition, nonverbal sensitivity enables the INFJ to know and be known by others intimately.

Writing, counseling, public service and even politics are areas where INFJs frequently find their niche.

Functional Analysis:

Introverted iNtuition

Introverted intuitives, INFJs enjoy a greater clarity of perception of inner, unconscious processes than all but their INTJ cousins. Just as SP types commune with the object and "live in the here and now" of the physical world, INFJs readily grasp the hidden psychological stimuli behind the more observable dynamics of behavior and affect. Their amazing ability to deduce the inner workings of the mind, will and emotions of others gives INFJs their reputation as prophets and seers. Unlike the confining, routinizing nature of introverted sensing, introverted intuition frees this type to act insightfully and spontaneously as unique solutions arise on an event by event basis.

Extraverted Feeling

Extraverted feeling, the auxiliary deciding function, expresses a range of emotion and opinions of, for and about people. INFJs, like many other FJ types, find themselves caught between the desire to express their wealth of feelings and moral conclusions about the actions and attitudes of others, and the awareness of the consequences of unbridled candor. Some vent the attending emotions in private, to trusted allies. Such confidants are chosen with care, for INFJs are well aware of the treachery that can reside in the hearts of mortals. This particular combination of introverted intuition and extraverted feeling provides INFJs with the raw material from which perceptive counselors are shaped.

Introverted Thinking

The INFJ's thinking is introverted, turned toward the subject. Perhaps it is when the INFJ's thinking function is operative that he is most aloof. A comrade might surmise that such detachment signals a disillusionment, that she has also been found lacking by the sardonic eye of this one who plumbs the depths of the human spirit. Experience suggests that such distancing is merely an indication that the seer is hard at work and focusing energy into this less efficient tertiary function.

Extraverted Sensing

INFJs are twice blessed with clarity of vision, both internal and external. Just as they possess inner vision which is drawn to the forms of the unconscious, they also have external sensing perception which readily takes hold of worldly objects. Sensing, however, is the weakest of the INFJ's arsenal and the most vulnerable. INFJs, like their fellow intuitives, may be so absorbed in intuitive perceiving that they become oblivious to physical reality. The INFJ under stress may fall prey to various forms of immediate gratification. Awareness of extraverted sensing is probably the source of the "SP wannabe" side of INFJs. Many yearn to live spontaneously; it's not uncommon for INFJ actors to take on an SP (often ESTP) role.

Famous INFJs:

Nathan, prophet of Israel
Aristophanes
Chaucer
Goethe
Robert Burns, Scottish poet

U.S. Presidents: Martin Van Buren James Earl "Jimmy" Carter

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Fanny Crosby, (blind) hymnist
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Fred McMurray (My Three Sons)
Shirley Temple Black, child actor, ambassador
Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, martyr
James Reston, newspaper reporter
Shirley McClain (Sweet Charity, ...)
Piers Anthony, author ("Xanth" series)
Michael Landon (Little House on the Prairie)
Tom Selleck
John Katz, critic, author
Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul and Mary)
U. S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL)
Billy Crystal
Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury)
Nelson Mandela
Mel Gibson
Carrie Fisher
Nicole Kidman
Jamie Foxx
Sela Ward
Mark Harmon
Gary Dourdan
Marg Helgaberger
Evangeline Lilly
Tori May

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JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W

Dear John.   Thanks for the review.  Seems I am following my "Type with Exception"

around this place and feel the "We". Space, off and on.  Now I am wondering what type the other folks Ihave written to are.    And I have read your invite to the Meta

meeting.  I am waiting to reply to that and hopefully to the above someday.  I am behind big time.  My plate is too full.  At least I get to check in with the brainiacs occasionally and enjoy that.  Later, Hopefully   Pattye

That would be you and Rick and a couple of others.   Actually there are plenty of others but some are another type of brainiac. 

PS   I am really interested in what you are doing with the ILP Kit and when Iget it all together, I will share my ILP with you guys.   I hope that is soon.   Pattye

I  signed up for the Concall tonight with David (forgot his last name). He teaches at JFK University on Integral psychology. I'll let you know the results tomorrow. I will try to take good notes. He will talk about a psychograph, something I am interested in, but not sure how to begin one.

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JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W

Hi Pattye.

My MBTI type is INTJ.

In NLP terms "Auditory Digital" is my preferred representational system.

My astrological sign is Capricorn.

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Rick Bateman
Founder
Social Circles Canada - A New Kind Of Health Club
socialcirlces.ca
+48° 25' 43.45", -123° 20' 10.20" (hint: Google Maps)

Rick,

Very interesting. I took the NLP test and, I too, reflect the highest level in auditory digital, although I do not have a clue what that means. Kinesthetic was second highest, with Visual and Auditory 3rd and fourth.

I am INFJ, and the J is the most difficult. Judgemental is something needing work.

I signed up for the Concall tonight on Creating your own Psychograph with David Zeitler. It is a 2-hour lecture with Q&A. I will try to take notes or tape it.

I, too, am a Capricorn. Welcome to our World! Thanks for posting the references. I found out what it means to Auditory Digital and Kinesthetic.

Kinesthetic

People with a kinesthetic preference, will tend to:

• Speak slower than the general population. Why? Because they need time to get in touch with how they feel about the topic.
• Be more sensitive to their bodies and their feelings and respond to physical rewards and touching.
• Learn by doing, moving or touching.
• Dress and groom themselves more for comfort than how they look.
• Make decisions based on their feelings.
• Stand closer to other people than those with a visual preference - to feel the other person’s energy, whereas the person with a visual preference will stand back to see more of the other person (body language, etc.).

Auditory Digital

Auditory digital is devoid of the senses. People with an auditory digital preference, will tend to:

• Have a need to make sense of the world, to figure things out, to understand.
• Talk to themselves and carry on conversations with you in their mind. Often they will say they remember discussing something with you, when you actually did not have the conversation. They did, however, in their mind!
• Learn by working things out in their mind.
• Not to be spontaneous, as they like to think things through.
• Have logic play a key role in the decision process as do facts and figures.
• Memorize by steps, procedures, sequences.

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JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W

Hi JC. One small heads up but an important one; the "J" does not mean Judgemental, it means Judgeing. In this case Judgeing as used in the MBTI simply means "to like a planned and organized approach to life and prefer to have things settled."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator for more on this.

It does not indicate a negative trait that you need to work on. It does mean it is one of our strengths and the caution here is more that we will tend to default to it in every sitution as opposed to taking a situational leadership approach. As Maslow warned, "He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail."

Interested in hearing back from you re your con-call tonight.

 

 

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Rick Bateman
Founder
Social Circles Canada - A New Kind Of Health Club
socialcirlces.ca
+48° 25' 43.45", -123° 20' 10.20" (hint: Google Maps)

Rick,

Thanks for pointing out the "J" in MBTI. The concall was great! I taped it, but I have yet to decode it. This is what stood out to me...

IThere were 28 of us listening, and David's lecture grounded what I already practice in counseling in dealing with Translation and Transformation. Also, the question begged to ask, "Is there a Psychograph test or model available to build one's own Psychograph?" The answer is "no." The best I can discern is that there are psychometric tests if one is willing to spend a lot of money, time and energy.

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JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W