Being Present and "Story Pollution"

We live in a world of incredible technological advancements, lightning fast communication and ever-greater competitive pressures – all set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing global economic environment. Yet, we live and work in this brave new world guided by the same antiquated set of assumptions that have been passed down to us generation after generation. And quite frankly, we embrace these stories solely because someone told us that these are the ways things ‘ought to be.’

However, if you take an honest, fresh look at the world and how we interact within it, you’ll discover that many of these ‘stories’ no longer apply. Yet, they are perpetuated and reinforced everyday in education, the media and boardrooms around the world. They affect how we think about everything, from business and family, to government, to how we live our lives. 

I refer to this phenomenon as ‘Story Pollution.’ The opposite of story pollution is ‘Being Present.’ Being present (or as Eckhart Tolle describes it in the Power of Now, ‘Being in the Now’) is a state of consciousness where nothing from the past influences your thoughts, actions or behaviors in any way. Only after I learned to let go of the past, to let go of the polluted stories of yesterday and ‘be present,’ was I able to realize and accomplish my goals.

Simply put, ‘being present’ or ‘presence’ is looking at a situation objectively without being influenced by the past, without prejudice or assumption. It is not considering how something is ‘supposed to happen, ‘how we got there in the first place’ or ‘who initiated the idea’, but rather, ‘what is the best way of accomplishing our goal? ’ If you take an honest look, I think you’ll find that this is not something we do very often. In fact, Story Pollution is far more prevalent than Presence as we create our own stories every minute of every day.

And that’s how we pass it on from generation to generation—without even knowing it.

On a business level, Story Pollution keeps bright employees from proposing new ideas. On a political level, it prevents people from voting for candidates outside the two major parties. On a spiritual level, it discourages people from even considering alternative points of view. And on a personal level, it frightens people into not even being exposed to new philosophies that can expand the ‘typical human experience’. And that’s truly a shame, since we only live once, and yet we’re still so stingy with our awareness in the finite time we have to use it.

It’s the idea of ‘Being Present’ that‘s allowed AngelVision become what it is today. Egos, drama and hidden agendas are rare in our world. We’re a focused group of individuals who have the goal of transforming commonly held business practices. As a result, since we began in 2001 with a mere $47,000 initial investment, we’ve increased our business by over 600% every year and are now likely the fastest growing advertising agency in the nation. We cause miraculous changes in people’s lives. We’ve won awards for Innovation, Marketing and Advertising. And, although we work hard, we like to have fun.

AngelVision is truly a magical place. And it’s all a result of Being Present.

“Doing it the Wrong Way” - Holistic Management

As a matter of fact, I’m currently writing a book on Holistic Management Practices (tentatively titled ‘How to do things the Wrong Way and Achieve Extraordinary Results!’) It describes specifically how Presence manifests itself here at AngelVision. It’s a collection of real-world examples of how we ‘break the rules’ everyday, thereby enabling the enormous success, innovation and rapid growth that we experience year after year. (And, just in case you haven’t guessed yet, much of what you’re reading now is the book’s introduction.) I describe what we did right, what we did wrong, and what we might do differently. I’m very excited about sharing our unique business model with fellow enlightened business managers and entrepreneurs.

Here’s one simple example. Consider our Christmas party, As I see it, the worst time to have a party is just before Christmas. It’s a very stressful time of year for most people: shopping, traffic, the kids out of school, bills, year end business, taxes, and so on. Who wants the added hassle and obligation of attending a party?

So, we have our party in February. It’s one of the dullest months of the year. It’s easier and cheaper to rent a hall, coordinate catering and book talent. Most important, people look forward to the event and are actually excited to attend. Imagine: a Christmas party that people want to attend.

In the larger scheme, consider what is most important in management. Ask any business manager what their most important job is, and nine times out of ten, they will reply, ”hiring good people.” Ask any CEO what makes the greatest contribution to profitability and they will say, “morale.” Yet, having graduated from two rather prestigious business schools, I never saw one single class offered on either ‘Hiring Good People’ or ‘Bolstering Morale’. (This is one of the reasons (among many) I felt compelled to write this book.)

From a ‘Business Intelligence’ point of view, Presence offers us a great competitive advantage. Since I am not concerned with my own ego, I solicit opinions from everyone and then pick the best ideas from the entire group. As a result, decisions are not based on the whims of a single (usually extroverted and opinionated) individual in a high position, but rather from the best ideas, reached through collaborative consensus. AngelVision is truly 50% smarter than most other companies our size. What a difference this makes!

In my opinion, most companies run at about 25% efficiency. At AngelVision, thanks to extensive productivity and efficiency training exercises, we run closer to 75% efficiency. This offers us another competitive advantage and allows us to charge Customers a fraction of what our service would normally cost.

However, monetary benefits are only the beginning.

Our people have a greater sense of accomplishment since they can contribute and accomplish more in a day. Also, this productive mindset carries with them into their personal lives, making it possible for people to spend more time doing the things they like.

Reinventing the Sales Process

By Being Present, we’ve also reinvented the Sales Process.

Let’s face it… everyone hates high pressure sales. Yet, most companies employ a high pressure sales strategy. Why? Because it’s all they know. Add to this do-not-call lists, email filters and TIVO, and you’ll see that we live in an era where people, despite having more channels of communication, are harder to reach than ever before. But still, virtually every book on marketing (as well as virtually every advertising executive) will tell you that the key to increased sales is more advertising and higher pressure sales.

I don’t agree.

As a result of doing things differently, our sales growth (as well as those of our Clients) has been phenomenal. In fact, the awards keep rolling in. We won the 2006 InnoTech Innovation of the Year Award. For our many Customer success stories, we won the 2006 American Marketing Association MAX Award (First Place!) for Excellence in Marketing. We just won two Telly Awards for Internet Advertising and Online Marketing.

By Being Present, we are able to let go of prejudices and assumptions. We are able to see the world through our Customers’ customers’ eyes without bias. The result: a message that connects with the viewer. A message that educates and motivates.  Not a boring message that merely lists features (the kind most of us avoid).

Our Commitment to Small Business and the Environment

I am also deeply concerned with long-term economic and sustainability issues faced by our children. Our kids are plagued with a mountain of enormous challenges. We must do what we can to help future generations deal with the problems that our nation’s leaders have caused. One thing that we can all do very easily is to shop locally. Doing business locally provides a multitude of benefits to (1) the economy, (2) the environment, (3) sustainability and (4) our quality of life.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for small businesses to compete with multinational corporations who have very deep pockets. Large corporations typically have high economies of scale, low labor rates and oversees production. This reduces their costs, allows them to charge less for their products and leaves them more to spend for promotion and advertising.

We specialize in producing our Impact Movies for the small business. We are committed to ensuring the success of the entrepreneur by working unceasingly to create powerful messages to help them compete against conglomerates. But we do not stop there. We will redesign the Impact Movies for Customers when we feel that their movie does not meet our current standards. This is completely voluntary. We never even suggested that we would be doing this when the sale was made. We just feel that this is the right thing to do.

Another one of our goals was to produce a marketing medium that would help save our environment. Our Impact Movies do just that. It reduces the need to for paper, reduces trash, reduces gas consumption, and decreases the rate of global warming. Furthermore, we have a pro-bono division which produces Impact Movies at no cost for charities, non-profits and other worthy causes. This goes along with our commitment to improve the human experience for all.

My Favorite Resources and Links

Like most people, I’m extraordinarily busy and don’t have time to waste. Therefore, I’m a big fan of ‘books on tape’ (or CDs). I don’t have much time on this planet (none of us do), and I want to learn as much as I can to help our kids. So, I just pop a CD or tape into my car stereo while driving, my headset while flying, or even into my tape deck while gardening.

Plus, I admit it, I find reading boring. (Sorry to all the readers our there, In fact I admire you. I wish I could sit down and read something longer than an article.) Some of my favorite resources, movies and books include:

These tools are all attempts to raise the consciousness of our society. And I believe it’s working. Okay, I may be a bit biased since I live in the Pacific Northwest, where folks generally seem a bit more open to these sorts of ideas. However, I meet so many people who are eager to expose themselves to more enlightened points of view, even when I travel. It’s my life’s mission to help people live more peaceful and rewarding lives by helping them expand the typical human experience.

Unified Field-Based Consciousness

For 10 years now, I have been searching for and studying new theories dealing with human nature and our perception of reality. Much of this work is explained wonderfully in the groundbreaking movie, ‘What the Bleep Do We Know?’ (No surprise it’s one of the most successful independent films of our time.)

As a result of all this personal discovery, I’ve learned a few things.
  1. Life is not determined by the events you experience, but rather the stories you attach to those events. You choose which stories to apply to the events in your life —good, bad or indifferent. Usually, by instinct, we attach negative meanings to events. However, you are free to create whatever stories you wish, you may change your stories or choose to attach no stories at alll.

  2. As a result, there is nothing inherently good or bad in the world. Things are just the way they are. We create the meanings of these events. Even ‘problems’ are manufactured in our minds. So, for the most part, there are no events that I consider to be ‘problems.’ As a result, the only things that happen in my life are things that I choose to happen. Taking that further, I’m always doing something that I want to be doing. Nice existence!

  3. We create our reality through our collective consciousness. Okay, I know this sounds ‘out there’, but there is real scientific research that supports such a concept. (For more information, I recommend reading the work of Dr. John Hagelin: www.hagelin.org).

  4. All people are good, even if they don’t know it. This took a long time for me to really “get.”  After all, how do you not let bad drivers, arrogant people and hypocrisy bother you?
That is a good segue into my next topic, Human Nature.

Human Nature

Over the past five years, we’ve experienced many wonderful things at AngelVision: Exponential growth, abundant industry recognition, numerous Customer success stories and many emails describing how we’ve changed the lives of the people with who we come in contact.

About 95% of this email is wonderful—glowing comments praising us on a range of issues. However, about 5% of this email is nasty - just plain vicious. Most people would be shocked at some of the terrible things people say to us.

Why is this so?

My guess is the human ego. The ego exposes itself under many circumstances: fear of change, jealousy, being wrong, fear of risk, etc. Do these emails bother me? Not really. After all, it’s just human nature.

These people don’t even know they are behaving this way. They are just programmed to react to situations in the same way they have in the past. It’s really not their fault. Believe me; I understand how difficult it is to suspend that voice of reason in your head telling you to play it safe, to stick to the ‘old way’ of doing things. They just haven’t been exposed to a different point of view. They are the victims of Story Pollution.

Letting Go

One of the most pervasive and destructive forces in our society is hate; the ultimate manifestation of Story Pollution. Instinctively, we carry judgments and biases about people we don’t know or who are different than us. What’s truly ironic however, is that more people we know are actually good people.

Why is this so?

Back in the Stone Age, there was good reason to fear anyone outside your tribe; they just might club you over the head, drag you back to their cave and roast you for dinner.  But we don’t need that kind of fear now.

Some would say there’s plenty to fear about. “Just look at the news, Jingo!” But television generally only covers ‘bad’ news. You’ll never see the story about grandma in line at the grocery store who goes to pay with food stamps and finds out the big burly biker ahead of her has already paid her bill. It’s just not as interesting as a homicide (another assumption the networks foist on us). We are fed a steady diet of murder and violence. And, with television viewing at record highs; we start to believe that all people are this way. It’s no wonder why many people are afraid to leave their house.

And so, even though we all have good in us, prejudice permeates our whole world.  Wars are fought because of this. For example, as an Armenian (by heritage), I’m supposed to hate Turks. Yet, all the Turks I’ve ever met are good people. Muslims hate Jews, Jews hate Muslims and war in the Middle East is out of control. Yet, they have more in common than they know. Imagine what would happen if we all suddenly realized that we all embrace the same goals, hopes and dreams as everyone else?

The idea of Being Present is not just a philosophy or New Age lingo; it’s a concept whose time has come. It’s the result of millions and even billions of people leaving the past behind and bringing peace and sustainability to our world and our species.

However, when a person publishes lies on the Internet and makes defaming comments in public, then admittedly, it bothers me. Why? Because unsuspecting readers believe it. This hurts my business, my employees, our customers, and the many people we affect. It doesn’t bother me when people are rude or mean to me directly. But, when mistruths are published on the internet, then, in the interest of all our stakeholders, I have an obligation to respond.

Jack Yoest - Our Biggest Fan

I have included this “episode” to highlight the benefits of Being Present and the pitfalls of subscribing to Story Pollution.  I am not mentioning Jack out of revenge or out of anger.  I figre that I am entitled to use him as an example since his comments are illegal and violate defamation and libel laws.

To hear from me personally on why it is important to respond to these accusations, press here: let sleeping dogs lie.mp3.

Well, actually, he is not a fan.  In fact, Jack doesn’t like me much at all.

In September of 2005, John W. Yoest, Jr., (also known as Jack) a potential Client, attended one of our ‘Coffee with AngelVision’ webinars. He subsequently posted on his blogsite positive comments about the experience. These positive comments quickly became very negative. Attempts to address his concerns were unsuccessful. Moreover, they ignited a series of exchanges between Jack Yoest and me.

Jack has posted very negative and defaming statements about AngelVision and me on his website.  For some reason, something about me bothers him.  Perhaps he is jealous, feels threatened or has some secret agenda - who knows?  Do I hate Jack?  Not at all.  In a way, I feel sorry for him since he is so wound up with his ego and his own stories, but in the end, he is just being human.  As I see it, about 20% of the population are more egocentric - perhaps they are younger souls.  Quite frankly, people like Jack just do not ‘get it’. Rude or self absorbed people do not affect me emotionally. 

There are other people who are not fond of me as well. These are former employees who have not worked out and job candidates who were not offered positions. I’m sure many of these people search for my name on the Internet and finds Jack’s comments. We have evidence that some of these individuals have contacted Jack. (As a result of our holistic management style, great benefits and wonderful work environment, many people wish to work here. However, we have very high standards and AngelVision is not for everyone. Over the past 5 years, I’ve had to let about 20 people go). Like professional athletes who get cut by the coach, most feel that they preformed adequately and their termination was not justified. A few of these individuals try to cause problems for us by spreading rumors or making accusations.

Like everything else this is neither ‘good nor bad’, it is just the way it is.  In fact, I was very much like this in my earlier years (hey, I sold time share, how bad can you get?). But through years of reflection and being exposed to different philosophies on human nature, I began to see things differently.  I wish the same for Jack.  I want Jack (and all people in this world) to live a peaceful life on a sustainable planet.  I think we can accomplish this if we work together.  (You will hear more about my plans later). 

But, there is more at stake than just my reputation.  He attacks my employees and even our customers.  His comments jeopardize my business and threaten the standard of life of all our stakeholders.  Jack also wastes our time.  There is a lot of work that needs to be done to save our government and planet....so many other (more important) issues in the world that need attention.  Jack, why not write about the debt, hunger, war, health care, disease, social security, global warming, pollution, getting money out of government, the self interests of our government leaders???  Oh, that is right, you're a lobbyist.

Putting the Jack Yoest Affair Behind Us

When we were first alerted to Jack’s website by our Customers, we contacted Jack to patch things up. Fueled by my passions for AngelVision and the ideas and philosophies that have enriched and guided me, I responded, in length to his critiques by presenting our point of view. However, we were met with anger and hostility. Consistent to his modus operandi, personal attacks were forthcoming.

I certainly have the option of suing Jack for defamation and libel. However, I would prefer not to spend the necessary $30,000 to take the case to court—only to have a judge order him to take his comments down. Furthermore, court action would do nothing to present my point of view. In today’s world, lies have legs. People believe what they read. Mark Twain said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

If that’s not bad enough, he spreads these lies on other blogsites. It may be easy to spot his deceitful actions from his website, but he’s also publishing these disgusting comments on legitimate blogsites as well. Therefore, I feel it necessary to explain my side of things. This way, you can make the decision on who to believe. In fact, I’ll even going to let YOU decide what we should do next! (Although we all hope that he just deletes all his posts and just goes away.)

Ü  So, here’s our side of the story. You decide who to believe: Yoest Response for Website.pdf
Ü  Here’s what we writes: Yoest (1).png, Yoest (2).png, Yoest (3).png, Yoest (4).png.

Here are a few facts to keep in mind:
  1. Jack goes back and changes the content of his posts to make it appear that I am lying. Ironically, one of his overriding precepts is  ‘Timeless Truth.’ If what he posts is the  ‘Timeless Truth,’ then one must wonder why he feels the need to constantly change the content.

  2. Oddly enough, Jack is guilty of many of the same lies and defamatory comments that he directs towards me. For example, Jack accuses me of lying about my educational background. He said that I claim to have a Masters Degree from Harvard in print. Like most of his accusations, this is not true. (He even bolds and changes the font color of  ‘in print’ to red - making the lie seem even more egregious.) However, it is Jack himself who lies about his own academic background. According to an investigator hired by our attorney, Jack never graduated from Oxford. As a matter of fact, there is no record of Jack even attending Oxford. Timeless Truth?

  3. He constantly defames me by saying I’m a terrible business manager and a marketing blunderer. In truth, we are likely the fastest growing advertising agency in the country and, we’ve won awards for Innovation, Marketing, and Advertising.

    ·      Winner: 2006, InnoTech Innovative Company of the Year Award
    ·      Winner: 2006, American Marketing Assoc’s MAX Award (First Place!) for Mktg Excellence
    ·      Winner: 2006, Two Telly Awards for Internet and Online Advertising

    A marketing blunder!

  4. He also harbors a lot of hostility towards how I run AngelVision. Well, morale is very high and most people say that AngelVision is the best company they’ve ever worked for. If Jack has a problem with this, then so be it. Although, I really don’t see how I choose to run my company is Jack’s business anyway. Aren’t there real problems in the world to write about?

  5. We also learned that Jack tried to start a business similar to AngelVision a few years back, but failed. This is quite surprising since Jack has such a high opinion of his own marketing, sales and management skills.
We gave Jack’s complaints some honest consideration. He complained that we use too much paper because we print too many Customer testimonials. We agree, but not because we print too many quotes as Jack complains. We want to use less paper. So, we purchased a double sided printer (at a cost of $800) so that we can use less paper in our Info Packs.

Still, the fact remains that there’s no logical reason why he is so fixated on AngelVision or myself. However, I’m sure that Jack will keep complaining. Why? I have two theories:
  1. First, I am an easy target. He probably assumed that since I’m laid-back, I wouldn’t respond. He could experience the feeling of ‘being right’ without ramification.

  2. Second, Jack is in government. In government, you can make as many wild accusations as you wish since whatever you say is probably true. Folks in government seldom retaliate since most accusations are true. However, now Jack has entered into the business world. This is where hard-working individuals try to make an honest living. We live by higher standards and are more vulnerable to slander and attack.
The fact is this. I can help Jack. I really can. I wouldn’t have spent the time to write this long document if I didn’t see wonderful possibilities within him. I’d tell him to start his journey by attending the Landmark Education Forum. It’s truly an extraordinary experience: www.LandmarkEducation.com. Unfortunately, I can’t see him being strong enough to drop his egoistic behavior and his need to ‘be right.’ It’s unfortunate. I know that he could be a powerful force for positive change in the world. Not to mention, there is so much in the world to enjoy.

Ultimately, Jack will choose to make this response mean whatever he chooses. After all, everything is a choice. I truly wish Jack the best.

Ü  Listen to this adio clip about what we should do next: mike yoest memo.mp3

Why the hell are you letting this guy bother you so much?
You did the right thing. Let´s hope Jack pulls all this nonsense from his website and does something better with his time.
Don’t be a wimp! Kick some ass! Sue the bastard out of principle!

The Problem with Government

Like most people, I don’t identify with either of the two major parties. They are both just looking out for themselves. Neither has the interest of the common people in mind. Their only priority is to gain a competitive advantage and get re-elected.

The problem with government is quite simple.

  1. Politics attracts the 20% egoic, self-absorbed segment of the population that I mentioned earlier. If you are in this group, then government is appealing due to the graft and corruption that is so widespread. In other words, it’s a great occupation if you are willing to sacrifice ethics for personal gain.

  2. The issues that are most important to normal people are sustainability, the environment and living in peace and harmony. These goals are in complete opposition to Congress, which is interested in GDP growth, adding to their war chests and getting re-elected. There are easy solutions to most of today’s worst problems. However, implementing these are not in the best interest of the politicians who run this country.

  3. Due to  ‘Story Pollution’ (see above), we’ve been convinced that  ‘voting for a third party is a wasted vote.’ Yet, true change will only come from outside the two major parties. As Albert Einstein said, “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” If Congress really wanted to change the system and improve the state of affairs in the world, then they would do so.

  4. Finally, the problem is not with our politicians, but with us. Good or bad, we vote for these people. We need to start holding ourselves accountable and start electing people who care about the issues that you and I care about.
Here are a few of my favorite political resources:

·      Best news commentator:    Lou Dobbs at CNN
·      Great audio book:              “Rise to Rebellion” by Jeff Shaara
·      Great book regarding the state of politics:     “Running on Empty” by Peter Peterson
·      Great lecture regarding views of citizens:      “The New Political Compass” by Paul H. Roy, PhD.

You will hear more about my political plans in the months ahead. For now, I wish you peace and harmony.

Be well,
Jingo

Mike Jingozian
Founder and President
AngelVision Technologies, Inc.
503-620-3377
mike@angelvisiontech.com /span>