T

life is in your hands

A SYSTEM FOR PERSONAL & GLOBAL CHANGE

By Paul Campillo

W W W . 8 L I F E P I L L A R S . C O M

T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r G r o u p , L L C t e l e p h o n e : 2 0 6 . 4 7 8 . 2 2 0 8 w w w. 8 l i f e p i l l a r s . c o m

Part I A New Movement of Timeless Principles

A Fragmented Society Can Become Whole Again Life changes so fast.
New trends, ideas, and technology show our collective capacity for

innovating and improving existing structures and systems. We have advanced technologically, and benet in ways never imagined even 40 years ago. We have also evolved physically and smashed old paradigms of what our bodies can do. But what of the advancement of the human psyche and society? We see school dropout rates increase each year due to broken homes. Poorly educated students struggle to nd jobs and experience their unlimited potential. Criminal activity and an increase in incarceration rates in jail populations has increased around the world, with America leading the way. There is an increase in prescription drugs for mental disorders (anxiety, panic attacks, depression, etc.), and a slew of health problems (obesity, heart disease, diabetes, lack of energy, etc.). They are all symptoms, and are usually mistaken for the root cause of the problems, but they are not. Working as a social worker for the past ten years has revealed some startling, and mostly obvious realizations about solving our most pressing problems. There is debate as to where the root cause of our problems lie, although the symptoms are observable by anyone everywhere. Is the root cause of our problems in the mind, internal, or is it the environment, external?? Is it our lack of knowledge or skills (mind)? Is it the inuence of mass media or corruption in our homes and neighborhoods (environment)? And the quick and easy answer is, its both. The fact is, both must be understood in order to affect positive, progressive change. The mind is ultimately the root cause of everything, positive and negative in our world, and collectively, we create our environment. If we have a powerful enough mind, we can overcome whatever your environment throws at us. But, what if the mind is not so strong, not so creative? What if our mind was never nurtured and given the room to develop properly? How do we make up for an environment that has not nurtured us?

T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C!

A System for Personal & Global Change

The relationship between the inner and outer world must be understood and proactively engaged in a totally different way if we are to begin a positive social revolution. The inner and outer world must be viewed as a whole system, not in parts, if we are to live deeply and fully. By not approaching life as a whole, and seeing it only in parts leaves us incomplete, and contributes to creating fragmented homes and communities, and ultimately society. We can do much better.

A Healthy Society
If fragmentation is the disease, what is the cure? In their book, The Art of Systems Thinking, Joseph OConnor and Ian McDermott dene a system as something that maintains its existence and functions as a whole through the interaction of its many parts. When solving a particular problem, we look at cause and effect as being limited in time and space. With systems thinking, time and space expands, and so does our ability to effectively solve problems. In a domestic violence situation, a husband is abusive to his wife one day after work. Someone attempting to solve the problem may think that perhaps he had a bad day at work. Maybe his wife upset him with something she said, or perhaps it was something he expected her to do and she didnt. Maybe this, maybe that. If we just look at the event, then we severely limit our understanding and our ability to help. By just looking at the event, how would we solve a problem of domestic violence? We may think that if his behavior changes then they will be ne. Maybe he needs some counseling, maybe he needs to go to jail and be punished for his actions. Again, this immediate cause and effect thinking does not help the man or the woman in the long run. This typical problem solving technique is widely used, but the same issues continue to reoccur. By approaching it holistically, we may nd that his abusive nature was cultivated while he was a young boy, in a home with an abusive single parent, etc. We may assist him in dealing with his past so he can properly forgive and heal the past, which he is reliving in the present. We may also look at his home or work environment, and nd some catalyst in his violent behavior, that if we were to remove it, however subtle it is, would have a signicant impact on the whole situation. There may be subliminal cues or triggers outside the realm of his immediate consciousness contributing as well.
T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C! A System for Personal & Global Change

This is beyond the window of time/space that our minds are used to when it comes to solving systems problems such as this. And as our world becomes increasingly interconnected, our problems are more and more systems issues. Employing a systems thinking approach, we look at the whole man and woman, top to bottom, inside and out, past to present. We look at belief systems, perceptions, language, environmental inuences, emotional wellness, nutrition, etc. We help them to see it. There is no xing the problem, and leaving the bill on the table. Once they see it with the right help, they can begin the healing process and move to a more creative and fullled lifestyle. All of us have the tools we need to heal our deepest hurts and wounds and move beyond them. Health comes from Germanic origin, related to whole. Once you become healthy or whole again, you can begin to develop and grow into a much fuller version of your potential. But as long as were fragmented, then we will seek to complete ourselves outside of ourself.

The Best Strategy for Positive Personal and Global Change

It became immediately apparent to me that the key to positive social change, a true revolution of global proportions, had to start with me. I had to heal or become whole myself, and I realize why I havent done it before. First, I wasnt aware of it. Second, its hard. Here I am, working with youth who perhaps didnt want change, but of course every counselor, parent, and school staff wants them to! We must seem like hypocrites to our young people, and the truth is, we are. I knew I had to live it, whatever I taught them, and if I wasnt living it, I damn sure was trying to. I would have never thought that this would be the key to my own success. Its fortunate for me that I learned this early on in my career as a social worker. Its a very simple and powerful ideal, and was stated by Gandhi so elegantly: You must be the change you want to see in the world. There is so much to this statement, and its simplicity may be overstated, but its inestimable power is immense. I read this a long time before I had my epiphany, but didnt completely understand it. I believe this particular strategy is the missing ingredient of so much good this world has to offer to us, and all the good we have to offer to it.

T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C!

A System for Personal & Global Change

Its one thing to talk about the way things are and our unhappiness or dissatisfaction with them, and quite another to be the change we are seeking in a world we dont care for. Talking is easy. Being and doing is not. Self-responsibility is critical. When I began to practice this in my work I noticed immediate changes in my work and life. I became far more effective, far more competent and skilled. I worked mainly with youth involved in the criminal justice system, and was profoundly effective. Local newspaper articles featuring clients and I were met with great interest. I eventually became proled in the Sunday Paper of the Seattle Times, and featured on their front page in August of 2003. Be the change was simple and I assimilated it in the only way I knew. I became a better student, so I was a better teacher. I meditated and became more insightful. I listened deeply to people, so I became more inuential and persuasive. I was trusted because I trusted others. I began the change on me and within me, and it worked, practically overnight. I became an evangelist, and began to share this idea with clients. I then shared it with staff, then when newspaper articles came out about my work, I was asked to share my best ideas with other agencies. I thought it would make a big difference in others, but it didnt. The thinking was way too abstract. I mean, come on, what does that look like? Be the change?? I got funny looks, and some people thought it was overly simplistic, and wouldnt work. In workshops I would conduct, people wanted techniques, tactical day to day things to do on others - not abstract slogans that required them to think about themselves. I asked others to imagine for a moment if people decided to truly work on themselves in every way conceivable. Not for personal prot, but for personal growth. Not to gain a competitive advantage, but to experience a fulllment they never knew existed. What would that world look like? I am positive that be the change is the ultimate strategy to creating major change -- in our lives, in the lives of others, and in the world around us. Once we change and move in the direction we seek, we grow. I believe that growth is something we desire at the deepest, soul level. The Soul wants growth; the mind wants things to stay the same...

T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C!

A System for Personal & Global Change

This personal growth is led by a deep desire and risk to take actions we have never done. But how does one grow in all aspects of life if they never learned? Most have a desire, but who wants to risk? Why be the change if it means I may lose what I know -- even if what I know is pain and suffering? I admit I didnt know how to explain or implement the strategy of be the change, and thats where I decided to focus my energy. After all, strategy is no good without tactics, and I couldnt talk about a holistic model, and then give one half of its implementation. So, this new model existed only in my head and I have used it in my work, without too much revealed about how it functions - until now. The 8 Life Pillars is not complete, and it will never be. It is meant to be dynamic, much like living. And because of that, this holistic system and approach has to be uid and adapt quickly. It has to work for many people, from all disciplines, so that means interchangeable parts and customization. It is a system of principles and ideas, and a simple strategy that ends up in one place - healthy change for anyone that applies its wisdom.

The 8 Life Pillars - A Holistic System for Living

Imagine a movement of people committed to health, wealth, and knowledge of self. A movement of personal responsibility, integrity, cooperation and seless dedication to one another, and an increasing sensitivity to life. This is not only possible, but probable, and ultimately made manifest - by you and me through a decision to do so. The 8 Life Pillars (see gure 1) is a diagram containing 3 main sections. The top section is our overall quality of life. It is supported by all the activities, positive or negative of everything going on beneath it. Seeing the whole, the big picture view of life shows you immediately see where your greatest opportunities for growth are, and even how to prot from them.
T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C! A System for Personal & Global Change

Figure 1

The bottom section is the foundation of the diagram, called the Base. The base is what people came into the world with, and are our primary tools for doing everything. Spirit - The non-physical part of the self that is the seat of the soul. The True Self. Mind - Mind is the seat of conscious and unconscious experiences and expressions; the ability to think, create, fashion, and form the environment. Emotions - A mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings Body - The physical structure and mortal aspect of a person. The middle section are the 8 Life Pillars and are the eight primary areas of our lives. These are: Relationships - The way in which two or more people, concepts, or objects are connected. Recreation - Activities that refresh and renew the body, mind, and spirit. Service - The action of helping or doing work for someone. The value we give to the world. Money - The form of energy we receive for the value we give or service we provide. Health - The vitality or condition of our body, emotions, mind, and spirit. Learning - The acquiring of knowledge and/or skill by study, experience, or being taught. Organization - The structure or arrangement of related or connected things. Spirituality - Concerning, relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul.

A Versatile Personal Development System

The 8 Life Pillars is a simple system and is extremely versatile. First, it helps you organize your life much faster by seeing the whole or big picture just by a mere glance at the diagram. The 8 Life Pillars uses a natural way to approach your life while allowing you maximum exibility to work its system. Second, it activates your own power of awareness to get clear on goals. It also gives you a quick snapshot of where you are in your life, and what areas of your life are in or out of balance.

T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C!

A System for Personal & Global Change

Third, 8 LP provides an extremely intuitive model for personal development that involves seven major components, and when used synergistically, will propel your life faster than anything out there. They are: When you have the right combination of People, Goals, Attitudes, Knowledge, Skills, Organization, and Actions, your life is directed and guided with purpose. It is directed with such power that miraculous events begin to take place. With the Right Goals, you move in the direction that best ts you. Its truly all about what you want for your life, not anyone else. The accomplishment of your goals, and the journey you took to get there will be your story told in a unique way. A lot of times, we adopt the goals of people around us, and we lose ourselves. A lot of people are lost, and forgot who they are. This system always asks what you want, and where you are in relation to your desired result. The phrase, be yourself takes on new meaning when youre living your life from your goals and dreams. The most important contribution you can have on your life and others is to follow your dreams, to follow your own path. The Right Goals must be supported with the Right Knowledge. Knowledge will help you understand the journey to your goals. The Right Knowledge will help make the journey easier for you. Knowledge can be gained from people or your personal experience. It comes in many forms: books, music, lm, art, discussion, lectures, games, and so on. Either way, it must be turned to action if it is to be of any use to you. The Right Skills are developed from the Right Knowledge. With Right Skills, we do things well. We become more competent, and with competence we become more condent. We increase our value to others by developing key skill areas. And the only way to improve in any skill is through practice. Right Goals Right People Right Knowledge Right Skills Right Organization Right Attitude Right Actions

T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C!

A System for Personal & Global Change

With the Right Organization, you know what to do next and why youre doing it. Youre able to allocate the right resources, and stay aligned with the Right Goals. When you manage your work, space, and time effectively, results are experienced in short order. Without Organization, achieving anything with signicance is impossible. The Right Attitude ensures our success in whatever we apply these principles to. It allows us to enjoy the journey, and not just the destination. Without the Right Attitude our actions could affect others in a negative way. Without the Right Attitude, we may reach our goals, but will feel as if something is missing. Right Actions mean acting with integrity, acting with the principles and values closest to you. Its not doing everything right and being a perfectionist. Welcome mistakes and learning from them. This may also mean making mistakes faster. Fail fast, and you will learn success much faster. Right Actions always lead to the right results. Right Actions are always in the present moment, and can only be there. They come from a place deep within, and can be applied to everything we do. And nally, the Right People are the most critical factor to success of any kind. With the Right People in your life, everything is accelerated, things happen faster, and goals are reached. With the wrong people in your life, you are distracted, misinformed, taken advantage of, and taken off course of your goals. The Right People change everything. Try befriending ve multi-millionaires for a year and then ve poor people the next year. Youll not only notice a vast contrast between the two groups and their behaviors, but you will also notice a dramatic shift in your own as well. The Right People bring the seven major components together. Dont know your direction or purpose in life? Someone out there can help you discover the Right Goals for you. Dont know what you need to know? The Right Knowledge is contained by more than a few people out there for whatever goal you aspire to. Dont have the ability to get things done properly? Someone can teach you the Right Skills, and coach you in developing them. Dont know what to do next? The Right Organization will place your activities in the right sequence and keep things clear. The Right Attitude will infuse your actions with the necessary energy to get quality results. Dont know what to do next for your particular goals? Someone can guide you on the Right Actions to take, and how to approach any problem out there.
T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C! A System for Personal & Global Change

The Wisdom of Symbiosis and Synergy

Symbiosis is a term used to describe a mutually benecial relationship. Synergy is the interaction or cooperation of two or more agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate parts. The 8 Life Pillar system acknowledges and uses both wisdoms to move you towards goals much faster. Symbiosis does not naturally occur between each pillar, just like certain people can choose to not live in harmony with the planet. However, one system (a human beings destructiveness to the planet) does affect another system (the planet). When we understand how each Pillar affects one another positively or negatively, then we see how ignoring one, say Organization, can perhaps affect our Service, and how that may affect our quality of life in a negative fashion. When the pillars are understood and used together in their interrelated forms, synergy is produced. To make it easier to understand, synergy can be inuenced, and the Pillars can be used to work together as a team, very much like the ve senses. And just because you are aware of how each Pillar affects the other does not mean that you will use them synergistically with one another, because that requires a new skill set, a new understanding of cooperation. And most times, we have to learn how to cooperate with ourselves, before cooperating with others. This is the principal of integrity, or an integration of everything that we are (Spirit, Mind, Emotions, and Body) plus pillars, focused in one direction. The 8 Life Pillars is a system for living a quality life (quality is something you determine). It assists you in discovering many things about yourself, and also helps you see where youve been putting most of your focus and energy, and that helps you see the key areas that are not getting the attention they deserve, or even neglected. The beauty of this system lies in how interdependent the 8 Life Pillar system is, and how to use the wisdom of symbiosis to uncover hidden blocks, and discover how even seemingly unrelated areas are affecting the one area you may be having the most trouble with.

8 Life Pillars in Action

For example, lets say that Health is a major issue for you. It could be an issue of being overweight or even anorexia. The rst strategy the 8 LP system would employ is to bring Awareness to the issue through a quick self-assessment. Questions would include:
T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C! A System for Personal & Global Change

What one pillar is impacting the problem pillar the most? (This question is signicant because most dont look outside the problem area, but life is highly interrelated). In this example, Health is the primary issue. Through self-examination, one will see that perhaps the pillar most directly affecting their Health is Relationships. (See Figure 2)

Figure 2

The follow up question is: What key Base Element (Spirt, Mind, Emotions, or Body) do you feel is having the most impact on your problem area? In our hypothetical problem, we think it is the mind that is affecting our health. This allows us to go deeper within that particular Base Element to explore the root causes. In this example, we have two things going on here. We are asking which one of the 8 Pillars could be or is inuencing the problem area. In our hypothetical case, Relationships has been determined to be affecting the Health pillar the most. We are also asking which Base Element is also affecting Health, and we nd that it is the Mind that is the culprit, although it is
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acknowledged that we must dig deeper within the Mind to nd the root causes, i.e. beliefs, the self-image, etc. This creative approach can lead to a greater insight into the our issues, and allows us to deal with them much faster. Another way we can use this model is to remove blockages. First you become aware of them, then you act on them yourself, or you get help. This will open you up in new, profound ways. There are four levels to our lives, and so there are four levels to each Pillar. We want to increase the amount of ow within each Pillar. We can only do that by removing internal blocks and impediments. This is addition through subtraction. Take a look at Figure 3 Once those are out of the way, we can work on the external obstacles and we will be much more effective. We are effectively building unity within, that will express itself externally.
Figure 3

Why 8 Life Pillars Works

This strategy works because of the acceptance of symbiosis as an already existing factor between the Pillars and the Base, although we may not be in alignment with its wisdom. Working with your life in this newly organized way makes it easier to address issues much faster, with as little collateral damage as possible, because our view of our life is much more holistic.

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A System for Personal & Global Change

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We start to see ourselves in a new light, not just as individuals who may appear to have a minimal effect on the world around us, but as interdependent beings, who even with the smallest action can change things in profound ways. This must be understood within rst, and the 8 Life Pillar system provides the opportunity to see our inherent cooperative and integrative nature. If, within our own lives, we begin to see the impact that each pillar has on the next pillar, we can begin to understand the wisdom in which we were made. Whether you believe in God or natural selection, there is a wonderful intelligence working behind the scenes. Seeing the incredible synergy in which we operate, rst as one whole system unto ourselves, and then cooperatively with each other, brings a sense of awe and appreciation within me for all life.

Spread The Word

The ultimate point is not whether you use this model or not. It is the wisdom of understanding our holistic nature and the impact on systems seen and unseen that can be the start of a more functional, cooperative society. Ultimately, awareness is the beginning of all personal transformation. Revolutionary or evolutionary change in individuals, the community, business, and ultimately the world will begin with the spark of awareness. The 8 Life Pillars is a tool that brings newfound insight into how we can grow as people and how the world we experience will change through us. We are the change weve been waiting for. Stop waiting and just do it! :)

T h e 8 L i f e P i l l a r s , L L C!

A System for Personal & Global Change

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