BABH S1Ep1: My Commitment To Imperfection (A Rough'n'Ready Welcome)

Joel Young:

Hello and welcome to be a brilliant human. This is my first episode and my first go at doing a podcast. So my name's Joel young. I'm mostly known as the creator and custodian of NPA, which stands for non personal awareness and the NPA process, which is a simple way to stop taking things personally. Now this is an interesting experience for me. I've thought about doing a podcast for a long time and this very day I'm actually on a course. I'm in the middle of a course about setting up, starting and implementing your podcast. And uh, what are the things that is my lunchtime task is to record my first episode. So here I am diving in blind and it's part of um, a bigger, I guess, commitment that I've made in my life. Definitely in the second half of this year, which is 2019, which is my commitment to imperfection.

So this might be rough and ready and it's certainly part of what I want to do on this podcast is to sort of be willing just to dive in, just to talk to you. You've taken the time to find me, to download the episode, to listen to me. And so it's my, my wish to just be able to sort of, um, whenever the topics that I cover is, is just to talk to you, just to connect with you. Um, and so that's what this is. And today I just want to introduce you to me, to the podcast, what my intentions are for it, what you can expect, and a bit about, you know, what I'm about and, and hopefully that'll help you connect and feel like you want to keep listening to this podcast. So where should I begin? Well, as I say, I'm most known as a creative MPA.

So a very quick backstory on that. Back in 2007, uh, I'd been in the personal development field for about 12 years at that point. And, um, I D I was doing really well. I was working with, um, someone called Brandon Bass, who does a, a method called the journey process. Um, and I had gone through the ranks and I'm on almost kind of journey golden boy. I was teaching her work all over the world and I was sat in a coffee shop, um, in Abingdon in Oxfordshire in the UK. And a prayer was going to burn through me, which went something like this, okay, God, grace, whatever you want to call it, the universe. Is there something specific that you would like to um, give me that I can serve humanity with? And they asked that prayer came a week later in the same coffee shop and I was journaling and six simple lines, which I now call the NPA process literally popped out of me and what they've done apart from the fact that I started teaching in 2009, it's spread to over.

I've been saying 18 countries for years now, but for countries around the world, it's helped thousands of people. It's really rewritten. What I have come to understand is the essence of personal growth, spirituality, awakening, whatever you want to call that stuff. So, um, so I've become known for that. And then more recently, the whole be a brilliant human thing is that I realised that while I've been teaching the method MPA for years, my real passion is, is beyond the scope of just MPA. So while on this podcast, we're going to talk a lot about MPA, non-personal awareness, the philosophies behind it. It really is more of an expression of my love of, of helping people to be better versions of themselves. And it really not about being, again, not about being perfect, not about being, hitting all the right notes of what it means to be a spiritual conscious person, but just being real, being, um, and in all of that being a, being an amazing human being, you can do all the consciousness work, but it's, it's really about, you know, what is, how can I improve that?

Because if you're like me, then you're someone who's committed to, to growth as a general principle in life growth, learning, improving yourself, and being a brilliant human. It's, it's in your essence, but it's also a skill. So part of what I want to do with this time that we have together is kind of share my perspectives on some great ways you can do that, to cover topics, to open the box on some gnarly things in life, to be really real about what it is to be a brilliant human in this rather crazy world. Okay. So let me talk a bit about what you can expect from me in this podcast. Well, what can you expect from me this put up? I think about the question myself. So I guess in general the sort of topics I'm going to be covering. I mean there's lots of different areas in the general realm of personal growth, but some things I really love, Oh look, see imperfection.

My phone wasn't on silent. So I love communication. I think communication is a really important part of being a brilliant human. Communicating well, communicating consciously if you like, communicating in ways that serve you in terms of your boundaries. Another big issue for me or big area that I love to talk about, um, in terms of communicating kindly wisely. So all areas of communications, I think that's going to be a big part of it. Um, evolution, healing, improvement. I mean, that's an underlying, um, area that I want to look at. So I'm looking at healing. Healing for me isn't about fixing. It's about really, um, sort of if there's parts of us that need to come to light that maybe aren't working for us in some way, maybe they worked in the past, but, um, you as a recognition that there can be some improvement there.

We'll be looking at that and evolution as a general principle, which is, you know, we, you know, we are evolutionary beings and certainly if you're going to be into conscious growth, which means that your, which is probably why you found this podcast in the first place, then there's that really, that real acknowledgement that, um, that we do evolve over time. We're never done. No matter how much amazing, deep inner healing work you've done, no matter how much of your childhood you've, you've gone back to and resolved. Um, there's always more. So that's a big part of the philosophy that I have, um, wasn't gonna talk about mastery. Again, mastery for me is, is really about understanding that the, the more you practise something I'm big on, on practising . So for example, MPA is a really simple six line process very fast. It can make a difference to your life.

But I describe it as a practise because the more you practise something or the more you practise MPA for example, um, the more it kind of, um, soaks into your life, soaks into your consciousness. And mastery is something which you always start with, you know, with, with no frigging clue. But the more you practise, the more you come into that space of what they call unconscious competence. It becomes more automatic. And that's when you meet mastery in all the different areas that we cover. We'll be talking about coming into a place of mastery. Now, again, I think if you're someone that has done, um, you know, a fair bit of work on yourself, I mean, I hope that this, this podcast meets people, um, whether they're brand new to the idea of in quotes waking up or, or self-development, whether you've like again had years and years of it.

Um, there are things that I'm going to cover, which you may have heard before. So they'll be like reminders, reminders of what it means to be, um, you know, this conscious person in this, in this wonderful world and, and reminders of, of things. So I might repeat things several times and a great believer in repetition as a, as a form of learning. So, um, I'll be coming back to reminders and hopefully I'll offer you some new perspectives. Um, when NPA was born back in 2007, it was really, uh, sort of quite uncommon for people to talk about wholeness. It was very much in that binary, you know, either enlightened or you're unconscious, you're a Mughal. Um, and right from, from back there. And I began talking about wholeness, embracing the shadow, which nowadays is, if you listen to all these kind of podcasts or you know, you follow people on social media, there's a lot more discussion around, um, you know, embracing the shadow self name, meeting your, your deeper, darker emotions, which I love because that was one of the core things that one of the prayers that I had, um, right back then was, was to bring more of a kind of a homeless mindset to, to things.

But there's always new perspectives coming through and I hope that, um, if you listen over time to me here, then there'll be lots of new perspectives that sort of, that I can offer you that will make you go, Hmm, that's really interesting and make you think, make maybe challenge you somewhat. Um, because challenge is always the beginning of, of growth. Right? Um, so these are some of my intentions. So what else can I tell you about? Well, okay, what am I for? And against I suppose against again, has got bad PR in the, in the spiritual realm, but it's, it's important. I think that, you know what I'm about. Um, and I think it's important that we all have a sense of, of what we're about, which includes kind of knowing, you know, what you really stand for. Um, you know, and what you're really not into.

So for me, it's all about being human. So part of my history is I've had many years really steeped in some of the sort of nondual spiritual traditions. Now, non-duality is a, it's kind of a philosophy in and of itself, but if I was to sort of sum it up in terms of how I experienced it and how it's taught, a lot of it really does a lot of what I call ego bashing. So I'm really in favour of embracing our imperfect selves. Um, I really stand for people being a better version of their humanity rather than the constantly striving for a constant state of enlightenment. So that's going to be a big theme that, that we talk about. So what do I mean by, by just humanity? Well, it's about living, living a human life. It's like even if you are here and you know, I'm all for people who want to go and you know, sit in an ashram and do that thing, but the overwhelming majority of people who are interested in self-development, they live in, in this world.

And for the most part, my audience are going to be sort of Western world kind of folk. We live in a very busy human world and I'm not a fan of bashing the ego self. In fact, ego, I'm surprised I'm even using that word because I usually use the word personality. Ego. The word itself is filled with terrible PR, um, lots of dogma around what it means. But what I'm talking about is, is that part of you that, that has to interface with this world and there's realities of that. So again, I'm all for polishing your personality, um, you know, as, as part of the deal, not trying to eradicate it. So kind of that's the core of what I'm about. And, um, and I guess in terms of what I'm up against, if there's an against a such, um, it is that ego bashing.

It's, it's making ourselves wrong for where we are. I mean, I like to see a world where there's fundamentally more kindness. There's more humanity and more authenticity about our humanity. And especially in the realm of people who do awakening stuff. People who do personal growth. I got to see people really acknowledging sort of with humility. Um, you know, humbleness. Again, the idea of humbleness is like, I'm going to be meek. I'm not talking about being meek. I'm talking about being the humility that is humble enough to acknowledge that I am incomplete. I'm still working on it. I'm still moving forward. And one of my biggest things for anybody that I meet in my coaching practise, um, or my seminars in my online courses, all of those things that I do, um, is to help people start where they are. Starting. Where you are means you meet yourself at a point of power.

If you, if you want to pretend or think you ought to be further advanced in any situation than you are, you really, you're starting off unbalanced. You're starting off in a place which is not, um, you know, not connected to the truth of the moment. So I'd love to see this world filled with more conscious yet real yet humble people, humble in the sense that we can all say to each other, yet in this hour, I mean, I've gone great guns in here, but, um, this is as far as I've got or, or you know, I'm really good on these things, but this, Oh my God, you know, I'm a total dumb ass in this area despite all your, the stuff that I'm bringing out, it's just an area that is coming up now and, um, and it's where I'm at. So I'm willing to be in a space where I'm open to learning.

Um, and that's as true for me as it is for anybody else. You know, um, my commitment to imperfection that I started with, um, for me is more around my business. It's more about, um, getting stuff out there, visibility, those kinds of things, which some people would look at me and go, wow, you really visible. You know, you're, you always get stuff out there. But in my own reckoning compared to myself, I'm looking at how can I be imperfect. Hence turn the mic on and just talking to you today. Um, and I guess in terms of, you know, I'd have to see more of this of authentic human expression is interrelating in that way. And what I'd like to see less of really is, is the peer pressure. Uh, my experiences has a lot of dogmatic, um, judgement in the name of spirituality and personal development.

And this is an absolute passion of mine. So I would love if if together on this podcast we can, um, can make the world a place that has a lot less of that judgement . I mean, um, self acceptance is, is a bit of a buzzword. But really when I go there, it's like, you know, let's be real people. Let's be people that say, well, you know, I mean the whole thing of, of what it means to be conscious or spiritual is like, it's like you have to wear, um, you know, an identity, a uniform. It means this. This is what it means. If you're conscious, you know, your, your league, certain foods, you'll do certain practises, you won't do things. Just things that if you have, if they do that, then they haven't done their work. I mean, that's just in my mind, bullshit. We all are where we are.

We all make our choices. This is really key to, part of, for me being a brilliant human is being yourself and let it be a discovery. It's like, who am I? It's a big question, but who am I? Um, and that might mean that you do things that other [inaudible] people disapprove of. Well, in my view, you know, that's really their problem. And so how can we embrace our true selves in that way? So really, I guess my vision for this podcast, and this is also true of my, my vision for the world. I mean, I would, I would love to see people that can just authentically grow. I'd love to see the world filled with people. I'd love you if you're joining me on this podcast, to, to have the experience that many of my clients have and the people that come through my courses, which is that deep, deep level of, of, of self acceptance, that sense of, of coming into, into the, I mean, some of my core values is that you matter, I matter.

You matter, we matter to discover your, your value, but not the value that is based on, you know, taking certain spiritual, personal growth boxes, but just intrinsically you matter. So my vision is this world where people can be really real authentic through that, you know, and dropping those, um, dropping those miles. I mean, what are the real gifts of, of NPA specifically that I've found over the years is, is you don't have an investment in, um, in being a certain person. That means you drop the mass. That means that you can connect with people and, and have that sort of sense of intimacy with people faster, quicker, more authentically. Um, without sort of having to compromise yourself. That's kind of kind of my, my big vision. So, um, Robbie, Oh my God, I've already done almost 17 minutes. Fantastic. Um, other thing to say in terms of just introducing the podcast.

So this is, um, this is a podcast where I'm sharing, obviously I'm, this is my business, this is my livelihood. Uh, I'm passionate about it. I'm very lucky that I do do this work, which, uh, it's one of those classic things. I do it for free, but I have to pay the bills and I'd like to do well. Uh, so I've lots of products, um, and sort of offerings, courses, those kind of things. So I will be talking about those, um, you know, during the podcast and of course all of my products and offerings are to help you be a brilliant human, to be a better version of yourself to, to learn and to grow. So I will be encouraging you to use those. Although it's, again, a big part of my philosophy is that, you know, my offerings aren't the way, right? They're not the way that a way.

So it's a question of if you resonate with me and what I offer, I'm going to encourage you to come along and take advantage of those that will be part of this podcast. So what else do I want to cover? I had some instructions from a, by the way, shout out to James Lavers. You want to look him up? The lazy coach, he's um, he's running the course that I'm doing today. Um, he works with entrepreneurs generally in the sort of the, the coaching and, and wellbeing space. Um, you know, business, the entrepreneurs and his, his costs are more than he's, he's encouraged me today, um, to do this. So big shout out to him. So what was on my list of things to prefer? I wrap this up. Um, I guess, yeah, I didn't cover the, my, so my, my plan is to do a podcast every week.

Um, how long there'll be, I don't know. This one is already longer than I expected it to be. Um, there's a, there's, you can find me on social media, so generally you'll find me at Joe Young MPA. So, um, on Facebook, John MPA, Twitter, Joel young, NPA, um, Instagram, Joel young, NPA. Uh, and also, uh, then YouTube, actually my YouTube channel is actually also called be a brilliant human. Um, and that's is defined, it's just youtube.com/joel young. And then, uh, I've got a Facebook page which is NPA rocks, um, which might seem like a strange name, but it was made by an actual NPA fan, um, back in the day when Facebook called them fan pages. So it was an original actual fan page and the names kind of stuck cause they do check me out on there. Um, so yeah, so I'll be publishing these, uh, weekly. Um, I may over time make them more professional with the front end.

I don't know. We'll see. I would love to hear from you because again, part of this, it's kind of a big experiment for me. So you know, let me know. You can get hold of me either through those social media platforms. Uh, you can email me Joel non-personal awareness.com and let me know, you know, what do you want from this? How can I help you? What are the issues that are going on in your life that you would like me to pontificate about? Um, and to continue practising my imperfection with you. So do let me know. And also please do subscribe so you know how it is. Um, subscriptions a, you know, whatever platform you're listening to this on, you can hit the subscribe button. That means that the, the platform will let you know when I released the next episode, uh, so you can download them.

Um, and of course that's great because the more people who subscribe, the more people who see it, the more of this community we can build. And also, um, go ahead and check out my website, which is Joe Young, mpa.com on there you'll see, um, you know, one thing that you can do straight away, if you've never heard of MPA, what the hell is NPA? Um, you can down, it's a simple six loan process. You'll find on that homepage there's a place you can download that for free. Um, so I encourage you to go ahead and do that and play with NPA. Um, and again do connect, ask me questions. I'm really up for discovering, you know, what this community is going to be. So I think that's it. Little coffee at the end. I'm going to have a quick look down my notes to see what, um, what else.

Oh, I know one thing more thing before I go. Um, my original intention when I thought about in this podcast was to do what they call repurpose to repurpose my content. What that means is I've got quite a lot, if you look at Instagram for example, or the Facebook page, generally I'll pull out pictures, um, with some nice words means they call on them and I work all the mini bloke. And so it may be for them from time to time, I'll use those as inspiration for what to talk about. I might read them to you but then discuss it. So it's kind of, this podcast is a good way to get kind of, um, you know, social media posts plus cause I'll probably pontificate around them in more detail. Um, so that's one of the things to do. So I think that's it. And then just of imperfection.

I'll wrap up. Do subscribe, do come find me on social media. Say hello. Um, if you want to have some input, you can send me an email at some point. I may set up a page for this. Um, but thanks so much for listening. Oh my God, you've got to the end. Um, I do really, I really do honour and appreciate and feel the privilege of you taking the time, listening, listening to me downloading this and sharing it. If you feel like sharing it. I know I'm someone who, one of the reasons I do a podcast is I'm a podcast listener, so I know that there are people that I listened to. I do hope I become one of those kind of top five podcasts of yours that you look out for every week. I have those, um, people offer value. That's a big, big thing.

I want to offer you value. I want to entertain you. I want to be real with you. I want to get to know you, all of those things. Um, so thank you so much for listening. This has been my first podcast. Um, as I'm about to publish it today, chances are we'll be publishing on chiefs stays. Um, and hopefully you can also subscribe to my chat mail if you sign up for the free, um, the free MPA sheet you'll get onto, you'll be getting onto my chat mail. So I'll be letting you know that way, um, when these things go live. So beloved, you guys, thanks so much, and I will see you next week.