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January 2010 (800) 218-0055 toll free in the USA or +1 (214) 393-1790
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A New Decade of Opportunity
from the desk of Charles Horton
Greetings FIRE Masters, Executive Instructors and
Instructors (and those who want to be). The New Year presents an opportunity
for us to review and reflect.
Just over a year ago, Tolly Burkan - the father of the
modern firewalking movement, held his final FIT (firewalking instructor
training) in California. He passed the torch to me, which sparked a new era for
the Institute at our state-of- the-art meeting facility in Dallas, TX. Through
video-conferencing and other means, we've connected FIRE's past and future.
At our new location, another generation of students
achieved, became enlightened and empowered. Witnessing their breakthroughs,
growth and transformation always brings us great joy.
The wisdom of the early masters was preserved in a
professional manual that FIRE shares with students today. Thanks to John Maisel and Gail Baiman for their myriad contributions to the legacy of
FIRE.
Their work allowed us to develop a strong core team,
including Steve Consalvez, Brandi Slater, Kevin Axtell, Matt Newman, Matt Carr,
Trent Burrup, Mike Agugliaro and Chucky Pizzo. This next generation of FIRE leaders has
attended nearly every FIT under my watch. I am confident that a FIT taught by
any one of these masters will live up to the high standards of the Institute.
We share a common vision and, I am proud to say, we work exceptionally well
together as a team.
This will allow us to achieve FIRE's next goal of
training hundreds of students at one time. Each leader will work hands-on with
a small group, yet operate in unison to develop the energy of the
larger group as our events grow in size.
Steve Consalvez and Matt Carr teamed up to develop a
network that continues to attract new students at increasingly larger
events. Our last FIT included 29
participants - about the maximum number Tolly ever taught at one time. We know
he will be pleased when FIRE doubles and triples the number of students.
We're headed in that direction. Our program is top notch
and consistently gets high ratings. In fact, 70% of new students have been
referred from past attendees! At the most recent event in December, we received
more than 200 new referrals. Our belief is that it's only a matter of time
before our events grow such that we have to add more courses to our calendar.
To help us tell our story, communications and the
newsletter are now in the hands of Chucky, a certified instructor who has
contributed his professional expertise to FIRE. Ted Shaw has also partnered
with us to present the spiritual side of firewalking, another dimension that
enriches our courses and participant's connection to ancient rituals.
Insurance Protection
We're very excited about change the new decade presents.
One of the most significant developments is the preliminary approval for FIRE
to provide insurance to students who attain or re-certify as executive and master instructors. Finally, after years in which insurance for FIRE events was
virtually unattainable, you will be able to get coverage protection. This will
significantly enhance the comfort level of venues and corporate clients.
Imagine the safety net of a million dollar policy for
events - as well as errors and omissions. You would be covered whether leading
at one of our events, or at one you produce. To do this, we must work together
to create a set of standards for training and firewalking. To guarantee
adherence, the insurance company requires us to develop a system of continuing
education to ensure all instructors have uniform experience. Such standards,
and annual re-certification requirements, will keep the insurance affordable
for all.
This is great step for our profession. To finalize these details, we will hold our first annual
board meeting on April 10, 2010, at the headquarters of FIRE in Dallas (the day before the next eFIT). Executive and master instructors are invited. Officers and directors
will be elected; standards and requirements for certification and
re-certification for insurance purposes will be developed.
International Growth
 Steve Consalvez recently opened FIRE's new training
facility in the Midlands, about 100 miles from London, United Kingdom
(UK). We're planning our first FIT there in June, and will share more details about the facility in the future. Steve, who is a psychologist and business coach, is running a series of events January - March, called Fear Into Action, The Firewalking Seminar.
To grow the Institute, our goal is to develop additional
master instructors around the globe. If you are located in Central or South
America, Asia, Africa, or Australia, we're interested in coaching and
developing you on your journey toward master status. As a master, you will be able to teach firewalking
instructor training (FIT) courses locally and conduct re-certification classes
as required for insurance. It's a great opportunity for you to gain advanced
skills and develop new opportunities. What recession? Bah, humbug!
As we reflect back, we see how far the Institute has
come, and how much farther it is going. Thank you for your interest and
participation in the FIRE tribe, and Happy New Year!
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Book Excerpt: Extreme Spirituality
by Tolly Burkan
Editorial note: Over the coming year, FIRE will present additional book excepts for your review.
Acknowledging
Grace
With grace, you can overcome your fears. It enables
you to seek out challenges, and with your success, grace increases. When I
decided to overcome my fear of heights, grace is what first enabled me to go
skydiving. My sole purpose in jumping from the plane was to discover how I
myself was creating my fear of heights. Even so, as I slid into the open
doorway of the plane, inner voices started running through my head, "What if
the parachute doesn't open? What if you get tangled in the lines? What if you
don't jump out the door right? What if you don't land right?"
It suddenly became obvious to me
that all these sentences began with the same two words: "What if . . ." Pay
attention: perhaps this "what if" syndrome is causing many of the problems in
your own life.
So right then and there, I shouted
out, "Shut up!" And I jumped. In that instant, I learned not just the source of
my fear of heights, but the source of all fear: in any form, fear is really
linked to fear of our own mortality. I was already far enough along the
spiritual path that I felt I had no real fear of dying. In fact, I had been
practicing dying as often as possible. This actually had become a regular
exercise for me after smashing my coconut at the temple in Sri Lanka. So what
did I have to fear? Nothing! I exulted as I fell through the air. From that
point on, whenever a "what if" pops up in my life, I shout, "Shut up!"
It is required that you diligently
pay attention to what is going on inside your head if you are to learn how you
yourself are creating your experience of life. It is especially important when
you are having a negative experience.
In other words,
we welcome the tests.
Remember, ego is just a filter,
allowing you to experience only what ego wants you to experience. The ego, in
the form of the RAS, is connected via feedback loops to every other area of the
brain. So you only hear what ego lets you hear, you only see what ego lets you
see, and you only think what ego will let you think. Ego is identified with the
activities you do. Therefore, when you practice dying as often as possible, you
come to experience that only ego dies. Only the limited you dies.
When you realize that the smashed
coconut is supposed to be your head, you start imagining what the world would
be like without you. Soon, you see that the world without your ego can actually
be experienced without you having to die. Once the ego is set aside, the world
is perceived with a clarity uncolored by ego's constantly evaluating and
judging incoming data. Suddenly, there is a new perspective. There is a sense
of connection to a higher power, a higher perfection, and it is reflected in
everything just as it is. From this vantage point, nothing is scary or fear
invoking because you perceive yourself as no longer that which can be diminished
in any way.
Copyrighted material used with permission.
Extreme Spirituality by Tolly Burkan is available for order from FIRE, Amazon and other leading book sellers.
Highly recommended.
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PhD: Firewalkers Have Integrity 
by Tony Simons
In December, I completed the firewalking instructor training (FIT)
course. It was a mind-boggling experience in many ways. I learned
some wonderful new training tools for empowerment. As a side benefit, I felt
massively empowered in doing all these exercises and learning how to run
them. I also joined a new family that welcomed my integrity work and
totally grasped the metaphor that integrity is a firewalk.
Wow, could I possibly have hoped for more?
I first walked on fire three or so years ago, as the first evening of a
three-day goal-setting retreat. What an experience! First, the
firewalk convinces you that you can do anything. Then, you spend a few days
setting up a BHAG ("big hairy audacious goal" - an expression used by
Jim Collins), toward which you focus your energy. That was when I decided
to become a thought leader on integrity by 2014 - a goal to which I have stayed
true.
The second firewalking experience in December was outrageously empowering
and deep, had that effect on everyone present, and everyone walked
safely! Now I am trained and certified to share that experience with
others. My gratitude overflows.
How, you might ask, is integrity like a firewalk? Let's start with the
fact that integrity is sometimes terrifying. It can mean confronting the
messes you have created, telling people things they do not want to hear,
admitting vulnerabilities, changing comfortable habits, holding yourself
accountable, holding others accountable, others holding you accountable,
taking short-term losses... a lot of scary stuff.
Fear is by no means the only thing that holds people back from integrity -
there is also greed and sloth, and a few of the other deadly sins. (Come
to think of it, why isn't fear one of the deadly sins? Perhaps it should
be. It has certainly caused people to do some horrible things.)
Fear is something that holds many people back from pursuing greater
integrity. So now, using firewalking and other exercises, I can help
people conquer fear. If you are
reading this post in the FIRE newsletter, then odds are that you do too.
Now that you understand how integrity is like a firewalk, the question
arises: why should people want to undertake the metaphorical firewalk known as
integrity? In my book, The Integrity Dividend, I measure
the bottom-line business impact of employees' belief that their bosses live by
their word... or don't. Employees'
sense of their leaders' integrity is a huge driver of service quality, employee
turnover, and profits - and I can prove it with actual service and profit numbers from real companies.
Executives I interviewed describe their own experiences of the integrity
dividend in leadership, sales, labor relations, and elsewhere. I talk with those executives and
coaches about the integrity pitfalls that make a truly impeccable word such a
rare commodity. In the book, I
propose exercises and practices that support the reader in developing an
impeccable word. But it is
admittedly a scary yet rewarding path. Just like firewalking.
I invite you to take a look at my work,
consider selling copies at your events, and to consider incorporating integrity
content into your work. I am more than happy to be of service by sharing talking points or talking with you about the material. The
world will be a better place with more integrity in it.
 Tony Simons is a
certified firewalking instructor, a tenured associate professor at Cornell
University, and president of Integrity Dividend LLC. He is the author of The Integrity Dividend: Leading by the Power of Your Word (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008). He speaks and trains people to support
them in developing an impeccable word.
http://integritydividend.com
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Earlybird Savings!
Special for newsletter readers - save $2000 on the Executive Firewalking Instructor Training (eFIT). Act fast - there are only two (2) seats left at this price. Offer ends Wednesday, January 13, 2010. Contact: Matt Carr.
The eFIT is a nine day intensive, April 11-19, 2010. FIRE's team of experts will train you hands-on in the essential business skills to propel your marketing, communication, and sales effort - whether it's coaching and training or any other professional endeavor. Plus, the eFIT is the path to exclusive master instructor status and the minimum eligibility for insurance coverage.
While there are no prerequisites to take the eFIT, don't forget about the upcoming Firewalking Instructor Training (FIT), April 15-18, 2010. Refer someone today and grow the FIRE tribe. The earlybird price for the FIT is available for a limited time. Sign-up today and save!
Next month, we'll recap our December FIT. In the meantime, feast your eyes on this awesome triple firewalk staged for the 108 certification - which included a central feeder fire. This was a sight to behold on a chilly winter night!
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Cardiologist Discharges Firewalker 
EDITORS NOTE: When I first looked at the logo for FIRE, I never realized how meaningful the heart would become for me personally. Sure, I poured my heart out at the FIT. Yet the kicker is what firewalking did for my ticker. In December, my cardiologist discharged me abruptly and asked me what the heck had I been doing lately? After two years of treatment, I now tested like a 20-something. Friends, I cried. I feel so alive! The answer was FIRE. The FIT brought me closer to fit. By facing my weight realistically, setting a goal to eat healthier, and doing more physical activity, I am a changed man. Once my attitude shifted, my body responded. I no longer eat for comfort when under stress. I jump up rather than stay seated. The best part, I'm happy to publicly report what used to be my secret! Looking forward: our editorial calendar for the New Year features more personal testimony... the FIT for families, couples, healing and other stories of transformation. Coaches: spotlight your business with a testimonial. We welcome articles and ideas - let FIRE feature you in 2010!Chucky (chucky AT firewalking DOT com) |
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Upcoming Events
Fear into Action:
The Firewalk Seminar
January 17, 2010
February 14, 2010
March 14, 2020
The Midlands UK
Steve Consalvez
The Firewalking & Empowerment Event
January 23, 2010Las Vegas NV Jordan Wirsz Executive Firewalking Instructor Training (EFIT)
Firewalking Instructor
Steve Consalvez
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In the News
FIT Graduate Native American 40 under 40 honoree
Indian Country Today
Charity staff bare soles
in cash bid
Birmingham Mail
Walk on fire to
beat your blues
Indo Asian News
Firewalking: Mind over Matter or a Tool for Personal Growth,
or Both?
ABC News
Can a Walk on Hot Coals Lead You to Enlightenment?
Dallas Morning News
VIDEO: Walking on Fire for Motivation
Dallas Morning News
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Burn These Books!
Let it Be Easy
by Tolly Burkan
Whether it's heaven or hell, we create our own lives. For those who are constantly struggling with finances, relationships, health, school or career, life is hell. But life was never meant to be a struggle.
A pioneer in the human potential movement, Tolly Burkan shows how easy it is to create an extraordinary life, beginning exactly where you are today. Instead of struggling to make things happen, he shows how you can master the art of letting things happen.
Designate today as the beginning of a new phase in your life. This profound little book will show you how easy it can be.
Only $14.95 + S/H, In Stock. Ships same day. Shipping quoted for domestic only. E-mail for international rate.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Extreme Spirituality
by Tolly Burkan
"A must treasure for every serious seeker's library. It's powerful message of courage, wisdom, love and joy transforms you even as you read. Tolly's insights are simple and profound and have the energy of alchemy in them. As he shares his visionary concepts, he touches our hearts."
--- Rev. Edwene Gaines
Only 14.95 + S/H In Stock.
Ships same day. Shipping quoted for domestic only. E-mailfor international rate.
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Become a Hottie!
Do you have a desire to help change other people's lives?
F.I.R.E. needs volunteers: writers, graphic designers and Web site professionals.
We also need bloggers, Facebook users, and Twitter tweeters to help spread our message of empowerment.
We probably need more volunteers than we know. Are you special? Let us know!
info@firewalking.com
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