By Michael Walls
At 70-something Bob Proctor has been teaching personal development long before it became popular. As head of Life Success Productions his products and programs reach 100 countries. His appearance in The Secret confirmed him as one of the living masters of The Law of Attraction. And as he told thinkbig managing editor, Michael Walls, in this exclusive interview he has no plans of slowing down.
Q: Bob can you define leadership ?
A: Leadership is when ordinary individuals behave in an extraordinary way causing other people to want to follow them in the pursuit of an ideal which will improve the quality of life for everyone involved, including the leader.
Effective leaders must have rocksolid confidence in themselves and the vision that they are involved in. This confidence must be based on a deep understanding of their true nature, which is spirit, and they should see it as a foundation of everything they do.
Understanding would be a key word in every aspect of their life as it is the polar opposite to worry and doubt.
Understanding is based on study – so effective leaders would have an insatiable desire to study themselves and their fellow man.
They would follow the principle of wanting for everyone else what they want for themselves. They would have a keen ability to see potential and talent in another person even when the other person may not be aware of it.
Effective leaders would be resilient. Losses and/or mistakes would be accepted as a part of their success philosophy. They would be empathetic to other people´s suggestions and points of view, yet firm in their resolve to stay on the course they have chosen.
Q: Is it possible to create a culture of excellence?
A: To create a culture of excellence, culture must first be understood as a paradigm or group habit and excellence as being the best result people are capable of producing at any given time.
A culture of excellence would be based on an effective education program where individuals view education as a never-ending process. The educational program would help each person understand the relationship of their mind to their results; it would be an individualized goal-oriented environment where the participants were continually working at improving their own personal self esteem and rather than competing with one another, they would be co-operating.
Q: What message would you like to pass on to your students?
A: I encourage every student to discover their purpose, build their vision and establish a goal (a report on this will be in the next issue of thinkbig).
I attempt to help students understand that we´re dealing with infinite knowledge which is a big idea and regardless of how advanced we may appear, we have only just begun. I let them know that their report card does not represent their potential, but that study is something that should be a part of our daily routine because it is the only way to tap into knowledge which results in understanding.
As King Solomon said: "In all you´re getting, get understanding." I encourage everyone to tell their teenagers to go to our teen site, www.goal33.com – it´s free and we are presently educating teens in over 100 different countries on a daily basis.
Q: Tell us about your most valuable lesson.
A: The most valuable lesson I´ve learned is called the stickperson. It helped me connect the dots, so to speak.
The late, great educator and my personal mentor, Leland Val Van De Wall taught it to me. It organized the information that I had gathered about myself as a spiritual being with an intellect, living in a physical body and eliminated an enormous amount of confusion in my mind.
I have been sharing it with people all over the world for the past 40 years. This too, I will make available in a future issue of thinkbig.
Q: And your biggest mistake?
A: I probably haven´t made my biggest mistake yet; I´ve made many. However, I don´t focus on them. I see them as a necessary parts of learning. I do not look at mistakes as something bad; I only see them as necessary steps to creating an awareness of how to move to a higher level.
Q: How do you plan to grow your company, Life Success?
A: Life Success is not a company; it´s a group of companies that come under the umbrella of Life Success Productions.
I want to see these companies strengthen and operate more efficiently to create a greater presence in the marketplace globally. I want all the material we have translated into multiple languages so the beautiful, basic ideas that we teach and that have improved the lives of millions of people over the past 40 years reach everyone interested in learning, regardless of their age or nationality.
Q: You´ve just released a new book, It´s Not About The Money, what is it´s main message?
A: The main message of the book is tied up in the title of the book, although we do want people to understand money. The earning of money is not taught in our school system. As a result, just a small fragment of our population understands how to earn a sufficient amount of money to live the way they choose.
Earning of money has to do with consciousness, awareness; a mindset. Hopefully, It´s Not About the Money will effectively communicate that idea to millions of people, giving them the understanding they require to earn the amount of money they need, so they can provide the things they want, to live the way they choose. I believe that´s called freedom.
Q: Why are people so concerned about money?
A: People are concerned about money, because they let it control them. They don´t know how to earn it and have very little to speak of. Yet, it impacts virtually every aspect of our lives. People should establish multiple sources of income; most people have one.
We have a company established for the sole purpose of helping people develop multiple sources of income and create joint ventures with other like-minded individuals all over the world. You could receive information on the Chairman´s Club by emailing amzi@bobproctor.com
Q: Can anyone be wealthy?
A: Absolutely! And, there´s sufficient evidence to substantiate that fact. If you were to do just a little research, you would conclude that many wealthy people started out with nothing.
Consider this: if everyone has the same potential and wealth creation is governed by exact laws, then anyone who is prepared to adhere to those laws and develop their potential must, by law, become wealthy.
Q: Get out your crystal ball. How do you see the world in 10 years time?
A: I don´t know that anyone could properly answer that question. Ten years is an eternity in the age we´re living in. Just look back 10 years and take a look at how our lives have changed.
I do believe this: everything once was perfect and we are returning to a state that once was. Whether people believe that or not, is irrelevant; it´s still so.
Therefore, the lifestyle of anyone who is prepared to consciously and deliberately improve themselves is going to be incredible. The world is moving in the right direction; we must not let the troubled spots or the testy times sway our level of expectation.
Q: Where do you think the personal development industry is heading?
A: I believe personal development is becoming one of the most important subjects that you could study. It will be a part of the curriculum of every school and will be looked at much the same way we look at food to maintain physical health.
Personal development is going to be right up there with oxygen. If you want to live …really live, there´s only one person you can develop, and that´s yourself. Get into the habit of studying a little bit every day
