Home > Our Projects > Santa Barbara Council for Self-Esteem > David Allen
David Allen
Productivity coach and educator, Author - Getting Things Done
Presentation to the SB Council for Self-Esteem - 06/10/06
David Allen spoke for the Santa Barbara Council for Self-Esteem to a packed and enthusiastic audience on Self-Esteem: How to Seek it and Keep It. As a personal and organizational productivity coach and educator, he is the author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity. He is listed by Forbes magazine as one of the top five executive coaches in the U.S.
Allen says that, “Self-esteem is the awareness that who and what we are, right now, is both OK and enough. That didn’t come easy for me, though. I grappled for years not knowing what I wanted to with my life, and only as I gained the acceptance of my own ordinariness did I rise to my own occasion and give myself permission to create what I wanted.”
David told of his personal search for “clear space,” the years and ways he sought for it and how he had found it in spirituality. He spent the first 35 years of his life in 35 different professions! He desired to be in the world but not of it. Finally he realized that one part of us is absolute self-esteem—we need to learn how to access that part whenever we want. The other part is relative—the self expression part of our being. David discussed what we need to do to continue to improve our self image.
Our image affects our performance; being honest and open with others creates good relations and keeping our agreements puts us in alignment with our purpose. David explained that we can’t keep our agreements unless we keep track of them. They must be written down and reviewed weekly. His suggestion to either keep the agreements, re-negotiate them or move them to a “someday/maybe category would eliminate the guilt that comes when we are reminded that we are making promises that are not being kept.
The power of visualization and affirmation was emphasized in creating what we want to accomplish in our lives. David reminded us of the importance of seeing ourselves being, doing and having what we want and affirming positively in our thoughts, in our statements about ourselves, our actions, and our accomplishments. Next we must be honest (tell the truth) and be real; engage, participate in life.
David was, at one time a facilitator, of Insight Seminars. His work in personal development has assisted thousands of people to enhance their self-esteem. Here are a few of the tips and techniques to create high self-esteem that he shared:
- Accept yourself first, as you are.
- Know your purpose and stay in alignment with it.
- Be on time for everything.
- Express your self—participate fully in life.
- Take risks.
- Negative feelings about ourselves come from breaking our agreements, keep them, renegotiate them or don’t make them.
- In order to keep your agreements, review them weekly.
- Build in behaviors that work.
- Don‘t do things that create guilt.
- Be careful what you focus on—you will get it.
- Thoughts are things—be careful about what you think.
- Be efficient—get it done with less effort. Become an expert in productivity.
During David Allen’s fast paced hour lecture, he kept his audience engaged and entertained. The questions after his talk would have continued another hour had the format of the event allowed it. David’s humor, charm, professional and concise delivery of the heart of self-esteem information made him one of the best received speakers in the history of the SB Council for Self-Esteem.
Home > Our Projects > Santa Barbara Council for Self-Esteem > David Allen |
