People cry at his trainings. Vladimir Gerasichev - how to instantly change your life
Friday, 30 Dec 2011 21:08
While fools live in the world,
To deceive us, therefore, with hands.
What a blue sky!
We are not fans of robbery:
A fool doesn't need a knife
You'll lie to him from three boxes
And do with it what you want.
from the transfer of the fox Alice and the cat Basilio
Originally located here feedback on personal growth trainings by Vladimir Gerasichev written by me on December 30, 2011 at the age of 23. After 6 years, in 2017, I began to receive a large number of comments on it, including signs of hidden advertising of Vladimir Gerasichev's trainings. The seriousness of the topic, as well as the fact that now the residents of the CIS, the 4th year of the crisis, are more greedy than ever for such psychological courses, contributed to the fact that on December 21, 2017, at the age of 29, I considered it my duty reconsider the review of Vladimir Gerasichev's personal growth trainings. Since the first version of this article, written by me in my youth (and stupidity), had a moderately positive connotation, for reasons of conscience I had to return to this topic again in order to correct myself and in the future, I hope, to save the people for whom my then article could serve as a call to action.
I note that at the time of writing this review, I am in a great position: I have real estate of a solid size in the center of the capital, my family has several cars, I, like my wife, do what I love, in addition to this I have an unconditional income, I independently form my own schedule and lifestyle, I have a lot of time for myself. My wife and I have been happily married for almost 10 years. This path has been traversed by us almost from scratch.
The following reflects my opinion about Vladimir Gerasichev's personal growth trainings, just like about the Youth Business courses, whose founders Petr Osipov and Mikhail Dashkiev practice the same approach as Gerasichev, humiliation, bullying and psychological breaking of participants. The same can be applied to other similar courses, which I would summarize as "express plants of human happiness."
I am posting the videos in the order in which I watched them.
How to add lightness to your daily life? MK Vladimir Gerasichev
"Context, or the art of being happy?" MK Vladimir Gerasichev
A psychologist's view of personal growth trainings "LIFESPRING" and the like. Or training for the "humiliated"
http://svetlvaler.livejournal.com/927.html - the link provides an analysis of the training "Context or the Art of being happy" by professional psychologists. In this analysis, Gerasichev's methods lend themselves to legitimate criticism, and his activities as a whole are presented as pumping money under the influence of a strong theatrical effect. He is convicted as an irresponsible person who practices psychological methods for other purposes and achieves results at the cost of completely suppressing and breaking people who bring money to him. In general, a talented swindler, something like our Slesarchuk, in whose case a trial is underway (see ""). I AM I fully and completely agree with the conclusions of this analysis, as well as with many useful additions in the comments to it, and I recommend it for mandatory review if, God forbid, you are thinking about attending Gerasichev's trainings.
I cannot fail to mention that I consider the vast majority of psychological training to be absolutely useless and even harmful. They offer some kind of abstract universal solutions to the problems of every person on earth, which is complete nonsense. But the trainings of Comrade Gerasichev and the Business of Youth stand a little apart. The cruelty with which people break down on them seems effective, because the participant himself confirms this. But all this is only at first glance. After the beautiful show-picture, played out by a professional leading actor, dies down, the person will again remain in the same swamp as he was. He only felt the illusion of a solution, while real changes require consistency and consolidation, and this is long, hard, and does not bring as much money as a 5-minute abuse of a person ...
What people need universally is a healthy lifestyle to feel clear, cheerful and confident in whatever they do, a good environment, love, support that inspire and keep their interest in life, prosperity so that they can afford both the first and second, and there was time for self-knowledge. And not to plow at work from 9:00 to 18:00, having 2 hours of time for myself before going to bed, all my life. At the same time, we should not forget that happiness is a deeply individual and subjective thing. And it is impossible to give any universal advice on how to get all this for a specific individual, because everyone has completely different desires and initial conditions, and everyone looks at the world through their personal 2 windows. Any training ignores this. A person who comes there can plow for $ 200 a month among embittered stupid drunkards, and they will tell him about “positive attitudes” and other crap, when it is extremely difficult to offer an unambiguous plan on how to change his life, because, firstly, it is required a fantastically complex solution, and secondly, even what has already worked for one may not work at all for another. That is, no one can ever know for sure how to do it.
Such trainings only create a short-term illusion for people that the truth has been revealed to them, that they have shared supposedly secret knowledge that only such actors allegedly possess. At the same time, the boobies are told that it is these fragmented knowledge, "fail-safe tricks"— this is the key to success. At the same time, life is made up of thousands of factors, just luck, in the end, in the total number of which the importance of all this fragmentation is often simply ridiculous. Ultimately, the person who was much more fortunate in life with the initial conditions tells how cool he is and how much he understands to those who are much less fortunate. He invites them to become as cool as he is in just a few days and a thousand or two rubles. Often, completely ignoring the contribution of all the circumstances of his life from his very birth, and that he himself developed his habits for far more than a few days, and it is simply impossible to jump from level 0 to 100 without passing the remaining 99.
Mass trainings are pure swindle, although they give a short-term motivation, which is a necessary, but far from sufficient condition for change. In view of the foregoing, I would not recommend personal training either ... Only my personal path in life. What will surely work for any person is to burn with a passion for something, go make your mistakes, draw conclusions, make even more mistakes, draw conclusions, and so on in a circle, until you reach the desired result, or change the object of passion.
Vladimir Gerasichev was born on November 7, 1967 in St. Petersburg. His parents studied at the faculty of journalism at the Leningrad State University, so Vladimir spent the first years of his life in a city on the banks of the Neva. In 1973, together with his family, he moved to Moscow, where he went to school the following year.
In June 1976, Vladimir's entire family moved to New York. This happened thanks to the business trip of his father, who at that time worked as a correspondent for the State Radio and Television in the United States. Vladimir continued his studies at the Soviet school at the UN.
Four years later, Vladimir and his family returned to Moscow. In 1984 he graduated from high school.
Then there was a year of work in the USSR State Radio and Television and two years of service in the army.
In 1988, Vladimir Gerasichev entered the international department of the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University.
In the same year, as a student at Moscow State University, Vladimir began publishing the journal Path to Yourself, dedicated to the topics of personal growth and development. The circulation of the magazine was 150,000 copies. Looking at this fact, we can safely say two things: 1) at a fairly young age, Vladimir became seriously interested in the topics of self-development and self-education; 2) Vladimir showed the spirit of an entrepreneur quite early, which was confirmed by the development of his future career.
Since that moment, the life of Vladimir Gerasichev has changed: he begins to actively communicate with various world-famous experts in the field of self-development and training. In 1990, he became a participant in a closed training seminar of the most famous transformation guru in the West, Werner Erhard. This training made a great impression on Vladimir, and helped him decide on the choice of the profession of a business coach. In the future, Gerasichev attends many seminars, and also organizes his own trainings both in Russia and abroad. For example, after attending David Ninan's 1992 seminar entitled "Business and You" in Stockholm, Vladimir organizes it in Moscow and later in other Russian cities.
In 1993, Vladimir Gerasichev is selected and receives the right to train as a coach in the United States. Having gained the experience of the best specialists in the field of training, motivation and development of personnel, he gradually begins to create his own program, adapting the acquired experience for Russian reality.
Having vast experience in conducting various trainings and seminars in Russian and English, Gerasichev recruits and forms his own team of professional business coaches. One of the first to join this team is Ivan Maurakh, an experienced business coach, one of the first specialists in the post-Soviet space who was trained and trained in the United States.
In 1996, Vladimir Gerasichev created the Open Forum training company, developed his own author's methodology, and, together with Ivan Maurakh, began to conduct open trainings for everyone. A little later, they start working with various corporations and organizations, helping them achieve high business performance and change the attitude of employees to their work.
Leading global brands and large Russian companies note the high efficiency of Vladimir Gerasichev in his work, among them: Procter & Gamble, Adidas, Red Bull, X5 Retail Group, MTS, Megafon, Beeline, Svyaznoy Bank, Otkritie Bank, Mirax group, Sochi 2014, AIG life, DHL, SBARRO and others.
In 2007, Vladimir Gerasichev, in collaboration with Oleg Sinyakin, wrote the book "Dream Team: How to Create a Dream Team", in which you will find an analysis of the real business case of Schwarzkopf & Henkel. The book is an excellent guide to creating a dream team in the Russian business realities. Reading the book, you will witness a unique transformation in the consciousness of many participants in the project and get acquainted with the key elements of Vladimir Gerasichev's work.
Around the same time, thanks to the cooperation of Gerasichev and Sinyakin, the Business Relations company was created.
Vladimir Gerasichev is an excellent lecturer and speaker. Although he himself, in his words, “does not like to lecture, but rather seeks to create an interactive conversation,” nevertheless, he is often invited to give a lecture, speak at a conference or give a master class by various companies and organizations. In addition, he is the leader of educational programs in three MBA schools.
Since 2009, Vladimir Gerasichev has been participating in the “Context” series of programs on Channel One. Each program focuses on a specific topic, such as Forgiveness or Parents and Children. In 2010, on the basis of the trainings and filmed programs, the documentary film "Context or the Art of being happy" is released on the same channel. This film aroused unprecedented interest among a huge number of people and at times raised the popularity of Vladimir Gerasichev. Films that have not been screened are sometimes screened at private screenings by the Open Forum.
Since 2012, Vladimir has been participating in a series of training programs on the Dozhd TV channel under the beautiful title "Keep a word with Vladimir Gerasichev." In these programs, participants learn to take responsibility, keep their word and achieve their goals.
In December 2013, Vladimir Gerasichev's film “Life. Instructions for use ”, with the participation of many successful and famous people. The heroes of the film share their secrets of success and describe the difficulties they had to go through in order to start living the life of their dreams. Throughout the film, Vladimir offers many tools and ideas that can fire your imagination and encourage you to take the first step towards changing your life.
A young, thin Zhenya swallows her tears, telling how, for the sake of her parents, she tried to be a good girl all her life and why she later decided not to have her own children. Successful in her career, Natalia cries, confessing to unsuccessful attempts to arrange her personal life. Mom and adult daughter are trying to destroy the wall of years of misunderstanding. They are all heroes documentary film on the Russian TV channel, which clearly shows the legendary methodology for finding happiness and joy, developed by trainer Vladimir Gerasichev, called “Context”.
There was another movie after that. "A life. Instructions for use» on TNT and a series of programs on "Rain" " » . Dozhd's management was so impressed with the trainer's methodology that they decided to test it on their own employees.
Vladimir Gerasichev has been conducting trainings and seminars for about 25 years. While still studying at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, he began publishing the journal Path to Yourself, and through this he met many specialists in the field of training aimed at growth and development. He considers the seminar of the cult Werner Erhard, the founder of his own method of personality development, to be a turning point for himself. After him, Gerasichev finally chose the profession of a coach for himself. He began to practice on his own and eventually created his well-known program "Context", the main goal of which is to help a person realize himself and become happy. So far, over 250,000 people around the world have taken it.
In the spring, Vladimir Gerasichev will bring them to the USA. Three-day trainings in Russian will be held in May in and. In anticipation of this, ForumDaily spoke with Vladimir Gerasichev about the power of habit, success, and common problems in immigration.
Channel One showed a documentary film "Context" a few years ago, in which your training was shown. The film and the technique itself make a very strong impression. You say impartial things to people who came to the training. Many of them are crying. So, most likely, you get to the point when you understand the causes of their problems. Do all your workouts look like this?
To be honest, the film gives little idea of real training, of what really happens in the gym. Well, by 25%, maybe. On the channel, we filmed the training for 2 days, i.e. the material was for 48 hours. As you know, in the end the film is only 52 minutes long. You see, out of 48 hours of quivering kind conversations, 52 minutes were left in the end. This is a movie, the most exciting, emotional and sharp moments were left for the maximum number of people to watch, in order to make a sharp show out of heart-to-heart talk. It worked out, but those moments where people have fun, where there is joy and discovery, were removed. Therefore, the film does not reflect real training much, in life everything is much kinder, softer and more joyful.
I think that people who care about understanding really understand their problems. They don't focus on toughness, it's important for them to heal. Imagine you came to the doctor, and he smiles at you, says the right things in theory, distracts, but does not understand the problem, does not surgically intervene in a serious disease. It's not about us.
Perhaps our task is not the most pleasant - to deal with pain, to reveal the cause, but without this we cannot cure. If we do not open the source, the pain will remain.
And further. If a person wants to figure it out, he focuses on the light at the end of the tunnel, and those who do not want to see the rigidity in the approach. Someone is always looking for arguments against, and someone - only for. There are more firsts at the training - I mean those who want to understand and become happier. Therefore, ask yourself the question: are you ready to deal with the pain, let it be uncomfortable, in order to heal? Or are you ready to endure and suffer?
You have considerable experience of cooperation with Russian broadcasting channels. So, you conducted trainings for employees of the Dozhd channel, and then, together with the CEO Natalya Sindeeva, you even decided to create a special program “ Keep your word with Vladimir Gerasichev". It aired for several seasons. Can watching such programs help a person solve his problems, or can nothing replace personal participation in the training?
No program can replace personal participation in the training. These are completely different processes. The program “Keep the word” was very useful - there were many letters and people in the hall who thanked. One man, having already got to our training, said that he watched the program and thought, who are all these idiots? Why do they publicly make promises and then go out of their way to fulfill them? So he watched the first issue, on the second he called his wife, on the third issue he already made several promises. As a result, he started running and after 2 months lost 10 kg, then he came to the “Context” training and made peace with his brother, with whom he had not communicated for 5 years. Not a single record is capable of and does not allow conveying what a person can get by “living” his experience.
You once said that you had a training session on the prototype of the protagonist of an almost cult novel by Viktor Pelevin« Generation P ". How much has he changed?
It really is. For a long time, one of Viktor Pelevin's classmates, whom I have known for many years, was training with us. He was quite cynical before the training, but the training made a strong impression on him. His life has changed qualitatively, after the dashing 90s and what he went through in Pelevin's book. Now he is doing what he loves, he is in great demand, we see the results of his cool projects. He has lived with his loved one for many years. It seems to me that if it were not for that self-awareness in the training, his life would be different.
“ONE MOMENT IS ENOUGH TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM”
Do you feel like a psychologist in some way?
Not really. Psychology has its own methods, tasks and approach. We may be doing something similar, but that's just how it looks.Psychologists approach the problem from the position of “normal or not normal”.They solve deep serious problems. We have, let's say, an applied philosophy of life. That is why we also have Alexander Kolmanovsky, a well-known Russian psychologist, on our staff. Understanding this difference, I don’t feel like a psychologist, but I can help a person understand and realize the scenarios by which he lives.
Do you think that in your trainings you are more likely to inspire people or do you do a “magic kick”?
Neither one nor the other. Training is an awareness of the habits, priorities and stereotypes in which you live. The very word "stereotype" came to us from the publishing business - this is a printed impression that is cast to replicate books. Many of us have cast certain stereotypes for ourselves and print our lives from them. Maybe outwardly it looks like a “magic kick”, because people leave the hall with a different mood, different goals, with the intention to change something in their lives, take steps that they have not taken before. In fact, the magic happens in a person's personal awareness and choice.
Is one training enough to solve a problem that has been dragging on for years, or even decades?
I believe that to solve the problem, not one training is enough, but one moment, and this moment can turn your whole life upside down. This moment is called awareness, acceptance and choice. All these 3 stages take place in the hall at the training. Training is not the end.
This is not a miracle or a solution, but the beginning of a very long work of weaning yourself from the past, with the habits that you had. This is the beginning of the process of creating new habits. The journey may be long, but it's worth it.
Vladimir Gerasichev believes that life can change in just one moment. Photo: from the personal archive of Vladimir Gerasichev
It is one thing to attend a training, try to live a “new life” (and quit, returning to the old one) and it is completely another thing to change your life and follow new settings every day, month after month. How to help yourself to constantly use the knowledge gained in the training?
Training can be the beginning of change, the first step in developing new habits. Sometimes people rush headlong into business, and then blown away and return to their usual rhythm and way of life. The basis of all change is the realization that short-term and intense efforts will not change your life.
One day a guy came to one of my training sessions who was racing Ironman("Iron Man"). Before the start, he was asked how long he would cover the entire distance (4 km to swim, 180 km to pedal a bicycle and 42 km to run). The guy replied: “My first goal is to run to the end. The second is to recognize the wife at the finish line. And, having overcome the distance, he did not feel any special emotions and realized that the race is not at all the main thing. The greatest joy is the time during which he trained and prepared for Ironman. The key to success is taking small steps towards the goal, feeling the joy of the process.
Are there incompetent students or “everyone can if he wants”?
Each person, training, can go beyond the usual limits and achieve extraordinary results. The only thing, in this question, I would replace the word "want", because one desire is not enough.
If you ask any person on the street if you want to make more money, they will say yes. But then there's a set of reasons why people don't do what they think they want. And it's not about wanting. The key word here is “important”.
We only do what is important to us. If you are not doing something, it means that it is not so important to you, you have other priorities. Awareness of this allows you to make a different choice and change priorities. Don't be under the illusion that desires are the main driving force. There are no incompetent students. A capable student is one who can honestly prioritize, recognize habits, and start doing things in new ways. This is for everyone.
Now in the world and in Russia in particular there is an overabundance of trainings and trainers. The number of both the first and second increases exponentially. It seems that going to trainings is fashionable. Or have more people become concerned about their self-development? What do you think about this?
Self-development is a trend. The same as the growing interest in a healthy lifestyle. The growth in the number of coaches is a response to demand. Despite the fact that there are more of them, quality products on the market can be counted on the fingers, so you need to be careful when choosing.
One definition of insanity is when a person repeats the same thing over and over expecting different results. There are many areas in our life in which we manifest ourselves in the same way, expecting a different result. If coaches and other professionals help you see this and get out of the vicious circle, then they are doing their job.
Many people attend business training to become successful. What is "success" in your opinion? Is the happy "unemployed" or the completely unhappy rich man successful?
It seems to me that success is when you achieve a state in which you feel fulfilled. Success is inside and is connected not so much with the outer shell and results, but with the inner state in which a person lives. It is this inner state and attitude that we share every day with our friends, colleagues, loved ones.
“AMERICA IS A COUNTRY THAT MADE A LOT OF INFLUENCE ON MY WORLD VIEW”
Why did you decide to enter the US market?
It always seemed to me that we have all the possibilities for this. My life has a lot to do with New York. I spent almost all my childhood there, because my father worked as a journalist in GOSTELERADIO USSR. It always seemed to me that America is a country that has largely influenced my worldview. For the last 5 years my kids, wife and I have been spending a significant amount of time in the Hamptons where the kids go to school.
I can conduct trainings both in Russian and in English. My experience is that all people, wherever they live, are the same - they also love, fear, strive for something. I conducted trainings in Asia, Europe, the USA and everywhere I came across the same set of stereotypes and attitudes. There are enough people in America who have achieved success, but the majority live with the same problems and stereotypes as in any other country. For our company, entering the American market is a logical step in development, a challenge that we are ready to accept.
You already in 1993 received the right to an internship in the United States as a coach. Do the problems people come to you with differ from those of Americans and Russians?
Programs differ radically in format, content, and emotional intensity. In the US, entertainment with categories of philosophy is a drive. This has both pluses and minuses. For example, a quick dive and a quick mood, and with it a quick decline and devastation. Previously, trainings were based on multi-stage - we abandoned this. Engagement is still used in the US, but we abandoned it many years ago. Over the past 20 years, we have gone through a parallel path, our own path of development, created a unique product that is permeated only with an idea, but at its core is a completely different - an environmentally friendly product. We do not have emotional inflation, marketing involvement with a sales chain, no aggression. In the US, the main measure of success is still the number of people involved, we consider this approach to be incorrect for us.
At “Context” trainings, people cry after realizing a problem. Photo: from the personal archive of Vladimir Gerasichev
Have you encountered the fact that immigrants in the United States have their own specific problems?
It seems to me that the main problem for people who emigrated is that they did not accept the environment in which they lived before.
And the problem, in fact, is that when they leave for a new place, they arrive with an old set of their habits. And there is an illusion that in the new environment they will be able to live differently, but this is not so, the set of habits has remained the same. And this is the whole question - the set of habits remains the same, the actions are the same, but the expectations are different.
And immigrants find themselves at a more difficult crossroads than where they were before. The solution to the problem is the awareness of these habits, reactions, stereotypes or clichés. We are trying to “stamp” our approaches elsewhere, but in a new place we need to create a “new stamp” of habits.
Do you think coaches in America and Russia have a different approach to teaching people?
The very culture of training came from America. Another thing is that over the past 20-25 years, people who started, like us, in the 90s, and started by learning American technologies, have come a long way during this time. As practice shows, we brought a lot of our own into the trainings. If in America they are more like performances by Tony Robbins (entertainment at large stadiums, which is impressive - I myself was at his events), the Russian approach is more intimate, humane, sincere. I am sure that the product we offer will become effective and in demand on the American market.
In immigration, divorces are not uncommon among Russian-speakers, connected specifically with the move. There are many cases when, after moving, a woman wants to change and goes to work, learn the language, and a man lies on the couch and refuses to do anything, even if before that he was active. Is there anything we can do to help these couples?
Such things happen both on the part of the woman and on the part of the man. People move with their problems, and in the new conditions they are exacerbated - as people react in their usual way, but exacerbated. Sometimes they get divorced and do not regret it, and sometimes they stay together and understand that it was their best decision. Neither one nor the other is "correct".
The main thing is in what context you continue your relationship, and divorce or not is a secondary issue. The very fact of divorce is not a panacea, the solution is precisely the creation of quality relationships. Training can be a tool that will resolve the situation. But it is just a tool, like a hammer or a drill. A person can get up from the couch if he internally chooses to get up from the couch. But if he does not choose, not a single tool will help, while the person will think that something is wrong with the hammer.
Training "Context" is a tool of awareness, and those who are important to use it - use it, and those who do not - no matter how many tools you bring, will not help. To hammer a nail - you need to get up from the sofa and hammer a nail. If you go through training and work for 3 days, only 3 days, then this already helps a lot to realize your habits. At the training you will have a CHANCE, an opportunity. I will say this: training is not a guarantee that your life will change. But this is an opportunity. If you don’t choose, then it’s better to stay on the couch and not spoil your mood. If you are ready to do something and use a chance in life - welcome to the training "Context".
We believe that you read a lot. What books for self-development would you recommend to our readers?
Of the latter - "The Power of the Subconscious" (Joe Dispenza). Also "The Force of Habit" (Charles Duhigg) and, of course, the classics - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" (Stephen Covey) and "From Good to Great" (Jim Collins).
Your advice to ForumDaily readers: how to stop postponing changes in your life for later?
A rolling stone gathers no moss. In order for something to happen, you need to start doing, first you need to make a choice. Choice is the foundation.
The second piece of advice is that super-result is not equal to super-effort. It is better to act not intensively, but regularly, in small steps. You just need to deviate from your usual actions and attitudes. Start moving towards new habits, like brushing your teeth regularly, and then you will come to the results that matter to you.
Tickets for Vladimir Gerasichev's training in New York, which will be held from May 5 to 7, can be bought , for training in San Francisco (May 12-14) — . Limited number of seats.