The Clear Course — Autumn Term 2018
Learn how to be clear in four weeks.
(Hello... The September and October courses sold out in the first couple of days. But there are still places in November. You can book your place here.)
I’d like to teach you how to be clear...
Being clear means knowing who you are, what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and how it gets done. It means being able to listen for what you need to do, stay focused on it, tell people about it and take the steps to do it. It means understanding the basic underlying creative process that is at the heart of the work we all day everyday.
It’s very practical — you can use it to work out what you’re doing this week or plan a new project. And it’s profound. In the end, it comes down to being able to do your life’s work and be true to it in every step.
Here’s how the course works…
Week one: learn how to have very clear ideas.
Bring something you want to get clear on. Like, your life’s work or your new project. Uncover all kinds of things you didn’t realise you already knew about it. Sum up the whole thing in a single sentence that perfectly defines the work to do be done.
Week two: learn how to connect every step to your life’s work.
Build on what you got clear on last week through the power of asking ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ Learn how to check that all the different parts of your project add up — and how to make sure you’re taking the most direct route to getting what you need to get done. And get really specific about the nuts and bolts of how it happens — without losing touch with the dreamiest dreams and highest ideals.
Week three: learn how to clear away creative blocks.
Practice the fine art of picking apart and rewriting your own identity so it best serves you. Learn what to do when you know what to do but you find yourself just not doing it. Unravel old, strange hang-ups about money or work or authority or whatever-is-getting-in-the-way. Basically — find the skeleton key that lets you turn down the volume on distractions, concentrate your energy and clear away resistance to getting things done.
Week four: learn how to make clear deals.
It’s all very well knowing what you want to do and knowing how to do it — but most of the time we actually want to work with other people in order to get things done. But how do you decide what to work on? How do you know who should help? How do you make sure that when you agree to work together you both have the same idea of what that means? And how do you know if someone will actually really be genuinely committed to doing something they say they’d like to help with? That’s week four.
And the practicalities…
There’ll be four group calls, each lasting 90 minutes.
They’ll be on Zoom (which works ever so well and has breakout rooms and all sorts).
They’ll be at 1930 UK time on Wednesday evenings. (So far, the evening slot has made for a very nice, laidback, hanging-out-after-dinner atmosphere to the calls. And meant people from America/Canada don’t have to get up in the middle of the night. If you’d like to request another time zone for a future course let me know.)
And the dates will be:
SEPTEMBER COURSE [SOLD OUT]
5th September
12th September
19th September
26th September
OCTOBER COURSE
3rd October
10th October
17th October
24th October
NOVEMBER COURSE
7th November
14th November
21st November
28th November
There’ll be a little private Facebook group to stay in touch between the calls.
And it costs £200 if you’re a startup, £300 if you’re a professional and £400 if you’re a corporate. (And I don’t really know — or mind — what any of those terms really mean and I’m very happy for you to choose whichever price feels like it’s yours…) If you need to pay by instalments, let me know and we’ll sort something out.
And for the duration of the course, if you’d like some one-on-one coaching sessions, I’ll offer them at a ludicrously reduced rate. (Just ask.)
I think that’s everything…
If I’ve forgotten anything, drop me a line (charles@howtobeclear.com) and I’ll do my best to answer.
And, if you like the sound of it — sign up.
Which you can do here.
Thank you!
Charlie
x
Book the course here.
A bit of background…
This work started out with me learning about language at Oxford, storytelling at The Face magazine, project design with The Kaospilots, how online communities work (at an obscure job in East London), improvisation (with Franki Anderson), money and organisational creativity (with Peter Koenig) and Buddhist dharma and meditation (living at the Bodhisattva Centre in Brighton). And it’s ended up with me distilling everything I learned into one practice: the practice of being clear.
I’ve written about it often — and published everything I’ve written here. Here’s a selection…
“When I teach people to be clear, I teach the basics. And then we practice. And then we share the tips and tricks we learn along the way.”
“I believe there are three things… I don’t mean three handy tips for success — yadda, yadda, yadda — I mean there are three actual, fundamental, necessary components to any creative process.”
“We have to understand the creative processes of nature as a whole — rather than limiting ourselves to the specific culture of work in human society in our lifetime.”
“You change your life when you take the initiative. It’s like changing tracks. It’s opening up a brand new path. Plugging into something new… it’s important to end initiatives too. To notice when they’re done and wrap them up and close them down and let them go unambiguously.”
“…And it’s all very simple. But this little bit of structure — of helper and helped — is the underlying code for collaboration. Even with chains of hundreds of people. Even with hugely complicated projects. You can build an infinitely vast family tree of helpers just using this simple question of who is helping who…”
“In this very moment, there is a next step for me to take that is true… And if, having taken it, I can look back and say — in that moment I was true to myself and to the world I was in — then there is no space for regret. Because what more can we ask of ourselves than that — in one moment — we might manage to stay true to ourselves and the world we are in?”
“But the essence of work is this: as creative, alive, human beings we have the capacity to see things that don’t exist yet and then bring them into the world. Work is creation.”
Book the course here.
And what people have said about How To Be Clear…
“I’m pretty certain Charles needs no testimonials, but I had my monies worth just from the first session of his course. So if you need help with getting clear on something specific, or just knowing how to get clear on things in the future: do it.”
Nick Stevens, The Big Building, Groningen
“I went through this process with Charlie some years back. To get clear about what I was here on earth to do. Whichever way we looked at it, the answer was Zen Master. Now I am a Zen Master. So that was a pretty Clear Idea.”
Kashyapi — Poet, Contemplative, Portugal
“Not only can I say you will get clear — it’ll be fun too… If it calls to you — just do it.”
Elizabeth Lovius, Executive Coach, Spain
“Charlie is the alarm cord I pull when my own head gets too confusing. He cuts through the babble to see what’s going on like no-one else can. Charlie should come with a health warning as this can be highly-disruptive (and much needed) work.”
Kathryn Sheridan — Founder and CEO, Sustainability Consult, Belgium
“With an intense work schedule and a myriad of projects and tasks to manage it can be difficult to stay focused on what it is that makes the work meaningful and rewarding. I attended the workshop in the hope that I would find a better way to understand what is authentically motivating for me in work and how to connect my day to day activities to this source. I wasn’t disappointed!
The workshop structure and delivery were excellent. I came away from the day with a clear and easy to use process to explore and test what it is that motivates a person (be it myself or someone I am trying to help). In the interval since the workshop I have successfully used the process to understand myself and my motivations better. I have also shared the process with a number of other people, and without exception they have found it easy to use and insightful.’’
Professor John D. Kelleher — Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
“Charles Davies is exceptional at clarity. If you, like me, want to be more clear in your creative expressions and decisions, then sign up for his online course…a really good thing to do that will affect you hugely.”
Viktor Lysell, Ritual at Work, Leipzig, Germany
“A great experience that brought clarity to what I was trying to do with my start-up. I continue to use the output of our session to guide what I do…. highly valuable.”
Richard Eason — Founder, Cyclefox, UK
“Coaching at its finest and most transformational.”
Karen Gartside — Reteam Ltd, Chicago
“I’ve joined…it’s online. 6 weeks…Highly recommend. Charles Davies has a lot to offer & i trust his integrity.”
Cleona Lira, Independent Financial Advisor, City of London
“An unforgettable talk. Short but so powerful. Very, VERY, insightful. It was a talk where almost every word made sense, was valuable. Even the silence.”
Titia Bruning — Knowmads Business School, Amsterdam
“I’m not even sure what Charles said or what I said, but what I do know is this. I messaged Charles later that night with the following: “All I know is that everything from here is going to be OK.”
Chris Drummond — Founder, Crafted Crate, Brighton
