Total Life Complete - Higher Level

Just over a year ago, I launched an idea called Complete, a paradigm for finding new possibilities in life and work, pushing the boundaries of what is possible, living on a higher and deeper level. This year (2020) has provided plenty of pause for reflection, new roles and experiences, and an opportunity to flesh out the initial idea of Complete into a philosophy, principles and process, and so on.

Recently, I’ve begun to feel that this “fleshing out” is now at a stage where I have enough to share to be useful to you.

I’ve seen again and again how applying creative tools to your personal and professional goals can be an effective way to not only know and get what you want, but also some of what you deeply need. Bridging the gap between the external world, and your internal world of meaning, purpose, potential, spirituality and Self-realization.

In the next article I’ll explain the philosophy and principles of Complete, and in the article after that, a preview of what I call Creative Personal Growth (CPG). CPG covers the creative tools and techniques that you’ll learn and use to be more creative in life and work, and begin to “live on a higher and deeper level”.

But before I dive into a solution, let me ask, what is the problem that you (and I) are trying to solve (by using Complete and CPG)?

If we are clear on what the problem is (i.e. what we are, and should, be driving for in life), then we’re more likely to know what to search for.

If you know what you are really searching for (many of us do not know precisely what we want, and even less of what we need) then it is more likely that you can get on with finding that, and living life now rather than living in the future.

I’ve spent the past seven years reflecting on questions such...Read More

The Total Life Complete Minifesto

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 11:57:34 -0800

Total Life Complete is a philosophy, as much as it is an organization, and a community. It is about coming alive, and a journey to explore the frontiers of work and life. It is the opposite of unquestioning inertia. It is how you get unstuck.

As I’ve said many times before, starting Total Life Complete LLC has been an incredibly “meta” experience. Starting a company to help people live and work better, while continually trying to work out what that really means for me, and how to do it.

It often feels like I’m trying to scale an icy mountain face in a blizzard. Laying out a guide rope behind me for other professionals, and particularly for my sisters and brothers in professional services.

My vision says there is some existential peak just ahead, and that the ice storm will clear to reveal sunshine and a panoramic vista. The Answer. Capturing the holy grail of work-life balance, integration or actualization or whatever. Creating a path for thousands and millions of others to get there too. And to go further, and faster than I have.

The following principles have been useful for me in framing the challenges and opportunities of undertaking such a journey. I want to share these with you. I want you to come along, and I want to unite the other climbers on this snowy mountain.

The three principles are:

There is more to life than money
Work should support the life you want to live, and the kind of person you want to be
Professionals have a responsibility to help find, and implement solutions to systemic problems in society

1. There is more to life than money

OK, so this is the theme of virtually every Hallmark movie that you’ve, no doubt, been subjected to over the holiday season. But that doesn’t make it any less true. And, it’s easy to forget in practice.

So what is this “more”...family, art, work, potential, community,...Read More

How To Be More Creative In Work and Life

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 11:53:10 -0700

How to Be More Creative in Work + Life – Notes:

This article contains some brief notes and links for the live “How to Be More Creative in Work + Life” presentation series conducted in 2018.

If you’d like to request this presentation at your group or organization, please send an email to creativity@totallifecomplete.com

A. Synopsis / Key Take Aways:

Everyone is creative (and everyone can learn to be more creative)
Follow your interest/curiosity
Solve the right problem
Generate at least 3 solutions (different categories) to each major problem
Prototype

B. Event Description (from Eventbrite):

Many of us want the benefits of increased creativity, but don’t consider ourselves to be creative people, or don't know how to go about adapting our creativity in one part of life or work, to another domain, or on a larger scale.

Over coffee and light breakfast, we’ll teach you how to immediately apply practical creative tools and techniques to your own life and work, including advice from three of the key books on creativity:

1. Creative Confidence by Tom & David Kelley (TED)

2. The Business Romantic by Tim Leberecht (TED)

3. Creative Intelligence by Bruce Nussbaum

There will also be giveaways of the highlighted books. Don't miss out!

Presented by Brett Cowell, creative consultant and coach, with Special Guest Jennifer Wester

C. Notes on...Read More

Podcast s2 Intro Episode

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 14:13:40 -0800

Transcript:
Hi, it’s Brett Cowell and this is the Total Life Complete podcast, coming to you from Dallas, Texas.
This is the Season 2 intro show, so I want to tell you about to expect from the next 10 or 12 episodes.
One of my reflections from Season 1 was that life really is, when it comes down to it, a creative spiritual endeavour.
Creative since it’s a performance spread across several acts. Life is about feeling, authenticity, uniqueness, imagination and self-reinvention.
Life is Spiritual because of identity, meaning, purpose, connection and the journey itself. It’s about community, contribution, holism, energy and our relationship with the physical environment we live in.
The life that I want to continue to explore on the podcast is one that makes you feel alive, minimizes regrets and makes a difference.
We’ll continue to explore through people at the intersection of: art, business and community. And this season, to keep the process honest, I want to talk about engagement. Converting what we speak about into action.
In the world we live in there is a temptation to disengage, to feel disempowered to make positive changes and to just focus on our own truths… to delude ourselves that we need a self help guru, or celebrity to lead us or make us feel better about our problems, rather than leading ourselves.
Given this we’ll be focusing on creativity as a tool to engage–in your own life and work–and to engage in community and society. We saw in the last season about how social entrepreneurs and genuine cause led brands are blurring the lines between business and non-profits. In this season we’ll look at how the tools of creatives including seeing, storytelling and transformation, can be used to make a positive change in us, and the world we’re part of.
I also want to push the boundaries of this format and medium of a podcast in an irreverent way. Expect more live events, expect the...Read More

EP22 - Season 1 Wrap

Fri, 02 Feb 2018 11:07:45 -0800

Transcript.
(see link to audio below)
Hi it’s Brett Cowell and this is the Total Life Complete podcast, Season 1 Wrap Edition
coming to you from Dallas, Texas.
Back in October I signed off from Episode 21, and promised that I’d be back with a wrap up covering what we’d heard and experienced so far.
Well, wrapping up became a journey in itself, and three months later here we are!
Part of the reason it took so long is that there were so many insights, that it was hard to summarise without the results sounding generic.
Also context is as important as content, to understand what the guest said, in their own words
and the relevance to you in what you take away. As Thomas Riccio said in Episode 1, in life “you see what you need to see”, when you need to see it…the best way to get the insights is to listen to the episodes individually, and to take notes.
I’ve decided to take the approach of highlighting what I thought were the most uncommon or easily missed aspects, and the bigger picture of what happened outside the podcast. The result is an experiential summary, perhaps a bit different from what you might have expected.
I want you to think of the metaphor of a meal or perhaps a banquet. Each course is unique but it is arranged in a way that has a logical flow to it, and a cumulative effect.
I’m going to present this like you’re at the chef’s table, I’ll announce each course and tell you a little bit of a story, then after a little time to digest, we’ll move on to the next course.
As you’ll hear the podcast became a case of life imitating art. As I began to look into what we covered, in increasing levels of detail, I began to reflect on what was happening in my own life and work. I met and collaborated with several of the guests after our interview, and so for me and the guests at least, what the podcast meant and our experience extended way beyond the...Read More

EP21 - Kate Siamro

Fri, 13 Oct 2017 08:19:03 -0700

Show notes, audio, video:
Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateskarma/
Videos:
Read More

EP20 - Suzanne Smith

Fri, 13 Oct 2017 08:10:05 -0700

Show notes and audio:
Links:
Social Impact Architects: https://socialimpactarchitects.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/socialtrendspot @socialtrendspot
Suzanne on Twitter: @snstexas
Audio:
Read More

EP19 - Jennifer Wester

Thu, 28 Sep 2017 09:36:06 -0700

Show notes and audio:
Links:
Jennifer Wester Official Website: http://www.jenniferwester.info/
Twitter: @JenniferWester https://twitter.com/JenniferWester
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferwester/
Jennifer doing her stuff: https://www.instagram.com/p/BZJSUGDhk71/?taken-by=jenniferwester
Why I skate? https://www.ice-dance.com/site/jennifer-wester-why-i-skate/
Art activity books for children:
http://www.jenniferwester.info/artistic-refinement-therapy-workbook-series/
Audio:
Read More