Introduction to the concept of Blank Slate Operating System or BSOS

Flawless Living is a developmental system, a philosophy, and a business network designed to emerge happiness and success by helping people understand the interaction between their happiness (or intrinsic motivational profile), the success requirements of their business or profession, and the need for collaborative business models and for reaching out. It was created by business coach, author and entrepreneur Mike Jay.

One of the fundamental ideas of Flawless Living is that leading cultural paradigm of the Western world, which Mike calls the “Blank Slate Operating System” (or BSOS),  is not working any more and is bringing increasing stresses and sub-optimization into people’s lives, and that new models are going to be required to thrive (and even survive) in our current environment.

BSOS is the idea that we are “blank slates” onto which anything can be written, and once we properly assimilate that information, we can go on to do and become whatever we want in life.  In other words, BSOS says that if we work hard enough, get the right education, find the right contacts, etc, we can achieve anything we want.  There are just two problems with this system, the first being that it doesn’t really work anymore (it doesn’t create success for the majority of people, and particularly in the new economy) and in the second place, it doesn’t create happiness (except for the minority of people whose success requirements are naturally aligned with their happiness, or intrinsic motivation).

By contrast, Flawless Living states that we come into the world at varying levels of capability and vastly different motivations and meaning-making systems, most of which are actually genetically determined.  The failure to understand and accept ourselves around this, both our real desires (sources of happiness) and our limitations, is the cause of untold human suffering (not to mention business failures).  Flawless Living starts with self-knowledge and self-acceptance, and from that place, it teaches how to reach out to others for fun and profit.

And this is actually the most extraordinary thing about the movement, because it’s not just another seminar, it’s a network of awakening professionals and conscious entrepreneurs who are committed to helping each other.  While lots of people are “talking about” development, and running seminars, Flawless Living is an actual business network designed to assist, or “scaffold” people in their areas of weakness – those areas where we really need to understand our limitations and reach out for support – which is, ironically, what most of us need to do in order to be successful in an area of passion, and to survive in the “new economy”.

To find out more, see the Resources section, or listen to the interview I did with Mike on November 3, 2010

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