Everyday Wisdom: Meet the BeliefWorks Mentors

"Beyond our “perception- shattering moments”, when we are open to what is, we encounter a whole new world full of exciting possibilities far beyond the beliefs that limit us."

How often do we perceive, not what is, but a narrow viewpoint bounded by what we believe?

Last month I was reading an article in Fast Company (a cutting edge business magazine) about the new face of Al Jezzera, the Arabic news channel. The Fast Company article focused in on Josh Rushing, the former press attaché of General Tommy Franks (US Marine commander for the Iraq war) who left his military career to become the news anchor for the English language portion of Al Jezzera International, (AJI).

A little history: Al Jezzera is the Arabic news channel that has aired video messages from Middle East terrorists, kidnappers and Osama Bin Laden. With such a volatile reputation, why on earth would a career marine consent to being the on-air personality for their new 24-hour global news channel?

Apparently, AJI (Al Jazeera International) has been gaining esteem despite its past offenses. Highly respected journalists are staffing its operations, imported from legitimate news organizations such as the BBC, CNN, NightLine and Associated Press Television. AJI professes a rigorous code of ethics and the loftiest news-gathering goals. "The mission of Al Jazeera International is to provide accurate and impartial news with a global perspective.”

Their mission is clearly attractive to journalists who feel that many news organizations are no longer objective but ruled by advertiser’s dollars reporting, “from a culturally specific viewpoint that eclipses many important stories and issues.”

Recently, AJI was in New York City hosting a meeting designed to locate cable distributors and advertisers for its new English language channel. They met with an icy reception. One agency executive that places advertising on cable channels said, "Politically, this is a nightmare. Never in a billion years would I bring this to our clients."

Josh Rushing, the ex-marine and new on-air host, has been repeatedly threatened and labeled a traitor.

What first came to my mind as I read this was: Why would they ever consider that this could work? Local cable providers, like Comcast, will run, not walk, from AJI. Pepsi will never book time for one of its commercials. What were they thinking?

This perception is distinctly American. When Josh Rushing, dejected after his experience at the New York sales meeting, asked similar questions, AJI’s marketing VP simply said, “America is only one country.” According to Josh, that was "a perception-shattering moment."

In fact, AJI already has 40 million viewers and it’s growing rapidly. There are over one billion English speakers around the world, including some of the fastest-growing economies on the planet. There are hundreds of international companies that most Americans have never heard of, lining up to buy advertising time on AJI.

My immediate reaction was: this is a fruitless, futile attempt. It was easy to see, when I allowed my perception to shift, ever so slightly, that my initial assessment wasn’t even close to being accurate.

The story of AJI illustrates how we don’t see the world as it is, we see the world as we are. Life - business, families, economies, and culture - are constantly evolving. Change is always with us, and can be particularly frightening viewed through what we know. Beyond our “perception- shattering moments”, when we are open to what is, we encounter a whole new world full of exciting possibilities far beyond the beliefs that limit us.

In 1996, after a chance meeting at the pyramid ruins in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Ray Dodd embarked on a 6-year apprenticeship with don Miguel Ruiz M.D. (author of the best-selling book, The Four Agreements). Founder of EverydayWisdom.us, Ray is a mentor and the author of 2 books The Power of Belief and BeliefWorks. Ray helps both individuals and organizations forge new beliefs and agreements to affect lasting and positive change. He can be reached at ray@everydaywisdom.us / http://www.everydaywisdom.us/