Find out how to reach optimal performance and excel in business and in life
Achieving optimal performance at work and in life involves taking your mental and physical abilities to their highest levels so that you can realize – and reach – your greatest potential.
A unique discipline called the DeRose Method is catching the attention of entrepreneurs and ambitious business people across the world by promoting a quality lifestyle that’s strengthened through well-being, culture, mindfulness, self awareness and kindness.
Originating from Brazil and this method involves physical and mental exercises and techniques. To date the lifestyles of many have been transformed through taking their lives to the next level and bringing optimal performance within their grasp.
By regularly attending classes at either of the two DeRose Method schools in Manhattan, New Yorkers can also now achieve excellence in fitness, health and business.
Already, entrepreneurs in New York’s thriving startup community are reaping its benefits and sensing perfection in their professional and personal lives to last a lifetime.
As DeRose Method practitioners they’re also striving to make the world a better place to exist in.
John Chisenhall, DeRose Method instructor & Director of DeRose Method Greenwich Village, NYC
We’re not trying to create something new, we’re trying to take what genuinely works in order to help others perform at their absolute best
Here, DeRose Method instructor John Chisenhall tells Nativa World how he’s helping New York’s business community navigate the road to optimal performance…
John what does the word, ‘Enrich’ mean to you?
It represents the effort to make prosperity a lifestyle. It’s to recognize value and opportunity in everything, whether it’s in plain sight or latent. Then, what matters most, is acting on that opportunity. It’s a pro-active lifestyle in which I try to add value, or inspire value to manifest in everything and everyone I cross paths with. For example, when I was younger the sustainability concept of ‘leaving no trace behind’ really inspired me, but later on, with my DeRose Method studies, I learned that I should take it a step further and leave the space better off than when I arrived. I try to apply this concept to every moment and interaction in my work and outside of it.
There’s great power in knowing that everything happening in my life is the result of my own thoughts, words, and actions
How do you define ‘quality of life’?
Quality of life is to make your existence uncomplicated, to do what gives you pleasure, happiness, health and well-being. Quality of life is to adopt habits and behaviors that promote optimal functionality of the body, emotions and mind. Quality of life is to interact in a mindful and responsible manner towards all people, animals and nature, aspiring to think, speak and act with generosity, respect and affection.
What’s the secret to it?
On a more personal level, and beyond that, the secret to quality of life is to prioritize the alignment of my work and my relationships with my ideals, values and life mission. I’m willing to go through a rough patch, or many, as long as my intuitive sensory gland confirms that I’m on the right path. I haven’t always made the right choices, but I’ve acquired the asset of new perceptions and experience from every single mistake, and that has paid higher returns over my lifetime. There’s great power in knowing that everything happening in my life is the result of my own thoughts, words, and actions. If I’m not satisfied, I systematically evaluate and audit my thoughts, words, and actions.
What’s your background?
After graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in Economics, I decided to dedicate a year to traveling Latin America and to learning Spanish before I made any concrete steps towards saving the world with my economics wisdom. So, I jumped on a Greyhound bus in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas and began my journey to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Not long after I arrived I walked into a DeRose Method school. It didn’t take long to realize that the DeRose Method offered an unmatched set of tools and resources for self-development.
Our network is focused on supporting the long-term success of the individual entrepreneur.
What was its appeal?
It was everything I had expected economics to be, with regards to being a model for making the world a better place to exist in. I appreciated how no one made any promises of benefits. The benefits I walked in expecting to hear about were merely bread crumbs, side-effects of a high-performance lifestyle. The DeRose Method provided more than solutions, it offered a sustainable and long-term support structure for personal development and the enhancement of performance on a personal and professional level.
Why did you become a DeRose Method instructor?
I value how our network is focused on supporting the long-term success of the individual entrepreneur. Two unique factors of our network are our exceptional lifetime mentoring system and our global entrepreneurial community that acts more like a family than a business. I was raised in an entrepreneurial family environment; my father is the founder of Vintage Air Inc., the inventors of performance air conditioning for everything from trucks to modern supercars. I’ve seen many businesses of family members and friends fail and most of them could have been saved with the advice of an experienced and trusted mentor combined with an experienced and supportive business community. I’ve seen great ideas and even great brands go under for the most bizarre and avoidable reasons. I fully understand the importance of mentorship, and working with the right team of people and being a part of a business industry community, therefore, I immediately understood and appreciated the foundation Professor DeRose designed for our DeRose Method entrepreneurs.
We came to this solution ahead of the curve because we’re imperfect humans doing our best to practice what we teach
How does the method differ from other coaching concepts?
The DeRose Method is unique because it is extremely comprehensive, technical and pragmatic. As pioneers in the field since 1960, we offer an incredibly complete set of tools and unparalleled professional experience. Our method not only has a highly impactful theory, but we also have the most comprehensive and proven practical tools. Alone, both resources are powerful enough to create a successful methodology. Together, these resources produce a synergy that’s powerful enough to create something exceptional.
We were the first and continue to be the only method that successfully combines high-performance concepts and practices. We came to this solution ahead of the curve because we are imperfect humans doing our best to practice what we teach. We are not trying to create something new, we are trying to take what genuinely works in order to help others perform at their absolute best.
You may get a great job because you’re talented, but you keep your job (or get promoted) because of your soft skills
What are the body and mind benefits?
The DeRose Method is a proposal emphasizing quality of life, good habits and attitudes, good relationships, good nutrition, good physical fitness & health, and good culture. Our performance, quality of life, happiness and self-realization are impacted by so much more than can be captured by the concept of body and mind. In fact, our school teaches that we have several dimensions of different natures, substances and levels of subtlety, of which the most important are: physical, emotional, mental and intuitional. This pedagogic explanation describing the different dimensions of Man is interesting to the intellectually inclined but it’s not nearly as important as simply improving your behaviors, habits, attitudes, and interactions with the world you exist in.
Our techniques have a positive impact on the individual’s overall health and well-being, and although that is great, the fact remains that these results only impact the individual. On the other hand, by adopting good behaviors, habits, and attitudes that boost performance and quality of life, you become an instrument for good in all of your social circles, including your professional life and beyond. Doors of opportunity begin to open to you when your example creates shock waves that positively impact all degrees of your social circles. The benefits of this are immeasurable and often go unnoticed but make no mistake, they are as real as anything else in this world. You may get a great job because you’re talented, but you keep your job (or get promoted) because of your soft skills.
Who would best benefit from attending a DeRose class?
Our demographic varies, but they all have these things in common – they are ‘positively’ unsatisfied, in that they are overall happy, but realize that they can take their life to the next level with the right knowledge and tools. They’re also individuals who enjoy the small things in life as much as anything else. They give their best to everything they do because they want the best in life. They’re pro-active, thoughtful, kind, ambitious, and not afraid to face the challenges of a chaotic city, such as, New York. They’re people who don’t expect the world to be perfect for them yet strive for perfection as an ideal, not a destination.
Initially, I recommend no less than three small group or private activities per week. Think about how much time you would need to dedicate to learning another language or piano? If it’s worth doing at all, it’s worth doing well. After the first conversational lesson and practical class, you’ll begin to practice 24 hours a day. We consider the school to be a laboratory. What you learn with us is for the real world, otherwise you wasted your time and mine.
Nothing’s more frustrating than to see someone held back because they can’t commit to themselves, their ideals and objectives, but they can fully commit to working tirelessly for someone else’s, to the detriment of their physical and mental health.
To be on top of your game you need to tap into your best
What are the different types of classes?
Our schools offer a diverse collection of activities and classes geared towards developing the key pillars of human performance. These activities are available in both individual and group settings, on-site or online. The activities vary from conversational lessons about meditation, stress management or emotional competence, and practical classes that help in developing optimal utilization of the respiratory system, strength, flexibility, rejuvenation and recovery, visualization of archetypes and objectives, focus and meditation.
What are your lifestyle tips for businesswomen who travel often?
Create an adaptable routine that you can take anywhere. This is important because to be on top of your game you need to tap into your best. We create compact routines for our members that can take as little as 8 minutes.
For example, the archetype mentalization is a great technique for an entrepreneur who travels often. For this technique, first, abstract yourself from your immediate surroundings and begin to imagine, like a detailed movie scene, the key moment when you are getting the result that you desire. The more detail the better, awakening as many senses as possible, visualize the ideal body language, experience the ideal attitude and emotional state, recreating the flawless scenario for success, the archetype.
When it comes to entrepreneurs and startups, the attitude you must have is determination
What are your lifestyle tips for someone launching a startup?
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s in the best interest of your business to neglect your family life, your friends, your intimate partnership, your community, for the sake of giving 110% to your startup.
Most people who do that end up failing anyway, leaving yourself impoverished socially, emotionally and financially. Money comes and goes. If your startup fails, at least you’ll be socially and emotionally rich. If you’re a pleasant, easy going and considerate person, your friends and family will want to help if you are in a tough spot, inviting you over for dinner and a movie, or perhaps even letting you stay in their extra bedroom while your get back on your feet.
Lastly, it’s not about what happens to you, it’s about how you respond. When it comes to entrepreneurs and startups, the attitude you must have is determination. Don’t you ever give up. It’s not a problem if you fail at something. Every failure results in an acquired attribute. The problem is when you give up. The primary difference between success and failure is not talent or quality of the company’s service or product, it’s that the people who failed gave up first. I always reflect and consult other experts for advice when I struggle to reach my goals. If I fail at something I evaluate and adjust, if I fail more than about 50 times then I redirect my energy to a different project or plan of action, but I never give up on anything I believe in.
Photography courtesy of John Chisenhall
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