Authenticity - Authors Questions & Answers

Authors Questions & Answers

1) Who are George & Sedena Cappannelli?
2) Why did they write Authenticity?
3) What is Authenticity about?.
4) What Are Some Of The Simple Strategies For Greater Meaning and Purpose?
5) Who are some of the famous people and well-known organizations they have worked with?
6) How has this work changed their lives?
7) What other books are the Cappannelli's working on?
8) What primary piece of advice do George and Sedena have for viewers, listeners and readers?

1) Who are George & Sedena Cappannelli?

They are two of the countries leading corporate consultants and executive and personal coaches. They are also writers, motivational speakers, political advisors, artists and healers. (For a complete bio, click on The Authors button on this page.)

2) Why did they write Authenticity?

Because they believe our world is in serious trouble and that far too many of us live lives that lack the kind of meaning and purpose that we know it is our right as human beings to have. They also describe their own process in this way. “We come to the writing of this book from individual worlds that have presented us with a number of different life experiences and a lot of challenges. We are students of life, spiritual seekers, business consultants, executive and personal coaches, athletes, artists, brothers, sisters, writers, friends, children of middle class families and much more. In some of these roles we have been fortunate enough to learn a lot from our own mistakes and in other instances we have been graced to learn a great deal through our work with a number of world leaders, high performers in a wide range of fields and some of the leading organizations in both the private and public sectors. Taken together this experience has driven home one primary and undeniable point – it is not only desirable, but essential – to health, sanity and success in life – to discover and live lives that are authentic.

Why essential? Because those who seek to create greater meaning and purpose in their lives live fuller, longer, more joyful, healthier and more rewarding existences. They learn a ton and contribute the fruits of this learning and true inspiration to the rest of us. And of particular importance, they add significantly to the quality and grace of the lives of everyone they touch.

Oprah Winfrey, who is a terrific example of someone who adds quality and grace to the lives of others says, “What we are all striving for is authenticity, a spirit-to-spirit connection. Linda Ronstadt whose music has reached out to so many once gave the following advice to another equally well known performer. “Don’t worry about being original,” she said, “focus on being authentic and all the rest will follow.

3) What is Authenticity about?

It is about strategies that can assist people to find greater meaning and purpose and value in life. Their experience makes it clear that those among us who have the courage to seek their destiny often break through to more evolved levels of consciousness while those who do not end up leading lives that are far more constricted and far less rewarding.

It’s also about learning how to love fully and joyfully, balance our emotions and communicate constructively with ourselves and others. It’s about learning how to build consensus, practice collaboration, develop teamwork, craft truly aligned visions, identify and live by fundamental values, and create practical strategies for our lives and our careers.

It is also about learning how to identify ways to best serve our families, our organizations and our communities. How to create more constructive rules of social engagement, contribute to harmonious global systems and reduce and eliminate the many “isms” that stand between us and a true and deep relationship with each other. In short, this book is about how to listen, observe, communicate, share, inquire, meditate, love and of special importance, find comfort in the silence from which all true wisdom comes.

4) What Are Some Of The Simple Strategies For Greater Meaning and Purpose?

Part One: Exploring Ten Beliefs That May Be Limiting Your Life
  • Authenticity Is...
  • The Only Game In Town
  • A Most Critical Ingredient
  • This School Called Earth
  • The Secret Is In The Basics
  • The Fools Gold Of Happiness
  • Who Is (Really) In Charge?
  • Hope Is A Thing With Thorns
  • Everybody's Got A Jones
  • Approval, The Deadliest Of Games

Part Two: Penetrating Those Thorny Myths That Limit Authenticity
  • God Ain't No Lady Or Gentleman!
  • What Do You (Really) Believe?
  • To Thine Own Self Be True
  • The I Of The Beholder
  • Love, By Any Other Name Is Not The Same
  • In The Name Of Loving
  • Original Sin
  • Death, The Grand Daddy Of All Beliefs

Part Three: Turning Deliberately Toward Greater Purpose & Meaning
  • Learning To Talk With Your Self
  • Turning Toward What Scares You
  • If You're Not Here Now, You Are Nowhere
  • Moving Beyond Pain
  • Crossing The Zone Of Risk
  • What Needs To Be Done Is (Only) The Doing
  • Where Is It Written?
  • Who Cares Why...How Is The Answer!

Part Four: Practicing A Few Simple Strategies That Can Change Your Life
  • Say Yes
  • Divide And Be Conquered
  • Trust In Your Goodness!
  • Listen For Your Meaning In The Silence
  • Remember Energy Doesn't Care!
  • Surrender To Surrender
  • Know It Ain't What You Don't Know
  • Remember You Can Go Home Again
  • Explore ETC (Eternally Traveling Consciousness)
  • Live Now And Forever
  • It's As Simple As That, Olie!

5) Who are some of the famous people and well-known organizations they have worked with?

We have been graced to learn a great deal through our work with a number of people including world leaders, the people who run some of the best organizations in the world and other successful people from various disciplines. This group includes world leaders like Golda Meir, Desmond Tutu, Lech Walesa, Mother Teresa, The Dalai Lama, U.S. Senate and Presidential Candidates, Hollywood personalities, well-known artists, famous coaches and athletes and, thousands of people from the public who attend our talks and programs. Leading private sector companies like: Boeing, Disney, PepsiCo, Sun Microsystems, TRW, Digital/Compac, Oracle, The Los Angeles Times and other are included. As are government agencies and national associations like: The U.S. Army, The U.S. Navy, NASA, NOAA, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Forest Service and more.

6) How has this work changed their lives?

Here’s what George and Sedena Cappannelli have to say in answer to this question.

“It has also been clear to us from the beginning of this project that if we are going to speak on the topic of authenticity we have to live it more fully ourselves. As a result, during the writing of this book we have had to learn more about the differences in our individual beliefs and the alternate roles we play in our relationship. You will find some of these lessons captured here through the sharing of some of our personal strengths and frailties as well as those of others we have been privileged to know and work with. We have also tried to be candid about some of the places where we have hit the wall and others where we have managed to break through to new levels of harmony.

As a result, Authenticity, is a personal book and while it prods and pokes at a number of our primary institutions and social practices it is not intended as a critique of these institutions or a criticism of those who work within them and sometimes against such overwhelming odds to help the rest of us to cope with life. From our perspective, if there is any criticism or accountability for the troubled state our world is in today, it must be spread equally across all of our shoulders.

In writing these pages we have also done our best to avoid the kind of "chewing gum answers" and "feel good strategies" that tend to evaporate almost as soon as the page is turned or the speaker has left the podium. We have done our best not to pull our punches or sugarcoat our message. Frankly, we think the world already has far too much polite and politically correct information that does not advance our lives one iota. As a result, we hope these words will motivate, prompt and, at times, eve prod you into a more intimate and meaningful dialogue with yourself. For we believe that it is through this most important of all dialogues with yourself that you will discover the most direct path to the life you came here to lead

7) What other books are the Cappannelli's working on?

George and Sedena are jointly working on a new number of new projects. Their Lessons Series is made up of 7 books that capture valuable, insightful and motivational stories by men and women – both the famous and the not as famous – about how they learned to be the kind of men and women they are. They are also working on “Mastering The Games of Life” and “For The Love of Your Life.” Individually, Sedena is completing “The Portable Self-Enhancement Program” and George is at work on It’s About Time and a new novel, “Old Stones and Promises.”

8) What primary piece of advice do George and Sedena have for viewers, listeners and readers?

Treat life as a precious gift. Whether at work or at home, take advantage of each moment, of the lessons it offers and the challenges and opportunities it presents. Live each day as an opportunity to wake up to greater levels of consciousness, integrity and excellence. And above all, have the courage to listen in the silence to the wisdom of yourself and then follow that wisdom where it leads you. It is the best way to make every day, the best day of your life. And if you would like a simple way to remember this, do all that you can each day to love yourself, love what you do and love who you do it with. Where one or more of these elements is out of alignment, identify where you have stepped off the path and do what it takes to regain your balance and your alignment with your purpose and meaning for being here on this earth.