Randy McNamara: a Landmark Forum Leader on News Now

Landmark Forum Leader Randy McNamara was recently interviewed by the News Now News Magazine show (105.5 FM in Toronto, Canada) on November 10 about Landmark Education. Landmark Education News has obtained a transcript of the show, which is shown here.

Interviewer (Payal Doshi): Good afternoon. Welcome to News Now, your News Magazine Show for Monday, November 10, 2008. Thanks for joining us. Hosting today is myself, Payal Doshi. As well, we’re also going to be speaking to the Vice President of Landmark Education, which is located here in Toronto, as well.

His name is Randy McNamara and he’s going to talk to us a little bit about what we can expect with that organization, talk about big moments in life. We’re going to talk to Randy, who is on the line with us from Landmark Education and he will talk to us about some inspiring things that Landmark Education does here.

Randy, thank you so much for joining us today.

Randy McNamara: You’re very welcome. It’s good to be here.

Interviewer: Great to have you on. So if you could tell us a little bit about your organization, Landmark Education and what you guys do.

Randy McNamara: Well, Landmark Education is an international training and development company. We offer our programs in 100 cities, 20 countries around the world in seven different languages. And our education is called the Curriculum for Living and it’s coaching that allows people to live a really extraordinary life. That’s the short way to say it, Payal.

Interviewer: It definitely is. And what do you think, why is it so important for people to engage themselves with Landmark Education? What are some things that you guys do that sort of inspire them to continue on?

Randy McNamara: The important thing is that people have things that they really want to make a different with that really mattered to them in their lives. And there’s some things about which people become resigned or they put up with because they’re just going to tolerate and put up with it.

And there’s some things that we’re just plain ineffective at dealing with. And what we do with people is we work with them so they get whole new ways to act in those situations so they can resolve that. For example, people that take our programs are able – or report that they have much more courage.

And when we talk about courage in our programs, we don’t talk about being without fear because courageous people aren’t people that have no fear. They’re people who have fear and they take action. And we work with people so they can take action in those places that matter to them.

Same thing about self confidence. When people are at home with themselves and they’re confident with themselves, they can take the actions that really matter to them. And we have people with – another outcome of our program is that people have a real peace of mind. They’re able to stay with and stay the course of the things that matter to them.

That just gives you just a flavor of it, Payal.

Interviewer: It definitely does. There have been so many inspiring stories. If you have one that you can recall offhand about some of the things that they’ve learned from Landmark and they take with them in taking action in being confident with themselves, what would that be?

Randy McNamara: Well, there is one thing that comes to mind. There was a person down who had lost their leg in an auto accident, which is a terrible thing. (Inaudible) her leg in an auto accident, and then she learned about the earthquake that happened in India back a few years ago. And she – because we teach people to think new possibilities, to step outside of their normal ways of thinking, she said to herself, “Listen. How can I make a difference?”

And then she thought, “Well, I’ll bet a whole bunch of people like myself have had improved legs over the years and improved arms. I bet we’ve got arms and legs in our attics.” And so, she created a community project, which is inside one of our programs, which is called the Self Expression and Leadership Program where you engage other people in how they could think beyond the norm.

To make a long story short, she flew to India with an entire cargo plane full of arms and legs and a team of doctors and they fitted 1,000 people with arms and legs.

Interviewer: That is very inspiring – I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say because you’ve taught so much with your organization and the way in which you guys also go beyond just the corporate aspect of it and it’s about personal relationships that you build with people, as well as organizational interests, talks for better communities.

And talk a bit about – talk a little bit about how that all works together and coincides into this great thing about leadership in self expression.

Randy McNamara: Well, I think the first thing, Payal, is that if your own life isn’t nurturing and fulfilling to you, you don’t have any interest in anything beyond that. So the program starts with you taking on having your own life, being nurturing and satisfying to you. And one of the biggest things that holds people back from being nurtured and satisfied is areas of their life where they have regrets.

You know, “I should have done that,” or, “I shouldn’t have done this,” or, “I should have said that,” or, “I shouldn’t have said this.” And in some cases, there’s even things where you resent somebody. You could even resent yourself.

And we work with people so they’re able to take that and put it behind them, to let go of their resentments, to let go of their regrets so they are free and nurtured and fulfilled personally. And then they’re happy personally. Then it leads to taking actions beyond the personal.

Interviewer: It definitely does. And I mean if people are interested in getting involved, how can they go about doing so? What are the specific steps that they should take in going through this process to better educate themselves with Landmark?

Randy McNamara: Well, first of all, it’s not something you get involved. Landmark Education is an educational company and we have our courses. We have our flagship course, which is called the Landmark Forum. It’s three days and one night. It’s a Friday, a Saturday, Sunday, and a Tuesday evening.

And what happens in that course is that you get the tools to put the past behind you and invent entirely new futures for yourself and your life. And that’s easily accessible. We have a website called www.LandmarkEducation.com. On that website, there’s lots of different information including about projects that these people have done.

But there is, on the home page, an introduction to the Landmark Forum, which tells you how the education works. You can actually go inside a course and see one of the leaders leading it. And that’s the way people could initially get exposed to Landmark.

Interviewer: And as you’ve mentioned before, it’s in 125 locations located across 20 countries worldwide and we do have a location here in Toronto, as well. So for people that are interested, they can always, as you mentioned, go onto the website and go through there, see are they interested in taking a course and going about it that way.

And I mean if there’s one message that you would want people to know about the program, what would that be?

Randy McNamara: The one message is that anything is possible. But the big thing that happens from people taking part in Landmark is not only do you recognize that anything is possible. You get the tools to take action on what’s possible. You know, lots of people see things that are possible, but then they talk themselves out of it because they don’t want to take any part in it.

They can’t – don’t see how they can take any action. The bottom line with Landmark is you see what’s possible and you take action to realize it.

Interviewer: And we’ve noticed, as you’ve mentioned, so many people take actions in their own lives and realize it’s sort of like a 360 turnaround. I mean they must come in there being one person, and then after taking the course, just become someone completely different.

Randy McNamara: It’s not that. It’s you become who you really are, who you’ve always thought of yourself as being. Your greatest and most – your deepest wish for yourself, your deepest view of yourself becomes expressed rather than anything other than that.

Interviewer: It must be sort of like a peaceful spiritual moment for everyone who does participate in the program.

Randy McNamara: Well, it definitely provides some peace of mind, because instead of being worried about how things are going to turn out you take action on making things turn out now. And the end result is you’ve got to take – you get to take those areas that you’ve been trying to change, you’ve been putting up with.

The areas which you’ve been resigned about or maybe tolerating, the things that you were going to get around to one day, you get into action and get those things dealt with. So you get new freedom and new power.

Interviewer: Yes, definite – you definitely do. So once again, if you could just provide us with the website that people can access to get more information that would be amazing.

Randy McNamara: www, you know, the world wide web, Landmark Education.com, and right there on the homepage is an introduction to the Landmark Forum.

Interviewer: Great. Thank you so much for taking the time out to do this with us today.

Randy McNamara: Well, it was really fun for me and I enjoyed our talk.

Interviewer: I appreciate it. We will definitely try to get you on again later down the line.

Randy McNamara: Oh, that would be great.

Interviewer: Yeah, definitely, for sure. Thank you so much.

 

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13 comments

Carma Dillon says:

Randy McNamara was my est trainer in Boston 1980. He was unforgettable, the training was the most enlightening experiences about human nature that I have ever had.

Jeff Lynch says:

Like Carma Dillon I had Randy as a trainer with EST & the Advanced Course. Bar none, it was the best experience I have had & it forever changed my life. I can never thank him enough – I went from being basically being homeless to a very successful business owner. It was hard work but had the tools to understand responsibility & integrity.

Kathy Siewert says:

Randy,I have thought about you so often since my husband and I took EST under you. How you started out telling us we were a bunch of assholes because our lives didn’t work (and it was true, at least of mine)–and, how by the end of it I said to myself, “This guy really loves us, all of us.” Thank you so much. You made the amazingly life I have now possible. I am still astonished by all I learned. BE HERE NOW. THAT’S YOU. LISTEN TO YOUR TAPE RUNNING…

Bob Railey says:

 Randy, I fook the EST training in Miami in 1980, you were the trainer and did not let out until 6.30 in the morning. I GOT IT,AND STILL HAVE IT. I also had you as my trainer  in the first Forum. I can never thank you enough , it was life changing it never stops paying off. You and Werner give me a gift that has given me more than I ever dreamed of, Love you man. BOB RAILEY

Cort says:

Love to hear Randy. I did alot of assisting at the LA Center when he was based there with Jerome Downs. For me, as with with so many others, he more than anyone else, really is the face of the Forums for me.

Rachel Berman says:

I’ve heard about the EST training from my parents and the book of EST…reviewed the Advanced Course last weekend with Randy and heard about his experience with founding EST with Werner. The est training seems like it was intense, and my dad said if you had Randy you’d be in there until the early hours of the morning as someone said. I really loved the Advanced Course last weekend and Randy as a leader, and I got so much from it this time. It had an impact.

don says:

like the others i had randy doing the EST thing in NYC in ’82… powerful stuff!!! i just saw a news blurb about a girl in texas that walked into a plane propeller… how many remember randy’s incident???…. i hope randy and the girl can hook up for a chat (fyi, i saw the article on comcast’s home page 12/9/11)

Clergue Jones says:

I took the est Training in December, 1981, and participated for 25 years, mostly as an assistant, eventually as a course supervisor. I just love Randy. I especially remember going out to a grocery store to get a fresh carrot for him to hang from a string in front of his nose, chasing the future! I know that the course from “est” to the Forum has been in a constant state of evolution. BUT/AND…I have a concern. Two people very close to me just CANNOT get that “life is meaningless, and it’s meaningless that it’s meaningless and have failed to get [in my words]that life has the meaning you give to it. So they turned to a “religious higher power”…the Bible, Koran or whatever for “answers”. It is my hope that the Forum as now designed more clearly addresses this. Randy, you are the best!!! Clergue Jones

Al Lowe says:

Dear Randy,

Greetings from Al Lowe or as the late

Ed Mcmahon would say, HI yo.

When I saw you in August 2003 leading a

New York Special Evening about the Landmark

Forum, you were funny, energetic, and

wonderful as always.

You led my first weekend in 1976

when I did the EST TRAINING IN NEW YORK

CITY. Ron Bynum led the second weekend.

You were both fabulous and I thank you

both.

BEST WISHES,

Al Lowe

The last time I saw you in person

was in August 2003 leading a special evening

about the Landmark Forum.

You were witty, energetic,a

Alex Lowe says:

Hi Randy.

How are you?

I just want to acknowledge you

and the entire Landmark Forum Body

for your love, energy, great wit,

and commitment you demonstrate to

the world being a better place.

Also, a special acknowledge to Ron Bynum.

You led the first weekend of my EST Training in New York back in 1976.

Ron led the second weekend.

You both did a fabulous job.

Thank you

Best wishes,

Al Lowe

greg geisler says:

hello randy
many years and it seems like a lifetime thanks so much for your contribution to my life living in bozeman, mt for about 10 years now thanks again for the great work that you do and may your family be well
greg geisler
the soundman

John Bennett says:

Hello Randy,
You led my EST Training ( Before it became Forum ) July, 1982. This was
after your aircraft propeller encounter. The training plus mock-training follow-ups
have truly made a difference in my life. Thank you.

Jerry Joiner led one of my second weekend sessions. Where is he now?

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