Radical Responsibility: How to Move Beyond Blame, Fearlessly Live Your Highest Purpose, and Become an Unstoppable Force for Good

by Fleet Maull Ph.D., Daniel Siegel M.D. (Foreword by)

Overview

An Invitation to Discover Personal Freedom, Authentic Relationships, and Limitless Possibility

What is the greatest obstacle to your fulfillment, success, and happiness? "It's the belief," teaches Fleet Maull, "that your current situation, whatever it is, has the power to determine your future."

Before he was a revered meditation teacher, Fleet Maull served 14 years in prison for drug trafficking. And during that time, he embarked on a path of transformation and service that today has helped tens of thousands—from inmates to hospice patients to top-level business leaders. With Radical Responsibility, he invites us to experience for ourselves the life-changing journey from victim to co-creator.

Here, he guides us step-by-step to shift our fear-based conditioning into the habits of courage, compassion, and positive change. Join him to delve deeply into:

• The complete Radical Responsibility® method for breaking free of your learned limitations and accessing limitless possibility
• Discovering basic goodness— your indestructible inner resource for happiness, connection, and strength
• Fleet Maull's mindfulness-based emotional intelligence (MBEI) model—neuroscience-informed principles and tools for shedding shame and blame and embracing self-awareness, resilience, and freedom from our self-created suffering
• Getting off the Drama Triangle and into the Empowerment Zone—profound practices to transform interpersonal conflicts
• Creating your life plan—a clear and achievable map for living your highest purpose, and many other chapters of real-world-tested insights and strategies

If you would like to take your life to the next level and truly optimize your health, relationships, career, and other life pursuits, Radical Responsibility will give you the expert guidance to move beyond the inner walls of your beliefs and realize your full potential.

This book includes access to guided audio sessions for many of the exercises, available online.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683641698
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/14/2019
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	202,682
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Fleet Maull
Fleet Maull, PhD, CMT-P, is an author, consultant, trainer, meditation teacher, and executive coach who facilitates deep transformation for individuals and organizations through his philosophy and program of Radical Responsibility®. He is a tireless and dedicated servant leader working for positive social transformation.

Fleet Maull is a senior mindfulness meditation teacher in two highly respected traditions with ancient roots and international scope. He is an acharya (senior Dharma teacher) in the Shambhala International meditation community, a global movement with over 200 retreat and meditation centers worldwide. He was a senior student of its founder Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

He is also a Roshi (Zen master) and dharma successor of Roshi Bernie Glassman in the Zen Peacemakers community, an international movement integrating Zen with social action and peacemaking throughout the world, with deep lineage roots in the Soto and Rinzai Zen lineages of Japan.

Acharya Maull has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 1972 and teaching meditation since 1981. He leads programs and retreats for newcomers and advanced students around the world.

Dr. Maull has developed cutting-edge, mindfulness-based leadership training, consulting, and coaching programs, which he delivers in diverse business, nonprofit, and government settings. This includes his pioneering work in mindfulness-based emotional intelligence (MBEI) training programs for prisoners and mindfulness-based wellness and resiliency (MBWR)® programs for corrections and law enforcement professionals.

He is an International Mindfulness Teachers Association (IMTA) certified professional teacher. He is a holder of the Way of Council as well as a certified trainer with New Line Consulting, The Prison Mindfulness Institute, the Center for Mindfulness in Public Safety, and The Event Training. Learn more at fleetmaull.com.

Table of Contents

List of Figures xi

Foreword Daniel J. Siegel, MD xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction 1

Part I The Beginning-Innate Goodness and Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence

Chapter 1 There's Nothing Wrong with You 9

Opening Exercise: Part 1 10

Opening Exercise: Part 2 11

Exercise: Opening Meditation 14

Chapter 2 The Power of Presence 17

Exercise: Monkey Mind 19

Exercise: Coming Home 22

Chapter 3 The Power of Empathic Awareness 29

Part II The Challenge-How We Ended Up Where We Are

Chapter 4 The Human Condition-a Fragile Beginning 47

Exercise: Defining Moments, Part 1 49

Exercise: Defining Moments, Part 2 55

Exercise: Listening to Your Self- Talk to Discover Limiting Core Beliefs 57

Chapter 5 Stuck on the Drama Triangle Again 59

Exercise: Familiar Dramas 63

Exercise: My Victim Stories 65

Exercise: My Persecutor Stories 66

Exercise: My Rescuer Stories 70

Part III Taking Charge-Becoming the Captain of Your Own Ship

Chapter 6 Getting Off the Drama Triangle 77

Exercise: Drama Warnings 79

Exercise: The Vow 80

Exercise: Counting to Ten 81

Exercise: Own Your Feelings 83

Exercise: Your List of Universal Needs 84

Exercise: Boundaries (Good and Poor) 88

Chapter 7 Taking Charge of Your Destiny-Brain Science 101 91

Exercise: Emotional Triggers 95

Exercise: Belly Breathing 104

Exercise: Straw Breathing 105

Chapter 8 Ruts and Grooves-Rewiring the Brain for Success 107

Exercise: Breaking a Habit 108

Exercise: Healthy and Unhealthy Habits 109

Exercise: Habit Transformation 120

Part IV Embracing the Path of Radical Responsibility

Chapter 9 Transforming the Victim Mindset 127

Exercise: Victim Story 129

Exercise: Taking Accountability 134

Chapter 10 The Nature of Circumstances 139

Exercise: Circumstances Are Neutral 143

Exercise: Patterns of Blame Shifting 146

Exercise: Emptying Your Resentment Knapsack 148

Exercise: Justifications 150

Exercise: Being Right 150

Chapter 11 Discovering Authentic Relationship 153

Exercise: Feelings and Needs 156

Exercise: Unenforceable Rules 161

Exercise: Unhooked 163

Exercise: Authentic Relationships 166

Chapter 12 The Empowerment Triangle and Radical Possibility 169

Exercise: Discovering the Co-Creator 172

Exercise: Safe, Resourced, and Connected 176

Exercise: Discovering the Challenger 180

Exercise: Actualizing the Coach 183

Part V Realizing the Heart-Mind and the Way Forward

Chapter 13 Discovering the Power of Compassion and Resilience 193

Exercise: Loving-Kindness Practice 203

Exercise: Compassion Contemplation Practice 206

Exercise: Compassion Contemplations for Working with Enmity 207

Exercise: Sympathetic Joy Practice 209

Exercise: Equanimity Contemplative Practice 210

Chapter 14 Designing and Sustaining a Transformational Life 215

Exercise: Life Purpose 217

Exercise: Burn the Boats 218

Exercise: Practice Record 222

Exercise: Current Ceremony 224

Exercise: New Transformative Life Ceremony 224

Notes 235

Additional Resources for Your Path 241

About the Author 245

Editorial Reviews

At once inspiring and practical, this book masterfully shows us how to thrive in the face of adversity. Based on insights from ancient wisdom traditions, modern neuroscience, contemporary psychology, and his own remarkable journey from maximum-security prison inmate to transformative teacher, Fleet Maull provides a wealth of accessible tools anyone can use to discover their own basic goodness and engage more fruitfully in the world. With warmth, skill, and humility, he provides step-by-step instructions to help us courageously face reality, heal our wounds, and live richer, happier, more fulfilled, and effective lives.” —Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems
 
“I’ve been teaching about the importance of looking at everything through the lens of personal responsibility for decades. Taking personal responsibility is the only ‘above the line’ perspective. Anything else—blaming, shaming, or justifying—is decidedly ‘below the line,’ and will only hold you back and limit your opportunities for advancement and growth. Fleet addresses this issue beautifully in Radical Responsibility, and I wholeheartedly endorse his work.” —Marshall Thurber, cofounder of Burklyn, student of Buckminster Fuller and W. Edwards Deming, and creator of Money and You®
 
“This important work by Fleet Maull is full of practical wisdom and is written from his deep experience as a teacher, practitioner, and guide of corporate executives, chaplains, and those serving others. It is a rare treasure and a book for today and for all time.” —Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD, abbot of Upaya Zen Center and author of Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet
 
“Radical Responsibility is an empowering and heartfelt guidebook to living more fully, a systematic training for practical liberation in your life.” —Jack Kornfield, PhD, author of A Path with Heart
 
“This is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. With great clarity and heart, it combines brain science, psychology, and soulful wisdom to help readers grow inner strength and inner peace. Fleet Maull is a friendly guide—someone who has seen both the worst of life and its highest possibilities, and who brings gritty good humor, deep insight, and practical suggestions to every page.” —Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness
 
“It's a rare privilege to read the work of someone who walks the talk as fully as Fleet Maull. The transforming wisdom of his extraordinary life experience—from dharma practitioner to prison inmate to spiritual mentor—suffuses every page of this wonderful book. Engaging, pragmatic, and deeply insightful, Radical Responsibility shows us all how to take responsibility for the habit patterns of our lives. With personal stories, psychological research, and a range of meditative exercises, Fleet illuminates the possibilities of living a freer and more joyful life. Highly recommended.” —Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening
 
“Fleet Maull has lived a life of transformation. Emerging from a drama-filled life that led to imprisonment, he knows deeply what I call the ‘Dreaded Drama Triangle’—originally the Karpman Drama Triangle—and its roles of Victim, Persecutor, and Rescuer. His journey of awakening to his essence as a Creator should be an inspiration to all. He is an exemplar of TED* (*The Empowerment Dynamic®), and through Radical Responsibility, he serves as a Challenger and Coach to readers to become Creators in their own lives.” —David Emerald (Womeldorff), author of The Power of TED*(*The Empowerment Dynamic)
 
“Following the path of Radical Responsibility—a gift to us from author Fleet Maull's amazing real-life backstory—we learn to own our choices and create the freedom to craft our lives to be truly happy, reach our highest potential, and be a force for good that can change the world.” —Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Real Love
 
“Fleet Maull draws on his unique life journey and remarkable expertise, sharing with us how we can find equanimity and compassion in the maelstrom of our days. Radical Responsibility offers a sound and original blueprint for a life well lived.” —Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence
 
“A practical, direct, and accessible guide to human flourishing from someone who faced tremendous adversity and emerged from this challenge with vigor, equanimity, and the deepest passion to share his wisdom for the benefit of others. This book is a gift for anyone facing adversity, which is all of us!” —Richard J. Davidson, PhD, coauthor of TheEmotional Life of Your Brain and Altered Traits; founder and director, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison
 
“Fleet Maull’s creative and time-tested framework for reining in your own mind’s inflammatory, self-destructive, imprisoning tendencies can be powerfully freeing—and healing. All you need to do is put it into practice. He guides you in exactly how to do that and sustain it for life. You couldn’t be in better hands or have a more capable and authentic guide.” —Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, author of Full Catastrophe Living and Mindfulness for All
 
“The path of Radical Responsibility evolves our capacity to respond—with wisdom, courage, and love—to the suffering of our world. Author Fleet Maull guides us masterfully in awakening from our separateness and inspires a profound dedication to caring for ourselves and each other.” —Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge
 

From the Publisher