What’s In A Name? or Tipping Prohibited

What’s In A Name? or Tipping Prohibited

I met a guy once whose name was Christmas Day. I kid you not. You have to wonder what kind of consciousness Ma and Pop Day had to name their baby that. They must have thought it was a good idea at the time, though.

Feel free to post other good examples you know of where parents have ensured a life of endless embarrassment for their kids.

Names are important, though. They connect you with something. In the case of poor old Christmas, it chained him forever to a date: the 25th of December. Surnames such as Smith, Taylor, Ferrier, Carter and countless others are linked to a trade or profession. Add ‘son’ on the end of a name and that defines the relationship between a son and father. Smithson, Johnson, Bateson, etc.

(Women don’t get the same kind of acknowledgment. Who every heard of someone called Mr. Smithdaughter?)

Sadly, I could never find much to link my name to. The first time I saw my name used in public was a sign by the side of the road that said very emphatically, “Tipping Prohibited.” I immediately felt a pang of rejection by that and the feeling was reinforced every time I drove by it, which was every day, that being my route to work. Maybe that was the origin of my core-negative belief that no-one loves me. (Just kidding.)

Only later in life did Malcolm Gladwell give me the opportunity to feel that my name might have a more positive meaning. That was when he coined the term, “the Tipping Point.” This has become part of the lexicon now and people who like to appear smart use it all the time. (A bit like the “boots-on-the-ground phrase you hear politicans use over and over rather than just say troops.)

The Tipping Point seemed to indicate a moment of great importance, so it did a lot for my self-esteem. It also connoted some kind of transformation like the shift you get with Radical Forgiveness. So, I took the hint and coined the term The Tipping Method, to describe the way we deliver Radical Forgiveness.

This name has stuck in some countries. In Germany, for instance, Radical Forgiveness is known as The Tipping Methode, and the trained Radical Forgiveness coaches are known as “Tipping Coaches.”

Since 1998, the name of my flagship workshop, the one that dissolves just about any emotional problem people are likely to have, is The Miracles Workshop. While it obviously hints of the possibility you might get a miracle, there is no mention of either the Tipping Method or Radical Forgiveness in that name. It could be some kind of magic show or something.

The name did have some merit in that it originally made a connection with the book, which at the time was entitled, Radical Forgiveness, Making Room for the Miracle. So, for the people who read the book, the workshop having the name The Miracles Workshop had some meaning.

But then, in 2009, Sounds True bought the rights and became the publisher and, much to my disappointment, kept the main title as Radical Forgiveness, but changed the subtitle to: A Revolutionary Five-Stage Process to Heal Relationships, Let Go of Anger and Blame, and Find Peace in Any Situation.

True, it says a lot about Radical Forgiveness but it’s hard to remember and there is no mention of a miracle. (By the way, the ‘miracle’ is the shift in perception where you get to see the perfection in what happened.)

So, now that there is no longer any connection to anything, I am flirting with the idea of changing the name of the workshop. Instead of the Miracles workshop, I am thinking of calling it Breaking Free With Radical Forgiveness. The sub-title will be – A Workshop That Gives You a Direct Pathway to Freedom, Peace and Happiness.

What do you think? It has the merit of having Radical Forgiveness in it, which is our brand, and ‘Breaking Free’ speaks to people who feel stuck and want to be free of all their emotional baggage so they can live their life to the full again. It addresses their real problem and offers a solution.

How do you feel about this change? Are you in favor of a change or would you advise sticking to the old title? I am nervous about making the change and would welcome your thoughts.