Lady Gaga Starts Foundation to Fight Bullying

In the wake of the Jamey Rodemeyer suicide, pop sensation Lagy Gaga has announced the formation of the Born This Way Foundation, dedicated to empowering youth and inspiring bravery.

Titled after the hit song of the same name, Lady Gaga will be directing the foundation with her mother, Cynthia Germanotta; other entities involved are The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

In a statement, the foundation said, "by addressing issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development and will utilize digital mobilization as one of the means to create positive change."

I couldn't be happier to hear of someone as popular and influential in the media as Lady Gaga getting involved; more importantly, she gets it.

Notice how her focus is not on stopping bullying or prevention?  There is a rule in the science of the sub conscious regarding affirmations or self-talk that says you cannot stop doing something or say something negative to yourself and expect it to work.

For example, if you say to yourself, "I am quitting smoking", what your subconscious hears is "smoking";  by saying the affirmation to yourself in that way, you are actually reinforcing the self-image of being a smoker. But, if you say to yourself, "I am a non-smoker", what your mind hears is "non-smoker".  You are reinforcing the image of being a non-smoker.

If you go back the Foundation's statement, you notice how almost every position was about empowering the individual? Almost everything was framed in such a way as to strengthen and prepare a person to face bullying, instead of stopping or preventing.  The only program that did not quite fit was anti-bullying.

You will notice that I rarely if ever use the term "anti-bullying". I don't believe you can "anti-" anything; I believe a stronger position or framing in the mind is to be "Pro-" whatever it is you want to have more of.  Pro-money, pro-health, pro-successful relationships and so on.

Congratulations to Lady Gaga, her mother and all the entities involved with her foundation.  Let's hope it helps those who are in need of learning how to stand up to the bullies in their lives, no matter what form they may take.

Best,

Sensei

P.S. – I have a very "Pro-" personal power stance on this subject, too and I cover it in depth in the book, "Bullies Suck".  The key to dealing with the bullies in your life is to be strong and healthy on the inside as well as the outside. Check out "Bullies Suck" and you  will see what I mean…