At the heart of The Workshop philosophy lies the idea that most of us want to have a life that is interesting, fulfilling and most important, one that allows us a sense of vitality. It is our view that vitality is a personal and dynamic combination of physical, mental and spiritual energy. Our ability to think and act in a lively and creative manner is propelled by this combination of forces, which enhance our inner strengths and self-esteem. During the course of our work, we have found there are five significant aspects of our lives that need attention. They are issues concerning, Time, Ideals and Values, Balance, Empowerment and Ties or connections. These words form the acronym, T.I.B.E.T.

The five sections of T.I.B.E.T. organize thinking about how to approach and handle change. They form a synergistic whole, each section becoming more powerful when combined with one or more of the others. Time, Ideals, Balance, Empowerment, and Ties, the concepts that form T.I.B.E.T., are always interconnected. None stands alone.

 
Each of us measures time in a slightly different way. Some of us are linear and measure time in terms of dates and anniversaries. Some of us think of time in a more abstract form, a circular passage of moments we watch and cannot control. Some measure time by what is left to accomplish, goals to be reached. It is important to discover how you think about time and how it influences and is influenced by the other T.I.B.E.T issues.

 
Ideals and values helps to set a frame around what we are working to accomplish, around our emphasis on particular aspects of our lives and work, around the obvious discrepancies between what we espouse and what we are actually doing. Our values discover and settle on goals, on how we obtain and use money and other resources, on who and what we cherish, what we discard.

 
So few of us believe there is any balance in our lives. We often struggle to make it happen. Balance is much broader than how much time we spend with our families versus how much time at work. We all have some type of internal balance operating that relates to how we value ourselves and how we are valued by others.

 
Empowerment, a word so over-used it has undergone a crisis of credibility. What we are looking at is our openness to ideas, our continued creativity, our ability to encourage those around us to do the same. This reciprocity is the key to continued growth, learning, liveliness and health.

 
Ties or connections provide the context in which all this change occurs. How the other issues presented impact the nature of our connections to loved ones is critical. The same is true for our ties to other forms of community. And finally, our connection to ourselves. How tuned we are to our own being is important as we go through changes. To our detriment, we often lose this self-awareness that keeps us safe, more focused and ultimately healthier and happier.