Achieving Competence And Personal Mastery
Achieving Competence And Personal Mastery The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, no matter what their chosen field.—Vince Lombardi You will only be happy, satisfied, and capable of enjoying high levels of self-confidence when you know that you are absolutely excellent at doing something that is important to yourself and others. What is it? What could it be? These are two of the great questions of life. Fortunately, you and every other person has the inborn ability to become excellent at what you do, and to achieve peak performance in your life and in your chosen field. You have the capacity to function in the “exceptional” range and to achieve mastery in any area that is important to you. The Edge of the Envelope In the world of test pilots and prototype aircraft, as described in the book and the movie The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1979), they refer continually to what is called the “envelope.” This “envelope” consists of an upper and lower edge. The upper edge marks the height and speed that any previous aircraft or jet has flown, up to the time of the most current test run. This upper edge of the “envelope” is the maximum height and speed deemed possible for a new aircraft before it theoretically comes apart in the air or malfunctions or self-destructs. The goal of the test pilot is to expand the edge of the envelope. His job is to fly ever faster and higher in order to discover the outer limits of speed, height, and endurance that a particular aircraft is capable of achieving. The test pilot continually takes the aircraft higher and faster until he feels that the plane has reached its absolute outer limits. This is where and when he pulls back to avoid destroying the aircraft, and even fatally crashing. This is called the “outer edge of the envelope” and it then becomes the “lower edge of the envelope” for the next aircraft and the next round of testing. Every aircraft, no matter how well made, has an outer limit on its capabilities. It can fly only so fast and so high, and no further. Very little can be done to expand the mechanical ability of something made of metal by the hands of man. Expand Your Envelope The major difference between you and an aircraft is that there is no “outer edge” to your personal envelope. As Emerson said, “The power which resides in man is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.” Thomas Edison said, “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” Maxwell Maltz, the author of “Psycho-Cybernetics,” said, “Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. And this power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs.” In other words, the outer limit of your envelope, or the outer limit of your potential, is not fixed in time or space, like that of an aircraft. Your limits are determined solely by your own beliefs and by your own confidence in what you think is possible for you. Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem Your self-confidence is closely connected to your self-esteem, and to “how much you like yourself.” Dr. Nathaniel Brandon calls self-esteem “your reputation with yourself.” It is how you feel about yourself and your abilities, in relation to any situation, that determines how much you like yourself and consider yourself to be a valuable and worthwhile person. The more you likeyourself, the better you do. The flip side of self-esteem is what psychologists call “self-efficacy.” Self-efficacy is a measure of how effective and competent you feel you are to perform a particular task or to achieve your goals. This is called “performance-based self-esteem.” What this means is that if your self-confidence and your belief in yourself are determined by your self-esteem or how much you like yourself, then your self-esteem is determined by how capable you feel you are in any given set of circumstances. For example, if a problem comes up at work or home and you are so familiar with it that you can solve it quickly and correctly, your self-efficacy and your self-esteem goes up. You feel more capable and confident and more willing to take on other challenges and difficulties. You feel more positive and optimistic. You feel like an excellent person. If, on the other hand, a problem or difficulty came up and you were unable to do anything to solve it, and you felt frustrated or ineffective, your self-esteem would suffer and your self-confidence would go down. You would feel negative about yourself and your abilities. You might even become angry or depressed. You would feel powerless rather than powerful. That’s why they say, in playing poker, “The winners laugh and tell jokes while the losers say, ‘shut up and deal.’ ” Build Your Own Self-Confidence The law of cause and effect applies to everything you are today and to everything that you become. If the effect that you desire is high and unshakable levels of self-confidence, then it is necessary that you engage in the same behaviours practiced by others who enjoy high and unshakable levels of self-confidence, and you will soon experience high levels of self-confidence yourself. Studies conducted on thousands of men and women who have moved from ordinary to extraordinary performance, and who have moved from feelings of inadequacy to feeling great about themselves, show that there is a direct cause-effect relationship between competence and mastery on the one hand, and self-confidence on the other. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi of the University of Chicago wrote an excellent book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008). Peak experience is a form of “natural high” that causes you to feel absolutely terrific about yourself, and
Critical Thinking: A Tool To Solve Everyday Problems
Critical Thinking: A Tool To Solve Everyday Problems What is Critical Thinking? Before you start to look at the true meaning of critical thinking, it is helpful to first have a look at how the dictionary defines the term.“The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment” As is apparent from the definition, the meaning of the word is pretty clear cut. It stands for the in depth analysis of a problem in order to arrive at the best possible solution in order to solve it. So it is safe to assume that critical thinking is meant to be used as a tool to solve everyday problems, regardless of their size and nature. Here is another definition, to help you understand the concept better. This definition is courtesy of The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking:“intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” This definition goes a step further and explains, in detail, the various steps that are involved in critical thinking. It speaks of the various elements of consideration, in terms of the number of things that you must consider, before arriving at a decision. So, to put it simply, critical thinking refers to a person observing a situation, identifying the problem, analyzing it through the lens of experience and arriving at a conclusive decision to solve it rationally. It will allow the individual to arrive at clear cut solutions to tackle these everyday problems head on and to solve them. A critical thinker will have a data bank of the various problems and will only have to think a little to retrieve the data, which will help tackle problem posed by the current situation. Critical Thinking and Intelligence Critical thinking and intelligence are believed to go hand in hand. Unfortunately, that is one of the biggest misconceptions in regard to the subject. Intelligence refers to a person being extremely capable of solving difficult problems, just with maximum use of his/her brain. Critical thinking, on the other hand, refers to people critically analyzing a situation and arriving at feasible solution, which may not necessarily be prompted by intelligence. So the two thought processes can differ in many ways and are not interdependent. An intelligent person might have lots of memories, data and information stored up, which he/she can immediately access in order to arrive at a solution. A critical thinker might not have such data readily available and will have to thoroughly analyze the situation and spend a little time in thinking of a solution. Both aspects can be critical in helping a person attain an applicable solution to the problem in question and it is just the process of getting there might differ. For example, when presented with similar problems, an intelligent person might think for just a few minutes and devise a plan to tackle the problem. A critical thinker, on the other hand, might have faced a similar problem in the past and will immediately put into action a pre-set solution to the problem. ASPECTS OF CRITICAL THINKING There are many elements that are part of the critical thinking process. Each of them is explained below: ArgumentsThe most important aspect of critical thinking is coming up with feasible arguments. Arguments are nothing but premises and conclusions. Although this is seen as being the last step, it is also one of the most important. A critical thinker is required to set up arguments and draw logical conclusions from it. Analyzing argumentsOnce the various arguments are finalized, a person must identify the vague and incoherent arguments. In order to do so, the thinker must view the argument through the lens of suspicion and identify the solutions that are most vague. Safeguarding the factsThe next step for a critical thinker involves identifying all the facts and making sure that nothing has been left out. It will be important to safeguard the facts so as to avoid losing any crucial data and also not allowing it to get mixed with illogical arguments. Once all the facts have been established, the thinker can safely move to the next step. EvaluationCritical thinkers are required to analyze if the existing premises point toward conclusions. That is to say, if the premises hold any truth to them, then so should the conclusions. They need to be interdependent and, more or less, extremely similar in nature. If they are too vague, then that might cause problems during the implementation of the solution. ImplementationOnce all the solutions have been arrived at through critical evaluation, viz. evidence collection, argument formation, fact differentiation etc. they need to be applied practically. This is one of the main steps, as no problem can be solved without practical application of feasible solutions. Arguments against critical thinkingMany people argue that critical thinking will diminish a person’s creativity as he/she will always apply a pre-set or predefined solution. That will, in turn, not allow him/her to think laterally, thereby not promoting creativity. That is not true. No critical thinker will apply the pre-set solutions as is. They will have to modify it to suit the current situation. There can never be a proper and pre-set solution that will be readily available and only an outline or a skeleton will be present. It will be the thinker’s duty to fill in the muscles and the organs. There is also the argument that states how critical thinking might throw a person off course and cause him/her to complicate a situation rather than to solve it. That statement, however, is also completely false. The very concept of critical thinking is to help a person deduce the most feasible solution and not waste time with unwanted ones. The process of critical thinking will allow a person to go through all types of solutions and only implement the best one. These arguments cannot possibly diminish the value
Rich Thinking To Become Wealthy
Rich Thinking To Become Wealthy Thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and of all achievement. —CLAUDE M. BRISTOL There have never been more opportunities for you to become wealthy, and more different ways to achieve it, than exist today. More people are starting more businesses in more different industries than ever before. More knowledge, information, and technology are creating more products andservices that people want, need, and are willing to pay for. One new idea is all you need to start a fortune. As Within, So Without The Law of Correspondence works for everyone at all times under all circumstances. This law says that your outer world will be a reflection of your inner world. Everything moves from within to without. You cannot accomplish something on the outside until you first accomplish it on theinside. To be wealthy on the outside, you must think like a rich person on the inside. There is no other way. Poor people think like poor people. They have self-limiting beliefs that hold them back and stop them from even trying. In a study completed a few years ago entitled One Hundred Million Millionaires, the authors demonstrated that if you simply saved Ksh10,000 per month throughout your working lifetime, invested it, and let it grow with compound interest, it would amount toKsh100 million by the time you retired. Why doesn’t everyone do this? Poor thinking! Tony Robbins, in his 2014 book, Money: Master the Game, emphasizes what Einstein said: “Compounding is the most powerful force in the universe.” After extensive interviews with fifty of the richest people in the world, Robbins concluded that almost anyone can start small, save and invest regularly, use the miracle of compound interest, and eventually become financially independent, if not wealthy. This simple method has worked foralmost everyone at all times throughout history. And it can work for you. Reprogram Your Thinking In this article, I am going to share with you a series of simple ideas that you can learn and apply, based on extensive research into the lives and habits of thousands of wealthy people. By the Law of Cause and Effect, if you think and do the same things that wealthy people do, you will soon get the same results that they do.There are no secrets of success. There are simply timeless truths and universal principles that have been discovered and rediscovered throughout human history. All you have to do is to learn and practice them to enjoy all the success that you could desire. REASONS PEOPLE DON’T BECOME WEALTHY There are seven reasons why people don’t become wealthy. Let us deal with each of them in turn. 1. It Never Occurs To ThemIt never occurs to them that they can become wealthy. Because of their upbringing and early conditioning, perhaps coming from a home where no one had ever been wealthy, and associating with poor people, they never thought that they too could become wealthy, just as millions of others have done before them. 2. They Never Decide To Do ItMany people wish, hope, dream, and fantasize about how their lives would be different if they had a lot of money. They admire and envy people around them who are doing better than they are. They worry about money all the time. But they never make a firm, do-or-die decision to become wealthy. As a result, they never even take the first step. They don’t learn wealth-creation techniques. They don’t upgrade their knowledge and skills so that they become more valuable at their work. They make excuses and rationalize their situations by saying that success is simply a matter of “luck” and they didn’t get any. 3. They ProcrastinateIf it does occur to them, and they decide to become wealthy, they never get started. They procrastinate. They move to that wonderful fantasy place called “Someday I’ll.” “Someday I’ll save my money rather than spending it all.” “Someday I’ll upgrade my knowledge and skills.” “Someday I’ll work harder and make myself more valuable.” “Someday I’ll get out of debt.” They end up living on “Someday I’ll” for most of their lives. One of the great secrets of success is for you to “vote yourself off the island!” Stop making excuses and start making progress. 4. They Fear FailureBecause of destructive criticism in early childhood and mistakes they have made as adults, they are paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake, of losing their time or money. Even if they are presented with an opportunity, they go into a form of paralysis. Their fear of failure causes them to create all kinds of reasons not to take action. They don’t have the time. They can’t make the minimum investment. They don’t have the necessary knowledge and skills. Like a deer caught in the headlights, they are paralyzed by the idea of failure, which causes them to never take any action at all. As it happens, most fortunes were started by the sale of personal services. The people had no money, but they had the ability to work hard, to upgrade their skills, and to become more and more valuable. As a result, more and more doors of opportunity opened up for them. 5. They Fear Criticism And DisapprovalMany people think that if they set a goal to better themselves financially, the people around them will ridicule them and criticize them. They’re afraid that those people will watch over their shoulders and gleefully point out all the mistakes they make. Because they fear the disapproval of others so much, they often attempt nothing at all. Here’s the solution. When you decide to become wealthy, don’t tell anyone. Keep it a secret. Go to work on your goal privately, and only tell people when they see your life improving and ask you how you did it. 6. They Stop Learning And GrowingTo achieve something you’ve never achieved before, you must learn and practice something that you’ve
Problem Solving Strategies
Problem Solving, Decision Making And Critical Thinking PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES In our previous article we covered the different barriers that a person usually faces when trying to solve a problem. This article covers the different strategies that can be used to solve problems. However, it is not limited just to these. There are many other methods. These methods are a few of the most common strategies that have been used in the process. Problem solving strategies are those steps that are used to identify the problems that one faces while trying to achieve a goal. This is usually referred to as the ‘problem solving cycle’. The cycle usually begins with identifying the problem, followed by defining the problem – the goals; try toidentify a strategy that could be used to decide on the problem, separate the relevant and irrelevant information and land on an accurate solution. This is called a problem solving cycle since problems keep arising. The minute you finish solving one problem, you have the next problem right before you. This problem solving cycle will be explained in detail later. The techniques given below are the strategies that are most commonly used while solving problems. 1. Abstraction Abstraction is a technique where the actual problem is broken down into smaller problems. Each of these problems is first solved in order to find a solution to the bigger problem. These solutions are first tested on a system. If the solution works, it is applied to the real system. Another name for this technique is to divide and conquer. This technique was used by most armies while invading any country during the medieval period. For instance, consider a mathematics problem on differentiation. The problem here is to identify whether the function provided is a maximum or a minimum function. For this, we have to find the first and second derivatives. Once we find the first and second derivatives, we can deduce whether or not the function is maximum or minimum. Here you have used abstraction to solve the problem. You have identified your set goal and divided the problem into smaller problems and used the solution obtained in those problems to solve the bigger problem. 2. Hypothesis Testing Hypothesis testing is a common statistical method where assumptions are made to explain the problem at hand. The method works towards proving the assumptions that have been made. For example, we have to identify if there is a relation between smoking and lung cancer. The problem here is to identify the relationship. The assumption (hypothesis) made could be that there is no relationship between smoking and lung cancer. The alternative to this assumption (hypothesis) is that there is a relation. Since our main assumption is that there is no relation, wehave to find certain techniques to prove whether this hypothesis is true or not. That way we will be able to identify a solution to the problem.If there is no connection then we do not have to come up with further solutions. However, if the hypothesis is proved false, we have to identify certain solutions to reduce the effect of smoking on the lungs. 3. Lateral Thinking Lateral thinking is thinking out of the box. The major barrier to this strategy is the mindset. One cannot think out of the box since he is used to a certain method of solving problems. Lateral thinking often obtains solutions which make the problem seem very obvious. For example, the production of soap was supposed to be 2000 per hour. Over the last few days, the production dropped to 800 soaps an hour. Through the other strategies you try to identify ways to overcome this problem and increase the production rate. However, it is different in lateral thinking. The solution to the problem might state that there is no harm in a drop in production since this would mean that the quality of the soap has increased. This increase in quality would mean a greater number of sales implying a higher profit. This would in turn motivate the workers and the employees to do better! 4. Means End Analysis In means end analysis you create sub goals in order to reach the final goal. You try to bridge thegap between the initial state and the final goal state. There are many examples to this method ofproblem solving that are very popular. One of the best examples is the ‘Towers of Hanoi’. While using this strategy you have to identify the initial state and also your final goal. The initialstate to this problem is represented by the first three disks of the tower being stacked in the orderof the size of the disk on the first peg, also called the start peg. The goal is to represent these disksbeing stacked on the last peg, or the end peg, which is the third peg. This must be done in exactlythe same order! The rules to this problem are: -You can only do this by moving one disk at a time. -You can only move a disk that is on top of the stack -You cannot put a bigger disk on top of a smaller disk. Since we are using the technique of means end analysis, we will have to first create our sub goals.Below is one possible way of creating sub goals. -Move the disks that are on the largest peg onto the second peg -Move the biggest disk to the third peg -Move the other disks onto the third peg as well. This can be applied continuously in order to reduce the magnitude of the problem. You will finally come to a stage where you will only have to move one disk to reach your final goal. You can use this strategy to solve problems that you might face in your daily life as well – identify the correct train connection, correct road map to follow to go on a road trip. You will have to identify every aspect of your journey in order to
Problem Solving Decision Making And Critical Thinking
Problem Solving, Decision Making And Critical Thinking In this day and age of cut throat competition, everybody is either trying to out-think or out-do each other. Each and every aspect of life has now taken on a very different dynamic and everything ultimately leads to just being a “contest.” While running the race to win the coveted first prize, people try to apply as much of their brain force as possible, in order to arrive at conclusive and advantageous decisions. If you are one of those who is finding it tough to match the footsteps of such lateral and “out of the box” thinkers, then you have come to the right place. This theme will be dedicated to the cause of understanding the concept of critical thinking, analyzing its various aspects and looking at the different ways in which you can implement it to derive all its benefits. It will also provide you with detailed information on problem solving – the problems that we face and also the procedure to use. There are examples that have been stated across the theme that will help you understand the situations better. You will find that problem solving, critical thinking and decision making go hand in hand. It is only through critical thinking and decision making that we will be able to identify a solution to any problem. These problems could be small or very big. But the process of problem solving is fool proof and helps you identify solutions with ease. The theme cover the different strategies that you could use to solve a problem. There is also a detailed explanation on the problem solving cycle. This process is usually used while working towards overcoming a problem. Problem solving and critical thinking are usually directed towards managers and supervisors in an organisation. However this is not true! Every human being faces problems in life. This process can be used to deal with those problems as well. The theme will also look at your problem-solving skills and provide you with tips to increase your brain power and utilize common sense solutions to solving problems at an elevated rate. This theme will also help you improve your decision making capacity, and allow you to make full use of your potential, in understanding how the human brain works and how you can successfully improve your life by making the best use of your mind power. By the time we are finished discussing this theme, you will start to realize how much more potential you have and be able to start to lay the groundwork for implementing critical thinking in your life. I want to thank you for opening this blog page and hope it helps you improve your problem solving and critical thinking skills. Let us begin PROBLEM SOLVING Problem solving is a term that every human being might have come across on multiple occasions. Everybody states that a manager or a supervisor has to be a master at problem solving. But this is not true! Every human being faces multiple problems in life that he must try to solve. For instance a housewife has to plan the expenditure for her house carefully. If she finds that she is running short of finances, she must work backwards and see how she can overcome the problem while purchasing the same amount of products for her house. The process of problem solving is not relevant only to human beings. It could be related to most living beings. It was found that there are cats living in the arctic region. Its climate is terribly cold and there is barely any life in the region. There are cats in the region though! Surprising is it not? These cats are lean because their body burns the fat to keep it warm. It cannot last forever without food. There are rabbits in the arctic too. These rabbits are food for the cats. The cat cannot chase the rabbit all over the region. It cannot lose all of its energy in chasing a rabbit that it might not catch. The cat actually analyzes the situation and checks on whether or not it should chase the rabbit. It takes into consideration the distance between the rabbit and itself. If it feels that it can chase the rabbit and catch it, it goes on its hunt. This is a classic example of problem solving. The problem at hand here is whether or not the cat must hunt for the rabbit. The cat uses the basics of physics in order to obtain a solution. The answer is very simple – yes or no. It is the method through which the answer is obtained that is problem solving! This method generally consists of using ad hoc methods to identify solutions to problems of any magnitude. These methods though ad hoc are used in an orderly fashion in order to obtain next to perfect results. A lot of these techniques are used in computer science, engineering and mathematics. These techniques have been developed through the techniques studied and used in psychology. What is problem solving? Problem solving is that term that has found its place in most fields. However, each of these fields has a different perspective on what problem solving exactly is. For example, in psychology problem solving would be defined as finding a solution to any mental issues or processes whereas in statistics it would be defined as a method to obtaining a solution for a certain issue on how many fish are there in a lake. One must remember that the problems can also be categorized. These categories would be well defined problems and ill – defined problems. Ill – defined problems, as the name suggests are problems that do not have a clear cut goal. It makes it difficult to come up with solutions to suchproblems. You might not be able to identify an expected solution. Well defined problems on the other hand are those problems to which solutions can be found
Affirmations For Meditation And Reflection Week Three
Affirmations For Meditation And Reflection (Week Three) 1. SEE WHAT YOU WANT, GET WHAT YOU SEE Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.—ALBERT EINSTEIN Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics Visualization is the technique of closing your eyes and picturing yourself enjoying life as if your goals had already been achieved—in rich, vivid, colourful detail. It’s seeing in your mind’s eye the places you would be, the sounds you would hear, the emotions you’d be feeling, and the actionsyou would be taking.Visualization is one of the most effective tools you can use to reach your goals because itaccelerates your success immensely. It allows your brain’s reticular activating system to “let through” ideas, observations, people, and opportunities from amongst the millions of images it processes for you every day. Through The Law of Attraction, visualization attracts to you the people and opportunities that will benefit you. When meditating on your affirmations, repeat them aloud and visualize them in vivid Technicolor so they produce clear images in your mind. Be very specific on the details so that your affirmations release the creative powers that fuel success. Each night before retiring I am confidently reading my list of goals out loud and creating images of the completed goals in my mind. Make the most out of visualizing your affirmations by applying these same principles: Add sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings to your images. What does it sound like at your home on the beach? How does the ocean smell? What feelings would you be experiencing? Use emotions to add fuel to your vision. When confronted with intense emotions, an image or scene can stay locked in our memory forever. Use this phenomenon to its fullest benefit by infusing your visions with emotion and energy! Most of us don’t see things in bright three-dimensional images when we close our eyes; actually, we don’t really see an image as much as we think it. To help you truly see and focus on your goals, find pictures of your dream vacation, you at your perfect weight, a black Lexus LX600, and then glue them to a small poster board. Then display it where you can see it every day. You can also write your personal affirmations on index cards using colour felt markers, then draw illustrations of your dream house or perfect job. By adding sounds, smells, and feelings to my internal pictures, I am multiplying the benefits many times over. Your brain operates very differently from your physical body. To your brain, there is no difference between visualizing something and actually doing it. Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor, body builder, film producer, and former governor of California, once said, “Create a vision of who you want to be, and then live into that picture as if it were already true.” I’d say that strategy worked pretty well for him.You may not be aware of it, but when you visualize your goals as having already been achieved, your subconscious mind will find a way to turn your current situation into the new vision that you have been feeding it. If you feed your mind pictures of a beautiful home, a loving relationship, and an exciting career, it will work on achieving those things. On the other hand, if you are constantly feeding it negative pictures, like a stressful job, an impossible feat, or a failing relationship—guess what?—it will work to achieve those, too.Set aside time each and every day to visualize every one of your goals as already complete. This is one of the most vital things you can do to make your dreams come true. Some psychologists say that an hour of visualization is equal to seven hours of physical effort. That’s a pretty big claim, but still, imagine what would happen to your life if you did that every day! I am heightening the impact of my affirmations by focusing and clearly visualizing them. 2. ACT AS IF Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.—CHARLES F. KETTERING Engineer, businessman, and inventor with over 186 patents One of the greatest strategies for success is to act as if you are already where you want to be. That requires you to think, talk, act, dress, and feel like you have already achieved your goals. Acting “as if” projects to the world a sense of confidence and achievement, sending powerful messages to your subconscious mind, which is designed to find unique ways to solve problems. It also programs your brain’s reticular activating system—the function that allows into your awareness useful information from the millions of pieces of information you process every day—to make you aware of hidden resources that may help you. What’s more, when you act as if, The Law of Attraction comes into play, since acting “as if” sends strong vibrations to the Universe that you are committed to achieving your goal—and that you are open to accepting and applying anything it sends your way. In the book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach writes, “To fly as fast as thought, to be anywhere there is, you must first begin by knowing that you have already arrived.” Pretty sound advice and one of life’s greatest lessons. I am believing and acting as if I am already where I want to be. You can begin right now to act as if you’ve already achieved the goals you set for yourself. Once you start acting successful, that outer experience will create the inner experience—the feelings, emotions, confidence, and thoughts—that will lead you to the fulfilment of your goal. How would you act if you were already a straight-A student, a bestselling author, an Olympic athlete, a top salesperson, a celebrated musician, or a successful entrepreneur? How would you think, talk, carry yourself, dress, treat other people, handle money, and so forth? There are a couple of very important lessons we can learn from the behaviour of successful people: they exude self-confidence, they’ve learned the power of asking for what they
The Qualities Of Skillful Leadership
The Qualities of Skillful Leadership “Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we’re part of the stars.” “Part of the task of leadership is learning to spend eighty percent of your time with the twenty percent of the people who are doing eighty percent of the work.” “We can’t win everyone’s dedication and belief at once. What we can do is work on ourselves, refine our philosophies, and trust that the believers will be there.” “If you share a good idea often enough, it will fall on good people.” The Great Challenge of Life If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills, and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. I call leadership the great challenge of life. What is important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here are some specifics: Learn to be strong but not impolite. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It’s not even a good substitute. Next, learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake weakness for kindness. Kindness is not weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell somebody the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion. Next, learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you have to walk in front of your group. You have to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, discover the first sign of trouble. I think we all agree that farming is not an easy job.Farmers must face the weeds and the rains and the pests straight on. Likewise, if you want any rewards at harvest time, you have to be bold. You have to seize the moment. Here is the next step. You have to learn to be humble, but not timid. You can not get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. It is an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem. Humility is almost a God-like word. A sense of awe. A sense of wonder. An awareness of the human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we are part of the stars. Here is a good tip: learn to be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to win the day. It takes pride to build your ambition. It takes pride in community. It takes pride in cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is being proud without being arrogant. Do you know the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It’s intolerable. And it can be expensive. A young newlywed couple gets some money from their parents to buy a new set of outdoor furniture. The young couple goes to the supermarket and picks out the perfect set. Whenthey go to pay though the cashier counter, the clerk scans the UPC barcode. The couple says, “Hey, there are four chairs in this container. You’re only charging us for one.” “I know my job!” the clerk responds arrogantly. “I scanned the container. Don’t you think I know what I’m doing?” Well, the young couple tries to explain that she is wrong. The clerk won’t listen. So the young couple gets four beautiful outdoor chairs for the price of one. Do you think the supermarket clerk will change her arrogant attitude when it’s time to close out her cash drawer? Probably so. Ignorant arrogance is the worst kind. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that’s just too much to take. The next step is learning to develop humour without folly. That’s important for a leader. In leadership, we learn that it’s okay to be witty, but not silly; fun, but not foolish. Next, deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony. Just accept life like it is. Life is unique. Some people call it tragic, but I’d like to think it’s unique. The whole drama of life is unique. It’s fascinating. Life is unique. Leadership is unique. The skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. But the fundamental skills of leadership can be adapted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community, and at home. Building a Successful Team Once you’ve set a goal for yourself as a leader—whether it is to create your own enterprise, energize your organization, build a church, or excel in sports—the challenge is to find good people to help you accomplish that goal. Gathering a successful team of people is not only helpful, it’s necessary. So to guide you in this daunting task of picking the right people, I’m going to share with you a four-part checklist. Number one: check each candidate’s history. Seek out available information regarding the individual’s qualifications to do the job. That’s the most obvious step. Number two: check the person’s interest level. If he is interested, he’s probably a good prospect. Sometimes people can fake their interest, but if you’ve been a leader for a while, you will be a capable judge of whether somebody is merely pretending. Arrange face-to-face conversation, andtry to gauge his or her sincerity to the
Affirmations For Meditation And Reflection Week Two
Affirmations For Meditation And Reflection (Week Two) 1. LEVERAGE THE LAW OF ATTRACTION What you radiate outward in your thoughts, feelings, mental pictures, and words, you attract into your life.—CATHERINE PONDER Author of The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity Have you ever tried to turn gravity on or off? Probably not because you realize that it can’t be done. Well, there’s another powerful force in the Universe that—just like gravity—surrounds us and affects us. It’s called The Law of Attraction, and maybe we can’t turn it on or off, but we can harness its tremendous benefits. To be successful, you must learn how to use The Law of Attraction to create the life you really want. If you’re already working on implementing the principles in your life, think of this as a fresh opportunity to brush up on your skills and check your progress. It takes time and consistent effort to train ourselves to behave, think, and speak in only positive ways, but the Universe rewards us exponentially with abundance, joy, and unlimited benefits. Basically, we reap what we sow, and we can freely choose to sow seeds of positivity! I am aware that positive actions and emotions attract positive outcomes; I am choosing to radiate positive energy into the Universe and reaping the bounty it reflects back to me. Basic chemistry tells us that a physical object, such as a house or a dog or your phone, is made up of billions of individual atoms—tiny parcels of energy—that bond together into different forms such as water, metal, and plastic. Similarly, our thoughts are also a form of energy—easily detected as brain waves by standard medical equipment—that can interact with our physical world just like any other form of energy does. When we understand this basic science, we realize that our thoughts can actually interact with the physical world and help bring about what we want to happen. The core tenet of The Law of Attraction says: What you think about, talk about, believe strongly about, and feel intensely about, you will bring about. Once you know that, by using your thoughts, you can help bring about the opportunities, resources, and people who can help you accomplish your goals, you’ll start paying greater attention to the direction of your thoughts and what you focus on throughout the day. I am constantly aware of the power of positive thinking and I am supported by the Universe as it brings me endless opportunities for growth. Everything—including you—is vibrating at a specific and unique frequency. That means you can learn to use the power of deliberate thought to stay in a state of higher vibration and attract what you want in life. Here’s how: Step One: Ask for what you want. Decide what you really want and use words that focus on that goal. Replace negative images and thoughts with positive ones. Consistently ask for what you want and then let the Universe worry about how you’ll get it. Step Two: Believe you’ll get what you want, then take action. Believing means being confident that you’ve put your future in the hands of a greater power and that your goals can be accomplished. Taking action is another form of belief—after all, we would only take action on goals we believe are possible to begin with. Step Three: Receive what you want. One of the best ways to bring yourself into vibrational alignment with what you want is to use affirmations—statements of your goals and desires already achieved in present time. Repeat them regularly so that your subconscious mind maintains a vibrational match to what you want. I am asking for what I want several times a day, believing that I will receive it. 2. SET GOALS THAT INSPIRE YOU If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.—ANDREW CARNEGIE American steel industrialist and one of the richest people in history. Success is not only an attitude and belief system, it’s also a science. Experts on the science of success know that the brain is a goal-seeking organism, and when you give it a specific goal, it will work overtime to achieve it. Dr. Gail Matthews of Dominican University conducted a study proving that people who write down their goals, then create action steps to achieve them—and make regular progress reports to a friend—have nearly double the success rate at achieving what they want! Think about it: by taking a few extra steps, you can be twice as successful as those people who merely think about their goals. It may surprise you to also learn that the small percentage of people who write down their goalsand regularly review them earn nine times more over the course of their lifetimes than those whodon’t. This alone should motivate you to write down your goals! I am clear about what my goals are and I know that I will accomplish them. If you have no criteria for measuring the successful completion of a goal, you don’t have a true goal—you simply have a good idea. An actual goal that inspires action and unleashes the power of your subconscious mind must include how much (a measurable quantity) and by when (a specific time and date for completion). One of the best ways to get clarity on your goals is to write them out in detail. When you write it all down, your subconscious will know specifically what to work on, including which opportunities to focus on to bring about success. Reread your goals three times a day—close your eyes and picture each one as if it were already accomplished and imagine how it feels to actually be living with that achievement. Most of our goals represent incremental improvements in our life—get new car insurance, organise my house, finish the project presentation. But, what if you could work toward accomplishing a breakthrough goal—something that substantially improves life as you know it, such as buying your
Affirmations For Meditation And Reflection Week One
Affirmations For Meditation And Reflection (Week One) 1. TAKE 100% RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR FUTURE We don’t naturally want to take responsibility for our lives. We want to give the responsibility to someone else. We blame them when our lives aren’t good.—DONALD MILLER Author of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story Let’s start with some really good news: You have total control over the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take. How you use these three things determines everything you experience in life. On your journey to a life of happiness, abundance, and success, taking 100% responsibility for your future is the starting line. Here is where you are today, and there is where you want to be—it is the fulfilment of your hopes and dreams. It is the realization of your life purpose and your ultimate goals, and I am going to show you the way to get there. Together, we are going to embark on an exciting journey that is based upon using daily affirmations—positive statements that affirm who you are, what you believe, and the fact that you already have everything you need at your disposal to succeed in reaching your goals. You may not think that you do, but I am going to show you how to change your thinking and build a blueprint for success. I am easily improving my life—moving with ease from where I am now to where I want to be. Positive energy will get your day off to a great start. Set a few minutes aside every morning and repeat your affirmation aloud with conviction and intention. Do this again at night and let your subconscious mind apply that positive energy as you sleep. When you let it empower your thoughts and dreams during the night, you are training it to think differently—to automatically lean toward positive opportunity and action while you are awake. Repeating affirmations will help you consciously improve as long as you take full responsibility for your life—that means every success, every failure, and every indecisive thought or action you have experienced. Regardless of the circumstance, placing the blame on the event or outcome won’t make a difference because it’s your response to it that is the game-changer—and your response, whether it’s your thoughts, images, or behaviours, is totally up to you. The truth is, you don’t have to settle for anything in life because you can keep changing your response to the circumstance you may face until you get the result you want. If you don’t like your current results, simply begin to do something different. I am confidently creating better circumstances and expanding opportunity for myself—responding with intelligence to events as they occur. It’s easy sometimes to think things “just happen” to you—that you were an innocent bystander or an unwitting participant. Don’t let yourself be tricked into playing that game. You are the one creating or allowing it to happen. Start paying attention to what I call “yellow alerts.” There are always signals that tell you something is off or something is about to happen. If you don’t pay attention to the internal and external yellow alerts, you will needlessly suffer. External yellow alerts are things like news trends that your industry is fading or the smell of alcohol on your teenager’s breath. Internal alerts are things like gut feelings, intuitive messages, and feelings of stress, tension, or pain. Paying closer attention to your internal and external yellow alerts will enable you to change your actions or responses once you become aware of them. Let this thought encourage you: Life becomes much easier when you take control of your own destiny. Don’t accept that things “just happen” to you—choose to create the life you really want! I am choosing to change my thoughts, images, and behaviours to respond differently and produce better outcomes. 2. BE CLEAR WHY YOU’RE HERE Decide upon your major definite purpose in life and then organize all your activities aroundit.—BRIAN TRACY Author of Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Everyone has a unique calling in their life—something only you can do, something only you have the unique skills and wisdom to accomplish. Identifying, acknowledging, and honouring this life purpose may be the most important thing that you do on your way to creating a successful life. It’scertainly one of the most fulfilling. But, without a clear understanding of what you’re here on this Earth to do, and pursuing that purpose with passion and enthusiasm, you will almost certainly fall short of any goal you set. Most people haven’t a clue why they are on this Earth. Maybe they think knowing isn’t really important, or they are waiting for a personal awakening, or they’re hoping that the answer mysteriously appears on their daily to-do list. The problem with not knowing isn’t just that you lose time making U-turns, getting stuck, and backtracking to the fork in the road—but that you get lost, side-tracked, or become stagnant. When you lose your sense of direction, it can cause untold emotional setbacks and turmoil, leaving you feeling hopeless, useless, or frustrated. I am joyful and fulfilled, living in perfect alignment with my life purpose. Below is an exercise that will help you identify your life’s purpose and find meaning and direction. The life purpose exercise 1) List two of your unique personal qualities, such as leadership and innovation.2) List one or two ways you enjoy expressing those qualities when interacting with others, such as to support and to inspire.3) Assume the world is perfect and that each of us is living our unique calling. What does the world look and feel like? Example: Everyone is working in their ideal field, in harmony with each other and without conflict or damage to the Earth.4) Combine your answers above into a single statement that defines your life purpose and tells how it contributes to an ideal world. Example: To use
Toxic Character Types
Toxic Character Types Although each person’s character is as unique as a fingerprint, we can notice throughout history certain types that keep recurring and that can be particularly pernicious to deal with. As opposed to the more obviously evil or manipulative characters that you can spot a mile away, these types are trickier. They often lure you in with an appearance that presents their weaknesses as something positive. Only over time do you see the toxic nature beneath the appearance, often when it is too late. Your best defence is to be armed with knowledge of these types, to notice the signs earlier on, and to not get involved or to disengage from them as quickly as possible. 1. The Hyperperfectionist You are lured into their circle by how hard they work, how dedicated they are to making the best of whatever it is they produce. They put in longer hours than even the lowliest employee. Yes, they might explode and yell at people below them for not doing the job right, but that is because they want to maintain the highest standards, and that should be a good thing. But if you have the misfortune of agreeing to work with or for such a type, you will slowly discover the reality. They cannot delegate tasks; they have to oversee everything. It is less about high standards and dedication to the group than about power and control. Such people often have dependency issues stemming from their family background. Any feeling that they might have to depend on someone for something opens up old wounds and anxieties. They can’t trust anyone. Once their back is turned, they imagine everyone slacking off. Their compulsive need to micromanage leads to people feeling resentful and secretly resistant, which is precisely what they fear the most. You will notice that the group they lead is not very well organized, since everything must flow through them. This leads to chaos and political infighting as the courtiers struggle to get closer to the king, who controls everything. Hyperperfectionists will often have health problems, as they work themselves to the bone. They like to blame others for everything that goes wrong—nobody is working hard enough. They have patterns of initial success followed by burnout and spectacular failures. It is best to recognize thetype before getting enmeshed on any level. They cannot be satisfied by anything you do and will chew you up slowly with their anxieties, abusiveness, and desire to control. 2. The Relentless Rebel At first glance such people can seem quite exciting. They hate authority and love the underdog. Almost all of us are secretly attracted to such an attitude; it appeals to the adolescent within us, the desire to snub our nose at the teacher. They don’t recognize rules or precedents. Following conventions is for those who are weak and stodgy. These types will often have a biting sense of humour, which they might turn on you, but that is part of their authenticity, their need to deflate everyone, or so you think. But if you happen to associate with this type more closely, you will see that it is something they cannot control; it is a compulsion to feel superior, not some higher moral quality. In their childhood a parent or father figure probably disappointed them. They came to mistrust and hate all those in power. In the end, they cannot accept any criticism from others because that reeksof authority. They cannot ever be told what to do. Everything must be on their terms. If you cross them in some way, you will be painted as the oppressor and be the brunt of their vicious humour. They gain attention with this rebel pose and soon become addicted to the attention. In the end it is all about power—no one shall be above them, and anyone who dares will pay the price. Look at their past history—they will tend to split with people on very bad terms, made worse by their insults. Do not be lured in by the hipness of their rebel pose. Such types are eternally locked in adolescence, and to try working with them will prove as productive as trying to lock horns with a sullen teenager. 3. The Personalizer These people seem so sensitive and thoughtful, a rare and nice quality. They might seem a little sad, but sensitive people can have it rough in life. You are often drawn in by this air of theirs, and want to help. Also, they can appear quite intelligent, considerate, and good to work with. What you come to realize later on is that their sensitivity really only goes in one direction—inward. They are prone to take everything that people say or do as personal. They tend to brood over things for days, long after you have forgotten some innocuous comment that they have taken personally. As children, they had a gnawing feeling that they never got enough from their parents—love, attention, material possessions. As they get older, everything tends to remind them of what they didn’t get. They go through life resenting this and wanting others to give them things without their having to ask. They are constantly on guard—are you paying them attention, do you respect them,are you giving them what they paid for? Being somewhat irritable and touchy, they inevitably push people away, which makes them even more sensitive. At some point they start to have a look of perpetual disappointment. You will see in their life a pattern of many falling-outs with people, but they will always see themselves as the wronged party. Do not ever inadvertently insult such a type. They have a long memory and can spend years getting back at you. If you can recognize the type early enough, it’s better to avoid them, as they will inevitably make you feel guilty for something. 4. The Drama Magnet They will draw you in with their exciting presence. They have unusual energy and stories to tell. Their