C.S. Lewis
“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.”
Howard Schultz: Fellow NMU Alumnus
An excerpt from an online biography of Howard Schultz, the President/CEO of Starbucks.
'Asked the secret of his success, Schultz recounts four principles: "Don't be threatened by people smarter than you. Compromise anything but your core values. Seek to renew yourself even when you are hitting homeruns. And everything matters."'
'Asked the secret of his success, Schultz recounts four principles: "Don't be threatened by people smarter than you. Compromise anything but your core values. Seek to renew yourself even when you are hitting homeruns. And everything matters."'
Words from Bill Bradley; a basketball star, Rhodes Scholar, US Senator.
"The key to success is to find a formula that aligns the interests of all involved."
How can I apply these words of wisdom to my everyday life?
How can I apply these words of wisdom to my everyday life?
Passion = Growth?
I read an article in "Healthy Living" about a farmer who inherited his grandfather's farm. This farmer grew it from a one delivery truck operation to a 32 delivery truck operation. The secret to his success? A burning love for farming. What do you have a burning love for?
thank·ful adjective \ˈthaŋk-fəl\ Definition of THANKFUL 1 : conscious of benefit received
What are you thankful for? This was a question posed to me from a good friend and really got me thinking. I find myself asking it to myself quite frequently.
I closed my eyes and imagined I was blind for 20 steps, what an eye opener, or closer rather. I can't imagine what life would be like w/o having my vision. Most of us have the privilege of seeing who we speak to, seeing the sunrise and sunset, seeing vivid colors! It's truly amazing how I can take such a thing for granted. I feel fortunate to realize how unthankful I am to possess the gift of sight.
I closed my eyes and imagined I was blind for 20 steps, what an eye opener, or closer rather. I can't imagine what life would be like w/o having my vision. Most of us have the privilege of seeing who we speak to, seeing the sunrise and sunset, seeing vivid colors! It's truly amazing how I can take such a thing for granted. I feel fortunate to realize how unthankful I am to possess the gift of sight.
CG Journal Response: Post a time when you visualized an outcome, receiving exactly what you asked for but maybe in a different way than originally anticipated.
My old roommate, John, asked me to attend one of his concerts. His band played heavy metal and my instant thought wasn't whether I wanted to go, but was how out of place i'd feel if I attended. I knew how hard he worked and how much his band practiced, so in an effort to support him, I accepted his invite.
The day finally came and none of my friends wanted to come, so I went solo.
The crowd was exactly how I imagined. Lots of tattoos, lots of black, and lots of headbanging. I was right, I couldn't have felt more out of place. But after my out of place anxiety settled and I walked around and saw how great of a time everyone was having. I saw the intensity and felt the passion in John's Band. A few people who saw I was out of place even came up to me and struck up a conversation.
I stepped out of my comfort zone, kept an open mind, and had a better time than staying at home doing nothing. Most importantly, I supported a friend even if it meant feeling a bit out of place.
The day finally came and none of my friends wanted to come, so I went solo.
The crowd was exactly how I imagined. Lots of tattoos, lots of black, and lots of headbanging. I was right, I couldn't have felt more out of place. But after my out of place anxiety settled and I walked around and saw how great of a time everyone was having. I saw the intensity and felt the passion in John's Band. A few people who saw I was out of place even came up to me and struck up a conversation.
I stepped out of my comfort zone, kept an open mind, and had a better time than staying at home doing nothing. Most importantly, I supported a friend even if it meant feeling a bit out of place.
Remaining Positive: The Importance of Desire
Think about the last time you encountered negativity. Did it discourage you? Did you use it as an excuse to give up? If so, the passion for the project or task you were working on wasn’t as high as it should be. When you approach something you need to do it whole-heartedly and with a burning passion.
Your desire to complete the tasks and achieve goals has a lot to do with how you view negativity.
For example, you have a project in mind, but you have little desire to complete it. By having little desire, any negative encounters you might have will be amplified due to your low enthusiasm to complete the project. The negative encounters will be looked at as reasons to give up, rather than push on. Conversely, when you have a strong, burning desire to achieve whatever it is you’re doing, the negative encounters can easily be ignored. Or if you have an extreme desire, the negatives can be turned into positives.
When you have good posture your mind thinks more productively and your level of focus is higher. Similarly, when you focus on your desire to complete the project as well as the good things that will come upon completion, you naturally begin to focus more on the positives, and you subconsciously turn the negatives into positives. Rather than looking at the positives and negatives individually, look at the end result and remember why you’re doing the activity in the first place.
Self – Exercise:
Think of a time when you had little desire and how you approached negativity. Perhaps you had to do an assignment for school, or your friend wanted you to run an errand and you reluctantly accepted. How did you view negative encounters and how did they affect your primary goal?
Now think of a time when you had a burning desire. Maybe you offered to organize a surprise birthday party, or you wanted to write a speech for your friend’s wedding. How did you approach negativity then?
Your desire to complete the tasks and achieve goals has a lot to do with how you view negativity.
For example, you have a project in mind, but you have little desire to complete it. By having little desire, any negative encounters you might have will be amplified due to your low enthusiasm to complete the project. The negative encounters will be looked at as reasons to give up, rather than push on. Conversely, when you have a strong, burning desire to achieve whatever it is you’re doing, the negative encounters can easily be ignored. Or if you have an extreme desire, the negatives can be turned into positives.
When you have good posture your mind thinks more productively and your level of focus is higher. Similarly, when you focus on your desire to complete the project as well as the good things that will come upon completion, you naturally begin to focus more on the positives, and you subconsciously turn the negatives into positives. Rather than looking at the positives and negatives individually, look at the end result and remember why you’re doing the activity in the first place.
Self – Exercise:
Think of a time when you had little desire and how you approached negativity. Perhaps you had to do an assignment for school, or your friend wanted you to run an errand and you reluctantly accepted. How did you view negative encounters and how did they affect your primary goal?
Now think of a time when you had a burning desire. Maybe you offered to organize a surprise birthday party, or you wanted to write a speech for your friend’s wedding. How did you approach negativity then?
Dissecting Success: An objective for the subjective.
Success. The thing everyone is after, the thing that people say they want, the reason why they seek higher education, and the number one life goal of many. But what is success? How do we define it? Can it be measured? Is it universal amongst people who seek it? The following is an exercise to define what success really means to me from one question... What is success?
WHAT is SUCCESS?
Success is the means of fillling one's life with what they desire most.
HOW does one know what they desire most?
The primary desires in life are things that bring happiness to one's life.
WHO in your life would you consider to be successful?
My Dad.
WHY do you consider him to be successful?
He possesses a strong work ethic and his respectful disregard of others, not in a selfish way, but in a sense that he doesn't worry about negative things others say about him. He is the most caring and thoughtful person I know and puts himself before others, always. He is HAPPY with his lifestyle and CONFIDENT with where he's going. His honesty makes him an excellent resource and I know he'll give me great answers with any question I ask, even if his answer is, "I don't know." He won't lie or embellish stories to make himself look better, because he's happy and confident with who he is.
You can see how much deeper I got than simply saying, "Success is the means of filling one's life with what they desire most." Through extrapolating the answers you can see, for me, what a better definition of success is, "Finding who you are and being CONFIDENT and HAPPY with what you find." Through setting goals and being disciplined finding success is a journey I am ready to take.
WHAT is SUCCESS?
Success is the means of fillling one's life with what they desire most.
HOW does one know what they desire most?
The primary desires in life are things that bring happiness to one's life.
WHO in your life would you consider to be successful?
My Dad.
WHY do you consider him to be successful?
He possesses a strong work ethic and his respectful disregard of others, not in a selfish way, but in a sense that he doesn't worry about negative things others say about him. He is the most caring and thoughtful person I know and puts himself before others, always. He is HAPPY with his lifestyle and CONFIDENT with where he's going. His honesty makes him an excellent resource and I know he'll give me great answers with any question I ask, even if his answer is, "I don't know." He won't lie or embellish stories to make himself look better, because he's happy and confident with who he is.
You can see how much deeper I got than simply saying, "Success is the means of filling one's life with what they desire most." Through extrapolating the answers you can see, for me, what a better definition of success is, "Finding who you are and being CONFIDENT and HAPPY with what you find." Through setting goals and being disciplined finding success is a journey I am ready to take.
What is Individual Discipline?
A goal is obtained through a well defined plan of action, that is, how do we plan to obtain this goal? Imagine you would like to run a marathon, step one is complete (no pun intended), you have established a goal. Step two: How do I plan to run a marathon? This is your plan of action... you carefully think about all the things necessary to prepare for and to run in a marathon. You determine you need to run an average of 60 miles a week, for 10 weeks (One could make this a goal within a goal). How do we stick to our POA? Discipline. Running 60 miles a week is no easy task not to mention time consuming, but you're making a sacrifice to achieve a goal, in other words you're being disciplined.
11/28/2012
Personal Journal Exercise
Starting today I will dedicate some time to write down my thoughts and feelings. It doesn't have to be long, but it does need to capture my mood, weaknesses of the day, strengths of the day, and overall happiness I feel at that point in time. This will be a personal exercise that won't be posted on the site, however, I might occassionally publish excerpts.
Purpose: Writing helps organize and see your thoughts and feelings from an unbiased view. Have you ever seen someone do something that you know you do, and make the realization it's a bad habit?
For example, I had a business meeting with a co-worker, he constantly cleared his throat, particularly when he didn't have an answer or was uncomfortable with the question I was asking. I thought how poorly it affected his appearance and credibility and realized I make the same gestures, albeit not as obvious or frequent. But this is why writing my thoughts and feelings is important. It allows me to see my actions and thoughts from an outside-looking-in perspective. Similar to video recording your basketball shot to improve your form.
Goal: Find a piece of myself that even I knew little or nothing about, identify strengths and weaknesses, work to enhance my strengths and fix my weaknesses, improve my mood through outletting my feelings through writing, and improve my communication skills by organizing my thoughts through writing.
Purpose: Writing helps organize and see your thoughts and feelings from an unbiased view. Have you ever seen someone do something that you know you do, and make the realization it's a bad habit?
For example, I had a business meeting with a co-worker, he constantly cleared his throat, particularly when he didn't have an answer or was uncomfortable with the question I was asking. I thought how poorly it affected his appearance and credibility and realized I make the same gestures, albeit not as obvious or frequent. But this is why writing my thoughts and feelings is important. It allows me to see my actions and thoughts from an outside-looking-in perspective. Similar to video recording your basketball shot to improve your form.
Goal: Find a piece of myself that even I knew little or nothing about, identify strengths and weaknesses, work to enhance my strengths and fix my weaknesses, improve my mood through outletting my feelings through writing, and improve my communication skills by organizing my thoughts through writing.