Posts Tagged ‘Personal Power’

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Measuring Progress

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Changes often happen in our lives so slowly that we don’t even notice the progress. It’s only when we look back to a time in our distant (or maybe not so distant) past that we get an idea of how far we have gone and how much we have changed.

Kids provide a good example. Parents typically don’t see how much their kids really grow and change. Friends of family who tend to visit once or twice a year really notice the difference. It’s that same with many other areas in life.

Whenever you try something new, it is difficult at first, and obviously gets easier as you do it more. The only way to appreciate your growth is to have a frame of reference to where you were in the past. Seeing the growth serves as a good reminder of where you have been and provides motivation to keep moving forward. So find a way to keep track of your progress – it will help you appreciate where you are and will serve as the fuel to keep trucking along.

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Psychology, Success, Taking Action | No Comments »

First Thing In The Morning

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Today I have a success/achievement tip for you – benefits of which I you’ll be able to experience for yourself the first time you apply it. How’s that for quick results? Anyway, here we go…

If you have something that you want to do but never get to it, do it first thing in the morning before you do anything else. Anthony Robbins called this ‘the hour of power’ where you take the first hour after you wake up and use it as ‘your time’ for that important activity that you never get to. It can be reading, writing, playing a musical instrument, or going for a run. The activity does not matter – what matters is that you get it done.

This surely requires some discipline, especially if you have to be at work at a certain time and need to wake up an hour earlier to create that time cushion. And it is a lot easier to sleep that extra hour when you know you can too – I would know :) . But all that is still easier than finding time for your activity later in the day. Something always seems to creep up and get in the way. That is why you do your task first thing in the morning before anything has a chance to get in the way. Give it a try and see for yourself….

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Energy, Psychology, Success, Taking Action | No Comments »

On Education

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

“Education is the ability to meet life’s situations.”
- John Hibben

What an elegant way to put it, don’t you think? For quite some time I had a misconception that it is the grades, diplomas, degrees, and your IQ that determined your level of education and predicted your level of success in life. I don’t believe that anymore; in fact, that is probably pretty far away from the truth.

I said several times before that knowledge by itself is rather useless. The application of knowledge is powerful. But it’s rare that the challenges life presents us with have a lot to do with our formal education. Most of the time, at least in my experience, I have to deal with things not related to Engineering. We do well when we are able to deal with, and overcome those challenges, and that is true ‘education’.

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Psychology, Relationships, Success | 2 Comments »

Hard Work Required? Maybe.

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

At the end of the day, the results are what matters. Whether you took the road less travelled, the longest way possible, or found a quick shortcut, as long as you get someplace that you wanted, great!

You’ve heard the good old “You have to work hard.” A part of me agrees, while another one disagrees. It comes down to how you define ‘hard work’. To the part that disagrees, ‘hard work’ means dull, tedious, boring activities that I don’t want to do. Usually there is a different, more creative, more interesting way to get the same results. But to think that I can just sit back and chill while results magically happen is nonsense.

To come up with the different, more creative, more interesting way to get the same result, I would have to think, evaluate, try, analyze, re-think, re-evaluate, re-try, and re-analyze different approaches and dedicate a lot of time and energy to the entire process. So if I classify that as ‘hard work’, then this is the part that totally agrees.

The conclusion that I can make for myself, regardless of whether we consider something ‘hard work’, ‘smart work’, or not, is that regardless of the path you choose, it will require a considerable dedication of your time and energy. It can be dull or enjoyable, it can be done through physical labour or sitting in front of a computer, but in either case it will take a total and complete commitment to the results.

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Success, Taking Action | 1 Comment »

Natural Gifts

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Last night I met up with a few friends and, as usual, we got to talking about some interesting, thought-provoking topics. At one point we talked about ‘natural gifts’ and ‘talents’. It was back to the nature vs nurture argument – are our genes or our environment responsible for who we are, what we are good at, what we do, what we like, etc. This particular conversation was focused on the business side of things.

The main question was whether it was possible to teach entrepreneurship to someone or whether it was just something you either had a knack for or you didn’t. One person said that many very successful business people talk about entrepreneurship essentially as an instinct that can be somewhat refined but that cannot be taught. You either have it or you don’t. On the other side of the table was an argument that entrepreneurship is a skill, and like all other skills, it can be taught and perfected with enough practice.

I wonder, where do you fall in? What do you think?

My own belief is that entrepreneurship exemplified by people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, and the likes cannot be taught. These people are superstars of the business world and must have a natural aptitude for it, much like Michael Jordan was ‘born to play basketball’. However, while there is only one Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, there are plenty of players in the supporting roles – players who also made it to the NBA. Business is very similar in my opinion. To play in the ranks of Gates, Jobs, and Buffett, you need to be born a certain way, but to run a generally successful company, you do not. You just need to get really good at something and turn it into cash flow.

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Psychology, Success | 1 Comment »

Loving What You Do

Friday, July 9th, 2010

What a difference it makes when you are excited and motivated by what you do. It is a rather obvious statement in and of itself, but the implications are pretty serious. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on both ends of the ‘excitement’ spectrum. There were times when the things I was doing felt like a total grind and there were other times when I couldn’t wait to get working on something. The difference in the quality of experience, and in how I perceived life at those different times, is tremendous.

It would be amazing if every day work was that challenging, that exciting, and that motivating. If you have achieved that state, that is incredible. Chances are that regardless of what you do, there will be days that feel like a drag. However, iif most of the days are the opposite, then you have probably achieved something that most people only dream of.

I do believe that every person has had the two types of days, even if the days of great excitement were not due to work (though if it was work-related, that should be easier to explore and analyse). Looking into what factors made the day so great should provide you with some valuable insight into what you may want more out of your work. Then, hopefully, as you integrate more of those factors into your daily job requirements, you’ll have more of the times when your vocation becomes your vacation.

Until Monday,

V

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Posted in Energy, Psychology, Success, Taking Action | 1 Comment »

Brain Exercise Is Good For You

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Mankato, Minnesota has been of a great interest to a number of researchers studying the human brain. It seems like the nuns there figured out a way to prolong and to increase their quality of life as they age. Most nuns surpass the average life span considerably by living into their 90s and even 100s. It very impressive given that the average life span is 78 years in the US. Not only do they live longer, but they also have a lot fewer instances of brain-related illnesses, like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Dementia. Their secret? Brain exercise.

The nuns believe that ‘an empty mind is a devil’s workshop’, so they do what they can to avoid it. They continue working, learning, debating with each other, and playing mind-challenging games. That sort of activity tends to keep their brains, and consequently their minds, in a good working order. There is another interesting distinction to be made. Within the community, the nuns who work in more brain-stimulating environments, as a teacher for example, tend to do better than those who do janitorial services that are much less challenging for the mind.

Take it for what it’s worth, but to me this is another indication that we are supposed to be growing and expanding throughout our lives, and that when we are not growing, we start dying a lot faster.

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Success, Taking Action | 1 Comment »

We Are Not Hardwired

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

While there is a lot of research being done on our fascinating brains, there are still many unanswered questions. When there are such questions, scientists come up with theories as to how things work in order to test them. For some time it was thought that once our brain circuitry is developed, it is there to stay. Interestingly there is more and more evidence that contradicts that claim and shows that we are in fact not hardwired and that our circuitry can change over time.

This is very encouraging actually. First, it has great optimistic implications for people who suffer some sort of injury or disease that affects the brain. If the brain circuitry can change and regenerate under favourable conditions, our brains can be restored, fully or otherwise, and regain lost functionality. But research also shows that we can change our circuitry by conscious effort and practice. With enough will, even the most ingrained habits and personality traits can be changed. It won’t happen overnight, but research shows that it is definitely doable. So keep working on that ‘self’…

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Psychology, Success | 1 Comment »

Paralysis By Numbers

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Maybe this stems from our pre-historic times where survival was dependent on staying with the group, but to this day people find it very difficult, if not outright impossible to go against the ‘group-think’. Essentially, if the group is doing something, an individual who is part of the group will find it very difficult to go against it. We see evidence of this everywhere.

Crowd control is a very serious issue for law-enforcement agencies, since if aggressive or violent behaviour gets beyond one or two individuals, the mob-mentality takes over and at that point it’s like the G20 Summit in Toronto. In companies group psychologists showed time after time that it is good to have a person on a team who is comfortable with challenging ideas. Otherwise, there could be a number of people who are afraid to speak up, and end up going along with the decision they don’t like. In a classroom setting, good teachers tell their students to ask any question that they may have, since chances are, there are other people in the class with the same question who are simply afraid to ask.

This also ties into personal growth. An individual will find it very difficult to succeed at anything, if the people around them are not supportive. That is why it is a wise decision to surround yourself with people who are where you want to be and have the things you want to have, or at least are heading that way. Otherwise, you’ll try a couple of things, and by doing so you’ll start to stand out from the group. That will feel uncomfortable for most people, and the group will pull you back to where you started.

I’m taking a day off tomorrow to enjoy the long weekend. Until Monday,

V

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Posted in Psychology, Relationships, Success, Taking Action | 2 Comments »

“Rules Are Made To Be Broken”

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

You heard that before, right? So this post is more on the ‘morality’ of things. I am going to go out on a limb here and state that everyone has broken rules at one point or another. So what makes it OK to break the rules? Are all the rules meant to be broken? If not, what determines whether it is OK to break a rule or not? I am just curious. I am not expecting any confessions here; instead I’d like to find out where different people stand on the concept of ‘rules’.

When it comes to the rules themselves, do we even need them? What I mean is, do we need rules to tell us how to behave, or do we have some sort of intrinsic understanding of what is OK and not OK to do? I’ve heard an argument, that I personally don’t agree with, that people need religion to tell them what is right and what is wrong, implying that if we did not have the ‘ten commandments’, we would not know that it is not OK to kill another. So if we do know that it is not right to do certain things, why have written rules for them? And if we do not, then maybe it’s not all that bad?

As you can see, there are a lot more questions in this post than answers. Again, I’m curious as to what the different opinions are, so the questions are there to get your mental juices flowing.

Until next time,

V

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Posted in Psychology | 2 Comments »

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