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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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On Accurate Thinking - Part 1

by Rick Baker
On Jun 23, 2016

Some people believe I get too bogged down or is it tied up in words. Writing too much. Going into too much detail. Being too nitpicky about definitions.

No, probably that's not right. I probably should have said, most people think I get too bogged down/tied up in words.

I agree. What a shortcoming. I mean - considering my goal is to help people obtain their business goals, it would be tremendous if most people were saying, Wow - this fellow sure packages his messages well! 

Clear.

Crisp.

Delivering accurate, quick & easy wisdom.

***

So - I've set a new challenge: I must learn to package my messages in ways that appeal to folks who want quick-reading/easy-reading and of course valuable messages. As I write this, I'm thinking fondly about Plucky & Pithy...a post from 2010 and Plucky & Pithy #2 a post from 2012.

***

People are adapting their reading: to address that, I should boil everyting down to bullet points, 3 at most:

  • I get it. Just deliver a stitch in quick time, don't deliver nine.
  • I get it. Too much cooking spoils the broth.
  • I get it. This also applies to bakers: too much baking spoils the cake.

***

But, what about the common practice of setting company values, barely defining them, and missing the fact personal values are intimately linked with personal rules:

  • How do I ignore that?
  • How do I ease off on defining values?
  • How do I ease off on explaining the power of deep-set rules reflecting deep-set personal values?

(Changing current habits is going to take some work and some time.)

***

As I work at Plucky & Pithy

Perhaps, the people who cannot live with details can offer helpful advice...

(And I'm OK if their advice is detailed.)

Stress and Anxiety: what's the difference?

by Rick Baker
On Dec 17, 2015

OK - you've asked, What's the difference between stress and anxiety?

But...you've forgotten...I'm the fellow who wrote 'Stretch in the direction of your Strengths'...just scratching the surface around the tip of the iceberg that includes stress and anxiety.

Why not raise the ante and ask, What's the difference between stress, strain, pressure and anxiety?

And, let's not forget the importance of the context. Do you have psychology in mind when you ask the question? Or, perhaps, engineering? Or, maybe even, physics or physiology or the depths of molecular biology? 

Beware the complexities ranging from rabbit holes to wormholes. 

All those complexities acknowledged, we can now set them aside and seek simple.

I view stress and pressure as external things that impact on us - the causes; I view strain and anxiety as the internal things we experience - the effects.

For me, workplace stress and workplace pressure are the same thing.

For me, the strain we feel when exposed to workplace stress or pressure is anxiety.

So to answer the question, What's the difference between stress and anxiety?

Answer: Stress is the external cause and anxiety is the internal effect.

Tags:

Definitions - Spirited Words Defined | Emotions & Feelings @ Work

Egos At Work - revisited

by Rick Baker
On Nov 12, 2015
When I use the word ‘ego’, I mean that little voice that talks to you from within your head. You may have noticed: when you are in a conscious and lucid state, that little voice of ego talks incessantly. I have likened it to a little panel of judges…ego is always ready to judge you…and ego is even more ready to judge others. The ego, acting like a little panel of judges in your head, judges quickly and harshly. It has opinions on everything and everyone. It is always making demands and suggestions on how you should go about making yourself feel good and look good.
 
Your ego [and my ego and everyone else’s ego] spends all its time seeking something ‘better’.
 
Ego is the human, all too human, side of human being.
 
Ego continuously seeks more pleasure.
 
Ego continuously seeks less pain.
 
 
Your ego continuously seeks approval from other people...and regularly falls short of receiving the level of approval it seeks.

Your ego finds itself in ongoing skirmishes involving 'right' and 'wrong'...ego gets whipsawed by conscience as it works to reign over your inside and your outside voices.

***
 
Here’s a different perspective on ego…
 
We have said people behave like Riders on Elephants on Paths.  Now we are saying ego is the source of your behaviours.
 
You have your Elephant-And-Rider combo.
 
Every person has an Elephant-And-Rider combo.
 
Each Elephant-And-Rider combo has its little voice called ‘ego’.
 
 
***
 
When your little voice of ego speaks to you from inside your head it wants very much to get its way.
 
Your ego has a powerful and compelling force.
 
Yet, your ego is often misguided.
 
Bad Habits are the consequence of ego working to 'get its way' when the ego is misguided…and the ego is misguided quite a bit of the time. Taking full advantage of the Haidt metaphor…your ego is misguided when your Elephant overpowers your Rider. When that happens, your ego will make misguided demands.
 
 
 
First posted September 1, 2011 
 
***
 
More thoughts about Egos:  Egos, Communication, & Positive Changes

The pros and cons of crastination

by Rick Baker
On Oct 22, 2015

It seems to me we ought to re-define procrastination. While dictionaries generally define it as delaying or putting off doing something, in day-to-day conversation procrastination has a bad reputation. 

Most people think procrastination is a bad thing...so they admonish themselves and others who do it [actually, at a more granular level, I mean 'don't do it']. 

Anyhow, because it has evolved with such a negative image I think it is time to re-define procrastination as follows:

If you put things off and feel good about it - I mean, if you feel only good and never bad about it - that's procrastination.

If you put things off and feel bad about it - I mean, if you feel anxiety or worry or some other negative feeling - that's concrastination.

Then, putting things off and feeling neither good nor bad becomes crastination...[which, I acknowledge, requires some care in pronunciation...and perhaps spell-checking too?]. 

***

Regardless...

There's no question - procrastination has its pros and cons.

In fact, I continue to see value in procrastinating for success.

Improving Attention, Focus, & Concentration --- starting with understanding them

by Rick Baker
On Sep 28, 2015

Spirited definitions...


Attention is when interest is captured.

Concentration is when Attention is narrowed.

Focus is when Concentration is intensified.


***


Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Attention

  • the act or power of carefully thinking about, listening to, or watching someone or something
  • notice, interest, or awareness
  • special care or treatment

Concentration

  • the ability to give your attention or thought to a single object or activity
  • the ability to concentrate
  • the act of giving your attention to a single object or activity
  • a large amount of something in one place

Focus

  • a subject that is being discussed or studied 
  • the subject on which people's attention is focused
  • a main purpose or interest
  • a point at which rays of light, heat, or sound meet or from which they move apart or appear to move apart
  • the point at which an image is formed by a mirror, a lens, etc.

 

Willpower converts mind-energy into Achievement

by Rick Baker
On Aug 31, 2015

For achievement, three qualities of mind rise above the others: intelligence, drive, and self-control.

There are two types of intelligence: cognitive and emotional.

Drive is all about energy...required to sustain thought, action, and 'the body'.

Self-control draws on the decisions of intelligence and the energy stoked by drive...self-control is about self-direction of thought and the actions that follow thought.

Willpower is a synonym for self-control*.

Willpower is elite mind-work…challenging mind-work.

Willpower converts mind-energy into Achievement.

Achievement is subjective. Achievement provides the measuring stick for Success. Each person uses his or her intelligence to define the Achievement required to obtain the Success he or she desires. This applies to individual/single tasks. This also applies to long-term goals. Willpower may or may not be called upon to perform individual/single tasks: for enjoyable tasks [such as hobbies] little or no willpower is required; for challenging tasks willpower will be used to expand and maintain concentration; for boring tasks willpower will be used to improve focus and concentration.

Willpower will definitely be called upon to achieve long-term goals. In summary:

  • We use our intelligence to create our long-term goals
  • We draw on the our drive energy to fuel the thought and action required to meet our long-term goals
  • We call upon willpower/self-control to direct our thoughts and actions toward our long-term goals

When we call upon our willpower it consumes energy, converting mind-energy into Achievement and, over time, into Success.

To achieve long-term goals we must attend to our energy levels: taking steps to build it, taking steps to avoid things that waste it, and taking steps to ensure a good portion of it goes to fuel willpower.

 

*  Some describe willpower in terms of 'soul' and 'spirit'. Not wanting to dwell too much in the metaphysical...there is no question willpower is a special thing, closely tied to the human condition.

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.