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by Rick Baker
On Aug 8, 2016
It doesn't matter where you came from, what's happened to you or what you've done so far. While those things may carry some interest and perhaps even some value, they are not that important. The important things are your thoughts and your actions.
For your thoughts and your actions - You have the present...perhaps just brief moments left...perhaps numerous years.
For your thoughts and your actions - You have no guarantees for your future. You cannot rewrite your past. You only have your present and your ability to think and act.
For your thoughts and your actions - You have choices: choices about the thoughts you think and choices about the actions you take.
You can choose to direct your thoughts and actions toward goals and improvement. There's no guarantee for your future - regardless, you can have dreams, goals and aspirations. And, you can choose to think and act in ways that align with your dreams, goals, and aspirations.
***
Expect nothing from 'Fate', 'Destiny', the 'Law of Compensation' or the 'Law of Attraction'. Don't expect 'Abundance'. Don't place faith in 'Positive Mental Attitude'.
Instead -
- Know what you value and desire.
- Believe your thoughts and actions have a level of influence over your outcomes.
- Take [some] comfort in the common sense embedded in thinking and acting in ways that align with your values and goals.
by Rick Baker
On May 30, 2016
1. Over all other traits of leadership character, Courage reigns supreme. [Link to over 130 thoughts about Courage]
2. In the absence of Courage, bad things happen; in the presence of Courage, good things happen.
3. People Do Only 3 Things: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things. From this premise we quickly see how our bad habits survive and thrive in the absence of Courage.
4. Discomfort signals the need for Courage. Facing discomfort, our minds determine whether or not Courage arrives. Our minds can welcome and embrace Courage or cause our backs to shy away from Courage. The fact is, Courage is a choice.
5. When it comes to building personal character, Courage is the father of many children. It seems Self-confidence may be the first born. Self-confidence is 'born pure'. It arrives fearless, obliviously fearless. (Just watch any toddler.) Early in life external factors, people and environment, work to weaken Self-confidence. Father Courage must step in to help Self-confidence gain and maintain a solid footing. Over time, Self-confidence is able to stand steady and hold fast on its own...needing only occasional support from Courage, who remains always close by. When Courage and Self-confidence walk together through life...good leadership has a good chance to flourish.
6. Courage paves the path for peace of mind. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." That's a slogan Franklin Delano Roosevelt used when he was US President, during the Great Depression. (I wonder if his advisor, my inspirational hero Napoleon Hill, actually wrote that famous phrase.) For me, the slogan "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" means Roosevelt saw fear as the enemy, an enemy that must be resisted and fought on every front and at every opportunity. When fear prevails in people's minds they are severely weakened. When minds are weakened by fear, little of value can be accomplished. Having personally fought and limited the damage of the dreaded polio disease, Roosevelt knew these things. He knew Courage was the only antidote and he injected it into people's minds with that famous slogan...and clear, decisive action. With the help of a team of inspired/confident followers, Roosevelt led the series of actions that [with concerted and persistent effort] broke the back of the Great Depression.
7. Over all other traits of leadership character, Courage reigns supreme!
by Rick Baker
On May 26, 2016
Patience is a virtue. At least, there's a saying with that direction. Virtue or no virtue, patience does hold some advantages over its opposite - impatience. Impatience seems to annoy almost everyone it touches...except, perhaps, those with quirky senses of humour. On the other hand, patience doesn't appear to generate much attention. It is mostly overlooked. Perhaps, that's because more often than not patience finds itself surrounded by impatience and impatience, by its very nature, isn't very observant. It cannot be. It is preoccupied with its problem-situation.
Waiting - while we've been admonished to 'be patient' and 'wait our turn', few people have the ability to take the time to teach us how to accomplish these objectives.
Waiting - what value we would receive if some grade school classes could be devoted to teaching us how to inject more value into the process known as waiting.
Waiting - how much time do you spend planning how to wait?
***
When waiting, people can take advantage of the experience by filling it with pre-planned activities. For example, people can use the freed-up time to write. They could write journal entries or Thought Posts. Writing - this is one way of clarifying thoughts...and leaving no room for impatience to creep in.
by Rick Baker
On May 2, 2016
Are we spoiled rotten?
Is our self-absorption reducing our ability to succeed?
Is our expectation of kindness killing our ability to be competitive?
When I use the word "decadence", my thoughts are much closer to Nietzsche than President's Choice. I'm thinking of two types of people: those with resilient, vibrant, 'living' self-confidence and others with a shortage of that ingrained self-confidence. I'm thinking there is a mix of these two types of people, with the truly confident people being outnumbered by those who are not truly confident. This 'imbalance' creates a natural tension between the two groups...each trying to exert its influence on the other. And, when the influence of those lacking confidence shifts the balance away from confidence the equilibrium is distorted as decadence sets in.
This is a 'societal phenomenon', affecting all levels of community: nations, tribes, cities, communes, families...and businesses.
Every business has a 'confidence factor'.
Some businesses are founded on confidence: self-confidence in individuals, confidence in relationships and teams, confidence in products and services, confidence in leadership...confidence in business. these confidence-founded businesses enjoy many advantages, to name a handful:
- can do attitude, which leads to decisive action
- optimism, which breeds open-mindedness and abundance mindsets
- curiosity, which triggers enthusiasm, creativity, and innovation
- efficiency, from role clarity and goal clarity to doing the right things at the right times...'natural discipline' at work
- quality relations, from civility and harmony to trust and real integrity, within the organization and clearly evident to all affected by the organization
Re-phrasing the initial questions...
Are those who lack confidence overriding those who have it, reducing our businesses' aggregate 'confidence factor'?
Are those who lack confidence reducing confident people's ability to realize their visions and goals?
Are those who lack confidence placing our businesses at risk vis-a-vis competitors in our neighbourhoods?...other communities?...other nations?
by Rick Baker
On Apr 25, 2016
Values and talents make a powerful mix when combined with goals and persistence. To put this in perspective: there's an important linkage between personal values and individual talents. Values provide the moral compass, which includes the setting of rules (whether formal or subliminal) around behaviour and expectations of 'fair play' by/from others. Talents, when given opportunity, combine with knowledge and skill-practice to create personal strengths.
Groups of people - teams, communities, societies - have the ability to excel when the personal values of the individuals align. Obviously, alignment doesn't mean 100% consistency and agreement, however, it does mean general acceptance and habits that conform to written or unwritten rules/laws/codes of conduct.
Groups of people - teams, communities, societies - have the ability to excel when the personal talents of individuals 'feed off' one another...with the strengths of individuals compensating for the weaknesses of other individuals and the strengths of individuals amplifying one another to create results often described as 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts'.
When both values and talents align and are coupled with a strong desire to achieve and persistent can-do mindsets, excellent performance follows. When the four attributes [values, talents, desire to achieve, & persistent focus and effort] are combined an interesting phenomenon visits - people naturally make more-positive use of heir stress energy. That phenomenon results in peace of mind.
by Rick Baker
On Apr 20, 2016
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