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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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You gotta learn how to tune strings before you can become a rock star!

by Rick Baker
On Nov 3, 2015

That concept holds true if you want to be a successful business leader.

It isn't a question of patience. It's a question of competence. It's about what it takes to develop competence.

Competence is about 4 things: 

  1. innate talent
  2. opportunities to try, fail, & learn
  3. specialized knowledge and
  4. skills, gained through practice 

These 4 things define Strengths & Performance Mastery.

These 4 things require time: Malcolm Gladwell claims it takes 10,000 hours...that said, patience is a necessary ingredient...but patience is only a means to the end, which is competence.

And - it's about more than strengths and performance mastery [competence]. 

At the bottom line. it's about leadership, including: 

 

***

Inspire People

Influence Action

Grow Wealth!



Success & Self-Reliance

by Rick Baker
On Oct 28, 2015

Are you one of those people who has boundless energy regardless of what other people are doing?

Or are you one of those people whose energy diminishes when other people fail to perform up to your expectations?

It seems to me that many people fall into these two categories, these two polar-opposite categories. Of course, the self-help gurus talk about the first type when they describe the successful people, the leaders, the people who accomplished incredible things during their lifetimes.

Indomitable - that's perhaps one of the best words to describe these high-energy/high-sustained-energy people.

It seems to me self-reliance weakens or slips away from time to time. Even for the strongest and most-successful people -  even for people who get books written about them – self-reliance must slip away, at least from time to time. You may not know it has slipped away because some successful people develop the ability to show their ‘game face’ even while their stomachs and minds are churning with stress and worry.

When self-reliance slips away, that’s not failure. It is part of being human. The important things are: how long it takes to return and how fully it returns.

Resilient – When self-reliance slips away then returns quickly and fully, we see resilience in action. Perhaps, we have greater respect for the people who slip and fall then get back up, wipe themselves off, and press on with renewed vigour?

Self-reliant signals the above things. It signals people who are comfortable relying upon themselves and not relying upon what other people do. Self-reliance signals people who accept the obligation of inspiring their own actions and, of more importance, it signals people who are accountable for inspiring the energies that fuel their own actions.

"Relying Upon" ... Whom ... Why not self?

"Influencing" ... Whom ... Why not self?


Footnote:

The words in blue font were added this week. The words in black font were first posted August 11, 2014.

Tags:

Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude | Leaders' Thoughts

Knee-jerk Thoughts & Half-Baked Ideas

by Rick Baker
On Oct 26, 2015

Do you think thinking just happens automatically?

Do you think you think well?

Do you find your brain is prone to operate in knee-jerk mode?

***

Sure, thinking does happen automatically. However, outside of the occasional gem of insight, automatic thinking is the lowest level of thinking.

One way of looking at automatic thought: automatic thought happens when the brain is switched ‘On’ and the mind is switched ‘Off’.

Automatic thought has two forms:

  • True/helpful Insights
  • Knee-jerk Thoughts

True/helpful Insights – we all receive them from time to time. However, they represent a very small portion of our thoughts…for most people true/helpful insights happen so rarely it is reasonable to forecast they make up perhaps 1% of automatic thoughts. The other 99% of automatic thoughts are knee-jerk thoughts.

Knee-jerk Thoughts come in two forms:

  • Automatic Negative Thoughts [Dr. Daniel Amen coined the term ‘ANTs’…link to Thought Posts about ANTs]…ANTs cover a full range of emotion-laced negative thoughts, which often lead to negative actions and inactions: fears, worries, anxieties, bad attitude, etc...and all the bad habits that stem from these negative states of mind
  • Half-baked Ideas…these take our thoughts and actions on wild goose chases, down rabbit holes and up pipe dreams 
Knee-jerk thoughts consume and waste much energy. While it is impossible [and therefore unwise] to try to remove all knee-jerk thoughts, attitudes and outlooks improve when ANTs are controlled and half-baked ideas are tested before they waste too much energy...half-baked ideas need to be 'oven tested'. ANTs respond well to cognitive behavioural therapies. Half-baked ideas respond well when tested under oven-approved recipes that blend in common sense [particularly, wisdom of the ages], open-mindedness, a sense of adventure, and a pinch of creativity.

***

Is your brain prone to operate in knee-jerk mode?

...might want to work on that.

After all, knee jerks are much different than more sophisticated leg movements such as those involved in walking...let alone running in the right direction.

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.

Don't agonize over things done.; don't hold too dearly prizes won.

by Rick Baker
On Oct 19, 2015

Mistakes are a fundamental piece of the human condition. Everybody makes mistakes. At least, that's our perception.

We perceive others making mistakes - perhaps that started two ways: (1) when we were first told we could not do things we wanted to do and (2) when we first noticed people not doing things the way we thought those things should have been done.

We perceive our own mistakes - we notice ourselves doing things we think are wrong and we notice some things we do bring about undesirable results. Sometimes our mistakes barely register...like passing little, harmless faux pas. Other times we perceive our mistakes as major, problematic. Whether or not our mistakes have little or large consequences, sometimes we learn from them and sometimes we do not. When we learn from our mistakes we pave the path for good habits. When we to not learn from our mistakes we pave the path for bad habits.

Sometimes, we agonize over our mistakes. We analyse them ad nauseam. We try in vain to sort out why we did them. We wish we could undo the damage they created. We wish we had the opportunity to relive past experiences and get it right the second time. All of this wishing and agonizing - all this grieving over our mistakes - goes way beyond learning from our mistakes and places us in a self-destructive mind zone.

So, from time to time we need to remind ourselves: "Don't agonize over things done."

***

Recognition of success is a fundamental piece of the human condition. Everybody yearns for recognition. At least, that's our feeling.

When we do things successfully, gratification [when it comes] comes to us two ways: (1) intrinsically - self-satisfaction around tasks well done and (2) extrinsically - approving feedback from others. All of this recognition around tasks well performed can be viewed as prizes.

We deliver some of the prizes to ourselves. We receive some of the prizes from others. Some of the prizes are intangible. Some are tangible.

Sometimes, we downplay these prizes...having trouble receiving recognition and/or pretending we do not value them. Sometimes, we hold them so tightly they become a routine. Sometimes, we become consumed by the memories of past successes. Sometimes we repeat stories about them over and over and over...like the 'Glory Days' in that Bruce Springsteen song. We grope and grasp at our stories of the past...desperately holding on to past-directed thoughts...desperately holding on to our prizes...and missing the opportunities to succeed in new ways.

So, from time to time we need to remind ourselves: "Don't hold too dearly prizes won."

 

 

 

 

Where there's a will there's a way. [Where there's no way there's no will.]

by Rick Baker
On Oct 8, 2015

I can not conclude people shall fail to meet their goals. While that might always be a possibility, it makes no sense to conclude it shall be the outcome. 

I cannot embrace that sort of attitude-death-spiral mindset.

I'm thinking, "Where there's a will there's a way."

Also, I'm thinking, "Where there's no way there's no will."

[And who with spark wants to be surrounded by either no will or no way let alone an absence of both?]

I'm thinking, "Will and way are inseparable partners: if we find one of them we know the other must be close by."

Rather than accepting there's no way, I'm keeping my eyes open for will. If it is clear will is not present then the question requiring an answer shall be, "If there's truly no will here then where has will gone?" The answer to that question shall provide a good option...at least one good option. That one good option shall be - tracking will down and discovering its way. 

Regardless, it's just plain wrong to conclude people shall fail to achieve their goals...unless, of course, that thought causes you to bolt for greener pastures. On your greener pastures you are sure to see will finding its way.

Tags:

Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude

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