Cavemen had it tough.

Yes, I know some are trying to make it look like cavemen had it cushy. 

Don`t believe it.

Cavemen had it tough.

When major problems arose they had to pull up their big-boy loin cloths and face the challenges.

Cavemen faced a simple choice: meet the challenge or lose...and often losing meant death.

Imagine how tough it must have been to watch your next-door cave-neighbour do things better than you...hunt better than you, gather better than you, build a better fire...let alone have a more elegant and ergonomic cave. How tough was that on the lizard brain?

So, if you believe in the 'theory of evolution', take comfort in the amazing genes that survived all those challenges and lived long enough to create you. You are made of good resilient stuff.

If you don't believe in the 'theory of evolution', take comfort in knowing it could be worse. You don't have to live in a cold, dark cave. And, Mother Nature outside your home and around your office ain't gonna eat you. If not evolution, at least time has blessed you.

PS: Either way it seems to me we owe a debt to those cave-people who walked this planet before us. They paved the path in so many ways. And, they did it the good-old-fashioned way - without designer shoes. Head-to-toe hardship...literally. Amazing!

PPS: When I used the word 'literally' above I was not trying to imply cave-people were particularly literate. I mean - that sort of thinking is not etched in stone.

link to earlier Cavemen articles (i.e., the Missing Link)

Thought Tweet #779 Be self-conscious. Be very self-conscious. And be positive about it.

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

We have been taught and conditioned to think of 'self-conscious' people as timid people, people who cower under negative self-images.

Let's give this another think.

Better still; let's replace that first-thought with a constructive thought.

Self-conscious is a good thing:

• It means the person has given some thought to self...thinking about self is an important thing to do.
• It means the person is aware of self...self-awareness is a valuable commodity. 

Self-awareness, like any other skill, takes practice. That practice should be done with an open mind.

We all have AHA! Moments.

These are magical moments when things fall into place, when things feel right & good, and when we feel at least a little bit wiser. Sometimes the AHA! is large and we feel enlightened and much wiser. AHA! Moments are among the most-positive internal events in our lives. They are linked in intuition and to insight, both powerful and constructive activities that occur within our minds.

AHA! Moments are triumphant experiences. They help us get over hurdles. They provide better ways of doing things. They change paradigms. They energize us.

AHA! Moments change our lives for the better.

So, it makes sense that we should maximize the number of AHA! Moments we experience.

How might we do that?

How might we increase the number of AHA! Moments we experience?

Can we design ways to experience more AHA! Moments?

I have given this quite a lot of thought and I have concluded it would be very difficult and maybe even impossible for a person to design ways to self-experience more AHA! Moments. On the other hand, it is relatively easy to design ways to increase the number of AHA! Moments experienced by other people.  

Socrates knew this and he set up a question-method that guided his pupils and followers to AHA! Moments.

A series of designed questions - baby steps of thought & action coupled with the art of good questions - is just one way to help other people experience more AHA! Moments.

Idea-storming - a free-flow idea generation process - is another way.

Properly performed coaching - non-programmed, free-flow coaching - is another way.

The benefits of paving the path for more AHA! Moments for others [and encouraging others to do the same for you]...

Here are 3:

1. More AHA! Moments mean more learning...self-improvement - the best kind of learning.
2. More AHA! Moments mean higher levels of work satisfaction...a great way to attract and keep top-quality people.
3. More AHA! Moments mean you can ease off on telling, which often brings resistance...instead of telling you help by guiding.

When you stop and think about it, why would you not make increasing people's AHA! Moments one of your highest priorities?

Enjoy the Magic of AHA!