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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Thought Tweet #850

by Rick Baker
On Oct 18, 2013

Thought Tweet #850 If you want to influence others, influence yourself first. Make little changes for the better. Let others see you doing it.


The Thinking Behind The Tweet

All great leaders make major changes to their way of dealing with 'their personal challenges' and their way of interacting with other people. 

All great leaders learn how to replace Bad Habits with Good Habits.

Self-control is magnetic.

 

Thought Tweet #848

by Rick Baker
On Oct 16, 2013

Thought Tweet #848 If you don't prove you can change then people you want to change likely (A) will change or (B) won’t change.


The Thinking Behind The Tweet

So many people set the change-bar high for others while setting it low for themselves.

When others do not change they are surprised.

Perhaps they do not believe in lead by example.

 

Tags:

Change: Creating Positive Change | Thought Tweets

Put your foot down...say "No" to "No"

by Rick Baker
On Oct 15, 2013

Beliefs: some good, some not-so-good

Beliefs intertwine with perceptions and patterns in your brain. Then beliefs manifest their influence, acting as your 'internal filters'. These filters guide your view of the world. These filters guide your behaviour. Your beliefs become deeply-held in your subconscious mind. From that strong base, your beliefs generate your habits…some good, some bad. Your beliefs determine your appetite for new things, your attitude toward change, and your ability to replace bad habits with good habits.

Do you know the true nature and depths of your beliefs?

Have you taken the time to 'dig deep' and understand your most-powerful beliefs?

These beliefs, your strong-and-deeply-rooted beliefs, govern your life: deep beliefs are the roots of your greatest joys; deep beliefs are the roots of your darkest fears.

Your deepest and most-strongly-held beliefs aid your efforts toward certain goals while they resist your efforts toward other goals. In these ways, your beliefs are fundamental to your life. They are fundamental to how you feel during your life and they are fundamental to whether or not you achieve the success you desire.

Where did your beliefs come from?

When it comes to questions like this, all of us are students. None of us know with certainty why or how we have beliefs. Yet, certain things make sense to us. As examples:

·         We perceive things and our perceptions of those things are taken to our brains

·         Our brains file vast amounts of information in memory, for future reference

·         Our brains like to simplify our lives so they sort things into patterns/concepts

·         With repetition bits and pieces of information solidify into bigger pieces and then into patterns

·         Diversity of perceptions expand and complicate perceptions, building a hierarchy of sorted/related patterns [and concepts]

An illustration...

When we are infants we hear our parents say the word "No". That's an audio perception. As our parents repeat the word "No" we learn "No" is an important part of our lives. Simple repetition of that spoken word causes neurons in our brains to construct deeper "No" pathways. Recognizing the importance of "No", our infant brains begin to build a "No" pattern. Our infant brains quickly pick up diverse perceptions that will feed into the "No" pattern. A parent may show an angry face while saying the word "No". The visual body language signal and the verbal sound signal send 2 separate messages, both of which feed into the growing "No" pattern in our infant brains. We notice/perceive that different situations precede our parents’ "No" messages. We perceive more diversity, more repetition and the "No" pattern becomes stronger, deeper, and more-nuanced. Even as infants we have a very broad and deep understanding of the word “No”. We recognize its sound, we recognize what it looks like when it is written, we recognize the facial expressions and the various forms of body language that accompany the word “No”, and we know the word “No” is expressed to us as a result of a wide range of different situations.

We learn our parents are not the only ones who deliver "No" messages to us. Other family members, to varying degrees, deliver "No" messages. We meet neighbours who have little people of their own and both those neighbours and the toddlers they bring into our lives add more "No" to our perceptions.

Why all this discussion around the word “No”?

That question begs the questions…

Do you understand how the pattern/concept “No” has fed negatives into your belief system?

Do you understand the extent the pattern/concept “No” throttles your efforts toward your desired goals & success?

Do you understand how to go about repairing the damage the word “No” has done to you belief system?

Are you willing to make an effort to find out?

Popeye said, "I am what I am" but in the end he always ate his spinach.

by Rick Baker
On Oct 9, 2013

Really, I don't want to get too philosophical about Popeye....although, I must admit, he possessed a unique character well worth the time and effort of concerted philosophical exploration.

Anyhow...

I first met Popeye via black-and-white TV when I was a young [and possibly impressionable] child. From the get-go, Popeye annoyed me. It seemed to me he wasn't very bright. He tolerated all that Brutus-abuse for no good reason at all. While he was a man of questionable vigor and fighting ability he knew he had a secret weapon...that can of yucky cooked spinach...that yucky spinach that made him invincible. He had the tool right there with him. Yet, episode after episode Popeye refused to eat his spinach until the very last minute...placing me in a situation where I was perilously close to failing to make it back to school before the bell.

So, I grew up perceiving Popeye as:

  • A rather weak-minded fellow...yet, his "I am what I am" confirms he had a level of self-knowledge and a grounding for an at-least-somewhat pleasing personality.
  • An obstinate character, the kind of person who ignores that excellent Mary Poppins' spoonful-of-sugar-helps-the-medicine-go-down advice [in Popeye's case...helps the spinach go down]...yet, at the end of the day, a guy who does his best and gets the job done
  • A loveable guy who was doomed to struggle through each and every battle.
To this day, and defying all logic, I like cooked spinach!
 
[I must remember to bring some cans of it to work.]
 
 


Tags:

1-Page Tools | Beyond Business | Change: Creating Positive Change | Hero Worship

Thought Tweet #832.5

by Rick Baker
On Sep 24, 2013

Thought Tweet #832.5 Converting challenge into change...isn't that the essence of the leader's role?

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Leaders see challenging situations....political, technological, interpersonal, economic, etc.

Leaders envision and desire change.

Leaders inspire other people to convert challenge into change.

Thought Tweet #830.5

by Rick Baker
On Sep 20, 2013

Thought Tweet #830.5 If you are going to teach someone, first find out what they believe they already know.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Far too often, we jump into teaching. Far too often, we assume others do not know what we know. 

Far too often, we conclude others are doing things poorly or incorrectly because they don't know what we know.

More often than not, we waste time and 'make work' when we assume and conclude others don't know what we know.

We can remedy this by asking simple questions before we give instructions and lessons.

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