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by Rick Baker
On May 27, 2011
I think we should focus on strengths.
We should spend time working on our strengths rather than our weaknesses.
So, I have been captured by the good work the people at the Gallup organization have done to create STRENGTHSFINDER.
I own copies of all the books written by Marcus Buckingham and by Tom Rath…and I am re-reading all of them.
While doing this re-reading, I was slowed down by one section of Marcus Buckingham’s book ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths’. Marcus talked about brain neuroplasticity and he had a strong view that brain neuroplasticity is overrated. His words made it clear he knew the facts – ie, the 2001 facts – about brain neuroplasticity. He knew about neurons and lost-limb work [I immediately thought about Ramachandran], etc.
Marcus made it clear he thought people were overestimating the value of using ‘brain plasticity’ activities/exercises to create better results at work. He stressed, at the very least, this is an inefficient way to go about self-improvement.
Rather, he recommended [I am using my own words here]:
- Focus on Strengths…that’s the best place to improve one’s performance
- When the job/role requires it, patch up Weaknesses…or work around them if that is possible.
Also, Marcus talked about:
- Talent Themes…how they are innate and cannot be changed
- Values…how we can choose to adjust them [and adjust our character]
Marcus Buckingham got me thinking.
First
I believe people only do 3 things.
I believe if we boil things down then people only do 3 things:
- Good Habits
- Bad Habits
- New Things
That’s it. Whether I do things voluntarily or in reaction to some unknown drivers in my involuntary back-up systems, whether I do things in reaction to subconsciously-driven emotions, or whether I logically plan out things and do them…every single thing I do can be sorted into one of 3 categories:
- Good Habits
- Bad Habits
- New Things
Not to get too bogged down in detail [assuming it isn’t already too late], some examples:
- I breathe whether I want to or not…that’s a Good Habit because it tends to keep me alive
- I look both ways before I cross the street…that’s a Good Habit my Dear Mom taught me
- I eat too much ice cream…that’s a Bad Habit because it removes my ability to buy smaller belts
- I have trouble getting to sleep…that’s a Bad Habit because it wastes time, annoys me, etc
- I read books…depending on the book that’s a Good Habit [re-reading Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’] or that’s a New Thing [when it is my first reading of the book]
- I took the STRENGTHSFINDER test…that was a New Thing that led to some Good Habits
- I read plenty of books about the brain: de Bono, Ramachandran, Doidge, Schwartz, Amen, Glynn, Lynch, Maltz, Ratey, Robbins, Calvin, Begley…etc, etc
Here’s the point
Yes - I read plenty of books about the brain and I am specifically interested in reading about brain neuroplasticity.
Putting Marcus Buckingham’s thought together with my philosophy about Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things…
Is that a Good Habit or a Bad Habit?
What if I asked Marcus Buckingham, “Marcus, is that a Good Habit or a Bad Habit?”
I wonder if Marcus would say, “Rick, that’s a Bad Habit”.
I wonder if Marcus would say, “Rick, that’s definitely a Bad Habit because you are not focusing on one of your Strengths!”
Ouch!
Footnotes
by Rick Baker
On May 3, 2011
I notice ‘Stop And Think’ is a common thread in self-help literature.
On the other hand, maybe I notice it because I am predisposed to finding it?
I notice an array of Stop And Think recommendations:
- Stop And Think before you act…an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
- Stop And Think before you react…social skills and conflict resolution education
- Stop And Think and Grow Rich1…“what Man can conceive and believe Man can achieve”
One piece of Stop And Think advice really catches my attention:
Stop And Think about how you feel
That is the most powerful piece of Stop And Think advice.
It is most powerful because, with practice, it can be done very quickly, it can yield immediate rewards, and it can solidify long-term success.
Stop And Think about how you feel can be done quickly…
It is as easy as taking a few seconds to make a mental note as you face situations and activities.
Stop And Think about how you feel can yield immediate rewards, with practice…
You can learn to adjust your feelings and behaviour.
You can replace Bad Habits with Good Habits.
You can be more comfortable in situations.
You can do better at many tasks.
Stop And Think about how you feel can solidify long-term success…
You can uncover the nuances of your unique Strengths. That’s a major key to success.
You can develop a more pleasing personality. That’s another major key.
You can hone your decision-making skills. That’s another major key.
You can find it easier to set life goals. That’s another major key.
You can enjoy your work. That’s another major key.
Stop And Think About How You Feel
Success Simplified
by Rick Baker
On Apr 21, 2011
Most normal people hear little voices.
Their little voices talk to them constantly.
Most people ‘hear’ that little voice in their heads.
For most people, the little voice sounds like their own voice.
For other folks, the voice may come from just in front of their face, in front of the place where the top of their nose connects with the spot between their eyes. Apparently, for some folks [and this is rare] the voice comes from another place…like in front of their chest or in front of the pit of their stomach.
Regardless, a natural part of the human condition is having that little voice. Some, perhaps most people, consider the little voice to be their guide – the voice of their conscience.
Most people – most normal human beings – hear their little voices chatter negatively throughout the day…their little voices are saying negative this and saying negative that…over and over and over….all day…every day. Their little voices feed them a continuous string of negative thoughts.
Dr. Daniel Amen calls negative thoughts ANTS
ANTs = Automatic Negative Thoughts1
For example, Dr. Amen describes 2 of these ANTs as:
- ANT 4 [red ant]. When the little voice delivers this ANT it tries to make us believe we know what other people are thinking even when they have told us what they are thinking Mind Reading ANT
- ANT 7 – the Labeling ANT. When the little voice delivers this ANT it tries to make us place labels on ourselves and other people
These ANTs contribute to our biases.
Bias2 = a: bent, tendency b: an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially: a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment: prejudice c: an instance of such prejudice
In a prior Thought Post3 I wrote:
People are biased and make a fundamental attribution error
In summary, when the bias is at work we judge like this:
- When other people do poorly we blame their behaviour [ie, we blame them]. However, when other people do well we give credit to the situation.
- We do the exact opposite when it comes to judging ourselves.
I believe Tony Robbins4 recognized these sorts of biases. He recognized many people get upset when things do not go their way. He recognized even he, a well-experienced motivational educator who knew better, got upset from time to time in response to other people’s actions. He decided to create a tool to help himself and other people get over this negative thinking….get to a much better way of thinking and get to a much better way of communicating.
Tony Robbins called his tool the ‘Reality Check tool’. He describes that tool in his audio CD ‘Live With Passion’.
The tool contains a list of 7 questions we can ask ourselves when we feel upset with/about another person. The tool contains value: I recommend the audio CD.
Wrapping up…
That’s how Little Voices, ANTs, Biases, & Robbins fit together.
The great news is we can ‘CHANGE FOR THE BETTER’.
Here’s a link to introduce more thoughts on this topic…
PS: that link takes you to my 1st effort at creating an educational video….one take…with my son Jack doing the production, direction, and camera work. That experience is a fond memory.
Footnotes:
by Rick Baker
On Apr 12, 2011
If the historical record is correct then the ancient Egyptians threw away their brains.
I mean, when they preserved people’s bodies using the mummification process they did not preserve the brains with the other body parts, which included the heart, the liver, the lungs, the stomach, and the intestines. The ancient Egyptians preserved all those parts for the afterlife. And they preserved the skeleton and muscles.
But, they did not preserve the brains. They threw them away.
I found that fascinating.
So, I did a little research.
Here are the Egyptian hieroglyphs for the brain and the heart:
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| Brain |
Heart |
NOTE: the above hieroglyph for ‘brain’ is what you will find if you search the Internet. Since drafting this Thought Post I became even more interested in hieroglyphs and I purchased Jean-Francois Dumon’s ‘Aaou Hieroglyphic Dictionary’. That dictionary indicates the above hieroglyph does not represent ‘brain’; it represents ‘viscera’…which, of course, means other organs [not the brain].
Jean-Francois Dumon presents the following hieroglyph for ‘brain’:
D36-G17-G17-F51 [I am trying to contact Jean-Francois Dumon to sort this out]
Here is an excerpt describing ancient Egyptian thinking about the heart…
“Heart (ieb)
Appearance: Those used to the valentine-related heart of Western Culture may be surprised at the Egyptian concept of the heart. Theirs looks more like a vase with handles, and indeed many vases and jars were shaped like the hieroglyph in question. The heart of Egyptian iconography is a fairly faithful representation of a section of the heart of a sheep. The "handles" correspond with the connection of the veins and arteries to the organ.
Meaning: The Egyptians early in their history realized the connection of the heart to the pulse. An ancient Egyptian medical treatise of the heart says that it "speaks in the vessels of all the members." It is not surprising then that they believed that the heart held the mind and soul of the individual. Another Egyptian author stated emphatically that "the actions of the arms, the movement of the legs, the motion of every other member is done according to the orders of the heart that has conceived them." It was sometimes said of the dead that their hearts had "departed" because it was believed that the heart was the center a man's life force.”
The above excerpt is representative of the way experts describe the ancient Egyptian view: the heart held the mind and soul of the individual...and the heart governed the body.
Now, ‘Western’ thinking – thinking heavily flavoured with science - has a different view.
I hope I do not do an injustice to that ‘Western’ thinking when I describe [my understanding of] it this way:
- The brain governs the body [although there is at least a partial acceptance that spinal neural systems can influence the body, independent of the brain]
- The brain may contain the mind…probably, if ‘the mind’ exists then the brain does contain the mind…however, there is no scientific evidence to confirm the mind exists whether as a thing independent of the brain or as a subset of the brain
- The heart is a pump, which pumps blood…it governs circulation of blood…that’s it
Considering all that and more…
Is it reasonable to conclude the ancient Egyptians, when they preserved their hearts and threw away their brains, were primitive and ignorant?
Is it reasonable to conclude the ancient Egyptians were 100% wrong?
Footnote:
Related to this…the folks who follow my Thought Posts know ‘I Wonder’ about a lot of things. This ancient Egyptian heart and brain topic has me wondering. I have read ancient Greeks, pre-Socratic Greeks, did not take credit for most or maybe even all of their thoughts. As a rule they believed the gods caused them to think what they thought and feel what they felt. As examples, if while on the battlefield they became fearful they blamed it on a god and if they prevailed over the enemy they credited a god. [Refer to Homer’s ‘Iliad’] So, it is easy [but not necessarily accurate] to conclude the ancient Greeks heard voices in their heads...similar to the voices normal people now hear in our heads [or perhaps just in front of our faces]. I mean that voice that talks to us all the time, helping us sort out things and decide what to do. Assuming the ancient Greeks heard voices as we now do, they heard [essentially] their own voice but concluded the gods were using that voice to speak to them.
Today, we tend to believe the voice belongs to us rather than a God or the gods.
I wonder:
- Did the ancient Egyptians ‘hear’ voices?
- If so then were those voices in or near their hearts rather than their heads?
by Rick Baker
On Apr 8, 2011
I re-read the notes I made a few years ago while reading Dr. de Bono’s book ‘Water Logic’.
In that book Dr. de Bono describes 3 types of questions.
Here is an excerpt from my notes…
Three Types of Questions:
- A Shooting Question...we know what we are aiming at and the answer is 'yes' or 'no'.
- A Fishing Question...we bait the hook and wait to see what turns up. An open-ended search for information.
- A Trapping Question...we prepare the trap to suit what we want to catch. This is exactly the same as pre-concept.
Straightforward…and I like the metaphor style.
A sampling of de Bono quotes:
Quotes that fit our Seek Simple philosophy…
Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple.
One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.
Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.
Quotes that fit our views of the value of Humour…
Humour is by far the most significant activity of the human brain.
It has always surprised me how little attention philosophers have paid to humour, since it is a more significant process of mind than reason. Reason can only sort out perceptions, but the humour process is involved in changing them.
Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven.
Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.
Footnote:
by Rick Baker
On Apr 6, 2011
People underestimate the adaptability of their brains…with intent and effort we can improve the many ways our brains serve us.
People underestimate their biases… with some adjustments we can improve our relationships with other people.
Communication is trickier than we would like it to be.
People are not too busy…they just need to use their time more carefully.
Understand individual strengths – play to strengths & work to strengths.
When it feels like something is wrong, something is wrong.
Decisions are easier when we seek simple.
If we want to experience smooth change then we must continuously pave the path for it.
Change is only constructive when people are comfortable.
As a rule there is no such thing as constructive criticism… that’s an oxymoron 95% of the time.
We can nurture creativity…humour is one key, practice is another.
Technology advancement, including social media, has changed the pattern for future business success… we must tap into the ‘cognitive surplus’.
Clients’ Clients are a key to success.
Taskmulti-ing is better than multitask-ing.
It is easier to be objective when observing another business than it is when observing our own.
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