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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Your power resides in your strengths: easily said, not easily done...and rampantly ignored.

by Rick Baker
On Feb 10, 2015

Your power resides in your strengths.

Your power either energizes action or it rests inactive.

Your power is the sum total of your talents, the opportunities you've had to put those talents to work at tasks, your knowledge related to those talents, and the time you've taken to practice and develop work-skills based on those talents.

Your power is put to good use when you employ your strengths through good habits.

Good habits, naturally, take you toward your long-term goals and vision.

And, of course, if you do not have long-term goals and vision then your power rests inactive and your strengths do not realize their potential.

 

 

Are we the ‘captains of our own ships’, able to [if not designed to] determine where our ships are going?

by Rick Baker
On Feb 2, 2015

In his book 'Good Leaders Ask Great Questions', John C Maxwell said "purpose gives you drive".

That got me thinking. Does purpose give you drive or does drive give you purpose?  I think, at the surface level, John C Maxwell is correct - purpose does give you drive. At least, purpose bolsters your drive and purpose fans your flames of motivation...so to speak.

That said - Where does purpose come from? Does it magically or genetically appear when we are born? Are people destined with a built-in purpose, coupled to a major life-task...i.e., working to understand that purpose? And, does the extent people are able to figure out their life purposes correlate to their ability to generate internal drive?...i.e., the more they know their purpose, the stronger their internal drive.

Is that the way it works?

Or, are people born with a curious internal drive and that drive naturally causes them to do things and when they do things they achieve results. Then, when they observe those results and particularly those results that provide them gratification, people get a sense of purpose – a sense of purpose that aligns with their gratifying results. And, if they find the gratification compelling enough then they consider it to be aligned with 'internal purpose'. Then, with this sequence of thoughts and actions repeated and repeated over time, people conclude - “This is my purpose!”

Is that the way it works?

This conundrum goes to the heart of the very big question: Was each person created with a specific purpose? The alternative being that we were not created with specific purposes and if that is the case then a logical next question is - Are we supposed to create our own purpose?

Regardless...

Don't you think we the ‘captains of our own ships’, able to [if not designed to] determine where our ships are going?

Bite-sized Success

by Rick Baker
On Oct 21, 2014

Most people fail because they quit. Most people quit because they get frustrated. Most people get frustrated because they don't know how to measure success. Most people don't know how to measure success because they never took time to think about how they might be able to accomplish that measurement.

Most people don't break work down into bite-sized tasks which can be measured.

When we break success into bite-sized pieces we can measure it. When we measure actions we can see and celebrate our small successes. When we celebrate small successes we self motivate. When we self motivate we increase our chances of ultimate success.

When we measure them and know our small successes are accumulating we gain confidence.

When we gain confidence we increase the likelihood of ultimate success.

This is the sort of logic that allows us to understand the value embedded in goals, especially when vivid long-term vision is meshed with measurable short-term goals.

Willing suspension of disbelief: an entrepreneurial phenomenon

by Rick Baker
On Oct 2, 2014

From Wikipedia...

Suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief is a term coined in 1817 by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who suggested that if a writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth" into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgement concerning the implausibility of the narrative.

Suspension of disbelief often applies to fictional works of the action, comedy, fantasy, and horror genres. Cognitive estrangement in fiction involves using a person's ignorance or lack of knowledge to promote suspension of disbelief.

The phrase "suspension of disbelief" came to be used more loosely in the later 20th century, often used to imply that the burden was on the reader, rather than the writer, to achieve it. This might be used to refer to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. These fictional premises may also lend to the engagement of the mind and perhaps proposition of thoughts, ideas, art and theories. [1] Suspension of disbelief is often an essential element for a magic act or a circus sideshow act. For example, an audience is not expected to actually believe that a woman is cut in half or transforms into a gorilla [2] in order to enjoy the performance.

***

Now, Suspension of Disbelief is not limited to fiction entertainment.

Suspension of Disbelief happens day after day in business...entrepreneurs do it repeatedly.

Entrepreneurs create and believe fantastic stories around their visions and goals. 

And from time to time, other people suspend their doubts and embrace entrepreneurs' fantastic visions and goals.

Then things really happen and every once in a while truth becomes more fantastic than fiction.

Better-world dreams: the best prescriptions for motivation and self-confidence.

by Rick Baker
On Sep 9, 2014

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Dream about major positive changes...dream in vivid vision...that's the best motivation and confidence-builder.

Tags:

Thought Tweets | Vision: The Leader's Vivid Vision

Take your big treasure chest of dreams off the shelf...dust it off...open it up...and put its contents to good use.

by Rick Baker
On Sep 8, 2014

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

You were an incessant dreamer...night & day...light & heavy...fantastic...motivating.

Criticism and the trials of day-to-day life caused you to shelve many of your vibrant dreams.

Forgotten dreams, hidden gems.

 

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."

John Barrymore



Tags:

I'm too busy! - I don't have time! | Thought Tweets | Vision: The Leader's Vivid Vision

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