Archive | November, 2008

The Importance of Celebrating Your Success

On a semi-regular basis, I do some childminding for a lovely family, and this week, the younger girl (aged eight) brought home a “Congratulations” certificate from school.

This got me thinking about our achievements as adults. When did someone last give you a certificate to say “well done”, “congratulations” or “great job”? Has anyone even said those words to you recently?

Sometimes, it’s easy to feel that our hard work goes unnoticed – maybe by our employers, teachers or relatives. Perhaps you stayed late every night to ensure the success of a tricky project at work, and no-one seemed to care. Or you’ve reached a thousand subscribers on your blog, but your spouse can’t see what you’re so excited about.

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The Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Kids

Obama’s kids aren’t impressed by his work.

Back in April, Obama candidly admitted on the Rachel Ray Show that his job doesn’t exactly fill his kids with excitement. “When I call them and they say, ‘Daddy, what did you do today?’ I said, ‘Well, I spoke to 35,000 people.’ It’s like ‘Boring.’ It’s not interesting,” The focus of Obama’s interview was the importance of finding time to spend time with your family, even if you happen to be running for President of the United States of America.

In the past it was thought that being a “good parent” meant spending more time away from your kids – coming to work early and leaving late, schmoozing your way up the corporate ladder after hours, volunteering for extra projects and business trips, etc. But over time, parents and parenting experts have come to realize that it’s not how much you give your kid that’s important – it’s how much time you give them.

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How To Stop Punishing Yourself For The Past

“True justice is paying only once for each mistake”

How often do we overlook the above aphorism as we repeatedly revisit past mistakes, injuries, and confrontations? There are times I lie sleepless and recall arguments I had with college sweethearts, high school teachers, and even the grade school bully. What do I get for my trouble? Sometimes I experience that all-too-familiar wave of panic, other times an uneasy stomach or a rapidly beating heart; that feeling is almost always accompanied by guilt, resentment, or both. The experience never benefits me and I’ve reached the point in my life where I need to stop it.

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Why Self Awareness is Fundamental to Personal Growth (& How to Cultivate It)

“We primarily grow as human beings by discovering new truths about ourselves and our reality.” – Steve Pavlina

The scope of personal development and growth is a broad one. It is through the powerful impact of personal development and growth that we can grow and improve our relationships, our careers, our wealth, our health, and our happiness. At the very fundamental core of this broad and powerful pursuit is self awareness.

To discover new truths about ourselves is to expand our self awareness. Think of self awareness as a circle. Everything within and without the circle is the self. What is within the circle is what your current level of self awareness allows you to consciously perceive.

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A 7 Step No-Waffle Plan for Real World Success

Working in the personal growth niche, I am unfortunately subjected to a lot of waffle masquerading as professional advice.

Some of these wafflers may be better business people than I am – some certainly charge others big dollars to see them waffle – but regardless, they are blatantly spouting waffle and it’s just about criminal in my opinion.

For example, the other week I was visiting the office of a company I do some work for, and I happened to walk into the middle of a staff meeting. There was a consultant there who after looking very pensive and listening intently with a furrowed brow (ok he probably used his ears to listen, but let’s not get technical) eventually spoke up to tell the employees who he was and what he was there to do.

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Learning To Listen To Our Inner Wisdom

One of the most disturbing things in my life right now is that I know several people who feel the need to drug themselves in order to go to work. In the morning, they drink, use prescription drugs, or even take painkillers or sedatives to make sure they stay composed, and keep themselves from having “emotional outbursts,” while in the office. Without a little something to take the edge off, they don’t feel like they could function.

These may sound like extreme examples, but in some way most of us are “taking the edge off” to deal with the stresses of working and other aspects of our lives. When we get home, for instance, most of us immediately turn on the computer, radio or TV, craving an escape from the anger, fear or despair we experience in our working lives. Like “hard drugs,” these activities temporarily distract us from, or numb us to, how we’re feeling. The fact that most of us do this in the evening to “wind down,” as opposed to doing it in the morning to “gear up,” doesn’t seem like a very meaningful distinction to me.

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