Fear and insecurity

So many people today are gripped with a sense of fear.

They fear for the future. They feel vulnerable in the workplace.
They are afraid of losing their jobs and their abillity to provide for their families.
I want it now
People want things and want them now.
I want money. I want a nice, big house, a nice car etc
Today's credic card society makes it easy to get now and pay later
Our culture and Wall Street screams for today.
(We focus too much on today, that we forget about our future. How will your life look in 3,5, 10
years from now?)
Blame and victimism
Whereever you find a problem, you will usually find the finger-pointing of blame. Society is
addicted to playing the victim.
If only my boss wasn't such a controlling idiot..
If only I hadn't been born so poor..
If only I lived in a better place..
If only I hadn't inherited such a temper from my dad.
If only my kid's weren't so rebellious..
If only we weren't in such a declining industry.
If only our people weren't so lazy and without drive..
If only my wife was more understanding....
IF ONLY...
IF ONLY..
Blaming everyone and everything else for our problems and challenges may be the norm and may
provide temporary relief from the pain, but it also chains us to these very problems.
Hopelessness
When we succumb to believing that we are victoms of our circumstances and yield to the plight of
determinism, we lose hope, we lose drive, and we settle into resignation and stagnation.
I am a pawn, a puppet, a cog in the wheel and can do nothing about it. Just tell me what to do.
So many bright, talented people feel this and suffer the broad range of discouragement and
depression that follows.

YOU ARE THE CREATIVE FORCE OF YOUR LIFE!!

Lack of life balence
Life in our cell phone society is increasingly complex, demanding, stressful and absolutely
exhausting. For all our efforts to manage our time, do more, be more, and achieve greater efficiency

through the wonders of modern technology, why is it we increasingly find ourselves in the thick of
thin things subordinating health, family, integrit, and many of the things that matter most to our
work?
The problem is not our work, which is the sustaining engine of life. It's not the complexity or
change. The problem is that our modern culture says, go in earlier, stay later, be more efficient, live
with the sacrifice for now but the truth is that balance and peace of mind are not produced by
these; they follow the person who develops a clear sense of her highest priorities and who lives with
focus and integrity toward them.

What's in it for me?

Our culture teaches us that if we want something in life, we have to look out for number one.
It says, Life is a game, a race, a competition and you better win it.
Schoolmates, work colleagues, even family members are seen as competitors the more they win,
the less there is for you.
Of course we try to appear generous and cheer for others' successes, but inwardly, privately, so
many of us are eating our hearts out when others achieve.
The hunger to be understood.
Few needs of the human heart are greater than the need to be understood to have a voice that is
heard, respected, and valued to have influence.
Most believe that the key to influence is communication-- getting your point across clearly and
speaking persuasively. In fact, if you thinj about it, don't you find that, while others are speaking to
you, instead of really listening to understand, you are often busy preparing your response?
The real beginning of influence comes as others sense you are being influenced by them when
they feel understood by you that you have listened deeply and sincerly, and that you are open. But
most people are too vulnerable emotionally to listen deeply to suspend their agenda long enough
to focus on understanding before they communicate their own ideas. Our culture cries out for, even
demands, understanding and influence. However, the principle of influence is governed by mutual
understanding born of the commitment of atleast one person to deep listening first.
Conflict and differencies
People share so much in common, yet are so magnifically different. They think differently; they
have different and sometimes competing values, motivaitons, and objectivies. Conflcits naturally
arise out of these differences. Sociaety's competitive appraoch to resolving the conflict and
differences tends to center on winning as much as you can.
Though much good has come from the skillful art of compromise, where both sides give on their
positions until an acceptable middle point is reached, neither side ends up truly pleased. What a
waste to have differences drive people to the lowest common denominator between them! What a
waste to fail to unleash the principle of creative cooperation in developing a solutions to problems
that are better than either party's original notion!
Personal stagnation
BODY:
Cultural tendency: maintain lifestyle; treat health problems with surgery and medication.
Principle: prevent dieases and problems by aligning lifestyle to be in harmony with established,
universally accepted principles of health.

MIND:
Culture: watch television, entertain me.
Principle: read broadly and deeply, continuous education.
HEART:
Culture: use relationships with others to forward your personal, selfish interests.
Principle: deep, respectful listening and serving others bring greatest fulfullment and joy.
SPIRIT:
Culture: succumb to growing secularism and cynicism.
Principle: recognize that the source of our basic n eed for meaning of the positive things we seek in
lfie ins principles which natural laws I personally believe have their source in God.

HOW MANY ON THEIR DEATHBEDS WISHED THEY'D SPENT MORE TIME AT THE
OFFICE OR WATCHING TV? NO ONE!!!

The Pygmallion effect

Our perceiptions are deeply imbedded.
We must look at th elens through which we see the word, as well as at the world we see, and that the
lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.
We began to realize that what we were doing to help our son was not in harmony with the way we
really saw him...
We began to realize that if we wanted to chang ethe situation, we first had to change ourselves. And
to change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.

Yu must create one of those Aha! Experiences in life when suddenly things click into place.

If i try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to
work better, to be more motivated, to like me and each other while my character is fundamentally
flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity and then, in the long run, I cannot be successfull. My
duplicity will breed distrust, and everything I do even using so-called good human relations
techniques wil be percieved as manipulative.
To focus on technique is like cramming your way through school. You sometimes get by, perhaps
even get good grades, but if you don't pay the price day in and day out, you never achieve true
mastery of the subjects you study or develop an educated mind

WHAT WE ARE COMMUNICATES FAR MORE ELOQUENTLY THAN ANYTHING WE

SAY OR DO.

Paradigm = a model, theory, perception, assumptions, or frame of referens.

The way we see the world
Not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding,
interpreting.
A paradigm is like a map; suppose you wanted to arrive at a specific location in central
Chicago. A street map of the city would be a great help to you in reaching your destination.
But suppose you were given the wrong map. Through a printing error, the map labeled
Chicago was actually a map of Detroit. Can you imagine the frustration, the ineffectivness
of trying to reach your destination?
You might work on your behaviour you could try harder, be more diligent, double your
speed. But your efforts would only succeed in getting you to the wrong place faster.
You might work on your attitude you could think more positively. You still wouldn't get to
the right place, but perhaps you woudln't care. Your attitude would be so positive, you'd be
happy whereever you were.
The point is, you'd still be lost. The fundamental problem has nothing to do with your
behaviour or your attitude. It has everything to do with having a wrong map.
If you have the right map of Chicago, then diligence becomes important, and when you
encounter frustrating obstacles along the way then attitude can make a real difference. But
the first and most important requirement is the accuracy of the map.
Each of us has many, many maps in our head, which can be divided into two main categoies:
maps of way things are, or eealities, and maps of way things should be, or values. We seldom
question their accuracy; we're usually even unaware that we have them. We simply assume
that the way we see things is the way they really are or the way they should be.
Conditioning powerfully affects our perceptions, our paradigms.
What you see, is not what I see. Even if we are looking at the same picture.

Both you attitude about her, and your behaviour toward her had to be congruent with the way
you saw her.

EACH OF US THINK WE SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE, THAT WE ARE OBJECTIVE.

BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE. WE SEE THE WORLD, NOT AS IT IS, BUT AS WE ARE
OR AS WE ARE CONDITIONED TO SEE IT.

When we open our moths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our
perceiptions, our paradigms. When other people disagree with us, we immediately think
something is wrong with them,

My paradigm shifted. Suddenly I saw things differently, and because I saw things differently, I
though differently, I behvaed differently.
Many people experience a similiar fundamental shift in thinking when they face a lifethreatening crisis and suddenly see their priorities in a different light, or when they suddenly
step into a new role, such as that of husband o wife, parent or grandparent, manager or
leader.
Paradigm are powerful because they create the lens through which we see the world.
The power of paradigm shift is the essential power of quantum change, whether that shift is
an instantaneous or a slow and delinerate process.

In all life, there are sequential stages of growth and development. A child learns to turn over,
to sit up, to crawl, and then to walk and run. Each step is important and each one takes time.
No step can be skipped. This is true in all phases of life, in all areas of developmentm, whether
it be learning to play the piano or communiciate effectively with a working associate.
And even if we understand it, to accept it and to live in harmony with it are even less common
and more difficult. Consequently, we sometimes look for a shortcut, expecting to be able to
skip some of these vital steps in order to save time and effort and still reap the desired result.
People are intrigued when they see good things happening in the lives on individuals, families,
and organizations that are based on solid principles.
And their immediate request is very revealing of their basic paradigm. how do you do it?
Teach me the techniques what they're really saying is, give me some quick fick advice or
soulution that will relieve the pain in my own situation.
Knowledge is the theoretical paradigm, the what to do and the why. Skill is the how to do. And
desire is the motivation, the want to do. In order to make something a ahbit in our lives, we
have to have all three.

Proactive VS Reactive
Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment. If the weather is good, they feel
good. If it isn't, it affects their attitude and their performance.
Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no
difference to them.
They are value driven; and if their value is to produce good quality work, it is't a function of
whether the weather is conductive to it or not.
Reactive people are als affected by their social environment, by the social weather.
When people treat them well, they feel well; when people don't, they become defensive or
protective. Reactive people build their emotional lives around the behavior of others, empowering
the weaknesses of other people to control tjem.
The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. Reactive
people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment.
Proactive people are driven by values carefully thought about, selected and inernalized values.
Proactive people are still influenced by external stimuli, whether physical, social, or
psycological. But their response to the stimuli, conscious or unconscious, is a value-based
choise or response.
No one can hurt you without your consent.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
They can not take away ou self respect if we do not give it to them.
- Gandhi
You are what you are today because of the choises you have made in your life.
You have the power to choose your emotions, if you feel miserble: it is because you let it
happen.
It's not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us. Of course,
things can hurt us physically or emotionally and can cause sorrow. But our character, our
basic identity, does not have to be hurt at all.
Taking the initiative
Taking initiative does not mean being pushy, obnoxious or aggresive. It does mean recognizing our
responsibility to make things happen.
Many people wait for something to happen or someone to take care of them. But people who
end up with the good jobs are the proactive ones who are solutions to problems, not problems
themselves, who seize the initiative to do whatever is necessary, consistent with correct
principles, to get the job done.
Act or be Acted Upon
Take the initiative or someone else will do it for you.
Listening to Our Language
The way that you talk to yourself.

He makes me so mad!
I can't do that. That's not me.
I don't have the time to do that!
If only my girlfriend liked me more.

Reactive Language vs Proactive Language

There's nothing I can do. Let's look at our alternatives.
That's just the way I am. I can choose a different approach.
He makes me so mad. I control my own feelings.
They won't allow that. I can create an effective presantation.
I have to do that. I will choose an appropriate response.
I can't I choose.
I must. I prefer.
If only. I will.
A serious problem with reactive language is that it becomes a self-fufilling prophecy. People
become reinforced in the paradigm that they are determined, and they produce evidence to support
the belief. They feel increasinly victimized and out of contorl, not in charge of their life or their
destiny. They blame outside forces other people, circumstances, even the stars for their own
situation.
Hollywood has generally scripted us to believe that we are not responsible, that we are a
product of our feelings.
Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of iNfluence.
They work on the things they can do somethinga bout. The nature of their energy is positive,
enlargning and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase.
Rective people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern. They focus on the
weakness of otjer people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which
they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language,
and increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus, combined
with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their Circle of Influence to shrink.
Egna noteringar:
This club is too loud.

I just don't feel social today.

I will approach people next time, I just don't feel like doing it today.
I'm not wearing my favorite outfit.

I know this is a dramatic paradigm shift for many people. It is so much easier to blame other people,
conditioning, or conditions for our own stagnant situation. But we are responsible responseable-- to control our lives and to powerfully influence our circumstances by working on be, on
what we are.
We can be happy and accept those things that at present we can't control, while we focus our efforts
on things that we can.
Happiness is a proactive choice.
The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it. This
turns a failure into a success.
When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn form it.
Dont get into a blaming, accusing mode. Work on things you have control over. Work on you.
On be.
To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding on our destination. It means
to know where you are going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps
you take are always in the right direction.
It's incrediby easy to get caught up in an activity real, in the busyness of life, to work harder and
harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall. It is
possible to be busy very busy- without being very effective.
In developing our self-awareness many of us discover ineffective scripts, deeply embedded habits
that are totally unworthy of us, totally incongruent with the things we really value in life.
To begin with the end in mind means to approach my role as a parent, as well as my other roles in
life, with my values and directions clear.
It means to be responsible for my own first creation to rescript myself so that the paradigms from
which my behavior and attitude flow are congruent with my deepest values and in harmony with
correct principles. It also means to begin each day with those values firmly in mind. then as the
vicissitudes, as the challenges come, I can make my decisions based on those values, the
circumstance. I can be truly proactive, value driven, because my values are clear.
My money will be my servant, not my master.