Can you teach an old dog new tricks? SURE YOU CAN! You are never too old to learn something new. And you are never too old to find a new dream or set new goals. And you are never too young to start doing the same thing! No matter how old you are or how young you are, you can look around yourself and think of things you'd like to do. Things you'd like to improve. Things you'd like to make different. Start now. Set some goals and make a plan. You are neither too young nor too old!
Oct 14, 2020•38 sec
Maybe you are having a bad day. You don't have to share that with everyone around you. Not everyone you meet is part of your support network. Don't let the bad things going on inside you spill out onto the random people you meet in the course of going through the day. In other words, do happy for the people around you. Your smile and friendly demeanor might lift up the strangers you meet, just a little. Certainly, if you are hurting, you need to be able to be real and genuine around people who c...
Oct 13, 2020•45 sec
We've all become accustomed to using a mask to keep the toxic viruses out of our lives? What can you do about keeping toxic people from ruining your toxic attitudes? COVID19 has accustomed many people into wearing masks designed to keep out a virus that can kill your body. Yet, at the same time, many people regularly expose themselves to toxic personalities. Without any protection. What are you doing to keep your self mentally healthy when people around you are polluting your environment with th...
Oct 12, 2020•51 sec
It doesn't matter what you are doing. It matters what people think you are doing. The dark underbelly of this truth is that people can fake it. They can get by quite well if they just look like they are doing what they are supposed to do. I want to flip this idea! If someone is doing EVERYTHING they are supposed to be doing and doing it WELL, it also doesn't matter. Unless someone knows about it. If you work with someone who is doing a good job, who is doing a little more than necessary, who is ...
Oct 08, 2020•59 sec
I was told recently that they way I said something—something that was utterly ridiculous—made it sound real. My bold claim came off in such a way that the absurdity of it was obscured. This is a very scary lesson. The face-value of information can be obfuscated by the presentation. A shiny package of news, ideas, and data can create the illusion of correctness and authority. Don't be fooled! Dig deeper. Ask questions. Look at what's not said, not reported. Don't get caught up by the way it comes...
Sep 23, 2020•46 sec
Who do you think you are? Well, you are not what you do? What you do for a living does not determine who you are. It does not directly reflect your character, your heart. HOW you do whatever it is does. No matter what your job is, how you go about doing it is a direct reflection on your character. Do you do it with integrity? Do you do it honestly? Do you put in your best effort? Do you do it while showing kindness and regard to those you encounter? It is not what you do that defines your charac...
Sep 21, 2020•32 sec
Being nice is one thing. Encouraging bad behavior is totally something different. As an act of kindness, people often tell others not to worry about what other say. They tell them, "Don't worry! You're fine just the way you are!" This is just not true. Some people are mean. Some people are lazy. Some people look down on others. They are NOT fine, just the way they are. Many people act in ways that hurt others or leave them isolated and alone. They need to change! Telling people that they are fin...
Sep 17, 2020•1 min
If you, want to understand the news, follow the money. The people who work on news teams don't do so without pay. The cameras and studios… cost money! News agencies depend on something in order to get the money to pay for their expenses. In most cases, that money comes from the commercials they sell. Even the not-for-profit news agencies have to protect their funding. They dare not offend the people paying their bills. News is a business. They have to sell their programming to the people who buy...
Sep 15, 2020•48 sec
Decisions do not happen in a vacuum. Every decision has consequences. Every word spoken, every dollar spent, every hour passed lead to consequences. At the very least, you cannot go back and undo what has been done. People and circumstances will react and change based on the things you decide. Whatever you do, whenever you decide something, there are consequences that follow. You need to be making sure that the decisions you are making are leading you toward the outcomes you'd like to have. Befo...
Sep 11, 2020•45 sec
What's important to you? I can tell. The things that are important to you are the things that you devote your time, energy, and resources to. If you spend all your time and money working on your… whatever. If so, THAT'S what's important to you. You can't say something is important to you if you don't invest time and energy there. Well… you can SAY it. But it won't be true. If something is important to you, you will remember it. You will invest yourself in it. It will appear as an prominent part ...
Sep 10, 2020•57 sec
Our feelings come directly out of out thought about the events. It's not the events. It's what we think about them. Classic example: clowns. Some people see a clown and laugh. Others see a clown and cry. It's not the clown. It's the thoughts about the clown. Similarly, if we dwell on negative aspects of the day, then our emotional reaction to those things will be negative. On the other hand, if we relish the positive things that happen, then we'll emotionally respond with positive feelings. Peop...
Sep 09, 2020•29 sec
What you see is only what you see. If you knew the whole story—whatever that is—there would likely be a lot of things not showing up on YouTube, Instagram, or whatever social media you are looking at. It is easy to point the camera in only one direction and not reveal all the clutter and chaos that would be seen if you looked the other way. Many people who are putting things out for others to consume intentionally created a message of some sort. The use the platforms to advance that message, be ...
Sep 08, 2020•58 sec
How do you find your life mission? It's a quest! Finding your mission isn't something you can sit down and do over a cup of coffee. Not unless you've poured a lot of time into thinking about it before you hit the brew button! If a life mission is defined as that thing, that idea, those practices and standards under which is organized all of the things you spend time and resources on, then developing a life mission begins when finding a deep, clear understanding of your personal beliefs and value...
Sep 04, 2020•59 sec
You need to know where you are going. If not, you'll not even notice that you got there! Having a destination is typical when setting out on a trip. Or at the least, having a general idea such as, "Let's go to the mountains and just look around." Knowing that destination makes it possible to prepare for the journey and to assess whether or not you are making progress in the right direction. As sensible as that is, often, people have no idea where they are going with their lives. The live day-to-...
Sep 03, 2020•59 sec
You have a voice. It is what you say and what you do. How are you using it? Whoever you are, whatever you do, you probably are coming in contact with people, either face-to-face or through social media or other Internet means. What do your words and actions say to them? Are you using your "voice" to lift them up? To spread positivity? Are you encouraging people and helping them become better versions of themselves? Use your words and actions in a way that makes life a little better for people ar...
Sep 02, 2020•42 sec
Being able to adapt is a great way of enhancing your chance at success. Being flexible in how you do things can help you work with others. Things don't always have to be done YOUR way. But… There is another side to this. If you are always the one giving in and changing to fit what you do into the ways other people want to see it done might be tiring. You might ultimately find yourself just worn down by always being the one who gives in. In a good situation, there should be some give and take. So...
Sep 01, 2020•57 sec
Don't fool yourself! Sticks and Stones may break your bones. BUT, words CAN hurt! Humanity is created to be in community with others. As part of that, we are meant to sense how others are reacting to us so that we can be better parts of the community. As such, we DO react to other people's interaction with us. So, when someone intentionally says or does things that are cruel and uncaring… it hurts. Implicit in criticism is the idea that we did not meet the expectations of—even if it is just one ...
Aug 31, 2020•50 sec
It is easier to stay caught up than it is to get caught up. If you get behind, it's hard to catch back up. Whatever it is that you are responsible for doing, it takes effort and a good process to stay caught up. But if you ever fall behind, the effort needed to catch back up increases dramatically. You need a plan that allows you to do the things you need to do in the way you need to do them in the time you have allotted to get them done. And you need to follows that plan! Falling behind is easy...
Aug 28, 2020•56 sec
Help! I'm lost! Ever feel like you are on a path that might not be leading you to where you want to go? You don't have to stay there. Just because you don't see any options ahead, doesn't mean there are none. It's possible that they are there, but you can't see them. When you feel like you are stuck, don't panic. Take a moment and look around. Find someone who cares about you—a parent, teacher, coach, minister, aunt, uncle, friend—and ask for help. It might be that they know of a different path ...
Aug 27, 2020•54 sec
With your words and your actions, you—every day—proclaim a message to the world. You can't always control who hears the message. Your circumstances put you in the presence of people, and usually, who they are depends on factors outside your influence. But whoever you are around… coworkers, customers, students, teammates… Make sure you are living in ways and saying words that put out the message you want your life to have. You may not be able to control who it is that "hears" you. But, you can co...
Aug 26, 2020•44 sec
Do you want to live in a way that you are making things around you better? Maybe you answer "yes" to this, but you don't think you have any way of doing this. Maybe you think you need to have some large social media audience if you want to make a difference. You don't. Everyone has the platform of being a human in the world. In that world are other humans. Your realm of influence might only be the people in your office or the customers who come to your cash register, but—THAT IS a platform you c...
Aug 24, 2020•58 sec
One part of being mature is having the ability to look into the future, identify what needs to be done, then staring in the present to see that it is. But it's hard. It's easy to ignore the hard, unpleasant things now and just do what is fun and easy. But mature thinkers know better. They think about things to come and set out to usher them in with preparation, no matter how unpleasant or undesirable the situation. What SHOULD you be doing?
Aug 21, 2020•31 sec
Do you ever look at something and think it's just too hard? Do you ever want to give up? Sometimes, to be successful, you have to be tenacious. Tenacity is the practice of facing difficult circumstances and not giving up. It means working through the difficult situations without giving up. The struggles are real. Sometimes you just have to try, try, try, until you overcome them. The path is not always easy. Sometimes, it takes a lot of hard work to get to the end! Can you push through?
Aug 20, 2020•31 sec
Do you energize other people? In science, the property of conductivity relates to how a substance can transfer energy—heat or electricity. Some things conduct energy better than others. But, what about as a trait of a person? What if there was some measure of how well one person can pass energy and enthusiasm to other? Think about it! Do you know people who, by their very nature, make others want to do more? Want to be more? Want to live their lives better? What if we said these people are human...
Aug 19, 2020•50 sec
It's very possible that you, if you do anything, have found a process that works. You get what you want from the process. But if the circumstances change, what then? How can you get the outcome you want if everything you have come to expect changes? In physical science, the characteristic of flexibility is the ability of a substance to bend without breaking. A wire can alter its shape to fit the available space and course of a conduit, for instance. Developing flexibility as a person—as a manage...
Aug 18, 2020•57 sec
There are many, many people around us every day. Does it ever seem like everyone around you is unhappy? That they are discontent about everything? People respond to their perception of the environment with various degrees of being happy and unhappy. Everyone is different, and reacts differently to what's going on. However, if you are part of the environment, then you can play a part in their state of mind. How you live affects others. You can live in a way that changes the environment. Changes h...
Aug 17, 2020•53 sec
Bering adaptable is a trait that will help you become successful in a lot of different situations. Adapt what works to places where it needs to work!.
Aug 12, 2020•41 sec
Cognitive malleability is the capacity to change how you think about things, how you might operate, when facing external pressures of the world. When the pressure rises, do you bend or break?
Aug 12, 2020•56 sec
Your goals sometimes depend on other people's expectations. When you want something controlled by others, their meeting expectations becomes your goal. Success is personal. Except when it isn't.
Aug 10, 2020•56 sec
If you are going to be happy, it is YOUR goals and expectations that need to be met. Success is personal. Except when it isn't.
Aug 10, 2020•1 min
