...to protect an idiot.
According to the Merriam Webster On-line Dictionary, a foolish or stupid person may be referred to as an idiot. I tried to upload my picture next to it, with a hyperlink that said 'See Me'. No dice.
Generally, I do not think of myself in this way. Nor should anyone, really.
However, given the events this week, if a parade were dedicated to idiots I might qualify as Grand Marshal on the main float.
First, let me quote a recent personal profile study in which I participated. According to the results, I am a person who:
* enjoys structure and order, over chaos
* has a clear sense of direction
* can weather many storms
In response to the last item: Baby, it's raining and we've got holes in the boat!
According to the same profile study, my weak points are:
* having too much ability for certain jobs
* getting easily bored
To avoid disasters like the ones I created this week, it is best that the idiot in question surrounds himself with people who can compensate for his weaknesses. Hence, the village.
Apparently, proofreading the sample copy of my latest book before authorizing the printing of 1000 copies created boredom for me. Perhaps I have too much ability to have realized that 8 of the 20 chapters were missing due to an error on my part.
Thankfully, I have people around me to save from myself. Good people who live, thrive and survive by actually paying attention to details and not fast-forwarding through the boring parts.
It was an expensive lesson, but a lesson just the same.
Wherever you are in life, I hope you have managed to surround yourself with a village which cares for you and saves you from dangers of all kinds, especially from yourself.
Play to your strengths, and never be afraid to send someone else up to the plate to play to theirs. It can save much heartbreak, embarassment, and money.
On a positive note, I've got a heck of a sale going on and, as I believe in truth in advertising: all books are literally 40% off !
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
History CAN Repeat Itself...With Your Help
Although I no longer watch the TV news or read anything that comes before the Sports page in the newspaper, I am well-aware that times are challenging out there. Am I putting on ruby slippers and clicking my heels in a cosmic state of denial?
No.
Have I made a conscious decison to not get caught up in the swirling negativity which seems to be compounded by prognosticators of exponential doom and gloom?
Yes.
Are these challenging times? Of course they are. Times are always challenging for someone. However, there are many people in this country who have chosen to rise above it all, push their way through, and not get caught up with those who are determined to broadcast negativity from the rooftops. I saw a button the other day, worn by a member of Business Networking International (BNI), which read "I Refuse to Participate in a Recession".
Personally speaking, I love this.
History has shown that, following challenging times, there can be periods of great reward. Perhaps if we looked at the seeds of those times, we can find the recipe for our next prosperous era. As Anthony Robbins and others have said: "Success leaves clues".
One of my favorite quotes is from Tom Peters (from a Success Magazine audio program):
"Leaders are merchants of hope"
If ever we needed hope, it is now. Too many people are running off the rails, and the Chicken Littles of the world are the overzealous engineers.
You can be a leader. You can inspire. Find someone from history whom you respect and admire, and emulate that person. Take their best qualities and breathe new life into them.
Create success, and leave your own clues for others to follow in the future.
Be a merchant of hope.
No.
Have I made a conscious decison to not get caught up in the swirling negativity which seems to be compounded by prognosticators of exponential doom and gloom?
Yes.
Are these challenging times? Of course they are. Times are always challenging for someone. However, there are many people in this country who have chosen to rise above it all, push their way through, and not get caught up with those who are determined to broadcast negativity from the rooftops. I saw a button the other day, worn by a member of Business Networking International (BNI), which read "I Refuse to Participate in a Recession".
Personally speaking, I love this.
History has shown that, following challenging times, there can be periods of great reward. Perhaps if we looked at the seeds of those times, we can find the recipe for our next prosperous era. As Anthony Robbins and others have said: "Success leaves clues".
One of my favorite quotes is from Tom Peters (from a Success Magazine audio program):
"Leaders are merchants of hope"
If ever we needed hope, it is now. Too many people are running off the rails, and the Chicken Littles of the world are the overzealous engineers.
You can be a leader. You can inspire. Find someone from history whom you respect and admire, and emulate that person. Take their best qualities and breathe new life into them.
Create success, and leave your own clues for others to follow in the future.
Be a merchant of hope.
Monday, March 2, 2009
How Do You Sleep?
So, how did you sleep last night?
Perhaps you woke up to a loud vehicle passing by. Perhaps the music from the neighbors party ran beyond your town’s noise ordinance.
Perhaps something you did recently is not allowing you to sleep soundly.
The most valuable gift my parents gave me was the gift of ethics, values and morals.
In the news recently:
Two teenagers steal $164 from a 9-year old Girl Scout who was selling cookies. Reason given: “Who doesn’t like money?”
A $15,000 motorized wheelchair is stolen form the concourse of a major league ballpark as its owner sat in the bleachers. Foul!
Bernie Madoff admits to swindling investors for an estimated $50 billion. That’s billion…with a ‘b’.
None of these actions were accidental. They were all brought to life by a human being making a conscious choice…a choice to go against the laws of society and worse, against the Golden Rule of “treating others as you would like to be treated”.
What choices did you make today? What actions did you take?
How do you sleep?
Perhaps you woke up to a loud vehicle passing by. Perhaps the music from the neighbors party ran beyond your town’s noise ordinance.
Perhaps something you did recently is not allowing you to sleep soundly.
The most valuable gift my parents gave me was the gift of ethics, values and morals.
In the news recently:
Two teenagers steal $164 from a 9-year old Girl Scout who was selling cookies. Reason given: “Who doesn’t like money?”
A $15,000 motorized wheelchair is stolen form the concourse of a major league ballpark as its owner sat in the bleachers. Foul!
Bernie Madoff admits to swindling investors for an estimated $50 billion. That’s billion…with a ‘b’.
None of these actions were accidental. They were all brought to life by a human being making a conscious choice…a choice to go against the laws of society and worse, against the Golden Rule of “treating others as you would like to be treated”.
What choices did you make today? What actions did you take?
How do you sleep?
The Jumper Cables of Life
Eight years ago, I was married with a successful career in radio, plenty of friends, supportive family, etc. But, I was not happy. I was drenching myself in the books and recordings of many motivational speakers, but instead of using these positive messages to float on the stormy seas of my life, I was drowning. Instead of serving as lifesavers, they fast became anchors weighing me down.
And it's a long swim in stormy seas when you can't find the lighthouse.
I chose to leave the radio industry, ended my marriage, discovered I was $65,000 in debt, moved in with a family member, and basically my life was stalled on the side of the road with the hood up, waiting for a jumpstart.
Despite the potential all those powerful messages held for me, I was basically a junkie. Every day, in a quest for my next 'fix', I was trying to shove in everything I could, always in search of the next guru or message that would 'change my life'.
My life was falling apart and I was miserable. Finally I realized that I was shoving in all this information through my eyes and ears, but none of it was reaching my heart. I often explain my 'then' situation by quoting (of all people) Bud Bundy from Married With Children:
'When you pour a gallon of knowledge into a shot-glass of a brain...you're gonna spill some."
I was spilling a slick of misery the size of the Exxon Valdez.
In 2003 I gave it all away, signed off from a major on-line motivational forum and stopped going to seminars. Spent several years 'throwing out all the other voices' to find out who Steve really was (with the help of a caring Life Coach who helped me to dismantle things, per my desire). The best thing about the Life Coach is this: he did not change a single thing about me. He held the jumper cables with me, had me hold one end as he held the other, and let positive energy flow through them. I could disconnect them at any time, but did not, until I felt my car was ready to run on its own.
In hindsight, as we stripped away the layers of junk, it turns out I really was there underneath all that other stuff. I did actually have my own voice, values, etc. I just let them get buried and stifled.
My life has done nothing but improve since then. Are there still little speedbumps and the occasional roadblock? Of course. Can I easily find a way over or around them, using my gifts and resources, listening to my own voice? Yes.
I have since gone back to share in that on-line forum, with a much different mindset, to help others.
Sadly I still see some people who were there years ago, still suffering and looking for that next fix, not able to find or express their TRUE SELVES and hear their own voice.
They get excited over this 'next big thing' that is going to make their life better, but ultimately it does not because they have forgotten the most important ingredient: themselves...the yeast that makes the dream rise.
It is what YOU add to something that makes it right for you...not what a speaker tells you, not what a book says, not what this blog says (even if you agree with it).
It is who you are, and the person you are becoming that makes all the difference.
And, whenever you can, please considering sharing your jumper cables with someone who is stuck on the side of the road of life.
And it's a long swim in stormy seas when you can't find the lighthouse.
I chose to leave the radio industry, ended my marriage, discovered I was $65,000 in debt, moved in with a family member, and basically my life was stalled on the side of the road with the hood up, waiting for a jumpstart.
Despite the potential all those powerful messages held for me, I was basically a junkie. Every day, in a quest for my next 'fix', I was trying to shove in everything I could, always in search of the next guru or message that would 'change my life'.
My life was falling apart and I was miserable. Finally I realized that I was shoving in all this information through my eyes and ears, but none of it was reaching my heart. I often explain my 'then' situation by quoting (of all people) Bud Bundy from Married With Children:
'When you pour a gallon of knowledge into a shot-glass of a brain...you're gonna spill some."
I was spilling a slick of misery the size of the Exxon Valdez.
In 2003 I gave it all away, signed off from a major on-line motivational forum and stopped going to seminars. Spent several years 'throwing out all the other voices' to find out who Steve really was (with the help of a caring Life Coach who helped me to dismantle things, per my desire). The best thing about the Life Coach is this: he did not change a single thing about me. He held the jumper cables with me, had me hold one end as he held the other, and let positive energy flow through them. I could disconnect them at any time, but did not, until I felt my car was ready to run on its own.
In hindsight, as we stripped away the layers of junk, it turns out I really was there underneath all that other stuff. I did actually have my own voice, values, etc. I just let them get buried and stifled.
My life has done nothing but improve since then. Are there still little speedbumps and the occasional roadblock? Of course. Can I easily find a way over or around them, using my gifts and resources, listening to my own voice? Yes.
I have since gone back to share in that on-line forum, with a much different mindset, to help others.
Sadly I still see some people who were there years ago, still suffering and looking for that next fix, not able to find or express their TRUE SELVES and hear their own voice.
They get excited over this 'next big thing' that is going to make their life better, but ultimately it does not because they have forgotten the most important ingredient: themselves...the yeast that makes the dream rise.
It is what YOU add to something that makes it right for you...not what a speaker tells you, not what a book says, not what this blog says (even if you agree with it).
It is who you are, and the person you are becoming that makes all the difference.
And, whenever you can, please considering sharing your jumper cables with someone who is stuck on the side of the road of life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)