Friday, August 12, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Lee Iacocca
Just as true today as it was when his book first came out.
He was, and still is, a brilliant businessman!
Often we need to be reminded of Iococca's words.
Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes? He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone?'.
Lee Iacocca Says:
'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage with this so called president? We should be screaming bloody murder! We've got a gang of tax cheating clueless leftists trying to steer our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even run a ridiculous cash-for-clunkers program without losing $26 billion of the taxpayers' money, much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'trust me the economy is getting better..'
Better? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned, 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the Democrats out along with Obama!'
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore..
The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs.. While we're fiddling in Afghanistan , Iran is completing their nuclear bombs and missiles and nobody seems to know what to do. And the liberal press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the ' America ' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest 'C' is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis being the first.)
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with thumb up your butt and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess, so here's where we stand.
We're immersed in a bloody war now with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. But our soldiers are dying daily.
We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the world, and it's getting worse every day!
We've lost the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.
Gas prices are going to skyrock again, and nobody in power has a lucid plan to open drilling to solve the problem. This country has the largest oil reserves in the WORLD, and we cannot drill for it because the politicians have been bought by the flea-hugging environmentalists.
Our schools are in a complete disaster because of the teachers union.
Our borders are like sieves and they want to give all illegals amnesty and free healthcare.
The middle class is being squeezed to death every day.
These are times that cry out for leadership.
But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?
We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.
Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping the government will make it better for them. Now, that's just crazy.. Deal with life.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, look what Obama did about it!
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving theenergy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
I have news for the Chicago gangsters in Congress. We didn't elect you to turn this country into a losing European Socialist state. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC or CNN news will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America . In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World War II,' the 'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,' the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years since 9/11.
He was, and still is, a brilliant businessman!
Often we need to be reminded of Iococca's words.
Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes? He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone?'.
Lee Iacocca Says:
'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage with this so called president? We should be screaming bloody murder! We've got a gang of tax cheating clueless leftists trying to steer our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even run a ridiculous cash-for-clunkers program without losing $26 billion of the taxpayers' money, much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'trust me the economy is getting better..'
Better? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned, 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the Democrats out along with Obama!'
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore..
The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs.. While we're fiddling in Afghanistan , Iran is completing their nuclear bombs and missiles and nobody seems to know what to do. And the liberal press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the ' America ' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest 'C' is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis being the first.)
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with thumb up your butt and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess, so here's where we stand.
We're immersed in a bloody war now with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. But our soldiers are dying daily.
We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the world, and it's getting worse every day!
We've lost the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.
Gas prices are going to skyrock again, and nobody in power has a lucid plan to open drilling to solve the problem. This country has the largest oil reserves in the WORLD, and we cannot drill for it because the politicians have been bought by the flea-hugging environmentalists.
Our schools are in a complete disaster because of the teachers union.
Our borders are like sieves and they want to give all illegals amnesty and free healthcare.
The middle class is being squeezed to death every day.
These are times that cry out for leadership.
But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?
We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.
Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping the government will make it better for them. Now, that's just crazy.. Deal with life.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, look what Obama did about it!
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving theenergy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
I have news for the Chicago gangsters in Congress. We didn't elect you to turn this country into a losing European Socialist state. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC or CNN news will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America . In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World War II,' the 'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,' the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years since 9/11.
Friday, November 12, 2010
The funny line and the bottom line intersect!
In a survey of 737 CEO’s, over 98% of them indicated they would much rather hire somebody with a good sense of humor than somebody without one. You can take your job seriously… and yourself lightly.
2 Jest for the health of it! Laughter enhances respiration and circulation, oxygenates the blood, suppresses the stress-related hormones in the brain, and activates the immune system. Indeed, laughter is the jest medicine.
3 Humor as an antidote to stress: Humor can help us move from a “grim and bear it” mentality to a “grin and share it” orientation. By using humor, you can prevent a “hardening of the attitudes,” which can help you add years to your life and life to your years.
4
“A smile is the shortest distance between two people,” according to Victor Borge. Humor can be a magnet to attract people, to build positive working relationships, and to improve morale and teamwork.
5 The HAHA-AHA connection: There definitely is a connection between humor and creativity. Humor can jump-start your creativity and give you the energy to think (and laugh) outside the box.
6 The laughing-learning link: Humor can be a powerful (and delightful) way to capture and maintain attention and free up tension… which means that retention increases.
7 Your Resilience Quotient: Norman Cousins’ best-selling book, Anatomy of an Illness, certainly opened up many people’s eyes to the notion that “S/He who laughs lasts.” With humor, you can build resilience and get more smileage out of your life and work.
8 Humor as a saving (and amusing) grace for the planet: As our world gets proverbially smaller all the time, humor could help build important bridges between countries and cultures. As Erma Bombeck once said, “When humor goes, there goes civilization!”:
Adapted from LAUGHING MATTERS magazine published by The HUMOR Project, Inc. Copyright © 2008 The HUMOR Project, Inc.
2 Jest for the health of it! Laughter enhances respiration and circulation, oxygenates the blood, suppresses the stress-related hormones in the brain, and activates the immune system. Indeed, laughter is the jest medicine.
3 Humor as an antidote to stress: Humor can help us move from a “grim and bear it” mentality to a “grin and share it” orientation. By using humor, you can prevent a “hardening of the attitudes,” which can help you add years to your life and life to your years.
4
“A smile is the shortest distance between two people,” according to Victor Borge. Humor can be a magnet to attract people, to build positive working relationships, and to improve morale and teamwork.
5 The HAHA-AHA connection: There definitely is a connection between humor and creativity. Humor can jump-start your creativity and give you the energy to think (and laugh) outside the box.
6 The laughing-learning link: Humor can be a powerful (and delightful) way to capture and maintain attention and free up tension… which means that retention increases.
7 Your Resilience Quotient: Norman Cousins’ best-selling book, Anatomy of an Illness, certainly opened up many people’s eyes to the notion that “S/He who laughs lasts.” With humor, you can build resilience and get more smileage out of your life and work.
8 Humor as a saving (and amusing) grace for the planet: As our world gets proverbially smaller all the time, humor could help build important bridges between countries and cultures. As Erma Bombeck once said, “When humor goes, there goes civilization!”:
Adapted from LAUGHING MATTERS magazine published by The HUMOR Project, Inc. Copyright © 2008 The HUMOR Project, Inc.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Detroit fights Back
On a side street in an old industrial neighborhood, a delivery man stacks a dolly of goods outside a store. Ten feet away stands another man clad in military fatigues, combat boots and what appears to be a flak jacket. He looks straight out of Baghdad. But this isn't Iraq. It's southeast Detroit, and he's there to guard the groceries.
"No pictures, put the camera down," he yells. My companion and I, on a tour of how people in this city are using urban farms to grow their own food, speed off.
In this recession-racked town, the lack of food is a serious problem. It's a theme that comes up again and again in conversations in Detroit. There isn't a single major chain supermarket in the city, forcing residents to buy food from corner stores. Often less healthy and more expensive food.
As the area's economy worsens --unemployment was over 16% in July -- food stamp applications and pantry visits have surged.
Detroiters have responded to this crisis. Huge amounts of vacant land has led to a resurgence in urban farming. Volunteers at local food pantries have also increased.
But the food crunch is intensifying, and spreading to people not used to dealing with hunger. As middle class workers lose their jobs, the same folks that used to donate to soup kitchens and pantries have become their fastest growing set of recipients.
"We've seen about a third more people than before," said Jean Hagopian, a volunteer at the New Life food pantry, part of the New Life Assembly of God church in Roseville, a suburb some 20 miles northeast of Detroit. Hagopian said many of the new people seeking assistance are men, former breadwinners now in desperate need of a food basket.
Hagopian is an 83-year old retired school teacher. She works at the pantry four days a week, spending two of those days driving her own minivan around town collecting food from local distributors.
The pantry, housed in the church basement, gives away boxes of food that might feed a family of four for a week. It includes dry and packaged goods like cereals and pasta, peanut butter, canned fruits and vegetables, 7 or 8 pounds of frozen meat (usually chicken or hot dogs), and eight pan pizzas donated from a local Pizza Hut. Most of the other food is purchased from a distributor or donated by the county food program. Last month they gave out 519 boxes.
Hagopian hopes the demand for food doesn't get much worse.
"I hope we're at the top of it because we'll run out of food, and then we'll have to go out and find some more," she said.
She should brace for the worst. Across metro Detroit, social service agencies are reporting a huge spike in demand for food assistance.
Gleaners, an agency that distributes excess food donated from food processors, says their distribution is up 18% from last year. Michigan Department of Human Services, which handles federal food assistance like food stamps, WIC checks and such, has seen a 14% spike in applications since October. Calls to the United Way's help line have tripled in the last year.
"Given the resources, we could double our numbers," said Frank Kubik, food program manager for Focus:Hope, a Detroit aid organization that fed 41,000 mostly elderly people last year. Kubik said his program is restricted by charter and budget from serving more than its current number of clients. But if that were changed, he could certainly serve up more meals.
"There's no doubt about it, there's just so many out there that are really struggling right now," he said.
The changing face of hunger
There have been plenty of people struggling in Detroit for a long time. What makes this recession different is the type of people coming in. It's no longer just the homeless, or the really poor.
Now it's middle class folks who lost their $60,000-a-year auto job, or home owners who got caught on the wrong side of the real estate bubble.
Many of these people have never navigated the public assistance bureaucracy before, and that makes getting aid to them a challenge.
"They have no idea where the DHS office is," said DeWayne Wells, president of Gleaners, the food distributor.
To assist these newly hungry, Wells pointed to the United Way's 211 program, where people can call the hotline and speak to an operator that guides them through a wide range of available social services.
The Michigan Department of Human Services is going digital, rolling out a program where people can apply for food stamps via the Web.
That may help ease another challenge in getting aid to the middle class: pride. Many people feel so bad about having to ask for help that they just don't, or they have issues with it once they do.
"They'll say things like 'I've never had to do this before' and they feel a little uncomfortable," said Hagopian, the retired school teacher. But she says times have changed, the good union jobs are disappearing and it's harder and harder to find work.
"I just tell them society is not what it used to be," she said.
Detroit responds
Actually running out of food doesn't seem to be a problem, so far. In fact, because more people are being affected the response seems to be greater.
"A few years ago it was someone you saw a profile of on TV," said Wells. "Now it's your brother in-law, or the people your kid plays soccer with."
Wells said volunteers are up at Gleaners, as is general community awareness.
The Feds have helped too. Food stamp allowances were increased 14% nationwide under the stimulus plan.
Detroiters are also helping themselves in smaller ways. Thanks to the dearth of big supermarkets in Detroit proper - a phenomenon largely attributed to lack of people - and plenty of vacant land, community gardening has caught on big.
It's not so much that these gardens are going to feed the city, although they certainly help. It's more that they can be used to teach people, especially children, the value of eating right.
"I use vegetables every day," said one child at an after school gardening program run by Earthworks Urban Farm, near the heart of the city. "Last night, an onion I picked from here, I had in my potatoes."
Hearing that is good news to people like Dan Carmody, president of Eastern Market Corp., a century-old public market selling fresh produce and other foodstuffs near downtown Detroit.
Carmody is part of a group of people trying to bring healthy food to town. The efforts include setting up mobile produce stands around the city, working with convenience store owns to stock better produce, and trying to set up a program that allows food stamp recipients to spend twice as much money if they buy from a local farmer.
He says the food situation in Detroit is particularly depressing because the surrounding areas are chock full with some of the best eats around: Michigan grows some of the most varied crops in the nation, everything from apples and cantaloupes to peaches and watermelon. Windsor, just across the bridge, is the hydroponics capital of Canada. Artisan Amish farms are also close by in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Getting this food to Detroit, and getting Detroiters to buy it is the challenge. That's where the urban farms come in.
"Once kids start seeing where their food comes from," he said, "it changes the whole approach to how they eat."
"No pictures, put the camera down," he yells. My companion and I, on a tour of how people in this city are using urban farms to grow their own food, speed off.
In this recession-racked town, the lack of food is a serious problem. It's a theme that comes up again and again in conversations in Detroit. There isn't a single major chain supermarket in the city, forcing residents to buy food from corner stores. Often less healthy and more expensive food.
As the area's economy worsens --unemployment was over 16% in July -- food stamp applications and pantry visits have surged.
Detroiters have responded to this crisis. Huge amounts of vacant land has led to a resurgence in urban farming. Volunteers at local food pantries have also increased.
But the food crunch is intensifying, and spreading to people not used to dealing with hunger. As middle class workers lose their jobs, the same folks that used to donate to soup kitchens and pantries have become their fastest growing set of recipients.
"We've seen about a third more people than before," said Jean Hagopian, a volunteer at the New Life food pantry, part of the New Life Assembly of God church in Roseville, a suburb some 20 miles northeast of Detroit. Hagopian said many of the new people seeking assistance are men, former breadwinners now in desperate need of a food basket.
Hagopian is an 83-year old retired school teacher. She works at the pantry four days a week, spending two of those days driving her own minivan around town collecting food from local distributors.
The pantry, housed in the church basement, gives away boxes of food that might feed a family of four for a week. It includes dry and packaged goods like cereals and pasta, peanut butter, canned fruits and vegetables, 7 or 8 pounds of frozen meat (usually chicken or hot dogs), and eight pan pizzas donated from a local Pizza Hut. Most of the other food is purchased from a distributor or donated by the county food program. Last month they gave out 519 boxes.
Hagopian hopes the demand for food doesn't get much worse.
"I hope we're at the top of it because we'll run out of food, and then we'll have to go out and find some more," she said.
She should brace for the worst. Across metro Detroit, social service agencies are reporting a huge spike in demand for food assistance.
Gleaners, an agency that distributes excess food donated from food processors, says their distribution is up 18% from last year. Michigan Department of Human Services, which handles federal food assistance like food stamps, WIC checks and such, has seen a 14% spike in applications since October. Calls to the United Way's help line have tripled in the last year.
"Given the resources, we could double our numbers," said Frank Kubik, food program manager for Focus:Hope, a Detroit aid organization that fed 41,000 mostly elderly people last year. Kubik said his program is restricted by charter and budget from serving more than its current number of clients. But if that were changed, he could certainly serve up more meals.
"There's no doubt about it, there's just so many out there that are really struggling right now," he said.
The changing face of hunger
There have been plenty of people struggling in Detroit for a long time. What makes this recession different is the type of people coming in. It's no longer just the homeless, or the really poor.
Now it's middle class folks who lost their $60,000-a-year auto job, or home owners who got caught on the wrong side of the real estate bubble.
Many of these people have never navigated the public assistance bureaucracy before, and that makes getting aid to them a challenge.
"They have no idea where the DHS office is," said DeWayne Wells, president of Gleaners, the food distributor.
To assist these newly hungry, Wells pointed to the United Way's 211 program, where people can call the hotline and speak to an operator that guides them through a wide range of available social services.
The Michigan Department of Human Services is going digital, rolling out a program where people can apply for food stamps via the Web.
That may help ease another challenge in getting aid to the middle class: pride. Many people feel so bad about having to ask for help that they just don't, or they have issues with it once they do.
"They'll say things like 'I've never had to do this before' and they feel a little uncomfortable," said Hagopian, the retired school teacher. But she says times have changed, the good union jobs are disappearing and it's harder and harder to find work.
"I just tell them society is not what it used to be," she said.
Detroit responds
Actually running out of food doesn't seem to be a problem, so far. In fact, because more people are being affected the response seems to be greater.
"A few years ago it was someone you saw a profile of on TV," said Wells. "Now it's your brother in-law, or the people your kid plays soccer with."
Wells said volunteers are up at Gleaners, as is general community awareness.
The Feds have helped too. Food stamp allowances were increased 14% nationwide under the stimulus plan.
Detroiters are also helping themselves in smaller ways. Thanks to the dearth of big supermarkets in Detroit proper - a phenomenon largely attributed to lack of people - and plenty of vacant land, community gardening has caught on big.
It's not so much that these gardens are going to feed the city, although they certainly help. It's more that they can be used to teach people, especially children, the value of eating right.
"I use vegetables every day," said one child at an after school gardening program run by Earthworks Urban Farm, near the heart of the city. "Last night, an onion I picked from here, I had in my potatoes."
Hearing that is good news to people like Dan Carmody, president of Eastern Market Corp., a century-old public market selling fresh produce and other foodstuffs near downtown Detroit.
Carmody is part of a group of people trying to bring healthy food to town. The efforts include setting up mobile produce stands around the city, working with convenience store owns to stock better produce, and trying to set up a program that allows food stamp recipients to spend twice as much money if they buy from a local farmer.
He says the food situation in Detroit is particularly depressing because the surrounding areas are chock full with some of the best eats around: Michigan grows some of the most varied crops in the nation, everything from apples and cantaloupes to peaches and watermelon. Windsor, just across the bridge, is the hydroponics capital of Canada. Artisan Amish farms are also close by in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Getting this food to Detroit, and getting Detroiters to buy it is the challenge. That's where the urban farms come in.
"Once kids start seeing where their food comes from," he said, "it changes the whole approach to how they eat."
Credibility
Haven’t you always heard the most important thing is attitude? I’ve heard that all my life; attitude is everything.
But now that I’m older and wiser, I realize that’s not the case. Oh, don’t get me wrong, attitude is important, but it isn’t everything, far from it. Attitude is nothing without one important ingredient – credibility.
Without credibility you have nothing. Credibility makes you believable. Credibility is what makes people listen to you. Credibility is what makes people take action when you speak.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I’m going to do what he says because he has attitude”? No, you haven’t. But you have heard people say, “I’m going to do what he says because he has credibility. He’s believable. He knows what he’s talking about.”
If you don’t have credibility, no amount of attitude will help you. In fact, attitude without credibility comes off as being arrogant.
I know lots of people who have attitude but they’re not credible. No one listens to someone with attitude. They do listen to someone with credibility. So don’t try to get attitude, try to become credible.
And the way you do that is by learning. Learning is an ongoing process. At 88-years old, Michaelango said, “I am still learning.” Knowledge is power.
The day you stop learning is the day you lose all credibility. You will still have attitude, but it won’t get you anywhere.
So, always remember, credibility is everything. The attitude part is nothing without it.
How about you? Are you credible, or are you just someone with attitude? Credibility and attitude go together like peanut butter and jelly.
People respect attitude, but they respect credibility way more. Become credible. Then attitude will follow.
But now that I’m older and wiser, I realize that’s not the case. Oh, don’t get me wrong, attitude is important, but it isn’t everything, far from it. Attitude is nothing without one important ingredient – credibility.
Without credibility you have nothing. Credibility makes you believable. Credibility is what makes people listen to you. Credibility is what makes people take action when you speak.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I’m going to do what he says because he has attitude”? No, you haven’t. But you have heard people say, “I’m going to do what he says because he has credibility. He’s believable. He knows what he’s talking about.”
If you don’t have credibility, no amount of attitude will help you. In fact, attitude without credibility comes off as being arrogant.
I know lots of people who have attitude but they’re not credible. No one listens to someone with attitude. They do listen to someone with credibility. So don’t try to get attitude, try to become credible.
And the way you do that is by learning. Learning is an ongoing process. At 88-years old, Michaelango said, “I am still learning.” Knowledge is power.
The day you stop learning is the day you lose all credibility. You will still have attitude, but it won’t get you anywhere.
So, always remember, credibility is everything. The attitude part is nothing without it.
How about you? Are you credible, or are you just someone with attitude? Credibility and attitude go together like peanut butter and jelly.
People respect attitude, but they respect credibility way more. Become credible. Then attitude will follow.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Death Valley
Death Valley, Nevada is called that because nothing grows there and the reason nothing grows there is because it never rains in Death Valley.
In the winter of 2004 it rained in Death Valley. It got seven inches of rain.
In the spring of 2005 the floor of Death Valley was covered with plant life.
People came from miles to witness this phenomenon that they may never see again, plant life in Death Valley – proving that the plant life has always been there, Death Valley was alive. It was just asleep. It just needed the right circumstances to blossom.
The seeds were there waiting for the right circumstances to flourish. People are like this.
If the conditions are right they will flourish, they will find their true calling and begin to live, not just exist.
We need to think about Death Valley when we’re teaching our children. They have the creative seeds in them. They just need the right conditions to flourish, to grow, to become something special and it’s up to us to make those conditions just right for them.
It’s also important to realize that no matter what age you are, you have the creative seeds in you; you just need the right conditions to let them flourish.
Thomas Edison said, “People would be astounded if they did all the things they were capable of doing.” Let your creative juices flow. Challenge yourself, do something with your life.
Don’t die with your music still in you.
In the winter of 2004 it rained in Death Valley. It got seven inches of rain.
In the spring of 2005 the floor of Death Valley was covered with plant life.
People came from miles to witness this phenomenon that they may never see again, plant life in Death Valley – proving that the plant life has always been there, Death Valley was alive. It was just asleep. It just needed the right circumstances to blossom.
The seeds were there waiting for the right circumstances to flourish. People are like this.
If the conditions are right they will flourish, they will find their true calling and begin to live, not just exist.
We need to think about Death Valley when we’re teaching our children. They have the creative seeds in them. They just need the right conditions to flourish, to grow, to become something special and it’s up to us to make those conditions just right for them.
It’s also important to realize that no matter what age you are, you have the creative seeds in you; you just need the right conditions to let them flourish.
Thomas Edison said, “People would be astounded if they did all the things they were capable of doing.” Let your creative juices flow. Challenge yourself, do something with your life.
Don’t die with your music still in you.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Way Of The Yogi: Where Does Stress Come From?
Have you ever wondered why you sometimes wake up and sail through your day without any sense of stress, frustration or angst - while on another day stress and angst seem to be the themes of your existence? Is it in the water? Are we just the victim of random events that propel us without choice into unhappiness and stress? Do we have a choice in the matter?
Seekers, including the ancient yogis, have asked this question for thousands of years. Why do some events bother me while others do not? Why is it that the same event on one day seems to pass without a thought, when on another day it seems to become the very source of my entire life's suffering? And, most importantly, what, if anything, can I do about this?
Where does stress come from?
Most of us perceive stress and anxiety as coming from an outside source. You are stuck in traffic going 20 miles an hour on the freeway, and all you can think about is how the traffic is driving us crazy. Outside source to blame for our internal state. You step on the scale and it tells you your weight is five pounds more than 2 days before-your mood plummets. Outside source to blame for internal state. Your daughter announces that she will be moving back in with you indefinitely. You have budgeted the entire year to a penny-for yourself alone-and can finally afford that course you have been longing to take. Well, not anymore. Outside source to blame for internal state. We all have criteria for what we think will make us happy. For some of us, it is losing weight, finding the perfect partner, gaining the approval of our peers, or having lots of money. But there is a hidden subtext to our criteria for happiness that is often the root of the very suffering we are trying to avoid. Implicit in the desire to have money is the fear of being poor. Implicit in the desire to have a partner is the need to not be alone. Implicit in the desire to be thin is the implication that if I'm fat, I am not allowed to be happy.
By becoming attached to the idea that life needs to be a certain way in order for me to be happy, I sow the seeds of my own potential unhappiness. If having money means being happy, not having money means being unhappy. If I equate a partner with happiness, then being alone means being unhappy.
We are all programmed with a random set of criteria-conscious or unconscious mostly programmed by our past experiences, our culture, family-and even past lives-which determines the unconscious "rules" by which I decide whether I can allow myself to be happy and stress-free or not. If my "rules" are fulfilled - if I weigh 125, I am within the parameters of being allowed to feel happy - so I do. But if my "rules for happiness," which I myself have set, are not met, if I should get on a scale and see the number 130, I will not allow myself to be happy.
Do you see how this works? It is each of us-not-life that determines our level of happiness. How our life circumstances measure up to our criteria determines our level of happiness. In essence, each of us decides whether we can be happy or not. No life circumstance, no person, no event determines our level of happiness - we decide for ourselves.
This does not mean that we cannot have preferences. The trap is becoming so attached to our preferences that we cannot let go and allow life to show up as it will. Life has no allegiance to my criteria or me. It will show up how it shows up - like the rain does. The events of life have moved in their own rhythms and ways long before I was born and will continue long after I die.
Things happen. They are not personal. But we take them personally. We take the impersonal events of life-events that are much like the rain - and personalize them. We say, "God, if you love me you will not make it rain today." Then, if it rains, we decide we are mad at God. How is that? God is in every moment as it is unfolding now. How can I put any criteria on how God should show up? And who am I to decide God loves me if one thing happens and that God hates me if something else happens? This is all pure fabrication - another example of how we set up criteria for how life is to show up and then suffer when our criteria go unmet.
Rain will rain when it rains. It will happen when the meteorological conditions are present. We are the ones who put conditions on the rain and say, "If it rains, I will be unhappy." Okay, now I am unhappy - it rained. Whose fault is that? Is it the rain's fault or is it my fault? It's mine. I am the one who decided that reality should be different than it is.
The Reality Management Program
Yogis saw that our "rules" about how life needs to be in order for us to be happy are the root of all suffering. From the point of view of yoga, we have two choices. Choice number one is what I call the Reality Management Program. We spend our life energy trying to get all the people around us to fit our criteria do, say, act, just how we want so that we can feel happy. We train people around us-our close friends and our loved ones. We let them know, verbally or non-verbally, how they need to act in order to get our love. We do it at work as well. We put our entire sense of self into the success we achieve. We try to make reality fit our idea of success-more money, better title, recognition. People spend their whole lives just working on getting reality to fit this picture of "success" so that they can be happy.
Realizing that the Reality Management Program is an uncertain strategy for lasting happiness is something that each of us has to recognize for ourselves. After many years, lifetimes even, of struggling to find contentment in this way, some fortunate people start to realize that for the amount of energy they are putting into the Reality Management Program, it is not producing lasting happiness. It is a dead end. Only when the individual realizes this, can the spiritual journey begin.
If Reality Management doesn't work, why do all of us do it?
Take a look at some of the criteria that regularly operate in your life. The ones that you say, "If only _ then, I would be happy." Now imagine that you have that thing that you so yearn for. Imagine how you would feel. Happy? Content? My guess is that, for a moment at least, you would experience a state of "not wanting anything more." A state of contentment in which, for that moment at least, you feel complete. Nothing needs to be different than it is and you can completely be at rest. I would call this state the state of Being in which we experience-everything is okay, nothing needs to be different completion or wholeness.
I suggest that the reason we all stick so fervently to Reality Management is that in our own convoluted way, we are searching for the state of Being. We are searching for the experience of completeness, of not wanting anything more, of integration. We are searching for that which is the purpose and meaning of yoga-wholeness-could we but realize it.
With the Reality Management Plan, we are depending on outside circumstances to create an inner state. Since outside circumstances have a life of their own, this is a gamble. With choice number two, the Way of the Yogi, we begin with the assumption that the state of being we are looking for is already present. It is not a state that can be added to or found by achieving anything outside since it already is here.
Choice number two, the Way of the Yogi, comes down to this.
Be free from the need for anything to show up differently than it is in order to be happy.
If anything you do has a subtext of "in order to," you are in reality management. In the Way of the Yogi, we sincerely devote our lives to letting go of any conditions we have about how life needs to show up. We practice relaxing into the moment no matter what is taking place. When we face situations that we normally would react to, we catch ourselves and say, "Can I relax with this?" "What about this?" It is not about perfection, it is like a game. Watch what catches you can pull you back into reality management. By and by you will notice that just by putting your attention on this intention you will be able to relax with more and more things happening in your life.
How does the physical practice of Hatha Yoga tie into this? The physical practice of yoga is useful in two ways. First, the practice is intended to put demands on the body and mind in laboratory conditions so that we can see our habitual tendency to try to manage reality. We try to escape from the discomfort, physical, mental or emotional in the pose in much the same way we do in life. As we learn to better allow for all sensations, emotions, thoughts to be present without needing to comment, fix, judge, rationalize, or change the experience in any way, we are in practice for life circumstances where we are called on to do the same. Second, as we progressively learn to bypass the tendencies of the mind to manage reality, we drop into the state of being that is always present. In the absence of striving to achieve anything or make anything happen we experience the Being that we are. Yoga becomes the practice ground for learning to live from choice number two-the Way of the Yogi.
________________________________________
This article was originally published in Sacred Pathways Magazine
Seekers, including the ancient yogis, have asked this question for thousands of years. Why do some events bother me while others do not? Why is it that the same event on one day seems to pass without a thought, when on another day it seems to become the very source of my entire life's suffering? And, most importantly, what, if anything, can I do about this?
Where does stress come from?
Most of us perceive stress and anxiety as coming from an outside source. You are stuck in traffic going 20 miles an hour on the freeway, and all you can think about is how the traffic is driving us crazy. Outside source to blame for our internal state. You step on the scale and it tells you your weight is five pounds more than 2 days before-your mood plummets. Outside source to blame for internal state. Your daughter announces that she will be moving back in with you indefinitely. You have budgeted the entire year to a penny-for yourself alone-and can finally afford that course you have been longing to take. Well, not anymore. Outside source to blame for internal state. We all have criteria for what we think will make us happy. For some of us, it is losing weight, finding the perfect partner, gaining the approval of our peers, or having lots of money. But there is a hidden subtext to our criteria for happiness that is often the root of the very suffering we are trying to avoid. Implicit in the desire to have money is the fear of being poor. Implicit in the desire to have a partner is the need to not be alone. Implicit in the desire to be thin is the implication that if I'm fat, I am not allowed to be happy.
By becoming attached to the idea that life needs to be a certain way in order for me to be happy, I sow the seeds of my own potential unhappiness. If having money means being happy, not having money means being unhappy. If I equate a partner with happiness, then being alone means being unhappy.
We are all programmed with a random set of criteria-conscious or unconscious mostly programmed by our past experiences, our culture, family-and even past lives-which determines the unconscious "rules" by which I decide whether I can allow myself to be happy and stress-free or not. If my "rules" are fulfilled - if I weigh 125, I am within the parameters of being allowed to feel happy - so I do. But if my "rules for happiness," which I myself have set, are not met, if I should get on a scale and see the number 130, I will not allow myself to be happy.
Do you see how this works? It is each of us-not-life that determines our level of happiness. How our life circumstances measure up to our criteria determines our level of happiness. In essence, each of us decides whether we can be happy or not. No life circumstance, no person, no event determines our level of happiness - we decide for ourselves.
This does not mean that we cannot have preferences. The trap is becoming so attached to our preferences that we cannot let go and allow life to show up as it will. Life has no allegiance to my criteria or me. It will show up how it shows up - like the rain does. The events of life have moved in their own rhythms and ways long before I was born and will continue long after I die.
Things happen. They are not personal. But we take them personally. We take the impersonal events of life-events that are much like the rain - and personalize them. We say, "God, if you love me you will not make it rain today." Then, if it rains, we decide we are mad at God. How is that? God is in every moment as it is unfolding now. How can I put any criteria on how God should show up? And who am I to decide God loves me if one thing happens and that God hates me if something else happens? This is all pure fabrication - another example of how we set up criteria for how life is to show up and then suffer when our criteria go unmet.
Rain will rain when it rains. It will happen when the meteorological conditions are present. We are the ones who put conditions on the rain and say, "If it rains, I will be unhappy." Okay, now I am unhappy - it rained. Whose fault is that? Is it the rain's fault or is it my fault? It's mine. I am the one who decided that reality should be different than it is.
The Reality Management Program
Yogis saw that our "rules" about how life needs to be in order for us to be happy are the root of all suffering. From the point of view of yoga, we have two choices. Choice number one is what I call the Reality Management Program. We spend our life energy trying to get all the people around us to fit our criteria do, say, act, just how we want so that we can feel happy. We train people around us-our close friends and our loved ones. We let them know, verbally or non-verbally, how they need to act in order to get our love. We do it at work as well. We put our entire sense of self into the success we achieve. We try to make reality fit our idea of success-more money, better title, recognition. People spend their whole lives just working on getting reality to fit this picture of "success" so that they can be happy.
Realizing that the Reality Management Program is an uncertain strategy for lasting happiness is something that each of us has to recognize for ourselves. After many years, lifetimes even, of struggling to find contentment in this way, some fortunate people start to realize that for the amount of energy they are putting into the Reality Management Program, it is not producing lasting happiness. It is a dead end. Only when the individual realizes this, can the spiritual journey begin.
If Reality Management doesn't work, why do all of us do it?
Take a look at some of the criteria that regularly operate in your life. The ones that you say, "If only _ then, I would be happy." Now imagine that you have that thing that you so yearn for. Imagine how you would feel. Happy? Content? My guess is that, for a moment at least, you would experience a state of "not wanting anything more." A state of contentment in which, for that moment at least, you feel complete. Nothing needs to be different than it is and you can completely be at rest. I would call this state the state of Being in which we experience-everything is okay, nothing needs to be different completion or wholeness.
I suggest that the reason we all stick so fervently to Reality Management is that in our own convoluted way, we are searching for the state of Being. We are searching for the experience of completeness, of not wanting anything more, of integration. We are searching for that which is the purpose and meaning of yoga-wholeness-could we but realize it.
With the Reality Management Plan, we are depending on outside circumstances to create an inner state. Since outside circumstances have a life of their own, this is a gamble. With choice number two, the Way of the Yogi, we begin with the assumption that the state of being we are looking for is already present. It is not a state that can be added to or found by achieving anything outside since it already is here.
Choice number two, the Way of the Yogi, comes down to this.
Be free from the need for anything to show up differently than it is in order to be happy.
If anything you do has a subtext of "in order to," you are in reality management. In the Way of the Yogi, we sincerely devote our lives to letting go of any conditions we have about how life needs to show up. We practice relaxing into the moment no matter what is taking place. When we face situations that we normally would react to, we catch ourselves and say, "Can I relax with this?" "What about this?" It is not about perfection, it is like a game. Watch what catches you can pull you back into reality management. By and by you will notice that just by putting your attention on this intention you will be able to relax with more and more things happening in your life.
How does the physical practice of Hatha Yoga tie into this? The physical practice of yoga is useful in two ways. First, the practice is intended to put demands on the body and mind in laboratory conditions so that we can see our habitual tendency to try to manage reality. We try to escape from the discomfort, physical, mental or emotional in the pose in much the same way we do in life. As we learn to better allow for all sensations, emotions, thoughts to be present without needing to comment, fix, judge, rationalize, or change the experience in any way, we are in practice for life circumstances where we are called on to do the same. Second, as we progressively learn to bypass the tendencies of the mind to manage reality, we drop into the state of being that is always present. In the absence of striving to achieve anything or make anything happen we experience the Being that we are. Yoga becomes the practice ground for learning to live from choice number two-the Way of the Yogi.
________________________________________
This article was originally published in Sacred Pathways Magazine
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