Articles

By Brian Tracy

Perhaps the most powerful influence on your attitude and personality is what you say to yourself, and believe. It is not what happens to you, but how you respond internally to what happens to you, that determines your thoughts and felling and, ultimately, your actions. By controlling your inner dialogue, or self-talk, you can begin to assert control over every other dimension of your life.

Your self-talk, the words that you use to describe what is happening to you, and to discuss how you feel about external events, determines the quality and tone of your emotional life. When you see things positively and constructively and look for the good in each situation and each person, you have a tendency to remain naturally positive and optimistic. Since the quality of your life is determined by how you feel, moment to moment, one of your most important goals should be to use every psychological technique available to keep yourself thinking about what you want and to keep your mind off of what you don't want, or what you fear.

Arnold Toynbee, the historian, developed what he called the challenge-response theory of history. In studying the rise and fall of 20 major world civilizations, Toynbee concluded that each civilization started out as a small group of people - as a village, as a tribe or in the case of the Mongol empire, as just three people who had survived the destruction of their small community. Toynbee concluded that each of these small groups faced external challenges, such as hostile tribes. In order to survive, much less thrive, these small groups had to reorganize themselves to deal positively and constructively with these challenges.

By meeting each of these challenges successfully, the village or tribe would grow. Even greater challenges would be triggered as a result. And if this group of people continued to meet each challenge by drawing upon its resources and winning out, it would continue to grow until ultimately it became a nation-state and then a civilization covering a large geographical area.  Continue Reading »

Whether you’re looking to improve your communication skills for business or personal reasons, there are a few guidelines to follow. Employees, employers, family / friends and other individuals have to improve their communication abilities in order to efficiently get points across without causing conflicts. If you have problems with communication in your corporation, association or as an individual, you can attend one of our communication workshops hosted.

First, it is important that you use the words “I” and “my” when making statements. This authenticates that you’re talking about yourself to your audience. Then in order to effectively communicate, you will need to speak on a personal level instead of abstractly or generally. For instance, if you’re speaking with business partners or someone close to you, you need to communicate what you’re trying to say directly. There shouldn’t be any mind games or guessing games. Be specific about your point -- when you’re finished, your audience should be able to answer what you wanted and/or needed without a problem. If they are unable to, then your request or idea wasn’t communicated properly.

Use the word “you” carefully. If you don’t think before you speak when talking to someone, it could cause misunderstandings and could even make them become defensive. The word “you” is a way to analyze or second guess; don’t try to speak for someone else, allow them to take responsibility for themselves.

Communication is a two-way street, it takes listening and speaking. Pay attention to yourself and when you feel the urge to say something. Of course, you should wait until the appropriate time to voice your thoughts and opinions to avoid an argument. Overall, you need to stay intact with your intuition.  Continue Reading »

Everyday in conversations and interactions communication breakdown happens because of leaps of the Ladder of Inference. Awareness of what the ladder of inference is and how it impacts our interaction can help to diminish misunderstanding and increase effectiveness.

After a recent training seminar, an attendee contacted me via email requesting an explaination of this communication technique. I realized that my response would be helpful to everyone and so wrote a short report to clarify what the ladder of inference is and to use it effectively.

Read the full .pdf article at this link The Ladder of Inference

By: Yvonne F. Brown

I remember the first time I had to give a speech. My hands were clammy, my heart was pounding, and my throat was dry. I was terrified!

I remembered the phrase ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ and decided to just go for it. I had written and rehearsed my speech. I knew the content and believed in it. “What’s to worry about” I thought, like Nike says "just do it!"

I made it through the speech and it got better once I started. I realized halfway through the speech that I was really enjoying sharing my knowledge with the audience.

If you fear speaking to an audience, here are four things to remember.

1. FEAR is an acronym for Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real. Your mind is extremely powerful. Thoughts are the engine the drives your actions, emotions, and behavior. Think of the last time you feared someone. Just seeing them could bring on a physiological response. Your heart races, your palms sweat and you feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing up as you experience the fight or flight syndrome. When the person walks past you as though you are invisible you are still left with the physiological response for a period of time. This is because your body was flooded by cortisol and endorphins that still course through your bloodstream. You did that, not the person who you feared. You could just as easily have flooded your body with positive feelings and serotonin simply by thinking of something you enjoy like holding your child in your arms, or smiling. So the first thing to remember is you control your response to the outside stimulus. Why not make it something pleasant?

2. The audience wants you to succeed. They have given up their time to come to the venue and listen to what you have to say. Therefore, they look to the podium where you are with positive anticipation.

3. You have been selected because you have experience or knowledge that is valuable and will help the audience to achieve their objectives. You are the expert. They want to know what you know so that they can use it in their careers or their personal life.

4. Each speech becomes easier as your confidence grows with each successful occurrence. The key is to prepare, prepare, prepare. Prepare three to five points you want to share with the audience. Select personal stories that match each point. Write them down and practice them until it flows out of you as though you are speaking just to a friend. Deliver it with confidence even if you have butterflies. They don’t know you have the butterflies. They are focused on learning what you have to share.  Continue Reading »

Confidence: The word conjures up images of self-assurance and belief in ones' self. Self-confidence is inward security. It basically means that your source of security comes from within yourself, you're confident in your integrity to your own value system. It is not congruent with doubt or fear.

I think that Franklin D. Roosevelt hit the nail on the head when he said, "Confidence thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them, it cannot live."  Continue Reading »

By Valarie Washington

"There is no such thing as a worthless conversation provided you know what to listen for and questions are the breath of life for a conversation." -- James Nathan Miller

The shortest distance between two communication points is shared meaning; why are we communicating at all? To listen means to receive the information unfiltered and respond appropriately to the message. The goal of the listener is to get the message. Listen for the intent. Listen for the action. What does the person really want you to know, do or think as a result of the dialogue?

To reach the goal an effective listener must:

1. Attend Make a conscious decision to listen. Make eye contact and give full attention to the speaker. Concentrate on the message and block out all distractions.

 Continue Reading »

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Some career experts say that the day you start a new job you should begin planning for your next job. And you know what? You should! Just make sure that you stay focused enough on the job you were hired for that you succeed and excel in that position before looking for the next one.

Surefire Ways Not to Get Promoted
1. Don't plan your day. Go to work each day without a plan in mind.
2. Do the minimum. Have the attitude of "they don't pay me for that."
3. Rely on your current base of knowledge. No need to learn new skills.
4. Voice your complaints. Be vocal about what you don't like at work.
5. Don't share the credit. Put your name alone at the top of successful projects.
From Dr. Donald E. Wetmore's The Productivity Institute

Promotions are not a given. It used to be that workers progressed along specific career paths during their careers, but the impact of technology, globalization, and flatter organizational structures, has changed that paradigm. Today, employees have to create and manage their own career paths -- through one or multiple organizations. And remember that a promotion is not always an upward path. Sometimes -- especially in today's business environment -- you may need to make a lateral move to position yourself for a later upward move.

How do you develop your promotion plan? Incorporate these 10 strategies into your plan.  Continue Reading »

By Valarie Washington

Leadership is a set of actions and the demonstration of skills that helps one build strong working relationships, inspire team collaboration, and influence others to great RESULTS.

These five strategic actions will firmly establish you as a leader and help you position your team or organization for success.

1. PREDICTING
The faster change is predicted, the slower change appears, so leaders must be able to identify the trends that will affect where "we" are today and what "we" must do to ensure our success tomorrow.

Predicting trends means recognizing patterns, signs, and signals of change and then using the information to develop possible scenarios for the future. The act of predicting allows leaders to focus on opportunities and plan responses rather than simply reacting to problems as they arise.

2. VISIONING  Continue Reading »

Getting what you want out of life takes more than talent and persistence. You must know when to break with convention and which rules can be broken as part of the journey. There’s no need to be ruthless or arrogant in order to achieve this. However, you must be willing to challenge conventional wisdom and to do whatever it takes. when I first began studying successful people, I realized that their strategies could work for me, too. So set about your journey with these ideas in mind.

Find Your Passion

Many people start out with a passion – a dream – and then spend their lives pursuing it. Others take the time to notice the activities that bring them joy or excitement along the way. There are several steps you can take to determine where your passion lies.  Continue Reading »

How many careers would you say you have had to date? One? Two or more? In America, our parent’s generation seldom considered changing careers. The career model for their time was to join a company, work their way up through the ranks by virtue of promotions and retire with a great pension. Loyalty to the company was the byword, with an expectation that this quality would be valued by the company. At their retirement party, they might even get a gold watch and be sent on their way to care-free golden years. Changing careers was not even on the radar screen for most professionals back then.

Today, companies see a potential issue if a professional has not changed careers at least once. By careers I mean moving from one field to another, or moving to different industries and functional positions within a field.  Continue Reading »