You Are a Part of the Environment, Not Apart from the Environment

Whether or not we identify with those who call themselves ‘greens’, all of us are becoming increasingly aware that our natural world is hurting and that all are responsible for its care and health. The current discussions on how to reduce carbon emissions is an indication of the fragile relationship that exists between humans and the environment. I am certain that, like me, you too are becoming increasingly aware that you are a part of the environment not apart from it.

 

We often act with no thoughts of the consequences of our actions. We are creatures of habit and convenience. Our busy lives and indulgent life styles often create blindness to the adage that ‘every action has an opposite reaction’. Actor and environmentalist Ed Asnor described it like this:

 

"We all moan and groan about the loss of the quality of life through the destruction of our ecology, and yet each one of us, in our own little comfortable ways, contributes daily to that destruction. It is time now to awaken in each one of us the respect and attention our beloved mother deserves.”

 

We are increasingly realizing the impact that the accumulated consequences of hundreds of years of industrialization, is having on the environment. If we are aware of our relationship with the environment, we will actively change our lifestyle and habits to protect the fragile world we live in. 

 

In the past, the ancient indigenous cultures of our world learned how to live in harmony with the environment. They learned to use its resources for their needs and not their greed. They learned to protect its resources and live in harmony with the seasons by only taking resources for personal needs at a time when those resources were naturally in abundance. They lived in harmony with the environment and the environment lived in harmony with them. 

 

Somewhere in time, we lost the concept of being a part of the environment and not apart from it. We, as a human race, began to see ourselves as somehow separate to it and our lifestyles focused on what we could take from the world around us and forgot what we should give back to it. The price of our actions is not only the destruction of the environment that we are a part of, but also potentially our own destruction. 

Weight Loss: The All Natural Way Without Gimmicks

If you type up Weight Loss in a keyword tracker tool or in a search engine like Google, you will be alarmed to see how many searches in a day are being done on this subject alone. Take www.submitexpress.com for example, put ‘weight loss’ in their word tracking device; you will see that on a daily basis, more than 5000 searches are being done on how to lose weight. 

 

However, this shouldn’t be alarming, I mean the average person does have the desire to be liked, sought after and popular. This might explain why we are so captivated with celebrities and perhaps why we at times blindly follow whatever fad or trend they might propagate in the quest to lose weight and be slimmer, sometimes at the cost of our own health.

 

An observation of Nature will show that no animal free of captivity is upholstered with excess weight and are oft times very fit, agile and sharp. This is because unlike man, all animals adhere to the simple laws of nature to maintain health which include eating the right foods for your type and getting adequate exercise. Well these are the basic laws, others might include getting sufficient rest, getting sunshine, interacting with others.

 

There are so many myths and fads that promise to aid you in losing weight that when they are intelligently dissected will make you wonder what ever made you think to give them a shot, which is part of the reasons why I am writing this to inform you that as the slogan of my site on drugless healing says: “if one way is true, it is the way of nature”.

Moreover, Nature bows at no alter, seeks neither praise nor applause, she only asks for a hearing, my friends.

 

For weight loss, your best bet will be to embrace the three limbs of Naturopathy:

• Proper Exercise

• Proper Diet

• Positive Thinking

 

Now I will explain each one in brief detail:

 

Proper Exercise

 

Now, there was a time, like almost everyone, that I assumed big and inflated muscles meant fitness and health. Wrong. Maybe it might depict strength-to a degree and that, for only a while, but you ask anybody about one of the greatest martial artists of all time, Bruce Lee, here was a guy who was said to do a thousand (1000) push-ups and other feats of strength and any picture of him shows he was not a blown up mass of muscle waiting to atrophy and deflate as is the case with most fitness experts and body-builders using artificial supplements, I mean look at the agedness depicted across their faces most of the time. 

 

This leads one to conclude that for exercise, basic Aerobic-with oxygen-exercises (such as walking, jogging, and dancing) and Anaerobic-without oxygen-exercises (such as push ups, pull-ups, dips, using the ab-wheel and weight lifting for body builders) can be sufficient without the use of synthetic products. For those who want an exercise for the mind as well as the body, Yoga definitely is unmatched. 

 

From my experience, if you were to do the Sun Salutations (hailed in Yoga, Martial Arts and African Wrestling as the ‘best exercise for humans’) which have been passed down from centuries with a proper and sensible diet, which I will be explaining soon, you are well on your way to weight loss and strength.

 

Some Indians perform about a 100 plus rounds of this marvelous exercise on a daily basis and have immense fitness, strength, agility and virility. Add some other poses like the inversions (Shoulder-Stand), Forward Bends (Head to Knee Pose), Backward bends, Balancing Poses (arguably the best exercises to tone the arms, abdomen and restore a sense of balance and self confidence in humans who practice them) and you are bound to see the immense results. Speaking of emulating celebrities, well did you know Sting, Madonna, Russell Simmons, Beyonce and Prince all practice some form of Yoga and need I mention how fit and good they look?

 

I could go on and on about Abdominal exercises and Breathing Exercises of the Yoga genre (which in the case of the latter is also EXTREMELY effective for weight loss) but that will be another subject in itself, the bottom line is: in my opinion, exercises that use the body’s weight for resistance such as Yoga, Calisthenics and Pilates are arguably the best for the human body. 

 

Have you ever seen a chimpanzee lifting rocks repeatedly? Yet that distant cousin of humans can rip a door off a car and is easily 8 times stronger than an average modern day human. Still, if we share about 98% DNA with this primate (as well as other apes), its evidence to make one wonder how much healthier and fit we would be by adhering and living as close as possible to Nature’s laws of diet and exercise.

 

Proper Diet

 

• “You are what you eat.” - Anonymous

• “Let your foods be your medicine and your medicine your food.” - Hippocrates, the father of medicine

• “Every herb bearing seed and every tree bearing fruit with seed in it shall be yours for food.” - Gen 1:29

 

From these radical quotes above, it should be plain to see that most modern day meals and mixtures are totally against Nature’s intent for us as humans for fitness, agility and strength. It will be safe to say that if you want to lose weight, re-read these three quotes and the proper diet will stare you right in the face: Fruits and Vegetables.

 

Admittedly, and you can take this from a guy who was a raw vegan for several months, (Now, I mostly fast and eat mono meals of fruit and raw or cooked vegetables every other day) that might be kind of hard to accomplish or adhere to. Well, if you approach it the wrong way, being radical in nature and as with all things that don’t have a strong foundation, you may be bound to fail. 

 

The good news is there are several books on the subject of this kind of a diet and though adequately addressed in the core e-book of my site, you can type up Vegan Diets, Raw Vegan Diets, Vegetarianism in any search engine to be educated-to a degree- on the subject. I have experimented with each of the three kinds of diets and have been on the Standard American diet and am now of the firm belief that the first two and maybe the third if done sensibly and wisely are the best for humans, period!

 

I touched on the subjects of internal cleanliness and non-animal product diets in my article available in my blog and some article directories under the title “Is a Low-Carb, High Protein diet the best for weight loss?” but I will briefly state again that based on the quotes above, and the facts that this diet has been proven countless times to be the best (Ask Bill Pearlman-four times Mr. Universe winner!), without the need for much of an argument, a diet free of animal products is simply the best for humans. 

 

For an idea of a daily menu, you can look for my article “How to Cure Acne in 10 days” in some of the major article directories online, last time Google did its spider crawl, it came up in most of them but I also put in my blog for my readers just in case.

 

I’ll leave you with this factor to consider though on the subject of proper diet, based on the anthropological approach of several authors of Naturopathy, and from simple observations, we as primates, just like our distant cousins, the great apes, are frugivores, eaters of mainly fruits and green leaves and it cannot be a co-incidence that these substances make up the mucus-less or alkaline forming foods that even science has proven to be the best for human life and of course, weight loss.

 

Positive Thinking

 

Some quotes from perhaps the most rugged book ever put together, that being the Bible, bring to mind just how important it is to think positively-and wisely so-in any endeavour one is undertaking. “As a man thinks in his heart; so is he... “ and “Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life”. That stated, what you constantly think over and over is eventually what comes to pass.

 

The mind has such powers that are beyond human comprehension at times, but according to the author of the “Power of Positive Thinking”, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, “You are what you are now based on your thoughts five years ago and will be in five years what you constantly think of yourself now.” 

 

Although one’s thoughts are very important, without taking the steps to act on them (of course when they are constructive and positive) they do end up being a waste, but your reading this article does depict a desire to want to improve yourself be it through weight loss or any other factor.

 

Like with any journey in life, of course, you will have times when you may want to give up, lose faith or focus and consequently get off the path to success, which may explain why most people fail at diets and fads in the quest of losing weight, well, my friend, you will have to literally tune your thinking to be positive so as to overcome the doubts and fears as you go about accomplishing your goals. It honestly will be easier applying the two other limbs of drugless healing above for weight loss as they do go hand-in-hand.

 

In conclusion, forget the fads and hypes. For a healing program to be successful at anything, especially weight loss, it must cover the three limbs of health: diet, exercise and positive thinking. It is my hope that this article will show you how to choose the best methods of attaining not only weight loss, but fitness and health on the inside and out.

Love Can Make You Lose Weight

Most people make promises to lose weight but never seem to attain their goals. Perhaps it is because of lack of motivation. Well, one thing can help with increasing the enthusiasm for self-improvement through weight loss. That thing is love.

 

One of the many reasons why several people gain weight in the first place from excessive eating and lack of exercise may be due to an intense loneliness and the need to compensate for this. “No one wants me anyway”, they’d say or think to themselves in self-pity “so it shouldn’t matter what I look like, so let me enjoy something at least!”

 

This emotion is quite understandable; however, it is not the right approach to handling the situation. Instead of resorting to unhealthy binges as a resort to compensate for being alone, why not make the efforts to find that special someone who would motivate you to being a better person.

 

It is a known fact that the first thing people judge others on is quite simply their appearance. If you don’t look as appealing or at least come off as being concerned about your appearance to some degree, this could be an instant turn-off to most people.

 

So instead of giving up on yourself, it will be a much better and healthier idea to make yourself presentable and appealing just in case that special someone comes around. 

 

In addition, when you make the efforts to be healthier and fitter, you automatically create the foundation for increased self-confidence, happiness and a positive outlook on life. 

 

Now, admittedly, it may seem hard at times to find that person to share our feelings with, however, there are still plenty of options to finding someone and it’s safe to say the energy spent on binging and consequently gaining excess weight could be expended in such endeavours.

 

The choices are really limitless: places of worship, online options (the ‘myspace’ site seems very popular for meeting people), work, the gym etc. Friends, with all these choices at hand, you really don’t have to be alone and use this as an excuse for not caring about yourself.

 

Even in the worst case scenario: “How about being in love with you?” 

 

That’s a start. Christ’s wisdom and subtlety comes to mind here when he says: “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” When you love yourself (not being vain or overly superficial now), you will make the efforts to always look and be your best naturally. As a result that motivation could and should serve as the spur to action to lose excess weight if needed.

 

Now, if you are in a relationship already, this should serve as a motivation to want to look and be your best. To simply let things get out of hand with your health and appearance can make you appear less attractive to your partner, in spite of whatever people say about “it’s not what’s on the outside that matters... “ 

 

Moreover, need I mention that excess weight and poor fitness levels can obstruct what may have been a healthy and happy sex life for two people in love? (Oh and on that subject, sex is a great exercise so that’s another way love, at least making it, could come in handy to lose weight... )

 

Now Al Green once said “Love can make you do wrong, can make you do right”

 

I say it can make you lose weight!

 

Here’s to a healthy and happier you.

Adversity - Staying Positive When Life Falls Apart

We take a lot of good things for granted in our everyday life. A roof over our heads, a steady paycheck, a loving partner, the ability to go out for a run on the weekends. The specifics vary, but one of the big advantages of modern lives is the many awesome things we can count on. We’re not used to falling short, so when something happens and our life starts to fall apart, it’s easy to fall into thinking patterns that focus on lack and despair. 

 

Sometimes the bad things are a result of choices we made. Sometimes they are outside of our control. In either case, it is up to us to decide how we react to each crisis. One piece of advice that is important to remember no matter what adversity you face is to make sure you don’t forget about how blessed you really are. Gratitude can turn what we have into enough. 

 

There’s a quote I love and would like to share with you by Melody Beattie. Here it is: 

 

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." 

 

Think about how you can start to do this in your everyday life. A good place to start is to simply take a deep breath and pause for a moment when things go wrong and everything is starting to feel overwhelming. Then come up with one little thing you are grateful for during this time. It can be something as simple as being able to breathe fresh, clean air, or living to fight another day. 

 

Find that something and start to build on it. What else are you grateful for? Keep making that mental list until the desperation starts to lift and you can start to think clearly. When you do, you can start to find your way out, no matter how bad things seem at first. And remember, you never know what good might come from the struggle you are facing right now. 

 

When live gives you lemons, make lemonade and don’t forget to count your blessings and use gratitude to turn what you have into enough. Our ancestors were great at this. It’s time we picked that habit back up. 

Day Three: Treating Others Well is the Sign of Great Leadership

“The people with the greatest love, not the most information, will influence us to change.”- Bob Goff

 

Bob Goff is the New York Times best-selling author of the book Love Does. His quote reminds us that it isn’t what you know that matters as much as how you behave. You may have all the knowledge in the world on important subjects which will make you an expert, but if you don’t have the social skills to lead others with love, you won’t be very effective. 

 

Goff shared a story in a blog post about Galileo, a scientist who used a telescope to determine that the Earth and the other planets rotated around the sun. At the time, this went against the standard beliefs in science and caused Galileo to be arrested and jailed. What Galileo discovered was truth, but his truth threatened those in leadership and instead of listening, they reacted defensively.

 

As leaders, it’s important to realize that information changes and what we think we know might be proven ineffective or wrong at some point down the line. As a leader, how you treat others is more important than what you know. Here are some keys concepts to keep in mind- 

 

Being challenged doesn’t require defensiveness. Some leaders feel that their authority should not be challenged. It’s true that a leadership role holds an expectation of authority and in most cases deserves respect; however, respect is best when it is earned. If your authority is being challenged, hold your peace and your maturity and determine if the challenge is worthy. If so, embrace the challenge and work together to seek a solution or remedy or embrace the new information with gratitude. 

 

Seek to inspire not command. Leadership should inspire others to want to take action on behalf of the leader or the common goal the leader represents. How you treat others will determine how willing they are to serve the cause. Great leaders inspire people to go beyond what they might do on their own. By serving as an example, doing the work alongside others, and being the hardest working member of the group, leaders can encourage others to give their best as well. 

Surround yourself with people smarter than you are. Great leaders know that life’s an ever-evolving thing and it requires life-long learning. No one person can know everything in all areas. Strong leaders surround themselves with people smarter than they are in certain areas and empower them and support them to shine. They aren’t threatened by someone else’s knowledge or the fact they don’t know everything. True leadership includes the humility of being less knowledgeable and making no apologies. 

 

What you know isn’t as important as how you operate. Being a great leader includes knowing your stuff, but more importantly it includes being kind, compassionate, and treating those you lead with dignity and respect. 

Coping With Stress: Overcoming the Negativity Bias and Thinking Positively (Infographic)

Coping With Stress: Identifying Your Bad Habits (Infographic)

Coping With Stress: Taking Care of Your Body (Infographic)

Coping With Stress: Learning the Difference Between Assertive and Aggressive (Infographic)

 

Enjoy Your Life: Change Your Point of View

 

"Two men look out through the same bars: 

One sees the mud, and one sees the stars."

- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts

 

If you’ve placed second in a writing contest, will you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or will you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join again? 

 

In life, you are always filled with choices. You may opt to have a pessimist’s view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimist’s route and take a challenging and fulfilling life.

 

So why nurture an optimist’s point of view? And why now?

 

Well, optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom from trauma.

 

On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits younger people. The mean age of onset has gone from 30 to 15. It is no longer a middle-aged housewife’s disorder but also a teenager’s disorder as well.

 

Here’s how optimists are in action and researches that back up why it really pays to be an optimist:

 

Optimists Expect the Best

 

The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events, which will last a long time and undermine everything they do, are their own fault. 

 

The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world. What differs is the way they explain their misfortune---it’s the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case. 

 

Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the 'problem' at hand. They use 'positive reinterpretation.' In other words, they most likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation, they perceive it is a challenge and try harder.

 

They won’t say “things will never get better”, “If I failed once, it will happen again” and “If I experience misfortune in one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life.”

 

Positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will stand up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles. 

 

People Respond Positively to Optimists

 

Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with. 

 

Optimism seems a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted while those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria are treated unfavourably. 

 

In life, these people often win elections; get voted most congenial and sought for advice. 

 

When the Going Gets Tough, Optimists Get Tougher 

 

Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.

 

They persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.

 

Optimists are Healthier and Live Longer

 

Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body's ability to fight disease.

 

Optimist’s health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts. 

 

So why not be an optimist today? And think positively towards a more fulfilled life.

 

Why not look forward to success in all your endeavours? Why not be resilient? Like everybody else you are bound to hit lows sometimes but don’t just stay there. Carry yourself out of the mud and improve your chances of getting back on the right track. And why not inspire others to remove their dark-coloured glasses and see life in the bright side? 

‘Impossible’ is Just a Word

 

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn't fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn't dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

 

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

 

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self-actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

 

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

 

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

 

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

 

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

 

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations. 

 

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

 

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do’. And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do’.

 

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do’.

 

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do’.

 

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

 

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic. 

 

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

 

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

 

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

 

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, ‘No pain, no gain’? That is as true as it can be.

 

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

The Road to Intuition

 

Have you had that experience when all of a sudden you just had this huge hunch that something is about to happen, and to your surprise, that intuition was eventually translated to reality? 

 

When you feel strongly about something without logical basis to it, that's called intuition. It comes in three impressions: clairvoyance or "the third eye", sensing clearly and feeling through listening. 

 

Clairvoyance is when your eye goes beyond what it can see. This is when you know what is happening somewhere.

 

Sensing clearly is basically what we refer to as "hunch" or "gut feel." This is the time when you are overwhelmed with a feeling and you can't explain it and all you can say is "I just know."

 

On the other hand, feeling through listening or clairaudience is being able to "listen" between the lines. Intuition also happens at times when a certain sound, whatever it is - be it a car's honk or a bird's twitting - ushers in an intense feeling.

 

They say only a number of people are gifted with intuition. Astrologers even insist that people born under the Scorpio or Pisces signs are naturally intuitive it almost borders on E.S.P. But studies have been sprouting left and right that proclaim that anyone can develop intuition.

 

Why the need to develop intuition, you ask? Why not let your emotional and psychological state as it is? First and foremost, intuition promotes good communication. It makes you more sensitive to the people around you; it often keeps you from hurting those you love because you are intuitive enough to understand them. Intuition also makes you far more creative than ever. Intuition means releasing more creative juices for any means of expression. Lastly, intuition has a healing power. This healing power is not in the physical sense, but in delving deep into your soul to eradicate some negative energy buried in it.

 

With that being said, are you ready to develop your intuition? Here are some ways to unlock this gift:

 

1. Hypnosis

 

Oh yes, get yourself hypnotized. Hypnosis is not limited to watching a pendulum move back and forth. Perform self-hypnosis or you can avail of hypnotic programs that can strengthen your intuition.

 

2. Meditation

 

Meditating means finding peace in yourself. If your mind and heart are cluttered with too many baggage and hurt,  you wouldn't be able to quiet down that part of you that could eventually initiate intuition. There are so many ways to meditate: take a yoga class, or just simply practice some breathing that could bring you straight to Zen.

 

3. Think Positive!

 

A worry-free, fear-free state could do so much to improve your intuitive ability. By staying positive, you attract good energy that would be able to easily recognize imminent feelings and events.

 

4.  Just Let Go

 

What does this mean? If you are on the brink of making a huge decision, let go of all the inhibitions and head to a quiet place where you could find out where the letting go has brought you. Sometimes you just have to listen to the voice within you, and that voice wouldn't come out unless you let go.

 

5. Never Expect

 

After letting go of the inhibitions and all those things that stop you from thinking and feeling clearly, never expect for an answer right away. Never expect that the "hunch" would fall on your lap immediately. Give it a little time then you'd just get surprised that -- wham! -- now you have your answer.

 

6. Believe in Your First Impressions

 

When you see someone for the first time and think that he is a bit too arrogant for your taste, chances are that impression actually holds true. Most of the time, first impressions are brought by intuition.

 

7. Stay Happy!

 

See? All you need to be intuitive is to stay happy! Happiness attracts immense power and such power includes intuition. In tapping your intuition, your motivation must be happiness and contentment. Given that premise, intuition will fall to you easily. 

 

Intuition is helpful, because sometimes it leads you to something that cannot be achieved otherwise. A lot of lives have been saved by intuition alone. Decisions are easier done if armed by this gift. Develop intuition now and reap benefits you have never imagined. 

Why Coaching is the Way to Go in Team Management

When you hear the word ‘coach’, what comes first into your mind? Do you picture a basketball team with a man/woman shouting out directions? Or perhaps a football team with a man/woman pacing to and fro and calling out the names of the players? 

 

Coaching is no longer reserved to sports teams; it is now one of the key concepts in leadership and management. Why is coaching popular?

 

1.    Coaching Levels the Playing Field

 

Coaching is one of the six emotional leadership styles proposed by Daniel Goleman. Moreover, it is a behaviour or role that leaders enforce in the context of situational leadership. As a leadership style, coaching is used when the members of a group or team are competent and motivated, but do not have an idea of the long-term goals of an organization. This involves two levels of coaching: team and individual. Team coaching makes members work together. In a group of individuals, not everyone may have nor share the same level of competence and commitment to a goal. A group may be a mix of highly competent and moderately competent members with varying levels of commitment. These differences can cause friction among the members. The coaching leader helps the members level their expectations. Also, the coaching leader manages differing perspectives so that the common goal succeeds over personal goals and interests. In a big organization, leaders need to align the staffs’ personal values and goals with that of the organization so that long-term directions can be pursued.

 

2.    Coaching Builds Up Confidence and Competence

 

Individual coaching is an example of situational leadership at work. It aims to mentor one-on-one building up the confidence of members by affirming good performance during regular feedbacks; and increase competence by helping the member assess his/her strengths and weaknesses towards career planning and professional development. Depending on the individual’s level of competence and commitment, a leader may exercise more coaching behaviour for the less-experienced members. Usually, this happens in the case of new staffs. The direct supervisor gives more defined tasks and holds regular feedbacks for the new staff, and gradually lessens the amount of coaching, directing, and supporting roles to favour delegating as competence and confidence increase.

 

3.    Coaching Promotes Individual and Team Excellence

 

Excellence is a product of habitual good practice. The regularity of meetings and constructive feedback is important in establishing habits. Members catch the habit of constantly assessing themselves for their strengths and areas for improvement that they themselves perceive what knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to acquire to attain team goals. In the process, they attain individually excellence as well. An example is in the case of a musical orchestra: each member plays a different instrument. In order to achieve harmony of music from the different instrument, members will polish their part in the piece, aside from practicing as an ensemble. Consequently, they improve individually as an instrument player. 

 

4.    Coaching Develops High Commitment to Common Goals

 

A coaching leader balances the attainment of immediate targets with long-term goals towards the vision of an organization. As mentioned earlier, with the alignment of personal goals with organizational or team goals, personal interests are kept in check. By constantly communicating the vision through formal and informal conversations, the members are inspired and motivated. Setting short-term team goals aligned with organizational goals; and making an action plan to attain these goals can help sustain the increased motivation and commitment to common goals of the members.

 

5.    Coaching Produces Valuable Leaders

 

Leadership by example is important in coaching. A coaching leader loses credibility when he/she cannot practice what he/she preaches. This means that a coaching leader should be well organized, highly competent is his/her field, communicates openly and encourages feedback, and has a clear idea of the organization’s vision-mission-goals. By vicarious and purposive learning, members catch the same good practices and attitudes from the coaching leader, turning them into coaching leaders themselves. If a member experiences good coaching, he/she is most likely to do the same things when entrusted with formal leadership roles.

 

Some words of caution though: coaching is just one of the styles of leadership. It can be done in combination with the other five emotional leadership styles depending on the profile of the emerging team. Moreover, coaching as a leadership style requires that you are physically, emotionally, and mentally fit most of the time since it involves two levels of coaching: individual and team. Your members expect you to be the last one to give up or bail out in any situation especially during times of crises. A coaching leader must be conscious that coaching entails investing time on each individual, and on the whole team. Moreover, that the responsibilities are greater since while you are coaching members, you are also developing future coaches as well.

Build Your Self-Esteem: A Starter Guide to Self-Improvement

 

So how do you stay calm, composed and maintain self-esteem in a tough environment? Here are some tips you may to consider as a starter guide to self-improvement.

 

Imagine yourself as a Dart Board. Everything and everyone else around you may become Dart Pins, at one point or another. These dart pins will destroy your self-esteem and pull you down in ways you won’t even remember. Don’t let them destroy you, or get the best of you.  So which dart pins should you avoid?

 

Dart Pin #1: Negative Work Environment

 

Beware of ‘dog eat dog’ theory where everyone else is fighting just to get ahead. This is where non-appreciative people usually thrive. No one will appreciate your contributions even if you miss lunch and dinner, and stay up late. Most of the time you get to work too much without getting help from people concerned.  Stay out of this, it will ruin your self-esteem. Competition is at stake anywhere. Be healthy enough to compete, but in a healthy competition that is. 

 

Dart Pin #2: Other People’s Behaviour

 

Bulldozers, brown nosers, gossipmongers, whiners, backstabbers, snipers, people walking wounded, controllers, naggers, complainers, exploders, patronisers, all these kinds of people will pose bad vibes for your self-esteem, as well as to your self-improvement scheme. 

 

Dart Pin #3: Changing Environment

 

You can’t be a green bug on a brown field. Changes challenge our paradigms. It tests our flexibility, adaptability and alters the way we think. Changes will make life difficult for a while, it may cause stress but it will help us find ways to improve our selves. Change will be there forever, we must be susceptible to it. 

 

Dart Pin #4: Past Experience

 

It’s okay to cry and say ‘ouch!’ when we experience pain. But don’t let pain transform itself into fear. It might grab you by the tail and swing you around. Treat each failure and mistake as a lesson. 

 

Dart Pin #5: Negative World View

 

Look at what you’re looking at. Don’t wrap yourself up with all the negativities of the world. In building self-esteem, we must learn how to make the best out of worst situations.

 

Dart Pin #6: Determination Theory

 

The way you are and your behavioural traits is said to be a mixed end product of your inherited traits (genetics), your upbringing (psychic), and your environmental surroundings such as your spouse, the company, the economy or your circle of friends. You have your own identity. If your father is a failure, it doesn’t mean you have to be a failure too. Learn from other people’s experience, so you’ll never have to encounter the same mistakes. 

 

Sometimes, you may want to wonder if some people are born leaders or positive thinkers. NO. Being positive, and staying positive is a choice. Building self-esteem and drawing lines for self-improvement is a choice, not a rule or a talent. God wouldn’t come down from heaven and tell you, “George, you may now have the permission to build self-esteem and improve yourself.”

 

In life, it’s hard to stay tough specially when things and people around you keep pulling you down. When we get to the battle field, we should choose the right luggage to bring and armours to use, and pick those that are bullet proof. Life’s options give us arrays of more options. Along the battle, we will get hit and bruised. And wearing a bullet proof armour ideally means ‘self-change. The kind of change which comes from within. Armor or Self Change changes 3 things: our attitude, our behaviour and our way of thinking.

 

Building self-esteem will eventually lead to self-improvement if we start to become responsible for who we are, what we have and what we do. It’s like a flame that should gradually spread like a brush fire from inside and out. When we develop self-esteem, we take control of our mission, values and discipline. Self-esteem brings about self-improvement, true assessment, and determination. So how do you start putting up the building blocks of self-esteem? Be positive. Be contented and happy. Be appreciative. Never miss an opportunity to compliment. A positive way of living will help you build self-esteem, your starter guide to self-improvement.