Archive for the 'Self Improvement' Category
As many have read in the book and many are about to see in the movie, there is another controversy regarding the Bible and its many claims about Jesus. I am not about to defend or attack either side of this controversy. My aim is to put the claims of the Da Vinci Code proponents under the purely logical analysis of the philosophical approach that is called Aristotelian logic.
You may not be aware of it but you are using this approach to your decision making every day. According to this system of thought, if our conclusions are going to be sound we must follow strict rules reaching these conclusions after looking at the data involving a certain issue. In its simplest form here is what Aristotelian logic is all about.
You start with one or two obvious and universally accepted premises. These are called axioms. Then you use the three simple rules of logic. First is: A=A, an object or a statement is equal to itself. Second: If A=B then B=A. Third: If A=B and B=C then A=C. When you start with an axiom or two and you apply these three rules consistently and correctly then your conclusions will be sound. So in order to analyze any argument you need to first find out what the underlying assumptions or axioms are. Then you proceed to apply the three rules and determine if they have been correctly applied in arriving at the conclusions of the one or the other side of the controversy. Let’s look at an example. Let’s start with the two axioms that people not too long ago accepted unquestionably and universally. One is The Earth Is Flat, the second is All Material Things Come To An End third Flat things have edges. Suppose you want to decide whether to travel all your life in the same direction. What would be the soundest decision according to Aristotelian Logic? Applying the three rules of logic we will have to say. The earth is a material thing therefore the earth has an end. Flat things have edges therefore the earth has edges. So based on your data that the earth is flat and the earth is a material thing your best decision would be to forget about traveling in the same direction for too long you might fall of the edge and who knows where you are going to end up. Notice that the erroneous conclusion is not due to the thought process, it is a result of a faulty axiom.
Now let us try to apply this logic to the Da Vinci code controversy. What are the underlying axioms in this whole issue? Historical data about the life of Jesus are at best inconclusive so even the biggest skeptic will have to agree that in this whole argument the axiom is The Bible Is Authoritative and Reliable. Thinking in Aristotelian logic terms this is the big problem. The vast majority of the people who care about the Bible, believe that the Bible consists of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. Remember that in order for the statement The Bible Is Reliable to be an axiom there must be universal agreement. How can we consider it then an axiom if people do not even agree what the Bible is? It appears to me that the proponents of the Da Vinci code argument are attempting to appropriate the standing of the Bible as an authoritative source by arguing that the gospel of Thomas and other such writings belong to and are a part of The Bible. The irony of this approach is that this attempt to include more books in the Bible in order to appropriate its authority is the very same thing that strips the authority of the Bible because there is no longer universal agreement on what the Bible is so how can there be universal validity to the axiom The Bible Is An Authoritative Source Of Information? Of course the objection will be raised, the flat earth axiom was universally accepted and it was wrong! The problem here is that Galileo had compelling observational data to overturn a universal misconception. What do the Da Vinci code proponents have that is compelling enough to change the number of the books of the Bible. Lets look at the book of Thomas, which they claim belongs in the Bible and supports their claims. Here is a quote from it He saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to Judea. He said to his disciples, that person
around the lamb. They said to him, So that he may kill it and eat it. He said to them, He will not eat it while it is alive, but only after he has killed it and it has become a carcass. They said, Otherwise he can’t do it. He said to them, So also with you, seek for yourselves a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and be eaten.
Is this the source of the compelling evidence? If I had to support any of my arguments on a book with such childish writing I would be ashamed to show my face in public!
In conclusion, the Da Vinci code may be a nice novel but it is just noise when it comes to establishing its claims as true history.
John Douramacos is a marketer. http://www.makebucksonline.com with interest in forex trading http://www.4xtradingtrends.com and self improvement. http://www.wholenessmanifest.com
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com
Word count: 473
The Hanging Of Jonathan Wild: A Leadership Lesson
by Brent Filson
Jonathan Wild, notorious English criminal (1682-1725) picked the pocket of the priest who administered the last rites on the gallows at Tyburn. The unrepentant felon triumphantly waved his trophy, a corkscrew, just before he was dropped to his death.
There is a leadership lesson in this. And it’s a lesson many leaders miss. When you’re leading a group of people of whatever size to get results, understand that roughly about 20 percent of the people will be against you. The 20 percent won’t do or at least won’t want to do what you require and thus may perform poorly on the job.
One of the most persistent and difficult challenges of leadership is dealing with poor performers. Aside from job-related problems they engender, they also squander time and resources. “Forty percent of my time,” a CEO told me, “is devoted to dealing with ten percent of my employees.”
Mind you, I’m not talking about poor performance tied to “skill” issues. People who are not measuring up because they lack skills and knowledge to do well usually need a different intervention than people who have “will” issues.
You might make a rough equivalence between the people performing poorly on the job because of will issues with the Jonathan Wilds of the world. After all, as an upright citizen, Wild was a “poor performer.” But as a pickpocket, he was adroit.
Putting aside the specific kinds of interventions you might undertake, the important thing is your perspective. In dealing with them, you absolutely must not underestimate the skills, talents, and proficiency they bring to poor performance. They can “pick your pocket” and you won’t even know it.
You have three choices when dealing with them. You can choose to live with them as they are. You can choose to rid yourself of them. Or you can choose to intervene to try and change them. There’s no fourth choice.
Or maybe I should say there’s no first choice either. The first “choice” may be no choice at all. You probably can’t leave them alone. Poor performers are usually not content to be one-man-bands. They love company. They need to recruit others onto their poor-performance teams or at least keep them from joining your team. In this capacity, they’re smart, adaptive, innovative, and good leaders. Your underestimating them gives them an advantage against you.
There are many ways to deal with poor performers. (Articles on my web site detail a few.) The point is that in your dealings, keep in mind you could be up against some Jonathan Wilds, those people who may be performing poorly on the job but who perform excellently in their parallel, and maybe to them more important, job — which is being against you.
2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
The author of 23 books, Brent Filson’s recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: “49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,” at http://www.actionleadership.com
Our subconscious mind does not know what is good or bad, positive or negative, what a problem is or what the solution is. It only knows that if you are focusing your conscious mind on it all the time, you must want what you are focused on, therefore it supplies for you. It is that simple.
That is why many people go through life with permanent problems, because they focus on the wrong things. We have to know, and hope that things can, do, and will get better.
Let’s take a common everyday situation where people focus on their money problems. Say for instance you are worried about how you are going to clear your credit cards, your car loan, maybe your behind on your mortgage payments or on just how am I going to get out of this debt I’m in. Stop Right There. Now, take a good long hard look at what you are thinking about day and night. Debt, debt and more debt, Right? So you are getting exactly what it is you are thinking about. How do you solve this problem?
Stop thinking about the debt and start to think about the Money, in other words stop focusing on the problem and start focusing on the solution.
You Are Not What You Think You Are - But You Are What You Think.
What you continually think about all the time is what your subconscious believes you want, so it gives it to you.
Now thinking alone will not solve the problem, you need to take action as well so in order to start learning how to increase your income dramatically go to www.thehandsontrainingsystem.com and get my 5 part training course absolutely FREE
Remember your subconscious mind does not know what is good or bad, positive or negative, what a problem is or what the solution is. The solution to this would be to focus on the money in order to solve the problem of debt. If you keep focused on the solution, and backed up by positive action, you will attain financial freedom. Go For It. www.thehandsontrainingsystem.com
Yours in Success
Leslie Johnston
Jewish singles the world over find it ever increasingly difficult to find the perfect match using traditional introduction methods. Taking into account the pressure that modern day living places on society, one would understand why very little time is spared for single people to find a suitable match. It is no wonder that a Jewish dating service like http://www.shalom.co.za has become a vital part of the match making game.
The average single Jewish person typically works a 5 day week, usually starting very early and ending very late, by they time that they get home they still need to worry about the basic chores around the house, thus leaving them very little or no time to go through the pain staking process of going out with groups of friends only to be introduced to many potential / unlikely matches, hoping to find the glove that fits.
Technology in the Jewish personals and Jewish dating world has brought about a service called www.shalom.co.za , this allows the user to add, edit and upload content to their dating profile. As this process is streamlined, the subscriber is able to do all of this and still have the time to communicate online with a group of single Jewish members from around the world, within seconds of logging onto www.shalom.co.za
As a result of speed and efficiency, zero time is lost at the office or at home in the quest of finding that special match. Eliminating incompatible profiles has proven to be the most valuable commodity on www.shalom.co.za , as the subscriber has ensured no wasted time has been spent with incompatible profiles or single people.
The objective of www.shalom.co.za as a dating solution for single Jewish people is to provide an affordable yet powerful tool in allowing Jews from around the world to meet one another.
Registration on www.shalom.co.za is free, and at no time during this registration process is the subscriber expected to use their credit card, unless the subscriber wishes to be in direct “one on one” contact with another subscriber.
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com
Word count: 814
Leadership, Tribal Spiritual Wisdom, And The Leadership Talk
by Brent Filson
You can boost your leadership skills and hence your career by understanding this one thing that most leaders miss: great leadership incorporates a spiritual dimension.
This spiritual dimension has been a part of leadership since time in memorial; but in today’s global economy, it is undergoing an historic, universal transformation. It’s a transformation that speaks directly to your individual leadership and career challenges.
However, when we talk about the spiritual in leadership, we must, first and foremost, talk about results — the results leaders achieve. Concrete results. Hard, measured results. Plus, we must talk about getting more of them, getting them faster, and getting “more, faster” continually. Otherwise, there is no sense in delving into the spiritual aspect of leadership.
Results are the stuff that leaders are made of. If they’re not getting results, they won’t be leaders for long. Results come in countless forms and functions. But one thing they all share: they are material consequences of actions.
You can’t see spirit, you can’t hear it, you can’t smell it, you can’t taste it, you can’t feel it; however, if you ignore the non-material that the spiritual encompasses, you’ll give short shrift to your leadership.
Just as the root word for spirit comes from Latin “to breathe” so spiritual dimensions of leadership are its very life-breath; for through it, the greatest results are achieved.
Spirit has been applied to many different things in different fields: to stealth bombers, corporations, rock bands, comic book characters, etc. In religion, spirit is the concept of an innate essence of a being. All religions embrace spirit in many ways. But when applied to leadership, spirit is differently manifested than with organized religions. The spiritual aspect of leadership I’m talking about must be exerted universally in the global market place, across cultures, nations, ethnic groups, etc. No religion has a corner on the spirit of leadership.
Fortunately, there is a universal ground for the kind of spirit needed in today’s leadership: the spiritual wisdom of tribal cultures. Anthropologists have come to identify common features in the diversity of tribal cultures around the world. First, they are earth-based. The relationship between the earth and the people is one of mystical interdependence. Second, the powers of nature, the acts of daily life, birth death, nature and the cosmos are all invested with deep meaning through ritual and dance. Third, most tribal cultures view all individual things that make up our universe — rocks, stars, mountains, rivers, people, animals, fish, etc. — as interdependent.
This interdependence is not just a physical dynamic. Yes, we live on the same earth, breath the same air, and are all mortal. But tribal cultures understand it as a spiritual dynamic as well. Unlike the concept of human souls, which are believed to be eternal and preexisting, one’s spirit according to tribal wisdom develops and grows as an integral aspect of a person living interdependently with the community and its environment.
Today, these interdependent features of tribal spiritual wisdom can be applied with dramatic consequences to global leadership. Just as tribe members saw themselves as interdependent with their tribe and their spiritual deities and dictums, so today’s leaders in order to be truly successful on a global stage must see themselves in similar interdependent terms. However, the difference today is that interdependence is not with a tribe but with people the world over and with the world environment. That’s a profound, spiritual leadership lesson, hard but necessary to actualize, from which great leadership results flow.
How do we actualize this spiritual imperative? Enter the Leadership Talk. I have been teaching the Leadership Talk to leaders of all ranks and functions worldwide for nearly a quarter of a century. It works on the premise that great results happen primarily when leaders establish a deep, human, emotional connection with people. When I first began developing and teaching it, I saw it as a powerful results generator. It is that. In fact, the Leadership Talk is the most powerful leadership results generator of all. But I had not really understood why until recently. Now, I see each one of those descriptors, “deep, human, emotional”, which grew organically out of my having to work with leaders challenged to get great results, are fundamentally spiritual in nature. That’s because they are predicated on the spiritual wisdom of interdependence. (You can find out more about the Leadership Talk on my website.) A key reason the Leadership Talk has helped leaders get great, material results for nearly 25 years is its driving methodologies are fundamentally spiritual.
Globalization is forcing broad and deep changes in human relationships as organizations are being challenged to achieve greater results than ever before. When you understand that the best results come from practical processes bolstered with spiritual dynamics connected to tribal wisdom, you’ll have an opportunity to achieve an unmatched competitive advantage in the world marketplace.
2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
The author of 23 books, Brent Filson’s recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. and for more than 21 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: “49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,” at http://www.actionleadership.com For more about the Leadership Talk: http://www.theleadershiptalk.com
German is one of the most popular languages in the world. In fact,
the Guinness Book of World Records has listed the German language as one of the three languages that are learned the most by
people. It is also included in the ten most spoken languages in the world. In the European Union it is the second most known foreign
language.German is also one of the agreed upon official languages of the
EU and is also chosen, along with English and French, as one of the three working languages used in the European
Commission.
German is also considered as a pluricentric language much like English and French. With the wide scope of usage for this
language, it would be quite expected to think that a person who knows German would be able to go to any part of Germany and be
expected to communicate effortlessly. Unfortunately, this is quite far from the truth. In reality, the German language has many
dialects that are spoken in a large part of the country (and even in other countries).
The German dialects are not mutually intelligible to each other. This means that people who only know the different German
dialects and not the common German language will not be able to understand each other.
How did the dialects evolve into this? Each dialect has evolved to contain typical words that are not considered as cognates of the
words used in standard German this makes it quite difficult to understand in areas where the dialect is not spoken or an area where a
different dialect is used.
There is a so-called dialect continuum in countries where German is spoken. During normal situations the dialect that is used by
a neighbouring region is understood quite well even if it is also distinctly different from the dialect that is used in the adjacent region.
The so called Low German dialects that are used in the Northern part of Germany are considered mutually intelligible but it still
remains not understood in other parts of the country. Of the other remaining dialects, the German dialects used in Switzerland,
Southern Bavaria, Austria, and the West Bank of the Rhine are notoriously known for being very hard to understand outside the
regions in which these dialects are used. On the other hand, the so called Central and Eastern German dialects are seen to be more
understandable in other parts of the country.
Low Germanic dialects are those dialects that were not affected by the High German consonant shift. The Low Germanic dialect
is comprised of two subgroups Low Franconian and Low German.
The High Germanic dialects are broken down into Central German and Upper German subgroups. The Central German dialects
include Ripuarian, Moselle Franconian, Hessian, Thuringian, South Franconian, Lorraine Franconian and Upper Saxon. Upper German
dialects include Alemannic, Swabian, East Franconian, Alsatian and Austro-Bavarian. The Upper German dialects are also used in
certain parts of the Alsace, as well as in southern Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and in certain parts of Switzerland and Italy where
German is spoken.
LearnMyLingo.com delivers a variety of quick language learning programs right to your
desktop including German and a free language learning guide, 8 ways to learn a language quickly and easily.
Staying calm, composed and maintaining strong self
esteem in today’s tough environment can be difficult but
is not impossible if you follow a few simple guidelines.
Here are 6 tips you can use as a starter guide to self
improvement.
Everything and everyone else around you can affect
your self esteem. Other people can deliberately or
inadvertently damage your self image. Unchecked
people and circumstances can ultimately destroy your
self esteem and pull you down in ways you won’t even
notice. Don’t let these influences get the best of you. But
what should you avoid?
1 : A Negative Work Environment
Beware of a “dog eat dog” environment where everyone
else is fighting just to get ahead. This is where non-
appreciative people usually thrive and working extra is
expected and not rewarded. In this environment no one
will appreciate your contributions even if you miss
lunch, dinner, and stay at work late into the night. Unless
you are very fortunate most of the time you will work too
hard with no help from others around you. This type of
atmosphere will ruin your self esteem. This is not just
healthy competition, at its worst it is brutal and very
damaging.
2: Other Peoples Behaviour
Bulldozers, brown nosers, gossipmongers, whiners,
backstabbers, snipers, people walking wounded,
controllers, naggers, complainers, exploders,
patronizers, sluffers - whatever you want to call them, all
have one thing in common - an overriding desire to
prosper at the expense of others. Avoid them and do not
be tempted to join them. They may get some short term
advantage with their behaviour but deep down most are
very insecure, unhappy and ashamed of their
behaviour. For most their self esteem disappeared a
long time ago. Seeing someone like this prosper is
sickening but do not join them - you are better than that!
3: A Changing Environment
In today’s fast moving society it is difficult if not
impossible to avoid change. Changes challenge our
paradigms and tests our flexibility, adaptability and alter
the way we think. Changes can make your life difficult
and may cause stress but, if it’s inevitable, you must
accept it, don’t fight it and in time find ways to improve
your life. Try to manage change and try to avoid multiple
changes at the same time. If a particular change can’t
be avoided welcome it. Change will be with us forever,
we must learn to live with it.
4: Past Experience
We all carry “baggage” - past experiences which have
moulded us to who we are today, but some people live
in their past experiences - usually something that hurt
and still hurts. It’s okay to cry out when you experience
pain but don’t let pain dominate your life as it will
transform itself into fears and phobias. If something
painful happens, or has happened to you, find a way to
minimise the effects. Discuss it with a friend, a family
member or a professional if necessary and move on.
Don’t let it continue to dominate your life and dictate
your future actions. Because something bad has
happened doesn’t mean it will happen again. Learn
what you can from any bad experience and move on.
5: Negative World View
The television news is full of doom and gloom and it is
true that around the world there are many people
suffering war, famine or other natural or man-made
disasters. Whilst I do not suggest you should not care
and do nothing, remember that there are many beautiful
positive things happening too. Don’t wrap yourself up
with all the negative aspects around the world. Learn to
look for beauty too for, in building self esteem, we must
learn how to be positive in a negative world.
6: Determination Theory
Are we a product of our biological inherited
characteristics (nature) or a result of the influences we
absorb throughout out lives (nurture)? I believe how we
are is due to a mixture of both nurture and nature and as
a result our behavioural traits are not fixed. Whilst it is
true that some things are dictated by genetics (for
example race, color and many inherited conditions)
your environment and the people in your life have a
major effect on your behaviour. You are your own
person, you have your own identity and make your own
choices. The characteristics your mother or father
display are not your destiny. Learn from other people’s
experience, so you don’t suffer the same mistakes.
Are some people are born leaders or positive thinkers? I
don’t believe so. Being positive, and staying positive is a
choice. Building self esteem and drawing on positive
experiences for self improvement is a choice, not a rule
or a talent. No-one will come to you and give you
permission to build your self esteem and improve your
self. It is in your control.
It can be hard to keep positive, especially when others
and circumstances seem to be conspiring to pull you
down. You need to protect yourself and give yourself a
chance to stay positive. Improving your self esteem
gives you that protection.
One way to stay positive is to minimise your exposure to
harmful influences while using affirmations to boost the
positive influences in your life. Constantly reminding
yourself of the good things in your life will keep the
impact of negative influences to a minimum.
About the Author
John Edmond has 4 grown up and successful children
and recently obtained a creative writing degree. He now
writes on a number of topics including Building Self
Esteem. To improve your self esteem get your free
copy of The Affirmware “7 Part Affirmation Course”
now.
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com
Word count: 735
Boost Your Leadership Skills By Disciplining Yourself In The Way Of The Question Mark
by Brent Filson
I’m often asked to come in to organizations and give a motivational speech to their employees. I reply that I’m not a motivational speaker. Never have been. Never will be. Don’t want to be. I do something else. I teach their people how to become motivational leaders. That’s a far more productive endeavor.
The concept and application of motivation are misunderstood in most organizations. The motivational industry is based on a fundamental contradiction; because the focus of motivation is misplaced. After all, leaders (salespeople included) should be motivated. If they aren’t, they shouldn’t be leaders.
Here’s where the focus should be: not on the leaders themselves but on the people they lead. Can those leaders transfer their motivation to other people so those people are as motivated as they are about the challenges they face?
Furthermore: Can those people who “catch” the motivation of their leaders then go out and motivate others — and those others go out themselves and motivate still others … and on and on?
Finally, can people at each phase of this “cascading of cause leaders” translate motivation into action that achieves results — and not just average results but more results faster on a continual basis?
I have written many articles on motivation and how to transfer your motivation to others.
But there is another way of transforming your motivation to others that doesn’t take much explaining. It’s surprisingly simple, easy to use, and effective. Yet few leaders I’ve encountered use it, and those who use it, don’t use it well.
It’s the Way of the Question Mark. A “way” is a course of life one undertakes to advance in a particular discipline.
So it is with the Way of the Question Mark. It is not simply a technique; you’ll find it is actually a disciplined course of life. (I’ve been using it for years and am still a long way from mastering it. Because the question mark is often particularly appropriate in a highly charged emotional situation. However, in such situations, when strong emotions are getting the better of me, it takes practice and discipline to step back, gather my thoughts, and ask a question.)
Practicing the Way of the Question Mark can enhance your relationships with the people you lead so you get a lot more results as a leader.
From now on in all your leadership endeavors, make a conscious effort to put a question mark at what would otherwise be declarative sentences.
Asking the question rather than using a declarative is usually more effective because it gets people reflecting upon their situation. We can’t motivate anyone to do anything. They have to motivate themselves. And they best motivate themselves when they reflect on their character and their situation. The question prompts people to answer, and when they are answering, they may engage in such reflection. You may not like the answer; but often their answer, no matter what it is, is better in terms of advancing results than your declaration. Also, their answering the question may prompt them to think they have come up with a good idea. People are less enamored of your great ideas than they are of their ideas, even if those ideas are simply average.
For instance, your organization needs to have people to from point A to point B. An order leader might say, “Go from A to B.”
Practicing the Way, one might ask: “Tell me what you think about going from A to B?” or “What’s the best way for you to go from A to B?” or “Tell me how I can support you going from A to B?” or “How will you take leadership of others going from A to B?”
Mind you, I’m not talking about pandering to people’s whims. I’m talking motivation, motivating people to get more results faster on a continual basis. (In fact, you can’t order people to get more results faster continually. Only motivated people can do it.) I’m talking about challenging people to undertake extraordinary things, to be better than they think they are.
The question mark, as opposed to the simple declarative, opens up a world of results-producing possibilities. And it’s a world predicated on their choices.
Make the Way of the Question Mark your way. Discipline yourself to ask questions rather than make statements. You’ll start getting more results.
2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
The author of 23 books, Brent Filson’s recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: “49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,” at http://www.actionleadership.com















