How not to communicate ;)

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." ~George Bernard Shaw

If you are working with other people (and who is not?) one of the most important skill to master is definitely communication. Even if you are working on your own, being able to communicate clearly with friends and family is very helpful.

In my personal journey I learned that there are a lot of skills that are important to succeed: focus, imagination, strategic-planning, result-orientation. However, the one single skill that has the most leverage with people is the art of communication.
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"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness." ~Dalai Lama in The Art of Happiness

The quote of Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama makes clear the obvious: everybody on earth is seeking happiness. Is there anything more important than happiness to you? What are we aiming for if we want to be successful, to be respected, to have the perfect mate, to get more money? Those "things" in themselves are not important to us. It is what we get from them. It’s the elemental need to feel good – to be happy.

The Dalai Lama talks a lot about happiness and how to achieve it. It’s always a real pleasure to hear his wisdom as well as his sharp mind speaking. In his book "The Art of Happiness" he and co-author Howard Cutler are getting to the very heart of the matter.

His Guide to Happiness is of course influenced by Buddhism. But it really is not a religious approach but rather a very practical one: We can achieve happiness by developing our mind and applying it, in other words by personal development. Read more…

Photo courtesy of allaboutgeorge

"The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live." ~Mortimer Adler

The first time that I started to hear a book instead of reading it was with the material from Anthony Robbins. I was immediately amazed how much faster I could get valuable information for personal development into my head.

At first the pace at which I could consume a whole new book increased, since most of the speakers are faster than you could read. The second and even more interesting thing was that I could get valuable knowledge wherever I was: whether I was in the car or in the underground or even walking on the streets, jogging or at home: I could consume a new book within 1-3 days without any trouble.

If you take time to process the new material, say one week per audio-book, this translates into 4-5 full books a month and 52 books a year. Read more…

Photo "abundance" by courtesy of akaalias

When I started my blog, one of the very first blogs and blogger I had the pleasure getting to know was Evelyn from AttractionMindMap .

She seemed to have a very warm and friendly attitude and a razor-sharp mind. "Attract Abundance With Your Mind" is the tagline of this blog which covers topics from "The law of attraction" and positive thinking to goal-setting and attracting a happier live in general.

The following interview is the first part of an Personal Development Interview-Series with bloggers of related topics, which I’d like to continue (maybe write into the comments who you want to be interviewed!) It covers the start and reasons of Evelyns blogging passion and the ways she used to grow the blog. Of course she is also kind enough to answer some personal as well as some technical questions about the subjects she is blogging about and how she incorporates these into her own life.

Thanks Evelyn for answering these questions. Here we go …

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Photo copyright by QT Luong of terragaleria.com

Many teachings from Zen-Buddhism are told in short and delightful stories. They are usually designed to develop the mind and to free it from distortions and so to connect with our spirit.

Some of them are really inspiring and enlightening. It is helpful to the mind to think about them and feel the deeper meaning. Even if it is not possible to grasp them fully, the beauty and simplicity of the message usually gets through to us one way or the other.

The following 10 Zen stories are a selection of the ones I found most inspiring and really worth to ponder about. Some may be instantely understood, some others need to be thought through and recognized in oneself.

They are about the following topics: life in the present moment, different perspectives, attachment, resistance, judgment, delusion, beliefs and thought as mental concepts but not truth and unconditional love. Please feel free to post your interpretation or other stories into the comments.

After reading the first, follow it’s advice to read all the others. :)

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Photo by courtesy of Lavelk

Confucius is one of the most quoted personalities ever. He is so popular that there is a special "Confucius says …" joke-selection, I mean who can say to have this kind of achievement ;)

Confucius, whose name literally means "Master Kong", lived 551-479 BCE. He was a Chinese thinker and philosopher, whose teachings have deeply influenced not only Asian thought and life. He presented himself as a "transmitter who invented nothing" and he really pointed out the importance of learning, which is one reason he is seen by Chinese people as "The Greatest Master".

One of the best known sources of Confucius are The Analects, a collection of his teachings, which was compiled many years after his death. A fountain of extremely mindful quotes springs from these ancient descriptions.

Many of them are universal and timeless in their beautiful and simple truth and they are as valid today as on the day they left Confucius’ mouth. Here we take a look at 10 of the most inspiring quotes by Confucius.

Confucius says … Read more…

Photo courtesy of ssh

"Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives." ~Anthony Robbins

I can remember when I was about the age of 14 out of frustration I wrote on a piece of paper: "Concentrate on the essentials!" (in german: "Konzentriere dich auf das Wesentliche!") It was about some trouble with friends in school. This sentence somehow gave me direction to know what is important and worthy to think about and what is not.

To use the mind fully is an essential in personal development. If we improve our skill to focus on anything we want to accomplish we can dramatically improve our productivity and the results.

To actively direct our mental focus on only one thing at a time means to not focus it on all the other distractions that are constantly around us. It means to have the ability and also the discipline to say yes only to the most important thing at this moment and to say no to all the rest.

Now, how can we develop a clear and powerful mental focus?
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