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"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."- Mark Twain
Recently I talked with two good friends of mine about their dreams and what they really want to do. However, at the moment they are not doing it. When speaking about the topic and digging a bit deeper, there are some obvious things that could immediately give them a kick-start to get going. "So why not directly go for it?" I asked. It seemed obvious to me. But there was also the pattern that there is something, which has to be done first. In the one case it was that there is money needed and in order to move to what I want, I need to get the money to start that – so I have to work here to get the money first. In the other case there was the pattern that I have to get better first and then I can get what I want.
Is this really so? Aren’t there any alternatives where one can get in the right direction and earn money doing it? Or is making one move ahead not the best opportunity to improve the skill you need the most? Read more…
The meaning of surrender in a spiritual sense is quite different from the meaning that the word has in the news. There is no giving up, there is saying Yes to a situation, an acceptance. It is bringing the Yes into the No.
There are only a view videos of Eckhart Tolle (Auhor of The Power of Now) freely available. Those below are really good, maybe you already know them if you follow spirituality or Eckhart Tolle. In this little series Eckhart is starting with a description of what Awakening is, talks about the difference between consciousness and the content of the world that arises in it, and then goes on to the description of bringing the Yes into the No:
As in all his talks the pure information value is not primary. Primary is the presence you can even feel from this video if you are open to it. The talk is typically there to take you into the present moment, away from content in life, into being. It is not that organized and Eckhart is talking about the opportunities to become present, during the description of the meaning of surrender.
This video is continued with 3 follow-ups … Read more…
Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree.
“What are you doing?” you ask.
“Can’t you see?” comes the impatient reply. “I’m sawing down this tree.”
“You look exhausted!” you exclaim. “How long have you been at it?”
“Over five hours,” he returns, “and I’m beat! This is hard work.”
‘Well, why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?” you inquire. “I’m sure it would go a lot faster.”
“I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing!”- Stephen Covey on Sharpening the Saw
These 7 habits are a great fundament for Personal Development. I can remember how positively influenced I was when I first read them in his best-selling book.
These 7 habits are really a guide along which you can develop your potential … to fulfill your dreams and to become the best you can be. The idea is to describe principles of human growth, you can say natural laws for a human being, which understood and applied will lead to effectiveness. I learned a lot from it and applied it. I want to look at these habits and explain them from my understanding here, so let’s see how they can be of value for us now. Read more…
"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony." - Thomas Merton
To have balance in life certainly is one of the most important overall goals to reach. At the same time it is a real toughie. On the one hand you focus on something you want to achieve, you make progress, but on the run you lose focus in another area of life. Has this happened to you?
It happened to me several times. May it be a strong focus in your career when you neglect your health or with a new relationship where you forget your friends or lose track of the drive in your career. But lasting fulfillment can only be reached in balance, otherwise the areas where we don’t focus on come back to us with unpleasant surprises.
So how can we balance the important areas of our life and still achieve what we want?
Answer: What is needed here is a wider perspective. First we need to take a step back and decide what the important areas in our life are. Second we have to make sure that we keep this perspective and don’t lose ourselves in only one area, turning our back to all the others. Read more…
"And what is a man without energy? Nothing - nothing at all." - Mark Twain
When we start to pursue our dreams and to live our life to the fullest the best thing to have is an abundance of personal energy. What good is it to have great personal goals if there is simply not enough energy to follow through with them? If we have that extra energy everything will become easier to do. To become aware that there really are very practical things to do to improve that level of personal energy, that is the idea of this article.
If I talk about personal energy, I talk about the feeling of being ready to take on anything. It’s the potential energy that you just have to let out, opposing to being drained down, where in the worst-case scenario you are not even able to get out of bed.
When I started my own company I realized that in order to get to the goals that I set out, I really need more energy, more horse-power to simply get things done. And over time I learned basically 5 really great habits to get more power permanently. Although it is great to get to know this, only to see and feel the effects in your own life can show you what a good impact relatively simple habits may have. The most important effect of all is that a higher personal energy-level acts like a catalyst for your whole body and mind. You can think better and faster, you can be more focused and healthier. Only enough energy will enable you to be the best you can be. The good thing is that any of these habits to raise the personal energy-level will also improve your health. And only one of them brought to pratice will improve your energy level.
In the article "Finding the right career (1)" last week, I wanted to find out, how we can decide what the right career looked like, by investigating our personal strengths, our passion and our past successes where we created value for other people.
So let’s assume you read part 1 of “Finding the right career” and you looked first inside yourself. You decided what your dream job is, what you really want to do and maybe you even know where you want to work.
Often in life we know what we want and sometimes we even start in the right direction. … but then, somehow something happens, we get caught up, it runs out, we lose track and then feel frustrated or even like a failure. We are discouraged to live our dreams out, it just did not work, again.
What can we do in a very practical sense, to just not stand in our own way and sabotage our good intentions?