You Have a Gift, why keep it to yourself?
Summary:
Every person has a special gift. However your gift can only be recognised and bring joy to others when it is released. It may not seem special to you because you are the only one looking at it.
Every person on this earth has a special gift, we have all been born with a purpose. The gifts ans talents may not always appear to be equal or valued the same, but they are all special. What is your gift, where do you add your talent to the human family?
You have the gift of speaking, being a motivator,or listening well to others. You may have an eye for detail, allowing you to turn an ordinary space into a wonderful haven, where people would want to spend their time.
It’s never too late to make a change and find a path that will allow you to be true to yourself. You just need to recognize your gift and take it out from where it is hidden.
If you have a candle in the darkness ans you do not use it. It does not serve you or others very well. Your talents and gifts are not for you they are a gift presented to you to share with the world.
The time has come for you to let your light shine and to do what you truly enjoy. Do it for yourself and for nobody else. But when you do, your light might just lighten up somebody else’s way.
Before I started my business I thought I had no special talent and that I therefore had nothing worthwhile to offer. I know that many of you are at that place right now. I want to encourage and tell you that you have got something. What it is I don’t know, only you do. But I know this, it is something special.
Not sharing it with the world will be doing a great disservice to yourself and to the entire world. Nothing is appreciated until it is released for all to see, hear and treasure.
Imagine a world without a Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Bill Gates or a Picasso. It’s almost like imagining a world without music or computers as we know them. By sharing their talent with us, these individuals have certainly made our world a better place.
There are others you can think of, who have appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and have redefined our worlds. They have changed the way we eat drink and relax, even the way we do business. But before they took that step to show us what they had, nobody had even an inkling as to what was coming.
What about you. Who knows how you could change our world. You could be the next big thing, but even if you don’t change the world like Bill Gates, you could still change your world, in a million ways. And ultimately that’s the most important part. Changing your world.
If you don’t do something about it you’ll never know, what you’re capable of. You’ll never know how it could have been. By taking that first step you’re making a declaration of your independence.
What caused me to take that first step? I was sick and tired of living for weekends. I was tired of working for a living, of always not having enough money. I got tired of getting up in the morning and going to work even if I didn’t feel it. I was tired of being told what to do and how to do it. I wanted my freedom and independence.
I realized that there are so may people all over the world who need someone to tell them that they can achieve their dreams, just as I needed someone to tell me that.
I knew that when I made it I would inspire so many others who thought they couldn’t make it. When you make your dreams come true it may be only for yourself, but there are hundreds and maybe thousands who’ll be inspired. Especially in your own community.
They’ll say if so and so could do it, I can do it too. People are not as much influenced by people from afar as they are by those close to them. Your success becomes their success.
So go out there and follow your dreams. Don’t be afraid to become the first in your community. Take it little by little, day by day, step by step. As you accomplish the one step the next step will come into view, and will be that much more manageable.
11 Great Reasons why Smiling makes us More Successful!
First: Our smile shows others people that we are friendly.
If a stranger approached you and gained eye contact with you and then treated you to a broad smile you will have a fairly good idea that they are being friendly and certainly mean you no harm.
By contrast we would find it far more difficult to offer trust to the stranger that wears a scowl or unfriendly face features.
Second: A smile can make people happy.
When someone treats you to a smile, even a stranger, you usually smile back. For that moment you enjoy a flash of positive communication without saying a word. As you walk through a crowed area such as a main street you can do this hundreds times in a very short period of time.
When you smile at someone who is not already smiling and they smile back you have brought a moment of happiness into their lives which, who knows, could last all day.
Third: Smiling is infectious.
When you spend a lot in the company of someone who smiles a lot you will soon discover that their smile starts to wear off on you. It is hard not to return a smile; most of us do it at a subliminal level without thinking.
Fourth: Smiling can make you popular.
Which type of people do you prefer? A person that has a tired and listless face. An expression that may reflect their inner thoughts of boredom and worry? Or, would you prefer someone who is always smiling and shows that they have an enthusiastic passion for life.
I think for the majority of us the choice would be obvious!
Fifth: Smiling can help you to make new friends
In the same way few of us would choice a miserable person for a friend. Lets face it we all want someone who is going to be bubbly and a happy and positive.
Sixth: A smile is usually returned
When someone smiles back at you it make you feel good inside. You have just made a short but very positive communication and possibly the first step in the process of getting to know or making friends with someone new.
Seventh: Smiling makes you positive and happy inside.
When you smile it is hard to feel unhappy, negative or sad in anyway. Smiling gives you enthusiasm and drive, it is also habit forming.
Eight: A smile makes you look far more attractive.
You don?t see many celebrities or media personalities that are not smiling because if you did it is fairly certain that their popularity would quickly start to drop!
Ninth: Smiling also helps make you memorable to others!
Have you noticed that smiling people are usually far more memorable than those that are not? It is fact that you are 3 time more likely to remember the person that is smiling over the one that is wearing a negative or neutral features.
Tenth: Most importantly, smiling is good for your health!!!
When you are smiling you find whatever you are doing far easier. It releases stress, worry and tension that you may have built up throughout the day. Long term, developing the smiling habit will be one of the smartest things that you can do to improve most aspects of your life.
Eleventh: The effects of smiling can last for hours
Whatever problems and challenges you have in your life, smiling temporary puts them and hold. For a while you forget the problems and become positive, and while you are in a positive state you have far more potential and power to advance and improve your life.
Lastly: Smiling is FREE!
You are never going to run short of smiles and will always have enough to go around. When you weigh up the positive points of smiling it is a no brainer decision to do far more smiling and share them with as many people as possible.
Keep smiling.
11 Great Reasons why Smiling makes us More Successful!SMILE!
If all you have is a hammer everything starts to look like a nail
If all you have is a hammer everything starts to look like a nail
Summary:
What stops us from releasing our passion. What stops us from behaving naturally. What makes us waste energy.
We were watching the movie “CRASH” yesterday and it suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightening. How many times we misdiagnose a situation. How many times we carry on a path not knowing that our assumption have taken us miles off course.
It is like playing golf and only knowing how to use three clubs and having to use them in every situation.
It is like looking through a camera zoom lens instead of a wide angle.
It is like blindly following another’s opinion.
The fact is that most of our lives are spent reusing the information collected in our formative years. Thus, when anything new enters our arena we immediately go to the past to try to make sense of it.
The outcome is: we each live an illusion. We each see our world through some really heavily tinted spectacles. We each act as though we are a hammer and everything that comes in front of us is a nail.
The problem is. IT DOESN’T WORK.
We were amazed how easily we fell into the trap. How easily we interpreted what was happening before our eyes and made it logical. How easily we searched for closure.
To make us comfortable we wanted to put things into a comfortable categories, having simple and easy ways of understanding our environment. We wanted to place happenings in a box,people in boxes in the same way a librarian codes books for easy access. When we have an interaction with a family member we know exactly what box that fits in. Ah! That goes in the family box. That is rude behavior, do that goes in the jerk box. That is unacceptable in public, so that goes in the ignorant “foreigner” box.
Yes, you could argue that this form of coding is important in life because it helps us get through life quickly. Can you imagine having to think about every encounter you have on a situation by situation basis. It would be incredibly tiring.
BUT!!!
Why do we like to put ourselves and others into “psychological boxes”? What is it about us that we like to say we are this type of person or that? Why do we want to limit ourselves? Why do we want to sell ourselves short?
It’s like being a carpenter who only has a hammer in his toolbox. We are restricting ourselves beyond belief. Just imagine how restricting it would be if you only had a hammer in your toolbox? How can you get passionate about anything if all you are capable of is knocking the brains out of any information that comes your way?
How do you find out what you were brought onto this planet to do if all you can do is respond in the same way to whatever is put in front of you.
How do you develop and grow your children if all they see is the same behaviour irrespective of the problem posed.
How do you rise to the challenges of our society if all you do is apply the same reasoning even though it doesn’t fit?
As Howard Schatz. The famous New York dance photographer stated in one of his books:
+I told each dancer that when it was easy, it had probably been done
before, probably many times. I explained that only when it was so hard
that it was nearly impossible were we perhaps close to getting something unique and extraordinary.
Is this why we like to categorise situations and people? We actually don’t like hard work.
Is it that we don’t like the pressure of being our true selves? Because to do that we have to stand out?
Is it that we can’t cope with being unique and extraordinary, so we just want to be similar and ordinary?
Is it that we are afraid of who we might be? Are we afraid that we can be successful? Afraid that if we admit to ourselves that we have talent we might have to do something with our lives?
Is it that we don’t really want to find out who we really are and what we are capable of?
We don’t know about you but we want to be unique, we want to find out and use our uniqueness. We want to be fulfilled. We want to find our energy source that is released when we are doing what we are intended to do. We want to be in the flow, as some writers describe it.
We have come to realise that what stops us from being in the flow all the time. What stops us from releasing our passion. What stops us from behaving naturally. What makes us waste energy.
FEAR.
Fear keeps us placing people and situations into categories.
Fear stops us from leading ourselves.
Fear stops us from letting go of the past.
Fear keeps our habitual patterns in place.
Being frightened and feeling second best stop us from finding our true selves.
Fear buries the natural me.
“A musician must make music, and artists must paint,
a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.
What a man can be, he must be”
(Maslow)
What about you?
Good Luck
Andre Koen
www.andrekoen.com
Is Your Social Network Spying On You?
Is Your Social Network Spying On You?
In an earlier post, I wrote about the dark side of social networking. Too often young girls (pre-teens) are attracted to the idea of being able to chat with their friends and update their status for the world to see. While I must admit, I’m not a big social networking junkie and have been accused of not updating my status on a regular basis which for most is every hour and for others, five minutes blocks; I will concede to this fact.
On the other hand, I have heard the horrors of mostly young girls whose lives and reputations have been bruised and in some cases wanted to end their lives due to a post or photo on a social networking site. The main problem is that people are using social networking sites in the same way we use private e-mail accounts; believing that they are chatting or talking to one person, when in reality they are allowing hundreds and for some, thousands for strangers in on their conversations. Recently, a young girl (about 13 years old) posted that she feels like” killing herself because of a boy.” Apparently, she sent a picture to a boy who posted it on a networking site and she feels betrayed by the actions of the boy and worried by what her friends will think of her?
This is where parents need to be involved and monitor their children’s internet activities. As far as children are concern, privacy does not exist. In my personal opinion, young teens should not be allowed to upload photos on open sites. Who really has 5,000 friends anyway? In all of the cases that I have read about dealing with cyber bullying a photo or group of photos were involved. In some extreme cases, this sort of bullying has been responsible for a number of suicides and school-related assaults. We as adults must caution our teens about their behaviors while on the internet. They must understand that once that information is uploaded, its their forever, not just a few days or weeks.
As an HR professional and motivational speaker, I have heard the sad accounts of individuals being disciplined, terminated or looked over for promotions because of their presence on social networking sites. In one case, a person posted that she was hoping that her place of employment go out of business, and went on to defame her employer; when it was reported to her employer by a fellow employee- guess what happen? Her prayers were answered, she was “closed” out of a great job.
What’s the point? Be careful what you post on social networking sites, it may leave you without a job, promotion, and or future opportunities. I am amazed at the number of college students who will tell me that they want to work in corporate America or law enforcement, but when you checkout their Profile page- they are showing profane hand gestures and not representing themselves in a positive light. One young man, even admitted to a crime in a post.
As always, these are my thoughts, if you agree or disagree let’s create a discussion. Visit me on my website at www.lymanmontgomery.com.
Key Secrets to Diversity
Whether you are an individual, small team, or a well-known organization, we at AM Horizons believe that everyone must have some courage and efforts for attaining a particular target. Defining a practical goal and constantly moving towards it shapes your imagination.
Believe it or not, there are oodles of differences among people working together for the same purpose in any organization. People have diverse behaviors; they think differently, perceive differently, and even work differently. The thing that holds them together is the organization itself. Successful organizations identify diversity. They take wise actions and gather resources to balance the whole situation.
Diversity is always a part of organization, which is advantageous as it leads to variety of viewpoints and business ideas, but it also creates lot of confusion. The good news is that this is not a big problem if dealt smartly!
Diversity has turned much more complicated, as for now it’s no longer a matter of differences between just race or gender. Here are some key points that will help monitor diversity.
• The straight solution for many businesses is diversity education.
• An organization should keep an eye on different barriers related to diversity like language, cultural and perceptual differences among all the employees.
• Find the root cause of any confusion that may lower the team spirit. At the same time, eradicating it will help to handle the situation in a meaningful manner.
• Recognizing the need for a change is very important and making a decision about what changes should be accomplished.
• Set a timeline to attain changes.
• Provide practical trainings for employees. Motivating personnel to adapt these healthy organizational practices will encourage every individual involved in an organization.
• Developing and implementing diversity plan involves realizing the benefits of participating in a team, encouraging workforce, maintaining strong organizational performance, and so forth.
Our understanding depends upon our previous experience, education, beliefs and practices. By spending time considering these things, we can even change our decision making approach, way of thinking, and behavior.
Read more about Andre Koen and the courses offered at AM Horizons.
The Indicators of Cultural Diversity
Culture is the sum of human behavioral patterns in the environment including customs, language, beliefs, values, actions and communications. Culture shapes one’s behavioral patterns in relationships, both business and personal. Though intangible, culture is very much seen in physical manifestations as it affects each individual in every environment. It can be compared to one’s personality being comprised of experiences, habits, values, interests and beliefs that make him who he is as a person.
In a workplace, the organization’s culture is a very strong element in creating an environment that is fit for work. During the hiring process, one is assessed on his/her being a good fit for the company’s culture. It can be defined as the set of unwritten rules in the work place that is vital for harmony and efficiency. It is represented by the group’s cumulative practices, stories, decision making and language. Primarily its business owners and management staff influences culture in the workplace for they are the ones leading the organization to its mission and vision.
Diversity crosses culture when there is difference from the majority. Although it is expected for organizations and communities to have majorities and minorities, diversity relaxes boundaries in the norms and standards established by an organization’s culture.
One culture may have different standards for social interaction, which may include eye contact, distance between each other, conversational style and more. This may be different from another culture who views these sets of standards as harsh and disrespectful.
Cultural diversity is recognized in many companies because of its contributions in the company’s general output. It makes it easier to keep the good employees, cutting cost by in-house development of skills. Adhering to cultural diversity enables the company to develop a good reputation and makes it attractive to jobseekers.
While cultural diversity in a workplace has the potential to create chaos, many organizations are taking advantage of the diverse output resulting from diverse skills and talents that cultural diversity brings. However, despite the positive potential that cultural diversity promises, it still remains as one of the major causes for an organization’s setbacks for growth. The gap in the differences continues to widen as organizations rally toward a unified front. Nonetheless, it is a work in progress. We will begin to see changes when companies and organizations recognize the powerful impact that not having a global or diverse workforce has on their bottom line.
It is important for employees to feel that they are welcome and that their race or culture is valued by the organization. At the same time, it is important that individuals understand the needs, desire, and goals of their organization and their role of participation in it. Gaining a greater appreciation and understanding of the balance between personal and organization goals will give one the chance to add value through his/her contributions to the company which will lead to a happier employee, promotions, salary increases, and ultimately an increase in discretionary effort.
Here is a list of indicators that define cultural diversity in the work place, so one may be mindful that it does exist where one is working:
• Junior to senior management levels should be comprised of people from diverse cultures
• Employees that receive the highest pays
• New recruits
• The company’s workforce in general
Read more about Andre Koen and the courses he offers at AM Horizons.
What’s Up with the New F Word?
30 04 2011
The other day while at work, my co-worker asked me if I had seen or heard the sermon by RA Veron on the new F-Word? I must admit I was taken back by hearing that a minister, especially one that I admire and respected would used such a fowl and offensive word in a sermon. maybe it was a slip of the tongue or Then, it was suggested that I see it for my self and evaluate the merits of this electrifying sermon. As I watched the video of RA Veron, I suddenly realized what he was doing. I, like most had assumed that the use of the F-word was the same F-word used to degrade or reference physical intimacy without emotional attachment. It was a play on our imagination and left many to make assumptions without all the facts.
In some respects, success can have the same impact. To some, the mere mention of the word success has an negative connotation associated with it. it is a reminder of the decades of material possessions and get rick quick rip-offs. However, as I have tried to convey in my blog posts, when I speak of success its in the context of five areas: (1)Relationships (2)Career Connections (3) Financial Literacy (4) Success Strategies, and (5) Leadership Development. These five areas are the foundation of any success model. Financial is just one spoke of the success wheel. The other four are equally, if not more important.
Now back to the new F word. I think its time for America and the world to embrace this new F- word (forgiveness). Just imagine a world where people forgave others, as opposed to embracing hate. I’m not saying that people who commit horrible crimes should not be punished. What I’m talking about is much more simply. The person that cut you off while driving, for give them- maybe they just received news that their child was involved in an accident. The person that didn’t respond to your hello, maybe they really didn’t hear you or they were thinking about how they would pay their car note. The point is- give people the benefit of the doubt.
All of us have had bad days, and perhaps said things in the heat of the moment that we wished we could take back; more important, we have done others wrong and after realizing our mistakes have hope the offended party would forgive our trespasses. As the Bible teaches us- ”forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those trans pass against us…” The truth is- we will hurt others and others will hurt us, but do you have the capacity to forgive?
As always, let me know your thoughts, whether you agree or digress, let’s have a discussion.
The Benefits of Organizational Diversity
Back then, diversity is an issue that needed to be resolved. Now, diversity is a benefit that needs to be managed in order to yield greater successes for an organization. An individual who is highly satisfied in his or her place in an organization is more likely to be productive and have a better attitude towards the clients, fellow employees, and the whole of the organization as well.
An organization is not meant to change the culture of a person; instead, it utilizes an individual’s culture so it would be beneficial to both the individual and the organization. It places an individual within the organization where there is need for his/her attributes and applies the person’s creativity, skills and knowledge. Creating an organizational environment that is beneficial to both individuals in an organization and the whole of the organization as well is a challenge.
When flawlessly managed, workforce and organizational diversity could lead to very interesting and beneficial results. The success of an organization comes as soon as it embraces diversity and makes proper use for it.
• Increased productivity is a benefit of a diverse organization. Cross cultures are always beneficial when they make ideas, competence, solutions, and problem-solving easier.
• Diverse experiences, languages, and cultural understanding could be beneficial to diverse teams as they provide a larger pool of ideas for the whole of the organization.
• The demands for solutions are addressed faster since there are different, complimenting ideas to help them.
• An organization that supports diversity would make individual members feel a sense of belonging, inclusion, and importance as the organization would appear to need every individual.
• Most organizations are based on social justice. This is an ideal way to encourage individuals to be at their best and make the most out of every day. When every individual feels a tie to the organization, they are most likely to follow rules and regulations. This leaves no room for conflicts of interests.
It is also important that organizations know what challenges await them before they even get started on the benefits of a diverse workforce.
Cross cultural communication is imperative. Unfortunately, this is one type of communication that is difficult to accomplish. Cultures have formed different and diverse individuals. Sometimes it is hard for individuals to change or adjust from what they have experienced throughout their lives. Differences in language and word use could pose a problem in cross culture communication. Individuals may become offended and this would make it more the harder to implement diversity management.
Some individuals wouldn’t be up to the challenge. Let’s face it, not all individual members in an organization would be willing to help other cultures and races. Passive and active resistance to change would be present and it could very well worsen discrimination in some. The mentality of individuals could be challenging to change. Some could prove more challenging than others; organizations should always exert effort for the better of many.
Read more about Andre Koen and the courses offered at AM Horizons.