There are those who believe and expect the best out of others. And there are those who believe and expect the worst. Which are you (most of the time)?

Our beliefs about others determine how we treat others, and how we expect to be treated.

We can approach the world with openness and generosity, and receive the same in return. Or we can expect every …

This is something I sketched up a couple of weeks ago:

Our subconscious determines our very first and immediate reaction to a given stimuli. This generates raw feelings. We cannot help but react at this level to the stimuli. Once we are aware of the stimuli, and note our immediate reaction; we then have conscious choice over how we respond to the stimuli emotionally and rationally. …

I caught up with a friend the other day and we had an interesting conversation which has bearing on what we have been talking about.

She is a life/personal/business coach/consultant. Over the past three years or so she has been trying to find her place, to clarify what she is about and how she does business. She did courses, created workshops, wrote books, did …

This is the true joy of life.
The being used for a purpose
Recognized by yourself as a mighty one.
The being a force of nature
Instead of a feverish, selfish
Little clod of ailments and grievances
Complaining that the world will not
Devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life
Belongs to the whole community
And as long as I live,
It is my privilege to do for it
Whatever I can.
I want …

“The first thing that we have to remember is that the good guys need to win – it makes the world better.”

By Max McKeown & Philip Whiteley. ISBN 0-273-65614-7.

There are plenty of oh-too-believable horror stories of show-pony bullies, egomaniacs, and win-at-all-costers who do bad things, hurt people and spoil businesses. More importantly, the authors present plenty of evidence that the nice guys …

Self reflection does not lead to meaning. Meaning requires external/social acknowledgement. “…meaning is socially, not individually, conferred…. If one only tells one’s story to oneself, it remains arbitrary and ultimately without meaning or point, because no one else has acknowledged it, even as a story.”

To make meaning of some thing or some situation, we need some “other” to acknowledge it and pay it attention. “Every act of paying …

“… are those who assume responsibility for a creative task, not as an assigned role, a routine function, or an inherited duty, but as a venture of faith, including risk and danger, in order to bring into the world something new and profitable to mankind.”

From Os Guiness’ Long Journey Home: A guide to your search for the meaning of life. Page 2. ISBN 1-57856-846-3.

We live by rules and principles daily. We modify our behaviour to work within (or outside of) them on a continual basis. On the surface, they both affect (or control) our actions. But there is a subtle and important difference between them.

Principles are: bought-into, believed-in, understood innately, interpreted individually (inclusive of individuality), lived, makes sense to the individual, congruent with individual and organisational …

Os Guiness identified the following in his book Long Journey Home:
A clear sense of personal identity.
A strong sense of personal mission.
A deep sense of life’s meaning.

Translating this into a business context (where business is a major tool for self actualisation) I proposed the following:
A clear brand identity founded on a coherent alignment of beliefs and actions.
A strong cause/purpose powered by passion and dreams.
A deep sense of participation in …

The word “lifestyle” really gives me the shits. Apart from the fact that it is yet another meaningless gumpf word endemic in advertising, it belittles Life itself.

Someone said to me last week that when they bought an Apple computer, they were not just buying a computer, but rather buying the Apple “lifestyle”.

All well and good for Apple, but isn’t the idea of buying …