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Post by LWPD on Jun 3, 2012 18:17:08 GMT -5
"The key to all good things in life, is becoming more valuable."
-Jim Rohn
A timeless and inspiring message from a true legend. A classic full seminar below. RIP
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Post by johnandryan on Jul 9, 2012 20:21:30 GMT -5
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Post by LWPD on Aug 8, 2012 18:53:41 GMT -5
Seven Tricks Your Mind Plays on You...And How To Overcome Them! Courtesy of Dumb Little Man
Seven Tricks Your Mind Plays on You
By Melissa NgSo, you want to change your life and be happier? Maybe happiness means unlocking your greater potential, enhancing your quality of life, or realizing your lifelong dreams.
By now you may have absorbed countless personal development books, videos, or blogs. Sometimes you find something that resonates but the excitement constantly fades. Too often, you feel like you're back right where you started.
Lost.
Have you ever considered that your own mind is sabotaging your path to happiness? While your mind may not be the sole culprit, it is a clever foe. Your brain can mislead and make you miserable...and you won't even know it.
But all is not lost. You can learn how to recognize your mind's deception and develop the right mindset. Check out this list of seemingly harmless thoughts to see if your mind is tricking you out of your happiness.
1. From now on, I'm going to do my best.
How often have you pressured yourself to think positive after an unhappy incident or after seeing something inspirational? While pressure can sometimes provide the necessary push, commanding yourself to do your "best" doesn't give you much flexibility.
We've been conditioned to believe that when we want to make an important change, we have to take a huge leap. But what if you're having a bad day? The energy is suddenly lost, everything looks bleak, and you can't talk yourself out of it.
You feel like a failure.
It's important to remember that the change you want requires time, persistence, and patience. So, take one small step at a time and leave room to learn from your mistakes.
2 I just need to be more like...
It's normal to think that you should strive to be like those you admire. The problem arises when you wish you could be them.
If you get too wrapped up in mimicking someone else, you'll forget to pay attention to who you are—your needs, your values, your character, your journey.
By all means, learn what you can from your role models and adapt or modify ideas to fit you. But don't forget to find your own voice. Gaining self-knowledge and self-respect is invaluable to building a lasting happiness.
3. I'll just follow what the experts say.
It's easy to think that experts can help you find your way to happiness. When you're down, their words are like beacons of hope. But that hope can be fleeting if you don't apply the lessons to real life.
Experts share lessons from their own experiences. While advice helps, their words serve only as hints, not answers for your journey. It's in your own real experiences where you will piece yourself together, realize your capabilities, and find out what matters to you.
Learn to trust yourself.
4. I'm so busy. I'll find more time to focus on myself...later.
Nowadays, being really busy has become something worth bragging about or something you can't escape. However, keep living this way and finding "you" time will start looking impossible. You will probably even blame your commitments for stealing your time.
But is it truly impossible for you to make time for yourself? Are you busy or is it avoidance? Are there duties you can cut out?
Really look at your schedule, prioritize, and put in a little "you" time. Everything else would benefit more if you spent some time caring for your needs.
5. I'm too tired. I need a break.
Maybe you are taking some "you" time but you don't want to think about anything too intensely. Breaks help you recharge your mind. However, there is such a thing as having too many breaks. In this case, "taking a break" becomes an excuse to escape.
Thinking about your life shouldn't feel like a chore. Take advantage of the moments when your brain isn't dwelling on too many things. For starters, take 10 minutes and ask yourself what you've been doing, why you're doing it, and what will make you happier? It's worth your time.
6. Other people are just luckier than me.
Bad luck—a popular self-reassurance when we're incapable of understanding why we're not getting what we want. It's a mild form of comfort that temporarily eases the pain but can create resentment of others.
But why put your life at the hands of luck? Personally, I'm a firm believer of "you make your own luck." Do the work you know is necessary because luck can't give you your future happiness—you do.
Have some more faith in yourself because your goals need you—your energy, passion, and determination—if they are to survive.
7. I can't wait until the day...
...when I'm happier about my life...when I'm successful...when I'm healthier...when I find my purpose in life.
Daydreaming is healthy to some extent. It allows you to be creative and visualize where you want to be. It only becomes dangerous when you don't do anything about it.
Don't live that happier life in your head. Good things come to those who go after them.
Sure, it's not going to happen overnight. You may experience plenty of false starts and—let's face it—there's a chance you might fail. But keep going, try again or move on to the next thing. After all, isn't life about experiencing and learning from the good and the bad? Meeting new people, exploring ideas, and discovering new places?
Your life won't change if you are passing the time in your dream world. Time is precious, so be in the present and get going.
Want happiness? Know and believe in yourself.
Now that you're aware of these thought traps, you can safely evade them. All that's left is for you to truly believe and apply yourself. Your mind is going to be with you through thick and thin. So, if you want your mind to always work with you instead of against you, then you must find the reasons to believe in yourself.
Be aware, honest, and true to yourself. You are your own ultimate guide for your journey towards happiness. Now, go for it! |
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Post by LWPD on Mar 17, 2013 11:34:31 GMT -5
I once had the privilege of meeting Steven Benvenisti, an incredible public speaker, and an even more amazing person. All proceeds from his book are donated to charity. One man's mission to prevent the potentially horrible consequences of driving while intoxicated. Courtesy of Huffington Post
Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination
By Steven Benvenisti“I’m proud to have been a personal injury trial attorney for many years.When I attended college, life couldn't have been better. I was in a popular fraternity, was going to be the college's next homecoming king, had a girlfriend, was athletic, and was very close with my family. I was ranked at the top portion of my class and was going to be graduating with high honors.
Six weeks before graduation, I went to Daytona Beach, Florida with my fraternity brothers for Spring Break. One night while we were walking, a repeat offender drunk driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into my legs, with my face smashing through the outside windshield and my body being thrown 70 feet. I sustained catastrophic injuries including: Severe brain damage, being comatose for 10 days, crushed lower legs, fractured clavicle, significant loss of blood requiring transfusions, and horrible open flesh wounds necessitating emergency skin grafting. My family was asked permission for organ donation because the severe brain damage, brain bleeding and swelling, meant survival was not likely and if I did survive, that I would be completely and totally disabled.
My relatives and friends prayed for me to awake from being in the deepest possible coma. My immediate family purchased a room in the hospital so that they could talk and play recordings to me while comatose in the hopes of stimulating consciousness.
(At the time, medical literature didn't have any evidence to support a benefit from communicating with one in a coma. In 2005, a medical study first revealed the effectiveness of communicating with the comatose. The NY Daily News featured me on their front page regarding the positive impact communication had on me while comatose.)
After 10 days, everyone thought their prayers were answered when I showed signs of consciousness and began to awake from the coma.
Weeks after fully awakening from the coma, due to the severe brain damage, I had lost my ability to comprehend reading, had serious long and short term memory deficits, other cognitive problems, and was unable to walk.
The condition was considered permanent based on historical data regarding survivors with similar catastrophic orthopedic injuries and severe brain damage. I was devastated that my life and future had been stolen from me by a drunk driver. I promised that if I was able to achieve a full recovery, in spite of the prognosis that it wasn't possible, that I would spend the rest of my life doing everything I could to end drunk driving and also to help those dealing with brain injury.
After six months of in-patient hospitalization, 15 major surgeries, intense physical, speech, occupational and cognitive therapy, family support, and hard work, I achieved a full recovery from my physical and brain injuries. I went to law school and passed the bar exams on the first taking.
I became an attorney and have been a partner at a large NJ-NY law firm for more than 10 years, being of the 3% of the lawyers in my state Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. My law practice has been devoted to representing D.W.I., brain and personal injury victims who have been seriously injured in car crashes and falls. I am happily married, with an 11-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter. I run several miles per day speeds of 7-8 mph and have no residual problems from my orthopedic and brain injuries.
In support of the promise I made upon achieving a full recovery, approximately 30 times per year, I present a very effective program to students, which has successfully curtailed D.W.I. at their schools. I also serve as a keynote and motivational speaker at medical, legal, law enforcement, and education conferences throughout the country sharing the story of my full recovery and thanking those professionals for their commitment.
I have also created and trademarked a Contract for Life entered between students and parents regarding both parties' never drinking and driving. 100% of the honorariums I have received for these programs, which exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars, have been waived by me and donated directly to worthy charities.
My programs have also received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the audiences, as well as many state and national awards. The feedback has included hundreds of letters and emails from students, faculty, parents and professionals that the impact has changed their lives and behavior, including their never drinking and driving, thereby preventing horrible accidents. Students have shared that after hearing my story, they kept their promise to never drink and drive for years thereafter, with their high school and college parties changing, in that students who would have otherwise driven after drinking, were stopped and provided alternate means of transportation.
I have also received hundreds of letters and emails from those dealing with brain injury, who have shared that my story has given them the hope needed to pursue reaching their potential.
My program has received many awards, including a US Certificate of Special Congressional Resolution and Legislative Resolutions from the NJ Senate and Governor.
Even though I am grateful to have been able to present to over a hundred thousand students and at hundreds of professional conferences, it is my desire to reach as many people as possible to fulfill my mission to end D.W.I. and to help those dealing with brain injury.
As a result, I am a volunteer and member of the Board of Directors of the National Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Brain Injury Alliance of NJ.
I authored Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination in support of my mission to end D.W.I. and to help as many people as possible, including our returning troops, who are dealing with the silent epidemic of our time: traumatic brain injury. Spring Break also provides a secret so precious that it not only saves lives, it guarantees success no matter what the challenge is.______________________________________________________________ Interview With Steven Benvenisti: Victim of Drunken Driving Accident Treated His Therapy Sessions Like Football Practice While vacationing in Florida six weeks before college graduation, a repeat drunk driver lost control of his car and crashed into Steven Benvenisti while he was walking with his friends. His legs were crushed, his face smashed through the windshield and his body was thrown 70 feet. His prognosis was poor as he lay in a coma.
Upon a miraculous survival and complete recovery, he is fulfilling his promise that he would devote his life towards ending drunk driving and help those dealing with brain injury.
He is most successfully carrying out his life's work and purpose. As an attorney, he represents DWI, brain and personal injury victims. He's a motivational speaker and author of the book, Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination. His Contract for Life between students and parents has effected positive change in the drinking and driving behaviors of teens.
1. What personal qualities have helped you carry on and move in a positive direction?
I would have to say my self-determination.
Upon awakening from my coma (after my accident) and realizing everything that had been taken away from me because of a drunk driver, all I could think about was how great my life had previously been and how sad it was that my life would never be the same again. I was living with horrendous pain, my memory and cognitive abilities were significantly compromised and it was unknown if I would ever walk again. During those times I reflected on my past.
I remembered my high school football coach who tried to instill in us players the idea that if we wanted to improve any skill on the field, especially when we felt the urge to slow down and give up, we needed to use that as a catalyst to push ourselves twice as hard for as long as possible. And so every day when I ran and started to get tired and slow down, I used that feeling as a reason to push myself (twice as hard for as long as possible). As the football season progressed, my speed increased dramatically. I went from being one of the slowest runners to one of the fastest.
I realized while lying in my hospital bed that if I was able to improve on the football field simply by pushing myself when I felt like giving up, then why not apply that same determination to improving in my recovery. I decided to treat my physical and cognitive therapy sessions like football practice. Many of my therapists shared with me that they had never seen a patient more determined to improve than me. It was that determination that drove me to my full recovery.
2. Did you go through a period of self-pity? If so, what helped lift you out?
After awakening from the coma, I became more depressed than I had ever been. I was at the lowest emotional level I thought a human being could be at. Being happy again one day was so unbelievably far-fetched and unrealistic. I was told there would be little, if any, improvement. I had no idea how I could ever come close to being happy again.
The turning point in my emotional recovery was when I realized that my pre-accident happiness had nothing to do with my good health, my grade point average or even my social life. The only reason I was happy before the accident was because I chose to consume my mind with thoughts that put a smile on my face. In fact, the only reason anyone is happy or unhappy at any given time has little to do with their actual circumstances and has everything to do with what they're thinking about.
While hospitalized, as soon as I realized that being happy in the present moment simply involved changing what I decided to think about, everything changed. I realized most of my grief came from comparing myself to who I was before the accident and the fun life I was missing out on.
It wasn't easy but instead of thinking of all the great times I was missing with my college friends, I thought about how nice it was to be with my family, to have a girlfriend I could talk to, to watch TV and eat whenever I wanted to. When I was in cognitive therapy, instead of thinking about how sad it was that I was no longer an active college student earning credits towards graduation, I thought about how cool it was that the more I read, the easier it was to understand what I was reading. Instead of thinking about how sad it was that I could no longer be the same athlete who won races, I made my new sense of athletic purpose trying to walk a little further on the parallel bars. Every time sad thoughts about the past, present or future would creep into my mind, I would force myself to think about things which put a smile on my face. As the months of my hospitalization continued, I gradually came out of my depression.
That way of thinking continued through my three years of law school and the decades which followed as an attorney today.
3. What were/are your day-to-day coping skills that keep you afloat?
After the first month of my almost six month hospitalization, I convinced myself that my life was being wasted away; that every day I was in the hospital was another day of my life being stolen from me. I desperately needed to change that way of thinking because if my condition remained permanent as the doctors said it would, then my entire future would be a complete waste as well.
I decided to transition my thinking into realizing that my hospital time didn't translate into time being taken from me, but rather as time being lived in a different atmosphere. I began to accept that the best place for me in my new condition was in the hospital and that I needed to view my hospitalization and therapy as my full-time occupation. With that change of thinking, I began to feel productive which dramatically improved my self-confidence throughout my hospitalization. It got to a point where it didn't matter if I 'got better' one day, as long as I felt that I was leading a productive life. Treating my hospitalization and therapy as my new 'job' made me feel more complete with a sense of true purpose.
4. What thoughts propel you forward?
Believe it or not, since my accident, although I plan for the future, I rarely think about it. After having almost lost my life at age 21, I realize that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. The only thing that is real is right now. I live my life with the goal of being happy in the present moment, working hard and treating those with whom I come into contact with the utmost of respect. I genuinely believe if someone wants to live a worthwhile and successful life, all they need to do is have a healthy and meaningful formula by which to live every single day, and opportunity and success will automatically follow.
5. What advice can you offer someone who's been in a traumatic accident, in the hope of rebuilding his/her life?
Regardless of whether they ever 'get better', it's important to find happiness given their current circumstances. When I learned the grim prognosis for those who sustained my kind of orthopedic and brain injury, I made up my mind that I couldn't base my happiness on hopefully getting better one day. That way of thinking meant there was a good chance I would never be happy again. What I described above and more at length in my book, is how I found the pathway to happiness. Simply put: Your emotions are controlled by what it is that you're thinking about. |
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Post by LWPD on Mar 17, 2013 11:35:30 GMT -5
I once had the privilege of meeting Steven Benvenisti, an incredible public speaker, and an even more amazing person. All proceeds from his book are donated to charity. One man's mission to prevent the potentially horrible consequences of driving while intoxicated. Courtesy of Huffington Post
Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination
By Steven Benvenisti“I’m proud to have been a personal injury trial attorney for many years.When I attended college, life couldn't have been better. I was in a popular fraternity, was going to be the college's next homecoming king, had a girlfriend, was athletic, and was very close with my family. I was ranked at the top portion of my class and was going to be graduating with high honors.
Six weeks before graduation, I went to Daytona Beach, Florida with my fraternity brothers for Spring Break. One night while we were walking, a repeat offender drunk driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into my legs, with my face smashing through the outside windshield and my body being thrown 70 feet. I sustained catastrophic injuries including: Severe brain damage, being comatose for 10 days, crushed lower legs, fractured clavicle, significant loss of blood requiring transfusions, and horrible open flesh wounds necessitating emergency skin grafting. My family was asked permission for organ donation because the severe brain damage, brain bleeding and swelling, meant survival was not likely and if I did survive, that I would be completely and totally disabled.
My relatives and friends prayed for me to awake from being in the deepest possible coma. My immediate family purchased a room in the hospital so that they could talk and play recordings to me while comatose in the hopes of stimulating consciousness.
(At the time, medical literature didn't have any evidence to support a benefit from communicating with one in a coma. In 2005, a medical study first revealed the effectiveness of communicating with the comatose. The NY Daily News featured me on their front page regarding the positive impact communication had on me while comatose.)
After 10 days, everyone thought their prayers were answered when I showed signs of consciousness and began to awake from the coma.
Weeks after fully awakening from the coma, due to the severe brain damage, I had lost my ability to comprehend reading, had serious long and short term memory deficits, other cognitive problems, and was unable to walk.
The condition was considered permanent based on historical data regarding survivors with similar catastrophic orthopedic injuries and severe brain damage. I was devastated that my life and future had been stolen from me by a drunk driver. I promised that if I was able to achieve a full recovery, in spite of the prognosis that it wasn't possible, that I would spend the rest of my life doing everything I could to end drunk driving and also to help those dealing with brain injury.
After six months of in-patient hospitalization, 15 major surgeries, intense physical, speech, occupational and cognitive therapy, family support, and hard work, I achieved a full recovery from my physical and brain injuries. I went to law school and passed the bar exams on the first taking.
I became an attorney and have been a partner at a large NJ-NY law firm for more than 10 years, being of the 3% of the lawyers in my state Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. My law practice has been devoted to representing D.W.I., brain and personal injury victims who have been seriously injured in car crashes and falls. I am happily married, with an 11-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter. I run several miles per day speeds of 7-8 mph and have no residual problems from my orthopedic and brain injuries.
In support of the promise I made upon achieving a full recovery, approximately 30 times per year, I present a very effective program to students, which has successfully curtailed D.W.I. at their schools. I also serve as a keynote and motivational speaker at medical, legal, law enforcement, and education conferences throughout the country sharing the story of my full recovery and thanking those professionals for their commitment.
I have also created and trademarked a Contract for Life entered between students and parents regarding both parties' never drinking and driving. 100% of the honorariums I have received for these programs, which exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars, have been waived by me and donated directly to worthy charities.
My programs have also received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the audiences, as well as many state and national awards. The feedback has included hundreds of letters and emails from students, faculty, parents and professionals that the impact has changed their lives and behavior, including their never drinking and driving, thereby preventing horrible accidents. Students have shared that after hearing my story, they kept their promise to never drink and drive for years thereafter, with their high school and college parties changing, in that students who would have otherwise driven after drinking, were stopped and provided alternate means of transportation.
I have also received hundreds of letters and emails from those dealing with brain injury, who have shared that my story has given them the hope needed to pursue reaching their potential.
My program has received many awards, including a US Certificate of Special Congressional Resolution and Legislative Resolutions from the NJ Senate and Governor.
Even though I am grateful to have been able to present to over a hundred thousand students and at hundreds of professional conferences, it is my desire to reach as many people as possible to fulfill my mission to end D.W.I. and to help those dealing with brain injury.
As a result, I am a volunteer and member of the Board of Directors of the National Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Brain Injury Alliance of NJ.
I authored Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination in support of my mission to end D.W.I. and to help as many people as possible, including our returning troops, who are dealing with the silent epidemic of our time: traumatic brain injury. Spring Break also provides a secret so precious that it not only saves lives, it guarantees success no matter what the challenge is.______________________________________________________________ Interview With Steven Benvenisti: Victim of Drunken Driving Accident Treated His Therapy Sessions Like Football Practice While vacationing in Florida six weeks before college graduation, a repeat drunk driver lost control of his car and crashed into Steven Benvenisti while he was walking with his friends. His legs were crushed, his face smashed through the windshield and his body was thrown 70 feet. His prognosis was poor as he lay in a coma.
Upon a miraculous survival and complete recovery, he is fulfilling his promise that he would devote his life towards ending drunk driving and help those dealing with brain injury.
He is most successfully carrying out his life's work and purpose. As an attorney, he represents DWI, brain and personal injury victims. He's a motivational speaker and author of the book, Spring Break: A True Story of Hope and Determination. His Contract for Life between students and parents has effected positive change in the drinking and driving behaviors of teens.
1. What personal qualities have helped you carry on and move in a positive direction?
I would have to say my self-determination.
Upon awakening from my coma (after my accident) and realizing everything that had been taken away from me because of a drunk driver, all I could think about was how great my life had previously been and how sad it was that my life would never be the same again. I was living with horrendous pain, my memory and cognitive abilities were significantly compromised and it was unknown if I would ever walk again. During those times I reflected on my past.
I remembered my high school football coach who tried to instill in us players the idea that if we wanted to improve any skill on the field, especially when we felt the urge to slow down and give up, we needed to use that as a catalyst to push ourselves twice as hard for as long as possible. And so every day when I ran and started to get tired and slow down, I used that feeling as a reason to push myself (twice as hard for as long as possible). As the football season progressed, my speed increased dramatically. I went from being one of the slowest runners to one of the fastest.
I realized while lying in my hospital bed that if I was able to improve on the football field simply by pushing myself when I felt like giving up, then why not apply that same determination to improving in my recovery. I decided to treat my physical and cognitive therapy sessions like football practice. Many of my therapists shared with me that they had never seen a patient more determined to improve than me. It was that determination that drove me to my full recovery.
2. Did you go through a period of self-pity? If so, what helped lift you out?
After awakening from the coma, I became more depressed than I had ever been. I was at the lowest emotional level I thought a human being could be at. Being happy again one day was so unbelievably far-fetched and unrealistic. I was told there would be little, if any, improvement. I had no idea how I could ever come close to being happy again.
The turning point in my emotional recovery was when I realized that my pre-accident happiness had nothing to do with my good health, my grade point average or even my social life. The only reason I was happy before the accident was because I chose to consume my mind with thoughts that put a smile on my face. In fact, the only reason anyone is happy or unhappy at any given time has little to do with their actual circumstances and has everything to do with what they're thinking about.
While hospitalized, as soon as I realized that being happy in the present moment simply involved changing what I decided to think about, everything changed. I realized most of my grief came from comparing myself to who I was before the accident and the fun life I was missing out on.
It wasn't easy but instead of thinking of all the great times I was missing with my college friends, I thought about how nice it was to be with my family, to have a girlfriend I could talk to, to watch TV and eat whenever I wanted to. When I was in cognitive therapy, instead of thinking about how sad it was that I was no longer an active college student earning credits towards graduation, I thought about how cool it was that the more I read, the easier it was to understand what I was reading. Instead of thinking about how sad it was that I could no longer be the same athlete who won races, I made my new sense of athletic purpose trying to walk a little further on the parallel bars. Every time sad thoughts about the past, present or future would creep into my mind, I would force myself to think about things which put a smile on my face. As the months of my hospitalization continued, I gradually came out of my depression.
That way of thinking continued through my three years of law school and the decades which followed as an attorney today.
3. What were/are your day-to-day coping skills that keep you afloat?
After the first month of my almost six month hospitalization, I convinced myself that my life was being wasted away; that every day I was in the hospital was another day of my life being stolen from me. I desperately needed to change that way of thinking because if my condition remained permanent as the doctors said it would, then my entire future would be a complete waste as well.
I decided to transition my thinking into realizing that my hospital time didn't translate into time being taken from me, but rather as time being lived in a different atmosphere. I began to accept that the best place for me in my new condition was in the hospital and that I needed to view my hospitalization and therapy as my full-time occupation. With that change of thinking, I began to feel productive which dramatically improved my self-confidence throughout my hospitalization. It got to a point where it didn't matter if I 'got better' one day, as long as I felt that I was leading a productive life. Treating my hospitalization and therapy as my new 'job' made me feel more complete with a sense of true purpose.
4. What thoughts propel you forward?
Believe it or not, since my accident, although I plan for the future, I rarely think about it. After having almost lost my life at age 21, I realize that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. The only thing that is real is right now. I live my life with the goal of being happy in the present moment, working hard and treating those with whom I come into contact with the utmost of respect. I genuinely believe if someone wants to live a worthwhile and successful life, all they need to do is have a healthy and meaningful formula by which to live every single day, and opportunity and success will automatically follow.
5. What advice can you offer someone who's been in a traumatic accident, in the hope of rebuilding his/her life?
Regardless of whether they ever 'get better', it's important to find happiness given their current circumstances. When I learned the grim prognosis for those who sustained my kind of orthopedic and brain injury, I made up my mind that I couldn't base my happiness on hopefully getting better one day. That way of thinking meant there was a good chance I would never be happy again. What I described above and more at length in my book, is how I found the pathway to happiness. Simply put: Your emotions are controlled by what it is that you're thinking about. |
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Post by LWPD on May 9, 2013 18:37:25 GMT -5
This was from an event last month at the Cauliflower Alley Club. A year ago, Jake The Snake Roberts was 305 lbs and could barely walk. Here Diamond Dallas Page inducts a resurgent Roberts into the CAC Hall of Fame. He's come a long way!
Jake Roberts CAC Induction Speech 4/13
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Post by LWPD on Jun 9, 2013 15:59:57 GMT -5
Profound advice: when you face life's challenges, make sure your worst enemy is not living between your two ears. Courtesy of Flow Coach
Believing What You See: Truth or Deception
By Scott SonnonMy university mentor, Dr. Winter leaned far across the desk of yet another freshman very convinced that he understood the world and said to the student, “Tell me, young man, how certain are you that you know that is a desk you’re sitting in.” The student replied, “Very certain, I can see that it is a desk.”
“Truly, you believe your eyes see a light illuminating an object, bouncing to the back of your eyes inverted, interpreted by your brain to flip, processed to associate with other similar images observed in your past. Despite all of these various processes each one containing inherent error and miscalculation, you still believe?” The student nervously nodded that he still believed.
“Young man, I challenge you to question if you see the desk as it truly is. You only believe you see light reflecting off a surface. What is the true surface that the visible spectrum of light does not reveal. What of the ultraviolet and infrared? But in your current perception, if you turn off the lights, the desk disappears.” The freshman appeared to waffle in his confidence.
“Close your eyes,” Dr. Winter compelled. “Press gently on your eyes with your palms. Tell us what you see.” The student replied that he saw flashing lights. Our professor resumed, “The lights you saw are products of your brain interpreting the pressure to your eyes as light. We know that you have not seen these lights, for they do not exist ‘out here’ with us, only ‘in there’ with your perception. Despite that a surgeon can prod areas of your brain and create these sensations you experience, you still believe that you KNOW the world you see? You cannot ‘know’ it, or anything, from your sight, or from ANY sense, you have.”
Leaning back, he addressed us all, “You cannot know the world, as you see, feel, hear, taste, or smell it. You cannot know anything ‘out there’ for certain. You can only know what is ‘in here,’” returning to rap a finger on the freshman’s forehead. “The world, for all you know, could be merely a very convincing deception crafted by some evil genius who has extracted your brain and placed it in a nutrient fed container, giving you electrical stimulation.” Pausing he scanned each of our eyes, and resumed, “Take from this uncomfortable realization that you now know what you perceive of the world will be, and has only ever been, what you have elected to believe. You do not see life as it is, but as YOU believe.”
I had grown a distrust of my senses due to my learning disabilities. As simple as reading and writing are for most people, something a seven year old can do with relative ease, I found painful. Reading, letters would move, switch, and reverse. Writing, words would invert into mirrored reflections, and jumble their order. Speaking, words would evaporate from my vocabulary, remaining inaccessible as my brain would seize on their disappearance. No, I did not trust that I even knew my own experience of the world.
This can be misunderstood as a dysfunctional sense-related condition. Doctors presumed that I had faulty senses; and if they could merely explain and convince me to see the world through their eyes, I would be able to read, write and speak correctly. Or never at all. Of course, if what they believed what they saw of the world as real, then only MY senses must be “broken and flawed.”
Failing to understand what my professor later taught, my doctors didn’t realize it relates to the process of thought. I merely think differently than they expected me to. Instead of a dysfunction, my process revealed itself as a talent. My way of thinking allows me to instantly see events from an alternate angle, reversed, inverted or reworded. (And as movement is a series of thoughts, I moved differently too.)
After decades of doubting my competence, I eventually transformed that “broken” way of perceiving the world into a career helping other others understand their unique perception of their own world. Thanks belong to those alternative teachers who dared to question common perception.
We must learn the way WE individually perceive and think, and the beliefs they have formed and can reform. When you face a challenge, make sure your worst enemy is not living between your two ears. If you face one obstacle and doubt yourself, you’ll be outnumbered. You can of course still overcome those superior numbers, but why raise the hurdle when you can lower it by becoming your own ally?
Perhaps it is not an obstacle that you have encountered. What if it is your greatest opportunity? Only you can choose to believe that you remain entirely incompetent, under-resourced and disconnected. You can also choose the opposite: that you are entirely competent, with unlimited resources and perfectly plugged in to everything you need to grow and help others do the same.
As Abraham Lincoln said, “We can complain because our rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because our thorn bushes have roses.” |
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Post by LWPD on Oct 27, 2013 16:59:28 GMT -5
Fate is the cards you're dealt, Destiny is how you play them. Some good advice from one who knows. Courtesy of The Reformed Broker
The Never List
By Joshua M BrownNever sell a service or product that you cannot deliver. Never sell a service or product that the buyer doesn't absolutely need or love. Be essential or desired, not annoying and unnecessary.
Never work for someone who isn't as smart as you are. Or plan your exit the moment you figure out that you have learned all you can and that you are now the smarter one.
Never work for or with people with a lesser moral code than your own. Be aware of how your colleagues feel about doing the right thing. You should watch how they prioritize it. Once you determine that the moral failings of the people around you are systemic and indefatigable, it's time to get going. If you can fix a bad situation, by all means try. If you can't, reserve judgment and simply say goodbye.
Never work in a career that relies on opacity, obfuscation, rhetorical fallacy or sleight of hand. There are plenty of people who can do this sort of work, fooling their neighbors and customers or tricking them into transactions that aren't what's in their best interests - the key is to not be one of them. Those who engage in this sort of work are either sociopathic or trapped because of financial circumstances or too stupid to have thought the consequences of their career choice all the way through.
Never cut any corners, there is no such thing as a free lunch and everything has a cost, even if you can't see it right in front of you. Riskless reward is a desert mirage.
Never pursue something that you don't really want in the first place just because you think you have to. You don't have to and it won't work out anyway. Successful people become successful because they are doing what they love and have a talent for.
Never keep a bad client just because they're willing to keep paying you. Never allow a mismatched customer relationship to skew the way you do business or take care of your other clients. Never put off firing a customer the moment you realize there is a bad fit and that neither of you will be satisfied in the relationship. Life is too short to do business with unreasonable people or nice folks whom you just cannot make happy.
Never go through the motions. Find a psychologically rewarding way to go about your tasks, remind yourself constantly where the day-to-day drudgery of your job is leading. If it's leading nowhere or toward something you don't truly want, stop immediately. Don't spend a moment being busy for no good reason.
Never taunt others when things are going your way, people like dealing with gracious winners who raise others up with positivity. Never burden others with your problems when things are not going your way, the amount of mileage you'll get out of pity is minimal and people will go out of their way to avoid getting involved with you.
Never watch the clock or calendar. Have reasonable expectations for the timeline of your success. If you enjoy what you're doing and are going to work with purpose each day, then what's the rush? Only people who are doing something they hate are worried about how many dollars they can rip out of the endeavor right away.
Never believe for one moment that your path is already laid out for you or that you can't break away and find your own road toward happiness and success. Remember - Fate is the cards you're dealt, Destiny is how you play them. |
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