What is a leader? Many times, we assume that the people with the highest titles (both professionally and in civic organizations) are the leaders and that the other people in any given group are followers. However, in most circumstances, a true leader – a respected leader – is not defined by his or her title but rather by the positive experiences he or she creates in a group of people. Members of a team will be most thankful for a leader who fosters a solid team environment, helps the team to function at peak performance, and inspires other to take action.
In fact, you have probably experienced this yourself-think of a time when you enjoyed being part of a team. Most likely, there Read More...
With the 4th of July just around the corner, and people across the United States celebrating freedom, I thought I would write about how to increase freedom in your life.
It’s obvious from the name of our organization, Freedom Personal Development, that freedom is important to us. Our definition of freedom is, “The capacity to exercise choice.” We all have choices and therefore freedom in our lives.
In fact freedom of choice is an unavoidable responsibility to be treated with much respect. It’s not an absence of responsibility with which to be careless.
A lot of time people think freedom is the freedom from responsibility. I’d argue that it is Read More...
We all know that there are many factors that influence our attitudes from the outside – what we watch on TV, what the people around us say, what we read etc. But what about the things you say to yourself on the inside?
Does the subject of self-talk make you uncomfortable? I know when I first learned about “self-talk,” I thought it sounded hokey, cheesy, and just weird. So if you feel that way, know that I understand where you are. None the less, I ask you to keep your mind open for a few minutes because what you can learn can significantly change not only your outlook on life, but the amount of success that you experience.
You talk to yourself all the time. Think about Read More...
Not to start off on a pessimist not, but how did you do with your goals from LAST year? Do you even remember what they were? Have you stopped setting goals because you KNOW you never hit them?
What if I shared with you a formula of the key components to guarantee that you hit your goals and make the things you want in your life a reality? Interested? Keep reading!
The best way to actually make things happen is to set goals that have the follow characteristics. Even if you think you understand goal setting, use these 5 components as a check on the goals you have set for yourself-do they meet all the criteria?
There are 5 characteristics of an effective goal:
1. Read More...
What would you do it you weren’t afraid? It’s such an interesting question. So many times, we’re held back by fear.
In fact, I was just looking up phobias. Do you know that there are 98 phobias of things that start with just the letter “S”? And this isn’t even an official website. There were probably many that were missed on this list but I’ll give you a couple of my favorite “S” phobias.
The fear of string – I believe it’s pronounced li-no-no-pho-bia.
The fear of slime – (Oh, by the way, the fear of slime has two names) – blennophobia or myxophobia, whichever your preference.
Where Read More...
This is one of my favorite applications of memory training. I can’t claim creating it myself, but it is an amazing technique to memorize the calendar.
That’s right, memorize the calendar. You want me to go to a baseball game with you on June 10th? Sorry, the 10th is a Tuesday, and I have Bible study on Tuesdays.Would you like to be able to do that? I am going to explain how. Use this opportunity to file away the calendar for 2008 or any year. Here we go!
First you need a picture for every month. Many months are pretty simple, but use whatever works for you. Go through the year, and pick an image for every month. Remember, any picture works as long as you create it. Here are Read More...
At our memory training workshops, we consistently hear from people that they have challenges remembering where they parked their car. Believe it or not, even me, the memory trainer, would walk out of the store and have no idea where my car was. I once almost called security once to report it stolen! That’s when I decided I needed a system.
So here is my system for remembering where I parked my car. There are two types of situations here.
1. Sometimes you park in a garage or a lot that has letters and numbers. Oh, that makes it so easy – well, Read More...
Marcus Buckingham’s latest book, The One Thing You Need to Know: About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success, is a fabulous insight into the nuances of succeeding in leadership, management, and individual efforts.
As my husband said, the “one” thing is pretty long if it takes him 280 pages to talk about it! Really, Buckingham suggests, Read More...
Think of a beautiful landscaped yard. It didn’t get that way without proper care, sun, watering and pruning. By definition pruning is the act of trimming, or removing what is superfluous. Pruning gives us a great example and analogy of the power of focus in our lives.
As I sit in my office, I look out at a small river birch tree that was planted about two years ago. I have watched the three main trunks of the tree grow and expand from my office window. But…when I look at the tree close up, I notice that there are often small sprouts growing from the main trunks—not branches, but Read More...
Most people think they have an idea of what attitude is, but if you really sit down and define it, it can take a long time to come to a clear definition. The definition that we, at Freedom Personal Development, have chosen to adapt and train from is this:
Your Attitude is the Way You Choose to View Your World.
Each of those words were chosen very, very diligently.
What is your definition of Attitude?
Two Things to Note in FPD’s definition:
1. It is your choice
2. It is your world.
We can Read More...
