Take me to the River!!

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Rod's World

Several members of my year-long training program, The Warriors of Love went on an Essence outing to see Dr Joe Dispenza. He was spruiking his new book, Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon: Get it Here.

Joe talked about that he began to ask himself:

‘What if people begin to believe in themselves instead of something outside of themselves? What if they believe that they can change something inside of them and move themselves to the same state of being as someone who’s taking a placebo? Isn’t that what our workshop participants have been doing in order to get better? Do people really need a pill or injection to change their state of being? Can we teach people to accomplish the same thing by teaching them how the placebo really works?’

He calls this crossing the river of change. Joe speaks about this:

“Crossing the river of change requires that you leave the same familiar predictable self— connected to the same thoughts, same choices, same behaviours, and same feelings—and step into a void of the unknown. The gap between the old self and the new self is the biological death of your old personality. If the old self must die, then you have to create a new self with new thoughts, new choices, new behaviours, and new emotions. Entering this river is stepping toward a new unpredictable, unfamiliar self. The unknown is the only place where you can create—you cannot create anything new from the known.

“Some people call this experience the dark night of the soul. It’s the phoenix igniting itself and burning to ashes. The old self has to die for a new one to be reborn. Of course, that feels uncomfortable!”

So when did you last or have you ever crossed the River of Change, entered the dark night of the soul? We know our favourite cereal, or favourite cafe and our favourite TV show very well. How does the world relate to this, let’s have a look:

1. Why is it worth doing, because with the dark naturally comes the light.

2. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old, and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971: Pablo Neruda.

3. The unknown is the only place where you can create—you cannot create anything new from the known.

4. Oh death remorseless, consume this flesh. Release this soul to begin afresh, truly magnificent: Hold On.

5. You have to pay the full price to reach the other side.

6. Many people reach out for a superior being after entering this space: I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

7. after the death of her father from cancer, Joan, a medical researcher, became more interested in the person with the illness than in the disease itself and returned to Harvard Medical School to complete a second postdoctoral fellowship, this time in the new field of behavioural medicine.

8. Free hugs gain you entry: Hugging You.

9. This may happen along the way, but your new created life awaits you.

10. Your old thoughts will hold on tightly, they will not want you to leave: The Sounds of Silence.

11. Joe must have been influenced by Carl, methinks.

12. In that dark night, it is the voice of the soul that gets us through to the other side: King of Anything.

13. Your heart burning up during the dark night of the soul. Don’t worry, it will come out all new and shiny on the other side, created by you.

14. Without the Dark, no Lights: Starman.

15. And finally what Joe says entering the dark night of the soul will provide: UncoverYourJoy.com.

I will finish with Joe’s main premise: “If this is your personality then your personality creates your personal reality. It’s that simple. And your personality is made up of how you think, how you act, and how you feel. So the present personality who is reading this page has created the present reality called your life; and that also means that if you want to create a new personal reality—a new life—then you have to begin to examine or think about the thoughts you’ve been thinking and change them. You must become conscious of the unconscious behaviours you’ve been choosing to demonstrate that have led to the same experiences, and then you must make new choices, take new actions, and create new experiences.”

Today’s playlist begins with my dear friend Kavisha Paola Mazzella, one of the truly superb voices. next Wilson Phillips, daughters of very famous 60’s musicians. Then a Whitney Houston power ballad. Over to the men for Tom Rosenthal and Disturbed. Penultimate is Sarah Bareilles, finishing with Sir David: Take Me to the River.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until we meet again, my dear friends.

Self Awareness and Self Love Matter!!

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Rod's World

Up to Section 5 of Dare to Lead, Brene Brown’s exciting new book: Get It Here.

The section is titled Curiosity and Grounded Confidence and begins: “Grounded confidence is the messy process of learning and unlearning, practising and failing, and surviving a few misses. This brand of confidence is not blustery arrogance or posturing or built on bullshit; it’s real, solid, and built on self-awareness and practice. Once we witness how courage can transform the way we lead, we can trade the heavy, suffocating armour that keeps us small for grounded confidence that lifts us up and supports our efforts to be brave.” It’s unreasonable to believe that we can just rip off our self-protection mechanisms and streak through the office. Most of us armour up early in our lives because, as children, we needed to.

Brene then goes on about the paradoxes that elicit vulnerability in leaders and provides this excellent list:

Optimism and Paranoia
Letting chaos reign ( the act of building ) and reining in chaos ( the act of scaling )
Big heart and tough decision making
Humility and fierce resolve
Velocity and quality when building new things
Left brain and Right Brain
Simplicity and Choice
Thinking Global, acting Local
Ambition and attention to detail
Thinking big but starting small
Short-term and long-term
Marathons and sprints, or marathons of sprints in business-building

In a conversation with Dheeraj Pandey, CEO of a Silicon Valley IT company, Dheeraj says the following, “Leaders must learn the skills to hold these tensions and get adept at balancing on the ‘tightrope’ of life. Ultimately, leadership is the ability in the ambiguity of paradoxes and opposites.”

So, what does the world say about paradoxes and opposites, here are a few of my favourite things:

1. How well do I embrace and opposites, better some days than others, a lifetime practice, methinks?

2. Reads like lines from a really great song: Radiate.

3. The gravity man, Sir Isaac Newton, watch out for the apples.

4. The Light and the Dark, both are needed to transform: I Gotta Feeling.

5. Anything goes, it is all required in our journey of life.

6. That’s very Woo Woo, Albert: God Save The Queen.

7. Fact check, did our favourite POTUS really say this?

8. What do you say to your soul, I’m practising with I love You for five minutes in the mirror every day: A Whole New World.

9. Something Judgement 101 does not allow.

10. The classic reason why opposites attract, they are incomplete without their opposite, how many modalities teach us we need all the types of archetypes, personalities, etc. etc. etc: New Speedway Boogie.

11. I post Ram Dass daily in Booker Looker land, he is one of my top ten faves on the net.

12. More light and dark stuff, you can’t deny either for your life to work: Duality.

13. They are sent to you to learn from them, what you resist persists, an old Landmark statement from the 1990’s that still rings true to this day.

14. Best known for his book, The Myth of Equality, Wystma, a minister of the gospel helps us come to a deeper understanding of both the origins of these issues and the reconciling role people are called to play as a follower of the gospel. Inequality and privilege are real. The Myth of Equality opens our eyes to realities we may have never realized were present in our society and world. And we will be changed for the better as a result: Glory.

15. The paradox of being attracted by an opposite, what are yours, mine is booze versus sobriety.

Brene sums it up as follows ” Learning how to rumble with vulnerability is work. And vulnerability never becomes comfortable, but practising means that when a vulnerability is washing over us, we can hear grounded confidence whisper in our ear, ” This is hard and awkward, and uncomfortable. You may not know how it’s turning out, but you are strong and you have practised what it takes to create and hold the space for it.”

If you haven’t work it out from these two blogs, buy the book. It’s worth it for the free workbook and the glossary alone, not to mention the values list and the posters you get thrown in.

If you loved punk, there is a song for you on today’s playlist. We begin with a newbie for me, Hannah Kerr, then the iconic Black Eyed Peas, then the legend that is Johny Rotten leading the Sex Pistols. Another Disney classic from Alladin. An Aussie legend Courtney Barnett, then rocking out with Slipknot, then a beautifully smooth finish from John Legend: Self Awareness and Self Love Matter.

Spread Love and Respect to All, Everybody Included until next, we meet my dear friends:

The Key To Life Is Not Accumulation!!

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Rod's World

I was so looking forward to Brene Brown’s new book Dare to Lead I preordered two copies, my friend Steph is very happy I did, she’s a big Brene fan too so I gifted her the second copy. The complete title is Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts: Get It Here. I love Joseph Campbells quote about what is the cave I fear to enter and was going to write on that but there are not a lot of relevant quotes on Google Images, just 100 versions of one quote so I moved onto The Power and Wisdom to Serve Others.

Brene writes that “Joseph Campbell’s lesson was that when you find the courage to enter that cave, you’ve never going in to secure your own treasure or your own wealth; you face your fears to find the power and wisdom to serve others.”

My mother Edna was one of the greatest givers I have had the honour to know, she was a Brown Owl, think Brownies and Girl Guides and an elder at her church for many years and she passed this love of volunteerism onto her children. I remember when my friend introduced me to one of the team leaders at CERES environmental park the following way “Hold onto him, he is the worlds greatest volunteer” a little over the top, but you get the gist. Let’s look at the words society has used to honour those who give:

1. Steve Maraboli was selected by Inc. Magazine as a “Top Leader to Follow” while dubbing him as, “The Most Quoted Man Alive” (2016).

From the Pope to the Dalai Lama, to Grammy Winners, to World Champions, to Oscar Winners, to Presidents and Prime Ministers… Steve’s life-changing words are shared and published throughout the world by media, global leaders, athletes, celebrities, and individuals across a wide range of platforms.

Google Facts has Steve Maraboli referenced or quoted in over 3,000 books in their database.

2. This is what I battle with on a daily basis, my penchant to intellectualism versus living life from my heart: In My Life.

3. It’s called giving, not expecting.

4. I saw an American Economics professor lecture the other day on why his country had lost its way because it had forgotten this: Rise Up.

5. From little things, big things grow.

6. He led the movement that freed the second most populous country by following this credo: Let It Start With Me.

7.Karma: The totality of a person’s actions and conduct during successive incarnations, regarded as causally influencing his or her destiny.

8. Leave behind a legacy, not pictures of you on a wall: Happiness is Helping Others.

9. Are you behind with your rent?

10. Well said, Dave: Walking on Sunshine.

11. I feel the happiest when I am achieving these other things in my life.

12. A controversial character, Mother Teresa confronted people about the former to the point where quite a few became pissed off with her: Truly, Madly, Deeply.

13. Do you sleep well at night knowing this?

14. Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust. That’s us, but through your actions, you can live on in others: Celebrity Eminem Covers.

15. Without a good nights sleep, the takers’ health suffers, it doesn’t matter what quality their food is.

Brene finishes the chapter with the following line: Daring Leadership is ultimately about serving other people, not ourselves. That’s why we choose courage, A Ho!!

As you would expect with writing about serving others, today’s playlist is quite uplifting. It begins with the Musical Le Miz, then Andra Day and No Other Name. Be Motivated by a Motivational track then ride the Waves with Katrina. The penultimate track is Savage Garden and we finish with celebs covering Eminem songs: What if Life is not a Gamble.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until next time, my dear friends.

Never tell people how to do Things, Tell them what to Do.

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Rod's World

This list is from John C. Maxwell’s excellent book: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Get It Here.

What would happen if a top expert with more than thirty years of leadership experience was willing to distil everything he had learned about leadership into a handful of life-changing principles just for you? It would change your life! John C. Maxwell has done exactly that in “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”. He has combined insights learned from his thirty-plus years of leadership successes and occasional mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict. The result is a revealing study of leadership delivered as only a communicator like Maxwell can. Here is the list:

THE 21 LAWS OF LEADERSHIP

1. The Law of the Lid. There’s a lid to your potential; it’s determined by your leadership ability. Therefore, expand your leadership capacity and expand your ability to impact the world.

2. The Law of Influence. As Maxwell says a number of times throughout the book, “The true measure of leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.”

3. The Law of Process. We can’t snap our fingers and become great leaders overnight. Maxwell tells us: “Leadership develops daily, not in a day.”

4. The Law of Navigation. Steering the ship is relatively easy. Leaders chart the course—seeing where they want to go and charting the most effective course to get there.

5. The Law of Addition. Leaders serve. They focus on creating value for others. It’s not so much “What’s in it for me?” but “How can I serve?” That’s the law of addition.

6. The Law of Solid Ground. Maxwell tells us that trust is the foundation of leadership. We must stand on the solid ground of solid character—living with integrity, being trustworthy.

7. The Law of Respect. People “naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves.” We must cultivate our strength if we want people to respect us and be willing to follow our lead.

8. The Law of Intuition. As Emerson says, we must trust ourselves—“every heart vibrates to that iron string.” As a mentor of mine once said, “Trust yourself. Always.”

9. The Law of Magnetism. Who you ARE is who you will attract. Want to attract great people? BE GREAT. That’s the law of magnetism.

10. The Law of Connection. We must connect with others. Maxwell tells us, “Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.”

11. The Law of Inner Circle. Our potential as leaders is determined by those closest to us. Whose in your inner circle?

12. The Law of Empowerment. You need to be confident enough to give power to others. Trust yourself and trust your team to crush it.

13. The Law of the Picture. People will do what they see. We need to create a “picture” of what awesome looks like which inspires people to follow our lead. Embody your ideals.

14. The Law of Buy-In. You have a great vision. Fantastic. (And essential.) But know this: People buy into YOU, the leader before they buy into the vision.

15. The Law of Victory. Victory. Leaders are FIERCELY committed to winning. Period. That relentless pursuit of victory is essential. (We’ll chat about this more as well.)

16. The Law of Big Mo. Mr Momentum. Is a very close friend of effective leaders. We need to create (and celebrate!) little wins—always remembering that progress is uber-powerful.

17. The Law of Priorities. It’s not enough to be busy. We need to be effective. Leaders take the time to properly line up their dominoes and focus on what’s most important.

18. The Law of Sacrifice. The higher you go, the more you need to be willing to give up. Leaders trade-off freedom with responsibility.

19. The Law of Timing. As Jim Collins says in Great By Choice, not all moments are created equal. Leaders know when to lean in and seize the moment.

20. The Law of Explosive Growth. Maxwell tells us about “leader’s math”—if you want to multiply your growth, create more LEADERS not followers.

21. The Law of Legacy. What do you want people to say at your funeral? Leaders keep this vision firmly in mind and dedicate their lives to its fulfilment. A quick inventory: Favourites? Strengths? Weaknesses?

“In a study of ninety leaders from a variety of fields, leadership experts Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus made a discovery about the relationship between growth and leadership: ‘It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguish leaders from their followers.’ Successful leaders are learners. And the learning process is ongoing, a result of self-discipline and perseverance. The goal each day must be to get a little better, to build on the previous day’s progress.

So how many of the Laws do you work on daily, here’s what the world says about Leadership:

1. You can’t do it on your own, Go that way and it will work out is what the leader is there for.

2. Master, Miss, Ms, Dr, Mrs, Mister, they are titles, being a leader is not: If You’re Out There.

3. Actions not words, Leadership 101.

4. Obviously, they are speaking about Donald Trumps leadership style, aren’t they: When I’m Gone.

5. I don’t take up the Challenge every day, do you?

6. Presence, Presence, Presence, Leadership: My Immortal.

7. Mark Yarnell died in 2015, lauded as the Worlds greatest network Marketer, he was truly inspiring — “I’ve lived a “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” life he said. “I’ve squeezed every ounce of joy out of every single day. It’s been an absolute blast!” And, he encouraged each of us to become the best possible version of ourselves while living a life of freedom.

8. Even for your mistakes, that’s what real leadership is: Responsibility.

9. Are you the former or the latter, Your Choice.

10. Trying leadership on: Try.

11. Word origin of ‘courage’: Middle Eastern & Old French – corage, heart, spirit Latin cor, heart. Where we find our passion, In the heart.

12. I recently came back in contact with Fiona, the woman who showed the leadership to get 13 disparate individuals to travel from Australia to Moscow to run a marathon in the name of ending world hunger, her leadership was inspirational at the time. It was the year before the Berlin Wall came down and communism ended in Russia: Fight Song.

13. Remember, it’s your actions that create the opportunities for others to become leaders too.

14. I would change the middle quotes to Goes there own Way: Go Your Own Way.

15. It’s OK to take walks, but it’s leadership that makes the difference after all.

As author Hans Finzel observed, ‘Leaders are paid to be dreamers. The higher you go in leadership, the more your work is about the future. At the same time, leaders are practical enough to know that vision without action achieves nothing. They make themselves responsible for helping their followers take action.” Great leaders are BOTH visionary *and* practical.

Today’s songs begin with John Legend, then we travel to the rap of Eminem. Rock takes over for the next three tracks with Evanescence, MxPx and Janis Joplin. It closes out with a very cute video of Rachell Platten and a whole lot of kids and finishes with a classic Fleetwood Mac number: Never tell people how to do Things, tell them what to Do

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

We Can’t Direct the Wind, but We can Adjust Sails!!

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Rod's World

I was browsing through the offering of Brian Johnson’s Philosophers Notes, when he commented that he had never come across a book that he would recommend to read to help live an ideal life until he read Sonja Lyubmirsky’s The How of Happiness: A Practical Guide to Getting The Life You Want: Get It Here.

The key tenet of THE HOW OF HAPPINESS is that every human being has a happiness ‘set point’ which, depending on how high or low it is, can determine how positive or negative they feel. This book offers a practical approach to help readers increase their set point, and find a level of happiness above that which they would normally feel, and feel more satisfaction in life.

“In a nutshell, the fountain of happiness can be found in how you behave, what you think, and what goals you set every day of your life. ‘There is no happiness without action.’ If feelings of passivity and futility overcome you whenever you face up to your happiness set point or to your circumstances, you must know that a genuine and abiding happiness is indeed within your reach, lying within the 40 per cent of the happiness pie chart that’s yours to guide.”

Through remarkable studies with identical twins separated at birth, scientists have discovered that about 50% of our happiness is determined by our genetics and that we have what they call a “happiness set point”—a level of happiness we tend to gravitate toward. So 50% is FIXED. We can’t do anything about it. Now, there’s another 10% of our happiness that’s determined by our life circumstances. Most people spend all their energy on this variable but research shows that increasing our wealth, attractiveness and stuff like that has both a negligible and a temporary impact on our well-being. Which leads us to the 40% we want to focus on: “What makes up this 40 per cent? Besides our genes and the situations that we confront, there is one critical thing left: our behaviour. Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities. With this in mind, our pie chart illustrates the potential of the 40 per cent that is within our ability to control, the 40 per cent for room to maneuver, for opportunities to increase or decrease our happiness levels through what we do in our daily lives and how we think.”

Part II of the book delivers 12 Happiness Activities that’s been scientifically proven to increase our happiness levels. You’ll wanna get the book to explore the various studies that have established why these activities work and we’ll highlight a few of my favourites below. For now, here they are:

1. Expressing Gratitude

2. Cultivating Optimism

3. Avoiding Overthinking and Social Comparison

4. Practising Acts of Kindness

5. Nurturing Social Relationships

6. Developing Strategies for Coping

7. Learning to Forgive

8. Increasing Flow Experiences

9. Savouring Life’s Joys

10. Committing to Your Goals

11. Practising Religion and Spirituality

12. Taking Care of Your Body: Meditation + Physical Activity + Acting Like a Happy Person

(Another cool point Sonja makes again and again (!) throughout the book is that it’s *essential* for us to choose activities that inspire us as we’re much more likely to follow through on those activities than doing something we think we “should” do.)

So which of the above activities do you use to get your happy on? Statements on achieving happiness differ from their approach, here are just a few:

1. Considered one of the happiest people on the planet, His Holiness The Dalai Lama knows it is through your actions that this state is achieved.

2. The first of the 12 activities mentioned above, expressing gratitude for the fact that recognising what we have is a powerful first step to happiness: Grateful.

3. A moot point to remember in the dark times.

4. As Mandy points out, It’s our daily intentional activities that ensure happiness, not those of others: Follow The Sun,

5. I got caught at the railway gates today, it went for five minutes. The person in the car behind me was losing it, this is a little thing.

6. Such a simple example, but beautiful in its concept: That’s Entertainment.

7. An empowering fridge magnet to read daily.

8. Dancing is one way I choose to do it: Feel Good.

9. Waitley was also a founding member of the National Council for Self-Esteem and a former chairman of psychology for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Council. A worthy life of Happiness what a great title for the council.

10. Happiness spreads when you release it into the world due to its infectious nature: Spread a Little Happiness.

11. Back to the 1400’s for this quote that leaves out 50 per cent of the population. Erasmus was considered the greatest scholar of the Northern Renaissance.

12. Out beyond the horizon of accepting your imperfections lies the land of happiness: Perfect.

13. From the man with the most famous bedraggled hair in the world, Albert points out that giving away your happiness to people and things don’t really work.

14. I spent many years trying to be liked by everyone, it cost me a great deal of happiness, I’m getting better at not doing it: You Can’t Please Everybody.

15. And for our final look we return to the beginning of modern time, Seneca was around from 4 BC-AD 65. Still very relevant today though.

Pema Chodron says pretty much the same thing in her great book The Places That Scare You: “Acknowledging that we are all churned up is the first and most difficult step in any practice. Without compassionate recognition that we are stuck, it’s impossible to liberate ourselves from confusion. ‘Doing something different’ is anything that interrupts our ancient habit of indulging in our emotions. We do anything to cut the strong tendency to spin out… Anything that’s non-habitual will do—even sing and dance or run around the block. We do anything that doesn’t reinforce our crippling habits. The third most difficult practice is to then remember that this is not something we do just once or twice. Interrupting our destructive habits and awakening our heart is the work of a lifetime.”

The Playlist from today’s blog is quite joyous as you would expect songs dedicated to happiness to be. Empty Hands Music begins the journey, followed by an anthem from Xavier Rudd. I sneak some rock in with the Jam next, then some EDM with Felix Jaehn and Mike Williams. It gets a little darker with Sting followed by a beautiful duet from Ed Sheeran and Beyonce ending with some old time Funk from Rose Royce: We Can’t Direct the Wind, but We can Adjust Sails!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

namasteflower

If at First, you don’t Succeed, You’re Normal!!!

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Rod's World

In her excellent, book: Mindset, The New Psychology of Success – How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential: Get it here. Carol Dweck, Stanford University psychologist in decades of research on achievement and success, has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea-the power of our mindset. Dweck explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success-but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. The major difference between the two is as follows, Carol writes:

“The growth-minded athletes, CEOs, musicians, or scientists all loved what they did, whereas many of the fixed-minded ones did not. Many growth-minded people didn’t even plan to go to the top. They got there as a result of doing what they love. It’s ironic: The top is where the fixed-mindset people hunger to be, but it’s where many growth-minded people arrive as a by-product of their enthusiasm for what they do. This point is also crucial. In the fixed-mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail—or if you’re not the best—it’s all been wasted. The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome.”

“Is it ability or mindset? Was it Mozart’s musical ability or the fact that he worked till his hands were deformed? Was it Darwin’s scientific ability or the fact that he collected specimens non-stop from early childhood?”

“People with the growth mindset know that it takes time for potential to flower.” ~ Carol S. Dweck, PhD.

So how has the growth-minded mindset been viewed over the centuries, here are a few of my favourite sayings:

1. Out there on the edge, that is where we discover what we love to do. What it is that we really want to spend our time on.

2. What happens to the hundreds, even thousands of children’s mindset who were going to be astronauts when they grow up and that of the rare few that actually make it: How Far I’ll Go.

3. The yellow ones say it all.

4. As long as you really believe 100 per cent, another way of saying doing something you love: I Believe In Miracles.

5. First attempt in Learning, Forever Acquiring Important Lessons, First Action in Learning equals your flaws.

6. My group is called the Warriors of Love, brought together by my mentor Arion Light to spread Essence work around the globe: Essence.

7. Did you see that chance fly by? No sorry, it isn’t part of my growth mindset.

8. Definitely, from the land of the growth mindset, a challenge may not exist as a concept in Fixed Mindset land: Hey World, Don’t Give Up.

9. “Every child needs someone to be crazy about them.” These are the words of Salome Thomas-EL, award-winning teacher and principal, and nationally recognized educator. They shape his life-long commitment to answering the question, “How do we ensure that every child achieves their greatest potential?” This question lies at the heart of the national dialogue on education policy, the day in and day out work of school personnel, and the hopes of every parent. Central to this challenge is how we succeed with children who are facing the most serious barriers to success: poverty, violence, neglect, and low expectations.

10. It’s easier to master when it is truly doing what you love: #that Power.

11. Everything, your body is not deaf, like we think it is at times.

12. They have growth mindsets, they came out as someone’s bundle of joy just like the rest of us: Not Afraid.

13. From Carol, three amazing important W questions to ask yourself each day.

14. Beep, Stop-Go: I am not my Hair!!

15. Obstacles, challenges, mistakes, frustrations, etc. etc. , all part of life.

What is the danger of the fixed mindset? If you are stuck in this mindset it can get us in (a lot of!) trouble. Let’s take a quick look at the “growth mindset”: “In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”

Some rock rhythms in today’s playlist. It begins with a soundtrack hit from Alessia Cara, then Hot Chocolate have us believe in miracles. We then rock it out with Lucinda Williams and Michaele Frente. Then pop from this century with Will.I.Am, an Eminem anthem finishing with India.Arie: If at First, you don’t Succeed, You’re Normal

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

We want Presence, Not Presents!!!

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Rod's World

Amy Cuddy’s TED talk on Your Body shapes who you are is the second most watched after Sir Ken Robinson’s one on Creativity. Her book on Presence, funnily enough, called Presence: Get it Here. is a powerful look into what separates the great from the ordinary. In it, Amy states:

“The opposite of powerlessness must be power, right? In a sense, that’s true, but it’s not quite that simple. The research I’ve been doing for years now joins a large body of inquiry into a quality I call presence. Presence stems from believing in and trusting yourself—your real, honest feelings, values, and abilities. That’s important, because if you don’t trust yourself, how can others trust you? Whether we are talking in front of two people or five thousand, interviewing for a job, negotiating for a raise, or pitching a business idea to potential investors, speaking up for ourselves or speaking up for someone else, we all face daunting moments that must be met with poise if we want to feel good about ourselves and make progress in our lives. Presence gives us the power to rise to these moments.”

Presence = “the state of being attuned to and able to comfortably express our true thoughts, feelings, values, and potential.” Note: That’s not a *permanent* state of nirvanic bliss. It’s a moment-to-moment experience in which “We are no longer fighting ourselves; we are being ourselves.”

How do you relate to being present, for me, it has been an ongoing dichotomy with that little voice in my head that says Who do you think you are to………………….., fill in the dots. How has the world related to Presence over time, here are a few of my favourite takes at it:

1. In September 2011, Mos Def joined the cast of the environmental children’s hip-hop musical – Pacha’s Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature – as narrator. He stated “the earth was given as a trust to mankind, so we have a responsibility to look after it, take care of it, treat it with respect ’cause it’s a gift from the creator to us… We’re so dependent on the natural world. The natural world’s also dependent on us… If we don’t treat it good, it’s not gonna treat us very good either.”

2. Perfectionism, often related to as the booby prize, when do perfectionists begin their projects: Living in the Moment.

3. During my Mental Health period, it was the presence of my siblings that got me through, not their words.

4. I have reduced my Facebook online presence from seven days a week to three to express the above scenario: Glorious.

5. We all know people who enter the room, and the room stops.

6. Where’s Wally: In my Presence.

7. Remember to add value wherever you are at any time.

8. I am still seeking that special someone: Boo’d Up.

9. In 1969, Harbhajan Singh established the 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) Foundation to further his missionary work. The Yogi’s brand of Sikhism appealed to the hippies who formed the bulk of his early converts. The Sikh practice of not cutting one’s hair or beard was already accepted by the hippie culture, as was Sikh vegetarianism. They liked to experience elevated states of awareness and they also deeply wanted to feel they were contributing to a world of peace and social justice. Yogi Bhajan offered them all these things with vigorous yoga, an embracing holistic vision, and an optimistic spirit of sublime destiny.

10. Another way Eckhart Tolle expresses the Power of Now equalling being present: Redemption Song.

11. Soul presence, very special.

12. Drescher’s first acting break was a small role as the dancer Connie in the blockbuster movie Saturday Night Fever (1977), in which she delivered the line “So, are you as good in bed as you are on the dance floor?” to John Travolta’s character. She is a uterine cancer survivor: Fran Rocking It.

13. Marshall gifted the world Non-Violent Communication. According to his biographer, Marjorie C. Witty, “He has a fierce face– even when he smiles and laughs. The overall impression I received was of intellectual and emotional intensity. He possesses a charismatic presence.

14. Right Here, Right Now: Right Here, Right Now.

15. Some of these conversations are silent.

Amy also asks us to recall a moment when you felt personally powerful. A time when you felt fully in control of your own psychological state—when you had the confidence to act based on your boldest, most sincere self, with the sense that your actions would be effective. Maybe it was at work, at school, at home, or in some other part of your life. Take a few minutes right now to remember and reflect on that experience of your personal power, on how it felt.

It’s that feeling we seek in our life, it’s available moment to moment if we let it blossom.

We begin with some modern tunes this playlist. Starting off is Jason Mraz, then Macklemore, Drake and Ella Mai. Then back in time to Bob Marley, Fran Drescher, yes, the Nanny, finishing off with a Fatboy Slim classic: We want Presence, not Presents.

Namaste until next time my dear friends, there’s now a search button to look up your favourite blog subjects:

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Failure is a Bruise, Not a Tattoo!!

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Rod's World

Eric Greitens has an unusual combination to his four careers: Navy Seal, Rhodes Scholar, boxing champion and recognition as one of the top 100 American humanitarians. His admirable book “Resilience”: Get it Here.is a series of edited letters written between himself and one of his former SEAL comrades.

In it, he writes: “You will fail. Especially in the beginning. You will fail. And that’s not just OK, it’s essential. Without resilience, the first failure is also the last—because it’s final.

Those who are excellent at their work have learned to comfortably coexist with failure. The excellent fail more often than the mediocre.

They begin more. They attempt more. They attack more. Mastery lives quietly atop a mountain of mistakes.

The exceptional artist throws away hundreds of photographs. The exceptional writer wears out the eraser. The exceptional investor puts money into losing ventures. If every risk you take pays off, then you probably aren’t actually taking risks. We don’t want to excuse recklessness and foolishness as “just taking risks,” but we should understand that those who have built true excellence in their lives are always fighting at the edges of their ability.

What distinguishes the exceptional from the unexceptional? A willingness to fail, and an exceptional ability to learn from every failure.”

I cannot admit that I have learnt from every failure and moved forward immediately, but I am getting better at it, how about you? What words of wisdom have society written about our friend resilience, let’s have a look:

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1. Fits in with the saying as soon as you stop learning you begin to die.

2. Asking for help powerfully from a place of strong relationship calls out to me, totally different to a barely heard impotent, Help Me…: Changes.

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3. Nelson Mandela’s solution: Fall Down, Get Up every time.

4. It’s those who face the storm who build the greatest resilience and do it the fastest: Riders ON The Storm.

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5. Steve Maraboli’s parents migrated to the U.S. to escape poverty in Chile. Steve Maraboli has created, contributed to, and impacted Humanitarian, Education, and Empowerment programs in 40 countries. Steve is a recipient of the prestigious United Nations Award for Philanthropy and continues to serve in support of Global Literacy and Education.

6. The unexpected moments in your life: therein lives your resilience: 10 Unexpected Songs.

7. The Japanese way of life, structured to succeed at all levels.

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8. I know of Alain through his School of Life, of which there is a branch in my hometown of Melbourne, Australia. The School of Life titles its courses according to things we all tend to care about: careers, relationships, politics, travels, families. An evening or weekend on one of its courses is likely to be spent reflecting on such matters as your moral responsibilities to an ex-partner or how to resolve a career crisis: Art for Art’s Sake.

9. Resilience teaches you to trust in your innate wisdom.

10. As we age, we all get cracks: Express Yourself.

11. Mine come from Motorbike accidents, how about you?

12. I love nature when it is at it wildest, it reminds me that the calm is not when nature/life is at its most impressive: She’s like the Wind.

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13. And some Jungian theory to up the ante.

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14. They say it takes a special person to be a millionaire, and even a more special one to become one again after they lose everything the first time: Bounce Back.

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15. Unbreakable, they are the resilient ones, it’s in all of us.

Life’s reality is that we cannot bounce back. We cannot bounce back because we cannot go back in time to the people we used to be. The parent who loses a child never bounces back. The nineteen-year-old marine who sails for war is gone forever, even if he returns. “What’s done cannot be undone,” and some of what life does to us is harsh…

You know that there is no bouncing back. There is only moving through. Fortunately, to be resilient we don’t need to go back in time.

What happens to us becomes part of us. Resilient people do not bounce back from hard experiences; they find healthy ways to integrate them into their lives.

In time, people find that great calamity met with great spirit can create great strength.”

After walking us through a mini-Physics lesson, Eric tells us that there’s no bouncing back. There’s only moving through.

We can never return to who we were before a challenging experience. What we—as resilient people—must do is integrate the experience into our lives and use the challenges as fuel for our own growth.

As Eric advises, “great calamity met with great spirit can create great strength.”

Another return to the last century for most of today’s playlist: We begin with Bowie, a new version of a Doors Classic by Snoop Dogg, then a Various Artists compilation of unexpected hits followed by Ten CC, Madonna and Dirting Dancing. We return back to finish in our time with Big Sean: Failure is a Bruise, Not a Tattoo.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

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It’s preceded by Chaos!!

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Rod's World

Marc and Angel time. In chapter 6, Getting Unstuck . of their inspirational book, Getting Back to Happy: The Entry Portal. they write – “The truth is, it’s never too late or too early to be who you are capable of being. There’s no time limit for when you can start living the life you’ve always dreamed of. There is no mythical door that shuts after you turn a certain age, blocking you off from experiencing the things you want to do.

Human beings are experts at trying to avoid change, but change avoidance is one of the biggest factors that leads to unhappiness. When we find ourselves in situations that challenge our self-perception, we often react by feeling trapped or on guard. We often think that the worst thing that can happen is that the status quo will be interrupted. But who wants to spend their life thinking and feeling this way. Happily, life has a way of throwing up red flags when it’s time for us to make a change – we just . have to be watchful for them. With that in mind, take a look at this list and ask yourself: are any of these the reasons I’m unhappy with my life as it is now?

Fear is holding you back,
You catch yourself feeding the negative.
Your mind is everywhere except right here, right now.
You feel pressured to be someone other than yourself.
You feel like you’re competing against everybody else.
A relationship is making you miserable.
You feel bored.
You’ve been resisting change.
Other people are writing your story for you.

If any of these resonate with you, you certainly aren’t alone. Many people are afraid to step forward and change their situation simply because they don’t know how or because they’re afraid to fail. Remember it’s always better to take an imperfect step forward that to take no step at all.”

It seems that there are so many more change agents on the planet these days via social media, etc. but let’s have a look at what history has said about it:

1. Known for his statement on the difference between the East and the West: Asia is one. The Himalayas divide, only to accentuate, two mighty civilisations, the Chinese with its communism of Confucius, and the Indian with its individualism of the Vedas. But not even the snowy barriers can interrupt for one moment that broad expanse of love for the Ultimate and Universal, which is the common thought-inheritance of every Asiatic race, enabling them to produce all the great religions of the world, and distinguishing them from those maritime peoples of the Mediterranean and the Baltic, who love to dwell on the Particular, and to search out the means, not the end, of life.

2. The man behind the origin of the species conversation, this is his major reason for why they survive: We are all Related.

3. And what would our morning walks in Spring be like without the butterflies?

4. No one ever said there would be no pain: Smack That.

5. I grew up in an age where there was no internet, hard to believe.

6. Each wave of your life is a unique experience, take that in: Turn The Tide.

7. Advice from 25 centuries ago that is still relevant today.

8. The Monk who sold his Ferrari, Robin introduces a major reason why we need a change in our lives, It leads to gorgeousness: Gorgeous.

9. From my top ten people on the internet, Alan Watts calls on us to dive into change and life.

10. No equals Next Opportunity: Stand Up For Something.

11. And suddenly it all clears and its time.

12. Nothing in nature stays the same, so why do we as human beings think that we are meant too: San Francisco.

13. What if where you went in life was simply the detour you needed to take to make the change you needed in your life at that particular moment in time?

14. A sobering thought, not something most people would look forward to, but a reality for a lot of humanity: California Dreaming.

15. And sometimes the change may be that our field is returned to fallow – ploughed and left unseeded for a season or more.

So if you are hanging around in the list above, what’s the alternative? It’s in recognising that changing your situation is about taking action in the present. It’s about asking yourself: what are the things that I can do to improve my situation now? It’s coming to terms with the ideas and thoughts in your head that are holding you back. It’s about deciding that you are going to stop waiting, stop making excuses, and start making changes, however small they may be. Allow the chaos to begin and your life will transform.

Today’s playlist is eclectic in its nature. We begin with my favourite Nessi Gomes track followed by some rap for my nephew from Akon. Two pop divas in Sylver and Taylor Swift follow, then a possibility anthem from Andra Day with the list being closed out with two 60’s classics from Scott Mckenzie and The Mama and The Papas. Here is the link for your enjoyment: It’s Preceded By Chaos!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Then we have the DNA!!

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Rod's World

“If you spend most of your life trying to be good at everything, you eliminate your chances of being great at anything. Unless your goal is to be mediocre at a lot of things, starting with what you are naturally good at is a matter of efficiency. Focusing on strengths is in many ways a basic time-allocation issue. Every hour you invest in an area where you have natural talent has a multiplying effect, whereas each hour you spend trying to remedy a weakness is like working against a gravitational force. Yet many people spend years or even decades working on weaknesses in hopes that doing so will make them well-rounded. Do everything you can to avoid falling into this trap. While well-roundedness may be helpful for acquiring the basic tools in any trade—such as reading, writing, and arithmetic—it loses value as you get closer to finding a career. At that point, what’s more, important and relevant is what sets you apart. If you want to be great at something in your lifetime, double down on your talents at every turn.”

Tom Rath wrote this in the highly potent Are you Fully Charged: Here is the link to It. I am great with words, it took me about 59 years to realise this and launch my blog, I am an Interculturalist. I now have written over 300 and have a worldwide audience. What are you avoiding being great at? Let’s see what the world says about it:

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1. Notice being mediocre doesn’t get a mention.

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2. I have recently been in contact with the Sceptics association, I find these people repugnant as if their thought patterns controlled the airwaves creativity would stop as nothing new comes out of what already exists: Your Spirit.

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3. I was part of a conversation about Perfectionism begets procrastination on the weekend. This quote points to the same thing.

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4. How many mistakes were made before the first effective light globe came along? P.S. it wasn’t Edison’s, google it if you like fact checking: Foolish.

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5. In 2009, Rogan launched his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience which has become one of the most popular podcasts available; in October 2015, it was downloaded 16 million times. Rogan also is an advocate for the legalization of cannabis, an avid hunter and part of the “Eat What You Kill” movement.

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6. Greatness also means that you will have to make decisions that will mean a lot of goodbyes having to occur to clear the space for the new hello’s that you require to move towards it: Hello Goodbye.

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7. John Hume is regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland and one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Martin Luther King Award, the only recipient of the three major peace awards. In 2010 he was named “Ireland’s Greatest” in a public poll by Irish national broadcaster RTÉ to find the greatest person in Ireland’s history.

8. It is never too late to be the greatest, in fact perhaps the later the better: We are the Champions.

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9. Zig Ziglar, one of the early doyens of the self-development movement has some simple advice for us.

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10. From being homeless on the streets of Detroit to having Lebron James credit him as the reason behind his championship-winning season. Eric Thomas is proof of doing what it takes to find your greatness: Born To Be Alive.

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11. On the way to greatness, the bills can be exorbitant.

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12. Baby, we were born to Run: Bruce.

13. Magic Johnson’s career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and Second Team nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBA’s all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Here is what greatness meant for him.

14. From being positive Bob Marley became a musical and philosophical legend: Natural Mystic.

15. Choose!!!

We’ll finish with some golden wisdom from Gary Vee:

Most people don’t jab—bring value—enough before pulling back for the right hook—going in for the sale. They’re less concerned with providing value than with making the sale, and it backfires every time. … You want to be tactical, but you have to practice the religion of providing value first. How many people put out stories, give free stuff, or engage with people? Probably quite a lot. Now, how many do that without any expectations in return? Very, very few. Be one of those few. When you have no expectations people can sense it, and funny enough, the absence of pressure or obligation actually makes them want to reciprocate.

Have a wonderful journey on your way to greatness, enjoy the bumps and curves.

The playlist today begins with a powerful number from Tasha Cobbs Leonard, followed by another R and B diva, Ashanti. We then return to the last century for The Beatles, Queen, Patrick Hernandez, Bruce Springsteen finishing off with Bob Marley: Then We Have The DNA.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

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