Category Archives: Change

“The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.”

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“The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.”

– Walter Gilbey, British politician and entrepreneur

A common coaching session I have with individuals in career transition involves the attraction and retention of talent. Once people get beyond specific technical abilities, skill-sets and experience, we find ourselves shifting from objective decision-making to an emotional decision-making process.

“Will this person have the potential to contribute great value to the organization?” the interviewer thinks.

“Will I be happy, challenged, and rewarded fairly?” the candidate thinks.

The bottom line with both of these forms of thinking is that we are attracted to the future possibility of choosing each other.

Exercise:

If you are an employer, build a company that creates a better future for each employee, and you will get an even better company.

If you are a potential employee, show organizations the future they will get by choosing you to join them.

“The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”

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“The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”

– Edward Gibbon

Although we all know that it is impossible to control the wind and the waves of life, I do like the concept that as we travel life’s journey, we can still be capable navigators.

Exercise:

What adjustments can you make to your life’s rudders and sails to pursue your personal and professional goals, in spite of rough seas and strong headwinds?

#84: “Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.”

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– Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States

I like bargains and two-for-one sales. This quote is a three-for-one! In Ben Franklin’s time, the word “vices” perhaps meant “behaviors that do not better oneself or another.” Today, I suggest we consider the word “habits” instead.

The idea of being a better person points to our ability to learn, grow, and improve as individuals.

Exercise:

What habits/vices will you declare war upon? Which relationships in your life are ones where you will make a stand for peace? In what ways do you intend to be a better person next year, versus today?

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#59: “Progress is impossible without change…”

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“…and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

– George Bernard Shaw

I heard once that the reason many of us resist change is because we are afraid of losing something. It may be the fear of losing the familiar (better the devil you know), fear of losing control, or simply the fear of losing a relationship we have come to know.

But what if we look at the flip side: the opportunities, the things we have to gain? Perhaps if we not only acknowledge that change is constant, but fully embrace it, even intentionally cause it, we can live fuller and more satisfying lives.

Exercise:

Where are you resisting change and maintaining a closed mind?

How can you develop a more open perspective to welcoming change in your world?

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#49: “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

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 – Wayne Dyer, self-help author and motivational speaker

We have all heard the phrase “perception is reality.” But what if we are only our perception and there is no fundamental reality?

One way to test this idea is to see if any reality can exist if no-one perceives it. If a tree falls in the woods … you know the rest.

I’m not really interested in discussing semantics but in discussing the practical implementation of ideas. Do they work and are they applicable in our world?

Look at great thinkers like Einstein and Edison for similar wisdom to Wayne Dyer’s: what we see as problems can be opportunities. Failure can be just another way not to do something.

Exercise:

Look at two or three difficulties you’re currently facing in a more optimistic, creative and novel way. How can you change them simply by changing the way you look at them?

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#45: “Not everything that is faced can be changed…”

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“…but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

– James Arthur Baldwin, author and activist

Like most people, I do a lot of thinking about the world: about what I like and about what I don’t like. This includes thinking about myself. Thinking is a starting point for changing something in our world and in ourselves.

As this statement suggests, not everything can be changed. Rather than seeing ourselves as weak or powerless to change things, we must move beyond thinking to acting on our commitments. We need to act, alone or together, to change the things that we can.

Exercise:

Where in your world can you move beyond thinking about change and face it head-on to realize the change you desire?

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#42: “There is nothing noble in being superior to some other person…”

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“…The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.”

– Hindu Proverb

We live in a competitive world. Just look at sports, politics, even war. We seem hell-bent on defeating others, even to the point of death.

Rarely is there any nobility in this. Is it noble to stand over your vanquished foe and think I’m better than you, I’m a winner, and you’re a loser?

This proverb suggests that there is honor in rising above our primary adversary, ourselves – to be smarter, stronger, more courageous, and more loving. The effort to rise above our previous, more limited, self is noble and no-one is made smaller through the process.

Exercise:

In what areas of your life are you committed to becoming superior to your previous self?

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make the world a better place

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“If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself, and then make a change.”

– Michael Jackson, the King of Pop

image from runrun.es

image from runrun.es

I have a pet peeve: litter. When people discard trash, they are desecrating our world. But the world is a big place, and I am only one person. What difference can I really make?

Just like the man who throws one of many starfish back into the ocean, the question I like to ponder is: what if everyone did their part? What a difference it would make.

Exercise:

What changes, big or small, can you make within yourself to make your world (and perhaps the whole world) a better place?