25 words of wisdom that will make your life better.

Some times you take life to seriously. Other times you do not take it serious enough. Below is a list of 25 words of wisdom that will help you balance out life.

1. If you're too open minded, your brains will fall out.

2. Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you a mechanic.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

25. Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused.



My favorite is #25. Being able to laugh at yourself will help you get over the past, that you can never change, and enjoy the future that is always changing.


Which word of wisdom is your favorite and why?

Four Principles of Effective Communication

Here it comes again. It slipped your mind and now it is time for the “Talk!” And, just like the last time you had the “Talk” this one will end the same way. You feeling further from what you actually

wanted to say and the wounds from the last conversation spit open again.

I bet you wish that you could just speak your mind and not worry about it being taken the wrong way. Is that right? Just for once couldn’t they just see what you see? You are not alone and you are among good company. Communication has always been a struggle for people. Communication has cost the lives and millions and in a different situation saved nations. 

By applying correct principles in communication you have the best opportunity of positive results and will feel more confortable saying what you really feel with out the fear of it being taken the wrong way. Following are four principles* that you can apply to all of your conversation and you will experience better out comes from your “talks.”

1) Rapport – The quality of the relationship

When applying the principle of rapport in your conversations you need to establish mutual trust and responsiveness. You can gain rapport by striving to understand and respect how others see the world around them. Image that you are speaking their language. You know if you have good rapport because others will feel acknowledged and will be more responsive. This is something that you can do instantly and as you build rapport, with time, it will turn in to trust.

2) End Results – Know what you want

How many conversations have you had where there is no clear outcome? It happens all to often. When you know what you want out of the conversation and can voice it in the simplest way possible then you will have the highest probability of getting those results. You can discover want you want to achieve by understanding three basic elements:

a) Know your present situation – where you are now.

b) Know your desired situation – where you want to be

c) Plan your strategy – how to get from one to the other, using the resources you have or creating new ones.

3) Feedback – how will you know you are getting what you want?

When you know what you want from the conversation then you will need to pay attention to the responses you are getting, both verbal and non-verbal. That will help you know what to do next. Ask your self: What are you paying attention to? Is your feedback both precise and accurate? You will know the answer by focusing on what you are looking at, listening to and feeling. The saying, trust your gut, is true in conversations. In this world, our senses are all we have to make sense of our surroundings. You will know if you are on track or not by paying attention to the feed back you get through your acute awareness and senses. 

4) Flexibility – If what you are doing is not working, then do something else

When you know what you want and what you are getting and they are not aligning, then do not continue doing the same things. Try something new. The more choices you have, of emotional state, communication style and perspective, the better your results. If you do not feel like you have very many resources to pull from, then take time to review this blog and learn more about the skills that you can use to be more flexible in conversations. 

Speak up and watch as the world gives you their ears! Let me know how you are applying these principles to your conversations and the results that you experience.

*These four principles expounded upon in greater detail in the NLP Work book by Joseph O’Connor.

Use this simple exercise to make every day the best day…

Two weeks ago I was visiting family in northern Utah. We were going to a historical location. When we arrived I noticed a familiar face pulling things out of trunk of his car right next to where we parked. It was my old friend from College! 

I could not believe that I would run into him at that location. It was a joyful encounter. We connected again and had laughs and shared stories from over the years and then we went our way. I was happy the rest of the day because of that encounter.

Have you ever had a bad day and then, out of the blue, an old friend pops up? It changes every thing. Even though it is unexpected, you go through a rush of emotions and excitement. Those encounters often make the rest of your day the best day and you go home and tell your family and friends about your old friend.

How do you use this to your advantage? It is not likely that you will run into an old friend every day. Luckily you do not have to depend on old friends going out of their way to brighten up your day, you can do that all on your own. When you were thinking

about the last time you ran into an old friend it probably made you smile. The brain has an amazing capacity to experience powerful emotions just from the imagination.

Scientists of discovered that the brain has what is called, “mirror neurons.” These mirror neurons allows us to experience pain with out the injury, success with out the personal accomplishment, and empathy just by watching others experiencing those emotions. Using this technique I will show you how to change your day into the best one and in the process brighten the day for every one around you.

Just by imagining a past experience you can feel the emotions attached to the experience. You can also change how your day to day interactions effect you, for better or worse, by changing how you think about them.

Here is the secret: treat every one like a long lost friend. In your mind you can look at every one and imagine that they are your friend that you have not seen for ages and guess what?! They will respond with the same excitement that you show. Now there is a line. You do not tell a stranger or coworker, “It has been forever since I last saw you.” Obviously that would be weird. But every one around you will mirror the emotions that you feel as experience them your self.

Give it a shot. Treat the next person you run into like your long lost friend and watch the magic happen. Your day will be better and every one around you will have a better day!

Let me know about your experiences.

Surround your self with people that tell you...

"I believe in you!" 

Believe: (as defined by Merriam Webster - Dictionary)

~  to accept or regard (something) as true.

~ to accept the truth of what is said by (someone).

~ to accept something as true, genuine, or real. 

~ to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something (or someone).

~ to consider to be true or honest.

~ to be astounded at.

Funny Short Story About Looking Old...

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. – E. E. Cummings

Have you ever been guilty of looking at someone your own age and thinking, "Surely I can't look that old?" You'll love this one. 

My name is Alice Smith and I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist. I noticed his DDS diploma, which showed his full name. 

Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name who had been in my high school class some 40-odd years ago. Could this be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then? 

Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate. 

After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School. 

"Yes. Yes, I did. I'm a Mustang," he beamed with pride. 

"When did you graduate?" I asked. 

He answered, "In 1959. Why do you ask?" 

"You were in my class!" I exclaimed. 

He looked at me closely. Then, that ugly, old, bald wrinkled, fat, gray, decrepit son-of-a-gun asked, "What did you teach?"


*Short story originally posted here.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Laughter, smiles, and happiness are contagious. Take a minute to view this video compilation of some of the best baby laughs and have a better day because of it! Smile :)

Command Attention Every Time by Using One Simple Word

An excited husband grabs his wife and says, “Honey guess what I just read in the news? Science has finally proven that women talk twice as much as men, see I am not crazy!” She sets there and thinks about how to respond, and then she says, “Well that is because when talking to a man women have to repeat every thing they say.” To that her husband says, “What?”  

 

Grabbing and keeping attention can be difficult, especially if you are talking to people with short attention spans. Repetition seems to be the fall back in these situations. But what if you could use a simple word that ensures that you have the other persons complete attention the first time you speak? That would practically guarantee that you do not have to repeat your self over and over again.

The simple word is their name. 

To you, your favorite word is your name. How many times in a noisy crowd do you hear faintly hear your name and look around? Out of the millions of sounds, you pick up your name and your attention is taken away from all the other sounds and focused on the one that resembled your name. This effect is also known as the Cock-tale-party effect.

Your brain in programmed to recognize the one word that has the biggest impact on your life. Your name has the power “to intrude and capture attention.” You just have to know how to use it. Here is an example of talking with a coworker and using his name to capture his attention to your instructions for watering your Aloe Vera plant while you are gone on vacation.

“Bill, thank you for being willing to water my Aloe Vera plant while I am gone for the week. I have put a cup on my desk that has a measurement line for how much water you will need. All you have to do, Bill, is fill the cup up to the line with water and then evenly dump it around the plant. Bill, the pant needs to be watered every day and what questions, Bill, do you have about watering my Aloe Vera plant?”

Each time you say “Bill” it draws his attention and he focuses on what you are saying. The follow up question is a bonus. It forces Bill to focus his thought process one more time on what you said.

Go use this secret word and save your breath from needless repetition!

Who are you really talking to?

“All conversations are with myself, and sometimes they involve other people.” –  Susan Scott

How often do you have conversations with yourself? Probably all of the time. Susan Scott author of Fierce Conversations suggests that every verbal conversions are with self.

What does that mean? Simply, you have unique life experiences, unique understandings, and a one sided view on most topics. No two people think the same way about everything, not even identical twins.

Because you are an individual you will always understand what others are saying according to your experiences, your understandings, and your personal view on the world. That is why all conversations are with yourself.

How do you involve other people in your conversations? Two ways:

1) Help them understand your experiences and viewpoints that surround the conversation at hand as clearly as possible.

2) Understand their experiences and viewpoints surrounding the conversation at hand as clearly as possible.

The more you involve others in your conversations the more enriching your conversations will be. 

How do you involve others in your conversations?

What is in your future?

The best way to predict the future is to create it. – Peter F. Drucker

Remember the magic 8 ball? Ask it any question and it would give you an answer. The real magic is that you have always held the future in your hands. 

You just have to say it and live it! 

What is in your future?