Happy Soul Food Friday!

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Musings from DreamForce 2012: The Largest Technology Conference on the Planet

Recently, I was afforded the opportunity to attend DreamForce 2012 the largest technology conference on the planet, which was held in San Francisco with over 95,000 registered guests and 950 breakout sessions. DreamForce completely blanketed downtown San Francisco including the Moscone Center and all the adjacent hotels and featured notable keynotes by the likes of General Colin Powell, Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin companies, Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, Mark Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, Dr. Dean Ornish and Tony Robbins to mention a few.

It is purported that70% of businesses today are using social which in turn provides a $1.3B boost to the economy.

Social has become one of the two top ways to connect with customers, all made possible by the convergence of “cloud, social and mobile spheres”. Trust and transparency foster authentic connectedness and rightly applied the social revolution can become a TRUST Revolution as “what happens in Vegas ends up on Facebook.”

There are 6 ways to move the needle on your business imperatives using Social; Sell, Service, Market, Collaborate, Work, & Innovate- but they ALL begin with Listening. Sentiment Analysis, Crowd Sourcing, Collaborative Design & Intention Analysis all are made easier through the advent and application of social media. Brand is the sum of all these conversations. Today we call it Social Business but soon it will simply be referred to just business as usual…

DreamForce featured more than 75 sessions to choose from on the Marketing/Social Media track alone. Here I was forced to prioritize, schedule and then move maniacally like a presidential candidate from venue to venue in the final days of an election cycle- but it was totally worth it.

One of the most enlightening sessions was a session entitled Metrics that Matter in Social Business Innovation by John Hagel of Deloitte & JP Rangaswami Chief Scientist of SalesForce.

Here these two thought leaders helped me reframe Social not as an emerging fad but as the centerpiece of community in the digital age.  We are and have always been creatures of community. Eons ago, community occurred around the camp fire. Fast forward thousands of years and community was in the town square. Fast forward yet again, and community is engaging via social media. This is why if Facebook was a country, it would be the third most populated country on earth!

Social technology has brought a new age of interaction to the business world, turning nameless faceless data made up of social security, phone numbers and FICO scores into real people that demand to be treated as such.

The 4 ways to measure the true impact of social media include:

• Financial:Has revenue or profit increased or costs decreased?
• Digital: Has the company enhanced its owned and earned digital assets?
• Brand: Have consumer attitudes about the brand improved?
• Risk management: Is the organization better prepared to note and respond to attacks or problems that affect reputation?

The collaboration of shared knowledge, shared experiences, and shared content are the core of social business value. However, interactions in social media aren’t here today and gone tomorrow. They can remain in recorded history in perpetuity. Clearly, the expressed sentiment of customers and employees is critical to the successful design and implementation for any business. Social will provide new vistas of value in the future as well as open the organization to new risks.

Here are some interesting social media stats-

• More than 600 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each month with average user spending 20 minutes per visit & 23% of Facebook users checking their account five times or more every day
• 1 million accounts are added daily on Twitter & average time on site is 13 minutes
• Twitter handles more search queries per month than Bing & Yahoo combined – 32 billion
• Pinterest is the fastest growing social media platform to achieve 10 million unique visitors & average time on site is over 14 minutes
• LinkedIn gains two new members every second & average time on site is 8 minutes/session
• YouTube handles 20% of the entire internet’s traffic and has over 4 billion views per day

Side Note: “Four more years.” A short enough message, but one that has set Twitter’s record for the most new tweets-per-second record, reaching 327,000 a second at its peak. The message was sent from U.S. President Obama’s Twitter account at 4.16am GMT, once Obama’s re-election to the White House for another four years became certain.

Technology is a great servant but a horrible master. With smart phone adoption the fastest of any technology in human history, and today with more smart phones on the planet than toilets and toothbrushes, access to information (resources) is unprecedented. It is our resourcefulness in using these technologies to inform, educate and shape our workplaces, educational systems and customer experiences that becomes critical. To quote Rangaswami, “Health services will not get better if we design better thermometers.  Measures don’t work to make things better in Healthcare and Education. It’s how we do it that changes the quality of the outcomes.”

The more things change the more they stay the same…Human constants such as valuing trust as the basis of all real relationships, the importance of connectedness and community and the need to be heard & valued remain constants.

These constants however meet the dynamic and disruptive forces of globalization & emerging digital technologies at unprecedented rates of change that in turn are upending our business models, dis-intermediating conventional systems and processes, and creating new opportunities for innovation and value creation.

Brand no longer resides in the purview of one brand manager or brand champion, and now is shaped by thousands of customer encounters and experiences that good or bad will be shared across the digital community and ecosystem in a heartbeat. The best we can do is create the conditions for an authentic brand experience, then listen well and act quickly as the era of the connected, self-directed consumer and empowered citizen continue to build steam and shape our collective future, redefine the nature and contract of work, and add another step on the ladder of the history of that social, relational, communal being we call human.

Who Am I

Interesting what each of these young people turned into. See if you can guess the answers…

Click here!

15 characteristics of an excellent entrepreneur

Adapted from a recent blog written by Tim Bell

Kelly O’Neil, in his “The Secrets of Success” blog, outlined 15 characteristics of an excellent entrepreneur. This is a result of his association with extraordinary and successful entrepreneurs. In his blog, I learned that excellence is not inborn–it is something you have to work at. A high performing entrepreneur values his word and looks for ways to improve himself and his business. Unlike others who dwell on problems, he finds solutions to them. He learns from his mistakes, considers suggestions from others, and excels in his undertakings. He is willing to take risks and to do what needs to be done. These traits eliminate mediocrity. More specifically, O’Neil identifies these 15 traits as markers of true excellence. Great entrepreneurs…

-Aren’t just working for the money. They care about their company beyond the profits and take great pride in its performance, impact on society, and ability to help others through its offerings.
-Are truthful. They do what they say they are going to do, when they say they are going to do it.
-Embrace opportunities. They look for — and find — opportunities to improve themselves, their work, and their business.
-Are focused on solutions. They don’t bring problems to the table without recommending a solution.
-Focus on CAN. High performers focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t accomplish.
-Don’t blame. When they make a mistake they own it, fix it, and learn from it.
-Are busy, productive, and proactive. High performers are out there getting the job done.
-Are life-long learners. High performers constantly work at educating and improving themselves.
-Consistently do what they need to do. No matter how they feel or what curves life has thrown their way, they get it done.
-Have a desire to be exceptional. They will typically do things others won’t do.
-Accept feedback. High performers aren’t just open to feedback, they are more likely to act upon it.
-Set higher standards for themselves. The result? Greater commitment, more momentum, a better work ethic and (of course) better results.
-Are more interested in effective than easy. High performers look for the course of action that will produce the best results over the long term.
-Finish what they start. Even when it’s not fun.
-Are resourceful. They figure it out and get it done….

In summary, excellence is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution, and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities.

A Commercial On a Building in Berlin

Amazing

Click here!

More to Learn from Dogs and Cats

Click here

Thanks this week to DreamForce, and to the imitable Larry H for innumerable sharing and excellent pairings!

Pay it Forward…

Love,
Neville

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” – Nelson Mandela

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Have You Checked Out BizTown?
This week, after a prideful morning exercising my civic duty and being grateful to be able to vote on election day, I had the further good fortune to join my daughter’s 5^th grade class at Junior Achievement’s BizTown in San Diego.

http://www.jasandiego.org/2012/educators/elem_biztown.php

If you have never hear of it or been there, it is quite the experience as these 10 and 11 year olds invest many weeks at their respective schools prepping for “a day in the life of work”, in a real setting with real jobs getting real checks that get deposited at real credit unions (and of course banks).

5 years ago I was at BizTown as a parent volunteer with my son Arman, as Mission Fed launched our first ever Thank A Teacher Campaign with Cox and JA.

Here we are 5 years later on the 5^th Anniversary of the hugely popular Thank a Teacher campaign, that has generated more than 25,000 thank you notes to thousands of teachers at hundreds of schools all over San Diego county, and now we have a gorgeous Mission Fed branch in BizTown, where half the 12,000 kids that attend BizTown every year do their banking and cash their paychecks all year long.

Here are some pictures memorializing and personalizing the occasion with our daughter Aysha:

• Working as a Nutritionist at Kaiser
• Hanging with her pals Marina and Trinity on lunch break

• With her 5^th grade teacher Sue Yant in front of the Mission Fed Thank a Teacher table
• Making her charitable contribution at the San Diego Foundation to help Animals 
• With Joanne Pastula the President/CEO of Junior Achievement, San Diego

(Thanks Mission Fed, BizTown and Ada Harris Elementary)

For more information, here is a recent media story on the feel-good Thank a Teacher Campaign:

Thank a Teacher:

http://lajolla.patch.com/articles/local-students-thank-their-teachers
Be sure to spread the word as we share the love with our teachers!

(Thanks JA, Cox and Mission Fed and EVERY Teacher out there!)

Coping with Natural Disasters and Stress by Will Marre:

Last week one of Will’s clients asked him to develop a quick guide to help their employees deal with stress caused by hurricane Sandy. I thought you might be interested in what he sent out as I was.

Natural disasters are usually sudden, shocking, and stressful.  You are normal if your feelings range from disbelief and anger to numbness so don’t get down on yourself for being human.

Symptoms of stress overload are:
Recurring feelings of fear, worry, and anxiety

Difficulty making decisions
Feeling powerless and depression
Achiness and stomach pain

If you are feeling this way, please consider some dos and don’ts.

First don’t:
Isolate yourself from others
Overeat, drink alcohol, or take drugs
Watch too much T.V. news about the disaster which may deepen your sense of helplessness and upset
(disturbing visual images are the most re-traumatizing)

Do:
Create a daily routine that includes 7-8 hours of sleep, light exercise, stretching, and healthy food.

Invest time with your friends, family, and co-workers.
Encourage people to share their stories and feelings but don’t dwell on them or repeat them over and over.
(Repeatedly retelling of terrible events causes your brain to create deeper, more disturbing memories.)

Encourage conversations about:
– What you’re grateful for in spite of the disaster
– Acts of service, help, and heroism
– Any positive things you’ve learned or will do differently

Watch (if you have power or internet access) humorous shows or movies that actually make you laugh.
Laughing creates feelings of optimism.

No matter how busy you are snatch 30 minute breaks to do something you enjoy—read an inspiring book, play a game, call friends who are out of the disaster oven and talk to them about the good things in yours and their lives.

Help others.  One of the most stress resilient activities you can do is help others using your strengths and gifts.
We are each wired to offer help in one of five ways:

Teach: Teach the people you can touch these stress tips, how to make sure their water is clean, how to get their power back on, or any other helpful information.

Take Charge: Organize people so they can use their strengths, knowhow and resources to do the most good.

Create: Create methods, processes, and tools to help people get their lives back to normal.

Help: Directly lend a hand in helping others clean up their property, get an insurance adjuster, or any other direct way.

Fun: Spread joy.  Encourage gathering, organize parties, be the activities director to get people re-engaged with their fun side.

So are you primarily a teacher, leader, creator, helper, or party planner?  If you take a minute, you’ll see your gift among these five.  It’s what you do well that brings you a great sense of satisfaction.  Give your gift.

Enrich your private life.  Take time to meditate on what you’re most grateful for now.  Tell others what you’re grateful for.  Stay fully present with others, hug, hold hands, enjoy moments of sacred silence where feelings of love are shared without words.

Every disaster is an opportunity to grow, serve, and love.  The quickest way to heal is to both give of yourself and take care of yourself.

We don’t need to wait for a natural disaster to engage on some of these life enriching activates. Any time your life feels overwhelming is a good time to recharge your personal vitality.

(Thanks Will)

 Finally, the Gift of Dog:

These quotes will touch your heart!

Click here

(Thanks Larry)

Stay Soul-Filled Everyone!

Love,
Neville

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. 

One is roots.  The other is wings.

~Hodding Carter, Jr.

Happy Soul Food Friday!

Today for your Soulful Pleasure:

Did You Know that this week is the actual  500^th Anniversary of the Sistine Chapel?

With talk of restricting access so the art will be preserved for the next 500 years, here is a panoramic, up close way to view this masterpiece in a way never possible even if you are there.

This virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel is incredible and purportedly done by Villanova at the request of the Vatican.
Virtually view every intricate aspect of this MICHELANGELO’S MASTERPIECE.

JUST CLICK AND DRAG YOUR ARROW IN THE DIRECTION YOU WISH TO EXPLORE
In the lower left, click on the plus (+) to move closer, on the minus (-) to move away.

The choir sets the tone so make sure your speakers are on.

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

I shared this at the very beginning of Soul Food Fridays but it definitely deserves a revisit…

So, what’s your masterpiece?

 

The Public Purpose of Public Education

While from an un-expected source this is a terrific and thought-provoking article that is worth reading!

http://www.ucc.org/justice/public-education/pdfs/Message-13-web-version.pdf

Thanks Wayne O.

 

What’s going on in the garden?

This tremendous state of the art photography from a TED talk on the Beauty of Pollination will blow your mind!

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xHkq1edcbk4?rel=0

Thanks Larry H.

 

There is Art and then there is ART!

Enjoy the depth and complexity of a one-of-a-kind genius in Victor Molev

Click here

Thanks again Larry H.

ESCAPE FIRE Opening Today in San Diego:

I mentioned this powerful documentary on how to save our broken healthcare system in a previous blog. This movie specifically addresses a variety of critical issues, including integrative practices.

Click here

Here is a link to the theatre:

http://www.fandango.com/townsquarestadium_aaawj/theaterpage

Thanks Nancy J.

Stay Soul-filled and BE SURE TO VOTE next week!
Love,
Neville

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week…

Humor:

Recently we heard about love from the 4 year olds, now let’s explore real SAT answers from some 16-year olds…

The  following questions were part of last year’s SAT  examination

These  are real answers (from 16 year olds).

Q. Name the four seasons

A.  Salt, pepper, mustard, and  vinegar

Q.  Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink

A.  Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes  large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists

Q. How  is dew formed

A. The  sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire

Q. What  causes the tides in the oceans

A. The  tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the  moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins  the fight…

Q. What  guarantees may a mortgage company insist  on

A. If  you are buying a house they will insist that you are well endowed

Q. In a democratic society, how important are  elections

A.  Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election

Q. What  are steroids

A.  Things for keeping carpets still on the  stairs

Q.  What happens to your body as you  age

A.  When you get old, so do your bowels and you get  intercontinental

Q. What  happens to a boy when he reaches  puberty

A. He  says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery

Q. Name  a major disease associated with  cigarettes

A.  Premature death

Q. What  is artificial  insemination

A.  When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the  cow

Q. How  can you delay milk turning  sour

A.  Keep it in the  cow

Q. How  are the main 20 parts of the body categorized (e.g. The  abdomen)

A. The  body is consisted into 3 parts – the brainium, the borax and the  abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax  contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains  the five bowels: A, E,  I,O,U…

Q. What  is the fibula?

A. A  small lie

Q. What  does ‘varicose’  mean?

A.  Nearby

Q. What  is the most common form of birth control

A.  Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium

Q. Give the meaning of the term ‘Caesarean  section’

A. The  caesarean section is a district in  Rome

Q. What is a seizure?

A. A  Roman  Emperor.

Q. What  is a terminal  illness

A.  When you are sick at the airport.

Q. Give  an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic  feature?

A.  Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas

Q. Use  the word ‘judicious’ in a sentence to show you understand its  meaning

A.  Hands that judicious can be soft as your face.

Q. What  does the word ‘benign’  mean?

A.  Benign is what you will be after you be eight

Q. What  is a turbine?

A.  Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his  head

—

On Affirming Differences:

“The underlying philosophy is to ask not, ‘How smart is this child?’ but instead to ask ‘How is this child smart?’ –-Howard Gardner

I couldn’t agree more! This video will stir your soul…

http://mashable.com/2012/10/19/katy-perry-firework-autism-jodi-dipiazza/

—

Keep Your Kids Safe Online

Take some time to check out this valuable information from the San Diego Police Foundation on how to keep your kids safe.

http://www.smartcyberchoices.org/

—

We enjoyed the music and safety tips, now SHOW US YOUR PRODUCTIVITY CHOPS:

6 Tips on Productivity from Robin Sharma
What makes an elite performer isn’t how you show up when Plan A’s working. What reveals a true superstar is the way you deliver when your best laid plans are falling apart.

These are messy times. Days of intense volatility. A period of immense uncertainty. And one of the dominant themes in work + life these days is distraction (a constant stream of activities begging for our attention that in the end amount to nothing).

So the fight we face as Leaders Without Titles and as human beings on a mission to express our absolute best talents is to block out the noise so we get real work done. Here are some of my best strategies to help you do this:

 

#1. Get Great at Reverse Engineering: Engineers working with technology startups are masterful at taking a competitor’s product and breaking it apart – piece by piece – from the finished version to its initial components. After study, they then make their own product even better. Truly productive people do the same thing with their most valuable opportunity. They know the final result they are after and maintain acute clarity on it. Armed with this awareness, they reverse engineer this big goal into a series of small and actionable steps that they then put into a 1-2 page plan of execution. This strategy works for them. And it’ll work for you.

 

#2. Abhor Distraction: I fiercely fight distraction in my own life and teach the teams I work with at companies like Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Oracle along with the billionaires I privately coach how to do the same. Everyone’s fighting for your focus. And too many people are stealing your attention. Don’t be so generous in giving it to them – unless it’s for something that truly matters. So, clean out the distractions in your workspace and personal life. I just read that special forces on a military mission are kept in isolation from other teams and denied access to TV/Newspapers/Internet. Why? To PROTECT their focus so they deliver perfection on their mission. Pretty great metaphor for you and I, no? So please remember: Distraction is the greatest thief of time. And time is a non-renewable resource.

 

#3. Stop Multi-tasking: A recent case report shared a story of a medical resident who was using her cellphone to input data about the dosage of a patient she was attending. She was interrupted with a text message from a friend inviting her to a party. The resident replied and started a conversation. The only problem was she forgot to get back to her patient who then began receiving a near-fatal dose of the medicine. Open-heart surgery saved his live. But the larger point is that so few of us are fully present to the work/activity in front of us anymore. I see people on airport runways checking their Twitter feed. I see taxi drivers reviewing their emails. A huge competitive advantage falls to the 1 in 100 performer with the brilliance to develop the skill of becoming massively focused on the one thing in front of them. Truly a game-changing move.

 

#4. Build Rituals: Ok, this is another valuable tactic to unleash your productivity. When I studied the lives of People of Great Output like Stephen King, Winston Churchill and John Irving, I saw that they didn’t leave their productivity to the fleeting winds of inspiration. Instead, they instituted precise rituals into their daily lives that allowed their creativity to flourish. Stephen King, for example, sits down to work at 8 am every morning, in the same chair, with his papers set in the same way. His belief is that this obsessive consistency sends a signal to his mind to focus and deliver serious results.

 

#5: Launch at Beta: So many of us procrastinate by waiting for ideal conditions to get big things done. Here’s what I’ve learned from some of the software enterprises we’ve consulted with: launch at beta and then iterate to perfection. What I mean by that is stop waiting for perfect conditions or the perfect product before you get to market. Yes, I stand for ensuring anything you offer is best of breed. But sometimes putting off a project until it’s flawless demonstrates nothing more than your fear of success. And we both know you’re so much larger than that.

 

#6. Practice Productivity: When I was learning to ski, my instructor taught me about muscle memory. He made me practice many tiny moves over and over again sharing “this is going to build your muscle memory”, meaning that if I practiced the technique relentlessly, a time would eventually come where I could perform it swiftly, elegantly and unconsciously. Same applies to your productivity. Practice doing work that matters. Practice sitting in one place for many hours focused on a single result. Practice running rituals and elite performance routines that will lift you into the realm of world-class. Because as I know you know: Genius isn’t so much about genetics as it is about work ethic and sheer practice.

I hope these strategies have been of service to you. The world needs you at your productive best.

Stay Great,

Robin

—

Ready for Some Natural Wonder?

Enjoy the Canadian Rockies in HD. Go to full picture for the best viewing!

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4CMb7yj8Cyk?rel=0&%3bhd=1

—

Our Amazing Brain:

Red the hole thing.

This is weird, but interesting!

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If you can read this, you have a strangemnid, too. Only 55 people out of 100 can.

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseaethe huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed this forwrad it

Stay Soul-filled…

Thanks this week to Mohit, Ron, Robin and Larry H.

Pay it forward!
Love,
Neville

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”– Albert Einstein

Happy Soul Food Friday!

Community Engagement:

Get Out Much?

In the past week, I had the opportunity to speak to both the KIPP: Adelante Preparatory Academy downtown, http://www.kippadelante.org/

and at a Dollars for Scholars Scholarship Showcase Reception at SDSU http://www.sdcoe.net/jccs2/?loc=dfs

While the audience was different some of the main themes were consistent with respect to Soul Food, so I thought I would share them and the inspiration behind them with you.

As most of you know ‘not everything that counts can be counted’. In people Character Counts. In organizations Living your Values and your Culture counts

At Mission Fed, Serving our Community thru Education is integral to our organizational DNA and it is who we are!

First some level setting:

There are certain things that are totally changing how we experience our lives not the least of which is the Rate of Change. For example, it took 150 years to go from thee and thou in old English to the common use of you and me. Compare that to how little time it has taken to go from typing on a keyboard to using a touch pad.

It took 38 years to sell 1MM TVs. Compare that to the fact it took less than a month to sell 1MM iPads.

Today the shelf life of knowledge is approximately 18 to 24 months

That means, much of what we are learning at the beginning of our college experience is already obsolete or irrelevant by the time we graduate!

This presents a challenge. How do we possibly equip young people for a world we cannot even anticipate?

First, rather than focus on one particular skill I believe it requires developing a battery of meta- cognitive skills that equip us for how to think, as well as how to learn.

I liken it to the Google metaphor as a meta-search engine or search engine of search engines that today has become the dominant force and a verb!

(more on this in a subsequent topic)

Second, today’s Networked, Interconnected world, now more than ever requires the social intelligence skills of Questing and Collaborating.

Questing comes from YOU!
You must be passionately and purposefully focused on your success
You must decide on your quest and keep your eye on the prize
You must turn Can’t into CAN
You must ignore your doubters and silence your critics
Questing comes from YOU!

Collaboration on the other hand comes from those around you
We ARE indeed judged by the company we keep
With a smartphone, and there are more smartphones on this planet today than toilets, you are within striking distance of whatever you need information-wise anywhere on the planet
Mentors and a support system scaffold you, as you architect the blue print of your life!
They are your sage advisors, your real friends and your guides
Whether as a “sage on the stage” or a “guide on the side” let us not underestimate the role each of us can play as co-collaborators in the success of other people’s lives!

Back to Questing:
Good old Tony Robbins (I got to hear him speak at Dreamforce 2012, in San Francisco) says there are three S’s you can focus on- to move the needle on your success outcomes.
These are in reverse order of importance

The first is your Strategy
What is your plan?
Do you have one?
Remember the 7 Ps: “Proactive Proper Planning Precludes Piss Poor Performance”

The second is your story
What is Your Story?
If you don’t like your story, can you change it?
The Past is not what happened but how you interpret what happened
The Future- can you create a powerful compelling vision of what you future will look like and then do everything within your power to make that a reality?
(We will get to the Present in a moment, get it J)

Some of us, as part of our story have been given labels including being labeled as “one of those kids”
Getting over labels like bad, crazy and lazy, poor, stupid, underprivileged, etc. is not easy
Rest assured, they don’t know what they are talking about. Make sure you reframe the labels

I have heard and share some of your stories of challenge and triumph. We know the degree to which you have struggled and worked to become who you are. Just like clothing, don’t wear labels that don’t belong…

As Jonathan Mooney, who I got to hear at the Empower Youth Symposium two weeks ago (see below likes to say), we must recognize we are NOT broken, we are not in need of being fixed. In many cases it is the system that is in dire need of fixing. Kids don’t suffer from dyslexia. Our culture suffers from dysteachia as a one size fits all, industrial age educational model is not the most effective and efficient to account for various learning styles, paces, intelligences and differences!

3 Things that made the difference for Mooney that might resonate for you:

1. People told me I was broken but it was the way I was treated that was  broken!

There are many ways to  get to successful!
“Difficult children make interesting adults”
– Questing means we are Intrinsically motivated by autonomy, mastery and purpose

2. The PEOPLE in our life make a difference!- Longitudinal Studies validate THIS is the predictive variable in success

We need:

    a. Advocates at home
b. Connectors in the School
c. Mentors in the world
Teaching style and pedagogy are not nearly as relevant as the capacity to CONNECT!
Questing and Collaborating seem to be the critical determinants of one’s success

3. Not just about remediating weakness but about SCALING STRENGTH!

It is about balancing the two aspects; a remediation agenda with strength agenda. Make sure adequate time is invested in what you are good at!

Oddly we focus on generalist skills in education but the real world wants specialization. To get good at something requires 10,000 hours! (Outliers) but with some caveats
Practice makes permanent, perfect practice makes perfect. We must do the right things right…

Mitigate weaknesses via:

• Support
• Teams
• Technology

The biggest part of Story is “Unlearning how I was taught to see myself”

Nearly 45% of entrepreneurs (have Dyslexia)
Innovative, Creative and Entrepreneurial qualities are not despite, but precisely because of learning differences!

The third S is your State!
Practice Fiero!  As Happiness Guru and bestselling author Grethen Rubin who spoke recently at the Atlantic meets the Pacific conference says.
Fiero is that universal body language we all exhibit when a goal is scored in soccer, or touchdown in football.
Motion creates emotion
“I can” physiology gets you game ready in the moment
Practice it now…

Any control freaks out there? The one thing we can all control is how we choose to respond to what happens to us. We are not a statistic

This is where the final ingredient in today’s mix comes in
The final ingredient, the icing on the cake is Resilience. Tal Ben-Shahar, a Positive Psychologist (not to be confused with a positive thinker) spoke eloquently to this characteristic in Deconstructing Happiness: the Science behind Contented Lives at the Atlantic Meets the Pacific Conference. Resilience is “An ability to recover from, or adjust to misfortune or change”.As serendipity would have it, it is another translation for the name of our karate school. Become a student of Research Resilience and make it part of your Mindset and Heart-set.

You deserve every success. You deserve to be happy but that doesn’t mean it is going to be easy.

My aspiration and blessing for you is simple…
There is only ONE you. Be yourself. By your best self.
Yourself is not narrowly defined at the limits of your skin. Your definition of self can expand to include everyone in your ecosystem. Bring in closer, those that are most committed to your success and that can help you get there.

Those with narrow definitions of self, lead narrow lives.
Those with wider definitions, lead lives not limited by self, but transformed by a new definition of what is possible.
Remember, challenged and challenging kids make for interesting people…

So to summarize:
Like the most interesting man in the world of Dos Equis Fame says “stay thirsty my friends”- keep that questing spirit fired up
Master the skills of collaboration– they will take you far
Fine tune your strategy and when you need to- refine it
Revisit your story and if you don’t like it, REWRITE it!
Change your state in this moment to make sure when opportunity knocks you are totally ready to answer the call.

I am so proud of you
You are redefining what is possible
I honor you, I salute you, I wish you only the very best on the next leg of your journey!
Godspeed!

Neville

“LOVE is our Soul Purpose”

Empower Yourself and Others:
More on  Jonathan Mooney at: http://www.jonathanmooney.com/
More on Positive Psychology at: www.talbenshahar.com
More on Grethen Rubin’s Happiness Project at: http://happiness-project.com/

There are also huge breakthroughs in educational technology! I am particularly impressed with Roger Stark and some of the results his team at Learning Enhancement are getting with their software.  Click here

Ok if you read this far it has been a touch heavy, so let’s lighten things up…

Push Button for a little drama in your life

For Your Artistic Side:

Enjoy These Amazing Sand Sculptures

Click here!

Special thanks to KIPP: Adelante Preparatory Academy, Dollars for Scholars, Atlantic Meets the Pacific, Jonathan Mooney, Roger Stark, Paul S. and Larry H.

Pay it forward!
Love,
Neville

Happy Soul Food Friday

On Personal Development:

“There is no failure, only feedback” is a famous martial arts adage in our system.

Reframing our past is a critical element to shaping our envisioned future.

One of the other key things is to ask the right questions.

What do you really desire in life?

Get some perspective here with Alan Watts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=siu6JYqOZ0g

Thanks Robin

On Education:

Are our Liberal Arts Colleges failing  us?

This interesting article raises some evocative questions…

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/how-liberal-arts-colleges-are-failing-america/262711/

Thanks KPBS

On Work Productivity:

Here are 21 tips to get you to your best productivity:

#1. Check email in the afternoon so you protect the peak energy hours of your mornings for your best work.

#2. Stop waiting for perfect conditions to launch a great project. Immediate action fuels a positive feedback loop that drives even more action.

#3. Remember that big, brave goals release energy. So set them clearly and then revisit them every morning for 5 minutes.

#4. Mess creates stress (I learned this from tennis icon Andre Agassi who said he wouldn’t let anyone touch his tennis bag because if it got disorganized, he’d get distracted). So clean out the clutter in your office to get more done.

#5. Sell your TV. You’re just watching other people get successful versus doing the things that will get you to your dreams.

#6. Say goodbye to the energy vampires in your life (the negative souls who steal your enthusiasm).

#7. Run routines. When I studied the creative lives of massively productive people like Stephen King, John Grisham and Thomas Edison, I discovered they follow strict daily routines. (i.e., when they would get up, when they would start work, when they would exercise and when they would relax). Peak productivity’s not about luck. It’s about devotion.

#8. Get up at 5 am. Win the battle of the bed. Put mind over mattress. This habit alone will strengthen your willpower so it serves you more dutifully in the key areas of your life.

#9. Don’t do so many meetings. (I’ve trained the employees of our FORTUNE 500 clients on exactly how to do this – including having the few meetings they now do standing up – and it’s created breakthrough results for them).

#10. Don’t say yes to every request. Most of us have a deep need to be liked. That translates into us saying yes to everything – which is the end of your elite productivity.

#11. Outsource everything you can’t be BIW (Best in the World) at. Focus only on activities within what I call “Your Picasso Zone”.

#12. Stop multi-tasking. New research confirms that all the distractions invading our lives are rewiring the way our brains work (and drop our IQ by 5 points!). Be one of the rare-air few who develops the mental and physical discipline to have a mono-maniacal focus on one thing for many hours. (It’s all about practice).

#13. Get fit like Madonna. Getting to your absolute best physical condition will create explosive energy, renew your focus and multiply your creativity.

#14. Workout 2X a day. This is just one of the little-known productivity tactics that I’ll walk you through in my new online training program YOUR PRODUCTIVITY UNLEASHED (details at the end of this post) but here’s the key: exercise is one of the greatest productivity tools in the world. So do 20 minutes first thing in the morning and then another workout around 6 or 7pm to set you up for wow in the evening.

#15. Drink more water. When you’re dehydrated, you’ll have far less energy. And get less done.

#16. Work in 90 minute blocks with 10 minute intervals to recover and refuel (another game-changing move I personally use to do my best work).

#17. Write a Stop Doing List. Every productive person obsessively sets To Do Lists. But those who play at world-class also record what they commit to stop doing. Steve Jobs said that what made Apple Apple was not so much what they chose to build but all the projects they chose to ignore.

#18. Use your commute time. If you’re commuting 30 minutes each way every day – get this: at the end of a year, you’ve spent 6 weeks of 8 hour days in your car. I encourage you to use that time to listen to fantastic books on audio + excellent podcasts and valuable learning programs. Remember, the fastest way to double your income is to triple your rate of learning.

#19. Be a contrarian. Why buy your groceries at the time the store is busiest? Why go to movies on the most popular nights? Why hit the gym when the gym’s completely full? Do things at off-peak hours and you’ll save so many of them.

#20. Get things right the first time. Most people are wildly distracted these days. And so they make mistakes. To unleash your productivity, become one of the special performers who have the mindset of doing what it takes to get it flawless first. This saves you days of having to fix problems.

#21. Get lost. Don’t be so available to everyone. I often spend hours at a time in the cafeteria of a university close to our headquarters. I turn off my devices and think, create, plan and write. Zero interruptions. Pure focus. Massive results.

I truly hope these 21 productivity tips have been valuable to you. And that I’ve been of service. Your productivity is your life made visible. Please protect it.

Thanks Sharma

More Paraprosdokians:

These always seem to be a hit!

(Winston Churchill loved them) are figures of speech
in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or
unexpected; frequently humorous.

1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.

3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright 
until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left. 

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it
in a fruit salad.

8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is
research.

9. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

10. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of
emergency, Notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR’.

11. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the
street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

12. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute
to skydive twice.

13. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

14. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever 
you hit the target.

15. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than
standing in a garage makes you a car.

16. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

Thanks Larry

Close Encounters of the Soul Food Kind:

Enjoy these inter-species experiences

Family-raised Grizzly Bear

One Hungry Little Mouse

Thanks Larry

Stay Thirsty My Friends!

Love,

Neville

Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week:
What Love Means to a 4-8 Year Old

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . .

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it.

Touching words from the mouth of babes.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds,

‘What does love mean?’

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined

See what you think:

‘When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.’
Rebecca- age 8

‘When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.’
Billy – age 4

‘Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.’
Karl – age 5

‘Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.’
Chrissy – age 6

‘Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.’
Terri – age 4

‘Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.’
Danny – age 7

‘Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss’
Emily – age 8

‘Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.’
Bobby – age 7 (Wow!)

‘If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,’
Nikka – age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka’s on this planet)

‘Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday..’
Noelle – age 7

‘Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.’
Tommy – age 6

‘During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.’
Cindy – age 8

‘My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.’
Clare – age 6

‘Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.’
Elaine-age 5

‘Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.’
Chris – age 7

‘Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.’
Mary Ann – age 4

‘I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.’
Lauren – age 4

‘When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.’ (what an image)
Karen – age 7

‘Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.’
Mark – age 6

‘You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.’
Jessica – age 8

And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, ‘Nothing, I just helped him cry’

God Bless…

Thanks Larry H.

If you think your life is flying by and pretty insane then this should be a good reset:

SENSE OF FLYING – YouTube

Thanks Larry G.

Community Engagement and Serving the Community through Education

Like most credit unions, Mission Fed is a double bottom line organization. This means we measure our success not just strictly in terms of financial performance, but also with respect to social mission attainment. These are both integral parts of our organizational DNA. . The credit union movement was birthed on the notion of “people helping people and since time immemorial humans truly are “creatures of community”. For 50 years, as a member owned not-for -profit, we have served the San Diego community through education, providing time, treasure and talent via both our Community Relations department as well as our Mission Federal Credit Union Foundation to make a difference of consequence in San Diego.

Last month the MFCU Foundation provided support to the Foundation for Women, and other organizations that advance the cause of financial education, and I was privileged to attend the Foundation for Women’s 14th Annual Luncheon, “Honoring the Women in Our Lives”.

Here I learned some startling facts about our planet and our city.

20% of the world’s population owns 95% of the world’s wealth. In stark contrast, the bottom 20% of the world’s population, only owns 1% of the world’s wealth.

Within this wealth inequality there is significant gender inequality. Women do 2/3 of the work on this planet and produce ½ the food, yet they only earn 10% of the income and own just 1% of the land. In the US only 18% of the legislators are women compared to a whopping 56% in Rwanda. If you think this is just a problem in the developing world you are wrong! Today the local poverty rate is at a 50 year high with 33% of our 3.1MM population living 200% below the Federal Poverty Level & 80,000 women living in dire poverty right here in San Diego County…

Empowering Women and Young Girls is integral to making a difference in any community as this systemically moves the needle on lifting families out of poverty, fostering environmental sustainability, and bringing political stability.

Changing this reality is entirely different when you offer a hand up rather than a hand out and the Foundation for Women does just that with micro-financing and support programs.

Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.

You can find out more about the Foundation for Women at http://www.foundationforwomen.org/

Foundation for Women is one great representative example. There are many others…

Whatever your comfort zone, philosophy, or appetite, I urge you to seek out opportunities to support your community and its myriad of causes in any way you see fit and make magic happen!

Dreamforce 2012:

A couple of weeks ago I attended the largest technology conference on the planet with 95,000 registered attendees, 750 session options and keynotes from the likes of Sir Branson, General Colin Powell, Dr. Dean Ornish and Tony Robbins to mention a few. Keep an eye out for this movie, Escape Fire a compelling documentary on how we can save our badly broken healthcare system. You can see the trailer at: http://vimeo.com/27450676

Are You An Awesome Team Member? Would people want you on their team or put another way would you want to be married to yourself?

This blog from Peter Barron Stark asks the right questions!

http://www.peterstark.com/2012/8-signs-awesome-team-member/?utm_source=Quest+-+October+2012&utm_campaign=EMployee+Engagement+HR&utm_medium=email

Thanks Peter

What Helps Teachers Succeed?

Hear from a 2012 Teacher of the Year on What Helps Teachers and Students Succeed from  PBS NewsHour | Sept. 26, 2012 | PBS

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec12/2012teacher_09-26.html

Thanks Cathy

Upcoming Elections:

While walking down the street one day a Corrupt Senator, that may be redundant, was tragically hit by a car and died.
His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
“Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.”
“No problem, just let me in,” says the Senator.
“Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from the higher ups. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.”
“Really? I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,” says the Senator.
“I’m sorry, but we have our rules.”
And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.
The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course.
In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.
Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.
They played a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and the finest champagne.
Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is having a good time dancing and telling jokes.
They are all having such a good time that before the Senator realizes it, it is time to go.
Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises.
The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him, “Now it’s time to visit heaven…”
So, 24 hours passed with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.
“Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.”
The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: “Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.”
So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell…
Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.
He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls to the ground.
The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders.
“I don’t understand,” stammers the Senator. “Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?”
The devil smiles at him and says,
“Yesterday we were campaigning,
Today, you voted..”
Vote wisely on  November 2, 2012

VOTE FOR THE COUNTRY, NOT THE PARTY

Last but not least, enjoy these delightful Flower Rugs in Italy:

Click here!

Thanks Larry H.

Stay Soulful!
Love,
Neville

“There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

— Albert Einstein

Happy Soul Food Friday!

In the Midwest they have a saying, “Pray like everything depends on God, Work like everything depends on YOU”

In the Middle East they have a saying, “Trust in God… But Tie Your Camel!”

Wherever we find ourselves geographically, we all live somewhere midway between self-determinism and fate, based on our distinctive beliefs, culture and values. Because I know single-handedly, I cannot possibly do all that needs to be done, personally I have trust, faith and hope that collectively we can be that change that our communities and our world needs, with a little guidance from above….

I need to be the change, AND I need the change to be.

If conventional negative, sensational news is draining your energy and unconsciously toxifying your head space, here are a couple of options to cultivate energy, optimism and faith in humankind:

www.givemore.com

Thanks Chris

http://www.dailygood.org/

Thanks Larry

Choosing Happiness

Committed to Happiness & Positive Psychology? Here is a presentation promoting the well-being of students at UCSD, courtesy of Jerry Phelps.

Click here!

Finally, enjoy this visual story…

Warm Story

May you always have love to share,
Health to spare,
And friends that care.

Thanks this week go to Chris, Larry and Jerry…

Pay it forward!
Love,
Neville

“If only I could be the person my dog thinks I am…”

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week, education, attention, tricking your brain for happiness, an extraordinary musical instrument and the masters of disguise in nature.

But first, let’s lighten the mood with some Punography

Punographics 

I changed my iPod’s name to Titanic. It’s syncing now.

When chemists die, they barium.

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.

I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.

We’re going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there’s no pop quiz.

I didn’t like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?

When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.

Broken pencils are pointless.

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.

All the toilets in New York’s police stations have been stolen. The police have nothing to go on.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Haunted French pancakes give me the crêpes.

Velcro — what a rip off!

A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.

Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!

The earthquake in Washington obviously was the government’s fault.

(thanks Beth)

On Education-

Can Teacher Expectations Influence How Students Perform?
This 8 minute NPR story is compelling…

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/09/17/161159263/teachers-expectations-can-influence-how-students-perform

Breakthroughs that are Occurring from Online Education- Getting the best content from the best teachers FOR FREE!

An inspiring Ted talk covering what is both desperately necessary AND what is suddenly possible…

http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html

(Thanks Rex)

Quiet Time

In the 2002-2003 school year, there were 41 murders in the neighborhood of Visitacion Valley Middle School. Young students were playing “cops and robbers” with real guns, and many suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2007, the principal instituted a program called “Quiet Time” to teach meditation to every student in the school, with dramatic results. Truancy rate fell by more than 7 percent (while the average for the State rose to 30 percent) and suspensions fell by more than 50 percent. Twelve minutes at the beginning and twelve minutes at the end of school day have given these children a coping mechanism to deal with the many stresses of poverty and violence in their lives.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3091

(Thanks Beth)

How to Trick Your Brain for Happiness with Rick Hanson

“We do not know what a thought is, yet we’re thinking them all the time.”

http://shar.es/ueZSi

(Thanks Dan)

An Extra-Ordinary Musical Instrument

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa.

Please note, the balls don’t fall on the floor, they return to the machine…  All of the balls wind up in catcher cones.  Amazingly, 97% of the machine’ components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft, Iowa

Yes, farm equipment! It took the team a combined 13,029 hours (6.26 years) of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see, it was WELL worth the effort. It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_K48e8z9-k

(Thanks Mohit and Kali)

Masters of Disguise

Enjoy these Amazing photos from Nature at its Best…

Click here!

(thanks Larry)

Pay it Forward!
Love,
Neville

For Your Early Soul Food Pleasure This Week:

The Price of a Closed Mind: From my friend Will Marre presenting a 30 minute webinar on Sept 13^th

What if the opposite of what you believe is also true? That’s a disturbing thought.

Sometimes, when I am teaching a group of leaders how to solve a controversial problem, I ask them “How fast are we moving? Yes, right now in this room.” After a few looks someone says, “We’re not moving at all.” To which I reply, “You are absolutely correct!” Then I repeat the question: “How fast are we moving?” Sometimes I exhort them, “Think.” Occasionally, someone will say, “Well, we are moving around the sun at thousands of miles an hour.” Then I exclaim, “You are absolutely both right. We are all moving at roughly 67,000 miles an hour and we are absolutely still all at the same time.” Once you start looking, it turns out reality is closer to the truth that two opposites are true at exactly the same time.

For instance, do you love your family and yet experience times when you can’t stand to be around them? Do you love your job, and does it make you stressed out, often in the same day?

Reality is messy.

We ignore the messiness of reality at our own peril. Today, we are in a dangerous political season. Politicians and their communication machines are trying to appeal to our fear-sensitive, non-rational brains. That means creating demons, enemies, and simplistic “either-or” solutions to complex problems, are the tactics of the day. But this is not what we need. We cannot thrive with simplistic, my-way-or-the-highway, right-or-left solutions. Today, more than ever, we need high-center thinking that allows us to deal with complexity and reality. It all starts with our unexamined first assumptions. Some people fundamentally believe that society should try to reduce avoidable suffering. This idea is based on “civic virtue,” which promotes efforts to reduce or eliminate the suffering brought on by being born in poverty, old-age illness, structural unemployment, exploitive wages, unsafe working conditions, pollution, and unsafe products. Much of this effort is labeled social justice. Sounds good. Except that it’s expensive and often creates both dependency and entitlement, which makes people weak and irresponsible. It does, in fact, seem to be true that when we continually support people financially without them earning their way, it makes them insecure, ungrateful, and demanding. That’s true with trust fund babies as much as it is with chronic welfare recipients.

On the other side is the belief that we live in a “just” world and that, for the most part, everyone gets what they deserve. In the view of radical conservatism, hard work and gumption will overcome any disadvantage of birth. In this view, the role of society is mostly legal. Protecting property rights and personal rights of individual autonomy is the only proper role of government. Under this way of thinking, personal virtue is a choice, and forcing us to participate in civic virtue through laws, regulations, or taxation should be out of bounds. So who’s right and who’s wrong?

The truth is messy.

It’s messy because both positions have merit. Yet there is no evidence that a large-scale, unregulated society can function. Every person for himself is not really a society. So the personal responsibility position is more a theory than a solution. On the other hand, there is evidence that it’s difficult to make social democracies thrive because entitled voters make government bankruptcies likely. But there are answers. They are found by focusing on the best evidence of what promotes both personal responsibility and civic virtue. This is indeed possible. I have frequently referred to work of Nobel Prize-winning economist, John Nash, who mathematically proved that the best society for all is also the one that is the best for each individual. Societies that perpetuate wild extremes of education, opportunity, and income are inherently unstable human systems. These systems always lead to revolution. Much economic and social research has been done on what creates the best society for the most people. It is five essential strengths.

1.        Free universal education of equal quality

2.        Virtually free access to not-for-profit healthcare

3.        Up to date physical and digital infrastructure

4.        Reasonable access to capital to start new business

(By the way, none of these 4 things need to be provided directly by the government. Only number 5 does.)

5.        Personal safety, security, and equal protection under the law

So how do you think our nation is doing at providing those 5 things? Perhaps the reason we may have trouble providing the five essential strengths is that we are arguing over whether government or private enterprise ought to be providing those services. But what if we could invent new institutions to solve these problems? High-quality universal education, health care, and public infrastructure might all be better provided through non-governmental, citizen-led, nonprofit enterprise. There are now many examples of large-scale social enterprises that are economically self-sufficient and magnificently effective. As far as banks go, we already have the model of depositor-owned credit unions, whose large-scale growth could be fostered by lifting regulations promoted by the big commercial banks to limit competition. So what’s all this got to do with you? First of all, we are in a political season where we as citizens need to flex our combined muscles to create a barrage of demands for rational wisdom and innovative solutions rather than emotional argument. Second, the victory of rational wisdom is a long-term generational journey, so we need to do all that we can to make our lives thrive, no matter how irrational public debate might be. We cannot be paralyzed into silence by the loud voices of special interests. What we can do is stand for wisdom, in every conversation and every personal decision. What we can do is remain focused on the quality of our lives, of our families, and of our circles of influence. What we must do is not give in or give up.

Third, free yourself from either-or thinking. Free yourself from your inner, insistent bully. Free yourself from being controlled by either-or thinkers in your workplace or bullies in your life. Don’t be afraid to consider evidence contrary to your present assumptions. The two keys to enduring happiness are an open mind and a loving heart. Turn up the volume on both. On September 13th, I’ll be presenting a new, 30-minute webinar titled “Free Yourself.” It’s an action plan that will help you take control of your work-life harmony and your future, no matter what your life circumstances are. I am very excited to share it with you. If you have any questions, please send them to me at askwill@thoughtrocket.com .

Visit http://www.ThoughtRocketTraining.com/free-yourself for more information…

On Education:

The news is all abuzz with respect to education nowadays… So how are we doing with respect to learning outcomes? Does the value of education come from the actual learning or from the prestige of the institution?

Check out The Rise of the Phoenix:  For-Profit Universities Like the University of Phoenix Are Shaking Up the Status Quo and Reshaping the Future of Higher Education.

For-profit colleges have deep roots in American history, but until recently they were a tiny part of the higher education landscape. Now they are big players. More than one in 10 college students attends a for-profit. The rapid rise of these career-oriented schools has provoked heated debate, opening up new conversations about the costs, quality and purpose of higher education. In this documentary, correspondent Emily Hanford examines the history and influence of the University of Phoenix, one of the nation’s largest colleges, and explores how Phoenix and other for-profits are shaping the future of higher education.

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/phoenix/

(You can also listen to the program at this site or podcast it to your mobile device)

The Relationship between Money and Happiness

Telling it like it is at a Provoking Commencement Speech at Brandeis University…

http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/may/brooksvideo.html

The One Good Thing

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/05/original-blue-dawn-its-not-just-for-dishes-anymore.html

Finally, Global Citizenry & 25 Things You Might Not Know About Countries Around the World

I found out about 19 and 6 on my recent holiday… Click here!

Thanks this week go to Will, Larry and Chris

Pay it forward!
Love,
Neville