It is Soul Food Friday Again!

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

First some humor with some real truth to set the tone:

On Moms…

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:


Why did God make mothers?

1.  She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2.  Mostly to clean the house.
3.  To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1.  He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2.  Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3.  God made my mom just the same like he made me.  He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1.  God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2.  They had to get their start from men’s bones.  Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1.  We’re related.
2.  God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1.  My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2.  I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3.  They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1.  His last name.
2.  She had to know his background.  Like is he a crook?  Does he get drunk on beer?
3.  Does he make at least $800 a year?  Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1.  My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world.  And my mom eats a lot!
2.  She got too old to do anything else with him.
3.  My grandma says that mom didn’t have her thinking cap on.

Who’s the boss at your house?
1.  Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goof ball.
2.  Mom.  You can tell by room inspection.  She sees the stuff under the bed.
3.  I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What’s the difference between moms and dads?
1.  Moms work at work and work at home and dads just work at work.
2.  Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3.  Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power ’cause that’s who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4.  Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1.  Mothers don’t do spare time.
2.  To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1.  On the inside she’s already perfect.  Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2.  Diet.  You know, her hair.  I’d diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1.  She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean.  I’d get rid of that.
2.  I’d make my mom smarter.  Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3.  I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Thanks Mohit

Next, Ten Lessons the Arts Teach

For those of us that think art is not an important element in education, this might shape your perspective.

It is pretty hard to get these important lessons anywhere else!

‘Ten Lessons the Arts Teach’ by Elliot Eisner

The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.

The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.

The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor number exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.

The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.

The arts teach students to think through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become real.

The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.

The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

The arts’ position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.

Thanks Rex

Third, Run, Hide, Fight

Unfortunately we live in a violent society. This is a video the city of Houston put together on what to do should you (a citizen) run across an active shooter, such in the recent spate of violence around the country.

They were just finishing it when the Colorado shootings occurred…

Stay Safe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwejU2D0&feature=player_embedded

Thanks Chris

Finally, These Incredible Photos Will Blow Your Mind!

Click here!

What’s your favorite? Do share your favs in the Comment Section of the blog

Thanks Larry G.

Thanks this week go to Mohit, Rex, Chris and Larry G

Pay it Forward, you can’t take it with you…
Love,
Neville

“Simple kindness to one’s self and all that lives is the most powerful transformational force of all.”

–David Hawkins

Soul Food for Aug 31st 2012

Energy Crisis and Mobilizing a Personal Energy Movement:

While on vacation earlier this month, with the gift of time to reflect on what is most important in life, I saw an article on Happiness

http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2012-08-02-Gross-national-happiness_CV_U.htm

This reminded me of the Happy Planet Index and Gross National Happiness Index that I first heard about in 2009, and a slide deck I created then using a similar framework but for Personal Energy and Personal Happiness/Wellbeing

As above, so below…

It is not just our planet facing an energy crisis at the macro level. At a micro level each of us is challenged by the individual energy crisis that daily living demands.

Check out the deck and share your thoughts in the comments section of the blog…

Click here!

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Self-Talk

In the last month I have been privileged to speak with the entire Leadership team of several San Diego School Districts on the topics of Engagement and Leadership.

This HBR article about the right way to speak to yourself is provocative. It is not simply nice to treat ourselves nicely, it is strategic!

When we feel loved, appreciated and cared for, we try harder, take more risks, work more collaboratively, and perform better.

So what kind of classroom is going on in your head?

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/08/teach-yourself-to-have-a-healthy.html

Thanks Linda

Enjoy The Book of Life designed with just a few pages to transform your attitude and remind us to experience this moment!

Click this.

Thanks Mohit

Some Words of Wisdom…
A friend of mine opened his wife’s underwear drawer and picked up a silk  paper wrapped package.
‘This, – he said – isn’t any ordinary package.’
He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.
‘She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She
has never put it on, and was saving it for a special occasion.
Well, I guess this is it.

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he  was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.
He turned to me and said: ‘Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion’.
I still think those words changed my life.
Now I read more and clean less.
I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.
I spend more time with my family, and less at work.
I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything.
I use crystal glasses every day…
I’ll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it..
I don’t save my special  perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words ‘Someday….’ and ‘ One Day…’ are fading away from my
dictionary.

If it’s worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do
it now….

I don’t know what my friend’s wife would have done if she knew she
wouldn’t be there the next morning, this nobody can tell…
I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.
I’d like to think she  would go out for Chinese, her favorite
food.

It’s these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come..

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one..

Thanks Larry

Stay Soul-filled and pay it forward!

Love,

Neville

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting
something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

— Frederick Koenig

Soul Food for Friday August 24th 2012

Happy Soul Food Friday!

We are back after our summer holiday, visiting the East Coast including New York City, Upper NY State, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Nothing like a digital fast supplemented by the wonders of travel to re-invigorate the soul, create perspective, as well as give us a chance to step off the treadmill and routinization of daily life…

As my travel photos don’t compare, here are some photos from hither and yon to feed your soul courtesy of National Geographic and Larry H.

Click here!

If you have prospective soul food submissions, keep sending them my way…

Love and Imagine,

Neville

Friday Soul food for August 2012

Happy Soul Food Friday!

“And in the end. The love you take is equal to the love you make”

Inspired by the Olympics:
I hope you are enjoying the agony and the ecstasy of the first all-digital and most watched opening ceremony in Olympic history. From Paul McCartney getting choked up before he launches into a global chorus of “Hey Jude”, to a legally blind (20/200 vision) athlete competing for their nation in archery, to 15 and 16 year olds excelling on the world stage and setting world records, to athletes competing in their 3rd straight Olympics -12 years- at the top of their game, to seeing the champion mindset and intentionality in the women’s gymnasts just in their walk & body language…wow!

As we enjoy the spirit of the game, here is an Olympic guide to make things easier…
2012 Olympic Guide

The Spirit of the Game:
While not Olympiads, over the weekend, brothers Cayden and Connor Long joined hundreds of other children as they competed in the first annual New England Kids Triathlon in Cambridge. The boys did not win the event — they didn’t even come close. But that didn’t stop them from winning hearts across the Internet. The Long brothers are not your typical triathletes. Six-year-old Cayden has cerebral palsy and can neither walk nor talk. But thanks to the dedication of his older brother, Connor, the young boy has participated in several triathlons. They are also true champions!
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=285

Develop a Leader’s Mind:
Whatever your passion and purpose, developing a leader’s mind can help and this short article is excellent
http://www.success.com/articles/1879–develop-a-leader-s-mind

Summer time means more water sports.
Make sure you and yours are pool safe this Summer and please protect your loved ones…
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/07/25/summer-pool-drowning

On Travel:
Here are a few exotic travel destinations to enjoy from the comfort of your desktop in full splendor and as up close and personal as you want

First, the Taj Mahal Panorama featuring one of the seven wonders of the world
http://www.airpano.ru/files/Taj-Mahal-India/2-3

Next JERUSALEM
After a year of research and preparation, the giant Imax 3D screen film, JERUSALEM , is scheduled for worldwide release in 2013. The film takes you on a spectacular and unprecedented aerial tour throughout Israel/Palestine , the Holy Land and the city once believed to lie at the center of the world. Here is a preview. To see it in full screen – click on the 4 small arrows at the bottom right hand corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=iPQI6Yupt48

Now Enjoy all these amazing cities at night
Click here

Finally enjoy this soul-filled photos that will touch your heart
Click here

 It is vacation time, so if you are so inclined, post your own soul food in the comments section of the blog while I do some traveling of my own…

Keep smiling!

I have been in many places, but I’ve never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can’t go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.
I’ve also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. They don’t have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family, karate students and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not up for leaping or jumping.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.
I’ve been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm. (My wife might disagree with my assessment…)
Sometimes I’m in Capable, and I seem to go there more often as I’m getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the heart!
I may have been in Continent, and I don’t remember what state I was in.

Life is too short for negative drama & petty things. So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

Thanks this week to Jehangir and Larry.

Stay Soul-filled!
Love,
Neville

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
Greek Proverb

Soul Food for July 27th, 2012

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

On Education:

What is School For?
Check out Stop Stealing Dreams
by Seth Godin

A recent lunch with two saints; Paul B. and Peter B. Stark brought up this compelling publication on education

http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/StopStealingDreamsSCREEN.pdf

On Intelligence:

Dr. Jill Tarter: A Scientist Searching For Alien Life

Whatever you stand on the idea of extraterrestrial life, experience this compelling interview by a thoughtful scientist who contemplates the stars and life beyond the confines of our little blue planet

“We reserve the right to get smarter”

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/23/156366055/jill-tarter-a-scientist-searching-for-alien-life

On Parenting:

Anyone with Active Kids will Resonate with the Table Cloth Trick

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=30018

On Travel:
Enjoy this amazing slide deck without ever having to leave your house or office…
Bestof2012

Special thanks this week go to  Peter, Paul & Larry

Pay it Forward!

Love,

Neville

“LOVE is our Soul Purpose”

Soul Food for the Week of July 20th, 2012

Happy Soul Food Friday!

Love, Love, Love…

As you have probably noticed, my sign off on most of my emails is “Love,”

As unconventional as this may seem, this is because encouraging the heart, and bring our heart energy into virtually every aspect of our life, for me, brings meaning, purpose, passion and soul to our world!

In the past week, my wife Barbara and I celebrated our 21st Wedding Anniversary and in fitting tribute decided to go to Las Vegas and take in the Cirque de Soleil Beatles LOVE Show.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to experience the timeless music of the Beatles, coupled with the magic of the amazing Cirque de Soleil production which has been voted the best show in Las Vegas for 4 years in a row, I strongly recommend you add this to your “must experience list” for soul food!

Here is a tiny sampler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWmYQPS21yE&feature=related

Contributing to Community Well Being:

This week I was privileged to invest an afternoon of my life with United Way San Diego, www.uwsd.org visiting their corporate offices and hearing first-hand from some of their leaders – Angela, Carol, CJ, Dania, Holly, Shaina & Lance -about the real impact they are having in our community by partnering with local leaders, other non-profit partners and corporate supporters to address the critical issues of health, homelessness, education, & income. From a holistic approach to reducing child abuse and neglect, to ending chronic homelessness in San Diego, to recruiting readers, tutors and mentors for kids, to helping families challenged with self-sufficiency, there is undoubtedly a cause you are passionate about that they are working on right now and could use your help and energy.

When it comes to matters of the heart, the only things we keep in life are the things that we give away.

I strongly encourage you to take a moment to listen, to learn, and to lead by taking the Volunteer Challenge along with UWSD’s Give. Advocate. Volunteer. and find ways to make a difference of consequence in our community. If you are already doing this be sure to spread the word.

You can learn more at: http://www.uwsd.org/content/volunteers-united-way

A Story:

The Old Man and a Bucket of Shrimp

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.

Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier.. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp.  Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself.  The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.

Everybody’s gone, except for a few joggers on the beach.  Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts…and his bucket of shrimp.

Before long, however, he is no longer alone.  Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.

Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly.  Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds.

As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’

In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn’t leave.

He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.

When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like ‘a funny old duck,’ as my dad used to say. Or, ‘a guy who’s a sandwich shy of a picnic,’ as my kids might say.  To onlookers, he’s just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.

To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty.  They can seem altogether unimportant …. Maybe even a lot of nonsense.

Old folks often do strange things,  At least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters.

Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida.  That’s too bad. They’d do well to know him better.

His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker.  He was a famous hero back in World War II.  On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down.  Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.

Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific.  They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger.  By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water.

They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were.

They needed a miracle.  That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle.  They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose.  Time dragged.  All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft..

Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap.  It was a seagull!

Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move.  With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck.  He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal – a very slight meal for eight men – of it.  Then they used the intestines for bait.  With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait……and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued (after 24 days at sea…).

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull..

And he never stopped saying, ‘Thank you.’   That’s why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

Reference: (Max Lucado, “In The Eye of the Storm”, Pp..221, 225-226)

PS: Eddie was instrumental in Eastern Airlines.

Simplicity is Everything:

Periodically, literally or figuratively we are going to accidentally push to far and get the cork stuck in the bottle. Here is some lateral thinking that might help you out…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGp2KUD4us

The Most Stunning Photos of 2012.

Even now, this planet is so full of beautiful sights. Here are the most beautiful, breath taking photos taken this year so far. Enjoy.

 http://twistedsifter.com/2012/06/top-50-pictures-of-the-day-for-2012/

As many of you know, Stephen Covey passed away this week…

Here is some advice from his business partner and my friend Will Marre

The Best Advice I Ever Got

My mentor and professional partner Stephen Covey passed away yesterday.

Of the many amazing experiences we had together, one short sentence of advice had the greatest impact.

One day, when I was struggling to find my voice as a public presenter and I had been a miserable flop with his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” he quietly said,

“Seek to bless, not impress.”

That advice shifted me, not only as a speaker, but also as a human being. To seek to bless in every conversation, every encounter, is to activate the meaning of life in the everyday journey.

Stephen lived with zest. He gave his gift and made a difference. His legacy is that we might all do the same.

Some Nifty House Tricks:

Click here!

Thanks this week go to my heroes at the United Way, Larry, Mohit, Will and every one of you who practiced a conscious act of kindness this week.

Stay Soul-Filled and Pay it Forward!

LOVE,

Neville

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people…  They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

Soul Food for the week of July 13th, 2012

Hi,

Here is your Soul Food for this post-Independence Day week:

So, what does the Next Generation of the American Dream look like?
A sea change in orientation as “First Globals” understand the idea of a linked or shared fate:
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/10/156463825/globals-generation-focuses-on-experience

Did you happen to know the Other Verse of our National Anthem?
This marine does…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0fQd858cRc

Bet you could have used this Simple Trick at your 4th of July BBQ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETgWdRfRY2U

Goethe, the German philosopher, said, “The world without music would be a mistake”.
This community- kids and all- takes this to heart! Enjoy this un-classical flash mob performance from just a couple of months ago..
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=youtu.be

Finally, if you have a few extra minutes,

Experience this amazing commencement speech given by Cory Booker, currently Mayor of Newark, New Jersey and a Stanford alum on the Conspiracy of Love.
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/06/18/watch-mayor-cory-bookers-stanford-commencement-speech-it-will-inspire-you

Thanks this week to Mike, Larry, Anurag and Mohit!

Keep feeding the right beast and stay faith-ful (and soul-ful)…

Love,

Neville

A great artist is always before his time or behind it. 
~ George Edward Moore

Soul Food for the Week of Friday, July 6th, 2012

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:
Things YOU would like to have invented:

There are no limits to creativity

Click here!

Nine Beliefs of Remarkably Successful People:

The most successful people in business approach their work differently than most. See how they think–and why it works.

Many successful people, regardless of industry or profession, seem to share the same perspectives and beliefs. And they act on those beliefs:

1. Time doesn’t fill me. I fill time.

Deadlines and time frames establish parameters, but typically not in a good way. The average person who is given two weeks to complete a task will instinctively adjust his effort so it actually takes two weeks. Forget deadlines, at least as a way to manage your activity. Tasks should only take as long as they need to take. Do everything as quickly and effectively as you can. Then use your “free” time to get other things done just as quickly and effectively. Average people allow time to impose its will on them; remarkable people impose their will on their time.

2. The people around me are the people I chose.

Some of your employees drive you nuts. Some of your customers are obnoxious. Some of your friends are selfish, all-about-me jerks. You chose them. If the people around you make you unhappy it’s not their fault. It’s your fault. They’re in your professional or personal life because you drew them to you–and you let them remain. Think about the type of people you want to work with. Think about the types of customers you would enjoy serving. Think about the friends you want to have. Then change what you do so you can start attracting those people. Hardworking people want to work with hardworking people. Kind people like to associate with kind people. Remarkable employees want to work for remarkable bosses. Successful people are naturally drawn to successful people.

3. I have never paid my dues.

Dues aren’t paid, past tense. Dues get paid, each and every day. The only real measure of your value is the tangible contribution you make on a daily basis. No matter what you’ve done or accomplished in the past, you’re never too good to roll up your sleeves, get dirty, and do the grunt work. No job is ever too menial, no task ever too unskilled or boring. Remarkably successful people never feel entitled–except to the fruits of their labor.

4. Experience is irrelevant. Accomplishments are everything.

You have “10 years in the Web design business.” Whoopee. I don’t care how long you’ve been doing what you do. Years of service indicate nothing; you could be the worst 10-year programmer in the world. I care about what you’ve done: how many sites you’ve created, how many back-end systems you’ve installed, how many customer-specific applications you’ve developed (and what kind)… all that matters is what you’ve done. Successful people don’t need to describe themselves using hyperbolic words like passionate, innovative, driven, etc. They can just describe, hopefully in a humble way, what they’ve done.

5. Failure is something I accomplish; it doesn’t just happen to me.

Ask people why they have been successful. Their answers will be filled with personal pronouns: I, me, and the sometimes too occasional we. Ask them why they failed. Most will revert to childhood and instinctively distance themselves, like the kid who says, “My toy got broken…” instead of, “I broke my toy.” They’ll say the economy tanked. They’ll say the market wasn’t ready. They’ll say their suppliers couldn’t keep up. They’ll say it was someone or something else. And by distancing themselves, they don’t learn from their failures. Occasionally something completely outside your control will cause you to fail. Most of the time, though, it’s you. And that’s okay. Every successful person has failed. Numerous times. Most of them have failed a lot more often than you. That’s why they’re successful now. Embrace every failure: Own it, learn from it, and take full responsibility for making sure that next time, things will turn out differently.

6. Volunteers always win.

Whenever you raise your hand you wind up being asked to do more. That’s great. Doing more is an opportunity: to learn, to impress, to gain skills, to build new relationships–to do something more than you would otherwise been able to do. Success is based on action. The more you volunteer, the more you get to act. Successful people step forward to create opportunities. Remarkably successful people sprint forward.

7. As long as I’m paid well, it’s all good.

Specialization is good. Focus is good. Finding a niche is good. Generating revenue is great. Anything a customer will pay you a reasonable price to do–as long as it isn’t unethical, immoral, or illegal–is something you should do. Your customers want you to deliver outside your normal territory? If they’ll pay you for it, fine. They want you to add services you don’t normally include? If they’ll pay you for it, fine. The customer wants you to perform some relatively manual labor and you’re a high-tech shop? Shut up, roll ’em up, do the work, and get paid. Only do what you want to do and you might build an okay business. Be willing to do what customers want you to do and you can build a successful business. Be willing to do even more and you can build a remarkable business. And speaking of customers…

8. People who pay me always have the right to tell me what to do.

Get over your cocky, pretentious, I-must-be-free-to-express-my-individuality self. Be that way on your own time. The people who pay you, whether customers or employers, earn the right to dictate what you do and how you do it–sometimes down to the last detail. Instead of complaining, work to align what you like to do with what the people who pay you want you to do. Then you turn issues like control and micro-management into non-issues.

9. The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.

Everyone says they go the extra mile. Almost no one actually does. Most people who go there think, “Wait… no one else is here… why am I doing this?” and leave, never to return. That’s why the extra mile is such a lonely place. That’s also why the extra mile is a place filled with opportunities. Be early. Stay late. Make the extra phone call. Send the extra email. Do the extra research. Help a customer unload or unpack a shipment. Don’t wait to be asked; offer. Don’t just tell employees what to do–show them what to do and work beside them. Every time you do something, think of one extra thing you can do–especially if other people aren’t doing that one thing. That might be hard… But that’s what will make you different. And over time, that’s what will make you incredibly successful.

Keeping it Simple:

How to close a bag without a seal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh4l7faJZUQ

Finally, Too Cute NOT to Share:

Horsing around…

Thanks this week go to Mohit, Larry G and Larry H

Keep Reinventing Yourself, Model Successful People, Keep it Simple, Leave Time for Horsing Around & Pay it Forward!

Love,

Neville

“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees”.–Amelia Earhart

Soul Food for Friday, June 29th

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

New Frontiers in Education:

In my travels in education I am honored to cross paths with so many interesting people advancing the art and science of education.

Recently, I was introduced to the Center for Human Development at UCSD where they are doing some breakthrough work “chasing the signal” of how to foster the right environment and motivational constructs for self-directed life-long learning. To that end on one project The UC San Diego Center for Human Development is working with local music instructors and martial arts communities to address an important question: How does involvement in the arts affect the development of children? Dr. Terry Jernigan and her colleagues are recruiting children under the age of 10 to assess their academic, social-emotional, and neurological development to help determine whether, and how, children may benefit from participation in music and martial arts.  The goal of the project is to acquire more empirical evidence about the effects of arts involvement during childhood, so that policy makers can make better informed decisions about support for initiatives that provide more children with opportunities to participate in these activities. The project is ongoing and The Center for Human Development (http://chd.ucsd.edu) is still recruiting families, so contact CHDStudies@ucsd.edu to learn more about participation and their interesting work.

As a Student of Human Behavior, Motivation is such an Interesting Subject:So what really motivates people? This classic might have you reconsidering…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

You CAN lead from where you stand
Look at what this group is doing in their community…
http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=2476

To Keep a Sharp Mind:
Put your brain to this quick & fun test and see what YOU see…
Check it out!

If our lives are the dynamic tension between our Fears and our Dreams…

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Speaking of Dreams, this is what Making History & Winning Looks and Feels Like!
Success takes a village in any language or arena…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KILU3oV39uw&feature=related

Creativity Comes in Many Flavors: The Fruit Parade:
Like the Rose parade in Pasadena, this is a fruit parade in Tiel, Netherlands. Check out these amazing floats made from fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds.
Click here

Finally, Soul Food Friday would not be complete without gracing you with a musical interlude that feeds the soul:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/GInf0lXsyKY?feature=player_embedded

Thanks this week to Conner and Terry, Steve H., Beth, Jiloo & Larry

Pay it Forward!

https://soulfoodfriday.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/soul-food-for-friday-june-29th/

Love,

Neville

“Your own soul is nourished when you are kind;

it is destroyed when you are cruel.”– King Solomon

Soul Food for June 22nd, 2012: Amazing Paths

Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week:

Mission 2 Volunteer and the Vital Importance of Volunteerism

This past week I had the privilege to honor volunteerism in education at the Cardiff School District, where for the past three years we have shone the spotlight on volunteers that make a difference.

In addition to a plaque that is visible in the school with the names of each volunteer on it, we also provide them with a modest stipend that they can apply to an area in education that they are passionate about at the school. This year’s nominee from the Cardiff SEA was Michelle Martini-Brown, who joins Pam Sylvor and Allison Wylot the 2011 and 2010 Mission 2 Volunteer recipients. Each are great ambassadors for the power and impact of volunteering.

http://www.cardiffschools.com/page/828
Please consider doing this for your school…

Yesterday, chatting with my friends and associates, CJ and Dania at the United Way whose tag line not coincidentally is: GIVE. | ADVOCATE.| VOLUNTEER.| LIVE UNITED® we were discussing the magic of volunteerism.I shared that in my experience, a critical metric from a social mission standpoint is our investment of discretionary energy-as expressed in our time, and no one typifies this better than volunteers!

Isn’t it amazing that in our over-scheduled, over-achieving, time starved lives we find the discretionary energy to volunteer for those things that really matter?
When we give our time with purpose, we give our most precious asset- our energy, applying the law of concentrated attention, “That which we focus on manifests!”

It is true when they say, we are judged by the company we keep!
Hanging out with volunteers is a predictive variable in the quality of OUR life and that of those around you
Volunteers are:

  • Intrinsically motivated people that are compelled by different things than basic reward and punishment, or the proverbial carrot and stick
  • Powered by: autonomy, mastery and purpose

Volunteers see things differently and experience time differently. In other words, we have a different relationship to time. Most people consume or spend time, volunteers produce or invest time, and that investment becomes a legacy gift to the communities they serve.
Thanks Cardiff

Amazing Paths:
My son Arman graduated 8th Grade in the last week, and with other graduations of various flavors transpiring, I hope everyone finds their amazing path in life.
Here are a few for you to meander on…

Click this

May the path your life takes in the next year lead you to fun and adventure, love and peace.

Thanks Larry

What a Drag it is Getting Old…

For those of us that are wondering where the years go, rest assured that you are only as old as you feel…watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq4NfHZkXtA

Thanks Chris

Childcare:

As Summer begins and the parents look for babysitting options in earnest, here are some alternatives…

Check them out!

Thanks again Larry

Be present, Be involved, Be the difference

On behalf of our extended community, thank you for your active engagement!

Our world is a better place because of YOU

Pay it Forward.
Love,
Neville

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Bless you Robert Frost