Tag Archives: thinking

What’s NOT Taught in Schools Can Hurt Us

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset by

Whenever I start writing an article I usually do a bit of Googling just to see who’s writing what and what other people’s thoughts are around the subject that I am examining. At the back of my mind, as I was about to enter the search words I was thinking about my own experience at school. I woke up every single day rearing to go. I couldn’t wait to get to school to learn. Haha – I wish! My time in school was spent figuring out how to fit in and not stand out – how to belong. It would have been early in Form two that I would discover that becoming the class clown would make you stand out but get you ‘in’ with the popular groups so that’s what I did.

In any event my first search unearthed this heading “Welcome to the School of Wonderful, Wonderful You” by Shannon Cuts about a course run by popular author Byron Katie. Sounds fabulous doesn’t it? This was the takeaway from that post: “When was the last time you appreciated yourself? Can you remember why? What did it feel like – living inside your own skin – and being truly known, appreciated, respected, and loved for who you are? How might your life be different if you lived that way on a daily basis?” I could certainly have benefited from this kind of thinking instead of trying to portray myself as someone I was not just to be liked by other students who weren’t really affected by my shape shifting one way or another.

Then I came across this tongue in cheek piece by Butler Shaffer called ‘The Schools are doing a Wonderful Job’ – “I sometimes grow weary listening to people complaining that the government schools are doing a terrible job. I have many objections to this horrid system, but I must give it credit for accomplishing its actual — but unstated — purpose, namely, to dumb-down the minds of people so as to make them unquestioning and obedient vassals of the established order. There is nothing so disruptive to the status quo as a society of self-directed, independent-minded people both capable of and insistent on informed, analytical thought. It has been the purpose of government schools to assure that such conditions do not arise; to continue to produce a society of capable workers but who, nonetheless, have passive and contented minds.” (He’s talking about government schools in the USA.)

I don’t believe that there are good schools and bad schools. I believe that what makes the difference are the people. There are, like in any other industry, those who are showing up, really wanting to make a difference in the lives of those they lead and there are others who are content following a curriculum minimally to ensure that no one notices enough to make a ruckus and drawing a salary at the end of the month – content with themselves that they didn’t really earn it.

What concerns me is something Mr. Shaffer said about thinking. Many business owners, while happy with their employees’ general performance often fret about their inability to process and THINK things through? Why is that? Once we have practiced a certain kind of behavior it is difficult to unlearn it so perhaps this lack of thinking and processing for ourselves starts way before we get into the work environment. And please don’t think this is a “let’s bash schools” exercise because it is not.

Parents too are responsible for the lack of “thinking” in kids. They do ALL the thinking because Jessie needs to focus on preparation for SEA or the other exam which was G.C.E. O’Levels in my day and I can’t remember right now <smile>. A child presents a question and rather than asking another question to get the child thinking – we provide the answer.

The other thing glaringly missing in the school education system, apparent only because of the results in the workplace of employees continuously asking for salary advances and living in cyclical debt is of course financial literacy. Sharon Lechter says “Why do we need financial education? Simply put, because it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest factor in helping a student be financially independent and successful after graduation. Isn’t that the exact reason we are sending our children to school? I doubt it’s solely for the pure value of knowledge at the expense of massive debt.”

I am willing to do my part in the ‘Thinking’ arena and have in my possession, programs targeting students, complete with workbooks etc. All I need are some willing volunteers as this cannot be a one man show. I have tried and failed to get it into a couple of schools only because we couldn’t seem to get the time right but the principals approached all thought it was a great idea. I cannot help with the financial literacy and education part because I too am in need of that learning however I do know that the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago have a program going into businesses and teaching employees about money and finance. Perhaps someone could consider the schools.

Eventually students are going to make up the workplace. If we continue as we are leaving out these essential “must haves” in school, we will just be introducing problems into our economic system that we simply cannot bear and really do not need!

The only way to ‘Be Yourself’ is to own yourself

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And the only way to ‘own’ yourself is to learn about yourself and constantly reprogramme until you get the results you want. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of blaming circumstances as to why you don’t have more. We ‘want want want’ all the time but are we choosing to do anything differently?

So many of us want to jump ‘levels’ and chase the ‘greener grass’ over and over again. Always looking for a better opportunity, never realising WE ARE the problem. We have been given the greatest power in the world, the power to choose. Everything that is in our past is either: a learning experience to grow on, a beautiful memory to reflect on, or a motivating factor to act upon.

Ever feel like you’re in an ongoing wrestling match with life? The minute you figure out one thing — something else comes up? I recently found myself trapped in the illusion of reaching an end — where everything was fixed and I had no more repairs to make. But this thinking is stressful, because the truth is — there is no end. Perhaps there might be end-ments but following right after are commencements. Each day is commencement day.

In her book End the Struggle and Dance with Life, Susan Jeffers talks about our need to learn how to “surrender.” Surrender means “letting go of our attachment to the world being any different than it is.” Whenever some change occurs, she advises that we say “OK, Universe. Take over please.” This doesn’t mean, “OK, Universe. Don’t let anything change” It means…

“OK, Universe. Take over, please. Whatever happens, so be it. I trust the Grand Design. I trust it is all happening as it is supposed to happen.”

We can learn and grow from it all. If we don’t have this kind of trust, we sometimes isolate ourselves from some of the most blissful experiences in life. This is such a huge world, that it is truly self-denial when we hold ourselves back because we are trying to hold on too tightly to something that is ultimately impermanent.

What I realised is that we must be able to do all that we can possibly do to the best of our ability. And when we’ve done that — we must surrender. Sometimes though we’re saying one thing, but our actions, beliefs and habits ‘say’ something else.

You can’t build a $100,000 a year income inside a $20,000 a year mind.

You can’t build a powerful mind inside a house filled with weak habits.

You can’t build an organised life inside a chaotic and scattered mind.

In a magazine People and Possibilities Veronica Hay asks: “what if you choose to be totally present and conscious for the next 30 days, not walking around in a daze, but aware of each precious moment, taking nothing for granted, counting each blessing, savouring each encounter, relishing each experience, feeling grounded to the earth, perhaps for the very first time, viewing it all from a higher place than before. What new people, experiences, habits, will you welcome into your life and which ones will you have finally let go of and how will that make you feel?”

Why don’t you take this challenge? What one thing can you promise yourself to do every single day, for the next 30 days, and keep your word about it, and how will it feel at the end of the 30 days when you have completed it? It could be writing an article a day, or dancing or exercising every day or simply remembering to keep your word. Keeping your word is a big one. If you did that alone for one entire month, your life will have changed dramatically.

Where will you be on the thirtieth day, what will you have accomplished, what will you have done with this precious thirty days that you have been given and what impact will that have made upon your life?

We are our own scriptwriters and the play is never finished, no matter what our age or position in life. By thinking and acting affirmatively in this minute, you will influence the hour, the day, and in time, your entire life.

Life is a do-it-for-others, do-it-yourself project. Stop ‘sticking’ and start doing! Make one decision. Change one habit. Take action TNT – OWN yourself today – not tomorrow!

To get help in taking action click here…


Something to think about…

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset, Practicing Self Mastery by

You get what you think about, whether you want it or not.

Louisa May Alcott phrases it in a much more inspiring manner…

Far away in the sunshine are

my highest inspirations,

I may not reach them,

but I can look up and see the beauty,

believe in them and try to

follow where they lead…

Your thoughts must match those things you desire.

If you find that you’re frustrated, and stuff is always eluding you then perhaps it’s in the thinking.

As Flip Wilson used to say “What you SEE is what you GET!” Visualize and think about what you want – don’t focus on what you don’t want …but either way – YOU GONNA GET IT!

We are all creative

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset by

I am not

This is what we say all the time. I am not the creative type. Yet we’re creating every single day. By our very thoughts and words we are always creating.

Do you like what you’re creating?

Think different thoughts, and you will get different results. Try it. Experiment. Stop saying you’re not creative. When you say that you are creating non creativeness. :)

You cannot escape creating. Stop trying to. Instead – try this.

Focus on those things that you want. Think them through, in as much detail as you could. Begin to feel and believe that you already have the things you see in your minds eye. Look at yourself in the mirror.

“Yes!” you say ” I am a creator. I am creative.”

And so it is.

Image from http://www.thefullbellmonty.com

Real value lies in interpretation and application

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset by

A Parable I borrowed from Emmet Fox to explain my point :)

“A remote island was inhabited by highly intelligent savages. They had some primitive art and made excellent drawings of animals on the walls of caves. A box was washed ashore containing a number of books, dry and in good condition. The natives were delighted and pored over these pages admiring the odd shapes and patterns made by the letterpress – totally unaware of the real meanings behind it all; unaware of the very existence of Falstaff, or Portia, or Hamlet; of Huckleberry Finn, and of the other characters who lived in the books.”

If you have been reading books, without deeply thinking about what you have been reading or how it may apply to you and how you can use what you’ve read to make your life, and subsequently the world a much better place to live in – then you are just in that position.

Photo of Hall of Bulls Lascaux, from http://www.arthistory4kids.com

Things to do vs. What I’ve done

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset by

I had an a-ha moment this morning.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been feeling really tired but this morning I realized that most of it was not physical fatigue but mental.

Now I am a note taker – constantly jotting – writing things down, yet I still felt the burden of all my thoughts about what I had to do collectively weighing down on me.

Of course THINKING isn’t a bad thing.

I encourage thinking. In fact Napoleon Hill of “Think and Grow Rich” fame, talks a lot about ACCURATE THINKING and I’ve heard Dan Kennedy underscore this point many times.

What then am I suggesting?

That we stop THINKING about what we have to do and start doing them. I have thought about all the stuff I have to do to the point of mental exhaustion. This is NOT healthy!

So starting today create a Universal list of all the things you usually have to get done in any one week. Make personal time with yourself a priority. Block an hour for this in your calendar throughout the week. Most times we are frazzled because we don’t take time for us.

Make the time.

When you start each day – look at what you have to do and start with the first thing. Focus on that one thing (no checking of emails, answering the phone, blackberrying etc) for 50 minutes. When that time is up, get up and move around. Stretch. Get a drink of water. Then get back to work and focus for another 50 minutes.

At the end of the day, focus on what you did “get done”. What did you in fact achieve? Celebrate that. Feel good about it.

I’m not saying that this is a guarantee to get everything done that you set out to on any given day, but I do feel that it does guarantee that you won’t feel as mentally exhausted as I did in these last few weeks.

I’m going to THINK less about what I have to do – and “do” in 50 minute spurts.

What about you?

Photo courtesy Suat Eman @ freedigitalphotos.net

Is it possible to be do and have anything you want?

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset, Practicing Self Mastery by

That’s the question I woke up with today.

Nike made famous the “Just Do It” slogan and many times that’s what we are told in various forms -

You can do anything you put your mind to!

Just start the process – it will all fall into place.

Of course you can – the world is your oyster.

Can we really do ANYTHING?

The answer to that comes in our ‘doing’. If we never try then we’ll never find out!

Most times we sit on the couch of life, throwing ideas up in our heads and then pulling them back down again, saying that it’s just impossible or I can’t do that, or I can’t do that NOW – because of the economy, my parents or the day they’ve got the class – it’s a Saturday and I’m just not giving up my Saturdays!

Larry Winget has an interesting perspective. In a 2 min audio he says “You can do MORE than you THINK you can and MORE than you’re doing right now.”

I don’t know about you but it’s a statement I am starting to A LOT!

Photo courtesy jscreationzs @ freedigitalphotos.net