Why Change?

I have spent years trying to define what change means to an individual life. Change is a constant.

There are changes we cannot control that happen in the World at large. We can not end a war.
But we can choose our habits and attitudes. This site will focus on improving our performance in the areas of our greatest influence.

Aristotle is often quoted as saying,

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire."

"We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence is therefore not an act but a habit."

We will work on a checklist of good habits that will help you create the lifestyle of which you dream.

Reason, passion and desire will keep us motivated and help us to choose worthwhile goals. Habits will be the daily actions that move us along our path to a better life. Daily self-management is an art to be learned because lasting changes in peoples' lives is an "inside job". We need to take lessons to heart and learn about what we want our lives to be, i.e., our purpose. We may need to change some attitudes and some habits along the way to becoming more effective in creating our vision of the meaningful life.

Learning from the example of mentors and people we admire is a good place to start in refining your habits for better results. Investors often gravitate to the methodology employed by a great investor like Warren Buffet as a starting point in formulating thier approach to financial markets and the investing process. Body builders look to Arnold, Boxers look to Sugar Ray,singers to Frank Sinatra, etc. for inspiration and a method of maneuvering through thier chosen profession.

We can train ourselves using books and the Internet which has dedicated itself to open learning, giving every person with a computer and an internet source worldwide an opportunity to hear lectures and read academic papers or to take courses on-line. This fantastic development give a whole new meaning to the autodidact. The self-taught man has many more learning opportunities before him than at any time in past history. Coincidentally, this phenomena may "pop the bubble" of massive student loans given to attend over-priced universities for an education that seldom leads to employment. This may become a similar crash to the housing mortgage implosion of 2008 that is keeping banks and financial markets in a constant state of turmoil today.

The 5 Pillars of Change is my attempt to give readers a method to begin making changes in thier habits to more effectively pursue their goals.

Changing Times

Dalai Lama - Mission Statement

“He frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of inter-religious harmony and the welfare of the Tibetan people, focusing on the survival of their identity, culture and religion.”

Its a Mean Old World

WHERE DO WE START TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE?

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there."

— Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)

Patience is the beginning of Mindfulness

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

St. Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 20 August 430)

(As quoted in Distilled Wisdom: An Encyclopedia of Wisdom in Condensed Form‎ (1964) by Alfred Armand Montapert, p. 270)

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo

What if the Secret to Success Is Failure? - NYTimes.com

What if the Secret to Success Is Failure? - NYTimes.com:

'via Blog this'

Random Thoughts

"A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends."
- Baltasar Gracian


"The argument from Intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence."
- Ayn Rand


"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see."
- Arthur Schopenhauer


"What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do."
- Aristotle


"It is better to fail at your own life than to succeed at someone else's."
Andre Gide


"It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them."
- Alfred Adler


"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed."
- Alexander Pope


"A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it."
- Albert Einstein


"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."
- B. F. Skinner

"Don't let the noise of others drown out your inner voice." - Steve Jobs


An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. - Mohandas Gandhi

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Random

A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary. ~ Seneca

When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion. - Ethiopian Proverb

Steve Jobs: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been." ~Steve Jobs quoting Wayne Gretzky.

"Brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world & talented enough to do it" -Obama on #SteveJobs

Steve Jobs talks about living life while you are still alive.

‎"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid
the trap of thinking you have something to lose." - Steve Jobs, 2005


Steve Jobs passed away today, October 5, 2011:

"We're born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It's been happening for a long time." -- Steve Jobs, 1993

‎"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid
the trap of thinking you have something to lose." - Steve Jobs, 2005

Steve Jobs, Apple’s Visionary, Dies at 56

If he had a motto, it may have come from “The Whole Earth Catalog,” which he said had deeply influenced him as a young man. The book, he said in his commencement address at Stanford in 2005, ends with the admonition “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

“I have always wished that for myself,” he said.

Steve Lohr

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Your Morning Fog Dog: What is a Fog Dog?

Your Morning Fog Dog: What is a Fog Dog?:

What is a Fog Dog?

The definition of a Fog Dog is a bright spot sometimes seen at the horizon as a fog starts to dissipate. Origin: From the fact that it accompanies fog as a dog accompanies its owner.

If you are a sailor, the term Fog Dog is likely part of your lexicon

When sea captains were navigating unsettled conditions accompanied by zero visibility, they instructed their crew to keep a keen eye for the Fog Dog. Seeing a break in the haze was a good indication that clear weather was ahead and rough seas would soon subside. The captains understood that deep swells, combined with the inability to see what was ahead, created anxiety among the crew. The sight of a Fog Dog lifted spirits and boosted confidence that better circumstances were inevitably ahead.

The Kauffman Foundation sponsored a 2009 study that found more than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession or bear market. It's likely that even during today's economic slowdown, some of tomorrow's highly respected companies are just getting their start. In 1975 our economy was in the midst of crippling stagflation and a significant spike in oil prices. In the middle of this tsunami of bad news, Microsoft and Apple saw a Fog Dog and created two companies which have positively impacted all of our lives. The fact is, our perspective is what determines our prospects regardless of the economic conditions.

Why is a Fog Dog Important?

We all need to live with Vision of how things can improve with time and effort on our parts. Otherwise we will be becalmed (carrying on with the sailing metaphor) in our current situation.

Sustainable Food Production

In order to feed the people of the world, we need to determinedly begin to reduce our reliance on animal protein, i.e., cattle, hogs and chickens. It is both inefficient and unkind to kill animals for protein as well as producing many ill affects on human health.

Optimism and Laughter

 Positive Attitude Month :

Optimism and laughter, while enjoyable in their own right, bring benefits like health, longevity, and a decrease in stress. You may also know that a positive attitude can be cultivated, meaning even if you're not naturally prone to bright-side looking, you can actively change that.

October is Positive Attitude Month, which reminds you to make the effort to cultivate the attitude that can bring you greater health, happier relationships, and more luck in life. 

It's true that we are all born with a certain "set point" for some traits, such as openness, agreeableness, extroversion, conscientiousness, an neuroticism (known as "The Big Five" in the world of psychology), and these inborn personality tendencies influence our levels of optimism, positivity, and happiness. 

Positive Psychology research has found, we can alter our habitual thought patterns by actively changing the way we choose to see things. 

If we challenge negative thinking patterns, for example, and replace them with more positive patterns, the new, more positive patterns become our habit, and we can actually create a new set-point for happiness.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."
~Plato

We are all fighting a great battle in our lives as we seek more happiness and avoid pain therefore, we need to adopt attitudes that buoy us in turbulent moments.  Having a positive outlook is a tool you can use to motivate yourself to find solutions.  Learned helplessness is an attitude to avoid because you are going face daily difficulties.  Deal with the problems as they arise and do not waste energy worrying about the future or regretting the past.  Life unfolds in moments and our power to act is in the now.    

I cannot think of a better way to counteract the pain and uncertainty of living with M.S. than to manage your attitude.  We can choose how we feel about our situation.  Feeling better about ourselves will give us the motivation to take better care of ourselves.  M.S. is a disease with no cause, no cure and no effective treatment which forces us to take some responsibility for our well-being.  Addressing areas of your lifestyle such as, diet can exert many benefits in dealing with chronic illness.  We are fighting a great battle and need a Warrior's attitude towards our enemy within.

Positive Attitude Resources From Elizabeth Scott: 

http://stress.about.com/b/2011/10/02/happy-positive-attitude-month.htm

Mindfulness Continental Style

“The life of our city is rich in poetic and marvelous subjects.
We are enveloped and steeped as though in an atmosphere of the marvelous; but we do not notice it.”
(Charles Baudelaire - French poet, 1821-1867)

Imagery for Getting Well

Creating the image of meaning in despair, finding joy in crisis, and imaging hope in tragedy.  In other words, it is about seeing the pony in the mire of a life-threatening or chronic condition.

- Deirdre Davis Brigham, author "Imagery for Getting Well -Clinical Applications of Behavioral Medicine

Beginner's Mind

Sit down before facts like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion.  Follow humbly whatever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.
- T.H. Huxley