Category Archives: Personal Growth and Development

First, I apologize for not posting more regularly recently. I had a week of travel come up that I hadn’t expected and it threw a small wrench in some work plans. I’m not complaining though, I’d much rather be busy than idle.

A friend of mine connected me to a video titled Look at Yourself after Watching This that I think is a must-see. It’s just over four minutes and worth your time. It got me thinking about how much in life we take for granted.

Some experiences about a year ago really brought me down emotionally. Instead of looking at the opportunities that resulted, I focused on the problems. I didn’t look for solutions, I got stuck just thinking about how complicated the whole future looked.

Watch the video and think about how even in the midst of adversity you can turn a lousy hand into a winning one. Think of the number of lives that Nick Vujicic has touched by turning some incredible difficulties into a blessing for those around him. All you have to do is watch some of the expressions in the video.

That led me to thinking about how we often focus on the things in which we struggle instead of those in which we excel. Why is that? Shouldn’t we be taking our natural talents and abilities and making the most of them instead of trying to fix things in which we aren’t gifted? That’s kind of the point of Strength’s Finder 2.0. Tom Rath examines this phenomenon and makes a clear argument on why we should be spending much more time focusing on where we excel. Each copy of the book has a unique code to allow you to take an online assessment test (you will need to purchase a NEW copy of the book to get your code) that will help you find your top five strengths.

A couple of friends of mine read the output from this assessment. What was really surprising was that independently of each other and without knowledge of what the other said, they both indicated that reading it was like reading my biography. I was a bit stunned. This is incredibly powerful material.

Take a chance and find out what your unique gifts are to the world. Turn things that you may have thought of as challenges into something that makes you a power and force to be reckoned with. Become an agent for change in the world around you.

Please let me know if you’ve tackled this. It’s really a very small investment of time that will help you understand yourself better, help you show others what you can do, and make you more effective in the world. I’d love to know about your results either by posting comments here or by letting me know privately.

Unless there is something really pressing in the news I think weekends will be generally dedicated to personal growth and development topics, humor, or just random rants. I might also limit myself to one post on the weekend to give myself a day off. There will be gaps as well if I’m too busy with other projects although I’ll probably make a quick comment as long as I have internet access each day.

Today I want to mention a book that was recommended to me a few months ago (thanks Dawn) around how we can reprogram our own thinking about ourselves. I just finished it last Friday.

I’ve had a number of friends discussing this topic in a general sense lately and it seems like a good one to share. The best thing for me has been how they have tried to give me some perspective on who I am in the world – that can be a very difficult thing to see. I guess it’s similar to a “can’t see the forest for the trees” type of problem. I really appreciate friends like that who help me see some of those truths instead of the goofy lies that run through my head. I think everyone has a number of those they tell themselves.

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The book is What to Say When you Talk To Yourself by Shad Helmstetter. Part of the description of the book probably describes the problem it addresses better than I can. “We all talk to ourselves all of the time, usually without realizing it. And most of what we tell ourselves is negative, counterproductive and damaging, preventing us from enjoying a fulfilled and successful life.”

I’ll give you the core idea although I think the book is a must read. We tend to get trapped in being effective and growing because we are always in a conversation in our heads that “I’m not ________ enough to do that, I could never _________, who am I kidding, there’s no way I could _______” and so on. Before we even try to change ourselves, take on new goals, or accomplish tasks we often cripple ourselves if not outright doom ourselves to failure because of that little voice that keeps cropping up.

So why don’t we try to change the message of that voice? What if we could start having it tell us what we are capable of doing and letting it drive us to succeed and exceed what we thought was possible? The author makes a very convincing argument that it can be done and gives directions on how to change that voice and our subsequent thinking and gives the rationale for how it works from a psychological standpoint.

If you decide to tackle something like this I’d love to hear stories of what is happening, as would other people who read this. I think it could be very motivational. However, if you want to keep it private, I understand that as well. But be bold if you are up to it. Post some comments. Let everyone know what you are planning to do to change yourself and your life. Most importantly, let us know the results.