“Call it avoidance, complacency, indecisiveness, stubborness or noncompliance. Whatever the term or definition, I have often tried to find some way to delay change or run in the opposite direction from it.”
The challenge
In her post Change and the HSP, from her blog Inside the Mind of a Highly Sensitive Person, Helen Akers takes a look [...]
In her article, How To Stop Being So Hard On Yourself, excerpted below, expert on highly sensitive living Jenna Avery explains why sensitive people are so self-critical, and how we can stop:
Every time I work with a fellow sensitive soul, it seems like we always bump into some kind of fear or limiting belief about [...]
Filmmaker Harrod Blank grew up in the isolated Santa Cruz mountains of California, without a TV and with only roosters and chickens for friends. At 16, driven by a desire to communicate who he is with others, he began decorating cars, beginning with his bland, white Volkswagen.
The resulting car,”Oh My God,” introduced him to [...]
In his article The Keys to Self-Confidence, Brian Tracy gives an example of someone who overcame fear to “do what their hearts tell them to do” – here is an excerpt :
One of greatest of all impressionist painters was a man named Paul Gauguin.
He had a family and worked in the post office in Paris [...]
In this clip, Dick (Jim Carrey) is feeling exuberantly self-assured after getting a promotion, and sings “I Believe I Can Fly.”
There are many variations of belief and attitudes that can keep us from “flying” and realizing our talents and dreams.
In his article Facing the Enemies Within – Courage and Fear, Jim Rohn talks about five [...]
Einstein’s concept that “time is relative depending on your state of motion” had been explored by others, but “they were too confined by the dogmas of the day.
“Einstein alone was impertinent enough to discard the notion of absolute time.” Walter Isaacson, who wrote the biography Einstein: His Life and Universe.
Robert Ornstein, PhD, author of The [...]
One of the creativity-inspiring characters in her book The Nine Modern Day Muses is Audacity, as author Jill Badonsky explains:
Audacity in the case of Muse creativity is not disrespect toward other mortals, or toward oneself. Audacity’s influence includes respect — yet this does not necessarily mean a positive public opinion is needed.
In fact, one of [...]
Susan Boyle, 47, is a single woman from a small village in Scotland, and lives with her cat named Pebbles. She inspired and amazed a British talent show audience and judges, and YouTube viewers, with her singing performance.
Here is a video and more news:
When something happens to us or we do something that can be called a failure, there are often ideas and feelings we attach to that experience, such as thinking we are lacking or insufficient, or have lost personal power or strength, or we call ourselves a person who does not succeed.
So we may think it [...]
Michael Angier on change, Brian Tracy on achievement, personal development, self improvement resources
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi’s famous advice is another reason to engage in personal development: to make this a better world, as well as improve ourselves.
“Be the change..” may be a simple aphorism, but it is [...]
Many creative people report feeling incompetent, inadequate and having low self esteem at times. But there are ways to shift those feelings.
A number of film actors report they don’t watch their own movies. When you can be seen in close-ups on twenty foot high theater screens, it may be especially hard not to criticize your [...]
We live in stressful times
What with all the political rhetoric and economic disasters, there is plenty to trigger anxiety, on multiple levels. But we don’t have to live being driven by the alarm emotions of our primitive lizard brain.
In her article Exceptional Times Call for Exceptional Pleasures (on the Positive Psychology News Daily site), Denise [...]
Comfortable with being different
A new Los Angeles Times profile describes some of Barack Obama’s journey, including these excerpts:
As a scholarship student at Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1979, Obama faced assertions of identity everywhere: the Democrat/Socialist Alliance, Black Student Assn., Jewish Student Action Coalition, feminist support group, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan.
It was here [...]
A fate worse than death
Speaking in front of an audience is reportedly more fearsome than death. It doesn’t have to be a crowd – simply another person.
But an audience of any size can be helpful in encouraging our creative expression and personal development – more so if we can be relaxed and authentic.
In his article [...]
Gifted and disobedient
One of the qualities of many high ability people is divergent thinking (see Giftedness characteristics.) But that also can mean divergent values and behavior. Einstein was expelled from school (in 1894) for “undermining the authority of his teachers and being a disruptive influence.” [From post: Does school encourage or limit high ability people?]
The [...]
“I don’t like the word nice; it means No Inner Core Evident.”
That is a quote from one of creativity coach Eric Maisel’s podcasts titled “On Being Too Nice” in which the focus [as the description says] is “on the problem of self-censorship and how too many people, wanting to be ‘nice,’ fail to find the [...]
“Protesters held and wore signs demanding impeachment of the president.” [From the Wikipedia page: Movement to impeach George W. Bush.]
“A public opinion poll from the American Research Group recently reported that more than four in ten Americans — 45% — favor impeachment hearings for President Bush and more than half — 54% — favored impeachment [...]
Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck): We’re both rotten.
Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray): Only you’re a little more rotten.
[Double Indemnity, 1944]
Those sort of critical insults may be fun in movies or novels, but how we think of ourselves – or what we accept others saying about us – can have a deep influence on how we engage [...]
One of the themes of this site is looking at ways we compromise our self confidence and authentic inner strength, and how we can be more empowered to realize our talents and dreams.
So what does this loaded term ‘power’ mean? With current events like the war and police reactions to immigrant rights protest marchers, there [...]
We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous.
Make our troops know we’re for them and trying to get [...]
