Archive for October, 2008

Living an extraordinary life – Robert White on audacious self-declaration

Let your light shine Robert White writes: One of the most powerful pieces of writing that I’ve ever seen is from Marianne Williamson’s book A Return to Love. It was quoted by Nobel Prize–winner Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address, and perhaps you’ve heard it before. I used a sentence from it when talking earlier [...]

Personal improvement – Steve Pavlina on The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth

Steve Pavlina on personal development, personal growth book, self actualization, gifted and talented book That comes from the subtitle of Steve Pavlina’s book Personal Development for Smart People. One of the most influential psychologists who defined the human potential movement, Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) noted, “Self-actualization means using one’s intelligence. “It does not mean doing some [...]

Finding courage: Fear and panic and going positive, not going under

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 [...]

Shamed and unashamed – overcoming low self esteem

Bad to the bone Psychiatrist Michael Lewis, author of the book Shame: The Exposed Self, considers shame to be so powerful because it’s about the perception of having a “defective self.. rotten and no good.” But, he notes, “We don’t want to live in a world in which there is no shame or guilt. We [...]

Ruts and Change – barriers to personal growth

Being seduced by the comfort of routine and the known is one of the ways we limit ourselves and inhibit social change. Conservative thinking on both a personal and political level may feel safe, but can nurture stagnation. Doing more about our inertia, we can grow more effectively toward who we want to be, and [...]

Being brutally honest with ourselves – the basis for self growth

Brigid O’Shaughnessy [Mary Astor]: Help me. Sam Spade [Humphrey Bogart]: You won’t need much of anybody’s help. You’re good. Chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get in your voice when you say things like ‘Be generous, Mr. Spade.’ Brigid O’Shaughnessy: I deserve that. But the lie was in the way I said [...]

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