What do you if all the people are crossing the street, not heeding the traffic lights? Do you cross the street too, while the light is red, because everyone else is doing so?

Suppose you see all the people are crossing the street, but you stop and say, “I don’t care what they are doing, I am going to wait until the light changes.” You will most probably feel awkward and think that people are laughing at you or ridiculing you, because you are waiting for the light to change. You don’t want to stand out and you don’t want everyone looking at you.

Do you know that you can use this situation to your advantage? You can use this situation to develop inner strength, courage, and decisiveness.

• Wait until the light changes, because you decide to strengthen yourself. You are waiting not because you are afraid to cross the street or because you are a law abiding citizen, which is good, but because you decide to wait.
• Ignore any feeling of inconvenience or ridicule, because you are the only person not crossing the street.
• Resist the desire to cross the street. Ignore the little voice inside your head telling you to cross the street and be like everyone else.
• Stay patient until the light changes, even if you are in a hurry.
• Wait, even if you feel inner restlessness.

Do this the next time you are in this situation and see what happens. Are you strong enough to act in this way? If you succeed, you will feel a sensation of power and strength filling you. You will feel strong and powerful.

This is an exercise that teaches you self discipline, and strengthens your ability to control senseless inner impulses, control your thoughts, and develop inner strength and the ability to abide by your decisions, despite external and inner obstacles.

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How to find peace of mind when your mind is constantly occupied with thoughts, taking you from one thought to another, from one worry to another?

You can find peace of mind, but this requires that you do something about it.

What is peace of mind? It is a state of inner peace, when your mind is calm, like the surface of a lake on a summer day. It is a state when you are not harassed by thoughts and worries, and you can avoid the thoughts you don’t want to think. It is a state of freedom from worry and anxiety, and from restless, negative and disturbing thoughts.

In this state there is calmness and happiness, better concentration, inner strength, and a heightened state of awareness. Your external life might not necessarily change, but your inner life, your mind, and your attitude would change.

How to find peace of mind?

Everything that can quiet your mind will help you find peace of mind:

1. Spend some time every now and then in nature, in a forest or at the beach.
2. Take a walk, where you can be alone.
3. Get enough sleep at night.
4. When watching TV, prefer comedies and programs that make you laugh, feel happy or inspire you.
5. Read inspiring quotes every day.
6. Be more forgiving, and don’t harbor grudges or resentments.
7. Don’t blame or criticize other people.
8. Don’t postpone doing things that you have to, and which don’t like doing. Do them, and take them out of your mind.
9. Be aware of your thoughts and refuse dwelling on negative thoughts or worries. Don’t fight them, but just try to express lack of interest in them.
10. When feeling worried or tense, take a few deep breaths.
11. Seek the company of peaceful people.

These are just a few simple tips to show you how to find peace of mind. All these tips can bring some temporary inner peace when you need it, but if you wish to find a deeper and more constant and stable state of inner peace you will need to:

• Practice concentration exercises.
• Practice meditation, any form of meditation.
• Develop some degree of inner detachment (it has nothing to do with being indifferent), so that you don’t get swayed or carried away by events, people, or what people say or do.

Get a complete course, with guidance and exercises on how to find peace of mind.

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Here are a few of the reasons responsible for lack of self discipline:

People are not born with self discipline; they need to develop it, but they don’t know how to do so.

The erroneous notion that self discipline is something difficult to attain and requires too much denials.

Negative mental programming and negative environment are also responsible for this lack.

Laziness is one of the main factors that lead to lack of self discipline. People prefer comfortable laziness, instead of actions that require effort. Laziness is comfortable, since it is pleasant and effortless, while self discipline requires effort.

Fear of failure is also a reason for lack of self discipline. It hold back initiative and being perseverant, and leads to lack of inner strength.

Temptations weaken self discipline. We are all subject to temptations in many forms every day. We are exposed to advertisements in newspapers, magazines and on TV, telling us to buy this or that. We see a huge array of products for sale in the supermarkets and in the shopping malls, and we are offered many ways to pass the time, such as TV programs, movies, restaurants, concerts, sports competitions and many other sorts of entertainment.

How can you ignore the beautifully arranged and tasty food at the supermarket, or resist watching a TV show, which offers a pleasant escape from daily life? Accepting and following all these pleasures indiscriminately, and without using common sense tend to weaken self discipline.

Lack of self-esteem is another factor that leads to lack of self discipline.

Lack of goals or purpose in life is also responsible for lack of self discipline and vice versa.

Procrastination is another reason of lack of self discipline.
Lack of willpower, motivation and ambition are also causes for lack of self discipline.

A weak state of health might also lead to weakness of this important ability.

These are just few of the reasons for lack of self discipline. This situation can be remedied, but few people know how. You can find more articles on this subject at this website, as well as a book with practical and proven techniques and exercises on how to overcome lack of self discipline.

Copyright © 2010 Remez Sasson Remez Sasson Blog. | Permalink | 3 comments

My brother teaches middle school social studies, a job that requires him to give lots and lots of feedback. Some of it is called grading. A big part of his job is to teach kids to do a careful analysis, then present good, clear arguments that are well bolstered with facts. One of the hardest parts of his job is helping students to understand how to master this craft when every essay they write has slightly different demands and requirements.

Parents often spend a lot of time doing the same thing, although the behaviors we are looking for aren’t always as clear cut as the rubric for grading a persuasive essay. In her work on parenting style, Baumrind found that all parents had fairly clear ideas about how they want their children to behave, although they differ in how they help their children get there. Even if parents can’t always articulate them clearly, they can always tell that when their expectations have been violated. It’s when they get annoyed.

At work, supervisors do the same thing, judging employees’ performance based on how well it matches up to their internal sense of how the job should be done.

All of us – teachers, parents, and supervisors – are constantly passing judgments and providing feedback so that those we’re working with will perform better over time.

My brother shared this exercise with me. I think it does a good job of demonstrating what kind of feedback is most helpful and it’s one I often do in class. But it requires a little imagination.

The Clapping Contest: An Exercise for the Imagination

Imagine you are taking part in a clapping contest. I know it’s an odd thing to do, but just imagine it…..

Read the complete article:
Are You Good At Giving Feedback? An Exercise in Clapping

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

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50 Famously Successful People Who Failed at First

Not everyone who’s on top today got there with success after success. More often than not, those who history best remembers were faced with numerous obstacles that forced them to work harder and show more determination than others. Next time you’re feeling down about your failures in college or in a career, keep these fifty famous people in mind and remind yourself that sometimes failure is just the first step towards success.

Business Gurus
These businessmen and the companies they founded are today known around the world, but as these stories show, their beginnings weren’t always smooth.

1. Henry Ford: While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and American-made cars, he wasn’t an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five time before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company.
2. R. H. Macy: Most people are familiar with this large department store chain, but Macy didn’t always have it easy. Macy started seven failed business before finally hitting big with his store in New York City.
3. F. W. Woolworth: Some may not know this name today, but Woolworth was once one of the biggest names in department stores in the U.S. Before starting his own business, young Woolworth worked at a dry goods store and was not allowed to wait on customers because his boss said he lacked the sense needed to do so.
4. Soichiro Honda: The billion-dollar business that is Honda began with a series of failures and fortunate turns of luck. Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation for a job after interviewing for a job as an engineer, leaving him jobless for quite some time. He started making scooters of his own at home, and spurred on by his neighbors, finally started his own business.
5. Akio Morita: You may not have heard of Morita but you’ve undoubtedly heard of his company, Sony. Sony’s first product was a rice cooker that unfortunately didn’t cook rice so much as burn it, selling less than 100 units. This first setback didn’t stop Morita and his partners as they pushed forward to create a multi-billion dollar company.

Read the whole list of 50 Famously Successful People Who Failed At First.

Source:
www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/

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