Empowering people to make strengthening choices
I’ve written about Martin Seligman, the father of “positive psychology” in the past. He didn’t begin his career writing about how to be positive and happy but rather studied depression and became known for his studies on “learned helplessness,” a term he coined. Seligman found that when people perceive they don’t have control over a […]
In my last post, I introduced the following pattern of personal transformation: Steps in Personal Transformation In a nutshell, here are the steps: Step One: Wake up (be fully present, alert and conscious of what is happening) Step Two: Take accountability (claim ownership rather than living from blame and excuses) Step Three: Interrupt old patterns […]
The Hero’s Choice is a story about the personal transformation of Hal Stratton from a successful but emotionally underdeveloped man into a person who discovers wholeness inside and goodwill in his relationships. At the beginning of the book, Hal is not emotionally prepared to deal with the crisis of being fired as general manager of […]
If we make externals (money, status, power, popularity) our primary measures of happiness we find ourselves in a world in which we're never satisfied. No matter how much we have, achieve, or accomplish we sense that something is missing. We are living from a scarcity mentality, always comparing our lot in life to others and forever aware of what we lack rather than appreciating the blessings and goodness of life.
Although our “key moments” are difficult to face and handle, they bless our lives because they are the means by which we grow. They give us an opportunity to interrupt old patterns and act from a new set of principles. Here’s an example from The Hero’s Choice. Think about Hal’s interaction with Kathy as he […]
Last week I wrote about “who” vs. “what.” We all have lots of “what’s” in our lives, situations and events to which we must respond. Some can be quite challenging. However, by knowing who we are and anchoring ourselves in deep, positive beliefs about our identity, we empower ourselves to respond in positive, non-reactive ways […]
I recounted in my blog, last week, the story of Elizabeth Smart, the 14-year-old girl kidnapped from her home in the middle of the night and held captive and abused daily for nine months before being freed by law enforcement and returned to her family. “Who” More Than “What” You might recall that I posed […]
I’m intrigued by the story of Elizabeth Smart, the 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her bedroom in Salt Lake City on June 5, 2002. The previous evening, Elizabeth’s family attended an award ceremony at Elizabeth’s school. Her father, Ed Smart, locked up the house, as usual, and the family went to bed. In the […]
