The Grasp

Grasp this: We all must grab opportunities when they come, or we all depend on luck, fortune, gambling and chance. I mean, genuine opportunity comes in work clothes that look like nothing to grasp, but the opportunity is there, nonetheless. All you have to do as the Aladdin legend goes is "polish the lamp well, at the very least, then out pops the Genie of opportunity." I can type it up for you, but I cannot apply the advice for you. "You must polish the lamp" and apply the advice for yourself.

We must think without prejudging and prejudice about opportunity. We must see the diamonds in the rough with patient uncovering instead of impatient and unrealistic thinking that the opportunities will present themselves complete already.

When I think of the meaning of the words opportunity and education, I think of the reality of life being lived actively and not given to us easily. Especially a fulfilling life.

Why did my Dad live a great life, although it was short? He was honest with himself, and very realistic. My Mother, who is still alive, ascribes it to his simple and honest philosophy of living and dying. I give him this, his honesty could be ascribed to productively used common sense in many ways, but, there was more involved, I understand. He had an element of objective understanding to him that was genuine and rightly used. That is sort of rare, he could look at both sides of realities unemotionally and objectively when he needed to. Seeing things realistically is the greatest gift of all at times, especially without emotional polarization of seeing just one side as "good" or "bad". After all, it could be considered the ability to see, then grasp the genuine reality of a situation without taking sides until one is sure what is going on and why it is going on. I have the same tendency, I admit it, and I encourage it within and without myself.

I interpret things equitably and always strive to be fair and honest, not "good" or "bad" in all of my dealings. I did not say that I was or am perfect, but I do strive to be fair and honest in my dealings with people and reality. Grasping what it means to be that genuinely and in action also could be the best way to be, and I am striving for it always. So, in reality, there is not any "good or bad", but there is the best we can do, for all of us. Grasp that. I leave this on a seeming tangent, so you can draw your own rational conclusions, premises and realities. Thank you for reading.

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My Insatiability In The Quest For Knowledge

I'm hungry for knowledge. That's what this world is about. Perhaps you can join a network of other high performers, work in a high-touch industry like real estate, or learn to intentionally talk to people sitting next to you on the plane, when you donate blood, or at dinner events. But this isn't about information consumption.

In every phase of education, from early years to later life, there are educational issues whose understanding requires concepts about brain function. The debate about how this knowledge should be included in educational thinking has only just begun and it must continue to grow from should be included into the can and must be included. Neuroscience has shown the surprising extent to which the brain is still developing in adolescence, particularly in the frontal and parietal cortices where synaptic pruning (where infrequently used connections are eliminated) does not begin until after puberty.

This is the process by which the axons, carrying messages from and to neurons, become insulated by a fatty substance called myelin, thus improving the efficiency with which information is communicated in the brain. In the frontal and parietal lobes, myelination increases considerably throughout adolescence and, to a less dramatic extent, throughout adulthood, favouring an increase in the speed with which neural communication occurs in these areas. Taking these considerations together, you might expect the teenage brain to be less ready than an adult brain to carry out a range of different processes.

Although in adult brains the changes are less radical than during childhood, the brain continues to change and develop through adulthood Our brain's ever-increasing knowledge n is producing expectations of new educational insights, and many such insights are already beginning to surface.

Some neuroscientists have even suggested that education might be considered as "a process of optimal adaptation such that learning is guided to ensure proper brain development and functionality". There is a growing need for collaborations between neuroscience, psychology and education that embrace insights and understanding from each perspective, and that involve educators and scientists working together at each stage. These collaborations are not straightforward, because the philosophies of education and natural science are very different - with various forms of psychology, bridging the two.

Natural science, on the other hand, is more concerned with the controlled experimental testing of hypotheses and the development of cause-effect mechanisms.Neuroscience is still at an early stage in our understanding of the brain.

In applying recent studies is their focus upon individual cognitive factors rather than the complex abilities required in every day or academic settings.This provides an exciting opportunity with so much yet to be discovered, that teaching and learning will only continue to benefit from the rapid advances in neuroscience and it's growing partnership with teaching, although a fair degree of caution is necessary while the hypotheses, experiments and testing is verified for accuracy and efficacy in the teaching environment to ensure the very best for our learners.

Winners, intentionally learn powerful things. When you learn something new, your brain gets happy. As soon as I changed the association to learning from the constant and explosive growth creates success, my brain became a ramped learning machine!

I think our thirst for knowledge is very good for us.Sharing it is even better. Knowledge is a strength, the greatest strength of all.

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Nothing, But a Mere Guideline: The Purpose of Education

How important is it to practice religiously, everything that we have learned through the course of our education? What if we had a vision that we believe to be groundbreaking, but in order to achieve it, we need to bend some rules? What if something along those things we learned, we encounter something that defies our values? Should we follow blindly just because we are taught the "proper" way to do things? When is the right time to bend the rules for the purpose of fully realizing our vision?

Five years ago, I received my first camera as a gift for my graduation from college. I was so excited; I was taking photos of almost everything, anywhere and anyway I can. After some time, I found my photos pale compared to others. I realized that even though my camera was good, I still needed to learn how to use it properly. Self-teaching from the internet just wouldn't cut it for me anymore, and I knew that I needed to learn from the best. Because of that, I took a crash course in basic photography from a well-known instructor. I loved the whole experience and learned so many things like how to handle my camera properly, basic composition, lighting, equipment of the trade, and basic post processing. And yet, as I was practicing everything that I learned from the workshop, I can't help but still find that some of the photos I took after were as dull as the photos I took before learning the basics. Technically speaking, they were better, but still didn't convey the message I was trying to express in my photos. I addressed all of my concerns to my instructor, and after listening, he simply smiled and told me the reasons as to why I still found my photos lacking.

It seemed that I have been religiously following all the basic principles on taking photos, and because of that, I sacrificed my vision. My instructor told me that the things he taught are just guidelines, so that we know how to properly take any photos. If for some reason the rules get in the way of my vision, the thing I should do is to identify that which hinders it from being fully realized. I should prioritize my ideas, and if the rules get in the way, I should learn how to bend or break them if necessary.

Now that I think about it, education is merely a guideline. It is up to us to incorporate which things we want in our lives, and which should be kept out. There are things that we learn whose purpose is simply to keep us from being ignorant. And there are those that we must simply apply to get us to the next level of knowing.

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Life's Recalculations (By Gini Cunningham)

My life is pretty outstanding. I have had a marvelous career in education, I am now retired and free to do volunteer work, I have three lovely children (two with terrific spouses), gorgeous grandchildren with a third on the way, and a kind and devoted husband. Then there is the extended family: sisters and their spouses, nieces, nephews, and all the great-nieces and great-nephews as well. I suppose that if I had worked hard to imagine what my life would be at 63 when I was just 16, this would probably be about my vision. I am contented, busy, and appreciated. With all of this, why do I still possess such nervous energy?

This is when life's recalculations come into play. In a calculated life, events would unroll - bing, bing, bing - in sequential and logical order. The joy of paragraph one would exist and flourish with no distractions or veers. Lacking, though, would be the sense of adventure, the excitement of trying something new, exploring somewhere different. I realize that some folks are happy to spend days in safe, quiet spaces surrounded by all of the nice people I have described. I want this, but I also want more. I like variety, shuffle, and exhilaration. I like things even but also roughed up a bit as well. I guess that is one reason that I frequently respond with enthusiasm of spirit but absence of forethought. Example: I received a wedding invitation from family and assumed it meant all of my family and me and so my RSVP reflected that 9 would attend. When I checked the Facebook guest list I saw that only my husband and I were actually included, not the family, and so I had to backtrack and quickly email to change the number of guests. This required some recalculation and a few apologies and a dash of frustration.

My personal recalculations include exercise, fitness, and challenges. I jog and swim but recognize that that is not enough to revitalize my entire body and so I have tossed in biking and yoga. Having been a well-balanced diner for years, 16 months ago I cut out meat and fish. One reason was I decided it was more fat than I needed but the real, psychological reason was I like eyes. Whether on a shrimp or a cow, those little sparkles grabbed my soul and then zapped away my fleshy appetite. I do not mind if others devour these and I prepare them for spouse and family, however I just can't indulge any longer. Recalculating diet and exercise to retain maximum health and efficiency took some thinking.

Another recalculations, one with which I am struggling, is determining what is of the greatest value in life for my volunteer efforts. I work in schools and with Alzheimer's awareness. I love both and am devoted to each, however, I also do not possess control over either. That's an entailment of volunteerism, to do as told, as mandated, as stated, and not to wander off, or at least too far off, the beaten path. This is tough since I am also pretty independent. When I see a wrong I right it; when I note a fallacy I correct it; when I bump into a roadblock I view it as temporary and probably not meant for me and so I find a way around or through or under or over or just bulldoze on and obliterate it. I can hear you thinking, "My, recalculations are a necessity here! ASAP" I agree, I should quit, and I disagree, if I quit, how will it ever get done?

I guess what I really must recalculate are my intentions. If they are good, honest, and out in the open, they should be all right, right? I'll work harder at reading faces and bodily signs and restructure as needed, redesign as is necessary, and recalculate to attain goals and accomplish my life's dreams. This sounds doable. But I will also zip on ahead - I must. This is one area, my drive-and-determination, (check how neatly I combined that idea!), where recalculation is an impossibility.

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10 Steps To Kick-Start Your Learning

Making a start can be difficult and tricky given that skill requirement is evolving rapidly. It is important to keep an eye on the future need while you decide to upgrade. Further, clarity of goals and direction makes it easy to identify the starting point.

Let me share with you the ten steps that will help you make a start

Rank Your Skill Need - List the skills that you want to learn and assign them a rank on the basis of -

• How urgent is it to acquire the skill? - Urgency
• Will it help fixing the gap in the skill set or building new ones? - Relevance
• Will it help to achieve the short or long-term goals? - Impact

Once you have ranked the skill basis these factors, pick up the skill with the highest rank.

Detailed Research and Opinion - It is recommended not to jump to the first course you find, look at the course content, ensure to validate the certification and accreditation, read feedbacks and reviews about the course. While you research, it is helpful to take opinion or discuss learning options with your supervisor, mentor or anyone who understands your learning needs and gaps, so that you take a well-versed decision

Choose your Course - This has to be a confident and an independent choice. Don't be influenced by your friends or colleagues to simply follow their choices, as their goals may be different from yours. Select the course that is aligned with your objectives and aspirations

Setting up Finance - This is undoubtedly a very important factor for a lot of people. Today, from free online courses to company sponsored courses, flex-payment modes to education loans, there are ample of options available to make learning hassle. Pick the option or combine the ones that work well for you

Duration of Learning - Whether you pick up a certificate course, a diploma or a degree course, the duration should depend on your goals and commitments. The course will require you to not only invest money but time as well, so the pace of the course does matter. For instance, short-term courses are fast paced and need more of your time whereas long-term course is evenly paced and let you distribute the time over a longer span

Pick Your Option - There is a range of options available like Online classes-Web tutorial or the recently catching up platform MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses), Distance learning, Classroom lectures, Self-study. See what works best for you, as all of them have their own benefits

Enroll and Learn - Enroll with a promise to learn. Do not let your commitment die. Stay focused and build understanding, so that you can put your learnings into practice. Never burden yourself with over promise while upskilling as it may leave you demotivated

Completion - As rightly said by Robin Sharma, "Starting strong is good, finishing strong is epic." There will be personal and professional commitments or routine that may slow your progress, but it should not affect your morale. Make it a point that you finish what you started

Make it Public - Start marketing your new skill by updating your resume, social profile and job portals. Join relevant groups and talk to people in your professional network about your new skills. This will give you the visibility in the job market and act to your advantage

Celebrate - Hey, You did it! It is time to celebrate your achievement and reward your hard work. Be proud of yourself! Back to learning.

Upgrading the skills from time to time is crucial given that the life cycle of skills is becoming shorter than ever. Do not forget that the most successful people in the world simply DO what they decide on doing. It is about making a start and taking it to finishing line.

Be Confident and Take your first step!

Always Keep Learning, It Keeps You, Young

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Will a Robot Steal Your Job? Not If You Learn to Stay Relevant (By Ernest B Bray)

If recent events have revealed anything, it's that many Americans are anxious about their jobs - an anxiety based on well-documented facts. There is fierce competition for good positions. Very often, however, it comes not from globalization but from robots and AI.

To avoid becoming a casualty of progress, you need to adapt as swiftly as possible. You need to find ways of staying relevant in a workplace increasingly dominated by software. Although you will never enjoy a guaranteed job for life (those days are long gone), the following tips should keep you from becoming obsolete overnight:

1. Continuously upgrade your skills. The coveted job skills of today will not be those of tomorrow. Hence, you must consistently enhance your education (which doesn't necessarily mean a college education). You need to learn valuable skills, including communications and technology, to remain valuable and agile. Nobody can predict what the most sought-after jobs will be 10 years from now, but some of the knowledge and skills for these jobs can be identified in advance.

2. Embrace technology. Technology is always changing, and so must you. Dedicate yourself to becoming an early adopter. Read about new technologies and be ready to utilize these tools - from office software to database programs. The more knowledgeable you are about new and emerging tech, the better prepared you'll be to work with them instead of being displaced by them.

3. Display energy and enthusiasm. I can't emphasize this enough: when employers make hiring decisions, they always give preference to upbeat people who will bring energy to the company. They don't want dour drones without any passion for the job. High-energy people are always in demand, and will always have a leg up.

4. Be a creative person. Harnessing your creativity will be even more important in the future. More often than not, you'll be called on to use your mind, rather than your hands, to generate new products (in conjunction with AI and robotics). You'll need to creatively interpret data to help streamline and improve processes. People who display their creativity will have few problems finding new opportunities.

5. Communication skills. Regardless of how automated the workplace becomes, it will always be vital to communicate with colleagues and customers on a human level. Most technology will be used to assist employees, not replace them. And AI is a poor substitute (so far) for the personalized communication that so many customers expect.

6. Dress for Success. Don't assume that dressing sloppily is a good idea because some successful entrepreneurs wear sweatshirts and tennis shoes. On average, professionally dressed employees are better positioned to advance their careers than those who dress like middle age frat boys in a misguided effort to look cool.

7. Be very adaptable. Job responsibilities and descriptions may be much more fluid in the future. If you're the type who can only handle one responsibility, or focus on one task at a time, you may not go far. Those who do go far will do what it takes to help the company succeed, regardless of whether the tasks are listed in their job descriptions.

Companies will always need people to manage and use new technologies. In most cases, these tools will merely assist human beings rather than pushing them out the door.

This isn't to say that some people won't be displaced. But if you follow the advice above, it's less likely that you'll lose your job to a piece of software. Instead, you'll be working with that robot or AI software to achieve tasks that might have been impossible just a few years earlier.

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Four Point Agenda For A More Fulfilling Life

Life is a beautiful gift of God. It is quite possible to live an ideal life in line with your dreams and desires. You can make your life more meaningful, more enjoyable, more fulfilling and more worthy of living by working on the following four points. These points cover all aspects of a person's life.

1. Education 

The most valuable thing which a person can possess is education. Nothing big can be achieved in life without education. A well educated person can live an overall better life and is a blessing to the society. When I talk about education, I do not necessarily mean the formal education limited to getting a college or university degree. I want people to get formal or informal education to widen their mental horizon so that they can see beyond limitations. Learning is a life-long process. You must keep on enriching your life by seeking knowledge and learning multiple skills. The more you learn the more successful you will be in your future life.

2. Money 

Money is all, most people go far. To them money is everything. They use all type of tactics, fair or unfair, to get money. Are these people successful or happy in life? No. They end up in misery and put themselves in trouble.

Your education, knowledge, skills, morals and good manners help you to get a good job or start a profitable business. Besides earning money to live a comfortable life, you also need to learn how to wisely invest your money so that your money keeps on growing and multiplying. You also need to control your expenditure so that you keep on investing your spare money in profitable businesses. It is also important to keep a balance between earning and spending otherwise you will put yourself in financial trouble.

3. Health 

The third important aspect of your life is YOU, your own health and physical fitness. If you are healthy and physically fit then you can do multiple tasks and increase your income substantially. If you are not in good health then you can do nothing not even enjoy your life. Take care of your health at all costs. Keep yourself away from all types of stress, depression or negativity. Do exercise regularly and eat a balanced food. Never skip the morning breakfast.

4. Family 

Family life is, no doubt, the most important aspect of a person's life. A supporting and loving family is a blessing. Spend some quality time with your spouse. Your children also need your company. Some people are so much involved in their professional activities that they completely ignore their family, which is their biggest mistake. Never give preference to your job over your family life. Your family deserves your full attention, affection and love.

Treat the above four points (Education, Money, Health and Family), as the four pillars on which the beautiful building of your life stands. Every pillar of this building is important. If one or two pillars are weak or damaged then there is a continuous danger of collapsing of the whole building some day. Take care of all the four pillars of this building which are inter-connected and inter-related with your happiness and a more fulfilling life.

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Success and Education

“A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” 

― Nelson Mandela

Re-Thinking What You Know To Be True (By John P Hickey)

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity." - Gilda Radner

It was a lovely late summer day and I was doing some research for an article I was writing about education. I went to all my familiar source and read a lot of stuff that I fully agreed with and that all seemed to agree with each other. Then I came across a well known quote by General George S. Patton which said, "If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." And it hit me like a bat to the head. That somebody was me.

Have you ever gotten so use to thinking in a certain way that you really stop thinking and just accept things as they are? This does not mean that the things you were thinking are wrong, that may be or they may not be, the point is whether or not you even bother to think about it anymore. In my case, I found that on some issues I have been either thinking as I have been directed to think or just not thinking at all.

Here is the good news, this discovery of mine started a process that would change everything for me. It got me to think. I am always amazed how God seems to move in our lives when we least expect it and many times, do not even notice we need it. The fact that I was so blindly willing to accept what I was told was shocking to me. For most of us, we trust and believe people we think are smarter than we are. We turn to the experts for guidance and advice. Nothing wrong with that by the way. What we also do, and this is the mistake, we allow them to think for us. Funny thing is that so many of them believe they should think for us and are expecting our blind obedience.

I am reminded of a statement made by Harper Lee, author of the classic book, To Kill A Mocking Bird. Lee said, "The book to read is not the one that thinks for you but the one which makes you think." That goes for people, classes, programs and all sources of information. It is good to get all the knowledge you can from good reliable sources. However, a good source of knowledge will get you to think more than just tell you what to think.

Many years ago I served in the Salvation Army. I was a new Christian and had a desire to serve God by serving His people. I worked in a corps in Rutland, Vermont under an old Brigadier, Thelma Bassett. She had spent her whole life in the Salvation Army and was on in years when I met her. The Brigadier, as we called her, and I fought all the time. It seemed that whatever I said or believed she would question. This was most common when it came to matters of faith. Even if I knew she agreed with me, she would question it. At first it made me crazy, but as I grew and gained some maturity myself, I saw what she was doing. Brigadier got me to think. She taught me a lesson I have cherished to this day. Never believe something just because someone said you should. Know why you believe what you believe. Think!

There are two great misconceptions about re-thinking that cause people to back away from it. One is that others who are more educated, more successful, more powerful, older, richer or have more authority know what is best and therefore should not be questioned. The other is that you do not have the smarts, information or energy to figure these things out for yourself. Let's take a moment and look at these.

First we need to understand that just because someone says they know something or have a degree in a subject does not mean they do know it any better than you. There are a lot of fools with PhD's running around. Look at the mess this world is in. Believe me, it was not the thinking of the average person that got us here. Besides, many educated people only know what they were told. A degree does not mean you are capable of thinking.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not anti-education. I believe in getting as much education as you can and learning every day. However, I do agree with the host of the TV program, Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe, who said, "Not all knowledge comes from college." Your greatest education will come from outside the class room not in it. Taking a formal class is great and I encourage it, but taking a class does not let you off the hook from thinking.

Here is an easy action step that will pay off every time you use it. Question Everything! Do your own research and get the facts. Think and ask yourself rich, powerful questions that lead to rich and powerful answers. Read books, listen to others who have knowledge of the subject, put it together and think it through. You may very well come up with the same conclusion as you were taught. Wonderful! Then again, you may find something different. You may add to that knowledge you are taught and make a new discovery.

Think of it this way. Orville and Wilber Wright did not discover the laws of aerodynamics. Those laws were always there. What they did is study the knowledge that was available and by thinking and testing they expanded it. In the end, they achieved flight. Orville once said, "Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so we could discover them!" The laws that made that happen were always there, they just use their thinking to discover it. You can do that as well. If you study the life of Orville and Wilber Wright you will see they were ordinary people. Not great brains and highly educated. These were men with a dream - like you - who did not accept what they were told but used their thinking to make a difference. As Orville said, "If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance."

The same is true for others who thought "they knew best". History is filled with stories of people of power and position who told common, everyday men and women who had a dream that it could not be done. But these men and women did it anyway. They thought for themselves and figured it out. If it was not for those who re-think what others believe to be true, we would still be living in huts. I love the thinking of a man who did the impossible over and over again, Walt Disney, who said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

The other battle in the one fought from the inside. It is hard to fight the forces from without that tell you it can't be done or that they know the truth and you do not. It is harder to fight that battle with the person inside your head. The only talk that really can hurt you is self talk. The thinking that tells yourself you do not have what it takes to succeed or to figure things out. You start to believe that you cannot think on the level of others. You question your education, your finances, your ability, everything but question the thinking that gets you here.

Again, I encourage you to study the lives of great achievers. You will find them to be ordinary people who believed they could do extraordinary things. You can too. You have all the ability you need to fulfill your dreams and to accomplish your goals in life. You can - and must - make a difference. Author and speaker, Zig Ziglar put it this way, "You don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great."

Use what you have available to you right now and start to learn, grow and think. You have more resources at your fingertips today than Galileo, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or Isaac Newton had in their life time - combined. Today we can search on line and find materials, studies, papers and books that others have never even dream were possible. It is sad that with the increase in available knowledge we have a decrease in usage.

Let me bring up one more self inflicted issue that is also very common and that is laziness. Many times people do not think for themselves simply because it is hard work. I will be honest and tell you it is very hard work to question and seek out answers. Thinking is not for the weak and unwilling. It takes years to make discoveries and many, many hours of hard work. However, the person who invests the time and energy to thinking through problems is rewarded with wonderful answers.

You hold the power to your knowledge. You are the one who will determine your destiny. Will you settle for what others tell you or will you make your own discoveries? Will you allow what you have learned to be a stepping stone to more learning or will you allow that stone to seal your tomb? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

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Let's Change The World

The world is changing and the speed of changes is increasing every day. With the enormous flow of information and spread of knowledge is changing our society and our lives in an amazing way. Governments and organizations can no longer thrive in secrecy. Today everything is visible and everything can come to the light of day.

In today's society we have more opportunities and possibilities than ever before and our presence, knowledge and influences can have such an amazing impact on the world. Today we can share our knowledge and experience in so many ways. We can easily share it on social media, through status updates, articles, videos and more. We can so easily start a blog, a website, have newsletters and webinars to educate the world.

We can all become a role model for others and having a role model is very important. Having a role model, guide or a mentor that can show us the way to learn new things, how to improve our lives and how to become all that we could ever want to become. Success lies in education, learning new ways to be and do things. Some traditions are good but some are old and outdated. We often need to learn a new way to think to be able to grow into the person we want to be.

We all have the power to change and we all have the power to make an enormous impact on the world. Becoming a good role model and helping others achieve their dreams, helping others make their desire become a reality is something we should all strive for. We all have some unique experience that can help others see a new possibility.

Teamwork is the key to a better society and a better world. When we have found our speciality we should do our best to share what we have, what we have learned from life. There are people who are looking for information and knowledge that can help them take life to the next level. They are searching for something but often do not know exactly what they are looking for.

If we are visible, if we go out there and tell the world what we have to offer, someone, somewhere will tune into what we have. There have been great leaders that have changed and created a new vision for the world. They have impacted and improved the lives of so many just by speaking their truth.

The old Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle that are still remembered and talked about today had something new to offer. In my childhood I looked up to people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Dalai Lama. The life and inventions of Nikola Tesla inspired me more than even I can imagine. They shaped me and affected me in so many ways. In more modern times I have gotten influence from Jim Rohn, Toni Robbins, Darren Hardy and other great speakers. We have Gary Vaynerchuk, a great leader who is sharing so much knowledge and helping people realise their own power.

They were all regular people like you and me. Still they believed and believe in something bigger. Their vision was so strong and there would be nothing that would stop them from speaking the truth. Galileo stated that the world was round and not flat, he could have withdrawn his claims to save his life but chose death instead. Speaking the truth may not always be popular but we need to speak the truth and we need to seek the truth. Some truths may not always be what we want to hear but the truth is always the best information we get for the long term.

For us who have found the truth or a truth, it does not matter how many people listen or believe what we are saying but we need to stay true to who we are and our vision of the world as we are all different individuals, there is someone out there who is looking for exactly what we are sharing.

We all have the power to improve and change the world. Many of us have been silenced and taught to obey, to speak and do what we were taught to speak and do. We all have our unique talents and vision. We all have something extraordinary to share with the world.

The question may arise that the world would become very loud if everybody would start sharing their own truth but that is and will not be the case. We know that as we are different individuals, there are leaders and there are followers. I am urging all humankind to follow their own truth and stay true to who they are but there will only be a certain few who will rise up in public to share the knowledge they have found.

We should support and urge the leaders in our midst to stand up and teach, preach. Then we have the followers who share their passion and will learn and apply it to their lives. The followers in their turn will lead a life that will impact the ones they are closest to. The leaders will create big ripples and the followers will create smaller ripples but every ripple is important.

We can see this as the world in whole. First we have our beautiful earth, then we have our continents. We have many countries in every continent and in every country we have many cities and towns. Some people will have the big role and their audience is maybe millions of people. Some have hundreds of thousands, some have tens of thousands, some have hundreds and some have a dozen.

We all have the power to impact the world in a positive way, we should all share the information we have gathered, share the knowledge we have learned to help others improve their way of life. Nothing is impossible and we are all extraordinary. As Dalai Lama said once "If you think you are too small to make an impact, try sleeping in a tent while there is a mosquito in there".

We should all rise to the occasion and be apart of this global change and help make the world a better place through teamwork.

Take care my beautiful friends and I am looking forward to hearing from you speaking and living in a way that has a positive impact on others.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Lets-Change-The-World&id=9414972

Knowledge Is NOT Power

We always hear the phrase knowledge is power, and yes in some ways it is true. However I believe that knowledge is potential power. A person can be very knowledgeable in many areas but it is what he does with this knowledge that matters. What is the use of knowledge if it stays trapped in someone's mind?

First let us take a look at what Knowledge means; according to Wikipedia, it is a familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, description, or skills which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering or learning.

To let this knowledge come full circle and really be powerful and that is when you do something with this knowledge. Helping others, teaching others, here lays the true value in making knowledge powerful.

One should always aspire to seek knowledge and self-development, keep evolving benefiting oneself and others. The majority of us know what needs to be done to be healthy, happy and more satisfied in our lives, yet we do little to accomplish these things; as usual, it requires a lot of hard work, discipline and perseverance to reach the things we aim for. It takes strength and a lot of faith to do the things that one is supposed to do, not just feels like doing. Instead of spending endless hours indulging oneself in meaningless activities and actually getting up and doing what counts is not always appealing. I am not implying that one does not take a break every once in a while and relax and enjoy doing nothing, but that should not be the norm, but more like a reward after tasks are completed and goals reached.

We always talk about "the day" when our life will magically fall into place and we will find happiness then, the thing is the path we are walking and the journey to getting to where we want should be part of the happiness and satisfaction, the journey is every bit as important to where we are getting. Dreaming alone of that magical happy time and place, will only be that, a dream... unless one makes use of the path being walked on and learn from all experiences along the way whether good or bad, for it will make reaching the end goal so much sweeter and worth it.

So next time you learn something new, and realize of the knowledge you hold, keep in mind it will only truly be valuable with what you do with it. Make a difference, make knowledge become powerful with your actions.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Knowledge-Is-NOT-Power&id=9433426

Which Is The Most Effective Form of Education? Part 2

The guiding principle to empiricism is that nothing is to be achieved in the intellect unless it is first understood in sense. While this might appear as a philosophical connotation, it actually alludes to the fact that the precursor to attaining knowledge is to have love or interest in a topic, and even if one should prefer to stick to the philosophical aspect of empiricism then the word philosophy itself is a combination of philos and sofia, which means love for knowledge. What then does it mean to love a subject.

If a man claims to love a subject, then he needs to know about it more than the average man, so that to speak of it must leave the average man impressed. If he cannot impress the average man then he cannot claim to love it, for to love amounts to yearn to know more about it, which leads to its study, by which means his endeavour is self-justifiable. We can therefore say that to love something leads to having a deeper than average understanding of it, and if one knows not then he loves not. And this is not the kind of knowledge that is achieved on academic grounds, for academicians are expected to know, and knowledge based on professionalism cannot, unless in very minor cases, be assumed to amount to love for a subject. In this regard, it is the individual who learns personally, (which is the best form of education) who can be attested to have love for something, which doesn't mean, however, that he cannot go to class and acquire initial or more knowledge in the area. But even if he does so, the real difference will still lie in what he learns personally, for anything else is academics, which anyone can be taught.

Some of the greatest achievers in history such as Ernest Hemingway, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Henry Ford, Charles Darwin and Steve Jobs among many others were either partly or not educated in their respective fields, but because they had the love for their subjects they have ended up becoming household names. Allow me in this case to mention two names specially: Frank Lloyd Wright, architect of Fallingwater, a house considered among the best buildings in American architecture and Gustave Eiffel, engineer behind The Eiffel Tower and who also contributed in designing The Statue of Liberty. These two people, despite their distinguished contribution to the world of design and engineering are actually self-taught. But even then, to perform in an area needs knowledge, and knowledge cannot be gained without study. All of the people that I have mentioned, despite lacking formal training, it is their pursuit of knowledge that really sets them apart. Mr. Jobs for instance, seeing his son's love for electronics gave him part of his bench to fix broken electronics and as he grew up and got more interested in computers, Steve ultimately dreamt of working at Hewlett-Packard, and when he finally got a job there he gave it his all, even though the actual job was fixing screws onto computers.

I conclude as I study another piece by a Japanese autodidact called Tadao Ando, who designed a House in Sri Lanka for Pierre Pringiers, the Belgian who supplies more than 40% of industrial tires worldwide, and as I look at Tadao's definition of 'airy architecture' the typical question keeps coming back: would Tadao be able to design like this if he went to school to study architecture?

http://ezinearticles.com/?Which-Is-The-Most-Effective-Form-of-Education?-Part-2&id=9318071

Which Is The Most Effective Form of Education? Part 1

"Drop out of school before your mind rots from our mediocre education system. Go to the library and educate yourself if you've got any guts" - Frank Zappa. When you come across such words, several questions arise in your mind: is this man crazy? Why would he say such a thing? Does he know what he's talking about? But if you analyzed that statement in its true meaning, you will see that he is not anti-education. As a matter of fact he is fully in support of it, only in a way quite different from what most people are used to.

Autodidactism is the process of attaining knowledge through self-learning, training or study, and someone who has attained knowledge in this way is called an autodidact. It does not, however, entirely mean that the person involved will not have received any formal education but also includes one who has received partial training but did not complete either after dropping out or due to loss of interest among other factors, for instance, Wilbur Wright, who is considered an autodidact yet he attended college entirely only that he did not graduate. Albert Einstein claimed that the only thing that was interfering with his learning was school, and when Sir Winston Churchill was asked how he managed to become the British Prime Minister despite having failed terribly in school, he replied that it wasn't that he was foolish but he had failed because they had asked him the wrong questions. But then again, 'education is key', right? Well then, how about something like 'knowledge is key?'

The first documented argument in favour of autodidactism to the study of nature was in Ibn Tufail's book Hayy ibn Yaqdhan (Alive Son of the Vigilant) written in the twelfth century about a boy, who, through experimentation and investigation discovers the laws of nature and ultimately reaches a point where he enjoys a mystical experience. Perhaps this is what Beethoven alluded to when he said that instead of just practising one's art, one should force his way into its secrets, for with it and knowledge he could rise to the divine. Once again, we find that the keyword here is knowledge, and this is the kind that cannot be gotten from any institution of further or furthest learning. What schools need to address, like Einstein's explanation, is that education is not the memorization of facts but the ability to think. In the song Hood mentality, rapper Ice Cube laments how he is no longer interested in school because instead of trying to educate him it's only interested in what he has memorized. And memorizing is all what some 'A' students do, but fail terribly when it comes to solving practical problems. This fact has been addressed in the Indian movie three idiots, in which one student liked to memorize without understanding the details while the protagonist preferred an overall understanding of information and how he would use it in real life.

While most students will replicate what has been taught in class in the exam, such an education is of no value really, as the end objective is merely to pass the test. But in the case of autodidactism, the individual is not obligated to study by any forceful means neither does he do it with a view to attaining an academic qualification but for knowledge and passion, and in this way he studies everything that pertains to the topic and not just a set of topics enumerated in a course outline. He studies broadly and relentlessly, without the limitations of class-work setup, for class room work has a beginning and an end, and a student will feel accomplished having studied within these confines. How then, is such a person going to match up against one who has studied as much as he can, the only limitation being the resources he can obtain, which is hardly a problem in the 21st century, the age of information?

http://ezinearticles.com/?Which-Is-The-Most-Effective-Form-of-Education?-Part-1&id=9318059

Nothing, But a Mere Guideline: The Purpose of Education

How important is it to practice religiously, everything that we have learned through the course of our education? What if we had a vision that we believe to be groundbreaking, but in order to achieve it, we need to bend some rules? What if something along those things we learned, we encounter something that defies our values? Should we follow blindly just because we are taught the "proper" way to do things? When is the right time to bend the rules for the purpose of fully realizing our vision?

Five years ago, I received my first camera as a gift for my graduation from college. I was so excited; I was taking photos of almost everything, anywhere and anyway I can. After some time, I found my photos pale compared to others. I realized that even though my camera was good, I still needed to learn how to use it properly. Self-teaching from the internet just wouldn't cut it for me anymore, and I knew that I needed to learn from the best. Because of that, I took a crash course in basic photography from a well-known instructor. I loved the whole experience and learned so many things like how to handle my camera properly, basic composition, lighting, equipment of the trade, and basic post processing. And yet, as I was practicing everything that I learned from the workshop, I can't help but still find that some of the photos I took after were as dull as the photos I took before learning the basics. Technically speaking, they were better, but still didn't convey the message I was trying to express in my photos. I addressed all of my concerns to my instructor, and after listening, he simply smiled and told me the reasons as to why I still found my photos lacking.

It seemed that I have been religiously following all the basic principles on taking photos, and because of that, I sacrificed my vision. My instructor told me that the things he taught are just guidelines, so that we know how to properly take any photos. If for some reason the rules get in the way of my vision, the thing I should do is to identify that which hinders it from being fully realized. I should prioritize my ideas, and if the rules get in the way, I should learn how to bend or break them if necessary.

Now that I think about it, education is merely a guideline. It is up to us to incorporate which things we want in our lives, and which should be kept out. There are things that we learn whose purpose is simply to keep us from being ignorant. And there are those that we must simply apply to get us to the next level of knowing.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Nothing,-But-a-Mere-Guideline:-The-Purpose-of-Education&id=9235649

3 Daily Habits That Will Make You More Successful

The most important investment you will ever make is you. Follow these tips to take your career to the next level.

You are your biggest investment. Don't be cheap when it comes to education, health and self-improvement. Continuous improvement is of paramount importance when it comes to your success in business or in life in general.

The best way to invest in you is to always spend more than you think you can afford on education, including degrees, online education, books, audio books, podcasts etc (whatever it takes). You do have time to read. Yes you do; you can listen to audio books during your commute to work or at the gym.

1. Watch, Read, Listen and Learn: 

Most online lectures are free and my favorites are inspiring Ted Talks. If you have Wi-Fi and a stationary bike at home you can watch online courses on Udemy or even on YouTube.

Be a voracious reader. Read as many books as you can on successful business people and humanitarians. What are their secrets? Learn from them and watch your career take off.

Invest in a subscription to Audible.com for $15 per month and listen to biographies of successful entrepreneurs. I recently listened to audible books from Marc Benioff, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and many more.

I have always been a voracious reader of biographies of successful people. I love learning from them. What are their recipes for success? How did they do it? Did they lead a well-balanced life on the road to their success?

2. Follow Your Heroes:

Use Twitter to follow your business heroes. They often tweet incredibly motivational quotes that resonate well with me. I love their short snippets of optimism, hope and best practices.

I find it incredibly motivating to know as much as I can about these successful people as most of them came from very uncompromising backgrounds. I love the poor, smart and hungry rags to riches stories. I feel empowered when thinking about them; there are no limits to what you can achieve. These people are no smarter than you are.

I Have Never Met a Successful Person With...

You will never meet a successful person with a negative attitude. If they didn't believe in themselves and in their goals, then they would never have been successful; the quintessential example of this is Richard Branson. I just finished his latest audio book and my goodness does he ever have an amazing positive attitude.

What I have learned from most of the audio books that I have completed on successful people is that the secret of their success is that they all believe that there are no limits to what you can achieve! Keep a journal and write down what made them successful.

3. Write Down Your Goals

The probability of you being incredibly successful rises materially if you simply write down your goals. I write mine in my calendar application on my iPhone as a 6am repeatable calendar entry. When I wake up every day, the first thing I see on my iPhone is that 6am goal calendar entry which makes me want to jump out of bed and have fun working towards achieving my goals.

Successful entrepreneurs have their partners and employees also document all of their goals. A great example of this is Jeff Bezos as he has all of his product managers write a press release that will not be published for at least a year. This way his product managers can focus on filling the gap and making the press release and their goals a reality.

There are countless other amazing examples of simple goal setting strategies from successful people; my favorite one is from Derek Jeter. My son is a huge Derek Jeter fan (I love the Blue Jays but heck Jeter is a great role model). My son read Jeter's book called "The Contract." In the book he wrote that the reason for his success was that his parents made him write a simple one page contract every year from a young age.

Jeter's Contracts with his parents included basic goals, like "I will do well in school, I will do my chores, I will practice baseball, etc." My son has his goals on his wall now. My wife was even cool with the scotch tape he used on the wall!

The most important investment you will ever make is you! Write down your goals, be a voracious reader of published works, watch online videos and follow twitter feeds written by or written on your business and humanitarian heroes. Follow their success blueprints and one day others will follow and read about you as part of the most important investment they ever make.

http://www.inc.com/chris-haroun/3-daily-habits-that-will-make-you-more-successful.html

Ziglar: 3 Things to Do When You Make a Mistake

When you mess up, how do you react?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had as much foresight as hindsight, if we were able to avoid ever making a mistake? 

Not only is that unrealistic, it's unwise… Out of mistakes come major accomplishments—because mistakes are often the springboard for success.

Once, Thomas Edison was working with a lab assistant who was coming up dry after more than 700 experiments. In discouragement, he told Edison that after all these mistakes, errors and false starts, he simply did not believe the project was valid. 

Edison quickly told him that he was not wasting his time, that he now knew more about the project than anybody alive—that he had not made "mistakes" but had acquired an "education" as to what would not work. And so the assistant went back to his project with renewed vigor.

It's safe to say that if each of us took that approach to life, we would end up accomplishing much, much more. After every mistake, we need to understand that we can look back and learn so that we can move forward with confidence and avoid making the same mistake again. 

Here are three tips on how best to handle a mistake:

1. See the mistake as a step on the road to a solution.

Don't let mistakes depress or discourage you. We must realize that depression and discouragement are negatives that limit the future.

2. Admit the mistake.

I'll admit that takes courage, but recognition of errors is a sign of maturity. Not to recognize them is to deny them. The reality is that "denial" is more than just a river in Egypt—it's something that will limit your future.

3. Know that it’s only when you ignore the mistake that it is negative.

When we confront mistakes, we are taking full advantage of it as the "positive" they are.

http://www.success.com/article/ziglar-3-things-to-do-when-you-make-a-mistake#sthash.4JKCSBno.dpuf

Education & Experience Don’t Guarantee Success—Attitude & Habits Do

The 5 difference-makers that fast-track your career

Professional success is a culmination of many factors. Your education matters—maybe not as much as you think, but a degree in your field can really jump-start your progress. Your experience certainly matters, but that can only come to you after years of dedication. Your talent matters, too, but aside from skills (which develop from experience) most of your talent is innate, meaning you have a natural tendency to perform well in certain areas more than others. Your network of contacts matters, but you can’t always control who you interact with. And ultimately, at least some of your career success is going to come down to a factor of luck.

Looking at these things, it seems like there is little you can control. But none of these things will matter if you neglect the most important things you need to create for yourself:

1. A Positive Attitude

The whole “positive attitude” angle might seem like a gimmick—after all, can you think of anybody successful who got to where they are only because they thought positive thoughts? Of course not. But you can trace almost any successful entrepreneur or professional’s journey and find at least one major obstacle that nearly disrupted everything. And in the face of that obstacle, they remained positive, which motivated action rather than submission, and eventually, they rose to the top.

Positive thinking is about more than helping you through the tough times. Research shows that positive self-talk, rather than negative self-talk, can actively reduce your stress levels, giving you greater physical and mental health and a greater capacity to perform to your maximum potential. The best part is that there aren’t any naturally positive or naturally negative people—your thoughts and your self-talk can be controlled with practice, meaning a positive attitude is something you can, and should, create for yourself.

2. Ongoing Habits

Our habits make us who we are. Over time, our repeated actions become automatic, or second nature, and once we’re in that groove it’s nearly impossible to break the chain. With bad habits, like sleeping through your first alarm or working through your breaks, this unbroken chain can come to destroy you. But with positive habits, like regularly reading or fact checking all of your work, this unbroken chain can lead you to success.

Though many habits form unconsciously through our natural actions, it is possible to create ongoing habits for yourself. The key to creating these habits is consistency—if you want to start doing something every day, you must force yourself to start doing it on a daily basis, and don’t allow yourself to slip in the first few weeks. After a few rounds of consistent effort, it will become easier.Breaking bad habits can be tougher, but it’s entirely within your power.

3. Goals

While your specific job may have company goals that dictate your actions, your professional goals are entirely within your control. Create goals that are too lofty and you’ll never be able to make significant progress. Create goals that are too easy, and you’ll never reach your true potential.

The reliable standby for creating good goals is the SMART criteria—an acronym that describes the five key qualities that all goals must have: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific. In addition to meeting these criteria, you should create goals on multiple scales. For example, you should have broad, flexible long-term goals detailing your plans for your long-term success, but you should also have smaller, more immediate, actionable goals that can lead you to those broader visions, and medium-sized goals in between the two to act as milestones.

4. Tactical Plans

Goals are good for helping you to hone your desires and set the tone for your career, but without a solid plan of execution, those desires are only pipe dreams. As an extension of your goals, you must learn to create tactical plans that detail how you’re going to achieve those goals. That might include a list of tasks you must accomplish before reaching the goal, a series of strategies you’re going to use while pursuing that goal, or a list of prerequisites you’ll need to have before moving on to the next phase of your plan. If you’re having trouble coming up with an initial plan, you may need to do additional research before moving forward.

5. A Healthy Environment

As humans, we are often products of our environments, and in the professional world, this is no different. If your desk is messy, your mind may be more frantic and cluttered. If you work in a noisy area full of distractions, you’ll never be able to focus. But perhaps more importantly, if you’re surrounded with negative, apathetic or downright lazy people, you’ll never be able to motivate yourself to achieve your goals. If you’re working in a place that doesn’t acknowledge hard work, you’ll never be able to progress.

Create your own environment to maximize your chances for success, whether that means working within the confines of your current organization or moving on to a better opportunity. Surround yourself with the types of people who will lead you to success, and structure your work environment so you can be your most productive.

Once you start creating these things for yourself consistently and with dedication, you will find yourself naturally gravitating toward a path of success. With a strong vision in your mind and the right attitude and environment to carry you through the obstacles that lie ahead, there should be nothing stopping you from achieving your goals.

http://www.success.com/article/education-experience-dont-guarantee-success-attitude-habits-do