Here are my top 10 tips for you to feel great about yourself.
1. Be nice to yourself! Stop giving yourself a hard time and start appreciating "you" as a unique individual. Never compare yourself to others as this is a thankless task and you are a truly unique individual. Sure, many people have similarities but no-one is exactly the same as any other being on the planet. Ask your friends and family to list a few things that they love about you and then what they see as your weaknesses. You might be very pleasantly surprised or even astonished when they name things that would never have occurred to you!
2. Treat yourself as your own best friend. You would never talk to your best friend the way that you talk to yourself, for example, "I'm so stupid! How could I have said/done what I just did? Why am I always doing such silly things" - so why talk to yourself that way? We all do it to a certain extent but try to become aware of when you're talking to yourself like this and stop it in its tracks. Yes, you may have made a mistake but you're human, aren't you? It's ok to make mistakes, the clever thing is to think then about what you could have done differently and remember that next time you're in a similar situation.
3. Set yourself some small goals and take baby steps to achieve them. Think about how you would like things to be in each area of your life, for example, romantic relationship, work, finances, personal development, hobbies and recreations, physical health and wellbeing, spiritual growth. Identify one thing at a time and focus on that. Don't set yourself up for failure, though, by taking on too much at any one time. Take your time on each goal and move at a steady pace towards it. Set yourself small targets but ones that will require some effort from you.
4. Try new skills - anything from being more assertive to learning to dance the tango!. Challenge yourself and see what works for you and what doesn't. Don't forget that if you join a class or group learning a new skill, everyone will be focussing on themselves and not looking at you! Celebrate your success as you make progress, again setting yourself small goals and revising them as you achieve each one. Write yourself a Wish List - have 3 separate columns for "things I want to do" "things I want to be" and "things I want t have". Look for what you're doing RIGHT, not for what you're doing WRONG.
5. Write a list of your past achievements. Things like passing your driving test or writing a thesis for your degree course, or even much more basic, being able to successfully make and serve up a three course meal - to get the timing right on that is no mean feat! When you've made a list, leaving plenty of space after each item, list the skills and characteristics it took for you to complete them: for example, making that meal: it took planning, management, resourcefulness, great attention to detail - all useful skills for many other things in life. Keep this list somewhere you can look at it often to remind yourself that you are actually a very unique and skilled individual. The point of this exercise is to acknowledge your own strengths.
6. Have a look at your limiting beliefs - things you've always told yourself you're no good at, for example "I'm hopeless at maths" "I never win anything" "no-one can ever love me". Ask yourself what is that based on? What evidence has there been in your life to support this assumpotion or belief? Try to get to the origin of that thought - did someone tell you as a child that you're no good at maths? Look at the reality of that belief - is it true that you never win anything - ever, ever? Or just that you don't win things regularly or the things you want. Get REAL!
7. Givers gain - do some charitable work, help out at fund-raisers, become a mentor to someone who is learning something that comes naturally to you - it will give you a great feeling of belonging to a group, as well as personal satisfaction - it is so rewarding to do things for others. Try it, you might become addicted! We often don't appreciate that just because we find something easy, others struggle with that same job.
8. Do more of the things you love doing - see no. 4! This summer there are loads of free event based around the South Bank in London, for example. Look at your local paper or library for things going on near where you live.
9. Don't take people for granted - tell your nearest and dearest how much you appreciate them and what a difference they make to your life. We all want to be appreciated because it means people are giving us attention and that in turn will make you feel good about yourself. Be more vocal - don't think just because you "know" how you feel about someone, that they know for sure how you feel - tell them! How does it make you feel when someone gives you a compliment? So, imagine how the people you pay compliments to will feel in return towards you.
10. Get to know yourself inside out - what's important to you (your values) and live according to those values - the things you must have in your life that make you happy. When you live honouring those values, you will feel much more contented with yourself.
Be passionate about life and people will be passionate about you!
26 sept 2009
7 Great Confidence Training Tips.Dr Sammy D.James/Founder of W V M I.World Vision Ministries International.
Training yourself to have a higher degree of confidence is a great way to deal with the everyday stresses of life. You don't need to employ a professional for that; you can easily be in charge of your own confidence training; in fact, you should be!
Life often presents us with problems that overwhelm us. These problems can very easily lead us down the path to despair. By training yourself to believe in who you are and to have confidence in yourself as a person, you are less likely to travel down that rocky path.
Having confidence in yourself, who you are and in your abilities is a great gift to give yourself through your own confidence training. If you have confidence, every aspect of your life will go more smoothly and you will be more fulfilled, successful and happy.
There are several easy things you can do to train your confidence.
1. Begin your confidence training by letting go of bad memories
People who suffer from poor confidence often focus on past bad memories. Whether it is an embarrassing moment that holds you back or a traumatic experience that still terrifies you, learning to let go of bad memories is a great way to start building up your confidence. That is the way to take charge of your life and make further strides in building your self confidence.
2. Open a confidence file
When you receive a flatter letter or an email complimenting you on a job well done, save them. These can become an excellent resource for you whenever you are in need of a little confidence boost.
3. It can be a good thing to brag a little
Often, when we have a big accomplishment we put it on the back burning. Instead of glossing over something you are proud of, make a fuss over it. Let people know how proud you are of your accomplishment.
4. You are not just one sided
Whether your left brain or your right brain is dominate, do not neglect your other half. If you are the logical type, take an art class, if you are the artistic type; invest some money in the stock market. Find some way to exercise the other half of your brain. Your confidence will thank you for it.
5. You have a spine - use it!
One of the biggest signs of a person with no confidence is letting people walk all over them. The next time someone cuts you down, do not just let it go. You do not have to be mean; just nicely ask why they felt the need to cut you down. Learning to stand up for yourself will raise your confidence.
6. Always remember to finish what you start
Whenever you make a commitment, make sure to follow through on it. Whether you have started a home improvement project for yourself, or offered to help a friend clean out their garage, finishing what you start will make you feel good about yourself!
7. Be your own person
We all fall into the trap of imitating people we admire. Admiration is fine, but do not take it too far. You are a unique individual; own that and your confidence will soar.
Simple steps like these can help you to feel better about yourself and raise your confidence level. It is a proven fact that people with high confidence levels do better in life. They are more likely to have successful relationships. They tend to perform better at school or work and are generally happier. By spending a little time training your confidence, you can lead a happier, healthier life.
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular mini-seminar about how to develop high self confidence. Take a look at this new site now because it reveals some controversial ways to become confident quickly and easily:
low self confidence help
How to Stop Worrying About What Other People Think
Do you have dreams that you'd like to pursue - which you keep putting off because you're worried how other people will react? Have you ever stayed in a job or relationship that had gone sour, because you were anxious about how your family would react to you quitting?
Does it sometimes seem like your life is being hemmed in by your need to pleaseother people, toe the line, and win approval?
Many of us get anxious about what other people think of us. This is only natural: for centuries, social survival has depended on keeping to a narrow set of rules. But today, our options in the Western world are much more open: you won't face a prison sentence for coming out as homosexual, for instance, and women can have the same education and jobs as men. It's great news - we can't be damaged or harmed by other people thinking that their lifestyle is "right" and that ours is "wrong".
Yet too many of us still creep around on eggshells, second-guessing ourselves because we're worried what our friends, family and society will think of us.
You Don't Know What They're Thinking
Here's the thing, though: you can't possibly know what someone else will think, and you often have little idea of what their experiences have been. Perhaps you're convinced that your happily-married, family-focused parents will be horrified if you tell them that you're thinking about getting a divorce. You might find out that they've faced difficult times in their relationship - or that they disliked your partner all along, but kept quiet for your sake.
There's no effort more wasted than the effort of worrying and guessing at what someone else might think of your actions.
It's Your Life - Not Theirs
Even if you know full well what someone thinks (eg. your father has told you that you must study law, or your mother has said she'd disown any child of hers who joined the army) - you need to remind yourself, and possibly them, that it's your life. You're the one who has to live it.
Be willing to listen to other people's advice - but accept that it's your responsibility to decide whether or not you want to accept that advice. Don't let a parent, spouse or colleague bully you into a course of action that makes you unhappy. If you know what you want, go for it: you'll be surprised how often people will come round. They may even be secretly impressed to see you standing up for what you want to do
How to Develop the Self Confidence of a Winner
It is a common belief that to achieve everything you want in life you must have money. Money does make acquiring what you want easier, but it is not the only solution to achieving all of your goals and passions.
Self confidence is the backbone of all success worthy of discussion. If you do not believe in yourself all the money in the world will not make you happy.
The key to achieving all your dreams is developing self confidence. If you want true success you must believe in yourself and keep pushing forward no matter who or what seems to be standing in your way.
Self confidence comes from knowing that you have the skills needed to achieve any goal you want. These skills are acquired by continued study and taking action even if the outcome is less than you desire.
The self confident person will attract others. People like to be around others that display confidence in whatever they are pursuing. Confident people are inspiring and make you want to get up and take action to achieve the same success. Self confident people attract opportunities that are not available to
others. Your energy will inspire and motivate others and their newfound energy will make you feel good about yourself and the influence you have had in turning their life around.
A person that has the self confidence to do anything that he desires will gain the respect of all those around him. He will also be the inspiration for others to follow in his footsteps because it seems as if he holds the world in the palm of his hand.
Self confidence can help you overcome unexpected roadblocks and stepping stones along the way. Break your goals down into smaller goals and work to accomplish one at a time. Each accomplishment will move you one step closer, build your self esteem and make you a better person.
Keeping the following principles in mind will help build your self confidence as you pursue each passion in your life.
1. Believe In Yourself- do not let the opinions of others influence your motivation to pursue whatever you may desire. Focus on your goals and keep pushing forward until you have reached your final destination. Do not let the negative opinions of others make you a lesser person. Even if you fail keep your head up and keep pushing toward your ultimate dream.
2. Face Your Fears- attack things you are not sure about with a vengeance. If you are unsuccessful in what you are pursuing look at it as a stepping stone to achieving greater success. Making mistakes gives you wisdom and helps sharpen your skills and increases your chances of success with your next challenge.
Keep a journal of the steps you take in attempting to achieve everyone of your goals. Even if you fail this will allow you to reflect on what you could have done differently. This will increase your ammunition and help you think strategically in the pursuit of your next dream.
3. Stay Motivated- keep pushing forward and put all your energy into achieving what you want most from life. Persistence will help you achieve your ultimate objective as long as you never give up. Accomplishing each smaller goal will boost your self esteem and keep you motivated to see things through until the end.
We all have our own unique strengths and weaknesses. You will not always win at every thing you pursue, but by learning from your failures the chance of you having long term success increases substantially.
The ultimate secret to success and staying motivated is to face your fears, learn from your mistakes and believe in yourself. Following these principles will increase your self confidence and make you unstoppable in your pursuit of your ultimate dream.
10 Top Tips to Improve Your Total Confidence & Self-Assurance
1. Make a list of twenty of your greatest achievements - everything from passing your driving test to getting your swimming life saving certificate/GCSEs or Master's Degree. Then list alongside each one, which characteristics it took to enable you to achieve that goal, for example, to pass your driving test it might have taken tenacity, determination, memory training, courage, persistence, managerial skills and technical ability. Carry on with the list, noting for each achievement which characteristics were needed. Note how many of the same ones keep on cropping up. On days when you're feeling doubtful about just how capable you really are, browse that list, which you always keep in your wallet or purse to remind yourself just how skilled you are!
2. List your strengths and weaknesses. Consider how you might build on your strengths and improve on your weaknesses. For example, do your strengths energise you? When you know you have performed to the best of your ability, do you feel like you could carry on indefinitely and conquer the world? Do they carry you forward even when it's the end of a long working day, and you're feeling tired but you're on a roll? Try to address your weaknesses in the same way: consider how you can regularly work on your weaknesses and strengthen them as you would work on a muscle that needed building up. A little work on a regular basis, and maybe some extra coaching from an expert, and you'll soon have those weaknesses turning into strengths and be stronger all round.
3. Consider a person in the world who you admire - what characteristics do they have that cause you to admire them? Why do they stand out from the herd? What actions do they take that put them head and shoulders above all others? How do they talk to people in a way that makes others feel good about themselves. Note these things and try to copy them yourself. It's the little things you do that add up to a whole lot of difference. What can you learn from them and incorporate into your daily actions? Remember that an action only needs to be repeated for 21 days before it becomes a habit!
4. Choose a role model or mentor who is where you want to be or doing what you want to be doing and ask them to show you how they got to be where they are now. Discover the steps needed to get you started. Don't think you can take short cuts or skip any steps - but by taking advice from someone who has already walked the path you are following, you will avoid many of the crevices and pitfalls that they may have fallen into during their journey to the top and save yourself time and trouble. Don't feel shy about asking for help - most people are flattered and delighted to be asked, especially by someone who obviously looks up to them.
5. Expect to make mistakes and when you do, don't endlessly apologise. Mistakes just show that you are human but have the confidence to carry on and not be fazed by your error. If you can use humour in a natural way, then do so, but don't force it. Self-deprecating humour always goes down well but don't continue to put yourself down. Self-belief is what we're looking for here. When you make a mistake, ask yourself the most important question, "What could I have done differently?" and learn from the answer. Also ask yourself "What have I learned from this mistake?" and ensure that you never forget the lesson.
6. Keep an open mind and realize that you can learn something from everyone you meet and not just those "above" you. The post room boy/girl or tea lady might have an important lesson you could learn, just as much as your boss or the Chairman. Take time out to share a moment with everyone and recognize that each and every person you meet in your day is an individual who may have something to teach you or a gift to give you. If you go around with a closed mind and blinkered eyes you may miss what is an important signpost to where you need to be on your journey.
7. Follow your intuition/gut feeling. More often than not you will be right. If not, learn from where you have gone wrong - nothing is a mistake if you can learn something from it. Ask yourself what you might have done differently. Could you have taken a different approach? Could you have planned better? What outcome might have occurred in that case? Remember, planning is essential - an old cliché but true - 'failing to plan, is planning to fail.'
8. With regard to planning - on a daily basis - remind yourself of your goals - you DO have your goals written out, in specific, time measured, realistic detail, don't you? They are, hopefully, updated regularly as you take each specific step along the path to your ultimate destination. Keep a card with your goals written clearly on it in a place where you can see it daily - on your car dashboard, on your shaving/makeup mirror, your computer, your diary - so that your goals are in the forefront of your mind at all times. These are there to remind you what you are working towards.
9. Take advantage of every possible learning experience that comes your way - every book, CD, seminar, course will teach you something - even if it's a way not to behave, or not to present. Make a note of what you particularly liked, or disliked, about the course content, or presenter, or other team members. Get to know yourself inside and out - again to identify your strengths and weaknesses so you can work on them. Remember what you liked so that when it's your turn to organize or have an input you know how you want things done.
10. Act AS IF! Act as if you are the most confident and self-assured person in the room; take on the mantle of that person who is your role model, watch how they speak, how they dress, how they behave, and mimic their behaviour - once you look the part, it's only a small step to thinking yourself into the persona. In no time at all, you'll start to feel comfortable in your own skin. Remember, everyone is afraid at some time, it's just that some of us are so much better at hiding it than others.
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you must stop and look fear in the face.... You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt
Life often presents us with problems that overwhelm us. These problems can very easily lead us down the path to despair. By training yourself to believe in who you are and to have confidence in yourself as a person, you are less likely to travel down that rocky path.
Having confidence in yourself, who you are and in your abilities is a great gift to give yourself through your own confidence training. If you have confidence, every aspect of your life will go more smoothly and you will be more fulfilled, successful and happy.
There are several easy things you can do to train your confidence.
1. Begin your confidence training by letting go of bad memories
People who suffer from poor confidence often focus on past bad memories. Whether it is an embarrassing moment that holds you back or a traumatic experience that still terrifies you, learning to let go of bad memories is a great way to start building up your confidence. That is the way to take charge of your life and make further strides in building your self confidence.
2. Open a confidence file
When you receive a flatter letter or an email complimenting you on a job well done, save them. These can become an excellent resource for you whenever you are in need of a little confidence boost.
3. It can be a good thing to brag a little
Often, when we have a big accomplishment we put it on the back burning. Instead of glossing over something you are proud of, make a fuss over it. Let people know how proud you are of your accomplishment.
4. You are not just one sided
Whether your left brain or your right brain is dominate, do not neglect your other half. If you are the logical type, take an art class, if you are the artistic type; invest some money in the stock market. Find some way to exercise the other half of your brain. Your confidence will thank you for it.
5. You have a spine - use it!
One of the biggest signs of a person with no confidence is letting people walk all over them. The next time someone cuts you down, do not just let it go. You do not have to be mean; just nicely ask why they felt the need to cut you down. Learning to stand up for yourself will raise your confidence.
6. Always remember to finish what you start
Whenever you make a commitment, make sure to follow through on it. Whether you have started a home improvement project for yourself, or offered to help a friend clean out their garage, finishing what you start will make you feel good about yourself!
7. Be your own person
We all fall into the trap of imitating people we admire. Admiration is fine, but do not take it too far. You are a unique individual; own that and your confidence will soar.
Simple steps like these can help you to feel better about yourself and raise your confidence level. It is a proven fact that people with high confidence levels do better in life. They are more likely to have successful relationships. They tend to perform better at school or work and are generally happier. By spending a little time training your confidence, you can lead a happier, healthier life.
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular mini-seminar about how to develop high self confidence. Take a look at this new site now because it reveals some controversial ways to become confident quickly and easily:
low self confidence help
How to Stop Worrying About What Other People Think
Do you have dreams that you'd like to pursue - which you keep putting off because you're worried how other people will react? Have you ever stayed in a job or relationship that had gone sour, because you were anxious about how your family would react to you quitting?
Does it sometimes seem like your life is being hemmed in by your need to pleaseother people, toe the line, and win approval?
Many of us get anxious about what other people think of us. This is only natural: for centuries, social survival has depended on keeping to a narrow set of rules. But today, our options in the Western world are much more open: you won't face a prison sentence for coming out as homosexual, for instance, and women can have the same education and jobs as men. It's great news - we can't be damaged or harmed by other people thinking that their lifestyle is "right" and that ours is "wrong".
Yet too many of us still creep around on eggshells, second-guessing ourselves because we're worried what our friends, family and society will think of us.
You Don't Know What They're Thinking
Here's the thing, though: you can't possibly know what someone else will think, and you often have little idea of what their experiences have been. Perhaps you're convinced that your happily-married, family-focused parents will be horrified if you tell them that you're thinking about getting a divorce. You might find out that they've faced difficult times in their relationship - or that they disliked your partner all along, but kept quiet for your sake.
There's no effort more wasted than the effort of worrying and guessing at what someone else might think of your actions.
It's Your Life - Not Theirs
Even if you know full well what someone thinks (eg. your father has told you that you must study law, or your mother has said she'd disown any child of hers who joined the army) - you need to remind yourself, and possibly them, that it's your life. You're the one who has to live it.
Be willing to listen to other people's advice - but accept that it's your responsibility to decide whether or not you want to accept that advice. Don't let a parent, spouse or colleague bully you into a course of action that makes you unhappy. If you know what you want, go for it: you'll be surprised how often people will come round. They may even be secretly impressed to see you standing up for what you want to do
How to Develop the Self Confidence of a Winner
It is a common belief that to achieve everything you want in life you must have money. Money does make acquiring what you want easier, but it is not the only solution to achieving all of your goals and passions.
Self confidence is the backbone of all success worthy of discussion. If you do not believe in yourself all the money in the world will not make you happy.
The key to achieving all your dreams is developing self confidence. If you want true success you must believe in yourself and keep pushing forward no matter who or what seems to be standing in your way.
Self confidence comes from knowing that you have the skills needed to achieve any goal you want. These skills are acquired by continued study and taking action even if the outcome is less than you desire.
The self confident person will attract others. People like to be around others that display confidence in whatever they are pursuing. Confident people are inspiring and make you want to get up and take action to achieve the same success. Self confident people attract opportunities that are not available to
others. Your energy will inspire and motivate others and their newfound energy will make you feel good about yourself and the influence you have had in turning their life around.
A person that has the self confidence to do anything that he desires will gain the respect of all those around him. He will also be the inspiration for others to follow in his footsteps because it seems as if he holds the world in the palm of his hand.
Self confidence can help you overcome unexpected roadblocks and stepping stones along the way. Break your goals down into smaller goals and work to accomplish one at a time. Each accomplishment will move you one step closer, build your self esteem and make you a better person.
Keeping the following principles in mind will help build your self confidence as you pursue each passion in your life.
1. Believe In Yourself- do not let the opinions of others influence your motivation to pursue whatever you may desire. Focus on your goals and keep pushing forward until you have reached your final destination. Do not let the negative opinions of others make you a lesser person. Even if you fail keep your head up and keep pushing toward your ultimate dream.
2. Face Your Fears- attack things you are not sure about with a vengeance. If you are unsuccessful in what you are pursuing look at it as a stepping stone to achieving greater success. Making mistakes gives you wisdom and helps sharpen your skills and increases your chances of success with your next challenge.
Keep a journal of the steps you take in attempting to achieve everyone of your goals. Even if you fail this will allow you to reflect on what you could have done differently. This will increase your ammunition and help you think strategically in the pursuit of your next dream.
3. Stay Motivated- keep pushing forward and put all your energy into achieving what you want most from life. Persistence will help you achieve your ultimate objective as long as you never give up. Accomplishing each smaller goal will boost your self esteem and keep you motivated to see things through until the end.
We all have our own unique strengths and weaknesses. You will not always win at every thing you pursue, but by learning from your failures the chance of you having long term success increases substantially.
The ultimate secret to success and staying motivated is to face your fears, learn from your mistakes and believe in yourself. Following these principles will increase your self confidence and make you unstoppable in your pursuit of your ultimate dream.
10 Top Tips to Improve Your Total Confidence & Self-Assurance
1. Make a list of twenty of your greatest achievements - everything from passing your driving test to getting your swimming life saving certificate/GCSEs or Master's Degree. Then list alongside each one, which characteristics it took to enable you to achieve that goal, for example, to pass your driving test it might have taken tenacity, determination, memory training, courage, persistence, managerial skills and technical ability. Carry on with the list, noting for each achievement which characteristics were needed. Note how many of the same ones keep on cropping up. On days when you're feeling doubtful about just how capable you really are, browse that list, which you always keep in your wallet or purse to remind yourself just how skilled you are!
2. List your strengths and weaknesses. Consider how you might build on your strengths and improve on your weaknesses. For example, do your strengths energise you? When you know you have performed to the best of your ability, do you feel like you could carry on indefinitely and conquer the world? Do they carry you forward even when it's the end of a long working day, and you're feeling tired but you're on a roll? Try to address your weaknesses in the same way: consider how you can regularly work on your weaknesses and strengthen them as you would work on a muscle that needed building up. A little work on a regular basis, and maybe some extra coaching from an expert, and you'll soon have those weaknesses turning into strengths and be stronger all round.
3. Consider a person in the world who you admire - what characteristics do they have that cause you to admire them? Why do they stand out from the herd? What actions do they take that put them head and shoulders above all others? How do they talk to people in a way that makes others feel good about themselves. Note these things and try to copy them yourself. It's the little things you do that add up to a whole lot of difference. What can you learn from them and incorporate into your daily actions? Remember that an action only needs to be repeated for 21 days before it becomes a habit!
4. Choose a role model or mentor who is where you want to be or doing what you want to be doing and ask them to show you how they got to be where they are now. Discover the steps needed to get you started. Don't think you can take short cuts or skip any steps - but by taking advice from someone who has already walked the path you are following, you will avoid many of the crevices and pitfalls that they may have fallen into during their journey to the top and save yourself time and trouble. Don't feel shy about asking for help - most people are flattered and delighted to be asked, especially by someone who obviously looks up to them.
5. Expect to make mistakes and when you do, don't endlessly apologise. Mistakes just show that you are human but have the confidence to carry on and not be fazed by your error. If you can use humour in a natural way, then do so, but don't force it. Self-deprecating humour always goes down well but don't continue to put yourself down. Self-belief is what we're looking for here. When you make a mistake, ask yourself the most important question, "What could I have done differently?" and learn from the answer. Also ask yourself "What have I learned from this mistake?" and ensure that you never forget the lesson.
6. Keep an open mind and realize that you can learn something from everyone you meet and not just those "above" you. The post room boy/girl or tea lady might have an important lesson you could learn, just as much as your boss or the Chairman. Take time out to share a moment with everyone and recognize that each and every person you meet in your day is an individual who may have something to teach you or a gift to give you. If you go around with a closed mind and blinkered eyes you may miss what is an important signpost to where you need to be on your journey.
7. Follow your intuition/gut feeling. More often than not you will be right. If not, learn from where you have gone wrong - nothing is a mistake if you can learn something from it. Ask yourself what you might have done differently. Could you have taken a different approach? Could you have planned better? What outcome might have occurred in that case? Remember, planning is essential - an old cliché but true - 'failing to plan, is planning to fail.'
8. With regard to planning - on a daily basis - remind yourself of your goals - you DO have your goals written out, in specific, time measured, realistic detail, don't you? They are, hopefully, updated regularly as you take each specific step along the path to your ultimate destination. Keep a card with your goals written clearly on it in a place where you can see it daily - on your car dashboard, on your shaving/makeup mirror, your computer, your diary - so that your goals are in the forefront of your mind at all times. These are there to remind you what you are working towards.
9. Take advantage of every possible learning experience that comes your way - every book, CD, seminar, course will teach you something - even if it's a way not to behave, or not to present. Make a note of what you particularly liked, or disliked, about the course content, or presenter, or other team members. Get to know yourself inside and out - again to identify your strengths and weaknesses so you can work on them. Remember what you liked so that when it's your turn to organize or have an input you know how you want things done.
10. Act AS IF! Act as if you are the most confident and self-assured person in the room; take on the mantle of that person who is your role model, watch how they speak, how they dress, how they behave, and mimic their behaviour - once you look the part, it's only a small step to thinking yourself into the persona. In no time at all, you'll start to feel comfortable in your own skin. Remember, everyone is afraid at some time, it's just that some of us are so much better at hiding it than others.
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you must stop and look fear in the face.... You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt
Establishing Self-Identity - How To View Yourself In A Social Context by Dr.Sammy D.James/President of World Vision Ministries International.W V M I
It is understood by all that man is a social animal - that he needs to live in society and contribute in a manner worthy of his bearings to the common good of all he lives among, without burdening society in any way and actually making life worthwhile for himself and others around him. Not simply identifying his self as a key element of society but one of the important elements that can help bring about change and development in the growing competitiveness in society today.
This is what an individual's in today's changing society needs to do: be able to clearly see his identity as a reformer, worthy contributor and responsible citizen in society so he emerges as an instrument of social development and positive change. This is because man needs to understand, analyze, rationalize and accept for himself that he is a tool for the welfare of society as well as himself.
To be able to see the identity of the self in relation to the society one lives in, it is important to react in a desirable and good way as inspired by those emotions that society has researched and found to be good, in the general interest of everybody, which in turn also benefits the individual - not the other way round as most people hope to do i.e. work for self-gain and by the way, also help society.
Even with taking all these good steps and thinking well of others and for others, it is possible to experience pain, depression, distrust of our motives by others with suspicious minds or less than honest character themselves or those having suffered a loss that has stayed to remind them such a negative thing can happen again; therefore, we need to control our reactions since controlling people and their thoughts are beyond our powers. Also, it is of no use trying to let people and their viewpoints govern our thinking and working towards their good or that of society as good intentions can many a time get misinterpreted by lesser thinking individuals, so instead of letting others in society pull us down, we need to learn how to make good choices to avoid having to deal frequently with disruptive situations.
This means to sift through our various associations and learn which ones cause us stress, which will turn out to be bad choices, which can be hard decisions to abide by and cost us much in terms of emotional challenges but ultimately help us develop a higher understanding of our true selves and build a healthy self-identity and so should be selected; these kinds of decisions are the character building kinds and man needs to hone on his talent to separate these from the bad associations, in order to succeed.
It humanizes our spirit, helps teach us right moral behavior, sensitizes us to feeling for society and others as well as re-establishes our self-identity through the act of de-cluttering the mind, picking right associations and working towards a better future - the real purpose of identifying self in society.
Building Self Confidence That Endures
What would you do if you knew you could do anything?
Imagine turning your dreams into reality. If you have a dream and you want to see it come to pass, then its time to starting developing your confidence. Where do you start? How about with knowing what confidence is in the first place.
Take a look at its definition and see if this describes you: belief in oneself and one's powers and abilities; assurance. If that doesn't sound like you, then let's start right where you are right now. There are certain things you do every day that you know that you know you can do. Right? You believe in yourself in that area of your life.
Since you do have a success track record in a certain part of your life, then you have what it takes to build on it. Success breeds success. You are going to discover what works best for you and take your revelation and apply to making your dreams come true.
You must have 3 things you use on a daily basis that must agree with one another in order for you to build confidence that will sustain you through the trials.
1. Your words - When you listen to successful, confident people you can tell they are determined and optimistic they are going to accomplish their goals. Take a quick word inventory right now. Are you saying what you want? Are your words taking you in the direction of your dream? If not, start today to line your words up with your dream.
2. Your beliefs - Your confidence will grow when you have beliefs that align with the direction you want to go in life. How are your beliefs formed? What you see, hear, read and do all play a significant factor in developing your belief system. What you allow in your heart will determine what comes out of it. This week pay special attention to what you seeing and hearing.
3. Your actions - What you do is a reflection of what you are saying and what you believe you can and cannot do. If you do not see yourself do want you've always wanted to do, then you are not going to take the necessary actions. This one step here is going to require you to take a step of faith. Every time you take a faith step it builds your confidence. Are you playing it safe or are you living on the edge and living by faith? One way will keep you from what you desire to do and the other will guide you in the right direction.
You have been given an awesome gift. Its called a free will. You get to choose what you say, believe and do. Today is the day you can start building your confidence so you can live the life you're meant to live.
The choice is up to you.
Self-Confidence's Number One Enemy - How to Defeat It
Negative self-talk has to be the number one destroyer of self-confidence. You know the type of self-talk that goes on in the incessant chattering of the mind. The type of talk that says, "I'm so stupid. I always mess up. I can't do anything right."
That kind of self-talk is an ego pleaser. It gets us off the hook for something that we are not proud off and it reassures our little ego that he was not at fault. After all, what could we expect? We're a number one goof off so, what we do is goof.
It may very well be an ego pleaser and a way of forgiving ourselves but what it does to our self-worth and self-confidence is criminal. The mind, like any good computer, will give us what it has been programmed to give us. It's the Gi-Go principle. Garbage In - Garbage Out.
Self-deprecating thoughts serve absolutely no worthwhile purpose and should be shunned like the plague. It's a bad habit and it's totally useless therefore should have no place in our life.
There will be times when we don't make the right choices, times when we say things that we may regret or act in a way that is not totally appropriate. When that happens the proper dialogue that we should have with ourselves should go along the way of, "What I've just said (or done) is not like me. I'm better than that and it won't happen again."
Those words should be said with conviction and repeated over and over again until the message has truly set in. We cannot change the past and what has been said (or done) cannot be changed either. However, that is not a reason to compound a bad situation by making it even worse through attacks on the self-image.
Vladimir Lenin said, "A lie told often enough becomes truth." By expressing self-deprecating sentiments often enough, they will eventually be accepted as self-evident in our own mind. What possible valid reason could there be for doing something like that? Absolutely none.
Self-confidence and self-esteem are priceless. They bring the best out of us, they sustain us in hard times and they are the best friends that we could ever have. If we are lucky enough to have a good dose of these two wonderful attributes, we should do everything possible to protect them. If not, we should do everything possible to acquire those precious qualities.
Self-acceptance and self-love are the results of what has been called the ultimate seduction. In most cases, it's a lifelong process. Something that is never finished and should be fostered every day for the rest of our life.
With self-acceptance and self-love, a person is loving, giving and has a propensity for forgiveness and tolerance. Without it, the urge to drag others down has a tendency to show it's ugly head. It is a sad truth that misery loves company.
The level of self-confidence depends on the quality of the self-image. A good self-image will foster a high degree of self-confidence and a poor self-image will reflect negatively on the self-confidence. That being said, it becomes evident that to increase self-confidence, the first thing that has to be done it to work on the self-image.
That self-image is the result of beliefs that were formed by personal observations that we made and suggestions that were accepted as being legitimate. Some of those suggestions came from peers but many were self-induced and more appropriately called autosuggestions.
We cannot always control the suggestions that are given from others but we can certainly control those that are self-made through autosuggestions. These are the ideal tools to build up the self-image and the self-confidence. So, let use them wisely and judiciously by focusing on the positive and ignoring the negative.
Always Be Yourself.
If you change your teeth, change your hair and ears, change your nose and change your looks over and over again... One thing still remains; you can't change your Real self. It is a perfect creation built inside of us. It is your life, your true identity even if you deceive others. There is no alteration that can beat it.
Seeking to be Mr. White or Mrs. Black is not important as being perfect as the creator as established you. Each of us no matter what our defects are still possess a characteristic that is appreciable even if it is minute. You can never create a being that can be more beautiful than what God has done. You are not God, you can never be God. He knew the reason why he made you a laptop and not a desktop, a mainframe and not a minicomputer. Your identity distinguishes you but that depends on how you value it.
The identity God has given you can never leave you. Finding another identity only diminishes you. Everyman is fearfully and wonderfully made by God. The beauty you need is your REAL self. It is how you were created. Never try to create a disability when God as designed you as an ability, don't be a photocopy where God has designed you as an original. Why try to be bad when God has made you good? Why try to be the darkness when you have the power of the light?
God has made you the best. Your scars are beauty you turn to success. Don't let wrong people say wrong words to influence you in doing negative things of this world.
Don't fake your identity when you meet people. It may be your time as come to receive the miracle you have been waiting for. Don't tell lies because of facing disgrace, your sorrow today become joy for tomorrow. Your ugliness becomes an asset. Just learn to turn better not bitter. Don't fake a smile. Everyone has their own problems, the solution to your problem is in the hand of another person, don't kill yourself when you can last longer.
Everyone in life is created in a beautiful way that pleases one person and displeases another. Changing your name doesn't mean you have become new entirely. Play your own rhythm not other person's rhythms'. Let people see your own light in yourself not other persons light in you. Act your own script. Let your true talent speak your identity; your whole originality is your truest identity. Do it with your own voice one day you come out beautifully. Just make your own voice sweeter and better and one day you become a legend. Just keep practicing the inner self, exercise it to attain maximum greatness. Turn that bitter part to better part.
Trying to be another person is like self degradation, which displeases the creator and also contradicts the first rule which says "Honor your creator and respect his works", this result into your elimination when right changes are not introduced. So be careful, everyone is unique, created in a perfect way. The one who made us has made you that way so that you can bring His glory in you out. You might be covered with dust but inside, diamond is buried. The one who made you deaf knows better, the one who made you poor knows better, if you are from a separated home God knows better. Everything only gets better when you embrace the grace of truth and working the self to greater positivity. Don't hate your background. Every good thing will come. That is the good news if you hold on to the positive side of you. What a wonderful man/woman I am seeing in you? Everything has a reason for the way they are. Life grows better when you carry your cross and work better to offload it. Trying to be another person only adds more burdens to your life, it does not remove any burden.
5 Tips For Self Confidence in Relationships
Our success in relationships, business, sports and spiritual endeavors is largely determined by our self image and confidence. Those who exhibit confidence in themselves and their choices seem to attract good things, people and experiences to their lives.
It seems as those who have learned the tricks and tips of self confidence seem to be magnets for better treatment, more opportunities and deeper relationships. It is in our best interest to learn some of the ways that confident people think and act, so that we too may share the joy and good fortune.
Here are 5 Tips that we have incorporated in our family to build confidence
1. Focus on your strengths and hire out your weaknesses. Of course you can do the lawn work, and straighten the garage, and run a business, but you are best at running the business. Barter, trade or hire others who are good at what you are not to do it faster and better.
2. Visualize yourself succeeding. If you can see a clear picture of what success will look and feel like, you increase your chances of reaching it.
3. Ask for others to teach and mentor you. The most flattering question to an expert is "Wow, I am impressed. Will you teach me how to do that?" It is important to cultivate people who will help you to grow and develop your talents. Even the very act of asking is empowering. Determine what you want and keep asking until you get it.
4. Replace negative self talk with positive affirmations. Many of our beliefs and actions come from words or actions that others have given us in the past. They may not have been true then and they certainly are not true now. You have the power and duty to say to yourself over and over again "I may have been Late (or lazy,disorganized,unkind,procrastinator etc.) in the past, but now and forever more I am choosing to be on time every time (or industrious,organized,kind, prompt etc.)
5. Recognize there are a number of solutions to every situation. There is no one and only way to do anything. People who get locked into "my way" thinking, lose sight of the creative, innovative and imaginative ways to solve problems.
All of us have weaknesses and insecurities. The trick is to take a good look at how those past belief systems got there and if they are serving us well. If not, then as an intelligent person who has choices in life. Choose to let those things go that do not serve us and incorporate those habits and beliefs that do help us to succeed.
The world needs strong, confident people to step up in relationships, businesses, communities and neighborhoods. It is time to assume the mantle of confidence and esteem and recognize you have much to contribute and share.
I have confidence in you. Please use this information to overcome anxious and depressed feelings. You deserve to feel brave and sure of your ability to affect your life.Dr.Sammy D.James
This is what an individual's in today's changing society needs to do: be able to clearly see his identity as a reformer, worthy contributor and responsible citizen in society so he emerges as an instrument of social development and positive change. This is because man needs to understand, analyze, rationalize and accept for himself that he is a tool for the welfare of society as well as himself.
To be able to see the identity of the self in relation to the society one lives in, it is important to react in a desirable and good way as inspired by those emotions that society has researched and found to be good, in the general interest of everybody, which in turn also benefits the individual - not the other way round as most people hope to do i.e. work for self-gain and by the way, also help society.
Even with taking all these good steps and thinking well of others and for others, it is possible to experience pain, depression, distrust of our motives by others with suspicious minds or less than honest character themselves or those having suffered a loss that has stayed to remind them such a negative thing can happen again; therefore, we need to control our reactions since controlling people and their thoughts are beyond our powers. Also, it is of no use trying to let people and their viewpoints govern our thinking and working towards their good or that of society as good intentions can many a time get misinterpreted by lesser thinking individuals, so instead of letting others in society pull us down, we need to learn how to make good choices to avoid having to deal frequently with disruptive situations.
This means to sift through our various associations and learn which ones cause us stress, which will turn out to be bad choices, which can be hard decisions to abide by and cost us much in terms of emotional challenges but ultimately help us develop a higher understanding of our true selves and build a healthy self-identity and so should be selected; these kinds of decisions are the character building kinds and man needs to hone on his talent to separate these from the bad associations, in order to succeed.
It humanizes our spirit, helps teach us right moral behavior, sensitizes us to feeling for society and others as well as re-establishes our self-identity through the act of de-cluttering the mind, picking right associations and working towards a better future - the real purpose of identifying self in society.
Building Self Confidence That Endures
What would you do if you knew you could do anything?
Imagine turning your dreams into reality. If you have a dream and you want to see it come to pass, then its time to starting developing your confidence. Where do you start? How about with knowing what confidence is in the first place.
Take a look at its definition and see if this describes you: belief in oneself and one's powers and abilities; assurance. If that doesn't sound like you, then let's start right where you are right now. There are certain things you do every day that you know that you know you can do. Right? You believe in yourself in that area of your life.
Since you do have a success track record in a certain part of your life, then you have what it takes to build on it. Success breeds success. You are going to discover what works best for you and take your revelation and apply to making your dreams come true.
You must have 3 things you use on a daily basis that must agree with one another in order for you to build confidence that will sustain you through the trials.
1. Your words - When you listen to successful, confident people you can tell they are determined and optimistic they are going to accomplish their goals. Take a quick word inventory right now. Are you saying what you want? Are your words taking you in the direction of your dream? If not, start today to line your words up with your dream.
2. Your beliefs - Your confidence will grow when you have beliefs that align with the direction you want to go in life. How are your beliefs formed? What you see, hear, read and do all play a significant factor in developing your belief system. What you allow in your heart will determine what comes out of it. This week pay special attention to what you seeing and hearing.
3. Your actions - What you do is a reflection of what you are saying and what you believe you can and cannot do. If you do not see yourself do want you've always wanted to do, then you are not going to take the necessary actions. This one step here is going to require you to take a step of faith. Every time you take a faith step it builds your confidence. Are you playing it safe or are you living on the edge and living by faith? One way will keep you from what you desire to do and the other will guide you in the right direction.
You have been given an awesome gift. Its called a free will. You get to choose what you say, believe and do. Today is the day you can start building your confidence so you can live the life you're meant to live.
The choice is up to you.
Self-Confidence's Number One Enemy - How to Defeat It
Negative self-talk has to be the number one destroyer of self-confidence. You know the type of self-talk that goes on in the incessant chattering of the mind. The type of talk that says, "I'm so stupid. I always mess up. I can't do anything right."
That kind of self-talk is an ego pleaser. It gets us off the hook for something that we are not proud off and it reassures our little ego that he was not at fault. After all, what could we expect? We're a number one goof off so, what we do is goof.
It may very well be an ego pleaser and a way of forgiving ourselves but what it does to our self-worth and self-confidence is criminal. The mind, like any good computer, will give us what it has been programmed to give us. It's the Gi-Go principle. Garbage In - Garbage Out.
Self-deprecating thoughts serve absolutely no worthwhile purpose and should be shunned like the plague. It's a bad habit and it's totally useless therefore should have no place in our life.
There will be times when we don't make the right choices, times when we say things that we may regret or act in a way that is not totally appropriate. When that happens the proper dialogue that we should have with ourselves should go along the way of, "What I've just said (or done) is not like me. I'm better than that and it won't happen again."
Those words should be said with conviction and repeated over and over again until the message has truly set in. We cannot change the past and what has been said (or done) cannot be changed either. However, that is not a reason to compound a bad situation by making it even worse through attacks on the self-image.
Vladimir Lenin said, "A lie told often enough becomes truth." By expressing self-deprecating sentiments often enough, they will eventually be accepted as self-evident in our own mind. What possible valid reason could there be for doing something like that? Absolutely none.
Self-confidence and self-esteem are priceless. They bring the best out of us, they sustain us in hard times and they are the best friends that we could ever have. If we are lucky enough to have a good dose of these two wonderful attributes, we should do everything possible to protect them. If not, we should do everything possible to acquire those precious qualities.
Self-acceptance and self-love are the results of what has been called the ultimate seduction. In most cases, it's a lifelong process. Something that is never finished and should be fostered every day for the rest of our life.
With self-acceptance and self-love, a person is loving, giving and has a propensity for forgiveness and tolerance. Without it, the urge to drag others down has a tendency to show it's ugly head. It is a sad truth that misery loves company.
The level of self-confidence depends on the quality of the self-image. A good self-image will foster a high degree of self-confidence and a poor self-image will reflect negatively on the self-confidence. That being said, it becomes evident that to increase self-confidence, the first thing that has to be done it to work on the self-image.
That self-image is the result of beliefs that were formed by personal observations that we made and suggestions that were accepted as being legitimate. Some of those suggestions came from peers but many were self-induced and more appropriately called autosuggestions.
We cannot always control the suggestions that are given from others but we can certainly control those that are self-made through autosuggestions. These are the ideal tools to build up the self-image and the self-confidence. So, let use them wisely and judiciously by focusing on the positive and ignoring the negative.
Always Be Yourself.
If you change your teeth, change your hair and ears, change your nose and change your looks over and over again... One thing still remains; you can't change your Real self. It is a perfect creation built inside of us. It is your life, your true identity even if you deceive others. There is no alteration that can beat it.
Seeking to be Mr. White or Mrs. Black is not important as being perfect as the creator as established you. Each of us no matter what our defects are still possess a characteristic that is appreciable even if it is minute. You can never create a being that can be more beautiful than what God has done. You are not God, you can never be God. He knew the reason why he made you a laptop and not a desktop, a mainframe and not a minicomputer. Your identity distinguishes you but that depends on how you value it.
The identity God has given you can never leave you. Finding another identity only diminishes you. Everyman is fearfully and wonderfully made by God. The beauty you need is your REAL self. It is how you were created. Never try to create a disability when God as designed you as an ability, don't be a photocopy where God has designed you as an original. Why try to be bad when God has made you good? Why try to be the darkness when you have the power of the light?
God has made you the best. Your scars are beauty you turn to success. Don't let wrong people say wrong words to influence you in doing negative things of this world.
Don't fake your identity when you meet people. It may be your time as come to receive the miracle you have been waiting for. Don't tell lies because of facing disgrace, your sorrow today become joy for tomorrow. Your ugliness becomes an asset. Just learn to turn better not bitter. Don't fake a smile. Everyone has their own problems, the solution to your problem is in the hand of another person, don't kill yourself when you can last longer.
Everyone in life is created in a beautiful way that pleases one person and displeases another. Changing your name doesn't mean you have become new entirely. Play your own rhythm not other person's rhythms'. Let people see your own light in yourself not other persons light in you. Act your own script. Let your true talent speak your identity; your whole originality is your truest identity. Do it with your own voice one day you come out beautifully. Just make your own voice sweeter and better and one day you become a legend. Just keep practicing the inner self, exercise it to attain maximum greatness. Turn that bitter part to better part.
Trying to be another person is like self degradation, which displeases the creator and also contradicts the first rule which says "Honor your creator and respect his works", this result into your elimination when right changes are not introduced. So be careful, everyone is unique, created in a perfect way. The one who made us has made you that way so that you can bring His glory in you out. You might be covered with dust but inside, diamond is buried. The one who made you deaf knows better, the one who made you poor knows better, if you are from a separated home God knows better. Everything only gets better when you embrace the grace of truth and working the self to greater positivity. Don't hate your background. Every good thing will come. That is the good news if you hold on to the positive side of you. What a wonderful man/woman I am seeing in you? Everything has a reason for the way they are. Life grows better when you carry your cross and work better to offload it. Trying to be another person only adds more burdens to your life, it does not remove any burden.
5 Tips For Self Confidence in Relationships
Our success in relationships, business, sports and spiritual endeavors is largely determined by our self image and confidence. Those who exhibit confidence in themselves and their choices seem to attract good things, people and experiences to their lives.
It seems as those who have learned the tricks and tips of self confidence seem to be magnets for better treatment, more opportunities and deeper relationships. It is in our best interest to learn some of the ways that confident people think and act, so that we too may share the joy and good fortune.
Here are 5 Tips that we have incorporated in our family to build confidence
1. Focus on your strengths and hire out your weaknesses. Of course you can do the lawn work, and straighten the garage, and run a business, but you are best at running the business. Barter, trade or hire others who are good at what you are not to do it faster and better.
2. Visualize yourself succeeding. If you can see a clear picture of what success will look and feel like, you increase your chances of reaching it.
3. Ask for others to teach and mentor you. The most flattering question to an expert is "Wow, I am impressed. Will you teach me how to do that?" It is important to cultivate people who will help you to grow and develop your talents. Even the very act of asking is empowering. Determine what you want and keep asking until you get it.
4. Replace negative self talk with positive affirmations. Many of our beliefs and actions come from words or actions that others have given us in the past. They may not have been true then and they certainly are not true now. You have the power and duty to say to yourself over and over again "I may have been Late (or lazy,disorganized,unkind,procrastinator etc.) in the past, but now and forever more I am choosing to be on time every time (or industrious,organized,kind, prompt etc.)
5. Recognize there are a number of solutions to every situation. There is no one and only way to do anything. People who get locked into "my way" thinking, lose sight of the creative, innovative and imaginative ways to solve problems.
All of us have weaknesses and insecurities. The trick is to take a good look at how those past belief systems got there and if they are serving us well. If not, then as an intelligent person who has choices in life. Choose to let those things go that do not serve us and incorporate those habits and beliefs that do help us to succeed.
The world needs strong, confident people to step up in relationships, businesses, communities and neighborhoods. It is time to assume the mantle of confidence and esteem and recognize you have much to contribute and share.
I have confidence in you. Please use this information to overcome anxious and depressed feelings. You deserve to feel brave and sure of your ability to affect your life.Dr.Sammy D.James
25 sept 2009
Progress Action center.
Make Your Voice Heard.
Campus Progress Action, part of the Center of W V M I Progress Action Fund, works to help young people advocates, activists, journalists, artists, and others to make their voices heard on issues that matter.
Campus Progress Action, part of the Center W V M I Progress Action Fund, works to help young people advocates, activists, journalists, artists, and others to make their voices heard on issues that matter. We engage in advocacy, coalition, and media work on key policy issues of importance to young people; advance grassroots issue campaigns on campuses and in communities; and train young people in media, policy, writing, grassroots organizing, and other critical skills.
Campus Progress Action, part of the Center of W V M I Progress Action Fund, works to help young people advocates, activists, journalists, artists, and others to make their voices heard on issues that matter.
Campus Progress Action, part of the Center W V M I Progress Action Fund, works to help young people advocates, activists, journalists, artists, and others to make their voices heard on issues that matter. We engage in advocacy, coalition, and media work on key policy issues of importance to young people; advance grassroots issue campaigns on campuses and in communities; and train young people in media, policy, writing, grassroots organizing, and other critical skills.
Objectives of W V M I .
Project Highlights
Project by project, the efforts of Women in Progress to help women entrepreneurs achieve their business goals are making a difference in advancing economic equality and promoting cross-cultural understanding. Women in Progress is proud to partner with women entrepreneurs whose enthusiasm and determination are helping to transform the world.
Approach
Women in Progress believes that women entrepreneurs largely recognize what is needed to expand their businesses and in. In most cases they lack resources (education, technology, and capital) to execute their ideas. By taking a long-term approach to women's business development, we help women help themselves to independently improve business efficiencies, access new markets, and sustain business growth.
Objectives
Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level in developing nations through the sustainable growth of small women-owned businesses and at the same time establishes mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.
Our philosophy is that the best way to improve the standard of living for those living in poverty is by assisting in the development and expansion of women-owned businesses in order to generate new jobs and increase income levels of women.
Women in Progress programs support the development of micro and small woman-owned enterprises through workforce training, new technology, and in-depth projects that focus on improving internal efficiencies, competing more effectively in existing markets, gaining access to new markets, and engaging in international trade.
Grassroots Solutions to Global Issues
Women in Progress believes that producing self sufficient micro and small businesses is the means to achieving economic justice and globalization of free markets. Similarly, creating a sense of global citizenship based on social justice is best achieved at the grassroots level by advancing women’s human rights and promoting cross-cultural understanding through volunteerism. Women in Progress is committed to implementing grassroots solutions to global challenges that advocate economic development and social change, both of which are required to achieve international peace.
We believe the world will be closer to social and economic justice if businesses are self sustainable, women enjoy their full human rights, and people understand and respect diverse cultures. Women in Progress implements .
Self Sufficiency
Sustainable development and economic growth in emerging nations is required to obtain globalization of markets. Self-sufficiency can only be achieved at the grassroots level by establishing capacity of individuals and businesses to solve their own problems that alleviate poverty.
Women's Empowerment
The inclusion and empowerment of women is essential in the pursuit of forming sustainable enterprises. Since women already drive a large part of the economy in Ghana through managing micro enterprises, they are critical to establishing economic independence on a national level and promoting economic justice on a global level.
Cross-Cultural Understanding
Cross-cultural understanding and respect for diversity are fundamental to creating a more just and peaceful world. Cross-cultural cooperation at a grassroots level promotes global citizenship through establishing mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.
Project by project, the efforts of Women in Progress to help women entrepreneurs achieve their business goals are making a difference in advancing economic equality and promoting cross-cultural understanding. Women in Progress is proud to partner with women entrepreneurs whose enthusiasm and determination are helping to transform the world.
Approach
Women in Progress believes that women entrepreneurs largely recognize what is needed to expand their businesses and in. In most cases they lack resources (education, technology, and capital) to execute their ideas. By taking a long-term approach to women's business development, we help women help themselves to independently improve business efficiencies, access new markets, and sustain business growth.
Objectives
Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level in developing nations through the sustainable growth of small women-owned businesses and at the same time establishes mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.
Our philosophy is that the best way to improve the standard of living for those living in poverty is by assisting in the development and expansion of women-owned businesses in order to generate new jobs and increase income levels of women.
Women in Progress programs support the development of micro and small woman-owned enterprises through workforce training, new technology, and in-depth projects that focus on improving internal efficiencies, competing more effectively in existing markets, gaining access to new markets, and engaging in international trade.
Grassroots Solutions to Global Issues
Women in Progress believes that producing self sufficient micro and small businesses is the means to achieving economic justice and globalization of free markets. Similarly, creating a sense of global citizenship based on social justice is best achieved at the grassroots level by advancing women’s human rights and promoting cross-cultural understanding through volunteerism. Women in Progress is committed to implementing grassroots solutions to global challenges that advocate economic development and social change, both of which are required to achieve international peace.
We believe the world will be closer to social and economic justice if businesses are self sustainable, women enjoy their full human rights, and people understand and respect diverse cultures. Women in Progress implements .
Self Sufficiency
Sustainable development and economic growth in emerging nations is required to obtain globalization of markets. Self-sufficiency can only be achieved at the grassroots level by establishing capacity of individuals and businesses to solve their own problems that alleviate poverty.
Women's Empowerment
The inclusion and empowerment of women is essential in the pursuit of forming sustainable enterprises. Since women already drive a large part of the economy in Ghana through managing micro enterprises, they are critical to establishing economic independence on a national level and promoting economic justice on a global level.
Cross-Cultural Understanding
Cross-cultural understanding and respect for diversity are fundamental to creating a more just and peaceful world. Cross-cultural cooperation at a grassroots level promotes global citizenship through establishing mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.
Helping us.We look forward to ear from you.Dr Sammy D.James
Women in Progress
Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level in developing nations through the sustainable growth of small women-owned businesses and at the same time establishes mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.
Volunteer Abroad
As an international volunteer organization, Women in Progress helps people volunteer abroad. Our international volunteer programs focus on assisting women in Caribbean and Latin of america. To grow their micro enterprises and become self sufficient through business and IT consulting and training.
Through volunteer opportunities abroad, you can volunteer abroad and use your skills to make a difference in the future of women and their families . Take advantage of volunteer opportunities abroad and give meaning to your travels and volunteer abroad.
International Trade.
Most developing countries recognize that economic growth and long-term sustainable development can largely be accomplished through promoting the growth of private businesses and increasing international trade. Unfortunately, small businesses typically lack access to the capital, technology, and market information necessary to compete effectively in the global market. With an even greater uphill battle are women entrepreneurs who are not provided the same opportunities and access to resources as their male counterparts.
The primary objective of the International Trade program is to enable small woman-owned businesses to enter and compete effectively in the larger national and global markets.
Building on the progress made in business and technology management through the Business Development program, volunteers assigned to the International Trade program collaborate with qualifying woman-owned businesses to accomplish various objectives:
Create and research new product concepts for exporting
Develop or refine an international trade marketing strategy
Develop and implement a quality control program for manufacturing
Determine import/export requirements and develop processes for fulfillment
Implement processes to improve the efficiency of and expand the scale of production
Align small businesses to explore cooperative efforts in order to increase capacity and allow entrepreneurs to compete more effectively in the global market
Identify financial resources required to implement a global marketing strategy
Develop Web pages to include products for sale over the Internet
Match entrepreneurs to the appropriate network of partner distributors in the U.S. and Europe.
Business Development.
Enhancing and sustaining the growth of woman-owned enterprises through the implementation of business and technology best practices is the foundation of the Business Development program. As more developing nations turn to free-market systems to further economic growth, Women in Progress provides the business support and information technology tools needed to assist well-prepared women entrepreneurs to take advantage of an expanding global marketplace.
Women business owners that are selected to participate in the Business Development Program are assigned a dedicated consulting team, which typically consists of full-time staff members of Women in Progress, and foreign and local volunteers with expertise in business and/or technology. Believing that local women entrepreneurs already recognize what is required to expand their businesses, the activities of the project team will be driven and owned by the local women.
All projects are customized to the specific needs of each woman-owned business. The following activities are generally performed through the Business Development program:
Develop a realistic business plan, which includes measurable objectives, required tasks and estimated timeline for implementation
Establish an efficient process for tracking finances
Provide access to technology needed to improve productivity (i.e. computerized versus manual accounting, budgeting, more efficient means for marketing and promotion, communicating with clients/vendors via email, etc.)
Research and test the viability of expanding to new markets
Align businesses in the same or complimentary markets to enhance their capacity and allow them to access new and larger markets that would be unobtainable individually
Assist in obtaining affordable loans required for business expansion
To ensure a project has met the pre-defined objectives, volunteers typically remain in contact with the client businesses for at least six months after their departure. Women in Progress staff play a critical role as they provide continuity among transitioning volunteers, ongoing support for the clients, and ensure achievement of the long-term project objectives.
Training & Support
Women in Progress primarily partners with other organizations to provide basic business and technology workshops. The training seminars that Women in Progress does design and deliver tend to be more advanced business and technology workshops that are specific to particular industries. Women in Progress supports a collaborative approach to training that fosters group discussion and encourages creative thinking, not pushing western ways. Our objective is to put the resulting business and technology best practices into action through the Business Development or International Trade programs.
Young women also benefit from the Training & Support program. Through guest speaking opportunities in local schools, Women in Progress plants the seed of entrepreneurialism early in a young woman’s career by teaching basic business and technology concepts. The goal is to train, encourage and mentor young women so that will have the courage and access to resources to participate successfully in the global economy.
Courses topics and levels offered depend entirely on the needs of the local women entrepreneurs. However, courses generally fall into the following categories:
Specialized Business Training
Advanced courses for specific industries/trades that focus on topics such as accessing capital, strategic planning, product development, quality control, forecasting, and exporting.
Business-Focused Computer Training
Intermediate technology training for accounting, marketing and other business-specific software applications.
Advanced technical training in areas such as computerized inventory management and Internet marketing.
Volunteers teach the majority of courses based on their areas of expertise. Local professors, business professionals, and technology experts will also be invited to teach courses.
A Women's Technology Center is managed by Women in Progress at each location and provides human support for general business development, in addition to access to computers for productivity tools such as office applications, accounting software, marketing programs, and email. Classroom facilities for business courses and a computer lab for technology training are also available.
Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level in developing nations through the sustainable growth of small women-owned businesses and at the same time establishes mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.
Volunteer Abroad
As an international volunteer organization, Women in Progress helps people volunteer abroad. Our international volunteer programs focus on assisting women in Caribbean and Latin of america. To grow their micro enterprises and become self sufficient through business and IT consulting and training.
Through volunteer opportunities abroad, you can volunteer abroad and use your skills to make a difference in the future of women and their families . Take advantage of volunteer opportunities abroad and give meaning to your travels and volunteer abroad.
International Trade.
Most developing countries recognize that economic growth and long-term sustainable development can largely be accomplished through promoting the growth of private businesses and increasing international trade. Unfortunately, small businesses typically lack access to the capital, technology, and market information necessary to compete effectively in the global market. With an even greater uphill battle are women entrepreneurs who are not provided the same opportunities and access to resources as their male counterparts.
The primary objective of the International Trade program is to enable small woman-owned businesses to enter and compete effectively in the larger national and global markets.
Building on the progress made in business and technology management through the Business Development program, volunteers assigned to the International Trade program collaborate with qualifying woman-owned businesses to accomplish various objectives:
Create and research new product concepts for exporting
Develop or refine an international trade marketing strategy
Develop and implement a quality control program for manufacturing
Determine import/export requirements and develop processes for fulfillment
Implement processes to improve the efficiency of and expand the scale of production
Align small businesses to explore cooperative efforts in order to increase capacity and allow entrepreneurs to compete more effectively in the global market
Identify financial resources required to implement a global marketing strategy
Develop Web pages to include products for sale over the Internet
Match entrepreneurs to the appropriate network of partner distributors in the U.S. and Europe.
Business Development.
Enhancing and sustaining the growth of woman-owned enterprises through the implementation of business and technology best practices is the foundation of the Business Development program. As more developing nations turn to free-market systems to further economic growth, Women in Progress provides the business support and information technology tools needed to assist well-prepared women entrepreneurs to take advantage of an expanding global marketplace.
Women business owners that are selected to participate in the Business Development Program are assigned a dedicated consulting team, which typically consists of full-time staff members of Women in Progress, and foreign and local volunteers with expertise in business and/or technology. Believing that local women entrepreneurs already recognize what is required to expand their businesses, the activities of the project team will be driven and owned by the local women.
All projects are customized to the specific needs of each woman-owned business. The following activities are generally performed through the Business Development program:
Develop a realistic business plan, which includes measurable objectives, required tasks and estimated timeline for implementation
Establish an efficient process for tracking finances
Provide access to technology needed to improve productivity (i.e. computerized versus manual accounting, budgeting, more efficient means for marketing and promotion, communicating with clients/vendors via email, etc.)
Research and test the viability of expanding to new markets
Align businesses in the same or complimentary markets to enhance their capacity and allow them to access new and larger markets that would be unobtainable individually
Assist in obtaining affordable loans required for business expansion
To ensure a project has met the pre-defined objectives, volunteers typically remain in contact with the client businesses for at least six months after their departure. Women in Progress staff play a critical role as they provide continuity among transitioning volunteers, ongoing support for the clients, and ensure achievement of the long-term project objectives.
Training & Support
Women in Progress primarily partners with other organizations to provide basic business and technology workshops. The training seminars that Women in Progress does design and deliver tend to be more advanced business and technology workshops that are specific to particular industries. Women in Progress supports a collaborative approach to training that fosters group discussion and encourages creative thinking, not pushing western ways. Our objective is to put the resulting business and technology best practices into action through the Business Development or International Trade programs.
Young women also benefit from the Training & Support program. Through guest speaking opportunities in local schools, Women in Progress plants the seed of entrepreneurialism early in a young woman’s career by teaching basic business and technology concepts. The goal is to train, encourage and mentor young women so that will have the courage and access to resources to participate successfully in the global economy.
Courses topics and levels offered depend entirely on the needs of the local women entrepreneurs. However, courses generally fall into the following categories:
Specialized Business Training
Advanced courses for specific industries/trades that focus on topics such as accessing capital, strategic planning, product development, quality control, forecasting, and exporting.
Business-Focused Computer Training
Intermediate technology training for accounting, marketing and other business-specific software applications.
Advanced technical training in areas such as computerized inventory management and Internet marketing.
Volunteers teach the majority of courses based on their areas of expertise. Local professors, business professionals, and technology experts will also be invited to teach courses.
A Women's Technology Center is managed by Women in Progress at each location and provides human support for general business development, in addition to access to computers for productivity tools such as office applications, accounting software, marketing programs, and email. Classroom facilities for business courses and a computer lab for technology training are also available.
HOW TO HELP/HOW CAN YOU HELP
Become a member of HOPE.
Student - $10.00
Individual - $20.00
Couple - $35.00/50/100
Associate Member - $200.00/1000/5000/100.000
up to all of you/
The Organization for Progress and Education is able to provide educational opportunities for the latin american countries and the caribbean countries. The youth because of generous contributions from individuals, businesses, fundraisers such as the HOPE Golf Tournament and grants. Your financial and personal support will help us provide HOPE for a Brighter Future.
We need cars,jeeps,truck,boats helping us to provide for those who have need.
Because we have differents projet please help us.God bless you.
E-mail us .sammydestiny@hotmail.com
Student - $10.00
Individual - $20.00
Couple - $35.00/50/100
Associate Member - $200.00/1000/5000/100.000
up to all of you/
The Organization for Progress and Education is able to provide educational opportunities for the latin american countries and the caribbean countries. The youth because of generous contributions from individuals, businesses, fundraisers such as the HOPE Golf Tournament and grants. Your financial and personal support will help us provide HOPE for a Brighter Future.
We need cars,jeeps,truck,boats helping us to provide for those who have need.
Because we have differents projet please help us.God bless you.
E-mail us .sammydestiny@hotmail.com
HOPE's Objectives
We need to hear from you.E-mail us at.sammydestiny@hotmail.com/wvmiseminarytheologieschool45@yahoo.fr/ocassorphelinat@yahoo.fr
The team of this organization need your collaboration.
We are located in differents place around the world.
our head office Nassau Bahamas,Cable Beach no 37 our tel 242-636-83-93
Work for educational success for Hispanics and Caribbean at all levels and to increase graduation rates by active participation with educational institutions.
Support Hispanic and Caribbean students' efforts to gain the training and education necessary to pursue and achieve their ambitions by annually providing college and/or higher education scholarships to deserving Hispanic and Caribbean students.
To annually join the community in recognizing and celebrating the educational achievements of Hispanic and Caribbean youth and host a HOPE Honors recognition event.
Instill pride in the Hispanic and Caribbean heritage by increasing awareness of the Hispanic and Caribbean through recognition programs, by coordinating workshops, and promoting community cultural and educational events. But remember we are one people.
The team of this organization need your collaboration.
We are located in differents place around the world.
our head office Nassau Bahamas,Cable Beach no 37 our tel 242-636-83-93
Work for educational success for Hispanics and Caribbean at all levels and to increase graduation rates by active participation with educational institutions.
Support Hispanic and Caribbean students' efforts to gain the training and education necessary to pursue and achieve their ambitions by annually providing college and/or higher education scholarships to deserving Hispanic and Caribbean students.
To annually join the community in recognizing and celebrating the educational achievements of Hispanic and Caribbean youth and host a HOPE Honors recognition event.
Instill pride in the Hispanic and Caribbean heritage by increasing awareness of the Hispanic and Caribbean through recognition programs, by coordinating workshops, and promoting community cultural and educational events. But remember we are one people.
W.V.M.I Demands of the Political Platform of the People's Organization for Progress
We demand . We want full and just compensation to all people for the centuries of brutalization and forced labor that their ancestors were made to endure.
We demand an end to police brutality, and demand the establishment of elected civilian review and control boards with subpoena and prosecutorial powers over all police forces at all levels in the world
We demand an immediate end to all racial inequity and racial discrimination in all areas of life in the world
We demand the immediate creation of jobs programs that will eliminate unemployment and provide jobs at union ages for every person that is willing and able to work.
We demand a guaranteed minimum income for all people of working age that will allow them to adequately support themselves and their families and eliminate poverty and hunger in this world.
We demand the establishment of a system of universal free health care in the world.which will enable all people to receive adequate and proper medical and dental care at all times.
We demand the establishment of a system of free higher education that will enable all students to attend colleges and universities free of charge.
We demand that government fully subsidize all child care programs so that working parents will not longer have to pay for this service.
We demand the abolition of the death penalty.
We demand adequate food, clothing, housing, employment, health care, education, legal represenation, recreation and culture for every person in the world.If we aplicated this principles in your countries we will have a better world.Dr Sammy D.James
We demand an end to police brutality, and demand the establishment of elected civilian review and control boards with subpoena and prosecutorial powers over all police forces at all levels in the world
We demand an immediate end to all racial inequity and racial discrimination in all areas of life in the world
We demand the immediate creation of jobs programs that will eliminate unemployment and provide jobs at union ages for every person that is willing and able to work.
We demand a guaranteed minimum income for all people of working age that will allow them to adequately support themselves and their families and eliminate poverty and hunger in this world.
We demand the establishment of a system of universal free health care in the world.which will enable all people to receive adequate and proper medical and dental care at all times.
We demand the establishment of a system of free higher education that will enable all students to attend colleges and universities free of charge.
We demand that government fully subsidize all child care programs so that working parents will not longer have to pay for this service.
We demand the abolition of the death penalty.
We demand adequate food, clothing, housing, employment, health care, education, legal represenation, recreation and culture for every person in the world.If we aplicated this principles in your countries we will have a better world.Dr Sammy D.James
People's Organization for Progress.
The People's Organization for Progress (P.O.P.) works to empower the grassroots community and fights for its needs. P.O.P. speaks out about issues such as poverty, racism, unemployment, education, housing, drugs, crime and community deterioration as well as important local, national and international issues.
P.O.P. supports self-help and other efforts to improve conditions in our community. However our ultimate goal is the complete elimination of all forms of racial, social and economic inequality and injustice. If you want to have a stronger voice in the affairs of our community then you should join the People's Organization for Progress.
The People's Organization for Progress has a statewide campaign to mobilize and demonstrate against police brutality and racial violence.
POP meets 6:30p.m. every Thusday in every countries our Organization working around the world.E-mail us,call us.Please helping us.We need more humans ressources,Finances,Documents,Materials.God bless you.
P.O.P. supports self-help and other efforts to improve conditions in our community. However our ultimate goal is the complete elimination of all forms of racial, social and economic inequality and injustice. If you want to have a stronger voice in the affairs of our community then you should join the People's Organization for Progress.
The People's Organization for Progress has a statewide campaign to mobilize and demonstrate against police brutality and racial violence.
POP meets 6:30p.m. every Thusday in every countries our Organization working around the world.E-mail us,call us.Please helping us.We need more humans ressources,Finances,Documents,Materials.God bless you.
Do better schools help the poor.
W.V.M.I World Vision Ministries International.
Few years ago our organization enter an haiti.
We support over 1.000.000 kids to be in schools.
an jamaica,our organization support 600.000 kids.
Our organization repairs many schools.And support thousand
Orphans,we support differents association local,many small organization,many groups,etc.DR Sammy try to helping you, understand when we united together,how powerful we are.
Does Globalization Help the Poor?
During the past few years, we have heard steady proclamations emanating from the advocates of economic globalization and leaders of the Bretton Woods institutions - the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), et. al. - that their deepest purpose in pushing economic globalization is to help the world's poor. More specifically, they contend that removing barriers to corporate trade and financial investments is the best path to growth, which they say offers the best chance to lift the poor from poverty.
They also assert that the millions of people who have visibly opposed the economic globalization model are harming the interests of the poor. Everyone should please back off and leave it to corporations, bankers and global bureaucracies to do the planning and solve the world's problems.
Such claims are routinely replayed in the media. One prominent national columnist, for example, says, "protesters are choking the only route out of poverty for the world's poor." In other words, if the protests would stop, the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, Nike and Monsanto would save the day. Is this true? Are the interests of global corporations and bureaucracies really aimed at helping the poor? Or do these institutions have other primary motives?
WHO BENEFITS? So far, almost all of the evidence from the past three decades (1970-2000) - the period of economic globalization's most rapid ascendancy - shows that it is bringing exactly the opposite outcome that its advocates claim. The evidence now comes nearly as much from the proponents of globalization as its opposition.
Clearly, poverty and inequality are rapidly accelerating everywhere on earth. A 1999 report by the United Nations Development Program found that inequalities between rich and poor within and among countries are quickly expanding, and that the global trading and finance system is one of the primary causes.
Even the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirms the United Nations' (UN) conclusions, agreeing that globalization brings massive inequalities. The benefits of globalization do not reach the poor, says the CIA, and the process inevitably brings increased global protest and chaos.
Robert Wade of the London School of Economics, wrote in The Economist (2001), "Global inequality is worsening rapidly...Technological change and financial liberalization result in a disproportionately fast increase in the number of households at the extreme rich end, without shrinking the distribution at the poor end...From 1988 to 1993, the share of the world income going to the poorest 10 percent of the world's population fell by over a quarter, whereas the share of the richest 10 percent rose by 8 percent.
The ideologies and rules of economic globalization - including free trade, deregulation, privatization, and structural adjustment - have destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people, often leaving them homeless, landless and hungry, while removing their access to even the most basic public services such as health and medical care, education, sanitation, fresh water, public transport, job training and the like. The record shows that economic globalization makes things worse for the poor, not better.
Economic globalization has only proved to be successful in making global corporations and a few elites wildly wealthy. For example, of the largest 100 economies in the world, 52 are now corporations. In what the UN describes as the "staggering concentration of wealth among the ultrawealthy," total wealth controlled by people with assets of at least $1 million nearly quadrupled from 1986 to 2000, from $7.2 trillion to $27 trillion. Even with the dot-com crash and the current global financial slump, Merrill Lynch predicts that wealth controlled by millionaires will continue to increase by 8 percent a year, reaching $40 trillion by 2005.
Contrary to its claims, wealth generated by globalization does not trickle down. Rather, the rules lock the wealth at the top, removing from governments and communities the very tools necessary to redistribute wealth, protect domestic industries, workers, social services, the environment, and sustainable livelihoods.
There are isolated instances where some improvement has been achieved among Third World countries, over short periods. The Bretton Woods institutions love to trumpet these examples. But the truth is that the benefits of this "growth" have been very short-lived. In any case, nearly all the benefits have gone to the elites in these countries, and the chief executives of the global corporations at the hub of the process; executives whose annual earnings are now astronomical, often in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. All figures show that these discrepancies between top executives and ordinary workers are rapidly growing.
Even among the so-called "poster children" of free trade, the "Asian Tigers" like Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, improvement has not come by assiduously following the dictates of the Bretton Woods regimes - the IMF, World Bank, the WTO, etc. - but often by doing the opposite of what the institutions prescribe. By at first resisting the economic model pushed by Bretton Woods, some countries managed to stay free of the volatility of export markets. But when they finally succumbed to heavy pressures from the IMF and the World Bank, they found their glory days quickly disappearing into the infamous Asian financial crisis (1997-1998), rooted directly in the new rules of free trade for finance and global corporations.
Most poor countries, however, have not enjoyed much benefit from globalization. After three decades of heavy IMF and World Bank medicines and less than a decade of WTO policies, they have understood that globalization is selling a false promise. The policies of the Bretton Woods institutions are not designed to benefit them, but to benefit rich industrial countries and their global corporations. The question is this Do these globalizing institutions know what they're doing? Or do they just blindly follow a failed ideological model?
The worst case conclusion, which many now believe, is that the institutions surely do know what they're doing and always have. They have an assignment to remove all impediments to the free flow of global capital as it seeks to pry open the world's last natural resource pools, markets, and cheap labor (and, to keep it cheap). To suggest they do all this to help the poor is high cynicism.
THE CREATION OF POVERTY
Economic globalization policies as enforced by the World Bank, IMF, and the WTO actually have far more to do with creating poverty than solving it. Free trade requires that all countries adopt the same economic model, thus eliminating variations that might slow down the smooth global operations of major corporations as they seek new resources, markets and cheap labor. It is not efficient for global corporations when individual nations are permitted their own expressions of what is best for their people via their own democratic laws. These laws might be designed to protect resources and the environment; or social services for the poor; or the rights of local workers; or they might help struggling small businesses; or require foreign investors to keep their investment in place for a time; or require that foreign investors include domestic partners. All such laws are viewed as pesky impediments to corporate freedom. They have got to go.
The specific role of the WTO is to set homogenized global rules for all countries-one size fits all-and to specifically challenge national environmental and social laws viewed as obstacles to corporate free trade. Given that it was granted draconian enforcement powers, the WTO can now impose harsh punishments on democratic nations that stray from its rules. A past president of the WTO, Renato Ruggiero put it bluntly in 1998 The WTO will be "the new constitution for a global economy." (Since Seattle, such statements have not been repeated.)
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS
The World Bank and the IMF have their own powerful and dangerous instrument Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The infamous SAPs of the IMF, and so-called "development" loans from the World Bank routinely come with harsh conditionalities that require developing nations to abandon important domestic programs that serve the population. These include education, health services and environmental programs, which don't produce revenues to repay IMF and World Bank loans or interest. As the IMF forces countries to downsize government agencies, the ranks of the unemployed grow faster than the private sector can absorb them. IMF policies raise interest rates, preventing small businesses from obtaining capital needed to expand or stay afloat, which leads to further unemployment. Meanwhile, removing barriers to foreign investment and trade, insisted upon by the IMF and enforced by the WTO, makes it harder for local producers to compete against bigger, richer foreign businesses.
This system leaves countries utterly dependent upon market and pricing systems over which they have no control. Meanwhile, they have given up the ability to determine their own destinies. The greatest mystery of course is how any of the promoters of such rules and conditions (among others) could possibly argue that these rules could help nations rise from poverty. Clearly, this is a blueprint for dependency and poverty creation.
EXPORT-ORIENTED AGRICULTURE
Probably the most traumatic impacts of globalization policies - both in terms of poverty-creation, and environmental devastation - have come with the forced shift of local economies away from small-scale diversified agricultural models to the industrial export model, directed by global corporations.
Nearly half of the world population, even today, lives directly on the land, growing food for their families and communities. They emphasize growing staples and a mix of diverse crops, and they replant with indigenous seed varieties that their communities have developed over centuries. They have perfected their own fertilizers, crop rotations, and pesticide management, and their communities share all elements of the local commons, including seeds, water, and labor. Such systems have kept hundreds of millions of people going for millennia.
Local self-sufficiency systems are anathema to global corporations and the bureaucracies that serve them. In a global economic system, corporate profits primarily come from increased processing activity, and global trading. So now we find corporations including Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto, and Cargill, among others, spending tens of millions of dollars in public relations and advertising campaigns arguing that small farmers are not "productive" enough to "feed the hungry world.
These campaigns run hand in hand with the investment and trade strategies and rules of the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank and the U. S. government. All of these strongly favor the entry of global corporations, which replaces local, diverse farming for self-reliance with monocultures run by corporations.
An export-oriented system of agriculture favors high priced, high margin luxury export items - flowers, potted plants, beef, shrimp, cotton, coffee, exotic vegetables - to be sent to the already overfed countries. As for the people who used to live on the lands, growing their own foods for their communities and for local markets, they are rapidly being driven off their lands. People who once fed themselves become landless, jobless, cashless, homeless, dependent and hungry. Self-sustaining communities disappear; still intact cultures are decimated. This is as true in the United States as in the Third World.
The situation is absurd. Dependency and starvation replace self-sufficient livelihoods and self-reliant nations; meanwhile global corporations get wealthy by shipping luxury foods thousands of miles. Clearly, these corporations are not concerned about feeding the hungry. That is only an advertising slogan. They are concerned about feeding themselves.
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM: A FAILED IDEOLOGY
The IMF, World Bank and the WTO are pursuing what some have labeled "market fundamentalism," an ideological commitment to two basic false principles:
Economic growth and increased trade achieved through deregulation and privatization automatically increases the wealth of communities and humanity, and contributes toward a better future for all. In other words, what benefits corporations benefits all.
Increased foreign investment in Third World countries increases productive capacities and development, adding to the well being of the poor. Neither of these has proved true. What is true is that the system has added to the well being of the corporations that have perpetuated it.
Most measures of "economic growth" such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) tend only to measure increases in the market value of economic production, i. e., the rate at which resources are converted to commodities, and that other paid services and activities are performed. By such standards of measurement, expansion of military hardware, prisons, wars, crime (and its prevention), as well as the clear-cutting of forests, or building of toxic dumpsites are all made to seem positive as they increase GNP and GDP. Meanwhile, unpaid household labor, care for the sick and elderly, or self-sufficient food growing and distribution are not deemed positive results because they don't get counted.
Such standards also contribute to the depletion of social and natural capital (nature) which, as former World Bank economist Herman Daly has suggested, is the foundation of all real wealth. In fact, export-driven globalization is the greatest single contributor to the massive ecological crises of our time. Its emphasis on exponentially increased trade and transport activity requires corresponding expansion of infrastructures - airports, seaports, roads, rail-lines, pipelines, dams, electric grids; many of these in pristine places, often on indigenous lands. Increased transport also uses drastically increased fossil fuels adding to the problems of climate change, ozone depletion, and ocean and air pollution. And an ever expanding economy requires the depletion of the last resources on the planet; under free trade these are nearly always located in the global South. One of the greatest injustices against southern countries is that they are net resource exporters to the already rich North.
Indeed ecological degradation-forests, rivers, biodiversity-has the most devastating impact on the poor; and resource depletion reduces livelihoods and creates poverty. So economic growth is certainly not a measurement that benefits the poorest parts of the world. In any case, depleting nature cannot serve anyone for much longer, even the rich, who may be, as the late British financier James Goldsmith put it - enjoying champagne on the deck of the Titanic."
One can only conclude from this that the present system is fundamentally flawed, and cannot be corrected by reforms at the margin. It must be changed to a very different system, based on values and institutional relationships that place human beings and nature above percentage returns on investment.
Few years ago our organization enter an haiti.
We support over 1.000.000 kids to be in schools.
an jamaica,our organization support 600.000 kids.
Our organization repairs many schools.And support thousand
Orphans,we support differents association local,many small organization,many groups,etc.DR Sammy try to helping you, understand when we united together,how powerful we are.
Does Globalization Help the Poor?
During the past few years, we have heard steady proclamations emanating from the advocates of economic globalization and leaders of the Bretton Woods institutions - the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), et. al. - that their deepest purpose in pushing economic globalization is to help the world's poor. More specifically, they contend that removing barriers to corporate trade and financial investments is the best path to growth, which they say offers the best chance to lift the poor from poverty.
They also assert that the millions of people who have visibly opposed the economic globalization model are harming the interests of the poor. Everyone should please back off and leave it to corporations, bankers and global bureaucracies to do the planning and solve the world's problems.
Such claims are routinely replayed in the media. One prominent national columnist, for example, says, "protesters are choking the only route out of poverty for the world's poor." In other words, if the protests would stop, the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, Nike and Monsanto would save the day. Is this true? Are the interests of global corporations and bureaucracies really aimed at helping the poor? Or do these institutions have other primary motives?
WHO BENEFITS? So far, almost all of the evidence from the past three decades (1970-2000) - the period of economic globalization's most rapid ascendancy - shows that it is bringing exactly the opposite outcome that its advocates claim. The evidence now comes nearly as much from the proponents of globalization as its opposition.
Clearly, poverty and inequality are rapidly accelerating everywhere on earth. A 1999 report by the United Nations Development Program found that inequalities between rich and poor within and among countries are quickly expanding, and that the global trading and finance system is one of the primary causes.
Even the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirms the United Nations' (UN) conclusions, agreeing that globalization brings massive inequalities. The benefits of globalization do not reach the poor, says the CIA, and the process inevitably brings increased global protest and chaos.
Robert Wade of the London School of Economics, wrote in The Economist (2001), "Global inequality is worsening rapidly...Technological change and financial liberalization result in a disproportionately fast increase in the number of households at the extreme rich end, without shrinking the distribution at the poor end...From 1988 to 1993, the share of the world income going to the poorest 10 percent of the world's population fell by over a quarter, whereas the share of the richest 10 percent rose by 8 percent.
The ideologies and rules of economic globalization - including free trade, deregulation, privatization, and structural adjustment - have destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people, often leaving them homeless, landless and hungry, while removing their access to even the most basic public services such as health and medical care, education, sanitation, fresh water, public transport, job training and the like. The record shows that economic globalization makes things worse for the poor, not better.
Economic globalization has only proved to be successful in making global corporations and a few elites wildly wealthy. For example, of the largest 100 economies in the world, 52 are now corporations. In what the UN describes as the "staggering concentration of wealth among the ultrawealthy," total wealth controlled by people with assets of at least $1 million nearly quadrupled from 1986 to 2000, from $7.2 trillion to $27 trillion. Even with the dot-com crash and the current global financial slump, Merrill Lynch predicts that wealth controlled by millionaires will continue to increase by 8 percent a year, reaching $40 trillion by 2005.
Contrary to its claims, wealth generated by globalization does not trickle down. Rather, the rules lock the wealth at the top, removing from governments and communities the very tools necessary to redistribute wealth, protect domestic industries, workers, social services, the environment, and sustainable livelihoods.
There are isolated instances where some improvement has been achieved among Third World countries, over short periods. The Bretton Woods institutions love to trumpet these examples. But the truth is that the benefits of this "growth" have been very short-lived. In any case, nearly all the benefits have gone to the elites in these countries, and the chief executives of the global corporations at the hub of the process; executives whose annual earnings are now astronomical, often in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. All figures show that these discrepancies between top executives and ordinary workers are rapidly growing.
Even among the so-called "poster children" of free trade, the "Asian Tigers" like Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, improvement has not come by assiduously following the dictates of the Bretton Woods regimes - the IMF, World Bank, the WTO, etc. - but often by doing the opposite of what the institutions prescribe. By at first resisting the economic model pushed by Bretton Woods, some countries managed to stay free of the volatility of export markets. But when they finally succumbed to heavy pressures from the IMF and the World Bank, they found their glory days quickly disappearing into the infamous Asian financial crisis (1997-1998), rooted directly in the new rules of free trade for finance and global corporations.
Most poor countries, however, have not enjoyed much benefit from globalization. After three decades of heavy IMF and World Bank medicines and less than a decade of WTO policies, they have understood that globalization is selling a false promise. The policies of the Bretton Woods institutions are not designed to benefit them, but to benefit rich industrial countries and their global corporations. The question is this Do these globalizing institutions know what they're doing? Or do they just blindly follow a failed ideological model?
The worst case conclusion, which many now believe, is that the institutions surely do know what they're doing and always have. They have an assignment to remove all impediments to the free flow of global capital as it seeks to pry open the world's last natural resource pools, markets, and cheap labor (and, to keep it cheap). To suggest they do all this to help the poor is high cynicism.
THE CREATION OF POVERTY
Economic globalization policies as enforced by the World Bank, IMF, and the WTO actually have far more to do with creating poverty than solving it. Free trade requires that all countries adopt the same economic model, thus eliminating variations that might slow down the smooth global operations of major corporations as they seek new resources, markets and cheap labor. It is not efficient for global corporations when individual nations are permitted their own expressions of what is best for their people via their own democratic laws. These laws might be designed to protect resources and the environment; or social services for the poor; or the rights of local workers; or they might help struggling small businesses; or require foreign investors to keep their investment in place for a time; or require that foreign investors include domestic partners. All such laws are viewed as pesky impediments to corporate freedom. They have got to go.
The specific role of the WTO is to set homogenized global rules for all countries-one size fits all-and to specifically challenge national environmental and social laws viewed as obstacles to corporate free trade. Given that it was granted draconian enforcement powers, the WTO can now impose harsh punishments on democratic nations that stray from its rules. A past president of the WTO, Renato Ruggiero put it bluntly in 1998 The WTO will be "the new constitution for a global economy." (Since Seattle, such statements have not been repeated.)
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS
The World Bank and the IMF have their own powerful and dangerous instrument Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The infamous SAPs of the IMF, and so-called "development" loans from the World Bank routinely come with harsh conditionalities that require developing nations to abandon important domestic programs that serve the population. These include education, health services and environmental programs, which don't produce revenues to repay IMF and World Bank loans or interest. As the IMF forces countries to downsize government agencies, the ranks of the unemployed grow faster than the private sector can absorb them. IMF policies raise interest rates, preventing small businesses from obtaining capital needed to expand or stay afloat, which leads to further unemployment. Meanwhile, removing barriers to foreign investment and trade, insisted upon by the IMF and enforced by the WTO, makes it harder for local producers to compete against bigger, richer foreign businesses.
This system leaves countries utterly dependent upon market and pricing systems over which they have no control. Meanwhile, they have given up the ability to determine their own destinies. The greatest mystery of course is how any of the promoters of such rules and conditions (among others) could possibly argue that these rules could help nations rise from poverty. Clearly, this is a blueprint for dependency and poverty creation.
EXPORT-ORIENTED AGRICULTURE
Probably the most traumatic impacts of globalization policies - both in terms of poverty-creation, and environmental devastation - have come with the forced shift of local economies away from small-scale diversified agricultural models to the industrial export model, directed by global corporations.
Nearly half of the world population, even today, lives directly on the land, growing food for their families and communities. They emphasize growing staples and a mix of diverse crops, and they replant with indigenous seed varieties that their communities have developed over centuries. They have perfected their own fertilizers, crop rotations, and pesticide management, and their communities share all elements of the local commons, including seeds, water, and labor. Such systems have kept hundreds of millions of people going for millennia.
Local self-sufficiency systems are anathema to global corporations and the bureaucracies that serve them. In a global economic system, corporate profits primarily come from increased processing activity, and global trading. So now we find corporations including Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto, and Cargill, among others, spending tens of millions of dollars in public relations and advertising campaigns arguing that small farmers are not "productive" enough to "feed the hungry world.
These campaigns run hand in hand with the investment and trade strategies and rules of the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank and the U. S. government. All of these strongly favor the entry of global corporations, which replaces local, diverse farming for self-reliance with monocultures run by corporations.
An export-oriented system of agriculture favors high priced, high margin luxury export items - flowers, potted plants, beef, shrimp, cotton, coffee, exotic vegetables - to be sent to the already overfed countries. As for the people who used to live on the lands, growing their own foods for their communities and for local markets, they are rapidly being driven off their lands. People who once fed themselves become landless, jobless, cashless, homeless, dependent and hungry. Self-sustaining communities disappear; still intact cultures are decimated. This is as true in the United States as in the Third World.
The situation is absurd. Dependency and starvation replace self-sufficient livelihoods and self-reliant nations; meanwhile global corporations get wealthy by shipping luxury foods thousands of miles. Clearly, these corporations are not concerned about feeding the hungry. That is only an advertising slogan. They are concerned about feeding themselves.
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM: A FAILED IDEOLOGY
The IMF, World Bank and the WTO are pursuing what some have labeled "market fundamentalism," an ideological commitment to two basic false principles:
Economic growth and increased trade achieved through deregulation and privatization automatically increases the wealth of communities and humanity, and contributes toward a better future for all. In other words, what benefits corporations benefits all.
Increased foreign investment in Third World countries increases productive capacities and development, adding to the well being of the poor. Neither of these has proved true. What is true is that the system has added to the well being of the corporations that have perpetuated it.
Most measures of "economic growth" such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) tend only to measure increases in the market value of economic production, i. e., the rate at which resources are converted to commodities, and that other paid services and activities are performed. By such standards of measurement, expansion of military hardware, prisons, wars, crime (and its prevention), as well as the clear-cutting of forests, or building of toxic dumpsites are all made to seem positive as they increase GNP and GDP. Meanwhile, unpaid household labor, care for the sick and elderly, or self-sufficient food growing and distribution are not deemed positive results because they don't get counted.
Such standards also contribute to the depletion of social and natural capital (nature) which, as former World Bank economist Herman Daly has suggested, is the foundation of all real wealth. In fact, export-driven globalization is the greatest single contributor to the massive ecological crises of our time. Its emphasis on exponentially increased trade and transport activity requires corresponding expansion of infrastructures - airports, seaports, roads, rail-lines, pipelines, dams, electric grids; many of these in pristine places, often on indigenous lands. Increased transport also uses drastically increased fossil fuels adding to the problems of climate change, ozone depletion, and ocean and air pollution. And an ever expanding economy requires the depletion of the last resources on the planet; under free trade these are nearly always located in the global South. One of the greatest injustices against southern countries is that they are net resource exporters to the already rich North.
Indeed ecological degradation-forests, rivers, biodiversity-has the most devastating impact on the poor; and resource depletion reduces livelihoods and creates poverty. So economic growth is certainly not a measurement that benefits the poorest parts of the world. In any case, depleting nature cannot serve anyone for much longer, even the rich, who may be, as the late British financier James Goldsmith put it - enjoying champagne on the deck of the Titanic."
One can only conclude from this that the present system is fundamentally flawed, and cannot be corrected by reforms at the margin. It must be changed to a very different system, based on values and institutional relationships that place human beings and nature above percentage returns on investment.
True wealth by Dr.Sammy D.James
Among the least favorite subjects for many Christians today is the subject of tithing. I think I know why ... less than 20% of Christians are tithers. That means that 80% of all Christians are merely tipping God occasionally. No wonder most people tune out when the subject is discussed.
I've done a lot of thinking and praying about this problem because economics is my specialty, both in business and as a hobby. My conclusion is that some Christians will never tithe because their level of faith is too low and they don't understand the principles of stewardship. Others may have tried tithing for a while, but never experienced a financial blessing, and therefore quit. If you are in either category I only ask that you hear me out, and remain open to a financial breakthrough today.
The tithe is not something that Christians "give" to God. The tithe is PAYED, sort of like paying your taxes. You don't give the IRS your taxes each year, you PAY them ... or else. But, in the kingdom of God we are never coerced to do anything, including supporting our local church. However, we are admonished in both the Old and the New Testaments that a tithe belongs to God, and if we keep it we are robbing His kingdom of the resources to get the job done. (I wonder how fast we could complete the Great Commission if everyone tithed?)
Dr. John Avanzini has helped many of us to understand that, according to Mal. 3:8-10, when we tithe we release God to OPEN the windows of heaven. When we tithe, we are actually preparing the pathway to uncontainable blessing! In the original language, Mal. 3:10 does not promise that we will receive an uncontainable blessing when we tithe, but rather only when we give our offerings in addition to the tithe. This would explain why there are so many frustrated Christians who have begun tithing, not received a financial blessing... and then quit. We have misunderstood the purpose of tithing -- obedience.
When we tithe, two things happen: 1) Provision (meat) goes into the House of God, and 2) The windows of heaven are opened over our life. According to Luke 6:38, we can effect the measure of blessing that God pours out to us by the measure that we freely give offerings. I have personally chosen to give with a large shovel. Some are giving by the cup, others by the teaspoon. It's your choice. We can move God's hand of blessing based on our level of faith to give. The potential for greater blessing exists when we tithe and give generous offerings unto the LORD. This is good news indeed!
Let's all begin tithing for the sake of the gospel, as well as giving generous offerings. Remember: God is not mocked. Whatever we sow, we will reap
I've done a lot of thinking and praying about this problem because economics is my specialty, both in business and as a hobby. My conclusion is that some Christians will never tithe because their level of faith is too low and they don't understand the principles of stewardship. Others may have tried tithing for a while, but never experienced a financial blessing, and therefore quit. If you are in either category I only ask that you hear me out, and remain open to a financial breakthrough today.
The tithe is not something that Christians "give" to God. The tithe is PAYED, sort of like paying your taxes. You don't give the IRS your taxes each year, you PAY them ... or else. But, in the kingdom of God we are never coerced to do anything, including supporting our local church. However, we are admonished in both the Old and the New Testaments that a tithe belongs to God, and if we keep it we are robbing His kingdom of the resources to get the job done. (I wonder how fast we could complete the Great Commission if everyone tithed?)
Dr. John Avanzini has helped many of us to understand that, according to Mal. 3:8-10, when we tithe we release God to OPEN the windows of heaven. When we tithe, we are actually preparing the pathway to uncontainable blessing! In the original language, Mal. 3:10 does not promise that we will receive an uncontainable blessing when we tithe, but rather only when we give our offerings in addition to the tithe. This would explain why there are so many frustrated Christians who have begun tithing, not received a financial blessing... and then quit. We have misunderstood the purpose of tithing -- obedience.
When we tithe, two things happen: 1) Provision (meat) goes into the House of God, and 2) The windows of heaven are opened over our life. According to Luke 6:38, we can effect the measure of blessing that God pours out to us by the measure that we freely give offerings. I have personally chosen to give with a large shovel. Some are giving by the cup, others by the teaspoon. It's your choice. We can move God's hand of blessing based on our level of faith to give. The potential for greater blessing exists when we tithe and give generous offerings unto the LORD. This is good news indeed!
Let's all begin tithing for the sake of the gospel, as well as giving generous offerings. Remember: God is not mocked. Whatever we sow, we will reap
A Prayer for Your Financial Blessing
Heavenly Father,
Most Gracious and Loving God,
I pray to You that You abundantly bless my family and me.
I know that You recognize that a family is more than just a father and mother,
sister and brother or husband and wife,
but all who believe and trust in You.
Father,
I send up a prayer request for financial blessing for not only the person who sent this to me,
but for me and all who receive this message.
The power of joined prayer by those who believe and trust in You is more powerful than anything.
I thank You in advance for Your blessings.
Father God, deliver the person reading this right now from debt and debt burdens.
Release Your Godly Wisdom that I may be a good steward over all that You have granted me in my financial blessings.
Father, for I know how wonderful and mighty You are and how if we just obey You
and walk in Your Word and have the faith of a mustard seed that You will pour out blessings.
I thank You now, Lord, for the recent blessings I received
and for the blessings yet to come because
I know You are not done with me yet.
In Jesus' Name, I pray.
Amen.
Dr.Sammy D.James
Most Gracious and Loving God,
I pray to You that You abundantly bless my family and me.
I know that You recognize that a family is more than just a father and mother,
sister and brother or husband and wife,
but all who believe and trust in You.
Father,
I send up a prayer request for financial blessing for not only the person who sent this to me,
but for me and all who receive this message.
The power of joined prayer by those who believe and trust in You is more powerful than anything.
I thank You in advance for Your blessings.
Father God, deliver the person reading this right now from debt and debt burdens.
Release Your Godly Wisdom that I may be a good steward over all that You have granted me in my financial blessings.
Father, for I know how wonderful and mighty You are and how if we just obey You
and walk in Your Word and have the faith of a mustard seed that You will pour out blessings.
I thank You now, Lord, for the recent blessings I received
and for the blessings yet to come because
I know You are not done with me yet.
In Jesus' Name, I pray.
Amen.
Dr.Sammy D.James
Realize That Dream of Wealth by Dr:Sammy D.James
We all want to have enough money to keep us comfortable and happy in life. The concept of “enough” is very subjective ~ for some it is the amount needed to cover monthly expenses while for others it is defined as being wealthy and having tons of money. We all have the potential of realizing our own definition of wealth. All it takes is a change in thinking and spending habits to see that dream become reality.
How you think and what you do with your money go hand in hand. It is important to think about money in a more organic way if you want to attain personal wealth. You must view your money as something to be saved, not spent. The concept of being “thrifty” has been lost over the generations, but in the long run is key to attaining wealth.
When looking at money and saving, small is good. Set a little bit of money aside on a regular basis to save or invest. This should not take away from your comfort levels and over time will grow. Over the years, a little here and there will greatly contribute to your personal wealth.
Making a few sacrifices now leads to financial freedom later. Most of us never give any thought to that $20 spent here or that $40 spent there. We have become a nation of spenders. However, these expenditures are a major reason people cannot get ahead. Most people who become wealthy have done so because they earn their money and have saved it. They have chosen to give up the purchases of luxury items and instead are buying their financial freedom.
You must be responsible for your own financial placement in life. No one will move you to that next level. Blame will not change where you are now, but making different choices today can change where you will be tomorrow.
Try thinking “stock” next time you want to buy that new product on the market. Chances are, the item you desire now will not be used in 10 years, but the stock in the company will still be growing. It can be a better use of your money.
If your goal is to realize personal wealth, you can make it happen by changing your current ways of thinking about money. All it takes is time, saving, some learning and more saving to achieve your desired level of wealth and the financial freedom that comes with it.Your mind is more powerful than you could ever dream of. The mind is your canvas and your thoughts are the paint brush to your reality. The most important thing you need to do to get yourself on the right path, is to get your mind right and trained. How do you manifest abundance and prosperity? One reason this question gets asked is that we were recently taught that we can poof these things out with the power of our mind if only we have the secret information necessary to do so. But there is more to it.
Dr Sammy D.James
How you think and what you do with your money go hand in hand. It is important to think about money in a more organic way if you want to attain personal wealth. You must view your money as something to be saved, not spent. The concept of being “thrifty” has been lost over the generations, but in the long run is key to attaining wealth.
When looking at money and saving, small is good. Set a little bit of money aside on a regular basis to save or invest. This should not take away from your comfort levels and over time will grow. Over the years, a little here and there will greatly contribute to your personal wealth.
Making a few sacrifices now leads to financial freedom later. Most of us never give any thought to that $20 spent here or that $40 spent there. We have become a nation of spenders. However, these expenditures are a major reason people cannot get ahead. Most people who become wealthy have done so because they earn their money and have saved it. They have chosen to give up the purchases of luxury items and instead are buying their financial freedom.
You must be responsible for your own financial placement in life. No one will move you to that next level. Blame will not change where you are now, but making different choices today can change where you will be tomorrow.
Try thinking “stock” next time you want to buy that new product on the market. Chances are, the item you desire now will not be used in 10 years, but the stock in the company will still be growing. It can be a better use of your money.
If your goal is to realize personal wealth, you can make it happen by changing your current ways of thinking about money. All it takes is time, saving, some learning and more saving to achieve your desired level of wealth and the financial freedom that comes with it.Your mind is more powerful than you could ever dream of. The mind is your canvas and your thoughts are the paint brush to your reality. The most important thing you need to do to get yourself on the right path, is to get your mind right and trained. How do you manifest abundance and prosperity? One reason this question gets asked is that we were recently taught that we can poof these things out with the power of our mind if only we have the secret information necessary to do so. But there is more to it.
Dr Sammy D.James
22 sept 2009
What really inspires me is people who’ve been out there and challenged.Dr Sammy D.James
Leaders Should Inspire Others
They need to have the ability to motivate, to get other people to do things, sometimes things they do not want to do. For different people this will mean different things. When I was coaching basketball I quickly saw how I would have a dozen different people with very different motivations. When I was teaching Math 101 to seventy college freshman, it was the same thing, just on a different scale. The best leaders I have had in my life are able to recognize this and overcome this. They have the ability to motivate groups of people at a time, regardless of their motivations. How? Quite often it is a simple as leading by example.
I hate being on call. I would prefer to leave my work at work and not be answering emails, especially complaints, on nights and weekends. There is no worse feeling to me than to be with my family and have my blackberry full of emails on a Saturday afternoon about some deployment that has gone horribly wrong. However, what would my team think of me if I just took my name out of the rotation?
To lead is to serve.
If I had to think about some of the people in my life that have been able to inspire or motivate me, it would actually be more about the people before I became a professional. My father, for one, and his father were quite inspirational for me. They set me on a path and others along the way kept me sailing, such as my manager Vinny, or the one I will always call my good friend Chris.
Leaders Are Always Looking To Improve Something
No doubt, a leader is never satisfied with what they have, they are always looking to make improvements in whatever areas are necessary. Often times this is because they are listening to the people they lead, otherwise they would not be giving them much service if they did not. So, if the people are unhappy with something, say handing over billions of dollars in bailout funds for companies that pay their executives huge bonuses, their leaders will stand up and say “we need to fix this”. A simpler example would be working with a basketball team you always want your best five on the floor. If something is not working, you will find ways to improve individual skills so that you can put players in spots on the floor that allow for them to be successful not just for themselves but for the team.
Good leaders will be able to inspire you to improve yourself. Vinny certainly did that for me, but so does my wife and family.
Leaders Need Patience
I was always short on patience until I had my children. Now I am only sometimes short on patience. Good leaders are always patient. They understand that motivating others, inspiring them to become better, serving them in various ways, are all things that take time. You plant seeds and wait for something to grow. Like Mr. Miyagi, you spend time trimming that Bonsai tree, or catching flies with chopsticks.
Who has been a great leader in your career and what made them a great leader?
Chris usually has very good questions, and so is this one. It really made me stop and think about all the people in my life, not just as a professional but personal as well. I tried to think about all the qualities that I would attribute to a great leader and realized that my answer is not going to revolve around specific people as it will specific traits.
Are there specific traits that make leaders great?
I think the ability to see opportunities and problem solve, finding ways to be creative in terms of opportunities. Individually, self awareness is pretty important because no one has all the skills required. So, to be self aware of what your skills and strengths are so that you can leverage those strengths and, more importantly, so you can bring in others on your team who have the strengths that you are missing. Then to be collaborative and step back and ensure that the people you brought on for those skills are able to do their job. The other important trait is listening and being able to dialogue with others. I also think it’s really important that we create platforms where we can dialogue with people whose opinions we may not share because that helps us understand a broader perspective and also helps us sharpen our own ideas and convictions.
What should the sector or individual organizations be doing to encourage young leaders?
RM: It is only my first time at a president level and I’m midpoint in my career, so I still feel I have a lot to learn from others who’ve been there longer than myself. But if I think in that context, what’s been helpful to me is opportunities to be exposed to broader networks, to existing networks within the sector. If you recognize someone has interests and skill sets, you can create opportunities for them to step outside their comfort zone so that they can build their own skill base. And creating a forum where you celebrate failures as learning opportunities, I think that’s really important too. It’s not always about getting things right and achieving; it's about messing up once in a while. I think you need to create a forum where that’s okay. 'This didn’t work out but what did you learn?'
What practical advice on leadership would you offer others?
This really resonates with me because I’m the sandwich generation. I think having your priorities straight and understanding the context in which work is important and also the context in which life outside of work is really important - recognizing that really strengthens you as a leader. It’s not taking time away from work; it’s making you more of a whole person, and that impacts your ability to lead an organization.
What leaders have inspired you over the years.
There are so many. What really inspires me is people who’ve been out there and challenged the status quo, who’ve been leaders or real agents of social change. Stephen Lewis comes to mind. He hasn’t been afraid to be critical and to put himself and his reputation on the line. I think that’s really respectful. And I think of Elijah Harper too, someone I really respect in terms of speaking up. Bill Drayton from the Ashoka Foundation also comes to mind. He shows real leadership in identifying social entrepreneurs and the potential impact they can have in solving serious social issues internationally. And Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He’s someone who was able to put themselves on the line and speak up. All of these people recognized an issue and have been real agents of social change. That, for me, is what volunteerism is all about.
What books or resources about leadership would you recommend?
Governance as Leadership – it’s an interesting take on boards and the leadership role of boards of directors. I’ve also recently read and been really inspired by Getting to Maybe. It’s a really neat book on facilitating social change and how you do that. It’s theoretical but is also applied in stories, which are great. And How to Change the World, I really loved the book. It’s about people who facilitated social change and there are really inspiring stories. I also read Fast Company every month. It’s a business magazine, but I always find a gem in there that I can apply in the nonprofit context and I find that interesting.
They need to have the ability to motivate, to get other people to do things, sometimes things they do not want to do. For different people this will mean different things. When I was coaching basketball I quickly saw how I would have a dozen different people with very different motivations. When I was teaching Math 101 to seventy college freshman, it was the same thing, just on a different scale. The best leaders I have had in my life are able to recognize this and overcome this. They have the ability to motivate groups of people at a time, regardless of their motivations. How? Quite often it is a simple as leading by example.
I hate being on call. I would prefer to leave my work at work and not be answering emails, especially complaints, on nights and weekends. There is no worse feeling to me than to be with my family and have my blackberry full of emails on a Saturday afternoon about some deployment that has gone horribly wrong. However, what would my team think of me if I just took my name out of the rotation?
To lead is to serve.
If I had to think about some of the people in my life that have been able to inspire or motivate me, it would actually be more about the people before I became a professional. My father, for one, and his father were quite inspirational for me. They set me on a path and others along the way kept me sailing, such as my manager Vinny, or the one I will always call my good friend Chris.
Leaders Are Always Looking To Improve Something
No doubt, a leader is never satisfied with what they have, they are always looking to make improvements in whatever areas are necessary. Often times this is because they are listening to the people they lead, otherwise they would not be giving them much service if they did not. So, if the people are unhappy with something, say handing over billions of dollars in bailout funds for companies that pay their executives huge bonuses, their leaders will stand up and say “we need to fix this”. A simpler example would be working with a basketball team you always want your best five on the floor. If something is not working, you will find ways to improve individual skills so that you can put players in spots on the floor that allow for them to be successful not just for themselves but for the team.
Good leaders will be able to inspire you to improve yourself. Vinny certainly did that for me, but so does my wife and family.
Leaders Need Patience
I was always short on patience until I had my children. Now I am only sometimes short on patience. Good leaders are always patient. They understand that motivating others, inspiring them to become better, serving them in various ways, are all things that take time. You plant seeds and wait for something to grow. Like Mr. Miyagi, you spend time trimming that Bonsai tree, or catching flies with chopsticks.
Who has been a great leader in your career and what made them a great leader?
Chris usually has very good questions, and so is this one. It really made me stop and think about all the people in my life, not just as a professional but personal as well. I tried to think about all the qualities that I would attribute to a great leader and realized that my answer is not going to revolve around specific people as it will specific traits.
Are there specific traits that make leaders great?
I think the ability to see opportunities and problem solve, finding ways to be creative in terms of opportunities. Individually, self awareness is pretty important because no one has all the skills required. So, to be self aware of what your skills and strengths are so that you can leverage those strengths and, more importantly, so you can bring in others on your team who have the strengths that you are missing. Then to be collaborative and step back and ensure that the people you brought on for those skills are able to do their job. The other important trait is listening and being able to dialogue with others. I also think it’s really important that we create platforms where we can dialogue with people whose opinions we may not share because that helps us understand a broader perspective and also helps us sharpen our own ideas and convictions.
What should the sector or individual organizations be doing to encourage young leaders?
RM: It is only my first time at a president level and I’m midpoint in my career, so I still feel I have a lot to learn from others who’ve been there longer than myself. But if I think in that context, what’s been helpful to me is opportunities to be exposed to broader networks, to existing networks within the sector. If you recognize someone has interests and skill sets, you can create opportunities for them to step outside their comfort zone so that they can build their own skill base. And creating a forum where you celebrate failures as learning opportunities, I think that’s really important too. It’s not always about getting things right and achieving; it's about messing up once in a while. I think you need to create a forum where that’s okay. 'This didn’t work out but what did you learn?'
What practical advice on leadership would you offer others?
This really resonates with me because I’m the sandwich generation. I think having your priorities straight and understanding the context in which work is important and also the context in which life outside of work is really important - recognizing that really strengthens you as a leader. It’s not taking time away from work; it’s making you more of a whole person, and that impacts your ability to lead an organization.
What leaders have inspired you over the years.
There are so many. What really inspires me is people who’ve been out there and challenged the status quo, who’ve been leaders or real agents of social change. Stephen Lewis comes to mind. He hasn’t been afraid to be critical and to put himself and his reputation on the line. I think that’s really respectful. And I think of Elijah Harper too, someone I really respect in terms of speaking up. Bill Drayton from the Ashoka Foundation also comes to mind. He shows real leadership in identifying social entrepreneurs and the potential impact they can have in solving serious social issues internationally. And Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He’s someone who was able to put themselves on the line and speak up. All of these people recognized an issue and have been real agents of social change. That, for me, is what volunteerism is all about.
What books or resources about leadership would you recommend?
Governance as Leadership – it’s an interesting take on boards and the leadership role of boards of directors. I’ve also recently read and been really inspired by Getting to Maybe. It’s a really neat book on facilitating social change and how you do that. It’s theoretical but is also applied in stories, which are great. And How to Change the World, I really loved the book. It’s about people who facilitated social change and there are really inspiring stories. I also read Fast Company every month. It’s a business magazine, but I always find a gem in there that I can apply in the nonprofit context and I find that interesting.
Believe In Your Ability To Change.Dr Sammy D.James
comedian once said,A woman marries a man hoping that he will change, and a man marries a woman hoping she won’t.” The truth is that everyone changes over time. We change because our environment changes. We change because of events in our lives. We change because we learn. We change because we gain experience. Our ability to change and adapt is one of humanity’s great strengths that has helped us to come to dominate this planet.
I once read a comment by a fellow instructor of Karate who wrote, “I don’t really believe that people change.” They were saying that while they believed people can make small alterations in their behavior, they did not believe that large, true changes to who and what the person was centrally really ever changed.
I believe that is wrong, and I also believe that it is wrong for a person to feel that way and hold a leadership position. Leadership implies a direction – the leader leads, the followers follow, and the group goes from A to B. Without believing that it is possible to go from A to B, how can a leader get anyone to B?
And that brings up an interesting point: There is a difference between a leader and an administrator, and most teachers, managers, and other in-charge types often fail to see it.
An administrator looks at reports, crunches numbers, references the play book, enforces the rules, and keeps things going along smoothly, perhaps with a few improvements in efficiency along the way. Most business managers are in fact administrators. They receive an appointment to oversee a team responsible for a particular function, and they ensure that the team performs the function as well as possible. Administrators are concerned with how many people it takes to perform the function given various inputs, and they are concerned with how many outputs can be produced with as few inputs as possible.
Administrators are focused on efficiency and effectiveness. Administrators are like accountants made into kings. An excellent administrator manages by dashboards and numbers, and hardly ever finds it necessary to leave his desk. He need not know the people who work for him, because those people are “resources,” and they have a certain “capacity” to work. He can calculate their lives using a computer and some techniques designed to squeeze more juice from a used orange peel.
A leader, on the other hand, is quite different. Leadership cannot be done by viewing an instrument panel the way a plane is flown at night through clouds the way administration can. A leader says, “Follow me,” and moves in a particular direction. Leaders concern themselves not just with productivity and numbers but also with the needs of the people who work for them. Leaders inspire those people to become more, and they believe that those people can change from one incarnation to the next if given the right tasks. Leaders do not merely attempt to fulfill the role of oversight and control of a function, leaders assume responsibility for people.
That’s really where the difference is. The people vs. the function – which are you more concerned with?
Most managers and other people in-charge are more concerned with the function rather than the people. “I have a lesson to teach, and you children are going to learn it!” That’s a good example of function over people. “Everyone, productivity is down, so I need all of you to work all weekend long to help catch it back up.” There’s another good example. Another is, “How many projects can we push through next year? If we replace person A with person B, we could do three more.”
That’s not leadership. Some things a leader might say:
•“It would be nice to be able to go a little faster, but Joe needs the experience.”
•“Thanks for doing that, but did you remember to report on it so that others will see how much you have accomplished? It will be good for your career.”
•“I know we can do this. I’m willing to try. Who is with me?”
That last quote is particularly powerful. It says something important about how leaders believe in and care about their people. Leaders take people who are in one place in their lives, in their careers, or in their abilities, and they lead them to another, hopefully better place. Leaders inspire people to change what they are willing to do, what they are able to do, and who they are.
When you see a corporate executive or a politician on television, and you hear their professional way of speaking and see their professional way of conducting themselves, does it occur to you that at one time they were bratty children with slingshots in their back pockets getting in trouble at school?
At some point, they fundamentally change, most likely because they were educated, trained, and mentored by someone who showed them how things work and coached them to become slick and professional the way that they appear today. Look at the people around them. Some of those people are perhaps being mentored by that leader, and find in them some skills they want to add to their own toolbox, whether they are behaviors, knowledge, or wisdom.
Why would we bother mentoring someone if we did not believe they could change? It seems to me that not believing that we have an impact on other people that affects them so much that they might change is abdicating a particularly large responsibility we have as social animals called humans.
Obviously we can behave so badly toward another person that they can be damaged through their interaction with us. We see stories about this regularly where children were mistreated and grow up to be dysfunctional adults. We also see the results of adults suffering behavioral, mental, and emotional instability following particularly stressful events. We all know we can affect someone negatively.
It therefore stands to reason that we can affect them positively as well. If we believe that we can, then it also makes sense that we would try to have as positive of an impact on others as we can. There is a great movie out there called Pay It Forward. It is the story of a boy who organizes a campaign that encourages people to do small kindnesses for one another, but instead of saving up to repay the favor to the person from whom it was received, he suggests that they repay it to a different person, and thereby create a chain reaction of kindness in the world which elevates the human experience.
If you desire to lead your Karate club rather than merely teach people how to do Karate, there’s more to it than showing up, counting numbers, naming techniques, and then going home while following the play book. That’s club administration, and guess what? A monkey can do it.
I think the fundamental thing you need to know to change yourself from a club administrator to a club leader is who is in charge. For an administrator, the rule book is in charge and they follow it. A leader might use some of it, and he might throw the rest over his shoulder.
A leader strikes out in front, not behind, and does so for the good of his followers, be they employees, students, children, or soldiers. A leader not only believes in the ability of individuals to change, he believe in change itself and is willing to consider anything and everything as a candidate for change without reservation.
everyone has the ability to
improve his or her effectiveness.
Imagine that Dr Sammy of the nation’s cricket team walks up to you and starts
speaking.“I know you’ve never played test cricket, but I need you to bat for your country against
the West Indies… right now. Put these white pads on your legs to stop breakages.
Wear these gloves and this helmet. Here, take this bat (hold it by the thin end). Stand in
front of these three sticks and guard them. That two-metre tall bowler is going to run
towards you at 30kph and hurl this rock-hard red ball at you at around 150kph. Do your
best…
“Oh, I should mention that your family and friends will be watching you on television,
and so will four million of your countrymen and 10 times that number of viewers around
the world.
“Your country is counting on you.”
The question is: “How would you feel?”
The answer is… “probably terrified.”
The reason is… that you are actually, and technically, out of control.
You’ve lost the ability to start, change and stop things. Someone else is doing that. You
don’t even know the rules of the game or the objective. You have no skills. You don’t
know what sort of ball will be bowled; how fast it will come; if it will turn; if it will hit you
on the nose, or kill you… When it does arrive you don’t know what to do with it. Other
people are in control because they are starting, changing and stopping things.
Crazy as it is, that scenario is not unlike putting a brand new chief executive into a
television studio to go “live” on national television with a top interviewer. He or she will
also be out of control. They don’t know the rules. And running through his or her mind
will be a host of questions about lack of control… Will the first question be easy or
hard? Which camera is working? Is my suit wrinkled?
What am I meant to say? Will I make a goose of myself in front of my family and friends,
and all of my countrymen?
rogenSi defines control as having the ability to start, change and stop things. And it is
this ability among many that we give to those we train in media skills, presenting,
leadership, negotiation and selling.
In media skills for example, we ask the question, what can you control? The answers
include: the venue, the timing, the subject matter, the statements you will make, and if you do it properly, the issues that will be covered, the first question…and whether you
even speak at all.
Being out of control is the same when we speak in public for the first time. Again, we do
not know the rules. We ask: Where do I look? What should I say? What do these
listeners expect? What if I fail? What should I do with my hands? Is my fly open? Will
the PowerPoint work? Which slide is next?
And again rogenSi gives presenters control by explaining the rules of presenting,
showing them how to start their presentation, how to change from one area to the next
and how to stop it. By doing so, we are changing their mindset and ultimately their
behaviour on stage. And control is key to every facet of the presentation.
For example, good presenters will not move aimlessly around the stage without a
purpose, they will start in one place, change to another, stop, then start speaking…then
repeat it. Start, change and stop.
A good presenter’s gestures will start, change and stop. Using no gestures is unnatural.
Endless gestures simply distract.
Voice also starts, changes and stops. By using pauses, by raising and lowering volume
by adding inflexions…we start, change and stop voice.
Each segment of the presentation flow starts, changes and stops. The agenda has a
beginning, a middle and an end, so does each part of the body, so does the summary
and conclusion.
And control extends to leading meetings. A good leader, as chairman, shows control by
starting the meeting, changing from one agenda item to another and stopping the
meeting. He or she takes comments from the audience by asking someone to start
speaking, listening while they do so and then stopping them by thanking or
acknowledging the contribution. The chairman will then change to someone else and
have that person speak, again acknowledging their comment before moving on. Start,
change and stop. If the chairman does not start, change and stop things, the meeting
will be chaotic and everyone talking at once, with the strongest winning and the
weakest hating the process.
In selling, control is essential. We get control by starting the sales call, by using
questions to change from one issue to the next, by closing and ending the meeting. If
you want to control a client meeting, try sending an agenda in advance. If you can use
that agenda, you will have a degree of control over the meeting.
Control is essential when fighting a crisis or issue. If your business is being attacked by
another party, or by the media, ask yourself: “Are we starting, changing or stopping
things or are we just responding to tactics set by others? Who is leading the debate?
Are we deciding the playing field or are we playing on someone else’s? Who is in
control?
I once read a comment by a fellow instructor of Karate who wrote, “I don’t really believe that people change.” They were saying that while they believed people can make small alterations in their behavior, they did not believe that large, true changes to who and what the person was centrally really ever changed.
I believe that is wrong, and I also believe that it is wrong for a person to feel that way and hold a leadership position. Leadership implies a direction – the leader leads, the followers follow, and the group goes from A to B. Without believing that it is possible to go from A to B, how can a leader get anyone to B?
And that brings up an interesting point: There is a difference between a leader and an administrator, and most teachers, managers, and other in-charge types often fail to see it.
An administrator looks at reports, crunches numbers, references the play book, enforces the rules, and keeps things going along smoothly, perhaps with a few improvements in efficiency along the way. Most business managers are in fact administrators. They receive an appointment to oversee a team responsible for a particular function, and they ensure that the team performs the function as well as possible. Administrators are concerned with how many people it takes to perform the function given various inputs, and they are concerned with how many outputs can be produced with as few inputs as possible.
Administrators are focused on efficiency and effectiveness. Administrators are like accountants made into kings. An excellent administrator manages by dashboards and numbers, and hardly ever finds it necessary to leave his desk. He need not know the people who work for him, because those people are “resources,” and they have a certain “capacity” to work. He can calculate their lives using a computer and some techniques designed to squeeze more juice from a used orange peel.
A leader, on the other hand, is quite different. Leadership cannot be done by viewing an instrument panel the way a plane is flown at night through clouds the way administration can. A leader says, “Follow me,” and moves in a particular direction. Leaders concern themselves not just with productivity and numbers but also with the needs of the people who work for them. Leaders inspire those people to become more, and they believe that those people can change from one incarnation to the next if given the right tasks. Leaders do not merely attempt to fulfill the role of oversight and control of a function, leaders assume responsibility for people.
That’s really where the difference is. The people vs. the function – which are you more concerned with?
Most managers and other people in-charge are more concerned with the function rather than the people. “I have a lesson to teach, and you children are going to learn it!” That’s a good example of function over people. “Everyone, productivity is down, so I need all of you to work all weekend long to help catch it back up.” There’s another good example. Another is, “How many projects can we push through next year? If we replace person A with person B, we could do three more.”
That’s not leadership. Some things a leader might say:
•“It would be nice to be able to go a little faster, but Joe needs the experience.”
•“Thanks for doing that, but did you remember to report on it so that others will see how much you have accomplished? It will be good for your career.”
•“I know we can do this. I’m willing to try. Who is with me?”
That last quote is particularly powerful. It says something important about how leaders believe in and care about their people. Leaders take people who are in one place in their lives, in their careers, or in their abilities, and they lead them to another, hopefully better place. Leaders inspire people to change what they are willing to do, what they are able to do, and who they are.
When you see a corporate executive or a politician on television, and you hear their professional way of speaking and see their professional way of conducting themselves, does it occur to you that at one time they were bratty children with slingshots in their back pockets getting in trouble at school?
At some point, they fundamentally change, most likely because they were educated, trained, and mentored by someone who showed them how things work and coached them to become slick and professional the way that they appear today. Look at the people around them. Some of those people are perhaps being mentored by that leader, and find in them some skills they want to add to their own toolbox, whether they are behaviors, knowledge, or wisdom.
Why would we bother mentoring someone if we did not believe they could change? It seems to me that not believing that we have an impact on other people that affects them so much that they might change is abdicating a particularly large responsibility we have as social animals called humans.
Obviously we can behave so badly toward another person that they can be damaged through their interaction with us. We see stories about this regularly where children were mistreated and grow up to be dysfunctional adults. We also see the results of adults suffering behavioral, mental, and emotional instability following particularly stressful events. We all know we can affect someone negatively.
It therefore stands to reason that we can affect them positively as well. If we believe that we can, then it also makes sense that we would try to have as positive of an impact on others as we can. There is a great movie out there called Pay It Forward. It is the story of a boy who organizes a campaign that encourages people to do small kindnesses for one another, but instead of saving up to repay the favor to the person from whom it was received, he suggests that they repay it to a different person, and thereby create a chain reaction of kindness in the world which elevates the human experience.
If you desire to lead your Karate club rather than merely teach people how to do Karate, there’s more to it than showing up, counting numbers, naming techniques, and then going home while following the play book. That’s club administration, and guess what? A monkey can do it.
I think the fundamental thing you need to know to change yourself from a club administrator to a club leader is who is in charge. For an administrator, the rule book is in charge and they follow it. A leader might use some of it, and he might throw the rest over his shoulder.
A leader strikes out in front, not behind, and does so for the good of his followers, be they employees, students, children, or soldiers. A leader not only believes in the ability of individuals to change, he believe in change itself and is willing to consider anything and everything as a candidate for change without reservation.
everyone has the ability to
improve his or her effectiveness.
Imagine that Dr Sammy of the nation’s cricket team walks up to you and starts
speaking.“I know you’ve never played test cricket, but I need you to bat for your country against
the West Indies… right now. Put these white pads on your legs to stop breakages.
Wear these gloves and this helmet. Here, take this bat (hold it by the thin end). Stand in
front of these three sticks and guard them. That two-metre tall bowler is going to run
towards you at 30kph and hurl this rock-hard red ball at you at around 150kph. Do your
best…
“Oh, I should mention that your family and friends will be watching you on television,
and so will four million of your countrymen and 10 times that number of viewers around
the world.
“Your country is counting on you.”
The question is: “How would you feel?”
The answer is… “probably terrified.”
The reason is… that you are actually, and technically, out of control.
You’ve lost the ability to start, change and stop things. Someone else is doing that. You
don’t even know the rules of the game or the objective. You have no skills. You don’t
know what sort of ball will be bowled; how fast it will come; if it will turn; if it will hit you
on the nose, or kill you… When it does arrive you don’t know what to do with it. Other
people are in control because they are starting, changing and stopping things.
Crazy as it is, that scenario is not unlike putting a brand new chief executive into a
television studio to go “live” on national television with a top interviewer. He or she will
also be out of control. They don’t know the rules. And running through his or her mind
will be a host of questions about lack of control… Will the first question be easy or
hard? Which camera is working? Is my suit wrinkled?
What am I meant to say? Will I make a goose of myself in front of my family and friends,
and all of my countrymen?
rogenSi defines control as having the ability to start, change and stop things. And it is
this ability among many that we give to those we train in media skills, presenting,
leadership, negotiation and selling.
In media skills for example, we ask the question, what can you control? The answers
include: the venue, the timing, the subject matter, the statements you will make, and if you do it properly, the issues that will be covered, the first question…and whether you
even speak at all.
Being out of control is the same when we speak in public for the first time. Again, we do
not know the rules. We ask: Where do I look? What should I say? What do these
listeners expect? What if I fail? What should I do with my hands? Is my fly open? Will
the PowerPoint work? Which slide is next?
And again rogenSi gives presenters control by explaining the rules of presenting,
showing them how to start their presentation, how to change from one area to the next
and how to stop it. By doing so, we are changing their mindset and ultimately their
behaviour on stage. And control is key to every facet of the presentation.
For example, good presenters will not move aimlessly around the stage without a
purpose, they will start in one place, change to another, stop, then start speaking…then
repeat it. Start, change and stop.
A good presenter’s gestures will start, change and stop. Using no gestures is unnatural.
Endless gestures simply distract.
Voice also starts, changes and stops. By using pauses, by raising and lowering volume
by adding inflexions…we start, change and stop voice.
Each segment of the presentation flow starts, changes and stops. The agenda has a
beginning, a middle and an end, so does each part of the body, so does the summary
and conclusion.
And control extends to leading meetings. A good leader, as chairman, shows control by
starting the meeting, changing from one agenda item to another and stopping the
meeting. He or she takes comments from the audience by asking someone to start
speaking, listening while they do so and then stopping them by thanking or
acknowledging the contribution. The chairman will then change to someone else and
have that person speak, again acknowledging their comment before moving on. Start,
change and stop. If the chairman does not start, change and stop things, the meeting
will be chaotic and everyone talking at once, with the strongest winning and the
weakest hating the process.
In selling, control is essential. We get control by starting the sales call, by using
questions to change from one issue to the next, by closing and ending the meeting. If
you want to control a client meeting, try sending an agenda in advance. If you can use
that agenda, you will have a degree of control over the meeting.
Control is essential when fighting a crisis or issue. If your business is being attacked by
another party, or by the media, ask yourself: “Are we starting, changing or stopping
things or are we just responding to tactics set by others? Who is leading the debate?
Are we deciding the playing field or are we playing on someone else’s? Who is in
control?
Charismatic Leaders.Dr Sammy D.James
An Organization's Survival Depends on a Leader's Ability to Manage Change.
A country,an house,Business, etc.
Leading change is a hot topic for the business world and rightfully so. The United States is still an economic powerhouse, but we are no longer the singular giant among the world's nations. This fact makes the need for change an omnipresent requirement for all leaders. It does not matter if you are a Fortune 500 executive, or the owner of a small business. As a leader you have to be a person capable of leading your organization through endeavors requiring change.
Today's leaders have to be experts in leading change. If not, they face a dismal future as does the organization that they are leading. This is because the world is constantly changing. No longer is the United States the economic powerhouse of the world. Instead it is now just a member of an international dynamic comprised of giants like China, India and the European Union. Unilateral decisions regarding industry practices can no longer be made by the United States alone. To survive leaders and their organizations have to be prepared to change at the drop of a hat. That is hard. Everyone knows that people naturally dislike change, that is a given, but change is a key to survival.
Dr Sammy noted that "if the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near." Change is really a tool of survival. It should not be feared, but embraced. Change and the challenges that it presents leaders are not new phenomena. The famous Machiavelli noted that "there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in introducing a new order of things." Machiavelli paints a portrait with his words that portray the leader required for a change initiative as someone very skilled in the art of leadership. Anything less than the organization's best leader and it may become just another wasted effort. One more nail in the proverbial coffin.
Great minds within the business world have focused on the art of leading change because of its importance. John P. Kotter authored a book titled Leading Change that is an excellent tool for organizations that are changing the way they do business. This is a must read for leaders. There are too many variables acting in concert within an organization for a leader not to learn specifically about the art of leading change. Leaders have to invest in training. John P. Kotter is just one resource. If you do not invest time and energy into education and training you are limiting your knowledge and abilities. Those same limits that you place on yourself automatically become limits for your organization as well. Take a moment and look around at your competitors, are they changing the way they do business? If they are and you are not, you are in trouble.
Dr Sammy D.James provided a great standard to judge an organization's health, "if the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near." It will be a constant race for organizations within the United States to keep up with China and India,haiti,Jamaica,Bahamas etc but a race that we cannot afford not to run well. Leaders are going to have to embrace change as a standard of excellence and success. Organizations are going to have to train future leaders in the art of change. Anything short of an all out effort to master change will result in failure.
One last note on change that should be presented is that it really is insanely unpopular. Leaders have to get past the popularity contest mentality and unite the organization under their vision. Adlai Stevenson correctly stated that "all progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions." Leaders will face opposition, but it is their job to lead an organization to the finish line. If they cannot then they should not be leading the organization in the first place.
But in reality, it’s all innate. Successful leaders often make this mistake. They feel their confidence is learned from experience since it increases over time, as they achieve more success. When a successful leader is young, he often feels trepidation in front of more senior people, or when confronted with difficult situations, yet later he becomes more confident. So it must be learned, right?
The confusion here is whether you can develop into a confident leader, not whether you're able to inspire confidence from the day you were born. (Did Napoleon command anyone the day he was born?) The ability to develop into a leader over time is what’s innate.
If you are a born leader, you will seek out experiences that help you develop. You will feel energized when things go well in their development, as when your parents support you. Born leaders often remember the energizing feeling when they were at their mother’s knee, assuming that their mother was the one who instilled it, when their mother simply reinforced something that was already there.
If you are born with raw leadership ability, your early experiences will serve to help you understand it, exercise it, come to terms with it, and “fine tune” it. But your early experiences don’t make you a leader - you are born that way. Recently, however, in the Oct 16, 2006 issue of Business Week magazine, Welch seems to contradict himself when he writes that "charisma ... seems to be inborn. It can't really be trained." How could charisma be innate, when self-confidence is learned, Dr Sammy According to Dr Sammy , leaders must “exude energy” and “be able to inspire confidence” and “be optimistic” and “be comfortable in their own skin”. Yet some people feel stress (instead of energy) when given positions of leadership and they fall apart. Some people have a hard time making eye contact, or smiling when others look at them, and this gets worse as they get older. Some people have no motivation unless rallied by a leader.Leaders fulfill the needs of their employees, who want to be appreciated, acknowledged, and given approval and dignity. Employees need to have their self-confidence built-up by the leader. Yet those traits in employees often limit their ability to be a leader themselves, since the higher you climb in an organization, the fewer people are around to stroke your ego. In order to become a leader, you need to be self-confident and “comfortable in your own skin. I’ve always tried to have an inspirational approach to leadership and the most common style is “charismatic leadership”. Maybe because I employ this style I also respond very well to managers who have always tried to motivate me in this way. Charismatic leaders always develop good communication with their associates. All of them work with the team so that they actively contribute and develop the vision; the vision then becomes a part of not only the leader but of their team. I’ve always been given buy-in from my teams with a charismatic approach to leadership; my teammates are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to achieve the vision. I feel like the most important part of a charismatic leader is the ability to inspire extraordinary performance from the team.So when you’re applying it to your everyday work life, remember that a charismatic leader should arouse trust, faith and belief in their leadership ability. If we move forward and grow as leaders, we should also move our associates to become leaders in their own right. But most of all, charismatic leaders inspire a deep devotion in their team. The effect these types of leaders have on their associates seems to be their greatest achievement. This is of course the most important way to be effective and achieve your own personal and corporate goals.
A leader has the ability to rally confidence and conviction in his fellow supporters. Leaders are sc
attered throughout history, influencing changes and leading oppressed masses to freedom. Every movem
ent has its leader, its focal point, the one person that leads by example, serving as a role model i
n times of difficulty and hardship. In Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Randle Patrick M
cMurphy is thrust into a leadership role in a psychiatric ward. McMurphy begins to rally support and
initiates a change in the daily lives of the other "patients" in the ward, inching away from the pr
eviously immovable institutionalized oppression. As Kesey demonstrates the essentiality of a leader
to the breaking of oppression, he also shows the dissipation of the patients' confidence and convict
ion once the leader's active participation has ceased. Kesey's implementation of McMurphy as a leade
r in the psychiatric ward demonstrates man's inability to initially buck oppression without a leader
, emphasizing that the leader is only effective if the followers learn to lead themselves.
The fadin
g of the courage and confidence that McMurphy instills in the psychiatric patients during the fishin
g trip shows that a leader is necessary to break free from oppression, an oppression that reclaims i
ts victims once the leader stops leading the way. On the way to the open seas, the patients stop at
the gas station, where their green uniforms are noticed right away. Along with the recognition of th
e mental green color comes disrespect and oppression by way of the gas station attendants. McMurphy
sticks up for everyone and the patients follow perfectly on cue. There was a new sense of confidence
surrounding the patients, and it was because McMurphy had "shown us what a little bravado and coura
ge could accomplish, and we thought he'd taught us how to use it. When people at a stoplight would s
tare at us and our green uniforms we'd do just like he did, sit up straight and strong and tough-loo
king and put a big grin on our face and stare straight back at them till their motors died and their
windows sunstreaked" (203). For countless years, the patients had been oppressed to the point that
they merely accepted the fact. McMurphy is the catalyst in the change that occurs; the patients see
McMurphy get respect from the attendants and they do exactly as he does, as to break free from oppre
ssion. The patients merely follow the example that McMurphy, their leader, has set for them. When fa
ced with glaring eyes on the highway, the patients once again do exactly as McMurphy does, staring s
tereotypes and generalizations right in the eye. Although the patients achieve "freedom" by imitatin
g their leader, their victory isn't achieved by self assertion or self expression, but by mimicry an
d nothing more. Later, as McMurphy steps away, the patients are left with nothing to imitate and the
y succumb to oppression. The men at the dock were making fun of Candy, they "kept leering at her and
leaning close together to whisper things. All our crew, even the doctor, saw this and got to feelin
g ashamed that we didn't do something. We weren't the cocky bunch that was back at the service stati
on" (205). A few miles down the road from their last stand against persecution, the men fold. The sa
me situation arises as dockworkers insult a part of the group from the psychiatric ward just as the
gas station attendants had done no more than a couple hours ago. The men are now put in a position t
o "be McMurphy." They can assert their own leadership and stand up for Candy, except they don't know
how. They "weren't the cocky bunch that was back at the service station." They had merely learned h
ow to imitate an example back at the service station instead of learning how to create an example. I
n doing so, their confidence is solely dependent upon the person that their imitations surround, the
leader. Once their leader so much as leaves the room, all is lost and the men revert back to their
meek and oppressed original states. Men who were liberated from their oppression when a leader asser
ted himself, lose everything the leader brought to the table once he has gone, as they have not yet
learned how to lead themselves.
Once the men learn how to lead themselves and take responsibility fo
r bravery, they gain a lasting sense of confidence and cockiness, a permanent version of that which
they had at the service station. As the men leave the docks, they leave the events that took place t
here as well. On the way back, it looks as if a storm is brewing, however there are enough for every
one onboard, save three, who would have to brave the risk of drowning without a lifevest. They "were
three jackets short, and there was a fuss as to who'd be the three that braved that bar without jac
kets. It finally turned out to be Billy Bibbit and Harding and George. Everybody was surprised that
Billy had volunteered, he took his lifejacket and helped the girl into it, but everybody was even mo
re surprised that McMurphy hadn't insisted to be one of the heroes"(214). McMurphy had always been t
he one person to be the "hero", to take the burden off of the other men and put it upon himslef. Jus
t as on the docks, McMurphy is removed from the situation, forcing the men to fend for themselves. H
owever, on the ship, McMurphy is removed voluntarily, perhaps as he realizes that true bravery must
be self-induced, not mimicked. At first, the men act as they did on the docks, with no one assuming
leadership and the men completely aloof as to how to lead themselves. After a short fuss, some patie
nts step forward, patients who are ready to use the confidence and bravery of the service station fo
r themselves. None of the heroes is forced into his position, rather, each does so willingly, puttin
g his respective life at risk for a reason. For Bibbit it was Candy and for George it was the dirtin
ess of it all, reasons that the patients believed in. The patients move past sheer mimicry and lear
n the value of initiative, as they do what they want and for their own reasons. Once these men learn
to lead themselves past their own obstacles, they take their newfound confidence and conviction, us
ing it to hurdle every barrier that comes in their way. The men make it back to the docks unaffected
by the stormy waters, but completely influenced by their newfound sense of confidence. They encount
er the very same dockworkers that had proved their mimicked bravery false; however, the dockworkers
didn't meet the same group of men the second time around. This group was confident and they wanted a
chance to express themselves, as "the loafers stood on the upper deck, watching, smoking pipes they
'd carved themselves. We were waiting for them to say something about the girl again, hoping for it
(215). In the same situation they were before, the men are begging for a chance for retribution. Th
ey want to show these men who saw them as spineless imitators that they're not what they seem to be.
The lessons that the men learn on the boat follow them ashore, as the men readily welcome oppressio
n instead of dreading it. The patients' new sense of conviction shines off of their beings as the do
ckworkers (now called loafers) leave them alone. They see that this bunch of men isn't the same grou
p that buckled under the taunts earlier and they realize that these sailors will no longer fold unde
r oppression. They can see it in the way the men carry themselves and in the way that they stare opp
ression down. In seeking to conquer oppression before it is levied upon them, the men express their
own desires, and in doing so, they defeat oppression before it manifests itself. McMurphy's example
of bravery is only temporary when mimicry is relied upon. However, once self-leadership is realized,
the bravery and confidence of the service station gain permanence in the patients' lives. The mimic
ry of a leader in order to buck oppression brings only false and temporary freedom from oppression;
however, once the oppressed learn how to lead themselves past their own obstacles, the confidence be
comes true, transcending individual events and time, following the self-leaders through life.
The pa
tients' collective defiance of the Nurse and their subsequent destruction of her power displays thei
r final conquest of oppression through the continued realization of their self-leadership. After the
fishing trip, the men return to the ward and have an all-out party filled with chaos. The following
morning, the nurse finds out that Billy Bibbit is missing. Nurse Ratched interrogated the patients
and "darted the eyes out with every word, stabbing at the men's faces, but the men were immune to he
r poison. Their eyes met hers; their grins mocked the old confident smile she had lost" (262). Befor
e, the nurse was able to dissect the men apart with her stares and her glances; she was able to get
the men to tell her whatever she wanted. Nurse Ratched had been the figure of oppression for the maj
ority of the patients' lives, as previously they succumbed to her poisons time and time again. It's
different now, the patients know how to break free from oppression by themselves. Although it seems
that the men are merely imitating McMurphy, each set of eyes staring back at the nurse is independen
t of what their leader is doing. Each patient has decided that he will no longer allow this woman to
bend him to her will. The nurse's stranglehold of oppression is broken, as these men who used to be
nd and fold to her every command have rallied around a leader, and in doing so, have learned to lead
themselves. The patients are no longer a collective mass to be molded and ordered around, rather, e
ach patient has come into his own as an expressive individual. Through learning how to apply the les
sons that a leader has taught, the oppressed learn how to lead themselves, and although the leader.
A country,an house,Business, etc.
Leading change is a hot topic for the business world and rightfully so. The United States is still an economic powerhouse, but we are no longer the singular giant among the world's nations. This fact makes the need for change an omnipresent requirement for all leaders. It does not matter if you are a Fortune 500 executive, or the owner of a small business. As a leader you have to be a person capable of leading your organization through endeavors requiring change.
Today's leaders have to be experts in leading change. If not, they face a dismal future as does the organization that they are leading. This is because the world is constantly changing. No longer is the United States the economic powerhouse of the world. Instead it is now just a member of an international dynamic comprised of giants like China, India and the European Union. Unilateral decisions regarding industry practices can no longer be made by the United States alone. To survive leaders and their organizations have to be prepared to change at the drop of a hat. That is hard. Everyone knows that people naturally dislike change, that is a given, but change is a key to survival.
Dr Sammy noted that "if the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near." Change is really a tool of survival. It should not be feared, but embraced. Change and the challenges that it presents leaders are not new phenomena. The famous Machiavelli noted that "there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in introducing a new order of things." Machiavelli paints a portrait with his words that portray the leader required for a change initiative as someone very skilled in the art of leadership. Anything less than the organization's best leader and it may become just another wasted effort. One more nail in the proverbial coffin.
Great minds within the business world have focused on the art of leading change because of its importance. John P. Kotter authored a book titled Leading Change that is an excellent tool for organizations that are changing the way they do business. This is a must read for leaders. There are too many variables acting in concert within an organization for a leader not to learn specifically about the art of leading change. Leaders have to invest in training. John P. Kotter is just one resource. If you do not invest time and energy into education and training you are limiting your knowledge and abilities. Those same limits that you place on yourself automatically become limits for your organization as well. Take a moment and look around at your competitors, are they changing the way they do business? If they are and you are not, you are in trouble.
Dr Sammy D.James provided a great standard to judge an organization's health, "if the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near." It will be a constant race for organizations within the United States to keep up with China and India,haiti,Jamaica,Bahamas etc but a race that we cannot afford not to run well. Leaders are going to have to embrace change as a standard of excellence and success. Organizations are going to have to train future leaders in the art of change. Anything short of an all out effort to master change will result in failure.
One last note on change that should be presented is that it really is insanely unpopular. Leaders have to get past the popularity contest mentality and unite the organization under their vision. Adlai Stevenson correctly stated that "all progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions." Leaders will face opposition, but it is their job to lead an organization to the finish line. If they cannot then they should not be leading the organization in the first place.
But in reality, it’s all innate. Successful leaders often make this mistake. They feel their confidence is learned from experience since it increases over time, as they achieve more success. When a successful leader is young, he often feels trepidation in front of more senior people, or when confronted with difficult situations, yet later he becomes more confident. So it must be learned, right?
The confusion here is whether you can develop into a confident leader, not whether you're able to inspire confidence from the day you were born. (Did Napoleon command anyone the day he was born?) The ability to develop into a leader over time is what’s innate.
If you are a born leader, you will seek out experiences that help you develop. You will feel energized when things go well in their development, as when your parents support you. Born leaders often remember the energizing feeling when they were at their mother’s knee, assuming that their mother was the one who instilled it, when their mother simply reinforced something that was already there.
If you are born with raw leadership ability, your early experiences will serve to help you understand it, exercise it, come to terms with it, and “fine tune” it. But your early experiences don’t make you a leader - you are born that way. Recently, however, in the Oct 16, 2006 issue of Business Week magazine, Welch seems to contradict himself when he writes that "charisma ... seems to be inborn. It can't really be trained." How could charisma be innate, when self-confidence is learned, Dr Sammy According to Dr Sammy , leaders must “exude energy” and “be able to inspire confidence” and “be optimistic” and “be comfortable in their own skin”. Yet some people feel stress (instead of energy) when given positions of leadership and they fall apart. Some people have a hard time making eye contact, or smiling when others look at them, and this gets worse as they get older. Some people have no motivation unless rallied by a leader.Leaders fulfill the needs of their employees, who want to be appreciated, acknowledged, and given approval and dignity. Employees need to have their self-confidence built-up by the leader. Yet those traits in employees often limit their ability to be a leader themselves, since the higher you climb in an organization, the fewer people are around to stroke your ego. In order to become a leader, you need to be self-confident and “comfortable in your own skin. I’ve always tried to have an inspirational approach to leadership and the most common style is “charismatic leadership”. Maybe because I employ this style I also respond very well to managers who have always tried to motivate me in this way. Charismatic leaders always develop good communication with their associates. All of them work with the team so that they actively contribute and develop the vision; the vision then becomes a part of not only the leader but of their team. I’ve always been given buy-in from my teams with a charismatic approach to leadership; my teammates are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to achieve the vision. I feel like the most important part of a charismatic leader is the ability to inspire extraordinary performance from the team.So when you’re applying it to your everyday work life, remember that a charismatic leader should arouse trust, faith and belief in their leadership ability. If we move forward and grow as leaders, we should also move our associates to become leaders in their own right. But most of all, charismatic leaders inspire a deep devotion in their team. The effect these types of leaders have on their associates seems to be their greatest achievement. This is of course the most important way to be effective and achieve your own personal and corporate goals.
A leader has the ability to rally confidence and conviction in his fellow supporters. Leaders are sc
attered throughout history, influencing changes and leading oppressed masses to freedom. Every movem
ent has its leader, its focal point, the one person that leads by example, serving as a role model i
n times of difficulty and hardship. In Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Randle Patrick M
cMurphy is thrust into a leadership role in a psychiatric ward. McMurphy begins to rally support and
initiates a change in the daily lives of the other "patients" in the ward, inching away from the pr
eviously immovable institutionalized oppression. As Kesey demonstrates the essentiality of a leader
to the breaking of oppression, he also shows the dissipation of the patients' confidence and convict
ion once the leader's active participation has ceased. Kesey's implementation of McMurphy as a leade
r in the psychiatric ward demonstrates man's inability to initially buck oppression without a leader
, emphasizing that the leader is only effective if the followers learn to lead themselves.
The fadin
g of the courage and confidence that McMurphy instills in the psychiatric patients during the fishin
g trip shows that a leader is necessary to break free from oppression, an oppression that reclaims i
ts victims once the leader stops leading the way. On the way to the open seas, the patients stop at
the gas station, where their green uniforms are noticed right away. Along with the recognition of th
e mental green color comes disrespect and oppression by way of the gas station attendants. McMurphy
sticks up for everyone and the patients follow perfectly on cue. There was a new sense of confidence
surrounding the patients, and it was because McMurphy had "shown us what a little bravado and coura
ge could accomplish, and we thought he'd taught us how to use it. When people at a stoplight would s
tare at us and our green uniforms we'd do just like he did, sit up straight and strong and tough-loo
king and put a big grin on our face and stare straight back at them till their motors died and their
windows sunstreaked" (203). For countless years, the patients had been oppressed to the point that
they merely accepted the fact. McMurphy is the catalyst in the change that occurs; the patients see
McMurphy get respect from the attendants and they do exactly as he does, as to break free from oppre
ssion. The patients merely follow the example that McMurphy, their leader, has set for them. When fa
ced with glaring eyes on the highway, the patients once again do exactly as McMurphy does, staring s
tereotypes and generalizations right in the eye. Although the patients achieve "freedom" by imitatin
g their leader, their victory isn't achieved by self assertion or self expression, but by mimicry an
d nothing more. Later, as McMurphy steps away, the patients are left with nothing to imitate and the
y succumb to oppression. The men at the dock were making fun of Candy, they "kept leering at her and
leaning close together to whisper things. All our crew, even the doctor, saw this and got to feelin
g ashamed that we didn't do something. We weren't the cocky bunch that was back at the service stati
on" (205). A few miles down the road from their last stand against persecution, the men fold. The sa
me situation arises as dockworkers insult a part of the group from the psychiatric ward just as the
gas station attendants had done no more than a couple hours ago. The men are now put in a position t
o "be McMurphy." They can assert their own leadership and stand up for Candy, except they don't know
how. They "weren't the cocky bunch that was back at the service station." They had merely learned h
ow to imitate an example back at the service station instead of learning how to create an example. I
n doing so, their confidence is solely dependent upon the person that their imitations surround, the
leader. Once their leader so much as leaves the room, all is lost and the men revert back to their
meek and oppressed original states. Men who were liberated from their oppression when a leader asser
ted himself, lose everything the leader brought to the table once he has gone, as they have not yet
learned how to lead themselves.
Once the men learn how to lead themselves and take responsibility fo
r bravery, they gain a lasting sense of confidence and cockiness, a permanent version of that which
they had at the service station. As the men leave the docks, they leave the events that took place t
here as well. On the way back, it looks as if a storm is brewing, however there are enough for every
one onboard, save three, who would have to brave the risk of drowning without a lifevest. They "were
three jackets short, and there was a fuss as to who'd be the three that braved that bar without jac
kets. It finally turned out to be Billy Bibbit and Harding and George. Everybody was surprised that
Billy had volunteered, he took his lifejacket and helped the girl into it, but everybody was even mo
re surprised that McMurphy hadn't insisted to be one of the heroes"(214). McMurphy had always been t
he one person to be the "hero", to take the burden off of the other men and put it upon himslef. Jus
t as on the docks, McMurphy is removed from the situation, forcing the men to fend for themselves. H
owever, on the ship, McMurphy is removed voluntarily, perhaps as he realizes that true bravery must
be self-induced, not mimicked. At first, the men act as they did on the docks, with no one assuming
leadership and the men completely aloof as to how to lead themselves. After a short fuss, some patie
nts step forward, patients who are ready to use the confidence and bravery of the service station fo
r themselves. None of the heroes is forced into his position, rather, each does so willingly, puttin
g his respective life at risk for a reason. For Bibbit it was Candy and for George it was the dirtin
ess of it all, reasons that the patients believed in. The patients move past sheer mimicry and lear
n the value of initiative, as they do what they want and for their own reasons. Once these men learn
to lead themselves past their own obstacles, they take their newfound confidence and conviction, us
ing it to hurdle every barrier that comes in their way. The men make it back to the docks unaffected
by the stormy waters, but completely influenced by their newfound sense of confidence. They encount
er the very same dockworkers that had proved their mimicked bravery false; however, the dockworkers
didn't meet the same group of men the second time around. This group was confident and they wanted a
chance to express themselves, as "the loafers stood on the upper deck, watching, smoking pipes they
'd carved themselves. We were waiting for them to say something about the girl again, hoping for it
(215). In the same situation they were before, the men are begging for a chance for retribution. Th
ey want to show these men who saw them as spineless imitators that they're not what they seem to be.
The lessons that the men learn on the boat follow them ashore, as the men readily welcome oppressio
n instead of dreading it. The patients' new sense of conviction shines off of their beings as the do
ckworkers (now called loafers) leave them alone. They see that this bunch of men isn't the same grou
p that buckled under the taunts earlier and they realize that these sailors will no longer fold unde
r oppression. They can see it in the way the men carry themselves and in the way that they stare opp
ression down. In seeking to conquer oppression before it is levied upon them, the men express their
own desires, and in doing so, they defeat oppression before it manifests itself. McMurphy's example
of bravery is only temporary when mimicry is relied upon. However, once self-leadership is realized,
the bravery and confidence of the service station gain permanence in the patients' lives. The mimic
ry of a leader in order to buck oppression brings only false and temporary freedom from oppression;
however, once the oppressed learn how to lead themselves past their own obstacles, the confidence be
comes true, transcending individual events and time, following the self-leaders through life.
The pa
tients' collective defiance of the Nurse and their subsequent destruction of her power displays thei
r final conquest of oppression through the continued realization of their self-leadership. After the
fishing trip, the men return to the ward and have an all-out party filled with chaos. The following
morning, the nurse finds out that Billy Bibbit is missing. Nurse Ratched interrogated the patients
and "darted the eyes out with every word, stabbing at the men's faces, but the men were immune to he
r poison. Their eyes met hers; their grins mocked the old confident smile she had lost" (262). Befor
e, the nurse was able to dissect the men apart with her stares and her glances; she was able to get
the men to tell her whatever she wanted. Nurse Ratched had been the figure of oppression for the maj
ority of the patients' lives, as previously they succumbed to her poisons time and time again. It's
different now, the patients know how to break free from oppression by themselves. Although it seems
that the men are merely imitating McMurphy, each set of eyes staring back at the nurse is independen
t of what their leader is doing. Each patient has decided that he will no longer allow this woman to
bend him to her will. The nurse's stranglehold of oppression is broken, as these men who used to be
nd and fold to her every command have rallied around a leader, and in doing so, have learned to lead
themselves. The patients are no longer a collective mass to be molded and ordered around, rather, e
ach patient has come into his own as an expressive individual. Through learning how to apply the les
sons that a leader has taught, the oppressed learn how to lead themselves, and although the leader.
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