by Brent Evans | May 2, 2016 | Life Boosters |
Plants and flowers need certain things to flourish, and so do you and I. Don’t just go through life. Flourish!
An excellent book by Martin E.P. Seligman on the subject is Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. His findings are well researched and a program based on those findings has been developed and used by the United States military so new recruits can become psychologically fit as well as physically fit. According to Seligman, well-being and the ability to flourish involve 5 elements.
Element 1: Positive Emotion
Experiencing good feelings. Not all of the time, but sufficient to make life enjoyable. These feelings don’t have to be by accident. Think of the positive emotions you have experienced in the past, identify what was involved, and plan more.
Element 2: Engagement
Using our strengths and personal virtues to meet important challenges. In doing so, we might become so absorbed that we lose track of time. We might even enter a state called flow. This happens when we have clear goals, a need for stretching our abilities to reach those goals, and receive direct feedback of the effectiveness of our efforts. Such experiences are later felt to be highlights of life with a desire to experience them again.
Element 3: Meaning
Having an identified purpose in life involving something we believe is bigger than self. How can I serve others during my time on earth? Example: I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. (Mother Teresa)
Element 4: Accomplishment
Sufficient experience and/or hope of worthwhile achievement.
Element 5: Positive Relationships
Most of the good things in life occur around and with other people. It has been said that other people are the best antidote to the downs of life and the most single reliable up.
Go to http://www.learningsuccess.com for FREE games & activities to develop personal and family success.
*For previous Learning Success articles and games published in the Campbell Express go to http://www.campbellexpress.com and view online editions.
Copyright 2016 Brent Evans – Learning Success
by Brent Evans | Apr 25, 2016 | Life Boosters |
You buy a book or attend a workshop because you are excited about what it can do for your life! But for too many of us, we forget almost everything we read or hear within weeks and apply virtually nothing. What if you could change that by using powerful learning and memory principles that result in your learning and remembering not 4%, but 120% or more? It is easy, fun to do, and much more meaningful. And because you are putting in your own insights and thoughts and connecting them in a synergetic whole, your final result will be way beyond 100% retention. It will zoom to 120% and rising!
Connect New Learning With What You Already Know
As you read a book, listen to a presentation, or attend a workshop, use paper & pencil to organize and record your thoughts. What comes to your mind as you process what you are learning is key to capturing what you learn. Divide a sheet of paper using the headings below. You can print already prepared capture sheets to use and an example sheet where I used a capture sheet while reading chapter 1 of Jack Canfield’s Success Principles. http://learningsuccess.com/how_to_capture_a_book_and_make_i.htm You will find a wealth of other resources at http://www.learningsuccess.com
Personal Connections: What stories or connections can you add to the topic from your own personal experiences or knowledge?
Mind Map: Visually take notes, but only what has real impact for your life. Your own thoughts should also be included.
Power Quotations or Scriptures: Write any quotation or scripture that has the power to stir action. Again, this could be one you supply. It doesn’t have to be from the book or presentation. If a quotation has power, use it over and over again. You don’t want to just be impressed by it and then forget it.
Stories/Parables/Objects: These are sources of great power and motivation. Which ones do you know already that connect with what you are learning? What new ones are being presented?
To-Do: What actions are you now motivated to take?
Habits: What habits do you want to acquire? To make something a habit requires consistent practice for two or more weeks before it becomes lasting.
Go to http://www.learningsuccess.com for FREE games & activities to develop personal and family success.
*For previous Learning Success articles and games published in the Campbell Express go to http://www.campbellexpress.com and view online editions.
Copyright 2016 Brent Evans – Learning Success
by Brent Evans | Apr 18, 2016 | Life Boosters |
Some of life’s greatest experiences involve developing and using our talents, and pursuing our interests. This is basically what is meant by self-actualization. Rollo May in Man’s Search for Meaning claims:
To the extent we … fulfill our potentialities as persons; we experience the highest joy to which the human being is heir.
Consider the excitement and joy a young child experiences as he or she learns to walk, draw a picture, or ride a bicycle.
That same joy and excitement can be yours throughout life as you continue to grow. The more talents you discover and develop, the more remain to be discovered.
Three Affirmations
The following three statements, suggested by Maxwell Maltz, can have a powerful influence on you, your family, and anyone with whom you associate.
You have tremendous hidden abilities, just waiting to be developed.
It is up to you to develop them.
The more abilities you develop, the more you will enjoy life.
These statements have made a difference in people’s lives even when just read to them. Try it. Read the statements aloud to yourself or someone else. Do you feel a little extra power? Imagine the results if that way of talking became a habit?
Maintain the Excitement of Developing Your Talents
Why do some people retain the excitement of developing their talents throughout their lives, and some people lose it somewhere in childhood? Much depends on:
- Continually being introduced to new talent and interest possibilities. How can you be interested in something you know nothing about?
- Developing talents to new levels. Each new level of skill offers new excitement.
- Using your talents for good purposes. It is one thing to develop your skill with the violin, but at some point you want to use or demonstrate that skill for the benefit of yourself and others.
Go to http://www.learningsuccess.com for FREE games & activities to develop personal and family success.
*For previous Learning Success articles and games published in the Campbell Express go to http://www.campbellexpress.com and view online editions.
Copyright 2016 Brent Evans – Learning Success
by Brent Evans | Apr 11, 2016 | Life Boosters |
Benjamin Franklin purposely made success a habit, and so can you.
Franklin made a decision early in life to live the most successful life possible. To make that happen, he developed a unique personal program that ranks as one of his most important discoveries and inventions. He made success a sure thing by making it a habit. Consider the truth in the following quotation:
First you take the train and then the train takes you. First the stream makes the bed and then the bed guides the stream. First you make your habits, and then your habits make you.
Benjamin Franklin Made Success a Habit in His Life
Starting as a young man, he selected 13 virtues or life success traits on which to direct his efforts. He would concentrate on one trait a week and each day during the week would try to live that trait perfectly. At the end of each day he would evaluate and record how he did in a small book. It would take him only two or three minutes to do this, but doing so enabled him to build the success habits that assured a great life. So can you.
Make Success a Habit in Your Life
Each week, select your own success trait or behavior you want to develop as a habit. Write it down in exact, clear terms. Each day during the week, do your best to live that trait perfectly. At the end of each day, evaluate how you did. On a chart or calendar put a plus (+) if you lived the trait correctly and a minus (–) if you didn’t, or the opportunity to practice the desired success habit never came up. Praise yourself for each plus. For each minus simply take a minute or two to practice the desired habit the way you intended to do it, and then change each minus to a plus.
Four Basic Ways to Use Positive Practice
- Re-do actual event. If you didn’t do it right, do it over again.
- Role-play with others. Have someone help you role-play doing it right.
- Act it out with yourself. Act it out on your own doing it right.
- Imagine yourself doing it. You can always visualize you doing it right, but make sure you can really see the whole sequence.
Go to http://www.learningsuccess.com for FREE games & activities to develop personal and family success.
*For previous Learning Success articles and games published in the Campbell Express go to http://www.campbellexpress.com and view online editions.
Copyright 2016 Brent Evans – Learning Success
by Brent Evans | Apr 4, 2016 | Life Boosters |
Don’t leave your important roles and relationships to chance. You want more than that. You want to make each role and relationship as special and rich as possible. To do so, prepare a separate page for each relationship or role you value. Then take time to write ideas or goals for each one. For example:
In my role/relationship as a brother to Gary, I might put:
- Show my love and care for him.
- Get together for a fun activity at least once a month.
- Show interest in what is going on in his life.
- Make sure our children develop and maintain good friendships.
In my role as a teacher, I might put:
- Instill in each child a love for learning.
- Build each child’s self-esteem.
- Continually improve my teaching methods.
- Model the values I expect from my students.
Make sure you review your notes often so you can come up with even more or better ideas. Use the bottom half of each page to write actions you could take that would help you reach those goals. Share ideas with interested family members, co-workers, and others who may want to work with you. Each idea stimulates other ideas. When you decide to take action on one or more of your ideas, write them on a to-do list and put in a possible target date. When the actual date is finalized, schedule it on your calendar. This could be for the current or next week, but it could be put on the calendar for any month of the year. When the date comes up, it will be brought to your attention. Don’t settle for someday we ought to. Most someday things never happen. You want your life to be filled with as many good things and great experiences as possible. You don’t want to miss any!
Come Up With New Ideas to Enhance Your Roles and Relationships
Here are a few to get you started, but add new ones throughout your life.
- Add value wherever you go. Every day make it your purpose to add value to each interaction. Make the cashier feel a little better as he or she checks your groceries. This could be a smile, a compliment, a wish for him or her to have a good day.
- Believe in the best in every person. With each interaction, do what you can to enable the best in that person.
- Go beyond what is expected, such as giving a person a thoughtful gift without a special reason.
- Write letters of appreciation along with treasured remembrances of the past. Spoken words fade, but written words can be saved and re-read. My wife wrote a letter of appreciation to my mother many years ago. When she received it, she was heard to say… This is a letter I am going to keep. And she did. We found it in one of her drawers when she passed away.
Go to http://www.learningsuccess.com for FREE games & activities to develop personal and family success.
*For previous Learning Success articles and games published in the Campbell Express go to http://www.campbellexpress.com and view online editions.
Copyright 2016 Brent Evans – Learning Success
