When Assuming the Best is the Worst When Assuming the Best is the Worst Assume the best about others until history says assume the worst. Believe history not hope. Before you go with the hope that they’ll pull through, ask yourself, what’s changed since the last time they fell short. “Bad” hope makes you passive. If nothing’s changed, nothing will change. Expectation History predicts the future. Expect more of the same, unless there are concrete reasons to anticipate something different. More of the same now results in more of the same later. “I’m going to change next time,” is gobbledygook. Everyone who offers reasons why change is better tomorrow, will do the same thing tomorrow. Present Present behavior predicts the future. Close your ears to what they’re saying. 5 reasons assuming the best is the worst: Nothings changed since the last failure or disappointment. Hope is not a strategy for building the future. If you don’t see action, take action. How has hoping for the best gone wrong in your leadership journey? Like this:
7 Unfortunate Habits of Unhappy People Email Everyone experiences unhappy times on occasion, but there is a big difference between experiencing a temporary bout of sadness and living a habitually unhappy life. That’s what chronically unhappy people do. Even if you are generally a happy person, take a look at these seven habits to determine if any of them are keeping you from experiencing greater amounts of joy. 1. Don’t play it so safe that you put yourself in situations where none of your potential options satisfy your calling. Your dream is your creative vision for your future life. 2. You will inevitably become who you believe yourself to be. If you spend enough time saying, “I’m not smart enough, thin enough and rich enough,” it’s likely that you will someday be right. 3. Sometimes people put too much interest into trying to control every tiny aspect of their lives. Freeing yourself from trying to control the insignificant things lets you experience more of the good stuff around you. 4. 5. So don’t take things for granted.
20 Things to Do When You’re Feeling Angry with Someone “If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” ~Chinese proverb As Tiny Buddha grows larger, I find there are a lot more people emailing me with requests. Recently someone contacted me with a request that I was unable to honor. As ironic as this may sound given the context of this site, I felt angry. I felt angry because I have always struggled with saying no, and this was exactly the type of uncomfortable encounter I generally aim to avoid. I felt angry because I felt misunderstood and judged, and I wanted him to realize that he was wrong about me. I felt angry because I assumed he intended to be hurtful, and I didn’t feel like I deserved that. I ended up responding to his email fairly quickly with a little bit of defensiveness, albeit with restraint. It’s inevitable that I’ll feel that way again—and many times, with people I know well and love. If we’re mindful, we can use these situations to better ourselves and our relationships. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
DIY: A Neighborly Get Well Kit Tip: click on the images for an enlarged view. After moving from our last home, where we had possibly the world’s most atrocious neighbors, I wasn’t expecting much from our new set. So imagine my delighted surprise when several of them stopped by to welcome us to our new home. During that Spring when our lawn needed cutting for the first time, I looked out my window to discover our neighbor mowing it for us (he still regularly mows it…even though I run out and tell him not to). So when Vivint (a leading provider of simple, affordable home security and other home solutions) asked if I would like to create a couple DIYs with warm neighborly giving in mind, I was excited for the chance to put my neighborly thoughts into action. So with cold and flu season upon us, it seemed that the perfect idea for my first project would be to put together a quick little get well kit that is ideal for a neighbor or friend who is under the weather. Here’s what I used to create my kit: Boil water.
Behaviour Management: A Bill Rogers Top 10 Behaviour Management Strategies from Bill Rogers Without doubt the greatest personal challenge I’ve faced as a teacher was moving from the Sixth Form college in Wigan where I started teaching, to Holland Park School in London in my mid-20s. Having established the idea in my mind that I was a pretty good teacher, it was a massive shock to discover that in my new context, I was a novice. Later I discovered the seminal Bill Rogers’ video series and watched them back-to-back. The series titles give a flavour of the Bill Rogers approach: I can’t do justice to it all in one post, but here are my highlights. Top Ten Ideas from Bill Rogers 1. The Black Dot in a White Square: What do you focus on? It is often necessary to get class or individual behaviour into perspective in order to maintain a positive atmosphere in the class. The class is awfulThe group never works sensiblyThe student is unable to behaveEveryone is being too noisy 2. This is so simple but packs a punch. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
9 Powerful Ways to Spend a Day Email All the time given to you in life is valuable; you just have to know what to do with it. Let’s make it count. Shall we? Starting today, spend more time… 1. The uneducated belief in something false that someone tells you is the greatest enemy of your own truth. The best thing you can do for yourself is to think for yourself. 2. If you’re not a little bit uncomfortable on a daily basis it means you’re not growing. Every aspect of physical and emotional growth arrives from outside your comfort zone. The road less traveled is sometimes laden with potholes, bumps, and unexplored territory. 3. Throughout this beautiful day you have hundreds of little opportunities to move your life in the direction you want it to go. Participate in your dreams today. 4. Stick to it and keep moving forward, even when the path gets rough. Many of your greatest achievements will be realized when you’re completely exhausted and discouraged but still working. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Photo by: SnaPsi
8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder. Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above. Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert When Mike decides to start writing his History essay, blood rushes to his anterior prefrontal cortex. Phase 2: Find and Execute The alert carries an electrical charge that’s composed of two parts: first, a search query (which is needed to find the correct neurons for executing the task of writing), and second, a command (which tells the appropriate neuron what to do). Phase 3: Disengagement 1. 2. 3. 4.
A wise Mum cultivates her relationship with the Lord | Parenting | Growing Faith One of my favourite children’s picture books is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This rather dull and tiny caterpillar pops out of an egg and begins to eat and eat and eat until he becomes one very fat caterpillar. After putting himself into a cocoon, he emerges transformed into a beautiful butterfly. I remember becoming a Christian – that transformation had just happened to me. I had been a non-descript caterpillar and suddenly I had become a beautiful butterfly! Mums with babies and small children will probably struggle with this. “... since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." Our new self is a beautiful creature in contrast to the old. Mary and Martha Are you familiar with the story of Mary and Martha? Good, better, best. Find some quiet time Think about your daily routine, and work out when might be a "do-able" time for prayer & Bible reading.
Discipline: Teacher Focused vs Student Focused Discipline can be filtered into two trains of thought: teacher focused and student focused. What is it? Pretty straight forward. Teacher focused educators believe discipline is about punishing kids for their behavior, and removing them from class makes it easier to teach their content. Student focused educators believe their jobs are to teach kids (Math, Art, Science, Spanish, Behavior, etc.), and that is challenging to do if students are removed from their instruction. Who “does” it? What is the foundation of it? Behavior is… Teacher focused educators believe behavior is a choice. Teacher becomes frustrated when… Teacher focused educators feel punishments should match how upset they were with the student’s infraction, and that the behavior should be immediately corrected by administration. Scenario: Today we’re working on quadratic equations.
10 Simple Truths Smart People Forget Email Some of the smartest people I know continuously struggle to get ahead because they forget to address a few simple truths that collectively govern our potential to make progress. So here’s a quick reminder: #1 – Education and intelligence accomplish nothing without action. It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in Quantum Physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. #2 – Happiness and success are two different things. I know an extremely savvy businesswoman who made almost a million dollars online last year. I also know a surfer who surfs almost all day, every day on the beach in front of our condo complex in San Diego. “What will make me happy?” #3 – Everyone runs their own business. No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself. So how can you simultaneously save your time and increase your profit? is a good read on this topic. And that’s okay. Photo by: Alemdag