Masks

Deciding which mask I should put on everyday was a struggle.  A desperate need to show my true beauty to others was my highest priority.  Like most people, I wanted to look good.  But choosing which display wasn’t the only thing I was worried about; it was the people’s reactions and opinions that left me with the final impression of my decision.  Sorting through the massive clutter was stressful enough, but not enough for me.  I had to choose the perfect disguise in order to fulfill my desperate needs.  Then suddenly, my collection got too expansive and overwhelming.  Something needed to change.  Was it that I needed more colorful masks? Or maybe that I just needed to start my collection over? My voyage to find the perfect mask came to an end during the summer of 2010 when I attended the McGrane Global Centers, Move Into Your Greatness program.  I found exactly what I was searching for my whole life.  But what I found was no ordinary façade.  It was the face behind the mask that I began to boast.

             My entire life I have been using every ounce of my energy to make people happy— happy with me, happy with themselves, and happy with others.  I never thought of how draining this really was.  In order to fill them up, I left myself completely empty.  In order to satisfy everybody’s needs, I put a “mask” on to fit the profiles of what they wanted me to be.

             After years of hidden and isolated times, I came out of the program with no mask on my face.  Sensitive to the warm sun, my pale face was now exposed to the world.  Horrified of possible blemishes, yet the willingness to be comfortable being uncomfortable, I stood and basked in the sunlight for all to see.  Of course fear overwhelmed my body, but there was something about finally being exposed that just felt so right.  It felt so refreshing.  Could this really be happening?  Can I really go out in public without a mask on? 

             But the extraordinary thing I began to realize was, no mask can ever be your true identity.  Emotionless, apprehensive, and stone-like I was.  Did people really want me to be this way?  My immediate answer was yes, but after guidance came and showed me how beautiful my face was, I will never turn back.

             So the moral of this story is being courageous enough to let go of all of the facades and show people who you really are instead constantly attempting to adapt to each specific mold.  Energy, respect, originality, and confidence disappear until the mask is finally lifted.  Be yourself, love yourself, and honor yourself until the day you die.  Live by originality, and through originality, success will prevail.

 Christopher King  – See his video sharing the story

McGrane Global Centers

I believe that strikes are caused by employees and managements’ lack of skills and/or their unintact Self-Esteem to negotiate and compromise.  It seems that we, as a society, have learned very little from history.  After every war, there is negotiating and compromising.

A strike is an indication that both management and employees need to communicate their needs, wants, and concerns, on an ongoing basis.  They need to be continually establishing a mutually beneficial relationship.

All events in our lives go through a process called gradualism.  A child grows into an adult by the body, mind and spirit changing through the years.  It is a process and it varies for each individual.

Business and organizations develop in similar fashion.  There is birth, infancy, childhood, the teen years, young adulthood, adulthood, maturity and the vintage years.  It does not happen overnight.  It is a process.  Along the way there is always a moment when employees and management become aware of their needs, wants, and values.  If there is a conflict concerning how these are to be met and fulfilled, then resolution needs to take place.  When people are deprived of a need at the point of its highest intensity they will have it met at some other time, in some other way.  This could include: sabotage, slowdowns, sickness, quitting or strikes.

With intact Self-Esteem, there is never a desire to strike because people will communicate at a level where both parties talk about their needs, wants, and values.  They will initiate negotiating and compromising appropriately to establish mutually beneficial results.  Employees and management will listen to everyone’s point of view and be able to create a viewing point that is mutually beneficial.

What is the real fear that causes a strike?  I believe it is the fear of losing control.  Employees want to maintain or achieve a dignified lifestyle.  Management wants to stay in business and make a profit.  Either or both may perceive that their wants will be infringed upon or ignored.

Strikes would not occur if both groups had intact Self-Eteem and were willing to negotiate and compromise.  In the end, both parties will do it anyway.  Does it make sense to negotiate and compromise up front?  I believe so.  Before there is even any sign of discomfort or miscommunication, continuing dialogue is necessary.

Do you ever go on “strike” with your friends, your family, your company, your own business or your associates?  All strikes could end when: people are sensitive to the needs, wants and values of each other; they invest time in cultivating harmonious relationships; they initiate describing their uncomfortable feelings with each other; they upgrade their people knowledge and skills; and they keep their Self-Esteem intact.

So the next time you hear about a strike, remember the words: sensitivity, time, relationships, initiate, knowledge,  Self-Esteem and activate them and  then, watch what happens! 

Affirm:

“I decide to avoid all strikes by negotiating and compromising now.”

There has never been anything with more powerful potential than an idea in the mind of a single person.  Einstein was a man who ate like other men and washed his face like other men.  Yet, beginning with the thinking of his mind we have been able to top the ultimate source of energy in nature.  Ideas are a dime a dozen.  It’s the idea that is acted upon which can make a difference.  I was reading a book recently about the thirty minds that shaped our civilization.  How many of the Great Thinkers do you recognize:

Jesus             Aquinas           Newton           Clerk Maxwell

Moses           Columbus        Rousseau         WilliamJames

Confucius  Machiavelli         Kant                Nietysche

Plato             Copernicus      Malthus           Pavlov

Aristotle       Luther             Clausewity      Freud

Euclid           Bacon              Darwin            Einstein       Wiener

Augustine  Descartes           Marx Keynes   Sartre

There are also many women who have impacted the world. See how many of these Great Thinkers you recognize: 

Sappho                                         Eleanor Roosevelt

Hildegard of Bingen                   Karen Horney

Sacajawea                                    Ruth Benedict

Margaret Fuller                            Anna Freud

Harriet Beecher Stowe                Margaret Mead

Susan B. Anthony                      Hannah Arendt

Elizabeth Blackwell                   Rachel Carson

Emma Curtis Hopkins              Mary Leakey

Marie Crie                                    Virginia Satir

Maria Montessori                       Shirley Chisholm

Mary McLeod Bethune             Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Helen Keller                                 Barbara Jordan

There you have it – 54 great thinkers.  How many of these individuals and their contribution to the world do you recognize?  Whose ideas make the most sense to you?  How have those ideas impacted your life?  Who are some of the other great thinkers you would like to investigate?  Do you want to be a great thinker?  What do you want to leave behind to grow?

Every day as you decide how to be productive, evaluate all of your ideas and then take action.  What career ideas will you use today to maximize your potential?  What book will you read today to improve your productivity?  What audio or video cassette will you play today to upgrade your competence?  What education course or seminar will you experience to invest more deeply in career knowledge?

Decide now to invest in great ideas and then, watch what happens!

Affirm:

“I now invest in great ideas of great
thinkers, including mine.”

Share with us your comments on this subject.

McGrane Global Centers

As we interact with people, we create either mutually beneficial empathic relationships or some degree of conflict.  The newspapers and television are filled with stories of violence, unaffirming behavior, and different kinds of addictions.  All of us have experienced feelings of unintact and intact Self-Esteem.

What would need to exist to create an environment where people could thrive, and work together in harmony?  For over forty years I have qualitatively researched the subject of Self-Esteem.  I have found that a critical area for people is their career.  Many high school and college graduates will have difficulty finding a job.  Some workers are released from their jobs and face the challenge of interviewing with companies expecting to find employment quickly.  Others are choosing to become entrepreneurs by starting their own business.

The reality is that companies are more selective now than ever because of their need for competence,  specific skills, and a constant eye on the bottom line.  Beside technical skills, workers and entrepreneurs need people skills and interviewing skills in order to succeed.

If you ever find yourself in any of these situations remember, Never settle for less.  Your security is within you.  You have the ability to do whatever it takes to create the outcomes you want!  Now is the time to create your career.  Webster defines career as: “Course of a person’s life, especially in some particular pursuit.  The notable or conspicuous progress or success in one’s chosen calling.”  Therefore, everyone has a career.  The questions is: “Have you made a conscious decision to create your career the way you want it?”  Careers include:  parent, lawyer, guard, street person, receptionist, entrepreneur, paramedic, ditch digger, teacher, sales person and thousands of others.  Make a decision, make it your own, and make it now to create a career that blends with your purpose in life.  Then you can pursue the job, work, or position, including being an entrepreneur, that will give you the outcomes you want in your career and life.

As you interview, ask questions to discover how your philosophy blends with the person or organization.  Notice the energy level.  Is this person or organization creating a climate of acceptance?  Are you and others  being treated with dignity and respect?  Are you given undivided attention during this conversation?  Are all people present asking questions to discover how everyone can work together in harmony?  Does everyone have the people skills and intact Self-Esteem to be able to accept a match or mismatch?

Take charge of your life.  Create your lifestyle and career the way you want it and then, watch what happens!

Affirm:

“I now upgrade my interviewing and people skills to make my best career choice.”

Share with us your comments on this subject.

McGrane Global Centers

August 12-13 Making It Happen and August 12-16 Move Into Your Greatness.

Once you integrate the ideas in your life all kinds of new things for the better will take place.

Email us your questions you want answers for.

McGrane Global Centers