The Internet Dark Ages

Strengthen Your Family - It matters!

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:06:00 +0000

“Our society is a result of families failure to teach, train, educate and civilize.”
—DCF

Civial Conversations - Can You Have One?

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:54:00 +0000

I've been thinking and discussing the breakdown of conversation in our society. All you have to do is look at politic and you know, we can't discuss things like human beings.

The other night I was at a social media club meeting and the topic of civility came up. I wanted to stop the discussion there and pursue the conversation but I knew the answer and didn't think they did.

We are trained to find the one right answer! But in life there is not always only one right answer.

Without the ability to look at all sides of a problem we will never be able to have such dialogue. To be able to have a clearer mind and an objective perspective we must gain a broader understanding of the thing that make up life.

For thousands of years, in the pursuit of excellence, mankind yearned for and worked hard to get a liberal arts education. Until we can restore such a noble perspective I fear civil dialogue will be hard to find.

Ideals are Selective

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Ideals are selective. We must select lofty ideals to stand out in a crowd. To become a true individual you have to have inner-strength to stand strong through life. To live a noble life, a life of Christ, one must select ideals that not only influence our actions but also influence those around us.

If you've ever read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre you've see a character who chose her ideals and stood by them, even when she didn't want to stand by them.

Can you stand strong in a society that's singularly focused on getting us to conform to their ideals? It requires a lot of us to withstand such pressure and be ourselves.

Truth, virtue, honesty, integrity, initiative, ingenuity, allegiance, commitment, passion, entrepreneurship and others are needed to make an impact!

In short, people with sensus plenior are needed to help our society. Be the individual you were meant to be.

"Our lives depend on the decisions we make, for decisions determine destiny."
- Thomas Mason

Assignment:
Shun the training you've been given to look at everything around you in a singular, literal light. Flock to people who don't fit the mold. Ask questions of them. Endless questions. Find out what makes them tick. Try to find out why they do what they do. Be curious and inquisitive.

We are in a fourth turning - a time of crisis. To find security in such a time a focus on home, community and entrepreneurship are needed. You can learn a lot from a maverick.

Producer Wanted

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:03:00 +0000

Wanted: People capable of producing products the people need. Requires hard work, thinking, studying, pondering, sweat and toil, even heartache at time. The ability to do things you've never done before and to be innovative to survive. Early hours. Late hours. Little time off.

Reward: Self-sufficiency - no reliance on others to support you and your family. Not a slave to corporate America or the state. Happiness. A simpler life.

Being embolden to other is slavery. Without a broad knowledge base (as apposed to a specialty or expertise) or what was once known as Liberal Arts training we have become slaves to our society - no more free to pursue our purpose.

What Can You Do?
Produce things that can make you independent from the forces that bind you. By that I mean, when you've learned to separate your value from your time, only then can you conceive to become independent.

Produce some of your own food. End your dependence (download mp3) on national and multi-nation businesses.

Produce a product that others want and need. Then look for different ways to get your product to those who need it.

We need independent thinker in our society to rescue it from those who are controlling it! Will you stand up?

Raise Up and Make a Change

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:28:00 +0000

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

A PSALM OF LIFE Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

This excerpt for Longfellow's poem, A Psalm of Life, especially the last verse reminds of the loss in our modern society.

Enjoyment was not an American goal, but to self-educate and make oneself better so as to be able to help grow our nation and maintain it freedoms.

Until we remember what it is to be "an American" we will continue to loose our freedoms and our status as a "beacon on a hill" for the world.

Assignment:
Read the United State Constitution and the Deceleration of Independence to remember why this land was created. Then work to become "an American," not as the slaves of Rome - too distracted by entertainment to raise up and make a change.

Colloquium - The Missing Key to Our Education

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:04:00 +0000

"But the last pare drops."

Molly instantly exacted particulars.

"The soldier should not have told the general he was killed," stated the cow-puncher.

"What should he have told him, I'd like to know?" said Molly.

"Why, just nothing. If the soldier could ride out of the battle all shot up, and tell his general about their takin' the town — that was being gritty, yu' see. But that truck at the finish —please say it again?"

So Molly read: — " 'You're wounded!' 'Nay,' the soldier's pride Touched to the quick, he said, 'I'm killed, sire!' And, his chief beside, Smiling, the boy fell dead."

"'Nay, I'm killed, sire,'" drawled the Virginian, amiably; for (symptom of convalescence) his freakish irony was revived in him. "Now a man who was man enough to act like he did, yu' see, would fall dead without mentioning it."

None of Molly's sweet girl friends had ever thus challenged Mr. Browning. They had been wont to cluster over him with a joyous awe that deepened proportionally with their misunderstanding. Molly paused to consider this novelty of view about the soldier.

"He was a Frenchman, you know," she said, under inspiration.

"A Frenchman," murmured the grave cow-puncher. "I never knowed a Frenchman, but I reckon they might perform that class of foolish?"

"But why was it foolish?" she cried. "His soldier's pride—don't you see?

"No." Molly now burst into a luxury of discussion. She leaned toward her cow-puncher with bright eyes searching his; with elbow on knee and hand propping chin, her lap became a slant, and from it Browning the poet slid and toppled, and lay unrescued. For the slow cow-puncher unfolded his notions of masculine courage and modesty (though he did not deal in such high-sounding names), and Molly forgot everything to listen to him, as he forgot himself and his inveterate shyness and grew talkative to her. "I would never have supposed that!" she would exclaim as she heard him; or, presently again, "I never had such an idea!" And her mind opened with delight to these new things which come from the man's mind so simple and direct.
—The Virginian, p551-2, by Owen Wister

For three hundred years this was the norm of our societies learning. Colloquium as it was called.
col·lo·qui·um (kə-lō'kwē-əm)

An informal meeting for the exchange of views.
An academic seminar on a broad field of study, usually led by a different lecturer at each meeting.

To be prepared for the 21st century this style of learning must return. I've really enjoyed, as of late, the opportunity to experience colloquium from the sidelines.

Assignment
Visit this link at George Whyth University and experience a colloquium for yourself. I'm betting you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Dream Job - Can You Get One?

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:46:00 +0000

Top 30 Skills needed to secure the job of your dreams!

To secure the job you want there are a number of minimum criteria that wise businesses look for. If you are not prepared you will not be hired. What are you doing to be prepared to get the job of your dreams?

Following are lists of needed skills to prepare for the 21st century.

Harvard School of Law’s Required Skills
1. The ability to define problems without a guide.
2. The ability to ask hard questions which challenge prevailing assumptions.
3. The ability to quickly assimilate needed data from masses of irrelevant information.
4. The ability to work in teams without guidance.
5. The ability to work absolutely alone.
6. The ability to persuade others that your course is the right one.
7. The ability to conceptualize and reorganization information into new patterns.
8. The ability to discuss ideas with an eye toward application.
9-10. The ability to think inductively, deductively and dialectically.

Princeton’s Required Skills
1. The ability to think, speak, and write clearly.
2. The ability to reason critically and systematically.
3. The ability to conceptualize and solve problems.
4. The ability to think independently.
5. The ability to take initiative and work independently.
6. The ability to work in cooperation with others and learn collaboratively.
7. The ability to judge what it means to understand something thoroughly.
8. The ability to distinguish the important from the trivial, the enduring from the ephemeral.
9. Familiar with different modes of thought (including quantitative, historical, scientific, and aesthetic).
10. Depth of knowledge in a particular field.
11. The ability to see connections among disciplines, ideas and cultures.
12. The ability to pursue life lone learning.

George Wythe’s Required Skills
1. The ability to understand human nature and lead accordingly.
2. The ability to identify needed personal traits and turn them into habits.
3. The ability to establish, maintain and improve lasting relationships.
4. The ability to keep one’s life in proper balance.
5. The ability to discern truth and error regardless of the source, or the delivery.
6. The ability to discern true from right.
7. The ability and discipline to do right.
8. The ability and discipline to constantly improve.

Taken from A Thomas Jefferson Education, George Wythe College Press, 2000, p124-130

These skills are not currently taught en mass in our public schools. Fortunately for us, there are people with these skills who forward such thinking. It is imperative that we seek out these skills and add them to our skill set.

Is Too Much Too Much?

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Is it true that when you lavish your children with things you steal their ability to imagine as they play thus hampering their abilities as an adult?

I am fearful that it is. I've pondered this scenario much lately. I was raised in a modest family. My brothers and sisters and I had little but the things we could find and our imaginations. With so little we ran the worlds we visited.

It has shaped me and what I do. As my children grow, I want the best for them. As the toys gather dust in their rooms I wonder... Is it too much. "Yes," I say to myself. But I don't always win this conversation.

As I look around, I see how we use our wealth. More of us need to use it to help other not shower ourselves with things. This is not why we are here on earth! We, each of us has a specific mission to help other. When we are selfish and self-absorbed we are distracted from our true purpose.

Assignment
1. Learn why you are here on earth. What were you born to accomplish?
2. Spend more time helping other.
3. Listen more than you speak.

Taxes Are A Problem

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:49:00 +0000

I found this video interesting. How do you deal with the politicians in your life? As for me, I give them one vote, one vote only.

Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, "Anyone who seeks public office should be denied it on principal." He meant that anyone who wanted to run should not be aloud to run. We need people who feel compelled to serve not get the suspect perks that come to politicians.

"One vote. One time." is my mantra. I hope you can apply it to your dealings with politicians.

Mentoring

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:53:00 +0000

Mentoring is only the willingness to help others succeed. For many months I've contemplated the meaning of mentoring in my life... And it comes down to this: A willingness to share, a desire to ask the questions that will lead those you mentor in the right direction.

There is a need for those who are willing to stand up and mentor. Do you see the need around you? I see it in the workplace, in the neighborhoods, in the family and perhaps mostly in government.

Assignment:
Seek out and help mentor someone. They may not even be asking for the help they need. But, if you see the need, step up and offer the friendly advice only you can offer to help make those around you better!

Acres of Diamonds

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:46:00 +0000

It would be sad to have died without knowing of the Acres of Diamonds at your feet!

Russell Cromwell, founder of Temple University, an accomplished orator shares a compelling story that never ceased to bewilder him. Why was it so often requested he often wondered? It was simply a story he experienced...

Find the Acres of Diamonds that are at you feet. If you have ever said or thought,
"The grass is always greener on the other side," this is a must read. It will give you a number of examples where people gave up untold joys only to chase a dream that they could never find.

Assignment:
Read the speech Acres of Diamonds by Russell Cromwell and see if you are overlooking something at your feet that you can't see because it is so familiar to you.

Do You Have An Attitude of Gratitude?

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:23:00 +0000

Attitude of Gratitude Your attitude sets the stage for your life. By looking around you and finding the things for which you are grateful, a positive attitude will grow within you. That positive attitude will affect everything you do. If you are positive, those around you will be more positive. Your days will be more exciting and your prospects will be greater. It is all up to you. To get ahead, you need to learn how to get along and help others.

For example, show that you are grateful for your job! Acknowledge the hard work you see in coworkers and customers. Recognize contributions to your team. Show how much you appreciate others with simple hand written thank you notes, a genuine “thank you,” a hand shake or a phone call.

The attitude you bring to work each day sets the mood for your day. I recently sat in a business’ waiting room and heard one of the employees battle with herself with her attitude. She would make a negative comment and them cover it with a more positive comment. This went on for an hour. With a little training, she would recognize her attitude and be able to keep it checked.

I consider this skill to be the most important skill to working with others., It should be practiced and reviewed regularly to make it a habit. It should become an asset. It all begins with your attitude and being grateful.

Assignment:
Answer These Questions 1. What are you grateful for? 2. How do you show gratitude? 3. Who do you show gratitude toward? 4. What have you done recently to thank a customer for coming in? 5. What positive comments have you made towards a co-worker in the past 7 days? Past 30 days? Past 90 days?

NOTE: This is taken from my report Top 10 Employee Essentials. They are as follows:
1. Attitude of Gratitude 6. Ask Engaging Questions
2. Service 7. Build Value
3. Eye Contact 8. Schmooze
4. Communicate 9. Adopt a Positive Attitude
5. Be a Good Listener 10. Never Gossip About Others

Last night I had the strangest dream...

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:54:00 +0000

Life is Cyclical

What do you think of idealist? Personally I like them, they offer me a perspective different from mine. They give me cause to think and wonder... and sometimes, when I'm lucky I can learn something from them.

Following is a folk song from the 50's-60's by the Kingston Trio:

"Last night I had the strangest dream I never dreamed before. I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war.

I dreamed I saw a mighty room and the room was filled with men
And the papers they were signing said they'd never fight again
And when the papers were all signed and a million copies made,
They all joined hands and bowed their heads and grateful prayers were raised
And the people in the streets below were dancing 'round and 'round
And guns and swords and uniforms were scattered on the ground.

Last night I had the strangest dream I never dreamed before. I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war."

Now this is very idealistic, an idea that is very foreign to our current generations. Thoughts like this will be popular once again in forty or fifty year as the saeculum starts anew.

My point today is that history is cyclical. Until we and our politicians know and understand it cyclical nature we will be destined to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.

Assignment:
If you want a new perspective on your live and how to make change get the book The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe and you will learn about the cyclical nature or our lives. You will become a better person and make better choices if you learn what they have to teach us.

Always Push At The Doors Before You!

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:03:00 +0000

I learned a few things worth noting this week. Have you ever laughed then cried, and laughed then cried until you had a new perspective? Such was my experience as I sat at the feet of John Paul Murphy, a motivation speaker.

He talked of 1) Being real people - being ourselves, not trying to be something or someone we are not. He told of Brock Jacks who said, "Nobody can make me feel inferior without my permission." And "I, me, (insert your full name), am the very best (insert your full name) there has every been in existence." A powerful lesson everyone needs to learn if they want to make a difference in their life and the lives of others.

2) Strive to like all people. This includes yourself! If you can imagine people by their potential it will make it easier. One way to foster this is to catch 3 people each day doing something right! Then let them know about it and, this is important, let their boss or parent know about it. This will make changes like no other.

As my wife and I discuss raising our children we know that positive reinforcement is much stronger than negative reinforcement. Give positivity, see the positive in others. "No matter what your past has been you have a spotless future."

3) Set your goals high or Aim high and shoot for the stars - "All it takes is a little extra effort." Just a little extra effort is all it really takes. I used to see the doors before me as roadblocks, insurmountable mountains, until I learned how to talk myself through them. Wow! Now I am accomplishing so much more.

4) Thou shall not take yourself too seriously. This holds up back as much as anything in life. Keep your life simple so you can see and enjoy it, otherwise you will waste it and we won't benefit from you being among us. We need you and your influence for good as much as you need us.

Assignment:
Remember to always push at the doors before you. We are waiting to hear from you. And, if you look around, we need you more than ever.

NOTE: quotes from this entry are by or from John Paul Murphy's lecture.

Raise a family worth emulating!

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:47:00 +0000

John Lothropp stood as tall as he could and said, "If men of conscience surrender, we bequeath nothing to our children." This reminds me of the honor, love and loyalty children of fallen solders have for their lost parent. Though without that parent they are sustained by the knowledge that that parent gave all they had for a cause nobler that even their own live. Such children are sustained by Providence.

I can think of nothing more important to me that the phrase I recently read, "Raise a family worth emulating." Yet, I don't know if I know how to...

Until I do I will, 1. Be my own best everyday. 2. I will set an example of what I expect to become. 3. I will study and pray as if my life depends on it. And 4. I will share what I know.

Assignment: Consider what you feel to be the most important thing in your life. Consider how you can make it better. Then determine to put in the work it will take to make it better.

Quotes of Note

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:52:00 +0000

I got an email that Dr. Andrew Groft is coming to speak in an area near me. It got me to thinking about a speech he gave that influenced me deeply. It was the commencement address at George Wythe College in 2006 called A Renaissance of Kings.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes. Some from the speech and a few related. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

"The world is different from past times. We have access to greater libraries than the kings of Europe, and greater opportunities for education than the Greek Nobles of the Golden Age. I predict that we are in the beginnings of what will someday be known as a Renaissance of Kings (and you must understand that the original meaning of king meant a man and a woman who gave and protected life). Our virtue dictates that we were born to be kings and queens—not to rule over others, nor to be ruled by others, but to give life and to make life better by the use of our noble minds and hearts. We were born to be noble fathers and mothers who rear their princes to goodness, knowledge, leadership and action. Jesus said that he came not only that we might have life, but that we might have it more abundantly. Jesus understood because he is a King."
— A Renaissance of Kings by Dr. Andrew Groft
George Wythe College 2006 Commencement Address

“… a life of purpose may or may not yield enormous and iconic impact, but it will always lead to small and significant impact.”
— A Renaissance of Kings by Dr. Andrew Groft
George Wythe College 2006 Commencement Address

“The slaves in Rome were incapable of leisure and so their masters gave them entertainment to keep them pacified.”
—Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion, p142

“…leisure means serving people, studying, learning, being involved in community service and government.”
—Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion, p142

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
— Santayana

“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”
— David McCullough

“The more conscious we are of ourselves and of our nature the more capable we are of guiding and controlling that nature.”
— Stephen Palmer, GWC ‘06

“One of the most important lessons to be learned from any study of humanity is that every single one of us has the simultaneous potential for nobility and depravity, for divinity and degeneracy.”
— Stephen Palmer, GWC ‘06

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
— Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

“Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday.”
—Anthony Hopkins

"Dare to be yourself."
— Andre Gide

Pivotal Moments in Your Life.

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:45:00 +0000

Think of the pivotal moments of your life. Do you remember them as great learning moments?

I recently had two such moments. One started like any event. I was talking with a neighbor friend of mine. Sparked by something I said, he said, "I have a book you must read..." We discussed it for a moment and went our way.

Later than night he brought the book over to me and let me borrow it. It is called, What to Say When You Talk to Your Self, by Shad Helmstetter. By page 50 it had changed my life. I knew then that I had to get my own copy of this book.

It is a simple read, I read most if it in 7 or 8 sittings, but I found I didn't want to finish it until I got my own copy. This book became my friend.

Did you know that the average 18 year old hears "No!" or "Don't do that!" or "You can't do that!" 148,000 times. I was an especially bad youth, I think I heard such term more than 300,000 times.

Because of such negative influences in our life we become programmed to believe the negative over the positive. And these negatives shape our life. Mine wasn't shaping up to my expectations because of the negative self-talk I spoke to myself when I was alone.

Thankfully I read the book and my life has been so much better since. Thanks, Rhodes!

Assignment:
Evaluate what you say to yourself when you talk to yourself. If you are not encouraging yourself to accomplish everything you desire to accomplish please read the book. It could be the one simple thing you can do to make the changes you want to make but don't quite know how to make.

Good luck! It has given me a tool that I can use to make all the changes in my life that I have always wanted to make.

Reasons To Study History

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:35:00 +0000

Have you heard of the survey that said "high school students believed that History is the lease interesting subject taught in school and the most irrelevant!"

At first I was shocked, but remembering back to my high school experience I know why they say it. The way our society teaches history is the problem. First we use textbooks that teach history as a fact and a date. This is not history! This is programming!

History is who we are and why we are the way we are.1 Part of the problem with our disdain for history is because we have never been taught the joy of it.

It is difficult to teach the love of history if you don't love it yourself. This is true of everything in life. If you wish to teach your children, friends or family anything, learn to love it yourself. Only then can you inspire them to want to learn it too.

Never try to force learning on someone. That only teaches them "the hate of learning" and that only postpones their progress.

Here are a few reasons to learn more about history.

1. The Uncomfortable Mirror: Overcoming Self-Deception Through the Study of History An article from a student who graduated from George Wyth College in 2006
2. Our Best Hope For The Future An article from historian David McCullough
3. The Fourth Turning A must read book from historians William Strauss and Neil Howe

The older I get the more relevant history becomes. Maybe that is why high school students find it so irrelevant. They have no historical context to see the importance of history.

Assignment:
Spend some time in history. You will quickly discover that it is a great place to spend your time.

1 - David McCullough

Five Levels of Self-Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:53:00 +0000

Have you ever read about Self-Talk? I was fascinated when I did. Heres what I learned.

1. Negative Acceptance
These are items you tell yourself that are negative reinforcements or negative beliefs about yourself. These are the "I can't..." or "If only..." or "I wish I could..., but..."

These are those things you should avoid at all costs!

2. Recognition and Need to Change
These are the "I need to..." or "I ought to..." or "I should..." These statements always end up with the subconscious "but I'm not going to do anything about it."

3. Decision to Change
Here you recognize the need to changes and begin to do something about it. These statements go like this; "I never..." or "I no longer..." Here you rephrase the old phrases "can't with a positive.

4. The Better You
These are the "I am..." phrases that facilitate change. Really the way you want to be. Here you say "I have a..." "I will..." "I do..."

5. Universal Affirmation
This level is considered "oneness" with God. Like a Buddhists monk.

When I realized that I was spending more time in level one and level two when I was alone I wanted to change but didn't know how until I read Shad Helmstetters book What to Say When You Talk to Yourself where I learned the above. I am more positive and more productive because of what I learned and changes within myself.

Assignment:
Take some time to look deeply into your soul. If you need a mental boost from yourself get and read this book. If you don't take some time out of your busy day and help someone learn how to better themselves. They need it and chances are you do to.

NOTE: the above info came from Shad Helmstetters book What to Say When You Talk to Yourself

Wanted: Thinkers

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:04:00 +0000

For a while now I've been thinking about "thinking skills" and how we can better develop them in ourselves and your children.

My research first showed me Richard Paul's theory of critical thinking. The skills include "identifying the problem, deciphering the purpose, uncovering the assumptions, recognizing and using different paradigms, demonstrating different methods of reasoning, examining data, creating alternate solutions, and evaluating one's thinking to improve it."

When I think of it like this... thinking is hard work. So I stopped thinking of it like that. Only a PHD would drive you to complicate the process so. I am convinced this is why our public schools are in the state they are in.

A simple analogy was give in a Sunday school class I attended. It went like this;

"Your thoughts define your actions.
Your actions form your habits.
Your habits develop your character.
Your character defines the destiny of your life."

So, How Can You Develop Your Thinking Skills?*
1. Work on your initiative. You must be able to accomplish things. Small accomplishments lead to larger ones. As you accomplish things evaluate what you have learned and how you can accomplish things differently.

2. Keep a study journal. It should include items of interest: quotes or summaries of books, lists of new concepts you have learned, interesting quotes worth remembering or anything that touches you.

3. Discuss with friends and family the things you read, the things you write about and the things you think about.

4. Listen. A very underrated skill. The nursery rhyme says, "The wise old owl sat in an oak. The more he heard the less he spoke' the less he spoke, the more he heard. Why can't we be like that wise old bird?"

5. Read literature worth reading again and again! Heres a place to start if you need one. One book I recently finished that was particularly thought provoking was C. S. Lewis' A Case for Christianity.

Every job description says that you must have good/great/excellent communication skills. But nowhere in society do we really teach these skills. They are best learned in the family! And are best learned when they are show through practice by parents. If you want your children to have these skills you must have them first!

"An educated man is not one who has trained his mind to remember a few dates in history. He is one who can accomplish things. If a man cannot think, he is not an educated man, regardless of how many college degrees he may have attained. Thinking is the hardest work a man can do, which is probably the reason we have so few thinkers.” —Henry Ford

Education is really this easy.

Assignment:
Take a few minutes out of your week and practice one of these skills. Then tell us what you have learned from the process.

*NOTE: I never thought that I would end up with these 5 points when I started this search. But it quickly became apparent as I researched that education really is as simple as this. Don't get caught up in the mire. Keep it simple and you'll end up with a great education.

History - Know Yours and Create Yours!

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:38:00 +0000

"If I'd of know this... it would have taken away the inevitability that I was going to be... nothing." —Chris Rock

I found this video to be both inspiring and sad. How little, too many of us know our own heritage. What would we become if we knew of and were proud of our heritage?

A few years ago my family started a tradition honoring those who turn 12—a coming to adulthood. My father gives a speech of the importance of being a member of our family and the responsibilities it entails. As an oral tradition I've come to love it.

But now I consider what part of my personal history am I going to pass on? I aspire to become a writer.... One of my mentors said, "Most people say they want to write, this is not true, most people want to have written. If you want to write you have to write everyday."

Since then I've committed to writing something everyday. I almost write 5 times a week now. I am creating something for my posterity, something they can know me by.

As a child, many of our family vacations involved stopping in a small town so my mother could check the local public records for lost relatives. One of my fondest memories was when my mother and I took her mother to Wilson, Idaho on her 80th birthday.

This is where my grandmother grew up. She hadn't been there since she was a teenager. We visited the cemetery and looked for some of her siblings. We scoured the entire cemetery and could not find one headstone. As we were about to leave I saw an of old wood headstone leaning up against a tree. It turned out to be her older sisters. I am glad I have these memories. I hope to pass along such to my children.

Join me and leave something that they can be proud of. Give them roots that can help guide them in their days of gloom.

Assignment:
Tell your family stories to your children. Write about the occasions you live. Someday someone may be inspired by your words.

What Kind of Education Will You Get?

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:42:00 +0000

While Thomas Jefferson was in Paris as the American minister to the French Government he wrote to encourage his friend George Wythe, the Speaker of the Virginia legislature. He said, "Preach, my dear sir, a crusade against ignorance; establish and improve the law for educating the common people. Let our countrymen know... that the tax which will be paid for this purpose is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance." (Letter to George Wythe, Aug. 13th 1786)

How prophetic. How it has come to pass. Without a clear knowledge of the past how can we expect to rise above the ashes of our ancestors? We can't!

History and historical knowledge therefore are essential to our growth, our expansion, our freedom.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be." —Thomas Jefferson to Colonel Charles Yancey 6, Jan 1816

I was troubled after reading a poll mentioned in the Fourth Turning (a must read) which states that history is now the subject high school students find of least interest or worth. We can't let this happen to ourselves, our children or our children's children!

Assignment:
Discover the joy of history. It won't be found in a textbooks! Go to the original sources. Find the joy in being able to say why the event happened, the aftermath, the lessons learned or not learned and how it affects you and what you do each day. This is knowledge at its best, a joy. There is no use in only knowing a date and an event.

* Audio quote by Oliver DeMille in the lecture The Seven Keys of Great Teaching

Do Opinions Really Matter?

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:28:00 +0000

Like most of us, we want to think that our opinions matter! Do they really matter? I've been contemplating this for some time now...

Some people protest. Protesting rarely makes change happen.
Some people talk. Talking never makes change happen.
Some people wish. Wishing never changed a thing.
Some people worry. Worrying never changed the world.
Some people care. Carrying never accomplished anything.

Which do I do? Which do you do? Then it came to me - You have to do something to matter!

If you wish to do something that matters you must learn the following:*
1. Initiative
2. Ingenuity
3. Allegiance
4. Integrity
5. Commitment
6. Passion
7. Impact

These are the keys to accomplishing the things you want to do that matter.

I was struck when I read the words of Marcus Aurellius Antonius, "The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts." It made me thing about the things I spend my time thinking about and doing. Do they matter?

Assignment:
As you evaluate your life root out procrastination. It is the silent assassin of opportunity in your life. Work on your follow-through (initiative). Over time, as you work through this list you will do things that matter, things that will change the world for the better.

Do it for your children. Do it for your grandchildren. But most of all, do it for yourself, because you were born to do what matters, not what doesn't matter.

* Original idea from Oliver DeMille

Communication is Key

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:38:00 +0000

What is the basic requirement on every want ad? Some say they want certain skills, most say they want things like friendly, out going, customer service, or, my favorite, "excellent communication skills."

Where in our society do we teach how to communicate?

To communicate effectively you must master these skills:
1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Speaking
4. Listening
5. Non-verbal communication

Each take time and practice. Each take commitment and perseverance.

Of these, the most difficult to master, in my opinion, is "Listening." It is extremely hard to shut your mouth and listen in our society. We are all to often taught to voice our opinion. But what does voicing our opinion actually achieve?

Listening requires patients, understanding, and in many cases selflessness. All hard for the person who has an opinion, even a strong opinion.

The world need better communicators, people who have taken the time necessary to prepare themselves for the task a hand. But without the preparation we only get opinions and sound bites and neither make us statesmen or leader. They only make us one of the masses.

Assignment:
As you practice your communication skills pay special attention to your ability to listen. Discover the joy of listening, being a friend, even a mentor. And realize that each of these skills will teach you more about who you are as a person as you practice them than anything else.

Always remember the words of Byrd Bagget, "You are not learning anything when you are speaking."

* How to Speak How to Listen by Mortimer J. Adler

Unlearn a Few Things to Move Forward.

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel C. Felsted) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:59:00 +0000

*1. Try to unlearn the linear belief that we are exempt from the seasonal cycles of nature.
*2. Try to unlearn the linear need to judge change by one-dimensional standards of progress.
*3. Try to unlearn the obsessive fear of death that pervades linear thinking in our society.
*4. Try to unlearn the linear view that positive change always comes willingly, incrementally, and by human design.

With all of this unlearning, you can relearn history from the perspective of seasonality and sensibility.

Assignment:
If you learn nothing else try to learn history as taught by those who wrote it. Go directly to the source. Never rely on someone's view of what happened. You will learn a lot more that way.

History must repeat itself because we know so little of it. One year from now your education will be exactly what you make it.

* Taken from The Fourth Turning by William Strauss & Neil Howe. A great read. An eye opener.