This new year should be a time for change and reflection. What could you have done differently last year to make yourself a better leader at work or at home? Whether it’s a book club or a thriving business, there are certain skills necessary to effectively lead those around you in a way that inspires them to follow. Consider these resolutions to improve your leadership skills.

Go back to school

Furthering your education is always a good thing. A masters degree can offer a multitude of opportunities like networking and staying abreast on industry related advancements. A second degree can even give you the option to explore a new career or expand your horizons which might lead you to find new passions. Beyond that, you can grow personally by facing new challenges and learning more about your field.

Volunteer

One way to find leadership opportunities is to look for them outside of your current job. Find a cause you care about, and make a commitment to volunteer on a regular basis. Try to engage your coworkers in a group project. Many organizations, like Habitat for Humanity, look for corporate groups to boost volunteer numbers and raise awareness. Besides the good karma, you’ll show your employers you can organize and direct a large group of people, skills that position you as an effective leader.

Keep up with technology

From social media to smartphone apps, businesses now rely on new media, and you’ll be expected to understand it. But don’t be overwhelmed: use social media to connect with customers or coworkers, or just to pick up tips from bloggers in your field. Browse for applications that are educational or that help you with productivity or time management. Small steps can help you stay ahead of the game and be the go-to person for new ideas.

Engage personally with those around you

The most important step you can take as a leader is to connect with your coworkers. You want to be educated and passionate, and you want to stay informed, but if you can’t connect with your coworkers you won’t be able to lead. Take time to have lunch with people who work closely with you. Collaborate on projects with people from other departments. Outside of the workplace, get to know your neighbors and the people you interact with on a daily basis, like the waiters and baristas at your regular place. You’ll be surprised at the difference a little time and effort can make.

When working on self-improvement this year, remember that small, specific goals are more easily reached than broad overarching concepts. Find a resolution that speaks to you personally and make a concerted effort to do something toward accomplishing that goal daily.

What if you were fully educated about all the countries of the Earth; the good and the bad, the standard of living, the political views, the happiness quotient. Then, after being fully educated about all the places of the Earth, what if you could choose to live in any country? As it stands, we seem to default to a country and are greatly shaped to believe the beliefs of our country.

Would life be different if we chose where to live? If we chose what country to live in. If we chose what people to associate with. If we chose a place with a political ideology that resonated with us. To a certain extent we can make these choices, but the cost of doing so it high, having to uproot our families, our jobs, our entire life to make the change. Some people do this, leaving their home countries and coming to countries like the United States, England, and Australia.

I wonder if things would be different if we all made that choice. If we all chose where to live, and there were no worries about border crossings and illegal aliens.

One thing I really wonder about is if there would be still be war. Would people still want to fight each other if they could choose their country of origin without having lived in one by default? If we decided where to live based on any number of things we feel to be important, without having our ideology influenced by the land, area, country, or people beforehand.

Hold that thought for a minute while I take a slight turn to another thought.

Consider reincarnation. The belief that the soul lives on after death and then reenters another body during birth. With reincarnation, it is possible that you could come back as anyone. What if you reincarnated as the enemy of your previous life self? What if in one life you were Trojan and the next life you were Greek. What if in one life you were a part of the Qing Dynasty and in the next life you were part of the Ming dynasty? What if in one life you were Jewish and the next life you were a German during World War II? What if in one life you were Christian and the next life you were Muslim?

Would knowledge of your past lives change your view of the people of the world? If you knew that you could be reincarnated in the future as your enemy of today, would that change your perception of the enemy? You could actually be your own worst enemy in a literal sense. How would that shape your thoughts and actions?

Let’s bring the first though back around and combine it with the second. What if you are able choose the life you reincarnate into. Assuming we have free will, there is a distinct possibility that choosing your reincarnate is reality. Would it change our outlook on life and war knowing that you chose your country, religion, and place of origin?

You are beautiful

Have you ever seen and ugly husband and wife couple together.  They found beauty in each other.  Have you ever had a crush and looked back years later to wonder what the heck were you thinking?  They stayed the same; it was your opinion that changed.  Did you ever see the movie “Shallow Hal,” where Hal’s fixation on external beauty is reversed by Tony Robbins, making him only able to see the inner beauty?  This really happens in a sense; inner beauty can impact how you are seen by others.  Internet beauty is the latest variety of fakery; it is all about camera angles and photo shopping. 

You are beautiful just the way you are.  You do not need everyone to think you are beautiful, because that never really happens to anyone, even to top A-list stars and models.  Someone will find them unattractive.

You are beautiful if you think you are.  How many people do you need to reinforce that fact?

You are beautiful.

You are smart

Did you make it through Kindergarten, learning your alphabet and counting to 10?  That makes you smarter than 99% of all mammals on this planet.  Are you able to carry on a conversation, hold down a job, and buy things with the cash in your wallet?  How much smarter do you need to be?  Do you have any one thing that you can do better than any other random person?  Congratulations, you are smarter than that person.  Maybe you think you are just a dumb jock, that just happens to have 50 different football plays memorized and you also have the ability to execute them.  That takes some brains.

You are smart enough.  We don’t all need to be geniuses.  Even geniuses are smart at some things and dumb at others.

Being smart is a combination of education and life experience.  You likely have a little of both.

You are smart.

You are lovable

Are you spending all your time looking for Mr. or Ms. Right, and are you starting to think you might not be lovable?  You just haven’t found the right person that will recognize all your lovable features.  Have you ever had a best friend?  They loved you.  Do you have a mother or a father?  They love you.  Not convinced?  Have you ever had a puppy?  Puppies love everyone, including you.

Being lovable is more a reflection of your love of self than it is an opinion of someone else.  Love yourself and others will love you.

You are lovable.

You are successful

Have you ever taken one single task from start to completion?  That is success.  Have you ever earned income by working for yourself or for others?  You have achieved financial success.  Success as a moniker for worth is a sliding scale.  As soon as you achieve success, you find someone else that is more successful.  Step away from the societal judgment and comparative thinking to judge your success on your own merits.  You are successful in your own right.

You define your own success.

You are successful.

You are valuable

Have you done anything or created anything that benefits others, or that benefit yourself.  You have created value.  Do you have a job?  By performing that job you are providing value.  The proof is that someone is willing to pay you for that value.  Have you ever purchased food from the grocery store?  Congratulations, you have provided value to the farmer that produces the food, the workers that harvest the food, the processing plant the preps the food, the truck driver that transports the food, the grocery store that sells the food, the stock person that stocks the store, the checkout person that scans the items and takes your money.  By purchasing food, the work you did to earn that money has provided value to a whole chain of people.

Do you breathe?  You are providing one of the most valuable services on this planet, by creating life giving carbon dioxide to all the surrounding plant life, which they in turn use to create oxygen.  You are part of a system that allows life to exist.

You have value. You are valuable

Do you have a “You are…” that you’d like to share.  Post in the comments to keep this going, and then share it with someone you love.

Photo Credit

I released a new ebook on Amazon Kindle today.  The book is computer buying guide titled “What Computer Should I Buy?” I have worked in the computer industry for over 15 years, and I often get asked for advice when friends and family plan to buy a new computer.  For that reason I put together a guide to help everyone navigate the technical jargon that is so prevalent in the world of computers.  I’ve maintained a version of the book over the years, and I finally decided to convert it to Kindle format to sell on Amazon.

For the next two weeks I’m offering a free copy to the readers of Eden Journal.

You can download a pdf version or the kindle version.

Click here for pdf version

Click here for Kindle version

If you have trouble downloading either version, leave a comment below and I’ll email it to you instead.

All I ask is that if you like the book, you take a few minutes to review it on Amazon.  Here is a link to the Amazon page where you can leave a review.  A positive review will help immensely as it will enable me to stand out from similar books that have no reviews.

Also, as you are reading through the book, if you notice any typos, find it missing any important info, or find any sections unclear, please leave me a comment below so I can address the issues and update the book.  (Ignore the extra table of contents in the Kindle version, I am playing around with the TOC formatting.)  My goal is to produce the most useful guide to buying a new computer, and your comments and suggestions will help greatly.

I often like to look through the 100 most popular books and kindle ebooks on Amazon, but it seems like every time I try to find the link on Amazon to their best seller lists, it is nowhere to be found.  I usually poke around for a few minutes, and either give up or get distracted and move on to look at some other books.

With Christmas right around the corner I thought some of you might find these best seller lists helpful to pick out some great books for your loved ones.

Top 100 Best Selling Books

All Books

Personal Development / Self Help

Top 100 Best Selling Kindle eBooks  (with a bonus of the top 100 Free Kindle eBooks)

All Books

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Personal Development / Self Help

Top 100 Best Sellers – Main Category List

Here is a link to the main category list where you can see the best sellers in any category of merchandise that is available on Amazon. Here you’ll find everything from appliances to jewelry and clothing to lawn and garden.

Main Category Best Sellers

One final link for you.  This one shows when you need to place your order to receive it in time for Christmas.  Christmas Ordering Cutoffs

I love seeing kids with incredible talent.  It’s fun to watch and imagine what it must be like to have an amazing talent at a young age.  Today I want to share a couple of videos from VazquezSounds.  VazquezSounds is a musical group consisting of three siblings, Gustavo, Abelardo and Angela Vazquez (ages 15, 13, and 10 respectively.)  They are very talented, with Gustavo and Abelardo playing multiple instruments and Angela singing like a pro.

The first video I’m going to share has been viewed over 14 million times on YouTube.  It’s a cover of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.  [If you are reading in email or RSS, you may have to click through to view the video.]

It gives me chills to see young people perform at that level.  The next video was just released, and is just in time for Christmas.

Seeing talent and creativity in action often inspires me to create.  Let me know what you think of these talented kids.

Yesterday we saw an epic cello battle.  Today we are moving on to another stringed instrument in our YouTube creativity series, the violin.  Violin is one of my favorite instruments.  I just love the sound that little stringed instrument creates.

Today we are featuring the super talented Lindsey Stirling.  She is a classically trained violinist that adds a little kick to the classic sound.  I’m sure you’ll love the energy in her videos.  The upbeat sound and energetic dancing can really make you feel the good vibes emanating form Lindsey and her violin.

While there are no Star Wars videos in her repertoire, she does have a Legend of Zelda video that is equally as enjoyable. (you may have to click through to view the videos)

See, lots of fun, and great energy.  Here is another of her videos that I really like.

Like the Piano Guys, Lindsey is also living a fairly normal life and fitting in her violin performances between school and work.  She’s currently going to college at BYU, finishing up her degree in Therapeutic Recreation.  She offers this wonderful advice on her website, “The greatest Value comes from loving yourself for who you are.”

If you like Lindsey Stirling’s work, you can support her by purchasing a song or two from her website.  http://www.lindseystirlingviolin.com/category/music-downloads/

If you’d like to see more of Lindsey’s videos, check you her YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/lindseystomp

Check back tomorrow when we’ll feature an amazing 10 year old singing sensation.

One of the best things about YouTube is the talent that tends to trickle to the top.  There is a constant stream of very talented individuals and groups that upload their creative works for the world to see.  Every once in a while I like to share some of my recent favorites and today is one of those days.  Actually, this week is one of those weeks.  Over the next three days, I’m going to share some of my recent favorites.

First up is a video that I found yesterday.  It features Steven Sharp Nelson, of the Piano Guys, playing an electric cello.  I didn’t even know there was such a thing.  Not only is the music rockin’, the performance features a very cool Star Wars theme.  Star Wars, electric cello, and visual effects… that’s a wining combination in my book.  Also, Vader makes a rather humorous cameo.

Pretty awesome, right?  Here’s another from the Piano Guys, not quite as epic, but it has a major feel good vibe.

The Piano Guys are really creating some fantastic music and videos.  The cool thing is that they are just regular people, like you and me.  Also, like most of us, they dream of something bigger.  They dream of being able to quite their day jobs to pursue their passion for creating music.

Right now they fill all their spare moments writing and creating fantastic music and videos.  Those spare moments come after work, and often after the family has gone to bed.

The Piano Guys Vision

Our vision is to create music and videos that inspire people. We want to take that music to the world and make a difference. We have something different to offer from any other YouTube channel. We like to put a new spin on classic stuff and a classic spin on new stuff. Whatever we do, we put our heart and souls into every note and frame.

I like to support these amazingly creative people when I get the chance, and I’m hoping you will too.  Right now they are looking for donations so that they can make the leap from doing this part time, to making it a full time gig.  I encourage everyone to help out if you can by donating here:  http://www.thepianoguys.com/music/

Be sure to check out their YouTube channel for more great videos.  http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePianoGuys

Check back tomorrow to see another great YouTube music sensation.

Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life was?  Yes, I said purpose.  Why were you born? There is a reason for everything that happens in life and sometimes we figure it out early and sometimes it takes a lifetime.

We choose a career to follow and sometimes find out years later if we had to do it over again, we may have taken a different route.

Is our purpose to procreate? thus ending our responsibility? Or do we need to do more? We are a society that is supposed to begin life, mold lives, protect life  and cherish life until the end.  BUT, how many of us go through the motions never giving thought to the consequences of our actions. Never considering anyone else but our own little space in this world. We marry and never really connect with our spouse, have children and expect them to grow without connection or interaction. We grow old and feel our job is done.

There is a purpose to every life and maybe it’s time to redefine what purpose means to us. Prioritize your life, and throw out the garbage.  Don’t just talk and hear your spouse, significant other, children, family, and friends, but listen to what they are saying.  Take better care of your health, both physically and emotionally – everyone will benefit and you will have less stress in your life.

Enjoy everyday,  and ever never underestimate your self-worth.  Love yourself, and be apathetic and empathetic to others.  Try to stay optimistic towards others and life situations.

I feel I have discovered my purpose in this life, and I will continue to spread my words through my books and writing.

Photo credit

Do you ever find yourself in conversation when someone starts complaining about something and then everyone jumps in?  I think this is a common occurrence for pretty much everyone.  I know it happens to me at some point almost daily.  Here is the big question for you: How do you respond when everyone starts complaining?  Do you jump in with gusto?  Do you listen politely?  Do you redirect the conversation to something more positive?  Do you take your leave and exit the conversation?

I’m sure the answer is often times situational.  Perhaps sometimes we need a good venting session.  Maybe sometimes we aren’t in the mood and we exit the conversation to talk to someone else or go find something else to do.  Other times we may listen politely while we wait for the tide of the conversation to drift in a different direction.

How does complaining affect you?

How do you feel after a complaint filled discussion?  Do you feel better?  Sometimes you might, since you’ll find that you aren’t the only one with problems.  We should already know this, but it is nice to have a reminder from time to time.  More often though, you likely feel a little irritable, a bit down, and possibly completely yucky.

The negativity in complaining tends to flow out and affect you and others around you.  If you start that negative conversation, you are bringing everyone else down.  If you perpetuate that conversation, you are bringing everyone else down.  If you listen politely, you might be brining yourself down.

According to the law of attraction, since the things you are complaining about remain in your thoughts, you will attract more of those things filling your complaints.  If you are complaining about the neighbors loud music, you may find it happing more often.  If you complain about not having enough money, you might find yourself with less.  If you complain about the world dealing you a bad hand, you could find yourself in more bad situations.

According to A Complaint Free World the average person complains about 15-30 times each day.  That is a lot of negativity being brought into your daily life.  They also mention that studies have shown that complaining about one’s health actually tends to make a person’s health worse, which lends some credence to the law of attraction effect.

How can we complain less?

The best thing you can do is to simply start paying attention to your conversations.  Be present while you are speaking and take responsibility for your words.  Some choose to use a bracelet or trinket, as popularized by A Complaint Free World, to remain cognizant of their complaints.   The key is to simply be aware of your complaining and make an effort to change.

That means making an effort to avoid starting complaint filled conversations.  It also means not participating in those conversations.  If you find yourself in a conversation like that, you should either exit the conversation or redirect it to something positive.  I think the redirection is best.

Have you complained today?  Do you think you complain too much?  What steps do you recommend to cut back on complaining?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.