Giving

5 Lessons from the Square Watermelon

You may have seen the press last week on the new square watermelon that is making it's debut in Japan. It's a fascinating story about ingenuity and in this case, how "thinking inside the box" can help you see things in a different way and enable you to explore some new solutions to life's problems. I found a great summary of the story on a web blog -

In order to achieve your 2008 goals as well as the success of Maximum Balance across all of your five life Cornerstones – Health, Relationships, Career, Finance and Giving – it is critical that you have a routine that enables you to regularly think about and review your goals.

A quick reflection on the whole idea of "normal".

I'm working with a client whose organization provides housing services for thousands of homeless people in the City of San Francisco. As we met today for the first time to discuss some team development work for her director staff, I had a chance to walk with her through her "hood" as she called it. It struck me how we are surrounded by so many people that lead very different lives than us and who we don't often even take notice of most of the time. While the homeless people we saw were in many respects different than my client, she didn't see them as "not normal". They were just the people her organization helps on a daily basis.

They’re everywhere, these Top 10 lists, filling our desire for bite-sized, digestible morsels of learning or humor. They give us tips on housework or investment practices, satire on current events or political issues, and ideas for consideration on personal growth.

With this Top 10, however, you are the writer. Use these Top 10 lists (and any others you may create) to remind yourself of what’s good and shining about you and your life. Use them to become more aware of what you know and what you can do to affect your world. Use them to reconnect with your dreams, to remember what you want deep inside. Enjoy!

Got Gratitude?

I just got back from Sedona Arizona where I presented at the first annual Positive Psychology Forum. It was an enlightening and powerful event. Positive psychology is an emerging science that is basically the study of what is going “right” and why “it’s good to feel good”. Sounds refreshing doesn’t it? Certainly more fun than studying Freud!

Train Your Brain to Be Happier

Tal Ben-Shahar is an author and lecturer at Harvard University. He currently teaches the largest course at Harvard on "Positive Psychology" and is author of the book “Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment”.

Dr. Ben-Shahar suggests that "the question should not be whether you are happy but what you can do to become happier". While this may sound quite straight forward, the idea of positive psychology is a relatively new concept in psychology circles. A recent post on Sharp Brains (www.sharpbrains.com) does a great job of explaining some of the key concepts of how Dr. Ben-Shahar believes you can become happier.

Top 10 Year-End Review Questions

2007 is a memory and we're on to 2008. Like most of you, I've been thinking about my goals for 2007. While this is an important activity if you want to make change, don’t forget to take time to assess your personal and professional challenges and accomplishments for LAST year.

Give yourself the gift of Self-Confidence for 2008

Written by Donna Fedor

Self confidence is something only you can give yourself.

Think of it like a special gift that you can give yourself. If there is one promise that you want to promise yourself in 2008, it is that you will do whatever it takes to give yourself this gift.

Putting Grace Into Action

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”—Margaret Mead

An investment executive reads at an orphanage during his lunch hour. A mother receives a gift of much-needed food and immediately shares it with another hungry family. An elderly man distributes sandwiches every evening to the homeless in his neighborhood park. A teen spends her vacation building houses for poor families rather than scuba-diving.

Priority #1- Being Happy - Getting your Priorities Straight!

You’ve all heard the saying “life is about the journey not the destination” so priority #1 is to have fun along the way. Most people in life can make a longer list of their concerns, their “to dos” and worries than a list of what makes them happy. People spend most of their time doing what they think they “should” do and can justify the importance of that long list of things to do. It is automatic! I want you to ask yourself, where does being happy fall on your list of priorities?