Jodee Bock - EzineArticles.com Expert Author

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Believe It When You See It - or The Other Way Around?
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] I'm thinking today about thinking. Interesting concept, huh? How often do we really stop and think about the way we think? How might the way we think about things really have an impact on the way we see the world?

Coffee In a Cardboard Cup - That's the Trouble
[Self-Improvement] I listened to a Mandy Patinkin CD the other day and one of the songs on it is called "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup." If you haven't heard the song, its message is that the trouble with the world today is that everything is "hur-hur-hurry up." Our affluent society is drinking its coffee from cardboard cups, with plastic spoons and sugar packs. The song points out that we've got "Ready Whip, instant tea, Minute Rice, My oh Me" (after all, it had to rhyme!).

We've Got to Let Go
[Business:Careers-Employment] I'm thinking today about how fear within our organizations holds us hostage to what we can feel, see, hear, taste and touch. Many people in our organizations are obsessed with what's "REAL," and can't seem to make sense of anything that goes outside of those boundaries. I've been fortunate in the past to work with organizations in promoting innovation and creativity within their cultures through my work with SolutionPeople in Chicago. How refreshing to be around people who actually want to get beyond their five senses to create from the ground up. I've learned new processes and new techniques to support people in going from what they know to creating their own unlimited possibilities and it's amazing!

Leap and the Net (Or Someone's Arms) Will Appear
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] I saw a live Lasik procedure on the Today show a few months back. I don't know all the details because I tuned in at the end, but apparently there is a new procedure that makes laser eye correction even easier. When I tuned in they were just having the patient sit up after the procedure and she was shocked and amazed to be able to see (as you would expect). She said she had had glasses since she was 7 and this was the first time she could remember being able to see without glasses or contacts. As someone who has worn glasses since 3rd grade myself, I can relate to how that must feel.

The Big Downshift
[Business:Management] While driving through Theodore Roosevelt National Park and observing bison up close and personal, I found myself cruising along in fifth gear, only to find myself struggling to make it up the hills of the park. The harder I tried to get up the hills in fifth, the more my little car complained and strained. I forgot that the only way to climb the hills effectively is to shift down to fourth and even third gear to pick up speed and traction. What a great metaphor for our lives. Only when we take time to shift into a lower gear can we get the traction we need to make it up the hills.

How's Your Head?
[Business:Change-Management] Right now, as you're reading this article, notice something. Do you have a headache? No? Did you notice that you didn't have a headache until I asked that question? Stop for a minute and appreciate the fact that you don't have a headache. Celebrate that your head feels good. Do you find that a little goofy? Yet it's usually only when our head hurts that we wish we'd remember what it feels like not to have a headache. Only when we feel lousy can we appreciate what it's like to feel well. That's not a lot different than the way we view our companies or organizations - or really, our lives. We don't really think much about the things that are going well until something happens to throw us off our game. At that point we need a quick fix so we can get back to taking the health of our bodies or our organizations for granted.

You're Not the Boss of Me
[Business:Careers-Employment] How many times have you heard little kids say that? Where do they hear that phrase? And why is it so universal? Maybe it's become somewhere in our human DNA, even as little kids, we want some level of independence in our lives. When we're toddlers, they (the former children who now are adults with poor memories) call that the "terrible twos" and just wait (im)patiently for us to "grow out of it." And then they domesticate us into believing that we should do what they tell us "because I'm the parent/teacher/authority figure."

Are Level Five Leaders Magnetic?
[Business:Management] I've been thinking a lot lately about something Marianne Williamson said in one of her lectures (I recently bought a 4 CD set of some of her live speeches called "Letting Go and Becoming"). She talks in one of her speeches about how it is becoming necessary for us to seek an equal balance of mind and heart. Of course, I relate everything I read, hear, watch, etc. to business, so I'm theorizing about this in terms of Jim Collins' Level 5 leaders (from Good to Great).