Archive for the ‘Quality of Life’ Category

For 3 years we’ve taught professionals, leaders and business owners the importance of making work and learning meaningful and fun.  We’ve given them reasons and ways to do it.  We’ve written about it many times.

All of the things we have taught and techniques we have used are valuable and helpful.

And they aren’t enough.

The training techniques and ideas all focus on the learning process.  And while the process is important; when we focus too closely on a process we can lose sight of the result.

It is like when you tell someone their form is wrong and ignore that they still outrun you by minutes on the mile.  Or when you tell someone they hold the pen wrong when they write, but they still have beautiful handwriting.  Or they seem to do something in an unconventional but successful way.

In all of these cases, the focus on process keeps our sight away from the desired result.

So it is with fun and learning.

Will our learning be deeper and more lasting (as well as more enjoyable) if we do things to make the process fun?  Of course.

But as we already said, that isn’t enough.

If the person leading your training doesn’t understand why those techniques work, or believe that they will work, they will just be using the techniques and it will feel just like that to both the teacher and the student.  It will be like putting a band-aid over a wound far too big; helpful perhaps, but not really a solution.

So what is the deeper connection?

The Deeper Connection Between Fun and Learning

It is simple.  The result of learning is:

• Satisfaction
• Happiness
• Success
• New skills
• Greater confidence
• More security
• Enjoyment
• Fun

The result of our learning something new is supposed to be fun.

This fact is largely why our techniques work. They are putting the process of learning in alignment with a deep human truth.  When we learn we are expressing a deep human need and exercising our greatness.  When we learn we are doing what we know subconsciously we are supposed to be doing.  And when we put our actions in alignment with those needs, it makes us happy.

The result of learning is deep fun, enjoyment and satisfaction.

Too often we forget this, both as students and as teachers.  Learning is fun.

Perhaps this article helps you understand why the best trainers seem to make the learning process fun and engaging.  Perhaps now you understand why you use those types of ideas.  Perhaps you even see ways you could teach coworkers, peers and your kids things more effectively.

We hope so.

But our real hope in sharing this article with you is that you think about your personal experiences and beliefs about learning.

This deeper connection between learning and fun matters to us; and not just because we might be teaching someone else – but because we are learners too.

And we’ll be more effective learners, more productive learners and more successful in our lives when we recapture the joy and yes, fun that inherently comes from learning new things.

Have thoughts about The Deeper Connection Between Fun and Learning? Tell us what you think! We’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment or post a review below.

Did you know that your goals are far, far ahead of you?

Really.

Women and men have been aiming at achieving more or less the same things in their lives since thousands and thousands of years.

You are the one who is new to the game. The game itself is old. Very old.

You could think that you are setting new goals and identifying an ever-growing stream of new and improved needs, wants and must haves; all the while working toward a better life and state of being for you and your loved ones.

Don’t be fooled. Your goals are way ahead of you. They have seen you coming from miles away. Seen you peak your head around the corner eyeballing that new you, including that new purse, dress, car, house, husband, wife, promotion, status, reputation, retirement, etc. from miles and miles away.

You are not coming up with your goals, your goals are coming up with you; reinventing you, shaping you into the man or woman you will become. Unconsciously, if you are not careful.

Don’t exhaust yourself running after that future state of perfect peace and happiness that can only be found in the intense sanity of being truly, fully here and now.

You may be looking out of your office window in Midtown Manhattan right now or driving down the 101 into Los Angeles in mid-morning, bumper to bumper traffic, you may be ex-padding it on the Mexican peninsula or teaching those stern Europeans how to market to the 50+.

Whichever it is, don’t loose sight of what makes you unique. It is not your goals, it’s your capacity to be present in spite of them.

Tell us what do you think! Share your thoughts about Men Who Stare At Goals (And Women Too)!

We can help bring your goals onto the path, so that you prosper not simply because but in spite of them!

Call us today at (805) 680-3988 for your personal Free 25 minutes Empowered Perspective Consultation.

Sign up for The Empowered Perspective eZine above or visit our website at www.empowermentholdings.com.

We assist you with personalized Intelligent Leadership and Quality of Life in Business.

Are you worried about boots on the ground? Your boots?

Are you worried about getting your own hands dirty, refining your attitude, honing your skill and losing your illusions about what it really takes to lead people intelligently and successfully?

Are you reluctant to open up the discussion how you can build a business that is ethical, consistent, authentic, transparent and an expression of your personal values and integrity.

Are you avoiding looking at what the real causes of quality of life in business are and how you can get started with their implementation?

Why not start by putting your own boots on the ground. Become realistic about the need for you to develop greater composure and cultivate your connections with others.

Here are three things you can do today that will strengthen your Intelligent Leadership and Quality of Life in Business:

1) Develop a sense of humanity: Life’s not always about you and your needs and wants. People share a fate in that everyone is working to make the most of the time they have, whether that expresses in their private lives or professional lives. Open up, observe others! Are you really so different?

2) Commit unconditionally: You will only put forth your best effort and bare the heaviest burdens for goals that are well worth it, and a vision that is well conceived. Once you have found what these goals are and what that vision consists of, commit unconditionally. It is the one thing that keeps the red wood tree growing through the seasons and it will get you to your sunny spot as well.

3) Celebrate successes: Every day has some successes. Whether you allowed someone in line to pay his coffee before you paid yours, or you succeeded in being a bit less anxious when Bill down the hall received laureates for an idea you sparked. Celebrate your successes and keep enjoying your journey. Less anxious = more quality of life. Remember that.

Call us today at (805) 680-3988 for your personal Free 25 minutes Empowered Perspective Consultation.

Sign up for The Empowered Perspective eZine above or visit our website at www.empowermentholdings.com.

We assist you with Intelligent Leadership and Quality of Life in Business.

People often ask you what you do!
When you answer that question, do you describe your products and services? Or do you communicate the benefits your clients receive?

For example, at Empowerment Holdings we could say:

We offer business coaching, consulting and executive services for “dead” professionals!

Sounds good, but you’re probably going: What does that have to do with me, my problems, my wants and needs?

And you’re right.

If instead we’d say:

“We’re able to help you overcome your fears. Period. We alleviate your professional frustrations, dissatisfaction and inability to move beyond your current, uncomfortable situation. We wake you up from the “dead”. WE WAKE YOU UP. We help you achieve breakthroughs in personal leadership and professional development.”

You’d listen because you’d know what you could get out of your relationship with us.

A leader that possesses the ability to walk in their client’s shoes for a while, who can get a sense of what life is really like for someone they’d like to do business with, will eventually become an ally and trusted friend. And people love to do business with friends, we do too.

Be a good leader and become a real friend. Take some time today and think about what people really want and need from you. Your family, your friends, your employees, your co-workers, your community, your world – what do they really want and need from you?

Wake up. Just for a minute, let go of your self absorbed worries and problems and think about what the people you are serving or wish to serve are really like. What are they facing on a day-to-day basis and how would they like to feel facing it. Figure out a way to make them feel better and deal better with their challenges and you’ll make friends for life – you’ll deserve whatever success comes to you!

Don’t continue to stand in your own way. Call us today at (805) 680-3988 for your complimentary client consultation.

Sign up for The Empowered Perspective Newsletter above or visit our website at www.empowermentholdings.com.

Let us assist you with Intelligent Leadership and Quality of Life in Business.

Here is the anatomy of a bad decision: You come to. You look around. How did I get here? What am I doing here? I don’t want to be here! Sh#*t!

This is how it starts, the recognition that you made a bad decision.

Suddenly… you feel squeezed, tight, hot, irritated and overwhelmed and you know you should have listened to that inkling of awareness that lit up in your consciousness and yelled “No, really, wrong way, bad decision!”

But it passed so fast, like lightning. And it was so easy to overlook.

The anatomy: A bad decision almost always…

1. Starts from a state of stress and overwhelm. Your mind is tense, anxious, frustrated and therefore veiled, you want and need fast relief.

2. As the pressure rises you ignore the signs. Your fatigue, your bad mood, her eyes, his remark, the noise, the masses. “Let’s just get moving already!”

3. When you come to the results speak for themselves. Are you better of then before? No. In fact, worse. Before you were not well, and now you applied leverage and the event has taken on a completely new dimension.

The remedy?

Slow down and appease yourself first. You don’t remedy noise with more noise or pain with more pain. The anatomy of a bad decision consists of unskillful remedial responses to an agitated, veiled state of mind. So start there. We can help.

Call us today at (805) 680-3988, sign up for The Empowered Perspective Newsletter above or visit our website www.empowermentholdings.com. Let us assist you with Intelligent Leadership and Quality of Life in Business.

What is the connection between Leadership and the art of cutting a grapefruit?

When you cut a grapefruit you first cut it in half. Then you cut the different compartments and you cut around the edge. On mornings when you feel stressed or impatient you’d prefer to skip the whole thing and simply eat a bagel or an English muffin. To hell with the grapefruit. It takes too long.

Why is that?

Because the grapefruit requires your patience and attention to detail. You don’t get to enjoy it unless you did your job well. And you won’t enjoy eating it if you’re still stressed when you are scooping it into your mouth.

Leadership works in similar ways. It requires patience and attention to detail. You don’t get to enjoy it unless you’ve done your job well, and you won’t enjoy being in a position of leadership if you are stressed when doing the actual work.

So tomorrow morning, get yourself a grapefruit and slowly cut it in half. You might be surprised by how good leadership can taste when eaten mindfully.

Call us today at (805) 680-3988, sign up for The Empowered Perspective Newsletter above or visit our website www.empowermentholdings.com. Let us assist you with Intelligent Leadership and Quality of Life in Business.

Start the day with your intention(s) – It makes all the difference!

When you get up tomorrow morning, you should make a decision. Is this going to be another mindless day of chasing things you can never really grasp, another day of frantic business activity, of reactive relationships and a stressed out you?

Or do you say: Stop. Think. Choose.

And direct your mind with intention to being of value today, serving your clients and customers with clarity and patience, and giving them what they actually need.

You decide with that first thought in the morning, if this is going to be a day of giving – of yourself in the best way you know how – or another day of running after profits alone.

Think it through, it matters – for you and your quality of life in business.

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