The HELP! SITUATION SPOTLIGHT™ series addresses challenges, obstacles and problems (real or perceived) that are preventing a person from surpassing their goals! In this series, we shine the light on challenges that community members have shared. In this episode we are exploring the reality of being the only person in a group who is “different” (or who appears to be so). It might be that you are (or are perceived to be) younger than everyone else, or older, or the only person of your gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, color, tribe, disability, marital status, etc.. The dynamics of power in both social and professional settings are impacted by perceived and observed authority.
From Eleanor Roosevelt: - "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - "No man is defeated without until he has first been defeated within." - "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." How does it feel to be the only 'you' in a room for an important work event? When no one else in the room is even aware of the the unique challenges you may face? For example, you are the only person with mobility challenges who uses a wheelchair. You are consumed with worry about navigating your exit (while also trying your best to focus on the meeting content) and no one else in the room is even aware of the multiple issues you are facing. They do not have the mobility challenges that you do, so they don't even stop to think about how you will cope. Meanwhile, you are mentally burning out! You are simultaneously doing all of the work that everyone else is doing and trying to troubleshoot and plan ahead for all of the possible problems with logistics. You also have additional anxiety and distraction as you worry about running late to your next meeting if you are not able to secure the timely exit assistance that you will need. Whew! None of us want to appear 'weak' or 'less than' everyone else. Yet, how do we [...]
In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not. We are warriors fighting to establish clarity between what is accurate and what is simply a myth (or falsehood) in life. We are deploying our highest level critical thinking skills in this series to fight to ensure that we are not taken advantage of or exploited by information disparities. We don both defensive protective gear and offensive weaponry to thrust forward, testing and examining content to discern if it should be defeated and discarded (as a lie) or retained and utilized in our lives in our mission to surpass our goals.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela This is not a series for the weak minded or fearful as we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to ensure that we are not exploited, not ignored and used as pawns by powerful people. Our education (formal and informal) is our most powerful weapon to equalize our opportunities for success (on our own terms). In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote that "It’s more important to outthink your enemy than outfight him." In this series we are sharpening our skills of inquiry and we are harnessing our resources to do everything in our power to outthink our enemy (which is ignorance, exploitation, etc., used by other people to take advantage of us). Quote from Alice Walker: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Our minds are nimble, we are eager to learn and we understand that we do have power. The power to think, analyze, strategize and execute our plans! A few years ago I gave a keynote speech (great one by the way!) and afterwards a man in the audience snarled at me, "I bet when you go home at night, you kick your dog!" I interpreted his point to be that I was a fraud with my uplifting motivational keynote speech and that he knew that behind closed doors I was really bitter and violent. He believed that the emperor had no clothes and he was going to expose me as a fraud to everyone. It was interesting as I also have [...] In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not. We are warriors fighting to establish clarity between what is accurate and what is simply a myth (or falsehood) in life. We are deploying our highest level critical thinking skills in this series to fight to ensure that we are not taken advantage of or exploited by information disparities. We don both defensive protective gear and offensive weaponry to thrust forward, testing and examining content to discern if it should be defeated and discarded (as a lie) or retained and utilized in our lives in our mission to surpass our goals.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela This is not a series for the weak minded or fearful as we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to ensure that we are not exploited, not ignored and used as pawns by powerful people. Our education (formal and informal) is our most powerful weapon to equalize our opportunities for success (on our own terms). In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote that "It’s more important to outthink your enemy than outfight him." In this series we are sharpening our skills of inquiry and we are harnessing our resources to do everything in our power to outthink our enemy (which is ignorance, exploitation, etc., used by other people to take advantage of us). Quote from Alice Walker: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Our minds are nimble, we are eager to learn and we understand that we do have power. The power to think, analyze, strategize and execute our plans! Belief in myths may destroy our ability to create the outcomes that we desire in life. We are warriors fighting against these pernicious and destructive myths that condition us for failure to thrive in life. So, the lie that we are attacking and slaying in this episode is, "I don't know what to do?!" This is a lie we tell ourselves to prevent us from achieving and surpassing our goals. Let's delve into why [...] |
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