Jeff Davidson's Blog, page 16
January 11, 2018
Partnerships Worth Exploring:
Have you ever thought about teaming up with a coach to receive the big-picture type of guidance that you might not otherwise be getting on the job? Considering the kinds of things you want to achieve on the job and throughout your career, could a coach be helpful for you? The late Psychologist Harry Olson said that virtually all professional and Olympic athletes have personal coaches to help them perform to their maximum potential and deal with competition.
The better such athletes become, and the more elite their status, the more they need and rely on coaches. Why? Because the higher they rise in their fields, the more critical their moves become, and the more vital personal feedback becomes in avoiding mistakes. A personal coach offers the competitive edge! And, the enhanced potential to achieve Breathing Space.
Many high-achieving career professionals, with the aid of coaches, mentors, or other advisors devise strategies to ensure success and to capitalize on new opportunities. Olson said that a career coach can help "diagnose and sort out your situation and opportunities, offer new strategies for dealing with office politics and competition, and help you with vital stress management skills."
The better such athletes become, and the more elite their status, the more they need and rely on coaches. Why? Because the higher they rise in their fields, the more critical their moves become, and the more vital personal feedback becomes in avoiding mistakes. A personal coach offers the competitive edge! And, the enhanced potential to achieve Breathing Space.
Many high-achieving career professionals, with the aid of coaches, mentors, or other advisors devise strategies to ensure success and to capitalize on new opportunities. Olson said that a career coach can help "diagnose and sort out your situation and opportunities, offer new strategies for dealing with office politics and competition, and help you with vital stress management skills."
January 3, 2018
A Timeless Insight for a New Year
When you stop trying to "prove yourself" to others... everything, even your appearance, changes after that!
December 30, 2017
Year End Breathing Space Perspective
A reader asks: In your books you write that we are control and responsible for how our time is used each day, but I don't feel that way. How do I increase my feeling of control and sense of responsibility for how my time is consumed?
The Breathing Space Perspective:
1. Begin to recognize your routine, time-guzzling behaviors such as ceremoniously arranging the items on your desk, over-reading the newspaper, or scouring the web.
2. Avoid playing the victim. Stop believing that external circumstances cause you to be time-pressed while not acknowledging your participation and willingness to be a victim.
3. Take ownership; that is, lay claim and accept responsibility for what occurs in your life. "Own" your time.
The Breathing Space Perspective:
1. Begin to recognize your routine, time-guzzling behaviors such as ceremoniously arranging the items on your desk, over-reading the newspaper, or scouring the web.
2. Avoid playing the victim. Stop believing that external circumstances cause you to be time-pressed while not acknowledging your participation and willingness to be a victim.
3. Take ownership; that is, lay claim and accept responsibility for what occurs in your life. "Own" your time.
December 22, 2017
Ingredients Overlooked
According to an article in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and dialectics, 73% of men say they don’t look at the ingredients lists, serving size, or information on the nutritional panel when buying a packaged food.
Oh my, is this a prescription for health problems!
Oh my, is this a prescription for health problems!
December 12, 2017
Ten Keys to True Happiness
"Ten Keys to True Happiness" based on a study published in New Scientist include:
1.Wealth 6. Friendship2. Desire 7. Marriage3. Intelligence 8. Faith 4. Genetics 9. Charity 5. Beauty 10.Age
1.Wealth 6. Friendship2. Desire 7. Marriage3. Intelligence 8. Faith 4. Genetics 9. Charity 5. Beauty 10.Age
December 7, 2017
Increasing Your Luck
Professor Richard Wiseman discusses “How to Get Lucky” in The Skeptical Enquirer:
"Open your mind: consider chance opportunities. Lucky people regularly have them, unlucky people don't. To determine why, I gave lucky and unlucky people a newspaper and asked them to tell me how many photos were inside. On average, unlucky people spent about two minutes on this exercise. Lucky people spent seconds. Why? Because on the second page of the paper, in huge type, was the message ‘Stop counting: There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.’ Lucky people tended to spot the message. Unlucky ones didn't.”
"I put a second message half-way through the paper: ‘Stop counting: tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.’ Again, the unlucky people failed to see the message.”
"The lesson: unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too busy looking for something else. Lucky people see what is there rather than just what they are looking for."
"Open your mind: consider chance opportunities. Lucky people regularly have them, unlucky people don't. To determine why, I gave lucky and unlucky people a newspaper and asked them to tell me how many photos were inside. On average, unlucky people spent about two minutes on this exercise. Lucky people spent seconds. Why? Because on the second page of the paper, in huge type, was the message ‘Stop counting: There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.’ Lucky people tended to spot the message. Unlucky ones didn't.”
"I put a second message half-way through the paper: ‘Stop counting: tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.’ Again, the unlucky people failed to see the message.”
"The lesson: unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too busy looking for something else. Lucky people see what is there rather than just what they are looking for."
November 29, 2017
The Value of Asking
An article in Psychology Today contends that if you want more out of life, ask. Simply asking for what you want is highly correlated with getting it! Great news or what?
November 21, 2017
Over-Built, Under-built
From an article nine years ago:
Buildings go up like never before. Haya El Nasser, writing in USA TODAY, reports that “residential and commercial development in the next quarter-century will eclipse anything seen in previous generations as the nation moves to accommodate rapid population growth.” This is based on a report from the Brookings Institution. Other findings:
* About half the homes, office buildings, stores and factories that will be needed by 2030 don't exist today.
* The U.S. population is expected to increase 33% to 376 million by 2030, 76 million more people than today.
* To serve that population, almost millions of new housing units will have to be built.
* About 20 million of these units will replace destroyed or aging homes.
“For generations, Americans favored single-family homes on larger lots. Development spread to where land is cheaper but within commuting distance to jobs. Communities must decide if they "want to develop policies consistent with those preferences or constrain them," says John Kasarda, director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "Sprawl is a choice."
Buildings go up like never before. Haya El Nasser, writing in USA TODAY, reports that “residential and commercial development in the next quarter-century will eclipse anything seen in previous generations as the nation moves to accommodate rapid population growth.” This is based on a report from the Brookings Institution. Other findings:
* About half the homes, office buildings, stores and factories that will be needed by 2030 don't exist today.
* The U.S. population is expected to increase 33% to 376 million by 2030, 76 million more people than today.
* To serve that population, almost millions of new housing units will have to be built.
* About 20 million of these units will replace destroyed or aging homes.
“For generations, Americans favored single-family homes on larger lots. Development spread to where land is cheaper but within commuting distance to jobs. Communities must decide if they "want to develop policies consistent with those preferences or constrain them," says John Kasarda, director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "Sprawl is a choice."
November 12, 2017
Are You Too Busy, Too Often?
“If you’re too busy to enjoy your life, you are way too busy.” Jeff Davidson
November 5, 2017
Take Your Vacations!
Americans schedule an average of 14 vacation days a year, the average Britisher schedules 24. Americans typically don't use 3 of those days, giving back time to their employers.
