by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
The Richest Man Who Ever Lived is about the principles of wealth and happiness that the King Solomon of Israel lived by... the richest person in his era. "Solomon reveals that the 'laws of living' invisibly govern all aspects of life" according to Steven K. Scott. "They still exist and they will govern your flight."
Scott's acclaim to success is that he was very unsuccessful, failing at every job he had in the first seven years of his job life. Then going from making less than half the average income to $7 million a year now. By 30 he was on his way to the success track financially. He learned there was more that just money…the wisdom of Solomon applies today. Happiness in life is a greater virtue than having it all. Thus his tag line about his book... the Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness.
The key to wining every race is diligence. "Diligence is a learnable skill that combines creative persistence, a smart working effort rightly planned and rightly performed in a timely, efficient, and effective manner to attain a result that is pure and of the highest quality of excellence."
"Even a child is known by his doings." Proverbs 20 :11.
Solomon's steps to bring diligence into your life:
1. Wake up to Reality
"Get up from your sleep, poverty will come on you like a bandit and scacrity like an armed man." Proverbs 6:9-11
2. Define your Visions
"Without a vision, the people perish." Proverbs 28:19
3. Effectively Partner
"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." Proverbs 13:22
4. Pursue Wisdom; Build your Life upon it.
"How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver." Proverbs 16:16
The activity that creates extraordinary success is outlined by Scott as a vision mapping process. This is a hallmark quality of Scott's works. "Vision is a precisely, clearly defined goal with a detailed plan and timetable for achieving." Along with a plan comes "hope... a well-founded and confident belief that a specific vision (goal, desire, or promise) will be achieved or fulfilled within a specific amount of time."
The vision mapping process, which he accredits to his turnaround to great accomplishments, includes....
1. Write a clear precise description of your dream
2. Create a goals page with specific and intermediate goals
3. Create another page for a single goal and label "goals to steps," along with intermediate goals, list the steps you need to take to reach the goal.
4. Next take any complex step and list the tasks you will need to do within that step.
5 Then assign completion dates to each step and tasks for the steps. Now you need to complete each task, one at a time, in the time line you set.
This focus brings the dream into a working plan and you have mapped a plan to get it done. He is very emphatic to write all this down, and stick to the plan in accomplishing it, or revise as needed. Having a Vision Mapping Journal gives you a sense of value in this process. This is where success is, the fulfillment you want is maintained in anything you attempt.
This is where diligence comes in. Stay diligent in doing what will bring your vision into reality. Now you have hope as you can see it, and see it becoming into reality within a certain time line.
The "great accelerator" to accomplish anything faster is by partnering. "A partner or counselor is anyone who can provide needed insight, advice, wisdom, or any practical help for the effective achievement of a specific project, goal or dream."
This is essential to great accomplishment. You must align with partners. Every super achiever in history of man has used an accelerator to achieve his dreams. Partners have undeniable benefits and are essential in daring to accomplish anything above average. But he cautions one on the importance of picking the right partners. As wrong partners can be worse than none at all.
Take care to avoid the Wrong Partners, watch for: Lack of integrity, a quick temper or deep-seated anger, foolishness, someone who offers a lot for a little, excessive use of flattery, inclinations to gossip or exaggerate, a disregard for rules, regulations, laws and personal boundaries. Picking partners is important, but picking the right partners is equally important.
Happiness roots lie in
being grateful,
eliminating a sense of entitlement in your thinking,
weeding out envy,
and living wisely.
There are four qualities that make you invaluable:
Kindness and
Truth(honesty)
"Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around
your neck: Write them on the tablets of your heart." Proverbs 3:3-4
Generosity-- the quality that gives receives more than it gives.
"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." Proverbs 11:24-25
Graciousness-- The attribute that raises you up in the sight of others.
"A gracious woman gains honor." Proverbs 11:16
Scott continues to cover how to resolve conflicts, how to make friends with enemies, and the value of having relationships you build and can count on… again reciting the Wisdom of Solomon throughout.
What will "booby trap" success... greed.
When you want it all and go to all costs regardless of who it hurts or hinders in the process, it will eventually come back to do you in.The Richest Man Who Ever Lived is a powerful, concise book. Steven Scott offers his Vision Mapping Journal on his website:
www.stevenkscott.com
Brian Tracy said if we do one thing every day toward something important to us we will be amazed at what will start to happen over time.
Pursue the greatness of Solomon.
It is within our capability and with Power of Spirit in our lives, if we choose to use the power of Spirit in our lives.
"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalms126:3
Solomon was a person of greatness and all through the Psalms the idea of God doing great things was frequently attached to those who placed their faith and trust in the Lord.
We are all called to greatness... to do great things. And with God's Spirit, He uses us to do great feats. God doesn't want us to be defeated. He wants us to do great feats with Him. With God's Spirit working through us, we can expect and we should look to do great things.
As Scott points out in Solomon’s life, there is a path to great accomplishments.
It goes back to the vision in your heart, we call faith. What you see in your heart “that's great,” is it something God is edging you to do? Think great feats. If we don't, we easily fall back to thinking de-feat. Our lives are about victory... not defeat.
All who live in the Spirit of Christ are Victorious!
With wisdom we can accomplish much more than our personal abilities. Jesus said in faith it would be done to that level. Faith is having a very positive vision of God with us accomplishing it. It goes beyond us and to His realm of power and ability. Jesus said that even greater things will happen to you than you can imagine. We will do even greater things than Jesus, Jesus announced to us.(John 14:12)
We need to set our sights higher. We have God's transforming power at work in us, at our disposal around us. Greater is the one in you than anyone in the world. (1 John 4:4)
The world is limited.
With Spirit, what's possible is unlimited power.
Indeed our destiny is one that is to be Super-natural.
In Spirit all things are possible and we should all strive for Great Feats... Bury defeat in the trail of dust behind us. Get on with the Doing of it.
Get started to do what the Spirit directs you to do each step along the way. So many times, Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft put emphasis on that “it’s in the doing.” Faith is action on the vision, the steps Spirit gives you to do. In faith advance with the vision in your hearts for greatness.
Be diligent with the doing of the steps toward the vision on your heart. He will tell you the steps and proceed, do it, and get it in motion.
Ask The Spirit of God, Spirit will give you inside Spiritual intelligence.
Be diligent in pursing greatness using the gifts he is putting in you that are Supernatural in their level of performance.
See it, Believe it, and be Diligent in doing it!
Live to do great feats. Leave the valley of de-feat and look to the mountain of magnificent feats.
Feats of Greatness in Spirit!
Live in Universe-Creating Power of God we are privileged to tap in to.
Indeed, you are destined to do Great Things!
Friday, October 27, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
The Difference Maker... Attitude
By Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
The difference maker in life is your Attitude.
In The Difference Maker, John Maxwell takes you on a track to make your attitude your greatest asset. He shows you where you get your attitude, what it cannot do, what it can do and how to make your attitude your biggest asset. Maxwell then spends a big part of the book in the Big Five Attitude Obstacles.
Attitude... "inward feeling expressed in outward behavior." People project on the outside what they feel on the inside through attitude. It all is formed from
personality (some from your DNA strands);
what's around you...your decisions based on your environment;
the expression of others as to what took mental lodging
based on what someone said about you;
self-image in how you choose to see yourself;
what you experience and your response to that experience;
adopting behavior of peers;
and lastly your belief framework of your thought life and its influence on you.
All this goes into play in forming attitudes as well as your choices in forming emotional adjustments to them.
"The longer you live, the more your life is shaped by your choices." Early on in life conditions affect us, but as we progress through life conditions affect us less. We rely more on choices we previously made due to conditions. This is where we get "attitude."
Your attitude cannot substitute for competence (skills, competence must be developed), for experience, for facts, for personal growth. You must have experience first before you can benefit from experience.
You can't keep a good attitude automatically. It must continually be nurtured and re-booted to the configuration you "choose." Say everyday... "Today, I am going to have a great attitude."
What can your attitude do for you?
It will make a difference in your approach to life, your relationships with people, how you face challenges, and be the difference maker in everything you do.
Maxwell then leads you on the track for making your attitude your greatest asset.
1. Take responsibility for your attitude. Don't defeat yourself, better yourself with choosing the right attitude.
2. Evaluate your present attitude. Identify problem feelings about yourself, your feelings toward others and problems with how you are thinking.
3. Desire to change. It's your choice and you must make it.
4. How you think. You made choices long ago, you can change some of them.
5. Program good habits to your thinking. Observe your thinking, change what you need to, and consistently "choose" the right track.
6. Manage your attitude daily. Review the day, evaluate, restructure where you need to, and keep putting on quality experiences (reading, friends,events) that promote the attitude that makes positive differences.
The second part of The Difference Maker discusses the
Big Five Attitude Obstacles and how to overcome them. They are
Discouragement (decide to bounce back and not quit);
Change... is hard but learning to make new adjustments leads to personal growth and enlargement of fullness in life;
Problems... look at them as wake up calls for creativity and focused change are birthed from them;
Fear... 95% of fear is baseless, confront it, beat it, and you become stronger because of it.
Failure... learn the lessons, renew the right attitudes, move forward, never give up and keep growing. Failure is the most powerful penetrating force in "making the grade" in life's lessons.
"Success each day should be judged by the seeds,
not the harvest reaped."
Choose to be a difference maker in your life and in others. Maxwell's website:
http://maximumimpact.com/
What was Jesus' attitude?
"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up." (Romans 14:17-19. NLT)
Our attitude in Jesus Spirit is of goodness, peace, joy. In how you look at things, think with the attitude of what good you can do, stay in peace and do not react hurriedly, allow the Spirit to simmer within you and allow joy to well up in you.
Our place is to build up... do good, use wisdom, seek spiritual insight, Spiritually in-depth perspectives of people. If in our business relationships, we build up, help to gear up, spur on, charge up, we could produce perpetual Spiritual energy, power, substance that builds God's Kingdom. We are to lift people up and spur them on to do great feats for the kingdom of Heaven.
What for?
Because your ultimate attitude is one of promoting harmony, understanding, tolerance among every facet, group, business-style you encounter, and build harmony among diverse people and business groups.
Take on this attitude of Christ, the great Apostle Paul says. Sculpture it into your life. The great apostle defined this attitude of Jesus for us. It is reflected in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) and Jesus salutation (John 14-17). He summed it up in Philippians 2:
"Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another,
and working together with one mind and purpose.
Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others.
Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
Don't look out only for your own interests,
but take an interest in others, too.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you.
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights
in a world full of crooked and perverse people." (NLT)
Then the Apostle Peter continues to add:
"Finally, all of you should be of one mind.
Sympathize with each other.
Love each other as brothers and sisters.
Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.
Don't repay evil for evil.
Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you.
Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
That is what God has called you to do,
and he will bless you for it.” (1 Peter 3:8,9, NLT)
Why?
"So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.” (1 Peter 4: 1, 2, NLT)
It’s all about you doing the will of God through your life.
Be anxious to the will of His heart in you, the will, passion for what the Spirit beacons you to do... regardless of the personal cost to you. What we think we have on earth will be diminished some day, and what we will have forever will be in Heaven.
And the promise, the absolute promise is for the Heavenly reward. It is great and incomprehensible now, beyond explanation now. But too great that our minds and imaginations can't even get a faint glimpse of it.
Go after this, in faith go for the greatest reward, including new bodies from the resurrection of the greatest majestic splendor, and keep this attitude, the one of Jesus, in all you do and especially in completing the Divine plan for you in this life.
For how to program Spiritual attitudes, note:
Jesus is Us by Geffry Fields
“The Practical Side of Living Jesus Spirit”
http://jesusisus.blogspot.com/2005/07/practical-side-of-living-jesus-spirit.html
“Our Body… Jesus Lives there.”
http://jesusisus.blogspot.com/2005/06/our-body-jesus-spirit-lives-there.html
Develop His Attitude and fulfill through you God’s Purpose
through His Spirit in and around you.
4spirit@gmail.com
The difference maker in life is your Attitude.
In The Difference Maker, John Maxwell takes you on a track to make your attitude your greatest asset. He shows you where you get your attitude, what it cannot do, what it can do and how to make your attitude your biggest asset. Maxwell then spends a big part of the book in the Big Five Attitude Obstacles.
Attitude... "inward feeling expressed in outward behavior." People project on the outside what they feel on the inside through attitude. It all is formed from
personality (some from your DNA strands);
what's around you...your decisions based on your environment;
the expression of others as to what took mental lodging
based on what someone said about you;
self-image in how you choose to see yourself;
what you experience and your response to that experience;
adopting behavior of peers;
and lastly your belief framework of your thought life and its influence on you.
All this goes into play in forming attitudes as well as your choices in forming emotional adjustments to them.
"The longer you live, the more your life is shaped by your choices." Early on in life conditions affect us, but as we progress through life conditions affect us less. We rely more on choices we previously made due to conditions. This is where we get "attitude."
Your attitude cannot substitute for competence (skills, competence must be developed), for experience, for facts, for personal growth. You must have experience first before you can benefit from experience.
You can't keep a good attitude automatically. It must continually be nurtured and re-booted to the configuration you "choose." Say everyday... "Today, I am going to have a great attitude."
What can your attitude do for you?
It will make a difference in your approach to life, your relationships with people, how you face challenges, and be the difference maker in everything you do.
Maxwell then leads you on the track for making your attitude your greatest asset.
1. Take responsibility for your attitude. Don't defeat yourself, better yourself with choosing the right attitude.
2. Evaluate your present attitude. Identify problem feelings about yourself, your feelings toward others and problems with how you are thinking.
3. Desire to change. It's your choice and you must make it.
4. How you think. You made choices long ago, you can change some of them.
5. Program good habits to your thinking. Observe your thinking, change what you need to, and consistently "choose" the right track.
6. Manage your attitude daily. Review the day, evaluate, restructure where you need to, and keep putting on quality experiences (reading, friends,events) that promote the attitude that makes positive differences.
The second part of The Difference Maker discusses the
Big Five Attitude Obstacles and how to overcome them. They are
Discouragement (decide to bounce back and not quit);
Change... is hard but learning to make new adjustments leads to personal growth and enlargement of fullness in life;
Problems... look at them as wake up calls for creativity and focused change are birthed from them;
Fear... 95% of fear is baseless, confront it, beat it, and you become stronger because of it.
Failure... learn the lessons, renew the right attitudes, move forward, never give up and keep growing. Failure is the most powerful penetrating force in "making the grade" in life's lessons.
"Success each day should be judged by the seeds,
not the harvest reaped."
Choose to be a difference maker in your life and in others. Maxwell's website:
http://maximumimpact.com/
What was Jesus' attitude?
"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up." (Romans 14:17-19. NLT)
Our attitude in Jesus Spirit is of goodness, peace, joy. In how you look at things, think with the attitude of what good you can do, stay in peace and do not react hurriedly, allow the Spirit to simmer within you and allow joy to well up in you.
Our place is to build up... do good, use wisdom, seek spiritual insight, Spiritually in-depth perspectives of people. If in our business relationships, we build up, help to gear up, spur on, charge up, we could produce perpetual Spiritual energy, power, substance that builds God's Kingdom. We are to lift people up and spur them on to do great feats for the kingdom of Heaven.
What for?
Because your ultimate attitude is one of promoting harmony, understanding, tolerance among every facet, group, business-style you encounter, and build harmony among diverse people and business groups.
Take on this attitude of Christ, the great Apostle Paul says. Sculpture it into your life. The great apostle defined this attitude of Jesus for us. It is reflected in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) and Jesus salutation (John 14-17). He summed it up in Philippians 2:
"Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another,
and working together with one mind and purpose.
Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others.
Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
Don't look out only for your own interests,
but take an interest in others, too.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you.
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights
in a world full of crooked and perverse people." (NLT)
Then the Apostle Peter continues to add:
"Finally, all of you should be of one mind.
Sympathize with each other.
Love each other as brothers and sisters.
Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.
Don't repay evil for evil.
Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you.
Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
That is what God has called you to do,
and he will bless you for it.” (1 Peter 3:8,9, NLT)
Why?
"So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.” (1 Peter 4: 1, 2, NLT)
It’s all about you doing the will of God through your life.
Be anxious to the will of His heart in you, the will, passion for what the Spirit beacons you to do... regardless of the personal cost to you. What we think we have on earth will be diminished some day, and what we will have forever will be in Heaven.
And the promise, the absolute promise is for the Heavenly reward. It is great and incomprehensible now, beyond explanation now. But too great that our minds and imaginations can't even get a faint glimpse of it.
Go after this, in faith go for the greatest reward, including new bodies from the resurrection of the greatest majestic splendor, and keep this attitude, the one of Jesus, in all you do and especially in completing the Divine plan for you in this life.
For how to program Spiritual attitudes, note:
Jesus is Us by Geffry Fields
“The Practical Side of Living Jesus Spirit”
http://jesusisus.blogspot.com/2005/07/practical-side-of-living-jesus-spirit.html
“Our Body… Jesus Lives there.”
http://jesusisus.blogspot.com/2005/06/our-body-jesus-spirit-lives-there.html
Develop His Attitude and fulfill through you God’s Purpose
through His Spirit in and around you.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The Power of Nice
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval is about how to conquer the business world with kindness. Short and to the point, it shows that nice is a spirit of strength and not a concession to weakness. It is a powerful force when lived out sincerely in the business world.
The authors own The Kaplan Thaler Group, ranked as one of the fastest growing advertising agencies in the U.S. Being in an industry noted for its cut-throat ways, their treatment on how "nice" is "power" is thought provoking. After the first peruse through their book, I found myself thinking on this concept and consciously applying it more throughout the day. It was making a difference even on the short term. Nice becomes contagious and you start a chain reaction among your own encounters in the day.
Being Nice Benefits.
A few benefits of nice according to Linda and Robin are "being nice and placing other people's needs on the same level as your own will get you everything you want."
"Nice is luckier in love." Low key caring type people have fewer divorces.
"Nice makes more money." In positive nice-filled workplaces, studies
revealed more increases in revenue.
"Nice is healthier." Volunteers, who do good, live longer than those who don't.
The Six Power of Nice Principles
1. Positive impressions are like seeds.
What you do that is nice is like a seed. Over time it is likely to grow and spread and you will see the fruit of it.
2. You never know
Some people you are nice to without knowing who they are, "you never know" who you may be talking to and what the outcome may be. Sometimes you will be surprised who you were nice to, or what happened in a chain of events from that person that eventually came back to you.
3. People change
As life goes on people change... who they are, what they do and where they may come into your life again. So who you are nice to now may be someone very strategically important to you later.
4.Nice must be automatic.
If it is not who you really are, and it is superficial, it can have a reverse effect. Insincere nice is as bad as not nice. The true test is your spontaneous reaction to something and if it is a natural sincere response of real, honestly caring about the person, who ever it is, you are being nice to.
5. Negative impressions are like germs.
Like the nice seeds that grow and produce nice fruit in the future. Negativity festers like a bacteria that brings disease to your life later on. Be extremely conscious about the environment around you, and don't infest it with un-niceness.
6. You will know
In some cases, many miles from home, you could be rude or un-nice to someone you think you may never meet again. But you will know and it will affect your subconscious thinking on other things. Nice knows the truth and you will know.
These two nice girls continue with other ways being nice has a powerful influence in all you do. You can make a bigger pie by helping others get their share (work others into your deal), pool resources (customers,contacts) and expand your team, spread the wealth (being stingy is not nice when so many help), share the credit (all ideas, successes include parts of others; give others credit too). By making the pie bigger, more people are included and the better off you are.
Help your enemies. One interesting approach is not to “get even” when some are not nice to you. But instead help those not nice to you. Linda and Robin share instances where a competitor was using "not nice" methods in competing for the same client. They responded by avoiding criticism, and not talking down the person. Instead they stuck to putting their best foot forward and doing their best work and letting the client judge. They were nice to their competitor regardless and even complimented true strengths.
This attitude and approach is making them stand out from the pack because it is a fresh breath of air in a sometimes vicious, highly competitive world. It is gaining for them the fame and fortune they are now experiencing.
Nice guys (girls) do win... LInda and Robin are proving that. For more on being nice check out
http://www.thepowerofnice.com/
and these nice girls' website
http://www.kaplanthaler.com
The USAToday review:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/reviews/nice.htm
It is so amazing how the theme on being nice in the Power of Nice reflects the principles of kindness as a core expression of those who live by Spirit. The principles of kindness are the power of Spirit and it carries a power stronger than words. It can change the hearts of the hard hearted and heal the emotions of the dejected.
Being kind to someone when you yourself are down cast in your own emotions, heals one's own emotions.
An idea has circulated in our culture on doing random acts of kindness. It is powerful and has a ripple effect on ones own emotions and the emotions and actions of others.
The Apostle Paul in letters to several fellowship groups of Jesus Way kept pounding on this point. He said numerous times:
"Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32, NLT)
"Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love." (Ephesians 4:2, NLT)
"Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." (Colossians 3:12-13, NLT)
The origin of kindness is in love.
"Love is patient and kind.” (1 Cor.13:4)
Kindness is the essence of who God is, the very character, nature of God's Spirit.
It is who God is. God is Love (1 John 4:18).
Those who allow His Spirit to control their very being, their mind, heart, emotions are of God's Spirit. Kindness is all of these actions.
Love is Spirit, God is Spirit, God is Love.
When we live in God, in Spirit, in Love, we are kind.
It is who we are.
Not an intellectual awareness, but a lifestyle of spontaneous, inadvertent response to what is going on around us. When Spirit is us, kindness is us.
It creates a reciprocal effect in our actions,
a ripple effect to all we do, in all our dealings with everyone... both the important and unimportant people. In kindness, there are no unimportant people. It ripples everywhere, from everyone, to surprisingly delightful conclusions.
Just being unkind to one unheralded employee can cause a ripple affect throughout a whole company. And it will unexpectantly come back to you. But when something bad happens, you may wonder... where did this come from. But then think of the last time you may have been unkind, to even someone unknown by others. (You may have thought it was an unknown act of unkindness.)
Being kind to the least in your associations can create a positive ripple effect throughout the whole mass of people... in and outside of the organization. We ripple to others what just happened to us last.
We can create positive ripples of kindness. The best way to create this effect naturally, is to be it. Be a kind person.
You must have God's Spirit in you, dominating you, the preeminence of you.
Be Spirit. Be kind. Be Love.
... and then it will almost effortlessly move from you and then surround you. The benefits of nice will be there.
The response to anything should first be... "I will be kind"
and then go from there.
Be Spirit,
and you will be kind... automatically!
"Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving in the same way God has forgiven you."
Being nice, being kind, loving people is Power!
4spirit@gmail.com
The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval is about how to conquer the business world with kindness. Short and to the point, it shows that nice is a spirit of strength and not a concession to weakness. It is a powerful force when lived out sincerely in the business world.
The authors own The Kaplan Thaler Group, ranked as one of the fastest growing advertising agencies in the U.S. Being in an industry noted for its cut-throat ways, their treatment on how "nice" is "power" is thought provoking. After the first peruse through their book, I found myself thinking on this concept and consciously applying it more throughout the day. It was making a difference even on the short term. Nice becomes contagious and you start a chain reaction among your own encounters in the day.
Being Nice Benefits.
A few benefits of nice according to Linda and Robin are "being nice and placing other people's needs on the same level as your own will get you everything you want."
"Nice is luckier in love." Low key caring type people have fewer divorces.
"Nice makes more money." In positive nice-filled workplaces, studies
revealed more increases in revenue.
"Nice is healthier." Volunteers, who do good, live longer than those who don't.
The Six Power of Nice Principles
1. Positive impressions are like seeds.
What you do that is nice is like a seed. Over time it is likely to grow and spread and you will see the fruit of it.
2. You never know
Some people you are nice to without knowing who they are, "you never know" who you may be talking to and what the outcome may be. Sometimes you will be surprised who you were nice to, or what happened in a chain of events from that person that eventually came back to you.
3. People change
As life goes on people change... who they are, what they do and where they may come into your life again. So who you are nice to now may be someone very strategically important to you later.
4.Nice must be automatic.
If it is not who you really are, and it is superficial, it can have a reverse effect. Insincere nice is as bad as not nice. The true test is your spontaneous reaction to something and if it is a natural sincere response of real, honestly caring about the person, who ever it is, you are being nice to.
5. Negative impressions are like germs.
Like the nice seeds that grow and produce nice fruit in the future. Negativity festers like a bacteria that brings disease to your life later on. Be extremely conscious about the environment around you, and don't infest it with un-niceness.
6. You will know
In some cases, many miles from home, you could be rude or un-nice to someone you think you may never meet again. But you will know and it will affect your subconscious thinking on other things. Nice knows the truth and you will know.
These two nice girls continue with other ways being nice has a powerful influence in all you do. You can make a bigger pie by helping others get their share (work others into your deal), pool resources (customers,contacts) and expand your team, spread the wealth (being stingy is not nice when so many help), share the credit (all ideas, successes include parts of others; give others credit too). By making the pie bigger, more people are included and the better off you are.
Help your enemies. One interesting approach is not to “get even” when some are not nice to you. But instead help those not nice to you. Linda and Robin share instances where a competitor was using "not nice" methods in competing for the same client. They responded by avoiding criticism, and not talking down the person. Instead they stuck to putting their best foot forward and doing their best work and letting the client judge. They were nice to their competitor regardless and even complimented true strengths.
This attitude and approach is making them stand out from the pack because it is a fresh breath of air in a sometimes vicious, highly competitive world. It is gaining for them the fame and fortune they are now experiencing.
Nice guys (girls) do win... LInda and Robin are proving that. For more on being nice check out
http://www.thepowerofnice.com/
and these nice girls' website
http://www.kaplanthaler.com
The USAToday review:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/reviews/nice.htm
It is so amazing how the theme on being nice in the Power of Nice reflects the principles of kindness as a core expression of those who live by Spirit. The principles of kindness are the power of Spirit and it carries a power stronger than words. It can change the hearts of the hard hearted and heal the emotions of the dejected.
Being kind to someone when you yourself are down cast in your own emotions, heals one's own emotions.
An idea has circulated in our culture on doing random acts of kindness. It is powerful and has a ripple effect on ones own emotions and the emotions and actions of others.
The Apostle Paul in letters to several fellowship groups of Jesus Way kept pounding on this point. He said numerous times:
"Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32, NLT)
"Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love." (Ephesians 4:2, NLT)
"Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." (Colossians 3:12-13, NLT)
The origin of kindness is in love.
"Love is patient and kind.” (1 Cor.13:4)
Kindness is the essence of who God is, the very character, nature of God's Spirit.
It is who God is. God is Love (1 John 4:18).
Those who allow His Spirit to control their very being, their mind, heart, emotions are of God's Spirit. Kindness is all of these actions.
Love is Spirit, God is Spirit, God is Love.
When we live in God, in Spirit, in Love, we are kind.
It is who we are.
Not an intellectual awareness, but a lifestyle of spontaneous, inadvertent response to what is going on around us. When Spirit is us, kindness is us.
It creates a reciprocal effect in our actions,
a ripple effect to all we do, in all our dealings with everyone... both the important and unimportant people. In kindness, there are no unimportant people. It ripples everywhere, from everyone, to surprisingly delightful conclusions.
Just being unkind to one unheralded employee can cause a ripple affect throughout a whole company. And it will unexpectantly come back to you. But when something bad happens, you may wonder... where did this come from. But then think of the last time you may have been unkind, to even someone unknown by others. (You may have thought it was an unknown act of unkindness.)
Being kind to the least in your associations can create a positive ripple effect throughout the whole mass of people... in and outside of the organization. We ripple to others what just happened to us last.
We can create positive ripples of kindness. The best way to create this effect naturally, is to be it. Be a kind person.
You must have God's Spirit in you, dominating you, the preeminence of you.
Be Spirit. Be kind. Be Love.
... and then it will almost effortlessly move from you and then surround you. The benefits of nice will be there.
The response to anything should first be... "I will be kind"
and then go from there.
Be Spirit,
and you will be kind... automatically!
"Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving in the same way God has forgiven you."
Being nice, being kind, loving people is Power!
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