Communicating More Effectively
The brain thinks in pictures, not words. Not that you remember your last dream, but if you asked yourself whether you visualized the dream in words—as you are reading now—or you visualized in pictures (images), you will conclude that you dreamt in visuals. (Remember that in human...
A Lou Holtz Motivational Secret
Before becoming the very successful football coach at Notre Dame, Lou Holtz brought his University of Arkansas team to the Orange Bowl in 1978 to play against heavily favored Oklahoma. Pundits gave Arkansas slight to no chance of winning. Dejected players filed into a team meeting...
Learning and Perfection
A question was recently asked, “What’s responsible for feelings of self-confidence and of positive self-worth?” The answer quickly came: “Being unafraid of failure.” Truly confident people–from business leaders to politicians, from teachers to lawyers–simply...
Time and Learning
As the years go by, I wonder why time seems to go more quickly. I think I have come upon the reason. Think about it: When you were five years old, a year was one-fifth of your entire life. When you are fifty, it is but one-fiftieth—a mere fraction of the whole. I would like to think...
High School Principal on Level B
Question: Many of the teachers and students at my high school are operating at the the higher levels. However, I often operate at Level B. I became aware of this while listening to you. I will be working to change my approach. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Response: Dear...
Questions and Caring
One of the most important factors that study after study have shown—in terms of what is important to students—is their feeling/belief that someone in school cares. A significant factor in asking a question is that there is an assumption that you care about the person with whom...
Reflective Questions
Instead of thinking of the right thing to say, think of a reflective question to ask. The sooner you inculcate the mode of asking reflective questions—instead of telling—the less stressful it will be for you, and the more successful you will become. Reflective questions prompt...
Persistence
Effective people persist. They don’t give up easily. Persistence accounts for much of achievement. A major quality that classifies people as gifted is that they stick to a task. What is it that allows a person to persevere? According to Art Costa of the Institute for Habits...
A Story
A young man on vacation was staring at the calm, blue sea thinking about lunch. A small boat laden with a large Yellowfin tuna docked near the pretty Mexican village. A lone fisherman jumped ashore. “That’s a great catch,” said the tourist. “How long did it take...
Winston Churchill on Optimism
Winston Churchill once commented, “The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity.” The pessimist allows problems to rent cognitive space. But why think of problems when you can fill your head with solutions? How...