Empty Space: The Gateway to Creativity and Presence

Written by Janet Shlaes, PhD

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” ~ Edward de Bono

What do you do when faced with the reality of empty space, dedicated time without external distractions? If you’re like most people, truly empty space might leave you feeling a bit edgy, wondering what you might be missing. What you might not fully realize is that this selfsame empty space is essential to the creative process. The most powerful insights and inspired musings take place in the empty spaces where we are not faced with a myriad of external diversions.

Please be assured that I am not suggesting that we give up any of the gifts of technology, beauty, nature and relationships. What I am suggesting is that when you intentionally incorporate empty space into your day, you will ultimately be more fully present to every aspect of your life. Commit to incorporating a bit of empty space into each day and just notice what it feels like. Start small, a mere five minutes to begin with and expand your empty space over time. Some possibilities include:

1.     Walking to your next destination without looking at or using your smartphone,

2.     Setting aside dedicated time each day to just think about whatever comes to mind,

3.     Journaling about whatever comes to mind in the moment,

4.     Formally scheduling empty space time in your calendar.

What are some gifts that might wait for you via incorporating some empty space into your life?

Janet

For addition insights and observations, check out the following posts:

If You're Asking the Question
Quitting
Joy of Single Tasking

Beginner's Mind Benefits

Written by Janet Shlaes, PhD

Have you ever had the experience of arriving at your destination oblivious to what transpired between the time you left and the time you arrived? Perhaps you were focused on some unsolved problem, a prior interpersonal exchange or maybe you were just too tired to focus your attention on your surroundings. If this is your usual experience, you’re not alone. It’s common to move through your daily routine unmindful of the potential gifts in your seemingly ordinary surroundings.

I offer you an alternative to this unaware state of mind – embodying a Beginner’s Mind way of moving through the world. Beginner's Mind embodies the qualities of openness, enthusiasm, creativity, optimism and awe. Young children exemplify the Beginner’s Mindset, seeing and experiencing their world through freshness and wonder. Through Beginner's Mind, one is able to take in what is present in the moment. Things that adults characteristically ignore or take for granted become opportunities for curiosity, engagement and wonder. Beginner’s Mind empowers you to co-exist in the familiar from multiple perspectives - seeing beyond the surface to experience the formerly ordinary as extraordinary. 


Where in your life could you benefit from embodying a Beginner’s Mindset? I invite you to try this out for a week or two or three and notice the shift in the quality of your experience in the world.

Janet

For addition insights and observations, I invite you to check out the following posts:

Reality TV Wisdom

Agendas - Yours, Mine and Ours

Getting Fluffy

The Road to Happiness: Three Essential Skills

The Road to Happiness: Three Essential Skills

by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

People who tend to be happy live intentionally with regard to three core happiness skills. They understand that happiness is a choice, rather than a birthright and are committed to practicing these skills on a daily basis. They know exactly what they want, what constitutes their unique version of happiness and are proactive in their happiness journey. Happy people appreciate that happiness is a daily endeavor, rather than a absolute destination. Employing the three essential happiness skills detailed below can empower you to live a life of purpose, direction, passion and authentic happiness.

Self-awareness:

What makes you happy? On the surface, this seems like a simple question, however, getting to the heart of this question can be quite challenging for most. Why? Getting to the core of what makes you happy requires moving beyond externally generated messages regarding the “shoulds” of happiness and moving to a deeper level of awareness. Authentically answering this question requires honesty, courage and vulnerability. Your answer will greatly inform you about your deepest values, needs and motivators. It may also require letting go of people, possessions and circumstances that don’t align with your unique happiness narrative.

Commitment:

What are you willing to commit to as a means to bringing more happiness into your life? Once you have a working knowledge of your particular version of happiness, commitment enters the picture. Being fully committed to doing whatever it takes to create a fulfilling values-based life provides the requisite motivation and sustenance to move through any challenges that present on your journey. Commitment is rarely a one-time act; it requires returning to the primary question of what makes you happy and periodically reconnecting with your commitment to living a life of meaning and passion.

Self-care:

The skill of self-care is often the most difficult one to embrace; for some it feels selfish to focus on self-care when they have others to think of. Consider, however, the familiar instructions on airplanes where we are asked to put on our own oxygen mask and then take care of our loved ones. What if your happiness directly served to enhance the lives of those you care about? Your level of happiness positively impacts your relationships on a personal and professional basis. I’m not suggesting a life of pure self-focus at the expense of others, however, a lack of self-care will not serve anyone. Self-care is not a one size fits all feat. For some, self-care may include a healthy lifestyle via exercise or diet. For others it may involve hobbies, socializing, being in nature, reading, etc. What matters is that your approach to self-care provides positive benefits to you and others in your personal and professional lives.

Happiness is a choice and a life-long endeavor requiring self-awareness, commitment to doing whatever it takes and intentionality with regard to self-care. What is your unique version of happiness? What are you willing to do to bring more happiness into your life?

Janet

For addition insights and observations, check out the following posts:

If You're Asking the Question

Are Your SMART Goals Smart Enough?

Quitting

Resolutions Don't Work

by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

Today is the day when many generate New Year’s resolutions that are destined to fail. I track this every year at my local health club. For the first two weeks of January, it’s unbelievably crowded. As the month progresses, the crowds dissipate at an alarmingly (and comforting) rapid rate. This tendency is repeated in a variety of personal and professional arenas as well intended New Year’s Resolutions fall apart. Why, you may ask, does this situation repeatedly occur at this time of year? Resolutions, although well intentioned, tend to be overly ambitious aspirational goals rather than more realistic and pragmatic ones. They tend to focus more on the idealized outcome than on the process of building sustainable outcomes. 

I recommend a highly effective alternative to New Year's resolutions, a process oriented alternative that facilitates the development of habits that align with aspirational goals. This process is known as a 30-Day Challenge. It takes approximately 30 days to develop a new habit, 30-days for your brain to rewire and shift your aspirational goal into your daily routine. Resolutions tend to be unrealistically grand, while 30-Day Challenges focus more on developing habits that support your aspirational goals. Taking on a 30-Day Challenge around health and fitness recognizes that fitness is a process that requires gradually improving your health and strength over time.  For example, if your goal is to improve your fitness level in the current year and you’ve been habitually sedentary in the prior year, your 30-day challenge might be to walk for 15-20 minutes every day for 30 days. Staging your aspirational goal of health and fitness via a 30-Day Challenge results in setting up a structure to increase the probability of success, rather than the likelihood of failure.

The 30-Day Challenge structure utilizes the construct of neuroplasticity to organically restructure your brain. It also facilitates the building of positive self-esteem and appreciation for process. As you stage your aspirational goals via a series of 30-Day Challenges, you will ultimately find yourself accomplishing goals that may have seemed unobtainable in the past. What aspirational goal could you choose to take on as a series of 30-Day Challenges this year?

For addition insights and observations, I invite you to check out the following posts:

Optimal Performance Fundamentals   

Learn Something New

Small Adjustments, Big Results

Planting Seeds for the Future

Planting Seeds for the Future by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Every action that you take or conversation that you engage in has a ripple impact out into the world, mostly in unanticipated ways. In fact, there is an area of study concerning unanticipated consequences devoted to this phenomenon. Although this study concentration is primarily focused on negative consequences, I propose that it is equally likely for your actions and words to set positive future consequences into motion. I find this likelihood to be both comforting and filled with tremendous responsibility, as well as comprised of the need for self-awareness, intention, trust, faith and patience. Let me explain……

As a psychologist, my work with individuals and organizations predominantly focuses on articulating an aspirational vision and generating viable strategies, systems, structures, skills and mindsets to reach this vision. As a graduate school professor, my work focuses on imparting an optimal blend of theory, practice, skills and mindsets. In all of my professional roles, I work from a place of passion, dedication, knowledge and experience. With the wisdom that time and experience provides, I have come to realize that I ultimately work from a place of trust, faith and patience. I trust in the motivation, integrity and native intelligence of my students and clients. I have faith that the seeds that I plant will blossom with time, intention, action and experience and that what I have to offer is “good enough” to facilitate this eventual blossoming. I have patience, derived from the experience and belief that one’s unfolding ensues over time.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you are continually planting seeds of wisdom, faith, trust and inspiration in others, seeds that organically and miraculously take root and grow in unexpected ways. What seeds will you plant today?

Janet

For additional insights and observations, check out the following posts:

Slow Time

Emerging

Shifting From Knowledge to Wisdom

Excellence and Habits

Excellence and Habits by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”  ~ Aristotle

Excellence requires an optimal combination of desire, motivation, commitment and action. Most importantly, excellence requires repetition for a specified period of time in order to shift a desire into a habit.  Brain research has shown that it takes approximately thirty days of repetition for the brain to develop a new neuropathway for a specific behavior; it takes even longer to dismantle pathways once a habit is established. This reality helps explain why old habits that no longer serve you take time to dissipate and eventually disappear. What you can do to build positive habits is engage in specific repetitive behaviors that lead to the development of neuropathways that align with your highest values and vison. Matt Cutts, in his brief TED Talk, “Try Something New for 30 Days,” provides excellent details regarding the development of excellence through generating new habits. I invite you to invest in yourself through watching Matt’s talk and committing to a 30 day challenge. You have much to gain and nothing to lose, except perhaps a way of being that no longer suits you.

Janet

For addition insights and observations, check out the following posts:

Should, Could, Accomplish

Thinking Small for Big Results

Hindsight vs. Kindness

Hindsight vs. Kindness by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“View your life with kindsight. Stop beating yourself up about things from your past. Instead of slapping your forehead and asking, ‘What was I thinking,” breathe and ask yourself the kinder question, “What was I learning?’”  ~ Karen Salmansohn

Ruminating about past actions appears to be a popular activity, one that frequently leads to increased anxiety, negative self-judgement and diminished self-esteem. Imagine how different your experience of yourself and your potential would be if instead of beating yourself up, you developed the habit of evaluating the past from an attitude of appreciation, kindness, curiosity and wisdom. You could view your past through the filter of kindness, affection and appreciation for the person that you were with the coping resources you possessed at that moment in time. You would understand that if you could have done better at the time, you would have. This approach does NOT let you off the hook for past actions; it serves to allow you to accept your limitations at the time and take action to make amends for your less than desirable actions. You can be curious regarding what you were thinking at the time and generate alternative behaviors should you be faced with a similar situation in the future. You can also visualize yourself responding differently with the wisdom gleaned from your experience, mistakes and intentional reparations. Taking on this mindset would directly facilitate what Karen Salmansohn refers to as “kindsight.” This kinder approach is both freeing and growth enhancing and has a positive ripple impact in your life and out into the world.

Janet

For additional insights and observations, check out the following posts:

Forgiveness and Freedom

Getting to Essence 

Defining Moments 

Knowing When to Quit

Knowing When to Quit  by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Sometimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness and everything to do with strength. We walk away, not because we want others to realize our worth and value, but because we finally realize our own.”  ~ Robert Tew

If you came of age within the last 30-40 years, you most likely were raised with some version of the philosophy: quitters never win and winners never quit. Embodying this attitude results in experiencing quitting as a sign of failure - an action reserved for the weak, unskilled and unmotivated. You’ve probably even heard numerous media stories regarding perseverance leading to success. These types of stories take on an almost mystical quality, coupled with a dire warning regarding the cost of quitting; what they fail to consider are the potential gains.

I propose that quitting is a highly underrated undertaking. There are times in your life where the decision to quit is ultimately a highly strategic and empowering choice, one that can lead to a myriad of potential gains. These rewards directly result from self-awareness, inner strength and a commitment to creating the life you want to live. Not quitting, when you know that a situation, job or relationship is not working out, is generated out of fear of change and the unknown and a lack of faith and trust in the world and yourself. Removing yourself from a destructive situation provides essential space for new opportunities and challenges more aligned with your passion, skills and values to enter your life.

I am not advocating quitting each time the going gets rough and you feel extremely challenged, depleted or tempted to withdraw from a professional or personal setback. What I am recommending is that you utilize these times to evaluate your options from an alternative perspective. Specifically, when you are feeling drawn to quitting, consider whether doing so is in service of your highest values and overall goals? If the answer is yes, then the next step is to work out a viable strategic plan to do so; generate a plan that honors you and empowers you to withdraw with integrity.

Quitting a toxic situation or one you have outgrown is an act of courage, strength, wisdom and faith in yourself. Where in your life might the choice to quit serve to move you forward toward a life more aligned with your passion, skills and gifts?

Janet

For related post, check out the following links:

Courage Revisited

Defining Moments

Life Legacy from Dad

Life Legacy from Dad by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.  ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Time is subjective. Sometimes it moves slowly and other times it appears to fly by. Today marks 12 years since my father’s passing. Sometimes it feels as though he’s been gone forever and sometimes it feels as though just yesterday we were having a conversation. Everyone who had the good fortune to know Herbert Cyrus Goldman was enriched by his love, kindness and playful sense of humor, which was sprinkled with his customary puns. They also had the pleasure of reading his beloved poetry, filled with passion, joy and wisdom.  Dad loved and was proud of his family; he was dedicated to doing whatever was needed to support them, financially and psychologically. He had a passion for learning and could always be found reading a newspaper or book or listening to the news on the TV or radio.

As a child, we tend to have a limited understanding of our parents. We enter their lives at a point where they are mostly formed into their adulthood, unaware of the life events and experiences that contributed to the making of the adults they had become. When I was in graduate school many years ago developing my love for life-narrative, I had the good fortune to facilitate life-story interviews with both of my parents. At first dad was reluctant to being interview, but he quickly embraced the experience which took place over an eight week period. As his life-narrative unfolded, I was able to experience him as a young boy, teenager and man. I learned about his past experiences and context of world events that shaped him.

Dad was an ambitious and athletic youth, earning a city-wide tennis championship in high school. He adored his sisters Millie and Sadie and always felt protective of Sadie. Dad grew up in tough times financially. He worked hard academically and graduated high school in three years so that he could help support his family. Dad served in WWII and helped liberate a Nazi Concentration Camp; the images of this assignment remained with him throughout his life. He had dreams of becoming an attorney, which his daughter Natalie lived out for him. When he was supporting his young family, he often moonlighted selling beer at White Sox games. I remember him coming home from the games and telling stories about his customers, making his work into a grand adventure. I know that I inherited my work ethic and love of learning from Dad. My favorite stories that he told during his life-narrative interviews were about his courting mom; they were young, on a double date with other people, were strongly drawn to each other and wound up dancing together all night. This was the beginning of a long and fruitful marriage.

Although he’s been gone for 12 years, dad’s love, legacy and wisdom will live on through his three children and extended family for many years.

Janet

Strengths-Based Focus

Strengths-Based Focus

by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”

~ Malcolm S. Forbes

Ask someone about their weaknesses and they will easily provide you with an extensive list of their perceived deficiencies. Ask them about their strengths and they will often pause for a moment or two before they finally come up with a strength. This phenomenon is a pretty familiar one to me in my client work in the career and leadership development realms. Why does this type of response consistently happen? Let me explain…….

You often fail to recognize and feel connected to your strengths because they exist as your normal way of being in the world. Perhaps your strength is creativity or problem solving; perhaps it’s kindness, connecting with others or intuition. You naturally utilize your strengths or natural gifts from a place that is outside of your conscious awareness. Similar to unencumbered breathing, you just do it without much thought or effort. It’s just who you are. To others, however, your natural way of being in the world appears as a strength.  Learning to recognize, honor and intentionally focus on utilizing your strengths often results in your perceived weaknesses significantly diminishing.  

I invite you to experiment with a strengths-based focus for a week. If you find it challenging to come up with a strength to focus on, ask someone who is close to you or a work colleague to identify one of your strengths. Focus on intentionally utilizing this strength for a week and notice the shifts in your perception of and relationship to your “strengths” and “weaknesses.”

Janet

For additional insights and observations, check out the following links:

Slow Time

Emerging

Kindness

Risk and Transformation

Risk and Transformation

by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

~ Anais Nin

Many years ago when I was teaching a life-planning class, one of my students shared his motivation for making and taking action on a huge life decision. He simply stated that he made his life-altering decision when it felt riskier to perpetuate the status quo than to change. His new course of action felt quite scary to him and would for a period of time, however, it also felt exciting and freeing. Change is like that. You endure the pain inherent in the change process to create a future self that aligns with your highest values.

Transformation is a process that takes place over time. You initially experience the inner stirrings of dissatisfaction with your current state of being in the world. Although your current reality may not feel so great, in some strange way, it feels “normal.”  With time, the stirrings, or whispers, become shouts that can no longer be ignored. That’s when it suddenly feels risker and more painful to “remain tight in a bud,” than it does to “blossom.” Although this shift in perception and action may seem to appear out of nowhere, it’s a process that honors your inner timing. I’ve experienced many transformations over time and imagine that you have as well. I find these shifts to simultaneously contain elements of hope, fear, surprise, excitement, engagement, faith and elegance. What about you?

Janet

For additional insights and observations, I invite you to check out the following links:

 Busy is a Decision

Letting Go of What is No Longer Needed

Playing the Hand You're Dealt

Gratitude

Gratitude

by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind, yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.”

~ Kahlil Gibran

Have any of your greatest teachers also presented you with your greatest challenges? Mine certainly have. Several of my most powerful mentors were completely unaware that they facilitated my professional and personal growth. Ironically, over time, I am increasingly grateful to them for inadvertently providing me with the challenges I needed to become the professional/person that I am today. From these “accidental mentors,” I learned what not to do and say. These valued lessons led the way to my discovering and embodying approaches and mindsets that were more engaging, respectful and effective. Would I have preferred not to have had to endure those lessons? Absolutely! However, with the wisdom acquired through experience, I am profoundly grateful for those particular experiences. Painful as they were, they served to reveal aspects of myself that needed to be healed and/or strengthened. What about you?

Janet

Forgiveness and Freedom

Getting to Essence

Defining Moments

Pay Attention

Pay Attention

by Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.

“When you really pay attention, everything is your teacher.”

~ Ezra Bayda

As someone who is passionate about learning, I am increasingly aware that, when I am fully present, learning opportunities abound. They exist in my ever changing mood and energy level, in every book or article that I read and in every interpersonal encounter. Some learning opportunities are pleasant, especially when they involve getting to the heart and soul of someone; others are particularly challenging and sometimes painful, primarily encounters that trigger old wounds. With the wisdom gained from journeying through many life experiences, I have learned that in every encounter, there is a choice – to stay stuck in the past or to embrace the learning opportunity unfolding in the present.  I have found that this approach, although not always such an easy one, is definitely worth the effort. I invite you to join me in paying attention, to being fully present in each encounter and to embracing a lifestyle of lifelong learning. Where in your life could this approach make a significant difference?

Janet

Starting Points

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.  ~ Nido Qubein

It’s a funny thing about starting points. Depending on your point of view and sense of efficacy in the moment, a common tendency is to view starting points from a place of possibility and adventure or confrontation, challenge and setback. In reality, starting points are merely data points in time; they make up a small piece of our personal life-narrative, rather than the whole story. Shifting your perspective around starting points to data points in time becomes possible once you’re connected and committed to a vision of where you want to wind up post-starting point. Committing to writing my Transformational Communication Blog in 2013 was a starting point for me. I chose and committed to writing it as a means to improve my communication skills, as well as play with the constructs and insights that grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I love to learn and play with ideas, share experiences with others, enhance learning, self-awareness, self-efficacy and professional/personal/organizational growth. Initiating the blog was challenging on a variety of levels as starting points often are. Depending on where I was in various life arenas, following through on writing and posting felt engaging, energizing, exciting or exceptionally difficult. What stayed consistent, throughout the years is my vision and commitment to carrying out my vision for communication. What I discovered over time is that the journey is also the outcome of my vision. I began my blog with a 30 day challenge of posting for 30 consecutive days and chose to reenergize myself over the past 30 days with another 30 day posting challenge. Today marks day 30 of this current challenge. It is both an ending point and the beginning of a starting point for other 30 day challenges.

How do you view the various starting points that you’ve experienced? How might shifting your approach to starting points facilitate your generating and engaging in a vision that calls to you? What 30 day challenge might you commit to?

Janet

For addition insights and observations, I invite you to check out the following posts:

Learn Something New

Embracing "Good Enough"

Taking the Shots

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

“You always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  ~ Wayne Gretzky

As a baseball fan, I am continually intrigued by batting averages, finding it highly reassuring that a batting average of .300 is considered excellent. Think about it. In most pursuits, a 30% chance of success tends to serve as a demotivating factor, one that lessens the likelihood of taking action and poses a 100% guarantee of failure. With the odds in favor of a miss, how are ballplayers able to develop their batting ability? It’s highly likely that each time a ballplayer steps up to bat, he’s more focused on the likelihood of a hit, rather than on that of a miss. Practice and preparation leads to focusing on the ball and swinging the bat and hopefully having the opportunity to run and score. What do you tend to focus on – the potential hit or miss?

Janet

For additional insights and observations, I invite you to check out the following posts:

Courage Revisited   

Defining Moments

Clever vs. Wise

 

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”  ~ Rumi

Attempting to change someone who doesn’t want to change reminds me of the Greek myth of Sisyphus. You expend a great deal of psychic and physical energy under the illusion of progress, only to find yourself repeatedly back at your original starting point. An immense amount of energy is expended for a highly unlikely result and you and your object of change are increasingly aggravated. Over time, and hopefully with a bit of maturity, you wind up with the realization that the only person you can ultimately change is yourself. That seemingly small bit of wisdom releases a huge amount of personal power. Paradoxically, as you let go of your attempts to force change on someone else and shift your focus and energy toward changing yourself, the people around you wind up changing or leaving so that the right people can come into your life – personally and professionally.

Janet

For additional observations and insights, check out the following posts:

Agendas - Yours, Mine and Ours

Forcing vs. Unfolding

Shifting From Knowledge to Wisdom

 

 

 

 

Working with Reality

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.”

~ Jack London

Life regularly presents us with a myriad of what I refer to as “opportunities for growth.” These situations are often greatly challenging, forcing us to make choices regarding our values, mindset, relationships and actions. When a dear friend was facing a particularly dreadful life challenge. I found her response extremely wise and inspirational, a perfect blend of strength, wisdom and the skill of embracing the inherent ambiguity in life.

When I inquired one day about how she was doing, her response was simply: “All I can do is play the hand I’ve been dealt.” Ultimately, that’s all we can ever do in any situation.  This does not mean that we shift into a victim type mode, passively allowing the situation to play itself out. Playing the hand you’re dealt, involves recognizing and fully utilizing your available resources to work within the parameters of your situation. It means engaging others as advocates and allies when needed, gathering relevant information, having a clear outcome vision in mind, doing what is in your power to do and then letting go of attachment to the outcome. Playing the hand you’re dealt also means being fully present in each moment and focusing on one step at a time.

Here’s to strategically playing the hands we’re dealt and to our collective growth and freedom!
 
Janet

For additional observations and insights, check out the following posts:

Defining Moments

Optimal Performance Fundamentals  

Courage Revisited   

Time Perspective

 

 

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”  ~ Picasso

Time is a limited resource for everyone. We all get 24 hours each day to utilize, yet often act as though time is an unlimited commodity. We don’t get to carry over our unused minutes to the next day like roll over minutes in a phone plan; we must use our daily time within the allotted frame of each day. There’s no guarantee that there will be a next day and another 24 hour gift of time. Each day we get to choose how to utilize our limited and valuable time resource.

Imagine what might be possible in your life if you were fully present to the limited and precious nature of time, along with your capacity to purposefully spend your daily gift of time. Having the luxury of this type of choice requires self-awareness, intention, commitment and great responsibility. Before your daily time allotment expires, will you choose to use it wisely or will you squander it? What do you want to ensure that you complete today? How will you end each interaction and conversation with a co-worker, loved one, stranger or neighbor today? How will you structure, move through and use your precious and limited resource today?

Janet

For additional insights and observations, check out the following posts:

Getting to Essence

Quitting

 

Ripple Impact

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Remember, there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.  ~ Scott Adams

Several years ago “random acts of kindness” were all the rage; the most well-known ones concerned anonymously paying for a random stranger’s highway toll or restaurant bill. There were even several books and movies crafted about the topic. Possible acts of kindness are abundant; they exist within every encounter and benefit both the giver and the receiver. Some of my favorite acts of kindness seem so small at the time, yet the impact feels expansive. Let me explain…….

Grocery store employees are currently trained in a customer service model based on being polite and friendly, specifically asking customers how they are doing and if they were able to find everything they wanted. Because I tend to be a curious person (some might call it nosey), I characteristically ask grocery store check-out personnel about their day. They always appear to be surprised and pleased at what, on the surface, appears to be a minor question. The responses I receive are consistently amazing. In the brief period of time that we interact, their whole physiology changes from dull to dazzling. An added bonus is that I get to learn some interesting and often astonishing things about the person. I have learned about their hometowns and families, interests, avocations, hopes, passions, future dreams and what they will be doing when their shift is over. Through asking about their world, I get to expand my knowledge about the world in general and enter their unique world for a few short moments.

I invite you to commit to creating positive ripples in the world through facilitating a small act of kindness today.

Janet

For additional insights and observations, check out the following posts:

Learn Something New

Embracing "Good Enough"

Legacy

 

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” 

~ Warren Buffett

In a world that often appears to be motivated by short-term results, it’s easy to forget that much of what we do or say has a long-term impact. I’ve experienced this in various arenas throughout my life; perhaps you have too. I remember specific teachers and mentors whose guidance eluded me at the time it was bestowed. Many years later, their wisdom suddenly connected with me on a deep level, inspiring me to take action on something particularly meaningful at the time. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you are continually planting seeds of wisdom and inspiration in others, seeds that will eventually take root and grow in unexpected ways. What seeds will you plant today?

Janet

For additional thoughts and inspiration, check out the following posts:

Questions and Answers

Forgiveness and Freedom

Getting to Essence