End Of Rope

by David

Your rope has a knot in it — Tying a knot when you’re at the end of it might be key to hanging on

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Quotivation Day #3 November 26, 2010

Today’s quotivation is from Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945 also known by his initials, FDR) was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war

His message re-iterates the long standing dictum that all motivators promote: Don’t you quit!

The one thing that get’s people to a place where they make the decision to give up is, not really so much about how tough it is, but the length of time that must be endured between the starting point and the successful finish point.

The sad truth is none of us like unending pain. We’ll do anything to avoid it. In fact, one thing that researchers know about humans is that we are not all that rational when it comes to what discomforts us. We actually hate to lose more than we like to gain and that is a factor that kills a lot of new entrepreneurs from continuing to pursue their dream of financial and time independence as well as personal autonomy.

Of course the entire personal development industry is dedicated to correcting this problem. But they are just about out of rope themselves. That’s because over the last 100 years the message “don’t you give up” has been so over-repeated that it’s lost most of its ardor.

As usual the old 80/20 rule applies. Only 20 percent can ever get to the point where they overcome enough to actually call it a real success the other 80 percent are left hanging.

But I like working with the end-of-the-ropers. For one thing they have usually come to the point where they have rejected a lot of the extraneous BS that is so common in the personal development industry.

All I have to do then is deliver real truth for a change. Not some wordy truth but a gut-based strength type truth that they can both feel and see as well. A truth that’s tied firmly to the one single enduring attribute that guarantees that we finish what we start every time: PERSISTENCE.

So… if you’re nearing the end of your rope here’s how you can tie a big knot in it and find the key to surviving over time.

More power to you my friend.

POll: How are you feeling today?

by David

“How the heck are you doing?”

I asked an acquaintance whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

He appeared outwardly optimistic but in a fatalist kind of way. Further discussion revealed that he was indeed somewhat worried about his job security with the local newspaper.

“They say it’s the worst economic downturn this generation has ever seen” he said, confirming my impression that he was preoccupied about something.

But this reaction was the exception. Often times if I meet someone and I introduce the subject of the current economic troubles they tend to clam up. It becomes obvious that they’d rather talk about something else.

Anything else. It’s making it difficult to get a good grasp on how people are coping.

Last week GM in Oshawa Ontario permanently closed its truck plant after 60 continuous years of operation. 2,500 workers
lost their jobs. Chrysler is set to axe a raft of dealerships in the US and GM will soon follow that action here in Canada.

H.O.P.E.

by David

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

President elect Franklin D. Roosevelt said that 76 years and two months ago.

He was eloquent in his attempt to deliver on the promise that the American people could pull out of the depths of the economic troubles that they then faced.

It’s weird.

I read the text of that speech and I felt like any minute now I could be hearing it being said for real by President Obama as it poured out of the clock radio beside my bed while I sipped this morning’s coffee.

It’s that relevant.

Going by feel.

by David

I stumbled on a tweet by yaslani in Twitter awhile ago.

It was heart-wrenching.

She was worried about her co-workers who were just informed today by the company they work for that their services were no longer required.

I don’t know Yaslandi.

Never met her.

She’s thousands of miles and three time zones away at least. Wouldn’t know her if she walked up to my front door and knocked.

But, after reading her blog post, if she did rap on my door I’d probably invite her in for a nice cup of tea. She seems like that kind of person.

These days a lot of office workers like Yaslani are suffering from persistent panic attacks about their own jobs let alone having to feel bad about the misfortunes of their comrades.

But I can understand her mindset.

She, like myself, is an artist and artists always feel things.

After all for an artist to feel things, and then to express them in whatever medium they can, is their job.

I think she’s got a great future in it too.

I think that’s the job she should stick with.

Happiness and More

by David

Photo: Morguefile.com

The first three words out of a baby’s mouth:

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. More

Since the day we’re born we all want more. More nourishment, more comfort, more love.

More of everything.

But as long as there have been humans walking this earth there’s one thing we’ve all want more of than anything else: Happiness.

My focus on this site is all about the “happiness mindset” and how to develop and how to maintain it through the “new immunity”. But today I want to talk about one particular aspect of the debate about how happiness is achieved…

More money: Does it bring happiness or not?

I was working on this post when I came across a CNN piece written by Peter Bregman. In it he makes the point that having happiness and having money are not to be confused.

Indeed, Mr. Bregman points out that maybe, in this particular time in human history, we need to learn to be happy with less.

I can’t agree more.

After all, trying to add to our happiness by throwing money at the problem only ever works for the short term. Then it’s back to wanting… more.

Now let’s be clear here I’m not saying that money isn’t necessary. We all need money.

Our personal existence depends on having the basics of life met each and every day. And that does cost money. But when it comes to happiness, research by University of Illinois psychologist Edward Diener, a.k.a. “Dr. Happiness”, shows that additional income does little to raise our sense of satisfaction with life.

Today’s challenges are so complex and pervasive that our happiness has come under constant attack especially since job losses are at an all-time high with whole industries in peril. However despite that, the most recent Gallup Poll shows that consumers, at least in the US, are experiencing a slight easing of worry over finances (34 on the scale) within the last two weeks (down from 38).

But stats are always changing and there’s no guarantee we’ll see a lasting improvement at all.

There’s always hope though. I’ll talk about that in a post a few days from now (look for my next new post: “H.O.P.E. for the Future”).

For now there’s a funny quote from Kin Hubbard that sums up the happiness debate:

“It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty an’ wealth have both failed.”

More power to you.

…David