I AM

Really think watching this segment of Oprah is worth the time. If nothing else it will allow for conversation.
My only critical observation is that, unlike millions negatively affected by the economic downturn since 2008, Tom Shadyac made a choice to release his excessive possessions. Knowing what I do about spiritual transformation, I know he really did not have a choice -- but on paper he did.

I would appreciate hearing what others think. I know i will be at the movie I AM when it opens this Friday in Las Vegas at Village Square.

Thank you,
Andrea Goegelin, PhD
http://www.dontdiebooks.com/
http://www.servingsuccess.com/
www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess

Do You Want to be a Lap Dancer?

What is the price you are willing to pay to have financial success?

During a business strategy call this morning I found myself using a personal example of a low water mark for financial success.  Lap dancers.

Let me explain.  In the community I live, lap dancers out earn me by about 10 to 1.  Some might success that at 55 year old becoming a lap dancer is really not an occupational choice.  However, if you live in my community you would soon learn that is not the case.  So go with me for the moment -- let's assume I could choose to become a lap dancer and earn 10x more than I earn today per hour.

Would I do it?  It's legal.  This is not a question of 'am I choosing to do something illegal to achieve financial success?'  This is a question of 'exactly what am I willing to do to achieve fiancial success.' 

We all have to answer that question at some point in our business careers.  I found myself answering it a lot lately.  A few weeks ago someone mentioned the names of two highly intelligent men who happen to host talk shows that I think represent the 'no water mark' meaning the quality of the material and topics presented is so low that it does not even raise to the point of being a low standard of acceptable.  Since hosting a show is one of my many objectives, I could see clearly what I was not willing to do for success -- financial or otherwise. 

Which brings me back to lap dancers.  There comes a point in striving to be successful that you must face your 'lapdancer' question.  Your 'lapdancer' maybe a rude boss, late paying clients, publicly demeaning co-workers -- whatever and whoever you are ignoring just to keep earning money -- and do what is right for your spirit regardless of how it effects your financial success. 

Just thoughts.  Please share yours with me.  Thank you. 
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success (tm)
www.DontDieBooks.com

Marshmallows Predict Success in Life

It may be a holiday in the U.S. today, but one of the leading researchers in Positive Psychology combined a bit of holiday in Hawaii with a bit of work by posting the following article.  I remember the first time I read this work.  Being a sugar addict from birth, I had negative thoughts of being the kid who actually ate the marshmallows!  Thank you Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener of Positive Psychology Services, LLC

Marshmallows Predict Success in Life

In the 1960s the psychologist Walter Mischel conducted one of the most whimsical and important studies in the history of the field. He placed marshmallows in front of pre-schoolers and instructed them NOT to eat the treats. He explained that they could have a single marshmallow, or be rewarded with an additional marshmallow if only they could resist temptation until he returned. He then exited the room, leaving the poor children alone with that delicious, soft, white, mouth-watering little goody. This test became the classic "delay of gratification" task and Mischel and other researchers quickly saw that some kids were naturally good at withstanding temptation while others gave in almost immediately. What's even more interesting and-ultimately-more important is that the pre-schoolers' ability to delay gratification predicted their college entry exam scores almost two decades later. This simple childhood test also predicted drug use later in life. In short, a person's ability to exert self-control is a good predictor of success in life.

Mischel went on to a long and productive career, much of it aimed at refining and explaining the insights gleaned from his marshmallow study. Mischel theorizes that humans have two important systems-hot and cool-and the interaction of these is crucial to the art of willpower. Our "hot" system is our emotions, and these are simple, reflexive, and drive us forward. Our "cool" system is cognitive, and it is reflective, complex, and helps us "know" instead of "go." There is something you should know about how these systems work together: first, stress-both acute and chronic-can take the cool system "off-line" and lead to the dominance of the hot, emotional "go" system. Think about it this way: Have you ever been stressed while working at your computer, but seemed unable to pull yourself away? You likely stayed at your work station, angry, muttering comments to colleagues such as "just give me another minute with this" as if more minutes with the stressful work will be just the thing to calm you down. You make this type of backward decisions because your thinking has been partially dismantled in favor of an approach oriented emotional state.

Fortunately, there are several solutions to hot state problems. One of the easiest is a strategy with an almost military title: attentional deployment. What is attentional deployment? Simply put, this means distracting yourself or otherwise removing the hot temptation from your field of vision (or thought). Remember those pre-schoolers and that plate of marshmallows? The kids that did the best at the delay of gratification task sang songs and closed or covered their eyes. Compare this to the far less successful children who stared directly at the marshmallow, willing themselves not to eat it. The avoiders had the intuitive understanding that distraction is a superior strategy than the heavy lifting of trying to muscle the task with sheer willpower. Once you understand that hot engagement is often the very problem than disengagement is the obvious answer. So, next time you are angry at your computer try getting up and leaving it until your cool system takes over! Simply another reminder that we can all learn a lot from pre-schoolers!

Thank you.

Facebook

I have been uber busy since returning from our daughter's magical wedding.  I apologize for not writing more yet I needed to stop and make a request. 
I have been enthralled with the $100 million donation Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, made to the Newark, NJ school district.  His action is a perfect example of impacting institutions greater than yourself -- a hallmark contributing to well being as noted in the positive psychology literature. 

Here is what has also struck me.  I seem to be challenged to come up with a 20-something female who has used their young wealth and fame to do an extraordinary act of generosity.  My mind keeps going to the marketing genius of the likes of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, or the life choices of young women like Lindsey Lohan.  I see a lot of getting but not so much giving.  So I need your help. 

Please send me the names of young women who are using their economic power to impact institutions greater than themselves. 

I look foward to a very long list.  Thank you.

Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
http://www.servingsuccess/blogspot.com/
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD
www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess
866 975 3777

Love

In the spirit of enjoying the moment, I will be off line until September 25, 2010.

Our daughter, Dana, and her honey, Kevin Courtney, will be married on Saturday, September 18 at 3 p.m. EST. 

We are off to celebrate with our families and regardless of what my ego tries to tell me, the only thing that truly requires my attention is that celebration. 

Moment by moment is all we have...we intent to fill each one with love.  I invite you to do the same.

Thank you, Andrea

BeThe Change

I have been doing a lot of writing which requires I search old files.  I came across this story which I know I have used in public presentations, yet don't have any recollection where it originally came from. 

A newly promoted manager was out to change the world of business.

After being in the job for a while, she noticed she wasn’t making much progress, so she decided to narrow her focus and just change the corporation she was with.

But that turned out to be too much for her so she tried to change just her department.

When she failed, she tried to change only her family.

Even that was easier said than done, so she finally focused on changing only herself.

When she successfully changed herself, her family also changed.

And when her family changed, her department changed.

When her department changed, her corporation changed.

And when her corporation changed, the world of business changed.

Start the change you want to see with the one person you have the greatest influence on. Yourself.

It may be simple and it is not easy.

And always remember, change your language, change your life.

And I also found this quote attributed to Pope John XXIII

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. Pope John XXIII

Happy changing.  Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, Ph.D.
Dr. Success
http://www.servingsuccess.com/
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com
702 869 3729

The Change is Good Part 2

I will be direct.  What a surprise! Buy this book:  Infinite Possibilities by Mike Dooley. 

And sign up for his free daily message from the universe.  Mike is the least self-serving of any within the self-awareness community that I have encountered.  He is on point, he has stuff to sell, yet his sales is through your desire for a better understanding of how we are potentially connected without putting forth the main doctrine of a major religion. 

What follows is the daily message I received on July 15, 2010.  It struck a cord with me because of my post about Bernenke's Happiness commencement speech.  It is important that we all notice the good shifts that are occurring even when they they look like major tragedies in the present moment.  A shift is occurring and it is good.  Take note!
On the very bright side, Andrea, never in peace time history has there been such a gallant effort, by so many people, spending so many billions of dollars with no end in sight, to rapidly clean up your environment.

Never before have numerous heads of state and representatives of a corporation as large as many smaller nations, pledged to work together, sharing expertise and resources to get a job done.
Never before have so many prayer and meditation groups suddenly formed, amongst and in between every religion and those belonging to none, to foster healing of your precious planet.
Never before have finger pointers, conspiracy theorists, and blame mongers been so idle and unnecessary in the face of such a tragedy.
Never before have industry titans across every sea chosen to reexamine their own safety procedures, revisit their own environmental safeguards, and expend their own fortunes to voluntarily reflect upon and demand that they do an even better job from this day forward.


And to top it all off, Andrea, your planet has a loving, brilliant consciousness all her own, and of her countless balancing acts, healing herself is one in which she truly shines.


Of this, and so much more, you can be very, very proud.


Yee-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
________________________________________
Thoughts become things... choose the good ones! ®
© http://www.tut.com/ ®
Little can ease the suffering or stem the pain over lives lost and careers halted, Andrea, but human nature is every bit as resilient and courageous as mother Earth, and we are simply awed by what we see unfolding from here. All hail... before humankind.

Thank you, Andrea
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com
http://www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess
www.FaceBook.com/DrSuccessPhD

The Power of Few Words

One of the most enjoyable keynote speeches I ever heard was designed around quotes that made a point about the speakers life.  The speaker was a trained actress so there was extra power in her delivery, yet I have always felt the very few words that constitute most quotes contain as much significance as an entire chapter in any book. 

This week I had the pleasure of reading the daily thoughts of Katherine Saux, a licensed professional practitioner at the Oakland Center for Spiritual Living. Here are some of the lead-in quotes she used to introduce her thought of the day: 

I am very brave, generally, only today I happen to have a headache.  Tweedledum
Idolatry is believing that what exists now is the only possibility.  Rabbi Michael Lerner
All your pain, worry, sorrow will someday apologize and confess they were a great lie.  Hafiz
"What is grace?" I asked God.  And he said, "All that happens."  St. John of the Cross
The most important aspect of being on the spiritual path may be to just keep moving.  Pema Chodron
Which goes along with an old Quaker favorite of mine, "When you pray, move your feet."  and finally...

A grateful mind is a great mind, which eventually attracts to itself great things.  Plato

Dr. Success Challenge:  What quotes guide your life?  If you were to develop a 15 minute speech about your life right now, what quotes would you use to highlight the significant moments?  Play with that.  Have some fun. 

Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com
http://www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess
1 866 975 3777 Toll-Free

Spiritual Economics Part 1

I have a habit of reading ‘old’ books, meaning books that were published over 10 years ago. I often find – actually more than often – that the messages contained within the pages are as meaningful today as they were at the time of their original printing. On my list this month is Spiritual Economics by Eric Butterworth and The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Taken together they offer timeless and continually proven truths. I will highlight key leanings from each book separately over the next few posts in hopes of bringing the messages back to life for myself as much as for my readers.

Spiritual Economics by Eric Butterworth was published in 1993 yet this statement early in the book could have been written any time since 2008:

“Ours is an age of great change. Great corporations are streamlining their workforce to reflect the need for greater efficiencies of operation and also for the impact of automation. Whole industries are either being eliminated entirely or are moving into new fields. The result: jobs once considered to be secure are being eliminated. Many workers are being faced with the need to undergo retraining for entry into new fields of work. Many people are launching out in entrepreneurial endeavors, calling faith and vision and the need to tap into the universal flow of substance.”

Butterworth advice to combat this was to turn your attention to nature where the presence of life’s endless flow is everywhere. Whether you look to the seasons, the weather, the blooming and dormancy of plants and flowers, you see how things come to life, grow, change, die and yet life and the cycle continues. Nature is the confirmed evidence of the ‘omnipresence of universal substance.’

Dr. Success Challenge: It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Go outdoors and prove Butterworth’s contention for yourself.

Thank you and enjoy,

Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD
http://www.servingsuccess.com/
1 866 975 3777
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com

My Deepest Fear...

Dr. Success Challenge: For the next 30 days, look yourself in the mirror and recite this first person adaptation of Marianne William's famous passage. Keep track of changes in your personal confidence during the 30 days. Keep track of days it is easy to do, and days that it is difficult. Keep track of the lines that you stubble on. Those are areas of your personal confidence you might want to work on.

My Deepest Fear

My deepest fear is not that I am inadequate.
My deepest fear is that I am powerful beyond measure.
It is my light, not my darkness that most frightens me.
I ask myself, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who am I not to be?
I am a child of God. My playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around me.
I am meant to shine, as children are.
I was born to make manifest the glory of God that is within me. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as I let my own light shine, I unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As I am liberated from our own fear, my presence automatically liberates others.”

This first person adaptation of the inspiring quote by Marianne Williamson is from her book, A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3 (Pg. 190-191).

Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success™
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com
http://www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD