Tag Archives: Change

Have You Ever Wanted to Talk to Yourself in the Past?

harli-marten-M9jrKDXOQoU-unsplash.jpgMost of what I’ve written about in the last few months has focused on change management from a macro-perspective, which is completely natural given my inclination to try and change the “whole” of the system, rather than one piece of it. However, today I’d like to focus on the micro-perspective of change management – the individual.

In 1959, a geologist put a message in a bottle and buried it in the Arctic. The note and a companion note nearby explained that they were buried a specific distance to the edge of a nearby glacier. The note(s) then asked the person who found them to measure the current distance to the glacier and then mail that information to researchers at Ohio State University.

The notes weren’t found until… 50+ years after written. [Spoiler, but not really a spoiler: the glacier had retreated over 200 feet in that timespan.]

There have been so many technological advances since 1959, so we don’t necessarily need to look to put our memories on paper and bury them in a time capsule to be opened 60 years from now. Instead, we have tools that have reduced the legwork (to essentially zero) allowing you to use the very same device on which you’re reading this to write yourself a letter and have it sent to you on a date of your choosing. Pardon?

Have you ever wanted to send yourself an email weeks or months into the future? Well, as it happens, you now can à https://www.futureme.org/

The interface is relatively simple. You begin writing yourself a letter and then you can choose when you want it to be sent to you. They prompt the user with 1 year, 3 years, or 5 years, but you can also choose the specific date (so if you want 2 weeks, 6 months, 18 months, etc.). Then, you decide whether you want to keep your letter private or release it to the public (anonymously). Lastly, you enter your email address, press send, and reap the benefits of knowing that you ‘put something out into the universe’ that you’ll be receiving at a later date.

There’s a lot of potential uses for this kind of a service, but I’m going to focus on the micro. As a person reading this, there’s a good chance that you have (at least one) goal for yourself. These goals probably involve some degree of change, most notably, within you. Maybe you want to learn how to code in Python. Maybe you want to learn how to be better with budgets. Maybe you want to expand your network.

Beyond the surefire way to make change (cue, reward, routine), it also helps to hold yourself accountable for that change. To aid in helping you make progress in this regard, you could send yourself a letter at some of the different times into the future. Maybe at the 4-week mark, your email to yourself details some of the reasons why you’re trying to make the change (and to maybe re-motivate you?). Maybe at the 6-month mark, the email talks about all the things you think you’ll be doing with this newfound skill/ability. When you see the 6-month email, you might have fallen short of where you thought you’d be, or maybe you’ll be on a different track altogether.

This exercise can be aspirational, but it can also be semi-reflective. Meaning, maybe you want to put your thoughts down “now,” but be able to review those thoughts 10 weeks from now. For instance, have you ever made a decision and then many weeks later, wondered what it was you were thinking when you made that decision? This tool gives you that opportunity to bare your soul (to yourself) and here’s the important part – without any confirmation or hindsight bias!

So, take a chance and give yourself the benefit of the doubt. Write your (future) self a letter.

This post originally appeared on GCconnex/GCcollab.

Be Yourself: Erring on the Side of Authenticity

I’ve had very spotty internet connectivity over the past week or so and that’s why you haven’t seen any new posts from me for a while. I’ll continue to have spotty internet connectivity probably until next week, but there’s something I wanted to say before I got back into writing regularly here.

Just before the new year clicked over, someone passed along the trailer for Seth Godin’s new book. I’ve included it below:

After watching that trailer — it made sense. While I’m not necessarily an artist, I think the message that Godin is promoting is important: there is a bias for the middle road. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but that bias to the middle road does come at a price. I’d say that this is something that I certainly have been mindful of with the things I’ve written about online. Some may point to my series on psi phenomena (telepathy, precognition, etc.) as evidence that I’ve long since blown past the middle road, but when I wrote those posts, I was careful to make sure that I cited a litany of scientific studies supporting the existence of such phenomena. Others may point to posts like the one I’ve written about hugs instead of handshakes, but that doesn’t seem like it’s too far from the middle road.

Regardless of who points to what, I wanted to say — today — I’m declaring that I’m going to err on the side of authenticity. What does that mean? Well, in the past, I may have shied away from sharing his opinion or that opinion — especially because it’s online! — ‘and things online are forever.’ I’ve come to realize that this is silly. Yes, I’ve read all the things out there about how the pictures you post online or the things you write about online could prevent you from getting job-x or job-y. I understand that, but I still think it’s important to strive to learn. How can I expect myself to grow/learn, if I don’t share some of my sensitive ideas and open them up for discussion and debate? How can I expect to have these ideas challenged and improved? I certainly can’t.

When I started writing on the internet, I had this idea in mind. That is, I was mindful that my ideas in this moment, on January 8th, 2013, might not be the ideas that I have on January 8th, 2014. As a result, I wrote a bit about it in my disclaimer:

I am the creator of this blog and my perspective of five years or five minutes ago do not necessarily reflect my views right now. My thoughts, opinions and viewpoints will change as I learn, grow, and develop my understanding of the world. Therefore, I reserve the right to allow my viewpoints to evolve and to change my thoughts, viewpoints and opinions over time without assigning any reason for such changes.

I truly believe this and hope that those who may look to things I’ve written in the past and try to hold it against me will realize that I fully expect that my ideas will grow, shift, and change. This seems important to make note of because who knows, I may yet one day run for public office and I could totally imagine a clever reporter digging up things I’ve written in the past with glee showing that I was, in fact, on the “other” side of an issue that I may be staunchly for (in that present day). Who knows what the future holds.

I know one thing’s for sure, the kind of change that I want to be part of on a global scale certainly won’t be made by me (or others) erring on the side of the middle road. So long as I’m true to myself — authentic — and keep to my ethics/morals, I feel confident in standing up for whatever I’ve said.

So — this is not to say that I’m going to start advocating some extreme positions in tomorrow’s post (or even the next day’s), but I will, as the title suggests, err on the side of authenticity. I hope you’ll join me in this learning experience — maybe we’ll be able to teach each other something.

An Updated Quote and Bio for Jeremiah Stanghini

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post called: “.” I stil think that’s true. In this particular context, I’m writing because I’ve decided to that I’ve had for this website. That’s not to say that the bio that was there previously was inaccurate, it just felt like it needed some refreshing. Similarly, the quote did, too.

To be honest, I probably should have been updating it monthly, but as is common on “static” pages on the internet, they don’t get updated very often. At least, I know that this has been the case for me. I ran into someone the other day who was talking to me about some of the various “resources” that can be found on Genuine Thriving. In particular, the resources that have to do with the book recommendations. After that conversation, I went and clicked through all the various pages on this website to see the things that I had put there almost two years ago (the newest redesign of this website went live in January of 2011, but had been around for a couple of years before that).

The new quote:

“I believe that each of us has something unique and creative to contribute to the world. My creative contribution: effecting positive ‘global change’ by making a difference in the lives of large groups of people. At some point, I get the sense that I will be the leader of an organization that’s not yet been formed, but it would be similar in size, scope, and influence of the United Nations. I believe that through connecting to our deepest wisdom and inner knowing, we can rediscover ways to collaborate with one another. Enhancing our abilities to utilize these powerful human capacities will co-create a better world by way of more effective, more efficient, and better decisions.”

It’s Amazing How Quickly Things Change

I was in the backyard playing with when I started to think about how things have changed for me over the last 5 years (or since I graduated with my bachelors degree). As I walked across the stage with diploma in hand, I was saying goodbye to a place where so much had already changed in my life.

I pursued post-secondary education mainly to pursue my boyhood dream of becoming a major league baseball player. I to the varsity team and remained my first year. During that time, I started to realize just how much practicing with the team felt like “work.” There’s nothing inherently wrong with work, but baseball was my passion. I loved playing the sport, through and through. I spent most of my childhood on baseball diamonds and virtually all of my teenage years driving across Ontario and up and down the eastern states of the US to play baseball. I was dedicated.

As my passion for playing faded, I found a new interest — student life. I became heavily involved in the campus community at SVSU, which was a stark contrast from high school. Although in high school, I was more focused on baseball, so who knows if I would have gotten involved with student groups in high school had there not been baseball in my life.

I started out my student life ‘career,’ in part, because the hall director of the building I lived in asked me to do so. My first position was as the vice-president of the residence hall’s council. It turns out that was just the springboard I needed to dive headfirst into extracurricular activities. I spent time as a resident assistant (2 years), went to state/regional/national conferences (8 in total, 4 in my first year), volunteered often (in 3 different countries), participated in university committees/boards, and was even my senior year. On top of all this, I still had time do well academically such that I was accepted into the international honor society in psychology () and be part of a at an .

Upon graduating, I was getting ready to begin studies for a clinical psychology PhD. Little did I know that 3 academic quarters into the degree, I would realize that I didn’t want to “save the world one person at a time.” Shortly thereafter, start my own business/practice. And shortly after that, move to New Zealand!

It’s been quite a whirlwind over these last few years. California, New Zealand, British Columbia, Hawaii, and now Washington, DC. Here I am working on an MBA. I have three semesters left until I’m finished. As I try to project into the future where I’ll be (or what I’m doing), I can’t help but chuckle just a little bit. Three years ago, I would never have imagined I’d be living in the DC area, much less in business school. But here I am — on both accounts.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you stopped to reflect on your life and found a similar thread of unanticipated changes in your life. And those changes, (by their very nature [and definition, in this regard]) could not have been predicted prior to their occurrence. They took you by surprise. They’ve certainly taken me by surprise. Sometimes, we fall into the trap of being (or sometimes, lack of changes). I would implore you not to do so. It’s impossible to know how pursuing scenario X, being presented with scenario Y, or being surprised by scenario Z, will eventually lead you to ultimate fulfillment.

Instead, today, simply look back and reflect on the abundance of synchronicities that have conspired to bring you to where you are today. Smile as you think about the unlimited possibilities that await you and the myriad ways they can transpire.

Everything is Dynamic: Nothing Stays the Same

As I think back to my , I can’t help but be in awe of how much has changed. Not just in the world, but with me, too. A little more than a month ago, I was looking over my for this site and realizing that it needed a bit of updating. I also noticed that my “mission/vision” statement needed some updating. I wrote both of these things 6 months ago and they need updating. It’s amazing how quickly we can grow and evolve from our previous selves. I only started writing posts for this site 6 months ago, but I’d say I’m quite different from the person I was when I first started. And so much has changed. At that point, I was just finishing up my master’s in and considering my options. Now, I’m on the precipice of my next big adventure: an MBA.

~

The problem with static pages, or static anything really is just that — they’re static. Nothing stays the same. Everything is always changing. Moving. Growing. Interacting. Dynamic. The title of this post is “everything is dynamic.” I chose the word dynamic because I felt it really represented the way that I see the world. The  of dynamic: “characterized by constant change, activity, or progress.” I really feel that this is representative of the world. Everything is constantly changing… it’s always in motion.

Static pages or static (things) don’t have this quality. [For that matter, why would they?] This changing and interactive quality is what emerged in the mid-2000’s known as . In the early days of the internet, there were just static pages. Somewhere along the way, someone thought it would be a good idea to have surfers interact with their content. This was the switch from static websites to more dynamic and interactive websites. One way to have a dynamic site is to attach a blog to it. Blogs are constantly being updated (or can be constantly updated). Of course, you could constantly update the ‘static’ pages, but that might not necessarily continue to attract traffic.

~

I’ve mostly been talking about static websites, but as I said initially, this applies to all life. Nothing stays the same. People often lament that when they are on an airplane, there’s no movement — that they’re still. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Do you know how many chemical reactions, interactions, and processes that are taking place in your body right now just as you read this? Not to be too dark, but the only time one can be completely still is after they’ve had their last breath, but even then, the decaying process begins (another dynamic process). So really, not even then, can something be static.

I’ve also heard the argument that inanimate objects are static and not moving. Okay, that seems plausible. Except when we take a closer look at the object under the lens of quantum physics, which tells us that most of what we think of as solid objects are actually made up of empty space. And in that empty space are tiny particles that are oscillating at a very high frequency. In fact, I’ve even heard of some people who are able to perceive this quality.

Overall, I really wanted to emphasize the point that nothing in life stays the same (which is a good thing!) and that things are always moving, interacting, and changing. With regard to the idea that “nothing staying the same” is negative, I emphatically disagree and would direct you to a recent post about .

Figure Out What You Love – Then Do It

“Our work is how we create and contribute and it’s how we make the biggest difference with our lives.” – Mike Dooley

Often times, I hear about people who don’t enjoy their chosen career. They get up in the morning, realize it’s a work day, and immediately, their attitude about the day takes a downward spiral. They clean themselves up, eat some breakfast, and head off to work. On their way to work, all they can think about is how much they’d rather be spending their time doing something else. So why don’t they?

Maybe the role models in their life were such that they thought they had to live through jobs that they didn’t like. Maybe they witnessed their mother or father coming home after being at work all day only to complain about how much they completely abhor their job. Maybe they didn’t have any role models at all and they are just modelling what they have seen their peers do or maybe… they picked it up from watching movies and/or TV.

While where they learned this habit is an important factor, I think it’s more important to note that their continued usage of this habit when presented with stimuli to the contrary.

There are lots of feel-good stories out there about people who change their careers midstream from something they despised to something that they love. There are oodles of books on the shelves explaining to people how to leave their current job and go work in a job they love. I’ve read quite a few of them and many of them seem to start with the same premise:

FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU LOVE

This may seem obvious, but authors wouldn’t continue to make money through books aimed at people who don’t like what they do.

There are lots of excuses that you’ll hear bandied about by people who are in jobs they hate, but believe they can’t leave their job because of the money or some other reason. For those people, those reasons are absolutely true – because they believe them. They think that if they quit their job and try to find a new one, they’ll lose out on money they could have been making.

This seems to be a fair point, but I wonder if those people consider the price at which it is costing their mind, body, and spirit to continue to work at a job they don’t like? They spend all day in a ‘low-energy’ vibe and then come home only to need to ‘relax’ by watching TV or doing something completely mind-numbing, only to get up the next day and do it all over again.

If, instead, those people made 20% less money and worked in a job that they loved, they’d be ‘excited’ about the day and enjoy their time at work. They’d come home happy from what they’d accomplished and not need numb their senses through TV or some other form. This positive cycle would continue day after day, rather than the other version of people continuously getting worse and worse.

The jumping off point, for some, contains lots of fear. How will I make money doing something I love? Is it possible? Where will I find this job? All valid questions, but all questions that are based in fear. I believe there is an element of trust in this scenario. When someone trusts that doing something they love to do will reward them – it will. It’s a bit like a self-fulfilling prophecy, I know, but again, there are many examples of people acting in this way and being rewarded.

When it comes to career, the only clear choice is something you cherish doing that will make you happy regardless of the size of your check.