“The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people half way.” – Henry Boyle
Life is a series of negotiations. As teenagers, we negotiated with our parents to borrow the family car or for an extended curfew. Today, we negotiate with our employers for better benefits; we negotiate with our spouse or partner for rights over the remote control to the television and we negotiate when we buy a car. We are always negotiating.
The point is clear, often times in order to receive what we want, we first must negotiate for it.
Here’s the rub though, many of us have never received any formal negotiation training. Unless you are an attorney or a salesperson, the art and skill of negotiation is an unknown or unperfected process. However, imagine how much more effective you would be, and perhaps happier and more successful, if you better understood how to improve your negotiation skills.
Negotiation is not about taking advantage of someone else. Just the opposite. Effective negotiation creates a win-win situation that can lead to better and longer-lasting partnerships and friendships founded on mutual respect and trust. Read more
We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what’s wrong in your life or you can focus on what’s right. – Marianne Williamson
Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook.
We have the ability to create our own reality. For the most part, we can look at a situation and see the good or we can look at the same situation and choose to see the bad. Often times the lens we use to view what’s happening is filtered by our thoughts.
Positive thoughts create more positive circumstances. Alternatively, negative thoughts contribute to feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment. Therefore, changing our negative thoughts is essential to achieve happiness and peace.
The following are the most common negative thinking behaviors. Becoming aware of these is essential to transforming negative thoughts into positive beliefs. Read more
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. – Mahatma Gandhi
Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook.
It’s been a tough week. In fact, the last month has been challenging. The expression, “What doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger,” was in jeopardy of being proven untrue several times over the past few weeks.
There were moments when I thought the stress would do me in. I felt defeated. I felt a disturbing sadness not experienced in a long time. I felt alone.
Our past can provide a reliable prediction for our present. When I was a boy, the cruelty of the other children made me feel alone, too. Growing up in a Southern state in the late 1960s was difficult. I was the odd kid out. The kid, who wore glasses, had a speech impediment and an eccentric family, was the kid picked last for the playground games.
This made me feel sad and it made me feel alone. One part of me knew the truth but the other part of my soul felt shame and embarrassment. The loneliness of my life was sometimes more than I could bear.
So, over the past month I understood where my feelings were coming from. My job has put me back on the school playground – in clear view for others to criticize and ignore. There are some feelings I will never forget. Read more
I want to feel passion, I want to feel pain. Come make me laugh, come make me cry. Just make me feel alive. – Joey Adams
Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook.
Good movies not only provide entertainment and chance to shut-off the outside world for a little while; good movies also allow us an opportunity to get in touch with our emotions in a very real way. Good movies can also make us cry.
If you sometimes find it difficult getting in touch with your emotions, trying watching an inspirational movie to rekindle and to reconnect with some strong feelings that can be laying under the surface of your hectic and sometimes stressful life.
A good cry at a movie can be a very therapeutic and healing event. Crying is a valuable release that can make us feel better. However, based on your gender, the type of movie that elicits an emotional response from you can be very different. Read more
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. – Joanne Rowling
There is so much to gain in the world. Love, money, wisdom, friends, success, faith, peace and happiness are at the top of most lists. The difficult question becomes how we can attempt to get all of these things and at the same time not lose our souls in the process. The answer may come down to a simple matter of choice.
Choices exist all around us. We can choose to live a life of service or we can choose to invest in a career that has the promise to be financially rewarding. We also have the choice of doing both.
For example, you can help someone in need and at the same time continue to build your career and net worth. You can build intimate and meaningful relationships and at the same time not lose sight of your own needs and ambitions.
Our souls are nourished when we do what we know to be right. By following our heart’s desire we stay better connected with our life’s purpose and to everybody else in our lives.
The following strategies are effective ones when considering how to stay determined with pursuing what you want to gain at the same time not losing your soul in the process. Read more
