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Showing posts from October, 2009

Spare the Rod?

Is Spanking a Child Harmful or Helpful? – Part 7 By Dr. Walt Larimore Wednesday, 28 October 2009 Opposition to parents spanking their children has been growing significantly in elite circles over the past few years. And, my blogs on spanking are among the most read of those I publish. Therefore, I’ve decided to, with the help of the research of my friends Den Trumbull, MD, S. DuBose Ravenel, MD, to look a the arguments used against spanking, to see if they hold any water. This is the seventh of a 12 part series that counters More Information: Argument #6: Spanking teaches a child that “might makes right,” that power and strength are most important and that the biggest can force their will upon the smallest. Counterpoint: Parental power is commonly exerted in routine child rearing and spanking is only one example. Other situations where power and restraint are exercised by the average parent include: The young child who insists on running from his parent in a busy mall or parking lot.

Momentum Breakers vs Momentum Makers

by Dr. John C. Maxwell A train travelling 55 mph on a railroad track can crash through a 5-foot thick steel-reinforced concrete wall without stopping. That same train, starting from a stationary position, won't be able to go through an inch-thick block in front of the driving wheel. It is never the size of your problem that is the problem. It's a lack of momentum. Without momentum, even a tiny obstacle can prevent you from moving forward. With momentum, you'll navigate through problems and barely even notice them. As a leader, your responsibility is to understand momentum, to get it moving for your organization, and to sustain it over time. Momentum can be tricky to comprehend, though, often appearing elusive and intangible. In this article, my goal is to give you handles so that you can better recognize how to generate momentum in your workplace. To help you grasp the concept of momentum, I'll outline ten momentum breakers alongside ten momentum makers. Momentum Breake

Why Can't I Focus on God Today? Am I Spiritually A.D.D?

By Aaron Welch, LMHC, NCC, CSOTS This article may be less like an article than any I’ve written before. Normally, I really have a grasp of what I’m going to write before I ever write it but, today, the title of my article is an honest question. Truly, why CAN’T I focus on God today? I mean, I’ve done everything I normally would do to spend time with my Creator. I’ve read my Bible, with a focus on how the words relate to my own life right now. I prayed that God would convict me of how I can apply the messages to my own life. I barely got through 3 chapters and, normally, I can read much more, not because I feel obligated, but because I enjoy them. But today, I had to stop because I couldn’t focus. I thought that, perhaps, I needed to spend some time in the awesome workbook, “Experiencing God” and so I read and meditated on the next daily devotional time. It was great! It had some really great ideas about being a godly parent, a topic that TOTAL

LEFTHANDED SOLDIERS

By Gary Eby, Motivational Speaker Lefthanded Soldiers is dedicated to all of those who have been wounded in life ... whether physically, emotionally, spiritually, or financially and yet, against all odds, have risen from the devastation to become a champion! There are few things in life that move me like seeing someone overcome adversity. I believe that there are great men and women from all walks of life, who, because of some “event” or series of events, have pretty much given up. Somewhere between brokenness and bitterness many have laid down their proverbial swords and surrendered. They’ve been wounded. Lefthanded Soldiers teaches us that when we are wounded … when our “right arms” have been hurt … that we can become Lefthanded Soldiers rather than allowing our circumstances to condemn us to a life of “what-ifs.” How many great leaders are no longer leading? What will our society suffer because the leadership we need is somewhere hurting rather than rallying the troops? What

The High Road Principle

By Dr. John C. Maxwell "It's nothing personal; it's just business," is a commonly heard phrase in the workplace. However, I tend to disagree with anyone who tries to impersonalize business. At its heart, commerce is a human enterprise, founded upon relationships between people. Most of us spend a majority of our waking hours in our business or at work, and our vocations endow our lives with meaning or purpose. When we devote ourselves to profession, we're giving a piece of who we are to our work. In that sense, business is deeply personal. In the workplace, as in the rest of life, relationships get messy. Sooner or later, we will be mistreated. A boss will unjustly fault our performance, a partner will fail to honor an agreement, or a co-worker will cut us down in a meeting. Since business is personal, those instances hurt us, and unless dealt with correctly, they can derail us. As a leader, we have to commit to taking the high road when others, intentionally or u

5 Strategies to Make Strong Decisions

By Dwight Bain, Certified Life Coach One of my favorite sayings to share with people facing a major decision is "you always have options." Yet in challenging times people are often so frozen by fear from making a wrong decision that they don't make a decision at all and life passes them by. Think of how many events in life are complicated or missed completely because of the roadblock of being afraid to fail by making a decision and then making that decision work… Marriages that didn't happen because of a shy guy with cold feet Promotions that never occurred because of the fear of asking for it Scholarships left on a table somewhere because someone was afraid to fill out the paperwork Trips to exotic places that were always talked about but never taken because no one sat down to schedule it Relationships that failed because someone didn't decide to work on issues and quietly let things 'slip, slide away' Forgiveness that was never granted because someone ne

Keeping Your Cool Even When the Holidays Get Hot

Dealing with the Stress of the Holiday Season By Aaron Welch, LMHC, NCC, CSOTS Ah yes, the holidays. For many, it is a blissful time of reflection, renewal of relationships, and a much-needed respite in the midst of the chaotic monotony of life. Unfortunately, for others, the holidays represent loneliness, a spiraling into depression, and the inevitable flashes of anger at family get-togethers. Yes, it’s true. Even if you can effectively avoid familial conflict for the rest of the year many cannot escape the hungry clutches of anger and conflict that arise within the holiday season. Why does this happen? What universal forces are at play in these unhappy annual confrontations? Why is it that, at many holiday tables, tempers flare like the eruption of Vesuvius? Truth be told there are too many reasons to count but here is a sliver of them: -Holidays often emphasize to us how rough the year has been (perhaps we have less money for Christmas) -The joy in others can irr

SIDESTEP THE FLU

By Pam Smith, Nutritionist and best selling author Flus, colds and viruses have been attempting terrorist-like "body invasions" for years -- long before the recent concerns around H1N1; it appears that there are always going to be threats of flu pandemics, real or sensationalized. The H1N1 alarm sounded in April. Just 6 months later, the never-before-seen swine flu has become the world's dominant strain of influenza. With flu's favorite chilly weather fast approaching, public health experts have great concerns that we are going to be a sick nation this fall. The big unknown is how sick. One in five people infected or a worst case -- half the population? Millions of vaccine doses are now arriving into the U.S., but the hopeful news: Even with no vaccine, winter is ending in the Southern Hemisphere without as much havoc as doctors had feared, a heavy season that started early but not an overwhelming one. The strain that doctors call the 2009 H1N1 flu isn't any deadl

How to Catchthe 2009 H1N1 (Swine) Flu

By Walt Larimore, MD Monday, 5 October 2009 What’s the single most efficient way to catch H1N1 swine flu? OK, that’s a no-brainer. Having a sick person cough directly into your face cannot be a good thing. That gives you more than a 50% chance of getting sick. But if this doesn’t happen, what’s the next most risky thing you could do to dramatically increase your risk of catching the Swine flu? The risks were calculated by environmental health experts Mark Nicas, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, and Rachael M. Jones, PhD, of the University of Illinois, Chicago, and reported by WebMD. Touching something contaminated with flu virus and then touching your nose, mouth, or eyes with your unwashed hand gives you a 31% chance at getting sick, Nicas and Jones calculate. Breathing in tiny particles left hanging in the air from a flu-infected person’s cough or sneeze gives you a 17% chance of infection. Breathing in larger particles – which hang in the air for a shorter time – giv

The Value of a Good System

By John C. Maxwell Almost nightly, the fate of the American health care system headlines the evening news. With costly inefficiencies plaguing the system, employers and workers alike have felt the pain of skyrocketing premiums. Politicians on opposite ends of the political spectrum disagree on the best policies for the future, but there seems to be consensus that the system isn't working well. I'm not advocating a position in the health care debate. I simply want to point out the headaches caused when we don't have good systems. What's true nationally applies individually as well. Broken systems lead to disorganization, confusion, and chaos whereas smooth systems allow us to move quickly and efficiently. The reason for this lesson is to help you understand the importance of developing good systems in your personal and professional leadership. The exact systems that work for me may not pertain to you. It's up to you to find the systems that will benefit you the most.

Introverts, Extroverts and the 4 Personalities

By Dwight Bain, Nationally Certified Counselor and Certified Life Coach “Why did you do that?” asked Molly, a busy mother of three kids to her youngest and loudest child. “I don’t know” was the only reply, leaving Molly feeling really frustrated and helpless about what to do to figure out how to effectively parent her little boy. What about you, have you ever wondered why the people around you do some of the things they do? Well if you do you are not alone because parents and pastors, scientists and doctors have been studying human personality for thousands of years to figure out how to respond to some of the seemingly odd things people do. If you want to solve conflicts at home or work then you need to take time to map out the personalities around you. Personality is important to understand because it allows you to rapidly and intelligently respond to the continual situations that pop up in marriage or family relationships. If you want more peace and fewer power struggles then get yo