Chaude Maison: 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

Wishing you a very happy Merry Christmas 2010

Left and Right brains ...

Left Brain Functions	Right Brain Functions
linear reasoning approach	holistic reasoning approach
analytical	conceptual
verbal/words	nonverbal/illustrations
articulate	has difficulty explaining ideas verbally
logical	intuitive
responds to word meaning	responds to emotions/tone of voice
reality	creative and imaginative
likes to make plans	impulsive and spontaneous
controls right side of body	controls left side of body
sequential processing	random processing, looks for patterns
pays attention to details	lacks organization
prefers symbols	prefers concrete real objects
likes writing	likes drawing
math and logic	art
math: arithmetic, algebra	math: geometry
narrow minded, selective	flexible, variable

Left and right brain strategies for learning

There are various study techniques and strategies that you can apply depending on your dominant side.

The right brain is considered holistic while the left brain analytical and linear. Left brained individuals prefer to learn with specific details while right brained individuals prefer to be presented with the big picture and then discover the details. Right brained individuals would benefit from reading an outline of the material that they are about to learn. It would be helpful for them to make a quick review before the lecture, for example by reading the introduction of the book and the chapters to be covered.

Right brained individuals are more intuitive while left brained individuals are more logical. Right brained individuals are more skilled at sensing when an answer is right even when they cannot prove why it is correct. They can make sense of information that is not immediately apparent and therefore are better at instinctively arriving at correct answers. Left brained individuals should trust their intuition more when they are not sure about an answer, for example in a multiple choice question they should go with their first choice.

The left side of the brain is better at memorizing words and formulas. Right brained individuals prefer concrete and real objects that they can touch and see. They are more visual and may benefit from visualization and mnemonic techniques that would help them remember words and numbers.

Left brained individuals like to complete tasks in a specific order while right brained individuals are more random and lack organization. Right brained individuals would benefit from keeping a schedule and focusing on time management. They should concentrate on pressing issues and delay tasks that can be completed later.

The Fence

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Addendum -- Proverbs 12:18 (NIV) "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Epilog: If only we could all be more "Christ like" in our behavior...

Big Difference

The Boss drives his men, The Leader inspires them.. The Boss depends on authority, The Leader depends on goodwill.. The Boss evokes fear, The Leader radiates love.. The Boss says "I", The Leader says "We".. The Boss shows who is wrong, The Leader shows what is wrong.. The Boss knows how it is done, The Leader knows how to do it.. The Boss demands respect, The Leader commands respect

Author - Author Unknown (Source: Source Unknown)

DON'T QUIT

When things go wrong as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit... By all means pray, and don't you quit. Success is failure turned inside out, God's hidden gift in the clouds of doubt. You never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar. So trust in the Lord when you're hardest hit... It's when things go wrong that you must not quit!

Author - Author Unknown (Source: Source Unknown)

Busy

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter ask for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The paid was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees "Congratulations," the boss said. "Go on that way!" Very motivated for the boss� words, the woodcutter try harder the next day, but he only could bring 15 trees. The third day he try even harder, but he only could bring 10 trees.Day after day he was bringing less and less trees. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on. "When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees..."

Author - Stephen Covey (Source: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

3 Ways to Add More Awesomeness to Your Day

Sometimes, when your job is terrible, your boss is crazy or your co-workers display the emotional maturity of 12-year-olds, it’s time to think about making a significant career change. But sometimes none of these things are true and you’re simply bored and burnt out. There’s nothing really wrong with your job, but nonetheless it’s decidedly lacking in awesomeness. What do you do?

Blogger Tim Tyrell-Smith knows something about turning lemons into lemonade. He used being laid off as the occasion to take a deep breath and really consider the course of his life. Now he shares his optimistic perspective via regular posts, including a recent one that aims to help those that don’t need a major life revamp, but simply an injection of happiness and accomplishment into their daily routines. Tyrell-Smith offers three tricks to up your daily awesomeness quotient:

• Expose A Great (But Less Known) Person To A Lot Of New People. This is a way to use your influence (and we all have some influence) to help out someone younger or less exposed. It feels great to receive this kind of a gift. The CEO who hears about a client service person going out of their way to help a customer. And highlighting that person in front of the entire company. The social media superstar with billions of followers who re-tweets a great post by a little known writer. The restaurant customer who so appreciates a server or chef that they tip big and go online to tell the world of their amazing experience.

• Take Action On Your Ideas And Pay Attention To Your Inner Voice. I spoke today to a person I met at a recent presentation. She was calling to get a few leads for her target companies. But our call ended up focusing on her real passion. A former dietitian, she… has a specific plan to use her joy of cooking to build a business. And I told her my story of taking action on my ideas. That I never truly knew what to do until I took action. And paid attention to how it felt to do so. What’s awesome is the real you. Instead of the one that followed the pack out of college. The world needs more people doing what they are meant to do. You’ll be happier at work as a result.

• When You Are Somewhere, Be There 100 percent. You can’t be awesome if you are not giving yourself fully. Now I will tell you that I am still “becoming” in this one. It is hard to focus when your head won’t stop swimming with ideas. But the people who I find awesome? They capture my attention by giving me theirs. Real eye contact, super active listening, a good smile and an obvious interest in my answers to their questions.

How to Tell if You Have Work-Life Balance

On first impression, this post might have a stupid headline. Whether you have achieved work-life balance doesn’t seem like such a difficult question — all the people you need to consult are nearby, all the necessary data is at hand and there isn’t any fancy math involved in reaching a decision. But as Pamela Slim, blogger and author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, recently pointed out, in the midst of the whirlwind of modern life it can be difficult to separate occasional exhaustion and normal anxieties from real warning signs that your work-life balance is out of whack.

If you want to know how you’re really doing, Slim suggests you stop comparing your life to some mythical state of perfect balance (or your co-workers or friends). Instead, try pondering the following questions:

• Do I enjoy my life while I am living it? When you step outside in the morning, do you take a deep breath and marvel at the wonder that the sun keeps coming up each day? Do you watch your kids (or pets!) intently and notice how perfect they are in their own quirky way? If you hate most of what you are doing most of the time, and miss the beauty of a full moon or the smile of a stranger because you are so busy rushing around, you may want to slow down and pay attention.

• Do I have a very short list of people I make a priority, without exception? The more our friend count stacks up on social media sites, and the more our client base grows, the harder it becomes to give sustained, quality support to those in your network. Emails linger in the inbox, and @ replies go unanswered on Twitter. But some relationships need to be nurtured every day, without exception.

• Do I “stay on my own yoga mat” as yoginis say, and not compare myself to others who are smarter, more productive, more witty, more sexy and more funny? I am lucky enough to hang out with some pretty smart and accomplished people. At times, their level of productivity overwhelms me. They negotiate great book deals, furiously write blog posts, close new business deals, and make time to eat right and work out. When I have a moment of compare and despair, as my friend Martha Beck says, I immediately step back and revisit my own vision of success.

• Do I wield a “No Axe” with great gusto, cutting unenergizing, unprofitable and unstrategic activities from my calendar? Charlie Gilkey wrote a great post explaining the criteria of Opportunity, Visibility and Cash Flow. If your daily activities do not fall into these three areas (including nurturing critical relationships), it is time to raise your no axe and whack them off.

• Are things a bit better today than they were yesterday? I have a lot of big personal and work development projects: a healthier and more fit body, a new book, a new body of speaking work… The big list is overwhelming. But each day, I take a small step toward completing it.