Worry-freedom - an Everyday Practice
January 23, 2012 by admin · View Comments
From Only Positive News writer Beth Mann:
I worry. More than I care to admit. Sometimes I don’t feel as if I have any control over it. But I do. (I mean, if I don’t, who does? The mailman?)
And it’s tough not to worry in today’s age. Our economy is hurting, our ecology is ailing and we’re disconnecting from one another, based on ever-growing need to be “connect” virtually.
I wanted to share with you a few techniques to stop worry in its tracks. Because I don’t know about you, but I’d rather live my life than worry about it!
1. Laugh. I can’t stress the importance of laughter as a worry-buster. A funny movie or a quick-witted friend can inspire those belly laughs that make you feel free and easy afterward. Can’t find anything funny? Fake it! Tests have proven that even fake laughter has therapeutic effects. Fake some laughter for 30 seconds and notice the difference.
2. Look skyward. Worry tends to make us think very small. We’re locked in a box. The simple solution: open it up by going outside. Look up into the sky and breathe. Take in the world around you and remember, you’re part of something greater. Go for a walk. When you return, check in with yourself. You’ll feel less stressed and more open-minded.
3. Write it out. This one is tough for people because we have trouble making time for it. But simply writing out your worries is a great tool that provides instant relief - so try to fit it in. This doesn’t have to be any masterpiece. On the contrary, purge. Let it all out on the paper in a big, unrecognizable blob. The idea is to simply put the inner chatter on paper, so you can close that notebook and leave the worries on the page.
Worry doesn’t just have to exist side-by-side with us. Don’t get use to it. No matter what the concern, the more you practice breaking free, the healthier and happier you’ll be.
Beth
Take a Moment to Protest
October 17, 2011 by admin · View Comments
Let’s take a moment of thanks and appreciation for the Occupy Wall Street protesters. You don’t have to agree with them. But they are exercising their rights as US citizens and taking a stand and attempting to make a positive change.
What can you do today to take a stand, no matter how small? Make a difference in your own life first and the ripple effect will occur. How can you instill in others around you the importance of standing up for your rights?
Beth
Adlai Wertman - Social Entrepreneurship
March 7, 2011 by · View Comments
Adlai Wertman is the Director of the Society and Business Lab housed in the USC Marshall School of Business. As an investment banker turned social entrepreneur, Prf. Wertman went on to become on to become a thought-leader in social enterprise as President and CEO of Chrysalis, a homeless agency. During his talk about the Society and Business Lab and Chrysalis, Prf. Wertman talks about teaching students to make impact through social enterprise and the importance of business and community organizations learning to ’speak the same language’.
14 Ways to Elicit Trust
November 16, 2010 by admin · View Comments
According to the “experts”—sociologists, psychologists, economists, political scientists—trust is based on expectation. To the degree you believe you can expect a certain response from someone, you trust him. To the degree you believe he will reciprocate at some point in the future in some (often undefined) way, you trust him. Of course, past experience—with the person in question or with others—will affect that confidence, but in the here and now, certain behaviors and visual cues can also influence if and how much you trust someone:
1. Familiarity. The more contact you have with someone, the more information you collect about him or her. The more information you have, the more confident you can be in your expectations.
2. Resemblance. If someone looks, dresses, or acts like you, you’re more likely to believe his or her actions and reactions will be similar to your own. A 2002 study at a Canadian university showed that people are more likely to trust someone whose facial features resemble theirs.
3. Consistency. The more someone behaves with consistency, the better you’re able to establish patterns and form expectations.
4. Punctuality. If someone is regularly on time, it not only signals consistency, but also general conscientiousness toward other people.
5. Flexibility. Social-exchange theorists have found that people are more likely to trust someone who does not try to explicitly negotiate or force a binding agreement. (Think of the last car salesman you encountered.)
6. Discretion. The ability to keep a secret and exercise tact will always inspire trust.
7. Transparency. The flip side of discretion is transparency. We want someone to keep our secrets, but not her own. Self-disclosure builds trust.
8. Competence. In the workplace, nothing inspires trust more than getting the job done right.
9. Engagement. Trust is based on an understood reciprocity. If someone does not even appear to invest in you, he likely doesn’t have much to lose in betraying you.
10. Face Time. Part of engaging is an effort to make “face time.” A recent study showed that people in the workplace are more likely to trust team members with whom they interact in person more than those they work with via email or videoconference.
11. Facial hair. Another recent study in the Journal of Marketing Communications found that consumers trust pitchmen with beards more than those without. There are limits, however, to the beard-trustworthiness theory. Graphic designer Matt McInerney was only halfway kidding when he made a graphic spectrum of “The Trustworthiness of Beards.”
12. Eye contact (but not too much). This is perhaps the biggest behavioral indicator of trustworthiness. But the quality of the eye contact, observes psychologist Elaine Ducharme, also matters. Is it steely or warm? Too much eye contact can be unnerving.
13. Handshake (not too firm, not too soft). Any businessperson can tell you the importance of a firm handshake in building confidence. However, like eye contact, there is a middle ground. Too firm suggests aggression; too soft suggests passivity.
14. Posture. No one trusts a slouch. A straight back projects an image of strength and confidence.
Of course, while these behaviors and visual cues might inspire trust, they don’t guarantee trustworthiness. As Ducharme wryly reminds, many psychopaths maintain excellent eye contact.
Beth
Peter Rich on the Possibilities of Micro Finance
November 4, 2010 by · View Comments
Peter Rich - Microfinance Alliance Peter Rich is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management where he wondered about the ideas of more mindful businesses, social enterprise, and microfinance. He is a co-founder of the Microfinance Alliance, which aspires to educate and raise awareness of the importance of microfinance as a tool for poverty alleviation and bottom-up community development. By engaging the public and university community, the group has created a forum for dialogue, opportunities for action, and greater support for microfinance. Recorded on July 31st, 2008 at Solutions for the Other 90% at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. www.solutionstwincities.org
Social Entrepreneurship key to Middle East’s Youth
September 3, 2010 by · View Comments
The Vice President of Ashoka Arab World, stresses the importance of investment in the region’s education, and the ongoing and empowerment of women — and why the private sector needs to play a strong role in championing these causes.
Nancy Barry on Microfinance: Hypercommercialization Is a Danger
May 25, 2010 by · View Comments
Barry, former president of Women’s World Banking and founder of Enterprise Solutions to Poverty, warns of the danger of hypercommercialization in microfinance and emphasizes the importance of nested capital markets that are engaged in savings.
Famous Violinist does his part for Polio
September 25, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Some facts about polio:
- Polio is a viral disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis.
- The polio virus enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person.
- Polio is preventable by immunization.
- Since polio immunization has become widespread in the United States, cases of polio are rare. However, polio remains a problem in many parts of the world.
Rotary International is joining violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman and the world-renowned New York Philharmonic, led by Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Daniel Boico, to present the Concert to End Polio, a benefit performance supporting the global effort to eradicate this disabling childhood disease.
The Concert to End Polio will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City. Program information will be announced at a later date.
Polio eradication resonates strongly with Mr. Perlman, who contracted the disease at age four and overcame serious physical challenges to become one of the world’s most celebrated musicians. In this historic, one-night-only performance — his first with the New York Philharmonic in four years — Mr. Perlman will help Rotary in its effort to raise $200 million to match a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All of the resulting $555 million will fund critical eradication activities in developing countries where polio still threatens children.
“We are honored that an artist of Mr. Perlman’s stature and a cultural institution as revered as the New York Philharmonic are supporting Rotary in our effort to achieve a polio-free world,” says Rotary International President John Kenny. “Their participation demonstrates the importance of this unprecedented global health initiative. It will be our lasting gift to the world’s children.”
“The fact that polio is still around is ridiculous,” says Mr. Perlman, winner of 15 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. “There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to get polio. This is an issue that has to be dealt with immediately.”
Source: Happy News
Beth
