Are You Motivated By Fear?

I'm preparing a presentation to be delivered in two weeks called "Getting Beyond the Fear Factor." Here is the description:

How much of our work experience is dictated by fear? If we're honest, we might be shocked to realize how much we are being held back from achieving our goals. This thought-provoking presentation will give participants new ways to think about what's keeping them from achieving their full potential.

I love Lance Secretan's distinction between motivation and inspiration. He says motivation is external and fear-based while inspiration is finding what's already inside a person and helping to bring it out.

What are your fears and how do they keep you trapped? I'd love to include information and research from my readers here, so please help me spread the word about fear at work. If you have any resources for me to refer to, that would be great, too!

My theory is that if we can talk about fear openly, we'll be much more likely to beyond motivation to inspiration.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Stocking Up - or is it Taking Stock?

It's coming up on the end of another year ... don't worry, you still have more than a month to complete those resolutions you set for 2006.

This time just after Thanksgiving and before the calendar turns to December gives me a huge opportunity to reflect on all I'm grateful for this past year. As I take stock of my life right now I find that I am truly blessed; my business is booming and on the verge of growing, I have wonderful friends and a loving family (although there was an empty place at the Thanksgiving table this year without my dad who died in January). Despite the loss, this has been an outstanding year.

This past week I found a couple of really appropriate songs for my radio show (just a reminder that you can tune in over the web Sundays from 11 a.m. - noon (central time) at www.ndsu.edu/webradio). One is called "Thankful" by Jonny Lang and the other is "Grateful" by Art Garfunkel. I highly recommend both of them as reminders of all the blessings in our lives. If I knew how to do it, I'd post a clip of both of those songs here, but I don't know how to do that, so you'll have to check it out for yourself. Trust me - they're both fantastic!

In addition, I'm also stocking up as I received three different media packages in the mail today. One contained three new books: Zag by Marty Neumeier, The Happiness System for Women by Alexandra Watson and Trust Your Gut by Lynn A. Robinson. In a separate package I received a movie from my friend Tom Schaff called Emmanuel's Gift along with a book called Monday Morning Salescoach which Tom co-authored. Tom is highly involved in The Statue of Responsibility project which was inspired by Viktor Frankl. Tom told me that the story of Emmanuel is providing him with huge inspiration as he joins this project. The third package was Marcus Buckingham's movie "Trombone Player Wanted" which is sure to provide lots of new ideas and inspirations for my upcoming workshops and seminars.

I'm also grateful to be attending Dick Richards' Genius Workshop in Minneapolis this coming Friday and Saturday. I can hardly wait! I'll be sure to post reports from all these events and resources as I complete them!

Watch, too, for an exciting announcement about Bock's Office Transformational Consulting coming soon.

So much to take stock of - and to stock up on!

The View Through Grateful Filters

Stop right now and think - just for a minute - about what you are grateful for. Right now. In this moment. Take a deep breath. Were you able to take in that sweet air easily and comfortably? Be grateful for that.

What do you see around you? What colors do you notice? Even when the sky appears to be gray with autumn clouds, the reality is that it is always blue way beyond the clouds. Be grateful for that.

Think of all the people in your life. They're all there to teach you some sort of lesson - a lesson in forgiveness, in love, in compassion, in gratitude. Be grateful for them.

And if you can't celebrate your breath or your sight or the people in your life this Thanksgiving season, just know that you've always got a friend in me. Come back and visit often - we'll create a brand new dialogue opportunity with each post.

I'm seeing all the wonderful gifts in my life through new eyes this Thanksgiving season (literally ... see my post about my recent Lasik surgery!). As I practice gratitude in the moment, I see even more how truly blessed I really am for everything that's in my life. When I look at everything in my life through the eyes of gratitude, I really do realize that absolutely everything is a potential lesson - and all those lessons help me build my capacity.

What do your grateful eyes show you this season? Notice what you notice and tell us about it here!

Thank you for visiting and for being in this conversation!

The Chief Happiness Officer Reviews The 100% Factor

Alexander Kjerulf, the Chief Happiness Officer over at the blog Positive Sharing, recently reviewed my new book The 100% Factor and gave it a thumbs up! Check out Alex's review here.

And while you're there, take a look around Alex's blog. He really has a very fascinating story. I don't want to give it away, but suffice it to say that Alex has created his own niche in the world by focusing on what he DOES want, not what he DOESN'T want.

You won't want to miss his book, coming out soon, called Happy Hour is 9 to 5. I can't wait to read it!

Thanks, Alex!

What Would You Do If You Were Brave?

I'm in the middle of my radio show (Sundays at 11 a.m. Central at www.ndsu.edu/webradio) and I'm listening again to the song I'm playing called "If I Were Brave" by Jana Stanfield, and I'm challenging my listeners to respond here to the question:

What would you do if you were brave?

What if there were no boundaries and you could do or be anything? What does your heart call you to be???

Let's create something HUGE!!

Another "ONE" to Watch

I got a new movie in the mail this week and have already watched it twice. It's called ONE: The Movie and I'm looking forward to watching it with some friends in the very near future - it's always more fun to see movies that really make you think with a group of trusted friends, and this is surely one of those movies.

The producers of the movie - who had no prior film experience - started out wanting to ask everyday people some profound questions. However, as the project gathered steam, people like Deepak Chopra, Ram Dass, and Thich Nhat Hanh heard about it and wanted to get involved.

Check out the trailer here. How would you answer some of these questions?

1. Why is there poverty and suffering in the world?
2. What is the relationship between science and religion?
3. Why are so many people depressed?
4. What are we all so afraid of?
5. When is war justifiable?
6. How would God want us to respond to aggression and terrorism?
7. How does one obtain true peace?
8. What does it mean to live in the present moment?
9. What is our greatest distraction?
10. Is current religion serving its purpose?
11. What happens to you after you die?
12. Describe Heaven and how to get there.
13. What is the meaning of life?
14. Describe God.
15. What is the greatest quality humans possess?
16. What is it that prevents people from living to their full potential?
17. Non-verbally, by motion or gesture only, act out what you believe to be the current condition of the world.
18. What is your one wish for the world?
19. What is wisdom, and how do we gain it?
20. Are we all One?

I Can See Clearly Now!

Last Thursday afternoon I had Lasik eye surgery and my entire world has changed - literally right before my eyes.

I've worn glasses/contacts since 3rd grade so this is a pretty monumental occasion for me. Waking up in the morning and not automatically reaching for my glasses hasn't taken as long to break as I thought it might, but being able to see when I shave my legs in the shower is still pretty amazing! :)

I was immediately reminded of the Johnny Nash song "I Can See Clearly Now," but as I thought more closely about the lyrics, I discovered there's actually more to this than I originally thought.

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day."

Then I started thinking about all the analogies there are to seeing: insight, forsight, hindsight, vision, clarity, perspective ... and I realized that my new sight didn't just apply to my now-20/20 vision.

They say hindsight is 20/20 because we're looking with the benefit of wisdom. Wisdom: that which we learn after we know it all. And hindsight is the most beneficial to us if we choose a path going forward that will lead us to avoiding some of the pitfalls we will see through the eyes of that wisdom.

I'm going to work on an article and a new speech using seeing as a metaphor, so if you have any other ideas for me, I will be eternally grateful!

I've also seen this Barbra Streisand song through my new eyes - and understand it much more clearly than I previously did, too.

On a Clear Day:

On a clear day
Rise and 1ook around you
And you'll see who you are
On a clear day
How it will astound you
That the glow of your being
Outshines every star
You’ll feel part of every mountain sea and shore
You can hear
From far and near
A word you’ve never, never heard before...
And on a clear day...On a clear day...
You can see forever...
And ever...
And ever...
And ever more. . .

The Answer to Someone's Ponder

Have you ever considered that you are actually affecting someone else's life just by being you? It could be some random person on the street who you help pick up a dropped shopping bag, or a friend you greet with a wave as you see each other in a crowded grocery store.

I was reminded of the amazing effects we can all have on others when I happened to run into Carrie, a college friend, at a coffee shop yesterday morning. I was early for a meeting and she was there because she found herself with an extra hour before her dental appointment. She arrived on time for her 8 a.m. appointment, only to find that the receptionist had her scheduled for 9 a.m. She found that to be really odd because she's very good with details. So she was there when I got there.

I found out that she had gotten engaged, and was busy planning the details for her small, family wedding in December. The one thing she wasn't sure about was the music. So we chatted for a couple of minutes about some ideas, and I told her about a friend of mine, Chanda, who is a singer and who I was certain could offer her some ideas.

I received this e-mail this morning:

Hi, Jodee! Great to see you yesterday! I got in touch with Chanda; we're going to meet next week, along with a pianist she's worked with before.

I wasn't worried about figuring out the music, but was clearly in ponder mode. I knew that it would all work out; enter Jodee!
Take care
Carrie

I wonder how many times we all might be the answer to someone's ponder? How many people in your life end up being answers to your own ponders? Wouldn't it be great to let them know!

Thanks for the great reminder, Carrie! Now I'm on to pay it forward!!

The Power of Thought

I invited 5 friends over tonight to watch Larry King Live and his interview with four of the people featured in The Secret and one featured in What The Bleep. What a great show - and a great dialogue we created in my home!

The transcript is already up on CNN's website - check it out!

I've seen The Secret several times, so for me this was just validation for what I've been practicing since I first saw it earlier this past spring. But for those who haven't seen the documentary or can't quite buy into the power of positive thinking, it might be a more difficult concept to grasp.

But give it a try - you might be pleasantly surprised at what you see!

Here are the people featured on tonight's show:

• Bob Proctor -- www.bobproctor.com
• John Assaraf -- www.onecoach.com
• Rev. Michael Beckwith -- www.Agapelive.com
• John Demartini -- www.drdemartini.com
• JZ Knight -- http://ramtha.com

It Is What It Is

Why is that such a difficult statement for so many of us to make? I've just had a very lively conversation with a good friend of mine and it became very apparent to me, as I was focusing my attention on that statement, how difficult it really is to stay in that observational but non-judgmental mindset.

Think for yourself how many times your thoughts automatically gravitate toward something judgmental. It can be as simple as "he really should trim his beard" or as complex as what I heard Bill O'Reilly say on Letterman: "It's an evil world that we live in."

Anytime we find ourselves in a right/wrong, good/bad, win/lose conversation we can be pretty sure there's a judgment attached.

What I'm learning, through my interest in "The Secret" and the universal law of attraction, is that I really do attract into my space everything that shows up for me. No exceptions. People in my space are there to help me see things in myself I either do like or don't like - so everything becomes a lesson for me, irrespective of the person who pointed it out to me, either consciously on their part or through what I can learn from them.

As I notice the things that happen in the world around me and do my best to be an objective observer - keeping in mind my mantra "It is what it is," I find that I learn so much more than if I came into a situation with my mind already set.

This has been an interesting viewpoint as I've watched Bill O'Reilly debate with Letterman and also with audience members on Oprah's show last week. As I open my mind, I really can learn something from Bill even though his approach used to really turn me off (what does that tell me about me? :)).

What are you noticing in your own circles related to your own open-mindedness? Do you historically notice the glass more full or more empty?