How you define things (including calories) affects your perspective (& your reality distortion field)
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Humor & comedy
My good friend Roman Rollnick sent this (even though he’s in the communications field he’s conspicuously not on the web, hence no hyperlink).
I laughed. Then I thought about the effects definitions have on us.
How we define things sets the parameters of our thinking. From whose fault it is that those extra pounds continue to cling to magical thinking to our reality distortion field (a term coined by Steve Jobs) we’re barraged by the effects of our worldview.
Language is powerful.
So is how we define the words we use to weave our world perspective.
~~TGIF- each Friday I rejig & re-post a blog entry from my www.life-lenses.com blog, which is about enhancing our perspective & worldview.~~
Tags: communication, language, perspective, steve jobs
The results are in! The good, the bad & the beautiful. Habits that is.
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication
I had fun with this one (thanks to you). As part of my last newsletter, a review of Charles Duhigg’s “The Power of Habit” book, I created an online survey, asking you dear readers, about your habits.
(The survey’s still open so feel free to head over there if you haven’t already. And see the original review & related resources here. Congratulations to Shmuel Gershon who won the draw for entering.)
Here’s what you had to say as of April 22, 2013.
1. Author Charles Duhigg says habits are ‘neurological cravings’ that we can cling to against all reason. What do you crave? 
2. ‘All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits.’ William James, 1892. What’s your biggest, baddest habit? (Feel free to dish; remember this survey is anonymous)
3. What are 3 words to describe how you currently feel about this habit? (I made a word cloud from the responses)
4. What are 3 words to describe how you’d prefer to feel? (ditto the word cloud)
5. Do you believe you can change your habits?
6. Enough about bad habits, what’s your biggest BEST habit? Here are some of your responses:
- walking
- sense of humour
- writing every day
- giving my opinion
- cuddling my daughter
- asking the unasked question at what ever the cost.
- connecting with others
- lean to kindness and compassion
- I’m a maven & connector powerhouse
- Taking my time making decisions – also known as procrastination but it usually works out for the better
- seeing the glass has half full
- Prayer……I pray at every instant
- Volunteering
- imagining and learning
- My positive attitude
- Empathy
- spending quality time with myself and my loved ones including my close friends
- curiosity about learning new things
- Loyalty
- hot yoga – a new habit!
- smile
- being kind to others
- Daily meditation
- compassion – inquirying
- Waking up and walking my dog rain or shine!
- Empowering others to be their best.
- good at taking care of my body
- Feeling Happy and Laughing Often
- I try to recognize and affirm others efforts – I do this in various forms, email, fb messages, and not cards. I love to be an encourager.
- try to cook healthy meals from scratch; starting walking club (have to maintain it) started watch my weight and aim to lose weight
- To always see the good in things (bites me in the butt quite often though)
- Always deliver on expectations
- Good self-care
- Creative
- My commitment to learning; I’m a learning sponge
- How good I am at connecting people with resources.
Et voila! There you have them- the good, the bad & the beautiful. Habits that is.
Tags: charles duhigg, habits, power of habit
The magic of washing machines- put in dirty clothes & out comes books says Hans Rosling
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Humor & comedy
- Creative Commons licensed on Flickr by: Ovi Gherman
“I was only four years old when I saw my mother load a washing machine for the very first time in her life. That was a great day for my mother. My mother and father had been saving money for years to be able to buy that machine, and the first day it was going to be used, even Grandma was invited to see the machine. And Grandma was even more excited. Throughout her life she had been heating water with firewood, and she had hand washed laundry for seven children. And now she was going to watch electricity do that work.”
This is how Hans Rosling opens his TED talk. As TED says “in Hans Rosling’s hands, data sings. Global trends in health and economics come to vivid life. And the big picture of global development—with some surprisingly good news—snaps into sharp focus.”
I like his TED talk because it reminded me of a feisty pig that I came close to killing (more about that in a bit) and because it’s a great study in perspective.
He goes on to say…
“But when I lecture to environmentally-concerned students, they tell me, “No, everybody in the world cannot have cars and washing machines.” How can we tell this woman that she ain’t going to have a washing machine? And then I ask my students, I’ve asked them — over the last two years I’ve asked, “How many of you doesn’t use a car?” And some of them proudly raise their hand and say, “I don’t use a car.” And then I put the really tough question: “How many of you hand-wash your jeans and your bed sheets?” And no one raised their hand. Even the hardcore in the green movement use washing machines.”
My favourite part of his perspective changing talk is when he talks about what washing machines really give you, what magic they evoke.
“And what’s the magic with them? My mother explained the magic with this machine the very, very first day. She said, “Now Hans, we have loaded the laundry. The machine will make the work. And now we can go to the library.” Because this is the magic: you load the laundry, and what do you get out of the machine? You get books out of the machines, children’s books. And mother got time to read for me. She loved this. I got the “ABC’s” — this is where I started my career as a professor, when my mother had time to read for me. And she also got books for herself. She managed to study English and learn that as a foreign language. And she read so many novels, so many different novels here. And we really, we really loved this machine.
And what we said, my mother and me, “Thank you industrialization. Thank you steel mill. Thank you power station. And thank you chemical processing industry that gave us time to read books.”
And what does this have to do with killing a pig? I once lived in a tiny, rural, indigenous village in Mexico where I washed my family’s clothes by hand. This was made even more challenging because I had a feisty, active toddler at the time who I corralled with my hip on the ledge of the water reservoir while I hand washed the clothes.
After one particularly hot dusty afternoon, I noticed that the family’s pig had torn my newly washed clothes down from the clothesline & had dragged them through the mud.
We almost had pork for dinner that night.
And that’s my perspective. What’s yours?
~~TGIF- each Friday I rejig & re-post a blog entry from my www.life-lenses.com blog, which is about enhancing our perspective & worldview.~~
Tags: creativity, hans rosling, ted talk
Never, ever think outside the box (if you’re a cat)
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Humor & comedy
As the owner of two cats who sometimes, err, ‘think’ outside the box, this made me laugh.
Creativity can be messy. Disorderly. Hard. Smelly even.
The rewards, though, are oh so sweet (smelling).
Enough said.
(Except thanks to dear friend Roman Rollnick for passing along this cartoon.)
Tags: creativity & innovation
Another view of discovery – Columbus’ view reworked
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Diversity & culture
Perspective is powerful, potent thing. It can illuminate & enlighten. It can also dampen & darken.
Ownership, culture, discovery, holidays – they’re all imbued with perspective, with a particular worldview.
~~TGIF- each Friday I rejig & re-post a blog entry from my www.life-lenses.com blog, which is about enhancing our perspective & worldview.~~
Tags: columbus, perspective
The HUMANitarians project; Juozas & Anita make me proud to be a Canadian
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Social Responsibility, Travel
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, your path merges with individuals who make you think, bring a smile to your face, a warmth to your heart & inspire you to action.
Juozas Cernius & Anita Vizsy are two such folks. They’re in East Africa to document Canadians doing good work. It’s part of a photographic documentary project called “The HUMANitarians: The Faces, The Places, The Challenges”, which focuses on individual humanitarians, and where their work is felt.
Juozas photographed me (you can see the photo shoot here at the UN, our impromptu setting), while Anita did the interviewing.
(Did I mention I was lucky?!)
Check out the resulting photo of myself, and my partner Doug Ragan, below.
Want to know more about their work? Do yourself a favour & check out cernius.com
Juozas’ keen eye …
And voila, the results….
For more information, please email: info@cernius.com
Tags: juozas cernius
Innovation: sometimes it sucks to think outside the box
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation
Love love love this creativity / innovation infographic.
Because sometimes it sucks to be innovative. To deliberately seek out learning from difference. To step out of your own frame so you can see through another’s. To risk learning. To make oneself vulnerable.
So what’s the motivation?
While the journey can be fraught with challenges the destination is worth it.
~~TGIF- each Friday I rejig & re-post a blog entry from my www.life-lenses.com blog, which is about enhancing our perspective & worldview.~~
Tags: innovation
Training & development learning well March blog post round up
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Humor & comedy, Training & development
If you didn’t catch all the posts last month simply peruse & click what’s below.
Here’s the Rock.Paper.Scissors’ monthly training & development round up for the month of March.
Learn well in the training & development learning well. Dive deep into the learning well or take a small sip. Shower yourself in training & development or just get your big toe wet.
Refresh & refreshing.
As you wish.
Tags: adde adesokan, bizarro, cartoon, charles duhigg, culture, dan piraro, divergent thinking, diversity, life lenses, lifehacker, perspective, power of habit, youtube
The word you keep between your lips is your slave ~ Arabic proverb
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication
Photo Credit: kevin dooley via Compfight cc
The word you keep between your lips is your slave. The word you speak is your master. ~ Arabic proverb
Food for thought, errr, fodder.
What do you say?
Tags: communication, proverb
Silence is the true friend that never betrays
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication
Creative Commons licensed on Flickr by: kafka4prez
“Silence is the true friend that never betrays” said Confucius (551-479 BC), Chinese thinker & educator.
Me thinks he was a Head Life Lens™.
Reflection, deep thought & analysis are the medicine that prevent jumping blindly over a cliff with hasty ill-considered actions.
Take a deep breath … and …. think.
~~TGIF- each Friday I rejig & re-post a blog entry from my www.life-lenses.com blog, which is about enhancing our perspective & worldview.~~
Tags: confucius, reflection