Personal growth and development.

Schooling is a tremendous start but life is so complex and involves so many aspects of our mind that we can only hope to cover any aspects of personal development only briefly in the time spent at school. Schools have largely focused on the intellectual side of the person you are now - and on the whole have done a great job! BUT what about your emotional intelligence? social intelligence? Wealth intelligence?

If you are lucky an inspired teacher may have touched on some of this with you. These are usually the teachers that stick in our minds for years after leaving school. They are the ones who had an impact on you beyond the subject they taught.
They gave you something that was more about life and living and being a human being!
You may not even remember what subject they taught but you do remember the pearls of wisdom they spread around the classroom!
Maybe it was many years later that you realised that they had instilled in you an attitude that has suddenly paid off in your personal life!
The thing is they knew you needed more than just facts (knowledge) your also needed the exposure to some wisdom. Wisdom that would change your mind or force it to move in a certain direction.
They helped you grow!

You are an adult now and you must understand that even though the teachers may be gone the need to grow and develop has not.

Two books that I recommend to read at this point are
TNT The Power Within You.
Claude M Bristol/Harold Sherman

TNT:
The Power Within You

.

PLUS FACTOR, THE

These are light reading and small paperbacks.

Next time I will discuss how we learn and how this affects our growth and how we cope with life!

Also check out BLOG CATALOG Education and Training

"Emotions hold incredible power. They have the ability to exalt or diminish the vital energy (what yogis call prana) which sustains our very life. Without healthy and appropriate emotional expression, we may experience imbalance and even illness, on the physical and mental levels."
from the SWAHA, Opening the Heart, retreat flyer 2008.

I spent this weekend (14th June) on the retreat learning how to open up the link between emotion and action.
The teacher for the day Swami Satyadharma Saraswati spoke of the relationship between our emotions (feelings) and our actions in life and how the two are closely linked. She spoke of how sometimes we have feelings simply because of a trigger from past experiences rather than what is the reality of the moment. Stopping and examining the way we feel and observing it we can actually change the way we feel rather than be a victim of how we feel.

I know this is an over-simplification but it is part of what we learned.

We also learnt some meditation techniques that help examine our emotions and improve our ability to be aware of when feelings are just a response from the past rather than the now. This gives us more ability to manage and transform our emotions and our actions as a consequence.

Meditation is a powerful tool and I encourage you to find a local Yoga group or similar and open up the power you have within.

I started here with a free sample CD!
Free MeditationCD

"Once Decision can change your life forever."
Anthony Robbins.
One decision that's all. It does not have to be huge and overwhelming not thousands at once - just one!
What is that decision?

I WILL have the life I want!

Having made the decision you then take the next step, and the next step and the next!

Now this first decision does not require IQ, nor SQ but EQ.
Wondering what I am talking about?
Well IQ you know - it's your intelligence quotience
SQ social quotient.
And EQ is emotional quotient

Until the last few years education has been much focussed on the IQ part of the IQ SQ EQ trilogy. Learning strategies used in schools and universities etc were geared to the intellectual - little or no allowance was given to the emotional and social skills.

You may remember how you sucked at maths but were brilliant at drama!
Well I bet it was the high SQ EQ rating you have that gave you that edge at drama where as the class Einstein was hopeless at it!
In the school yard the class dunce was the genius at trading marbles - that was his high SQ kicking in. He had amazing negotiating skills and every one liked him!

Today education systems are finally realising that we need to develop skills in all these areas if we are to achieve progress in the adult world. I am proud to say that here in Western Australia many teachers are now making big efforts to allow for this. Students are given learning experiences that tap into all three aspects and even the evaluation exercises are now more likely to give opportunity to use all three (IQ SQ EQ).

As a science teacher I can give you an example.
I might set a problem like a first aid scenario - boy falls off his bike and breaks his arm. Students are to present the first aid required to help this person.
Students would work in a team (SQ) and produce a presentation to me and the class demonstrating the techniques for treatment and also explaining the science behind their actions (IQ).
There would be a team leader and I would assess how they have planned the presentation and worked together as a team. (SQ EQ)

Now you can see this is far more expansive in its possibilities than simple science test given after students read the textbook or first aid manual.

Now one thing I saw very quickly when I changed my approach to incorporate IQ SQ EQ - the girls started to excel past the boys! You see there are actually some differences between the boys and girls that traditional education techniques had not allowed for. Women have been renowned for their social and emotional awareness for years. Our education systems have, in the past, largely ignored this and therefore denied many the chance to show their skills and ability.

I was reading the Sunday paper and came across an article by Scott Pape
Blonde Ambition. (Scott argues that the gender genie is out of the investment bottle).
In the article he discusses the different investing strategies used by men and women. In general women do better than men - not because of the markets but the behaviour of the female investor. Scott goes on to discuss the aspects of the trading styles of men and women and concludes with

". . .the truth is, becoming a successful investor isn't tied to your intelligence or education but rather to your behaviour. Again women seem to have worked this out."

Now what Scott is talking about is the other 2 of the triad SQ EQ. Women have strengths in these areas that males often lack. So when we start looking at wealth creation and investment strategies they often have an edge!

Now the good news is you can develop strengths in these other areas just as you developed your intelligence at school for all those years! The web is full of programs and seminars are run all over the world every weekend!

You have just one decision! Are you going to take the step to move forward and develop your abilities and educate yourself in a more balanced way?

Grab a book, enrol in a seminar, take one little step this week!

Good luck to you!
John

This is such a big concept that I have started a whole new lens follow the link to continue your learning!

THE AMAZING HUMAN BRAIN

Having read his book again this week I was delighted to see the start of a fanclub for Kurek!
I encourage you to get over there and have a read and get some insight into this amazing man and motivator Kurek Ashley.
I have met him three times personally now and consider them all to be life challenging and changing experiences.