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Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life

Book Desrciption: Critical Thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life: in your career and as a consumer, citizen, friend, employee, boss and parent. Discover the core skills of effective thinking; then analyze your own thought processes, identify weaknesses and overcome them.

http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinking-Taking-Professional-Personal/dp/0130647608/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322662548&sr=8-1

Intelligence is NOT proven by the school you attend or the exams you pass; the neighborhood in which you reside or the clothes and car that you drive; the profession you choose or the amount of money you make pursuing it. Rather, intelligence is best exemplified, and most clearly illustrated, in your day to day behavior.

Intelligence is something you do… it’s dynamic and ever changing – keep pursuing it.

FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.

The major storyline traces the personal journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional biochemist from Cornell University, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic.  Inspired by remarkable discoveries they made, these men conducted several groundbreaking studies. Their separate research led them to the same startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented – and in many cases reversed – by adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet.

The idea of food as medicine is put to the test.  Cameras follow “reality patients” who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes. Doctors teach these patients how to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments – while the challenges and triumphs of their journeys are revealed.

The film features leading experts on health and tackles the issue of diet and disease in a way that will have people talking for years.

http://www.forksoverknives.com/

The 24th Annual Runner’s Den/Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon and 5K

See you there!

Personal Results: 16th place out of 1161 (18:44)

Where and When:

Scottsdale Civic Center Plaza
75th St and Main St
Scottsdale, AZ

Registration and Pick-up Opens at 6:00 AM

Half Marathon Run at 7:30 AM

5K Run at 7:35 AM

There’s a distinct difference between showing good judgement and simply being judgemental of others. Good judgement guides intelligent behavior… being judgemental is placing judgement where none is needed. We should be careful with this distinction.

Our thinking frequently leads to contradictory ends.

We may state that we’re honest… but then steal small items from the office.

We may say that we want to lose weight… but follow no consistent strategy in doing so.

We may think that we’re friendly… but wait for others to initiate friendliness first.

We may want to be seen as intelligent… but often behave in ways that are considered thoughtless.

Make sure that what you think and believe is followed by actions that reflect your thinking to avoid contradictory ends.

Whether it’s weightloss, increased performance or wisdom… we have to apply ourselves to the objective everyday if we wish to improve. By applying ourselves to the daily tasks, associated with a choosen goal, we make the small improvements necessary to become better at it tomorrow.

Losing interest in life frequently rests upon a belief that we know it all – that we’re a finished product. The growth minded know better and remain interested in life because there’s so much left to be interested in. Keep Growing!

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

“A leading expert in motivation and personality psychology, Carol Dweck has discovered in more than twenty years of research that our mindset is not a minor personality quirk: it creates our whole mental world. It explains how we become optimistic or pessimistic. It shapes our goals, our attitude toward work and relationships, and how we raise our kids, ultimately predicting whether or not we will fulfill our potential. Dweck has found that everyone has one of two basic mindsets.

If you have the fixed mindset, you believe that your talents and abilities are set in stone–either you have them or you don’t. You must prove yourself over and over, trying to look smart and talented at all costs. This is the path of stagnation. If you have a growth mindset, however, you know that talents can be developed and that great abilities are built over time. This is the path of opportunity–and success.”

http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Success-Carol-Dweck/dp/1400062756

I find it more interesting and rewarding to have dominion over my own thoughts and behavior than trying to control others who haven’t even attempted to do the same thing; dominion over others is shallow… dominion over oneself runs deep.

It’s one thing to work hard, through dedication and persistence, year after year, and get what you want out out life… that’s quite a challenge indeed. But to realize that you have it, once it’s achieved, and then to enjoy it as well, that’s probably the bigger challenge and it’s seldom reached.

Worrying about all the mistakes and failures of yesterday, coupled with all the responsibilities and hurdles of tomorrow, can be mentally exhausting… filling our minds and bodies with stress and anxiety. Maybe, we should just worry about doing our best today, on the tasks at hand, and let the past and future remain where they are.

You can catch bitterness, pessimism, cold-heartedness and failure just as easily as you can catch patience, optimism, kindness and success. Good health and bad health, you can catch that too. In other words, be careful who you spend time with… and where you spend it.

There’s tremendous value in making a clear and definite decision; even small decisions should not be left unresolved for long. Matters that need deciding, but remain undecided, create low-levels of anxiety, soon leading to greater levels of anxiety and potentially disorders and disease in time. Make a conclusive decision with the information that you have available to you, when the decision is required, and change course only if new information makes the original course of action implausible. To be wrong on occassion is to be expected… but avoiding the maddening effect of matters unresolved, going round and round in your head, is worth the occasional imperfection.

The following excerpt was taken from “I can Turn Myself into a Shouting Optimist” written by Roger Babson.

It was true when he wrote it… and it’s still true now.

“The more I read, the more sharply I realize that the world has always been tottering on the brink.  The pages of history fairly shriek with tragic tales of war, famine, poverty, pestilence and man’s inhumanity to man.  After reading history for an hour, I realize that bad as conditions are now, they are infinitely better than they use to be.  This enables me to see and face my present troubles in their proper perspective, as well as to realize that the world as a whole is constantly growing better.”

Thought it would be useful to revisit an old self-help classic by Dale Carnegie “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.”

This book was first written circa 1944 and it’s still extremely relevant today…

With Dale Carnegie’s timeless advice in hand, more than six million people have learned how to eliminate debilitating fear and worry from their lives and to embrace a worry-free future. In this classic work, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Carnegie offers a set of practical formulas that you can put to work today. It is a book packed with lessons that will last a lifetime and make that lifetime happier!

http://www.amazon.com/How-Stop-Worrying-Start-Living/dp/0671035975/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321330122&sr=8-1

Trader Joe’s has this product and it tastes good too (just slightly sweeter than regular peanut butter).

Better ‘n Peanut Butter is the all-natural product of the Wonder Natural Foods Corporation that can be used in all the ways that you now use regular peanut butter, but instead of 16 grams of fat per (32 gram) serving, Better ‘n Peanut Butter delivers less than 3 grams of fat per serving.

Ingredients: PEANUTS (AS DEFATTED PEANUT FLOUR AND NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER), TAPIOCA SYRUP, PURE WATER, DEHYDRATED CANE JUICE, RICE SYRUP, VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, SOY FLOUR, SALT, TAPIOCA STARCH, NATURAL FOOD FLAVORS, PAPRIKA & ANNATO, CALCIUM CARBONATE, LECITHIN, VITAMINS E & C (ANTIOXIDANTS).

Life satisfaction is best attained through “purpose goals” rather than “profit goals“… having a purpose is bigger than money and one of the most important factors in a life worth living.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential.

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320880483&sr=8-1

In our rush to be patient and tolerant of others, much of our human behavior has become relative and dependent upon one’s own experience; very few seem to think right or wrong have absolutes anymore without sounding radical in ideology. Well… in order to improve yourself, you must be capable of recognizing the difference between right and wrong – all is not relative – and be strong enough to act on it when necessary.

If weight-loss and improved health are a high priority for you, then healthier food options (such as fresh fruit, steamed vegetables and whole snack bars) need to be convenient and more accessible to you than less healthy food choices. You need to plan ahead and have these healthier food options available in your home, at work, on your person or know where to get them quickly when hunger strikes. In other words, when you’re hurried, stressed or tired the fruit bowl needs to be easier to get to than the proverbial cookie jar if your weight-loss and improved health goals are to be met.

One of the most important criterion as an athlete and more importantly, human being, is “am I attempting to look good at the expense of being good?”

This precept has pushed, chased and guided me for years… and I’ll judge you by it as well.

The “North Star” is the star that the earth’s axis points toward in the northern sky and for countless years the “North Star” has been used as a navigational aid as well. StrengthLab plays a similar role in guiding the interested toward their highest potential; we [you and I] strip away the health and fitness marketing nonsense and find the straightest line that you’re capable of following and head straight toward your personal goals.