Einstein on Human Relativity

With freedom comes geographical mobility. Unfortunately, we often move and often leave friends and business contacts behind — out of sight, out of mind. All too often we waste the precious deposits previously made in “emotional bank accounts.” What a sad loss of valuable social capital! It takes a long time to make an old friend! It is so special to be able to say, “we go waaaay back!”

I hope that new technology and social networking services will help us keep in touch with old friends. However, as with any tools, it is up to the human operator to use them effectively. Another great new channel of communication is Video Conferencing. It helps to include non-verbal communication signals.

Better Than Money?

I hope that while we are busy “making” money, we will keep the need for money in perspective relative to other needs. Let’s be happy, healthy, and satisfied! Assuming you want to create both wealth and happiness for yourself and those around you, you have two approaches: wait until you’re wealthy to be happy, or become more happy now and thereby create more wealth.

Belongingness, Approval Motive, and Practical Implications For You

Belongingness Hypothesis Image credit to “The Red Boa” blog.   The belongingness hypothesis was proposed by Psychologists Baumeister and Leary in 1995, who suggested that human beings have an almost universal need to form and maintain at least some degree of interpersonal relationships with other humans. According to these theorists, belongingness is an innate quality […]

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs

Professor Abraham Maslow noticed that some human needs take precedence over others, but when the more urgent needs are met, a person is motivated by “higher” needs. When we are not starved for food or safety, we tend to seek love and belonging. If we have love and belonging, we seek respect and creativity, etc. Most people in the modern world are motivated by more than hunger or security.

Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple, said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

Are You Getting Older and Wiser?

When you were a teenager, you may have thought you knew everything. Now that you are older, you probably realize that you didn’t know what you didn’t know then. Now you are older and, hopefully, wiser. We live and learn. I wonder what I still don’t know that I don’t know.

Although technology is central to doing things in the 21st century, the most important things in life are more about being than doing. Who you are and how you feel about that, as well as who you know and how they feel about you, are timeless issues. Although the channels may be different, communication and relationships are still important. Family and networking still provide synergy and leverage. Happiness is still related to values and virtues. “Faith, hope, and Love endure.” Truthfully, I believe I am getting older and wiser.

Just Showing Up

80 to 90 % is Just Showing Up Woody Allen has been quoted as saying that 80 to 90 % of success is due to “just showing up.” Apparently this quote is controversial, as I found out when I searched for it. Some people think that “just showing up” is not to be applauded. They […]

Interdependence vs. Independence Reconsidered

  Interdependence versus Independence                                     Interdependence is a concept that is so important, and so complex, that I have been putting off writing this post for quite awhile, because I wanted to do it justice. Independence, financial and […]

Leadership by Cheer Leading

Leadership is about Leverage and Synergy. The leader has a vision and a mission, and he or she leverages the talents, the energy, and the resources of the followers to accomplish that mission. Leading from Behind Leadership involves synergy, i.e., the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. One of the fundamental roles of […]

Social Capital Futures

One thing I have noticed and reflected upon over the past few decades is the tremendous impact relationships have had on my life in every way. There is no question about the fact that relationships have practical value beyond their intrinsic emotional satisfaction. At every turning point or tipping point in my life, it was a relationship that made the biggest difference.

Networking for Collaboration and Synergy

Business Networking Whatever you need and don’t have, somebody else does have, whether it be knowledge, resources, ideas, skills, or contacts. Synergy is the main reason for networking. Of course, relationships, which are precious per se, are a very nice by-product of networking and collaboration. In an article on BrightHub.com entitled, “The Benefits and Challenges of Team Collaboration,” […]

Relationships and Extended Family at Christmas

There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays Extended family gatherings used to be a hallmark of Christmas celebrations. Watch our short video about holiday celebrations. Bel Mooney wrote a disturbing article in the Mail Online about the sad fact that millions of grandparents are left alone at Christmas.  Ms. Mooney lamented the fact that […]

Giving Thanks for Friends Family and Love

Interdependent Relationships Relationships have values which are often greater than material possessions. Love, of course, is “the greatest of these” few things which endure. I hope we all remember how precious Love is, per se, aside from any practical fringe benefits. But I also want to point out the motivational power and the synergistic leverage […]

Alliance, Tribe, and Syndication

Alliances, tribes, and virtual teams are popular among internet marketers today. SEO has incentivized reciprocal tribe syndication beyond the normal reasons to cooperate. Personally I have been wrestling with my entrepreneurial tendency to focus on my own creative projects, rather than to contributing a lot of time as a team player. I’m just being honest […]

Choose Your Partners

Social media allow us to get to know each other before we decide to do business together. This is one of the things I like about network marketing too. We can choose to work with whomever we want. I think that is better than taking a chance on “buying a pig in a poke” from […]

Relationships According to Einstein

Here’s food for thought from one of the world’s greatest thinkers. In his essay, The World as I See It,  Albert Einstein wrote: (on relativity 🙂 …without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people — first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is […]

True Friends Help Each Other

Friendship in real life is a never ending circle of love and mutual support. Friends want to help each other without keeping score. They just care and want to help. Reciprocity comes naturally and without obligation. When I think of all the many things that friends have done for me and that I have done […]

Interdependent Relationships

Relationship interdependence is about making connections and becoming allies or forming partnerships with other human beings. Relationships are inherently interdependent. Of course, they have value, per se, in the emotional realm. Above all, friendship is good for its own sake! But relationships also involve being there for each other in times of need. An indication […]