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Articles from William Cottringer | Selfgrowth.com
- Welcome Back Kotter (Likeability)! - by Submitted on May 28, 2010 from William CottringerWelcome Back Kotter (Likeability)! By Bill Cottringer “Welcome back, Your dreams were your ticket out. Welcome back, To that same old place that you laughed about…”~John Sebastian, Lov’n Spoonful. One of the most popular TV programs of my generation was “Welcome Back Kotter.” I can ...
Views: 2189(1 vote) - Why Some Religions Are Dying While Others Are Thriving - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2010 from William CottringerWhy Some Religions Are Dying While Others Are Thriving By Bill Cottringer “Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson. If you want to know a real secret worth knowing about success, look at the religions today ...
Views: 2134(2 votes) - Communication Is As Smooth As Glue - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2010 from William Cottringer"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss. Just like glue appearing to be very smooth until you touch it, communication can seem to be that way too, at least until you actually try to undue miscommunication ...
Views: 2934(10 votes) - Uncommon Sense for Work & Play - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2010 from William CottringerUncommon Sense for Work & Play By Bill Cottringer “Success and happiness are a result of using uncommon sense, while failure and unhappiness are the consequence of using everything else.” ~The author. Success and happiness in life are most often tied to your efforts in reaching a ...
Views: 1428(4 votes) - Building Common Sense - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2010 from William Cottringer“Success is what you get from using common sense; failure is what you get from using everything else.” ~The author. Success is built on a firm foundation of good old common sense (which unfortunately isn’t so common these days); failure follows the crumbling of a weak foundation built on ...
Views: 2711(2 votes) - Live, Love & Laugh - by Submitted on Feb 21, 2010 from William CottringerLive, Love & Laugh By Bill Cottringer “When done correctly by individuals, living, loving and laughing greatly improve the quality of life for humanity.” ~The author. The more you do these three things, the more successful and happier you and others will be. But first you have to ...
Views: 2286(4 votes) - Common Sense Life Mission-Based Alignment - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2010 from William CottringerCommon Sense Life Mission-Based Alignment By Bill Cottringer “Common sense and a sense of humor are the same things moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense dancing.” ~ William James. A few years ago, a colleague of mine wrote an important business book ...
Views: 2288 - Success Built On Common Sense - by Submitted on Feb 05, 2010 from William CottringerSuccess Built On Common Sense By Bill Cottringer “Common sense is the simple knack of seeing something the way it is and doing something the way it should be done.” ~Mark Twain. Is it just my imagination or is common sense being bred out of the human gene pool entirely? Some ...
Views: 1997 - The Only Relationship Article You Will Ever Have To Read (Really) - by Submitted on Jan 31, 2010 from William CottringerThe Only Relationship Article You Will Ever Have To Read (Really) By Bill Cottringer “Good relationships are when your head, heart and hands agree most of the time and besides it doesn’t matter quite that much.” ~The author. Centuries of research would agree that relationships fail ...
Views: 3681(3 votes) - The Problem That All Religion, Psychology and Spirituality Are Trying To Solve - by Submitted on Jan 30, 2010 from William CottringerThe Problem That All Religion, Psychology and Spirituality Are Trying To Solve By Bill Cottringer “Should we all confess our sins to one another we would all laugh at one another for our lack of originality.” ~Kahlil Gabran. There is a very large “elephant metaphor” in life’s ...
Views: 1388(1 vote) - Going From The “What To Do” To “How To Do It” Level Of Self Growth - by Submitted on Jan 17, 2010 from William CottringerGoing From The “What To Do” To “How To Do It” Level Of Self Growth By Bill Cottringer “Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.” ~anonymous. The common purpose of life for us all seems to be ...
Views: 1484(2 votes) - “The Dark Depression Cloud of Later Life” - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2009 from William Cottringer“The Dark Depression Cloud of Later Life” By Bill Cottringer “The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.” ~Doug Larson Later life often brings a dark cloud of depression that can be very worrisome and quite difficult to deal with, ...
Views: 1695(2 votes) - MANAGING METAPHORS ABOUT LIVING AND DYING FOR EVERYDAY LIFE - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2009 from William CottringerMANAGING METAPHORS ABOUT LIVING AND DYING FOR EVERYDAY LIFE By Bill Cottringer “Key metaphors help determine what and how we perceive and how we think about our perceptions.” ~M.H. Abrams. Metaphors: Creative communication of words that magically simplify huge, complex realities into ...
Views: 2295(1 vote) - FIVE “HELPING” THINGS WE ALL WANT FOR OURSELVES AND NEED TO LEARN HOW TO GIVE TO OTHERS - by Submitted on Nov 26, 2009 from William CottringerFIVE “HELPING” THINGS WE ALL WANT FOR OURSELVES AND NEED TO LEARN HOW TO GIVE TO OTHERS By Bill Cottringer “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” ~Dr. Seuss I have been involved in the helping business on both ends of giving ...
Views: 1866(3 votes) - Top Ten Happiness Robbers - by Submitted on Nov 23, 2009 from William CottringerTop Ten Happiness Robbers By Bill Cottringer “You can never make another person happy, only unhappy. ~The author. Are you happy enough with your happiness bank account balance? Knowing that a happiness bank account balance can never be high enough, here are a few bank robbers you ...
Views: 1927(4 votes) - Finding Your Way Out of the Swamp When you Are Shoulder-Deep in Alligators - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2009 from William CottringerFinding Your Way Out of the Swamp When you Are Shoulder-Deep in Alligators By Bill Cottringer “No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.” ~Voltaire. Scene. Picture this: A Cold, foggy, and damp early morning when you find yourself under-dressed and shoulder-deep in a ...
Views: 3472(3 votes) - REALITY REPAIR: TIME, SWEAT, TEARS & NO PROMISES OF SOMETHING FOR NOTHING - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2009 from William CottringerREALITY REPAIR: TIME, SWEAT, TEARS & NO PROMISES OF SOMETHING FOR NOTHING By Bill Cottringer “You don't get something for nothing; You can't have freedom for free; You won't get wise With the sleep still in your eyes No matter what your dreams might be.” ~Neil Peart. Shame ...
Views: 1564(6 votes) - BEING OKAY WITH BEING AVERAGE - by Submitted on Nov 12, 2009 from William CottringerBEING OKAY WITH BEING AVERAGE By Bill Cottringer “Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common. ~Satchel Page. In reality, the great majority of people fall within the “average” range of the so-called Bell Curve. Most people are average in ...
Views: 6238(6 votes) - STAYING AHEAD OF THE PAPERWORK OVERLOAD - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2009 from William CottringerSTAYING AHEAD OF THE PAPERWORK OVERLOAD By Bill Cottringer “Keeping up with the information overload is like trying to sip water from a fire hose.” ~ Anonymous. So you think you are overloaded with paperwork at your job? My very first professional job was a counselor at a ...
Views: 3157(3 votes) - TERRIBLE CHOICES - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2009 from William CottringerTERRIBLE CHOICES By Bill Cottringer “We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.” ~Kahlil Gibran. There are some terrible choices we seem to have to make through all ages. Consider the following very uncomfortable choices confronting us all at different ...
Views: 1612(4 votes) - SHRINKING FROWNS AND EXPANDING SMILES - by Submitted on Oct 14, 2009 from William CottringerSHRINKING FROWNS AND EXPANDING SMILES By Bill Cottringer “A smile cures the wounding of a frown.” ~William Shakespeare. Here are ten practical ways to reduce your unhappy failures and boost your happy successes, curing your frowns with smiles: 1. Follow the reality principle. ...
Views: 1562(6 votes) - PUTTING THE POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY MOVEMENT IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2009 from William CottringerPUTTING THE POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY MOVEMENT IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE “Happiness is not a goal, but rather it’s a byproduct.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt. This quote by Eleanor Roosevelt puts a lot of things in proper perspective, especially the popular movements for change driven by the mass media ...
Views: 2437(4 votes) - TEN SURE WAYS TO SUCCEED IN THE WORKPLACE - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2011 from William CottringerTEN SURE WAYS TO SUCCEED IN THE WORKPLACE By Bill Cottringer “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” ~Oscar Wilde. It doesn’t matter whether you are engaged in your dream career or just working at a job; not trying your best to succeed at the ...
Views: 2298(7 votes) - BREAKING THE NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE CYCLE OF ADDICTION - by Submitted on Sep 17, 2009 from William CottringerBREAKING THE NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE CYCLE OF ADDICTION by Bill Cottringer “In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.” ~Aldous Huxley. A drop dead handsome, smart young man gets a good education and ...
Views: 2953 - The Soul’s Revenge Of The Mind’s ExcessesSubmitted on Sep 04, 2009 from William CottringerThe Soul’s Revenge Of The Mind’s Excesses By Bill Cottringer “Everything in excess is opposed to nature.” ~Hippocrates. What is the real goal of self-growth? After 4+ decades of practical research into the self-growth movement, I have come to a tentative conclusion about this question: ...
Views: 1457 - SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO YOUR HEAD OR HEART? - by Submitted on Sep 02, 2009 from William Cottringer“There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow.” ~Christopher Morley. This article title is not a rhetorical question at all. In fact it might be one of the most important questions to ask and answer ...
Views: 5083(4 votes) - How Successful Are You? - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from William Cottringer“Success is the progress we each make in our private, lifelong journey of learning, growing and improving into our best selves.” ~The author. There are currently as many “tests” to measure success as there are personal definitions of it or criteria for defining it. Where do you go to ...
Views: 1511(1 vote) - Ten Things to Stop Beating Yourself Up Over - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from William Cottringer“He who doesn't accept the conditions of life sells his soul.” ~Charles Baudelaire. There are ten no-cause things I have found some people needlessly beat themselves up over. It just makes more sense to accept reality as it is with these particular things and move on to greener pastures worth ...
Views: 4925(3 votes) - When 1/2 Plus 1/2 Doesn't Add Up to One - by Submitted on Aug 18, 2009 from William Cottringer“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four; calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.” ~Abraham Lincoln. When some new, intriguing, and well-packaged self-help book, system or idea comes out, it is very easy to run straight towards it with a smothering full body ...
Views: 1330(2 votes) - Some Things Can’t Be Understood - by Submitted on Aug 10, 2009 from William Cottringer“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” ~Robert McCloskey. You can’t understand some things, You may think you can, But you really can’t, Especially the why questions, Other people’s ...
Views: 4690(1 vote) - Every Choice Has Its Price - by Submitted on Aug 05, 2009 from William Cottringer“There are always two choices, two paths to take. One is easy and its only reward is that it’s easy.” ~Anonymous chooser. It seems like a lifetime ago that I wrote the book “You Can Have Your Cheese & Eat It Too, with all the clever ways to crack the ancient paradox of you can’t have ...
Views: 4749(3 votes) - The Ten Most Common Causes of Unhappiness and Their Common Sense Cures - by Submitted on Jul 22, 2009 from William Cottringer“O Lord! Unhappy is the man whom man can make unhappy.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson. I have dealt with a lot of unhappy people during my 45-year career and I have been unhappy enough myself during my own roller-coaster ride in life to have experienced the top ten reasons causing unhappiness and ...
Views: 3950(1 vote) - The Reality Principle of Success and Why Many People Don’t Follow It - by Submitted on Jul 24, 2009 from William CottringerJames Gray’s “Two Lovers” with Joaquin Phoenix, Gwenth Paltrow, and Vinessa Shaw was an amusing, but predictable movie. The plot involved a confused young man carrying on with two completely different lovers—one very passionate, slightly out-of-reach relationship with all sorts of possibilities, ...
Views: 1561 - Why Going From Surviving To Thriving Is So Difficult - by Submitted on Jun 13, 2009 from William CottringerWhy Going From Surviving To Thriving Is So Difficult By Bill Cottringer “Life is a series of steps. Things are done gradually. Once in awhile there is a giant step, but most of the time we are taking small, seemingly insignificant steps on the stairway of life.” ~Ralph Ranson. There are ...
Views: 1102 - What Can You Do When You Feel Life Doesn’t Care About Your Pain And Suffering? - by Submitted on Jun 12, 2009 from William CottringerWhat Can You Do When You Feel Life Doesn’t Care About Your Pain And Suffering? By Bill Cottringer “This is where you win the battle—in the playhouse of your mind.” ~Maxwell Maltz. Unfortunately, the short and truthful answer to the title question is not what you want to hear—nothing. ...
Views: 1171 - Finding The Point Of Entry In The Dark Without A Flashlight - by Submitted on Jun 06, 2009 from William CottringerFinding The Point Of Entry In The Dark Without A Flashlight By Bill Cottringer What do these people have in common besides the first letter of their first name? • John has been a successful salesman in the technology field for longer than he can remember but his company finally gave up the ...
Views: 1251 - The Flashing Red Flags of Fatally Crashing Relationships - by Submitted on May 27, 2009 from William CottringerThe Flashing Red Flags of Fatally Crashing Relationships By Bill Cottringer You may wonder why anyone in their right mind would miss these blatant red flags before they found themselves stuck in a fatal relationship; but the real problem becomes more of how to get out of such a ...
Views: 1740 - The Four Crucibles of Success - by Submitted on May 17, 2009 from William CottringerThe Four Crucibles of Success By Bill Cottringer Every success has four crucibles that make nothing go to something, and close the gap between dreaming and reality: The Head, Heart, Soul and Hands. We know now, the energy that is transformed between these four crucibles is what shows up ...
Views: 897 - Asking Good Questions To Increase Satisfaction In Work, Relationships And PlaySubmitted on May 16, 2009 from William CottringerAsking Good Questions To Increase Satisfaction In Work, Relationships And Play By Bill Cottringer Sometimes real success involves flip-flopping the traditional sequence in which we approach things. Then we end up wondering why something doesn’t feel quite right, like the tail seems to be ...
Views: 1106 - Finding The Purpose Behind Your Purpose - by Submitted on May 16, 2009 from William CottringerFinding The Purpose Behind Your Purpose by Bill Cottringer Finding the real purpose to our lives can provide us with valuable meaning. Such meaning can give us the right direction and structure we need, which will eventually lead to the success and contentment we want. I have discovered ...
Views: 965 - BEING A GOOD EMPLOYEE - by Submitted on May 16, 2009 from William CottringerBEING A GOOD EMPLOYEE By Bill Cottringer A big part of being happy and successful, involves your approach to work. These simple requirements are a prescription for the right approach to work in being a good employee If you practice these simple suggestions you are likely to get recognized ...
Views: 9767 - Why You Should Focus More On The One Really Important Need You Have Rather than on The Many Others That Occupy Your Attention - by Submitted on May 15, 2009 from William CottringerWhy You Should Focus More On The One Really Important Need You Have Rather than on The Many Others That Occupy Your Attention By Bill Cottringer “We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it.” ~James Matthew Barrie. We all really just have one ...
Views: 840 - Why You Want To Abandon Your Comfort Zone Right Now - by Submitted on May 15, 2009 from William CottringerWhy You Want To Abandon Your Comfort Zone Right Now By Bill Cottringer “The security and safety of a comfort zone are a persistent illusion; but the only real security is in accepting your insecurities as you venture outside of your comfort zone.” ~The author. Here are six very good reasons to ...
Views: 1715 - If Enough People Imagine and Believe in Something, It Will Happen… - by Submitted on May 12, 2009 from William CottringerIf Enough People Imagine and Believe in Something, It Will Happen… By Bill Cottringer “I can believe anything, provided it is incredible.” ~Oscar Wilde. If enough people believe in something, it will happen…”The ‘Yes-but’ rest of the story is…True, but maybe just not quite in the exact way or ...
Views: 1248 - Surprise: When You Are Slightly Off Keel You Are At Your Best! - by Submitted on May 08, 2009 from William CottringerSurprise: When You Are Slightly Off Keel You Are At Your Best! By Bill Cottringer “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” ~ Oprah Winfrey. I am sure I am not the first person to discover this powerful reality, but…You are poised to be at your best ...
Views: 2184 - Basic Beliefs that Block Success - by Submitted on May 07, 2009 from William CottringerBasic Beliefs that Block Success By Bill Cottringer “It is my belief, you cannot deal with the most serious things in the world unless you understand the most amusing.” ~Winston Churchill. Sara is a very positive thinker, John is as smart as a whip and they are both very happy and ...
Views: 1005 - THE REAL ENTRY POINT TO WHOLE-GRAIN HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS - by Submitted on May 05, 2009 from William CottringerTHE REAL ENTRY POINT TO WHOLE-GRAIN HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS By Bill Cottringer “For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.” ~Stuart Chase. Several years ago my youngest daughter Abby was given an unusual final exam in her high school ...
Views: 996(1 vote) - CROSS-TRAINING IN THE SELF-GROWTH JOURNEY - by Submitted on Apr 29, 2009 from William CottringerCROSS-TRAINING IN THE SELF-GROWTH JOURNEY By Bill Cottringer “There are two ways to get to the finish line quicker—run faster and bring the finish line closer.” ~The author. Today we are all getting headaches from the ever-growing ornery overload, distress from the difficulty of keeping ...
Views: 893 - SUCCESSFUL REALITY REPAIR OF TWO COMMON MENTAL MISTAKES - by Submitted on Apr 28, 2009 from William CottringerSUCCESSFUL REALITY REPAIR OF TWO COMMON MENTAL MISTAKES By Bill Cottringer “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ~Philip K. Dick What life is all about is fixing realities that we don’t like and creating new and better ones we want. We do this because ...
Views: 969 - The One Belief That Matters Most - by Submitted on Apr 26, 2009 from William Cottringer“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.” ~Stuart Chase. There is one huge belief that has a humongous influence on all others because it represents and touches everything else. This one belief that matters most is the one we each ...
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