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Articles from Valencia Ray | Selfgrowth.com
- Work-Life Integration: Do Long Hours Equal Productivity? - by Submitted on Nov 06, 2012 from Valencia RayIt seems to me that many people are short on time and long on things to do. This certainly was an issue of mine also at one time. What I learned during those years was that time wasn’t the issue as much as was energy and focus. Lack of clarity and reflection time often drain the brain. When ...
Views: 1082(1 vote) - Collaborative Leadership: Obama Tech Team Lessons in Adaptability - by Submitted on Dec 27, 2012 from Valencia RayA brilliant example of collaborative leadership in action is illustrated in an article I read in yesterday’s Sunday Business Section of the newspaper entitled “Obama Tech Team Ventures Forward”: Collaborative Leadership Structure is an innovation to the traditional hierarchical structure. It ...
Views: 1599(4 votes) - I Want To Be An Entrepreneur-So Why Am I So Stuck? - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2010 from Valencia RayCareer transition is quite common considering that many people are searching for more meaning in what they do, or by sheer necessity, they have to make some hard choices. Why are they so hard? Life is really meant to be enjoyed, not one week of drudgery after another. I heard someone I know ...
Views: 677(3 votes) - Mindset Matters: Is the Heart Always Right? - by Submitted on Dec 19, 2012 from Valencia RayMindset is like a thermostat. Where your mind is set, like a thermostat. The setting holds the temperature—temperament, as in mindset—in place. Mindset settings have two basic ingredients: thoughts and feelings. Belief is formed from emotionalized thought that has an assigned meaning. Brain ...
Views: 1155(2 votes) - Collaborative Leadership: Are You a Mindful Leader? - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2012 from Valencia RayMindful leadership is an idea whose time is here… now. Now is the present moment, and unless you can be self-aware enough to listen to what is present to you, here, now, you are not showing up as a mindful leader. Mindfulness takes practice, particularly in our hyperactive culture, which is full ...
Views: 1272(1 vote) - Mindfulness Meditation: Live in Peace, Not Pieces - by Submitted on Mar 19, 2013 from Valencia RayInner peace is closer than you realize. You don't have to do any thing. In fact, it is your tendency to need to do something that is driving peace of mind out of reach. We have been taught to separate our self into pieces. Be one way at home and one way at office. One way at church or temple and ...
Views: 1304(1 vote) - Neuroscience of Leadership and Change: Embracing the Millennium of the Mind - by Submitted on Dec 12, 2012 from Valencia RayLeadership and personal development can be most effectively integrated into corporate and entrepreneurial training programs when approached through the gateway of neuroscience and brain research. It is our amazing brain that allows us to engage conscious reasoning, choice, and to imagine ...
Views: 1064(1 vote) - 3 Clear Steps to Radically Change Your Life for the Better Today - by Submitted on Mar 27, 2012 from Valencia RayCollaborative leadership, networking, team building and communication skills are all considered valuable and vital to business success in the evolving workplace. Typically, when a person decides that he or she wants to learn skill sets related to these areas, they proceed to learn techniques. ...
Views: 1431 - 3 Feelings That Can Harm Your Health and the Health of Your Dreams - by Submitted on Oct 09, 2011 from Valencia RayPersonal power is not often linked to the types of feelings that we have. In fact, most people would rather not acknowledge their feelings at all, which is unfortunate as research has shown that the magnetic energy of feelings is 5,000 times greater than that of thought. Our culture ...
Views: 978 - 3 Key Reasons Why Self-Love Is Not Narcissism And Why Should You Care - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2010 from Valencia RayConfidence is a key element to empowerment. If you can't speak up, take risks or all too often buckle under the opinions of others, your gifts and talents will likely never reach authentic expression. Let me say that confidence from the core, authentic self is what I am referring to. Not the ...
Views: 959 - 3 Practical Spirituality Tips for Daily Earth Living - by Submitted on Dec 12, 2011 from Valencia RayPractical spirituality is essential to live a whole, healthy, and integrated lifestyle. Your spirit/soul is actually the source of your “consciousness,” the root of your awareness, and the spark of life that is the core, real YOU. If you ignore it, it can negatively impact your overall wellness, ...
Views: 833 - 3 Steps to Deal with that Perfectionistic Inner Critic - by Submitted on Sep 23, 2011 from Valencia RayPerfectionism will reduce your personal power and effectiveness. I used to take pride in saying I was a “perfectionist” until I started to realize WHY I was a perfectionist. Truth was, I felt insecure and “making a mistake” pushed my “not good enough” button that I was doing my best to conceal. ...
Views: 1066 - 5 Keys to Attracting the Change that You Want in Business and Life - by Submitted on Feb 23, 2011 from Valencia RayBusiness and personal life are directly connected, with the common denominator being you, haven’t you noticed? It’s time to integrate ourselves into the whole being that we are. Law of Attraction is simply this: the vibrational pattern of energy from thought and feeling that is affecting your ...
Views: 948 - 5 Tips to Boost Brain Power and Productivity - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2012 from Valencia RayAchieving business success requires more than collecting advanced degrees and learning sales and marketing strategies. These things are useful, but we are so ‘dis-integrated’ in our thinking these days that we miss the forest (the big picture) because we are so busy trying to cut down trees ...
Views: 1168 - 7 Reasons Why Worry is Bad for Your Health - by Submitted on Aug 29, 2010 from Valencia RayStaying healthy is the goal of most people. As I look at our healthcare system, it has never been as important as it is today to be proactive in staying healthy. Between the expense healthcare and medication, the threat to your financial stability and the questionable "scientific" data that ...
Views: 5276 - A Fragile Self-Image Makes Happiness Elusive - by Submitted on Oct 15, 2012 from Valencia RayHappiness will be elusive as long as a man or woman builds their self-image or worth based on what they do and how much money they make. I read an article this weekend in The New York Times Magazine bemoaning the fact that many men are losing their self-worth because their “macho” jobs are going ...
Views: 1333 - Are You Good Enough Yet? - by Submitted on Sep 01, 2010 from Valencia RayCore confidence is the key to breaking the never-ending cycle of not being "good enough". As you know "good enough" is relative so how could you ever make this determination as a way to being? It is so connected to "doing" that you will always have something else to, well, do. Basing your ...
Views: 963 - Career Transition and Change: Who Do You Think You Are? - by Submitted on Sep 01, 2010 from Valencia RayCareer and business success depends on this question: Who do you think you are? Often this question is asked with an attitude, as in “you must think you’re somebody”. Well, yes, I do, and you should too. Not only are you “somebody” you are unique, special and it’s time to stop playing small ...
Views: 692 - Change Management: From Survival to Thrival - by Submitted on Mar 26, 2013 from Valencia RayManaging change effectively involves managing mindset. Where your mind is set determines if change is scary and 'hard' or exciting and 'easier'. I don't want to imply that change will be without discomfort, but it doesn't have to be downright painful. How you see it - perception - matters. ...
Views: 1381 - Clarity Takes Courage - by Submitted on Aug 27, 2013 from Valencia RayClarity is powerful and is a primary ingredient to performing at your best. It is poorly understood and generally not a feature of most people's strategies. Why? Because we are too busy being busy. We take pride in taking "massive action." Yet, if you are not clear about where you want to go ...
Views: 1081 - Collaborative Change is Creating the New Order of Business - by Submitted on Feb 15, 2011 from Valencia RayCollaboration is the here to stay; the days of “The Lone Ranger” are numbered and rightfully so. It is unnatural to live isolated with the old ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality and this was only a paradigm anyway. Disregarding others is like cutting off your nose to spite your own face. ...
Views: 950 - Confidence and Self Image: What Part in the Game of Life Is Playing You? - by Submitted on Sep 30, 2010 from Valencia RaySelf-image and confidence is not to be taken lightly. You cannot really rise above, or at least stay above your self-image. In fact, your brain acts as a cybernetic mechanism, which is a fancy way of saying "thermostat". Whatever is your set point tends to be your self-fulfilling prophecy. If ...
Views: 763 - Corporate Team Productivity Lessons from a Cow Farmer - by Submitted on Oct 31, 2012 from Valencia RayHigh-level productivity is a product of happiness—even in cows. There’s a lot of talk on the airwaves about innovation, productivity, employee engagement, and team building”…lots of talk. It’s really time for more action. I will say that I am seeing signs that people are finally realizing that ...
Views: 1054 - Diversity and Inclusion Begins at the CORE - by Submitted on May 21, 2012 from Valencia RayDiversity as a consulting arena was not something I was attracted to historically—until now. I notice that it too often seems to be only representation, which is better than nothing, or somewhat anyway. Just to have physical bodies in a room is really not creating a culture of inclusion and ...
Views: 1528 - Does Leadership Really Have a Gender? - by Submitted on Mar 06, 2012 from Valencia RayThe topic of leadership is being discussed online more than ever these days, or perhaps it’s just that I’m paying more attention now. Since we are undergoing rapid change in our social institutions, the need for real leadership is more urgent than ever before in my lifetime. I’ve noticed more ...
Views: 1075 - Emotional Intelligence: From Quiet Desperation to Real Happiness - by Submitted on Jun 04, 2013 from Valencia RayEmotional Intelligence is the mind of the heart, the right-brain in metaphoric terms. Realize that language has its limitations, and speaking in terms of the English language subtleties can be lost - such as having only one word for 'love'. When culture moved away from communicating with images, ...
Views: 1059 - Emotional Intelligence: I Feel, Therefore I Am - by Submitted on Aug 27, 2012 from Valencia RayEmotional intelligence is beginning to be recognized as a powerful contributor to business intelligence—“soft” skill or not. I’m all for respecting the intellect, and I’m all for respecting our intuitive feeling mind, as well. I have a book on order called “Descartes Error,” by Antonio R. ...
Views: 1797 - Emotional Intelligence: Mind Has Heart - by Submitted on Jul 09, 2013 from Valencia RayEmotional intelligence helps us to be smarter about our emotion. Emotion is a part of our mind-body connection. It is another expression of our intelligence. Feelings are the effect of our emotional perception. They add color to our lives. I say "perception" because how we look at a situation ...
Views: 970 - Feminine Power: What Is It and Is It Female? - by Submitted on Mar 22, 2011 from Valencia RayI’ve read several articles on feminine power recently and I’ve seen groups formed online with feminine power as the title. I even participate in one on Facebook. The Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying, “the western woman will save the world”. So, is feminine power limited to women? I don’t ...
Views: 1224 - Focus on the Core Four for More Effective Productivity - by Submitted on Jun 26, 2012 from Valencia RayEffective productivity comes from managing our energy, not our time. Time is a construct, and everyone gets the same amount every day. The issue is not how much time as much as it is how much energy and how you are using and renewing. Energy is the capacity to do work. When we re-energize the ...
Views: 934 - Going Through Hell? – Keep Going! - by Submitted on Feb 13, 2012 from Valencia RayEmotions are contagious, and how you focus your attention can either keep you stuck on how you feel or switch gears to where you want to go. It is our attention that is sitting in the driver’s seat of our mind. Most people seem not to know this. They think that if they keep talking about ...
Views: 959 - Gratitude Today Keeps the Doctor Away - by Submitted on Jul 17, 2012 from Valencia RayWork and life balance is central to health, real wealth, and enjoyable relationships. Gratitude and appreciation are apparently little known secret ingredients to what everyone is really seeking: inner peace, meaning, and joy. Then we can “in joy” our efforts and monetary results and use money ...
Views: 1074 - Happiness Helps Your Business – and Health – Bottom Line - by Submitted on Mar 13, 2012 from Valencia RayHappiness is a perception that is subject to how one sees life, how one interprets their circumstances. Brain research essentially shows we create our reality by assigning the meaning to our lives. Research shows that our ability to create and manage positive emotions is one of the foundations ...
Views: 1036 - Happiness: Are You Confusing Your Career with Your Life? - by Submitted on Aug 14, 2012 from Valencia RayHappiness can be so fleeting for many because we have our priorities backwards. Many people connect their sense of self-worth with their career, with what they “do.” What you “do” is not the same as who you are. Now for many this statement will sound totally confusing. “Of course,” you may ...
Views: 1056 - Happiness: Are Your Perceptions Creating Cataracts of The Soul? - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2010 from Valencia RayHappiness and peace of mind seems to be on many people's minds. After all, happiness and peace of mind are two elements that make for a life well lived. The challenge though is being clear enough to stay focused on principles that allow us to avoid getting pulled into the trap of "common ...
Views: 848 - How to Create More Time - On Purpose - by Submitted on Aug 06, 2013 from Valencia RayCreating time, at first, sounds ridiculous - until you understand how we co-create our "reality." Of course, when speaking of linear time there are only 24 hours to a day, and everyone receives equal amounts. Yet, if you keep talking about how fast 'time flies' and do not realize that you are ...
Views: 1382 - How You React or Respond to Crisis Can Make or Break Your Life - by Submitted on Mar 20, 2012 from Valencia RayYour true potential will be elusive if you are fearful of change. In fact, if you want to expand the vision for your life, you will have to stop looking for the status quo. Most people have warning signs that they need to move on before things get to the point of crisis. Yet they tend to react ...
Views: 1052 - I Believe What I Believe Until… - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2012 from Valencia RayI believe what I believe until I change my mind. Seasons change. And you have a birthright and choice to change yours too when it is expedient to do so. It’s not about what you believe as right or wrong as much as it is expanding your sense of self-actualization (as Maslow would have said), ...
Views: 926 - If You’re Not Afraid… - by Submitted on Nov 18, 2011 from Valencia RayYou are not growing. Growth will take you into the unknown. Why is growth so scary? The most likely reason for many, many people is that they are conditioned unconsciously to fear change. This is rooted in perception. It is not a universal law that human beings must function this way. You ...
Views: 1126 - Innovation: Why We Need It, Want It, and Fear It - by Submitted on Dec 01, 2011 from Valencia RayInnovation is a hot topic right now. The search is on for the next new thing, the new business frontier. We certainly do need to innovate, as our infrastructure appears to be falling apart. We need to make changes in how we “think life is,” for one thing. Survival of the fittest is only a ...
Views: 1165 - Intuition in Business: Trust Your Gut; It is More Insightful Than You (Can) Think - by Submitted on Feb 11, 2011 from Valencia RayIntuition is helpful in business success on several levels, not to mention its usefulness in everyday living. It can help you with innovation, hiring, and even choosing your ideal clients or whom you should take on as a client. It is being studied more in science and this is a great idea – ...
Views: 819 - Is Your MindSET for Productivity with Greater Ease? - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2012 from Valencia RayProductivity does not need to be hard. Hard work does not define success, nor real productivity. Success as we tend to define it does not often equal happiness, either. Perhaps if we stop implying that hard work and success are required before we can be happy, we can be happy as we work and ...
Views: 1205 - Leadership: Inspiring Others is Only the First Step - by Submitted on Aug 07, 2012 from Valencia RayOur leadership “true potential” is not realized simply by inspiring others or feeling inspired or just having more information. Knowledge is not really power until it is applied. Recognition or an “aha” are only nice, interesting tidbits until you muster up the courage to make the change. ...
Views: 1091 - Leading Change: Emotion Can Make or Break the Best Laid Logic - by Submitted on Jan 30, 2012 from Valencia RayLeading change can be tricky because not only does it take courage to innovate, it takes courage to breach subjects that make “stuck” cultures… well, stuck! There has been a tacit agreement in business culture to avoid addressing emotion/feelings at all costs. Yet, it is this very issue that ...
Views: 863 - Life Purpose: A Little Known Secret to Tap Your True Potential - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2012 from Valencia RayYour true potential is an existing possibility that needs to be cultivated and nurtured. We all have a purpose for being born. You are not a random accident. Yet, many people do not realize that how we see our self is a huge determinant of whether or not we pursue a higher vision for our life. ...
Views: 1073 - Mindset Matters: Are You Producing Results or Just Doing Too Much? - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2011 from Valencia RayResults matter to your life’s bottom line. Accomplishment vs Doing: They are not the same thing. You can accomplish more by doing less if you have clarity and focus, which comes from a quiet and clear mind. There’s no denying that actions still speaks louder than words. There are a lot of ...
Views: 809 - Mirror, Mirror On The Wall-Why Compare Myself At All? - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2010 from Valencia RayIf confidence and self-esteem does not come from the inside out, we are bound to seek it from outside in. This is a never-ending bottomless pit. Who cares, you may ask. Why even concern yourself with confidence or self-esteem issues? Well, for one thing, what the French author Anais Nin said ...
Views: 1259 - Money and Career: The Real Truth About Manifesting Your Bliss - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2010 from Valencia RayCareer transition has money and career on many women's minds lately. Since many women are sensing the change in the air, I've heard several comments about using this time of workplace instability to "find your bliss". What I've noticed is that often it is believed that if you "just do what ...
Views: 731 - Not Enough Time? Change Your Focus - by Submitted on Apr 03, 2012 from Valencia RayProductivity needs to be defined as accomplishing goals and dreams, not simply being ‘so busy’. In fact, if you keep talking about how busy and time-poor you are, you will likely waste time and energy. Why? Because talking about it is revealing that you are focused on lack of time instead of ...
Views: 1217 - Olympic Leadership for 21st Century Clarity and Confidence - by Submitted on Sep 25, 2012 from Valencia RayLeadership is evolving, and it needs to. A one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach is no longer working, and for good reason. The immense change we are facing is requiring leaders to be authentic and vulnerable, which means “less fear,” not weak, and in touch with their own individual ...
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