I was a recent guest on the Radio 1650 AM Money & Business show in Montreal, Canada.

They were looking for a source within the United States to share their perspective on the Occupy Movement that has spread throughout America.

You can listen to the entire show by using the player below.  I don’t make much of an appearance during the first quarter of the show, so you may want to skip to the 12 minute mark or so to start listening.

OPTIONAL DOWNLOAD LINK

To Produce The Best Results, Throw Down A Challenge.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A CHALLENGE?

Dictionary.com defines challenge as:

• something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.
• difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it

WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE CHALLENGES?

I’m not 100% sure why we love challenges, but the fact is that we do.

Apparently challenges stimulate us. Challenges give us a reason to try harder. Challenges encourage us to come closer to achieving our maximum potential.

Personally I believe it’s because of the “competitive instinct” that is inside most every one of us.

Dictionary.com defines competitive as:

• having a strong desire to compete or to succeed
• the desire to strive to outdo another for acknowledgment, a prize, supremacy, profit, etc.

A PRIMAL LEVEL

In short, challenges affect us on our most primal levels. In short, challenges tie into our survival instincts.

As Abraham Maslow said in his now famous “Hierarchy of Needs”, survival is one of the most basic needs. It is a physiological need.

DOES THAT APPLY TODAY?

Surviving in today’s world is quite a bit different than it was when homo sapiens first came on the scene.

It’s probably easier to “survive” in today’s world than it has been at any time in man’s existence on the Earth.

Despite that, our basic instincts are still there. Our competitive nature is still there.

We can use that to our advantage. We should use that to our advantage.

I CHALLENGE YOU

During the coming year, 2012, I challenge you to get in the best physical shape you’ve ever been in your life.

During the coming year, 2012, I challenge you to embark upon a program of personal learning that will result in your getting in the best mental shape of your entire life.

During the coming year, 2012, I challenge you to embark upon a program of peaceful spirituality that will result in your getting in the best spiritual shape of your entire life.

Tomorrow Is The Only Day Of The Week That Appeals To A Lazy Man.
(Jimmy Lyons)

Definition of Lazy

Lazy – Resistant to work or exertion; disposed to idleness.

Why Are So Many People Lazy?

I believe it’s because they are NOT taught to be anything else.

Laziness (idleness) is the “default” state.

It takes no work whatsoever to be lazy (idle).

By definition, it takes work to overcome one’s disposition to idleness.

So, What’s The Solution?

Assuming you believe laziness is bad, the solution is to teach ourselves (and others around us to NOT be lazy).

We’ll talk about that tomorrow . . .

All the problems of the world could be settled easily
if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that
men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order
not to think, because thinking is such hard work.
Thomas J. Watson

So, What’s Wrong With A Little Bit Of Hard Work

Nothing . . . Nada . . . Zip . . . Zilch . . .

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hard work, other than it’s hard and it requires work.

Thus, people who are lazy will not do it.

In fact, lazy people will actually work harder to avoid working than it would have taken them to do the work in the first place.

Why?

More on that tomorrow . . .

Do Not Mistake Laziness For Patience.

So, Why Aren’t People More Patient?

People are not more patient because they are not trained to be more patient.

In today’s society, everything is Go, Go, Go . . . Now, Now, Now . . .

We are not encouraged to be patient.

We are not trained to be patient.

Marketers are constantly telling us that we can have anything we want and we can have it NOW.

Being Able To “Have It Now” Can Be Good, But . . .

When you live in an “instant’ society, we don’t hear the word “no” nearly as often as we used to.

I believe this produces a bunch of spoiled people who are  ill-prepared to deal with the harsh aspects one sometimes encounters in life.

Success doesn’t always come instantly, it takes hard work . . .

Building our mind, body and spirit doesn’t always come instantly, it takes hard work . . .

Relationships doesn’t always come instantly (or easily), they take hard work . . .

Quite simply, some of the best things in life require hard work.

So, What’s Wrong With A Little Bit Of Hard Work?

More on that tomorrow . . .

Those who know how to think need no teachers.
Mohandas Gandhi

Thinking Is Hard – It Requires Effort

We live in an “instant gratification” society that encourages us to be lazy.

Everything is pre-prepared, pre-packaged, ready to go, right at our fingertips.

Thinking doesn’t work like that.

Thinking requires us to set aside time and focus on the object of our thoughts.

In short, thinking isn’t instant.

Thinking requires patience.

So, Why Aren’t We More Patient?

We’ll cover that subject tomorrow . . .

There are many definitions for the word “think” in the dictionary. The main ones are:

THINK

1. To have or formulate in the mind.
2. To reason about or reflect on.
3. To decide by reasoning, reflection, or pondering.
4. To judge or regard; look upon.
5. To believe; suppose.
6. To expect; hope.
7. To intend.
8. To call to mind; remember.
9. To visualize; imagine.
10. To devise or evolve; invent.
11. To concentrate one’s thoughts on.
12. To exercise the power of reason, as by conceiving ideas, drawing inferences, and using judgment.
13. To weigh or consider an idea.
14. To bring a thought to mind by imagination or invention.
15. To recall a thought or an image to mind.
16. To dispose the mind in a given way.

What Do These Definitions Have In Common?

They pretty much all involve mental processes.

So, thinking basically involves our devoting mental energy either before we act, while we are acting, or after we have acted.

Thinking is the use of one’s mind . . .

Why Don’t People Think More?

We’ll cover that issue tomorrow . . .

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions.
Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)

If you read yesterday’s post titled “A New Way of Thinking”, you will remember that I defined “new” thinking as:

Thoughts that are:

• Recently found;
• Recently discovered;
• Recently learned;
• Not previously experienced; and/or
• Not previously encountered.

 So, How Does One Engage In New Thinking?

The way to engage in new thinking is:

• To find things you haven’t found before and think about them;
• To discover things you haven’t discovered before and think about them;
• To learn things you haven’t learned before and think about them;
• To experience things you haven’t experienced before and think about them; and
• To encounter things you haven’t encountered before and think about them.

If you notice, the key word is THINK !

So, What Is Thinking?

That is what we will discuss tomorrow . . .

The Significant Problems One Faces Cannot Be Solved
At The Same Level Of Thinking That Person Was At
When They Created Them.

My Hypothesis

It is my belief that “new” thinking creates opportunities for us to grow and advance.

Perhaps even more importantly, I believe “new” thinking is the only way we are going to be able to grow and advance.

If we keep thinking the way we’ve always thought, we’re going to produce the same results we’ve always produced. Sometimes that’s a good thing, but if mankind is going to improve upon it’s current state of affairs, it’s going to require quite a bit of “new” thinking.

What Is “New” Thinking?

Let’s take a look at 2 definitions of the word “new”:

1. Just found, discovered, or learned: new information.
2. Not previously experienced or encountered; novel or unfamiliar.

Putting it all together, New Thinking consists of thoughts that are:

• Recently found;
• Recently discovered;
• Recently learned;
• Not previously experienced; and/or
• Not previously encountered.

So How Does One Engage In “New” Thinking?

More on that tomorrow . . .