“If you look at life only one way, there is always cause for alarm.” - Elizabeth Bowen
 
Can you see the many facets of your life?

“It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor.” - George Bernard Shaw
 
Do you have enough courage to reach your highest heights?

Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of presenting to the Craig Hospital - Denver Support Group. It was an honor to interact with such a brave and engaged group of spinal cord and brain injury patients. I hope my talk brought some additional inspiration and value to their lives. 

“Zeal will do more than knowledge.” - William Hazlitt
 
How do you find the energy to act on your knowledge?  

 “Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.” - Jim Rohn
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What are you attracting into your life? 

Is it important to be liked at your workplace?

I've heard people say that it is better to be respected, or feared, or valued, than it is to be liked.

In a LinkedIn article (Biggins, 11/10/2016), the results of a "likability in the office survey" by CV-Library, found that being liked (87%) is important to a workers' progression in a company, while two thirds of the professionals surveyed felt that not being liked made people struggle to get ahead at work. 

However, almost 60% of those surveyed felt that being overly friendly was detrimental to your career because people who were too affable were deemed to be less assertive, while 62% of those surveyed believed that assertiveness is crucial to maintaining respect with co-workers.

So, if being liked is vital to an employee's chances at promotion, what qualities do workers need to possess to be likable at the office?

According to an article in Inc. magazine (Economy, 7/9/2015) there are five traits employees should exhibit to make themselves liked at work:

1. Be respectful
2. Talk and ask questions
3. Listen
4. Compliment others
5. Smile

Watch the video below to learn more advantages to being liked in the workplace from John L. Beckley, Founder of The Economic Press.

Also, please leave me a comment about your thoughts regarding the importance of being likable at work.

“Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.” - Ernest Holmes
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What is life reflecting back at you?

 Nothing is Written
 
 
My all-time favorite film is "Lawrence Of Arabia" (Horizon Pictures - 12/10/1962) and, if I have a favorite scene from the movie, then I guess it is the one of Lawrence's triumphal return from the Nefud desert, having gone back to rescue the Arab Gasim. The crossing of the Nefud desert is considered impossible, even by the local Arabs, but Lawrence persuades them that, in this way, they can take the Turkish port at Aqaba from the rear.

Having carried out the superhuman feat of traversing this furnace, it is discovered that one of the Arabs, Gasim, has fallen off his camel and is no doubt dying somewhere back in the desert. Lawrence is told that any idea of rescue is futile and, in any event, Gasim's death is "written". When Lawrence achieves the impossible and returns with Gasim still alive, Sherif Ali admits to him: "Truly, for some men nothing is written unless they write it".
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As an impressionable teenager when this film was first released, I was stunned by Lawrence's courage and unselfishness in going back into the hell of the Nefud to attempt to find a man he hardly knew among the vast expanse of a fiery terrain and I was so moved by the sense of purpose of a man who is determined to take nothing as "written" but to shape his own destiny. This sense of anti-determinism and this belief that anything is possible has stayed with me always and continues to inspire me in small ways and large.

Author: Roger Darlington
 
www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/stories.

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” - Albert Schweitzer
 
How is success preventing you from being happy? 

“Prayer is taking a chance that against all odds and past history, we are loved and chosen, and we do not have to get it together before we show up. The opposite may be true: We may not be able to get it together until after we show up in such miserable shape.” - Anne Lamott
 
How do we find time to just show up for prayer?

During Hollywood's Golden Age, John Wayne, was a household name. "The Duke", as Wayne was nicknamed, was the main hero in more than 175 film and television roles for over three decades, and always got his man (and the girl) by the end of the production.

But even John Wayne wasn't John Wayne. He was born Marion Robert Morrison. 

Given a choice, most of us want to do the right thing, even if that right thing means fighting someone else's battles. But should you fight other people's conflicts and do you really expect to emerge victorious from those battles like John Wayne?

In an article in Forbes (Prince, 8/26/2013) there is a 4 -step approach that millionaires use to get others to fight their battles for them:

Step 1 - Identify the people obstructing your agenda.

Step 2 - Pinpoint other people who find your obstacle problematic.

Step 3 - Determine the insecurities and goals of the different parties.

Step 4 - Prompt the parties to battle over your obstacles.   

The office, unlike the movies, has too many variables to know if fighting someone else's disputes, is in your best interest. Most of the time it isn't. But that won't stop others from trying to pull you into the fray, and many times you will want to engage, even if you know you can't win.  

So, is there a general rule or guideline to use when determining if you should get involved in someone else's issue?

Actually there is. Watch the video below to learn from Ronna Lightenberg, in her book, Work Would Be Great If It Weren't For the People,  when it is appropriate to step in and help someone at work and when you should leave the John Wayne Syndrome to someone else.    

“Having a soft heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness.” - Katherine Henson

How does your compassion express your courage?