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21 February 2009, 18:20
The Miracle of Teamwork by John Maxwell
More than 27 years ago, a team of American college hockey players overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to beat the heavily favored Soviet team—and soon thereafter—win the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
“It may just be the single most indelible moment in all of U.S. sports history,” Sports Illustrated wrote of the team’s gold medal run. “One that sent an entire nation into a frenzy.”
Another team that sent the country—or at least the part of the country that enjoys professional basketball—into a frenzy was the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. Led by the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, this team posted the best regular season NBA record of all time (72-10) and went on to defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals.
The 1980 U.S. hockey team and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls were quite dissimilar. One was made up of little-known amateurs; the other of superstar professionals. One was a significant underdog; the other was a dominant force all year. Despite these and other differences, however, both could easily show up on a list of the greatest sports teams in American history.
The way these two groups of players melded together to reach their goals is inspiring, especially for people who value teamwork as much as I do. Individually, none of them—even the immensely talented Michael Jordan—could have accomplished what they did together. They needed each other to succeed.
As obvious as it seems to me now, I didn’t fully grasp the importance of teamwork until I was 40 years old. When I began to evaluate the first half of my life, I got discouraged because I realized I had not achieved what I wanted to accomplish thus far. I was disciplined, I worked hard, and I thought I was helping people. But something was missing.
Eventually, I realized what that something was. Although I had concentrated on developing myself, I had not focused enough on building a great team. That, I concluded, was a major mistake— one that had kept me from reaching my full potential.
At 40, I realized that my success wasn’t going to be determined by my gifts, my abilities or my opportunities. It was going to be determined by whether I could develop a great team. This realization was so life-changing that it birthed one of my 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership—the "Law of the Inner Circle"—which says those closest to you determine the level of your success. Ever since, developing my team has been my No. 1 priority. Even today—more than 16 years later—I devote more energy, more time and more resources to growing my inner circle than to anything else.
The results are well worth the effort because of what my team does for me.
1. My team makes me better than I am. If the members of my team were here, they’d tell you the same thing.
2. My team multiplies my value to others. These people don’t add to my worth when it comes to contributing to others; they multiply it greatly.
3. My team enables me to do what I do best. Because the members of my inner circle complement me and do things I don’t do well, I am able to focus on the things that I can do well.
4. My team allows me to help others do their best. Having a team allows me to move people around until they’re in what I call their “sweet spot” or “strength zone”—the place where talent meets passion, resulting in fulfillment and excellence.
5. My team gives me more time. Without this group of trusted colleagues, I’d have to do everything by myself—or at least keep a close eye on it all. With a great team, others can shoulder key responsibilities, freeing me to concentrate on my top priorities.
6. My team provides me with companionship. I’m happy to say that some of my best friends are my team players.
7. My team helps me fulfill the desires of my heart. Not only that, but they help me fulfill them in a way that often far exceeds my expectations.
8. My team compounds my vision and my effort. When you’re surrounded by a great group of people, the well-known saying for T-E-A-M really proves true: Together Everyone Achieves More.
The best part is that these benefits don’t just apply to me. A great team can do all this for any leader who, as I did at age 40, stops trying to be a one-person show. As Andrew Carnegie said, “It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job than you can do alone.”
Used by permission from Dr. John C. Maxwell’s free monthly e-newsletter Leader,brship Wired.
Enjoy!.
Margarita Nomeikiene
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14 February 2009, 15:56
Profiles in Greatness: Albert Einstein
His genius resulted from his curiosity ( Amy Anderson ).
Just before the start of World War II, Albert Einstein had become so famous he couldn’t walk down the street without being stopped several times and asked to explain “that theory.” Einstein was known for his humility as well as his genius, and he eventually came up with a way to deter the attention and adulation of fans. “Pardon me, sorry!” he would say. “Always I am mistaken for Professor Einstein.”
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
Einstein was born in Germany in 1879 and, though Jewish, attended a Catholic elementary school. As a young child, the sight of his father’s pocket compass made a lasting impression on the future theoretical physicist. He was fascinated by the idea that there was a force that moved the compass needle, and as an adult he would go on to experiment in electromagnetism and mechanics.
Although Einstein didn’t excel in high school in Munich, he had already begun educating himself on Euclidean geometry, deductive reasoning and calculus using textbooks borrowed from a family friend. In 1894, he left school to join his family in Italy and then went on to Switzerland to finish high school and became a citizen in 1901.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
Two years after he graduated from college, Einstein couldn’t land a teaching position, so a friend helped him get a job at the local patent office in Berne. He spent his days examining patent applications for devices that involved areas Einstein was addressing in his research and subsequent theories.
Although he wasn’t teaching, Einstein used his spare time away from the patent office to pursue his doctorate at the University of Zurich, and he formed a weekly discussion group on science and philosophy. He felt that continued effort and creativity were vital to a fulfilling life.
“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.”
In 1905, the same year he was awarded his doctorate, Einstein published four scientific papers that are now referred to as his Annus Mirabilis Papers. These works comprised his theories on Brownian motion, the photoelectric effect, special relativity and mass-energy equivalence, or e=mc2. These far-reaching and profound theories have inspired the reference to the year 1905 as Einstein’s annus mirabilis, or his “miraculous year.”
At the time, however, his theories were largely dismissed or refuted, especially his photoelectric theory about light traveling in discrete quanta or “packets” of energy as opposed to waves. Einstein would later win the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics for this paper.
In 1916, Einstein published his general theory of relativity, which asserts that gravity is a distortion of space-time by matter. In other words, matter tells space-time how to curve, and the curvature of space-time tells matter how to move. An astronomy experiment by another prominent scientist in 1919 proved Einstein’s theory, and his discoveries excited a world recovering from World War I.
“It is high time the ideal of success should be replaced with the ideal of service…. Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
Einstein traveled to the United States for the first time in 1921. He returned periodically for work and in late 1932 was serving temporarily at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. When Adolf Hitler assumed power in Germany in 1933, Einstein chose to stay in the United States.
He was an outspoken opponent of Nazism through the 1940s and wrote affidavits recommending U.S. visas for countless Jews fleeing persecution in Europe. He was also involved in the formation of the International Rescue Committee.
In addition to anti-Nazi activism, Einstein also voiced his opinions in favor of Zionism, establishing a moderate stance on the formation of a Jewish state. He served on the Board of Governors of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in 1952, when the still-new nation of Israel lost its president, Einstein was offered the post, which he declined.
Einstein was active in other civil rights organizations. He was a member of the NAACP and helped defend W.E.B. Du Bois against accusations of communist activity. He also served as co-chair of the American Crusade to End Lynching.
In 1940, Einstein became a United States citizen.
“I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
During the first world war, Einstein began speaking out against war. His fame had allowed him to associate with world leaders, and he was regularly asked to speak about topics outside the realm of science. His concern with the rise of fascism inspired him to write to President Roosevelt in 1939, warning of the German experimentation with atomic weaponry. FDR soon established the Manhattan Project, which secretly developed the atomic bomb in the United States.
But Einstein was not intimately involved in the project, as he was vehemently opposed to war. He later wrote to President Truman: “War seems to me a mean, contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such an abominable business.”
“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.”
In Einstein’s later career, he debated quantum mechanics with Danish physicist Niels Bohr, helping him clarify the concept. And he worked diligently to find a “unified field theory,” one theory to explain all the forces of nature. Scientists today still pursue this goal.
Einstein passed away at the age of 76. Over his lifetime he had received honorary doctorate degrees from multiple European and American universities, fellowships and memberships in the leading scientific academies, the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute. In 1952, the 99th element in the periodic table was named “einsteinium” in his honor.
Above all, Einstein encouraged inquiry. “The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing,” he said. “One cannot help but be in awe when contemplating the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of the mystery every day. The important thing is not to stop questioning; never lose a holy curiosity.”
http://www.successmagazine.com/Profiles-in-Greatness-Albert-Einstein-/PARAMS/article/579/channel/22
Enjoy!
To you from http://www.successmagazine.com
Margarita Nomeikiene
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12 February 2009, 19:26
2 Magic words by Jason Mangrum
2 Magic words by Jason Mangrum
Spiritual masters say that enlightenment can happen in an instant or like the blooming of a lotus flower. The same can be said of realizations, and learning.
As you read a book on any subject you will have moments that you stop reading just long enough to say “Ah ha!” or “Wow, that’s how that works” or “that’s why that happens!”
When you first look at a new math equation and it makes no sense, then later after you learn the process, you can look at the same equation again and you not only understand it you can solve it.
The point I am trying to make is this: There is a point where something is gained from any knowledge. First you are ignorant, and then you inquire, next you realize, now you have the power of that knowledge and can apply it to your world.
People will sell you courses and charge you thousands of dollars to beat around the bush and flush out the truth I am about to tell you.
I have used this method that consists of only 2 words to create anything I want usually within 24 hours if not instantly.
I have told these words to very few close friends, accompanied with the warning “Be careful what you wish for…”
There is only one guideline when using these key words and I will get to that immediately after I tell you what these words are.
All you have to do is know what you want to make this work. Then put it in this sentence: I Command - (Then just state whatever you want)
I know it sounds too simple. Your disbelief in this might actually aid in its power. You remain detached from the outcome because it just sounds too easy “This couldn’t possibly work, I’ve tried everything” - your mind will say.
Good. What can it hurt to seriously give this a try?
“I Command” all day, everyday and I have come to realize the power I have over the outcome of my life. So have those I have told these words to through their own experiences with it.
Of course your mind may just dismiss the acquisition of your desires as coincidental. But does it really matter? After all you got what you wanted and never worried about how.
If you honestly begin to use this take into consideration that this command once made is not concerned about the how it will happen. The power will just take the shortest possible path to accomplishment.
All things great and small are possible when you use the words “I Command”, but whatever they are be prepared. Of course you can always change what you want if you realize it’s not what you thought it would be. It is never too late in this world and nothing is final.
The only thing constant in this world is change. You can either be conscious of your creating or dragged along oblivious to it.
There is only one rule.
One limitation and this is important if you truly want to apply this knowledge. “You cannot command something for or concerning someone else.”
Such as: “I command so-and-so to fall in love with me” instead use- “I command my true love to make himself known to me”
That’s it. These words are yet to fail and you can command anything within the realm of your imagination - nothing is impossible. All you have to do is command, and then look for the command to be fulfilled.
Here are some examples from my experience and my close friends -
“I command a good parking spot” Right around the next corner an open parking space right in front of the store.
I went walking through the woods to a beautiful creek with my husband, my brother-in-law Jacob and his girlfriend Katie. All of whom had just learned the power of commands.
It was getting dark and we were all walking back to the car. Suddenly a screeching thunder broke the silence of the night as an enormous rusty train parked on the tracks we had to cross to reach the car.
Katie was frantic. We were trapped, on a trail in the woods, in the dark. The only thing between us and the way home was a massive freight train that stretched as far as we could see in both directions.
Like a scene straight out of a horror movie we stood in the dark staring down our obstacle and trying to think of solutions. “We could climb through the cars” -This idea was quickly shot down.
Fear was setting in as it got darker around us. “We could walk to the back or the front of the train and go around” - Shot down again as fear of the train moving was very real as well as the fact there was no end in sight.
Katie was beginning to have a panic attack.
All of my fear suddenly vanished as i remembered my power of commanding. There are no limitations. I rushed to Katie and took her hands in mine. After reminding her of this fact I asked her to command out loud with me: “I command the train to move out of our way and that we make it back to the car safely,” and as soon as we sat down to wait it out…
Booming and squealing the train immediately sprung to life and made us all jump. All I could do was smile and congratulate Katie for moving the train, as we all walked over the empty tracks and back to the car.
I gave the “I command” speech to my friend Angie in my car outside Wal-Mart. She had just finished explaing her hopeless situation. Everything she owned had been left with a relationship gone badly in Colorado. There was no family or contact that could send her anything. Her ex-boyfriend was long gone and she had fallen out with his family and friends that held her belongings.
I told her that if she really thought there was nothing more she could do to just try commanding it. It couldn’t hurt. She did, and called me the next morning in tears. Her ex-boyfriends brother lived on her block back in Tennessee, and had just returned from visiting his family in Colorado. For some reason he wanted to grab all her things and bring them back with him.
She woke that morning to find all of her belongings from her makeup to her father’s ashes on the floor in her living room and she called me.
All these events happened within 24 hours of the stated words “I Command”.
Now with everything I have noticed there is an evolution that happens after the “I Command” has proven itself to you. More and more all you have to do is clearly know what you want. Soon the verbal commands aren’t even nessesary. I hope you have read something here that helps you. If you apply it be prepared to get what you want. Just be ready for the change.
http://evolutionezine.com/category/Articles%20-%20Consciousness/
Enjoy!
sincerely, Margarita Nomeikiene
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