The Path from Nobody to Somebody
by
Bill Cottringer
"Be a somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody." ~anonymous.
Sometimes without being aware of it, or at least not fully knowing the details, we are all searching for a path to help us go from being a nobody to become a ... Views: 21
GAP-CLOSING
By
Bill Cottringer
Life is all the stuff that happens in between acknowledging our gaps and trying to deal with them. ~The author.
We are all confronted with problem gaps than need closing solutions in life. The differences are in the nature and priority of these gaps ... Views: 40
Be a Winner of the Conflict Trifecta
By
Bill Cottringer
Conflict is the beginning of consciousness. ~M. Esther Harding.
There are three main types of conflicts—against life, between others, and within ourselves—which we all face in trying to get through life and live our own ... Views: 52
“P” Point Power
by
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you. ~Aldous Huxley.
Earlier on in my correctional career, an MIT math genius, Herb Gross, introduced me to an obscure engineering term, which he called ... Views: 54
What is Our Basic Nature?
By
Bill Cottringer
He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts. ~Samuel Johnson.
A turtle was about to enter the water on the edge of a large ... Views: 59
Unifying the Divide
by
Bill Cottringer
A house divided against itself cannot stand. ~Abraham Lincoln.
It is ironic that our country, which was founded on rebellion against divisive principles, ended up as a divided house itself starting with slavery and bringing us to today’s Great ... Views: 64
The Pursuit of Happiness
by
Bill Cottringer
Words can rarely capture the essence of an experience in life, especially common or over-used ones. Oddly though, the way you choose to define things like success, happiness, justice, freedom, and love, can often determine how much or how little ... Views: 76
The Tao of Teams
by
Bill Cottringer
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” ~Helen Keller, activist.
Effectiveness and successful results in today’s government, business and non-profit organizations is delivered mostly by effective teams. The Gestalt Principle ... Views: 105
Seven Crossroads
by
Bill Cottringer
“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” ~Yogi Berra.
Self-consciousness compellingly temps us into falsely believing we have a unique identity as “I, me, and myself,” which is a stand-alone person distinctly separated and different from ... Views: 75
A Serious Limitation with Words
by
Bill Cottringer
“Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.” ~Rumi.
Ever since being a young acolyte in the Episcopal Church studying the Bible and doing a book report on it for English class in high school, I have always been ... Views: 107
Problem-Solving in Our VUCA World
by
Bill Cottringer
“I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” ~Alan Greenspan.
The new virtual VUCA world we are part of today requires a new set of problem-solving ... Views: 90
Dangers of a Divided Mind
By
Bill Cottringer
“Warning: A divided mind misses half of everything but deludes you into believing you have the whole truth. So, if you want to get twice as much done in half the time in finding the whole truth, rejoin your divided mind.” ~The Author.
I ... Views: 76
Two Illusions That Spoil Reality
by
Bill Cottringer
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” ~Søren Kierkegaard.
There are two persistent and compelling illusions that help spoil Kierkegaard’s version of reality. These are: (1) the strongly sensed ... Views: 99
The Problem of Our Time
By
Bill Cottringer
“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” ~Albert Einstein.
So, what is the problem of our time? The problem is that we all sense the pain from a growing monumental problem, but we don’t understand it ... Views: 91
Understanding Extreme Behavior
By
Bill Cottringer
“Human behavior flows from three main sources—desire, emotion, and knowledge.” ~Plato.
Is it my imagination or is extreme behavior becoming more commonplace these days? Is the incident rate of extreme behavior actually increasing or ... Views: 125
Conflicts and Heartaches
by
Bill Cottringer
“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” ~William Ellery Channing.
Conflicts are as much a part of life as change, taxes and death. Heartaches go together with conflicts like grass ... Views: 90
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 110
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 102
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 111
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 96
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 95
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 101
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 86
Reality is Not What it Seems
by
Bill Cottringer
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a book that helps me reconcile harsh polarities into a bigger, better, and more useful truth, usually emerging from somewhere in-between the given opposite possibilities. Such is the case with ... Views: 83
Peace of Mind
by
Bill Cottringer
“When you've seen beyond yourself, then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there.” ~George Harrison.
The amount of peace of mind we have, like happiness, contentment and other states of mind, depends largely on who we define the concept. It may ... Views: 110
The Dynamics of Trust
by
Bill Cottringer
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” ~Ernest Hemingway.
Trust is an essential ingredient to successful resolution of the three main conflicts which we all must deal with in life: (a) us vs. life (b) us vs. ... Views: 134
A Baker’s Dozen Classic Ah-Ha Moments
By
Bill Cottringer
“We often get the thinking-feeling-behavior sequence mixed up. It is important to understand that it is behaviors and actions, not thinking, that result in our feelings, which in turn often prompt problem behaviors.” ~The author. ... Views: 109
Ten Teaching & Training Tricks That Stick
by
Bill Cottringer
“No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it.” ~Peter Drucker.
Although Peter Drucker has a good point, having a full bag of teaching and training tricks can certainly help improve the learning ... Views: 131
The Wisdom of Insecurity
by
Bill Cottringer
“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” ~John Allen Paulos.
I wish I had originally come up with this simple but profound article title, but I have to give full credit to a ... Views: 131
Human Capital Leadership Essentials
By
Bill Cottringer
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” ~Jack Welch.
If the dreadful COVID-19 pandemic taught the gamut of private business world, ... Views: 138
Challenges in Virtual Communication
by
Bill Cottringer
“Texting is a brilliant way to miscommunicate how you feel and misinterpret what other people mean.” ~Anonymous.
Face to face (f2f) communication itself has many challenges but communicating in the new virtual world surrounding ... Views: 153
Spiritual Intelligence
by
Bill Cottringer
“Spiritual Intelligence is seeing past what you are looking at; or better yet, it is seeing the unseeable and knowing the unknown.”
The evolution of human intelligence involves using whole-brained intelligence, which is the blending all of ... Views: 156
The four Crucibles of Success
By
Bill Cottringer
“The ‘luck’ of success is when your talents and efforts meet the right opportunity to apply them.” ~Anonymous.
There are four crucibles to success: Purpose, Perspective, Principles, and Passion. No substantial, long-range success ... Views: 170
Repairing Virtual Communication failures
By
Bill Cottringer
“In a world that is constantly changing, it is to our advantage to learn how to adapt and enjoy something better.” ~Kenneth H. Blanchard.
Live, face-to-face (f2f) communication has always been difficult, unfortunately with ... Views: 133
Two Serious Problems We were Warned About in 1970
By
Bill Cottringer
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” ~George Bernard Shaw.
Are you feeling overwhelmed about the information overload and insane pace of technology ... Views: 177
7 Pillars of Character Power
by
Bill Cottringer
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
~ John Wooden.
1. Openness.
I once commented on the importance ... Views: 210
The ABC’s of Success in Anything & Everything
By
Bill Cottringer
“How much or how little you have of something, depends mostly on how you define that something.” ~The Author.
If you want to be abundantly successful by any definition, all you need to do is practice the ABCs ... Views: 214
The Truth Will Set You Free2 (John 8: 31-32)
By
Bill Cottringer
“The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you.” ~David Foster Wallace, author.
From my research, there seem to be two main opposing sources for interpreting the true literal and the intriguing ... Views: 256
Small Thinking Can’t Solve Big Problems
By
Bill Cottringer
“Logical, intellectual thinking can prove or disprove relative beliefs and at best most of these turn out to be half-truths which are not worth clinging to. But only whole-brained rational and spiritual intelligence combined can ... Views: 331
The Truth Shall Set You Free
By
Bill Cottringer
“The beautiful irony about the truth is that it hates dark places. It despises being hidden. It loves the limelight, and it always forces itself out.” ~Mitta Xinindlu.
From my research, there seem to be two main opposing sources for ... Views: 273
Some Uncommon Sense We Should Teach in Schools?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Common sense is the simple knack of seeing something as it is and doing something as it should be done.” ~Mark Twain.
During my last seven decades of living, I accidentally stumbled upon some uncommon sense which I ... Views: 254
Divide and Conquer
By
Bill Cottringer
“Divide and rule, the politician cries; Unite and lead, is watchword of the wise. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gedichte.
In war, the divide and conquer rule has always gotten the expected results. Ironically though, this same principle can also ... Views: 290
Commonsense Solutions to Our Three Main Conflicts
By
Bill Cottringer
“Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.” ~Eugene Ionesco.
To help identify the source that drives our three main conflicts, I am taking the liberty of expanding the meaning of the ... Views: 311
Ten Life Lessons You Can Only Learn the Hard Way
By
Bill Cottringer
“Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start over and make a new ending.” ~ Chico Xavier.
Here are ten valuable lessons about life that lead to success and happiness. Unfortunately this ... Views: 295
Today’s Primary Problem: Commonplace Evil
By
Bill Cottringer
“The way in which you define something has a lot to do with how much or how little of the thing you have in hand, both quantity and quality.” ~The Author.
Such is the case with the greatly misunderstood term evil. ... Views: 287
Benefits & Callenges of Diversity
By
Bill Cottringer
“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi.
The rest of the workforce diversity story is unfolding as every great social change brings sometimes unexpected ... Views: 275
Looking for Greener Pastures
By
Bill Cottringer
“The grass on the other side of the fence isn’t always greener. Sometimes it is just a different shade of brown and other times it comes with unwanted weeds and underground pests. ~The Author.
Having played fierce musical chairs for ... Views: 447
Writing Options
By
Bill Cottringer
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ~Ernest Hemingway.
Writing is both an art and science involving both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, including the thinking and feeling brain functions. ... Views: 287
Job-Getting Reminder Tips
By
Bill Cottringer
Although the post-pandemic job market is starting to lean toward favoring employees over employers, it is still a difficult challenge to find the right job today. Success requires some serious preparatory work in the following three areas, ... Views: 311