The corona virus has been gripping us for months. One thing is certain: the pandemic is changing the way we live and work. What is the lasting impact on financial services? What will happen to the branches of large banks and how important is personal contact for consumers? In this blog you will find a bit more in depth.
1. Digital banking is gaining momentum
In recent years, we have already seen
significant growth in digital payments. This is accelerated by COVID-19:
consumers are becoming more dependent on digital transactions and are also
reluctant to use cash, for fear of transmission of the virus. In my
personal perception consumers often opt for digital payments. This includes
credit cards, pin payments, internet banking and mobile payments.
Within the financial world, the effect of the corona crisis is like a turbo on an already accelerated engine of change. In some big countries where ICT is well developed, COVID-19 has only strengthened this position more and more. This number of contactless and mobile payments has further increased in recent months. Mark my words that this situation will continue.
2. Need for personal contact remains
The number of physical offices and branches
in digital services was already slowly declining: the lockdowns worldwide are
making an additional contribution to this decline. In my opinion I think
big financial institutes will accelate the reduction of their number of
branches, and that some branches that are currently closed will no longer open
due to the crisis.
But believe me, remarkably, consumers still
need personal contact. Otherwise I don’t think that this will return to the old
normal.
Consumers probably still want personal,
face-to-face contact when seeking advice on complex financial products and
transactions.
Nevertheless, the pandemic has shown how
important it is to have digital services in order and to familiarize customers
with them.
3. More savings, more security
Consumers take less risk with their
money. Before the corona outbreak, a large amount preferred to save their
money. We also see that consumers are more oriented towards their life,
household effects and health insurance are some of the things playing these
days.
4. Loyalty in question
The way financial services firms deal with
the corona crisis is impacting consumer loyalty. People are changing their
financial strategies on the run. Many of them are switching to BigTechs and
Fintechs.
Major financial players must ensure that they continue to bind their consumers in the coming period, for example through new products and services or an improved customer experience. Otherwise, there is a good chance that young consumers in particular will switch to new digital alternatives.
Stronger from the crisis
The way in which organizations act in this corona crisis determines their image among consumers. Not just in the short term: this picture lingers for months or years. It is now a matter of helping insecure consumers with their financial issues. This is the perfect opportunity to think about sustainability policy. By investing in digitization, you increase customer loyalty and your organization will emerge stronger from the crisis.
This article provides a practical explanation of the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler. After reading you will understand the basics of this powerful psychological tool.
What is Gestalt
Psychology?
‘Gestalt’ is originally a German word used to talk about the way something is put together, often translated as the ‘form’ or the whole. Gestalt psychology can be defined as a school of thought that originated in the 1920s and believes that the whole of an object or pattern is larger and more important than its parts. Gestalt psychology encourages us to see and treat the mind and behavior as a whole. This approach creates order in the chaos by combining loose information and looking for patterns.
Gestalt psychology has also contributed to
research into experience and perception. The aim was to understand how
people give meaning to the world around them and how they find order in the
disorder. According to Gestalt psychology, how people interpret what they
see in the world around them depends on what they expect to see. They will
look for patterns in what they see and experience.
Who are the founders
of Gestalt psychology?
Gestalt psychology was developed in Germany in the early twentieth century by psychologist Max Wertheimer in collaboration with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. They met at the Psychological Institute of the University of Frankfurt, where Wertheimer worked as a professor and Koffka and Köhler were his assistants. At that university they also developed their own mindset, Gestalt psychology.
Wertheimer is known for a concept called the
phi phenomenon. During his travels, he noticed at a train station that two
separate flashing lights created the illusion of movement. Subsequently,
Wertheimer became interested in the study of perception, which laid the
foundation for his research into Gestalt psychology. With his research he
responded to structuralism and the approach of psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, who
was known for dividing psychological events into separate parts. However,
Wertheimer felt that the parts were related and believed in looking at the human
mind and behavior as a whole.
Experiments
An experiment, similar to the experience
Wertheimer had with the two flashing lights at the station, was the beginning
of research into Gestalt psychology. For this experiment, Wertheimer and
his colleagues Koffka and Köhler focused on the concept of ‘apparent
movement’. They found that when two lights blink in quick succession, an
illusion of continuous movement is created. Instead of two separate
lights, the person sees one light that moves from the spot of the first light
to the spot of the second light. This was another result that contributed
to the Gestaltists’ belief that the human mind has a way of organizing based on
seeing things as a whole rather than as separate parts.
What are the main
principles of Gestalt psychology?
After Gestalt Psychology was established,
co-founder Kurt Koffka published ‘Principles of Gestalt Psychology’ in which he
explained Gestalt theory and its principles. The following gestalt
psychology principles describe the way human perception works and how we assign
meaning to objects and events.
Close proximity
This principle states that when the human eye
sees elements that are placed close together, we consider these elements as a
set or group. An example of this is the way we read a text. When
letters are grouped together, our perception is that they form a word.
Likeness
A second way in which people tend to group
elements in their visual field is by looking for similarities. Elements
that look alike are automatically grouped together. For example, when you
watch a sports game and see people wearing the same color shirts, you see them
as members of the same team.
Continuation
Another part of Gestalt psychology is the
principle of continuation, which states that the human eye prefers to see a
continuous line or movement rather than separate elements. For example,
when we see a sign on a building where a tree is partly in front of the letter
x, we still recognize that letter and can read the sign without any
problems. We see the continuity of the lines.
Closedness
This principle explains that people have a
preference for complete elements. When we see things that are incomplete,
we can fill in missing information to see it as complete anyway. This
principle is often applied in the advertising world. Advertisers come up
with incomplete statements that people can then finish. With this
approach, they hope to generate interest and engage their audience more.
Figure-ground
The principle of figure and ground shows how
people distinguish between figures and the ground in their visual
field. The figure is the object that is central to our visual field, the
ground is less present and is placed in the background. This explains how
one person’s perception of an object or situation may differ from someone else’s:
it depends on what is seen as the figure and what is seen as the
ground. This principle was applied by the Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin,
who experimented with optical illusions.
Common destination
Another principle of Gestalt psychology is
that of common destiny. When the human eye sees elements moving together
in a certain direction, they are usually considered as a group. An example
of a common destination is seeing children running to the playground together,
thus seeing them as a whole. It is possible to separate the elements when
we do this consciously.
Pragnänz’s law
It is impossible to constantly spend time and energy on everything around us. We therefore tend to arrange the elements we see as simply as possible. The human mind prefers simplicity, so we try to simplify what we perceive. For example, when we see a car, we don’t need additional information to understand what we are looking at. This is called Pragnänz’s law. Pragnänz is a German word that can be translated as brevity.
In addition to the above principles that help
us understand how human perception works, Gestalt theorists also recognize that
the way we see the world is also influenced by other factors, such as
personality, expectations and experiences.
Example of Gestalt
Psychology
The example below is used to explain Gestalt
psychology:
When there is no movement, people can still perceive movement, which was also
the case with the two flashing lights that led to the phi phenomenon. For
example, a film consists of a series of separate images, but by playing them in
quick succession, we see a continuous movement that is not actually
there. According to Gestalt psychologists, this is because our brains fill
in the missing information. In this example, the missing information is
the gaps between the images. This shows that the ‘whole’ plays a more
important role in our brain than the sum of separate parts.
Application of Gestalt
Psychology
Basic Psychology
Basic psychological processes, such as
perception and attention, are strongly influenced by Gestalt
psychology. These basic psychological processes are fundamental and are
applied to practical matters. Developments within this research area are
applied, for example, in programs to improve signage to prevent
accidents. This is only possible with the knowledge we have about
perception.
Communication
To be able to grab the attention of the
public, people in communicative and creative fields work with Gestalt
psychology. For people active as an artist, journalist or designer it is
important to understand how the human mind interprets images. This
knowledge can help them to produce works that convey the right message to their
target audience.
Troubleshooting
In order to solve a problem, you must first
understand it. Gestalt psychology believes that a problem consists of
parts that are related and interact with each other. To fix the problem,
rearrange these parts so that you can see a new solution. This creative
rearrangement of the parts of a problem is called productive
thinking. Gestalt psychologists recommend applying productive thinking
when addressing various challenges.
Education
Within education, Gestalt psychology is
applied to perception and problem solving. The application of gestalt
psychology in education states that teachers should encourage their students to
solve a problem by looking at the different parts of a problem and the
interrelationships.
Therapy
Gestalt psychology-based therapy is a
humanistic approach in which people are seen as strong and independent
beings. It looks at the functioning of the human mind from a holistic
perspective where each person has his or her own thoughts, experiences and
reality.
The development of Gestalt therapy began in
the 1940s with psychiatrist Fritz Perls. He argued that each person has
his or her own reality that is determined by our own perception, and that it is
our responsibility to change our perception. This way of thinking forms
the basis of Gestalt therapy, in which personal growth and identity building
are central.
The Gestalt Institute
in Cleveland
The Gestalt Institute in Cleveland attracts people from all over the world. The institute organizes workshops and training programs based on Gestalt principles and methodologies. The workshops and training programs focus on change, both at the individual and organizational level.
Daily practice
Gestalt psychology can also be applied to
daily practice. As indicated in this article, Gestalt psychology can be
used to solve problems and stimulate creativity. In addition, being aware
of Gestalt principles helps us to understand how we perceive the world, how
optical illusions work and to understand our own behavior.
Now it’s your turn
What do you
think? Do you understand the
explanation of Gestalt psychology? Do you recognize the principles in the
way you perceive things yourself? Do you recognize Gestalt psychology in
the way the people around you perceive the world? Is there any way you
could apply Gestalt psychology in your work or study? Are there situations
where you do not perceive objects or events as a whole? Do you have any
comments or tips?
Share your knowledge and experience via the
comment field at the bottom of this article.
If you found the article useful or practical for your own knowledge, please share it with your network. Thank you very much in advanced.
This article explains the Charismatic leadership concept in a practical way. After reading you will understand the basics of this powerful leadership tool.
What is Charismatic Leadership?
Charismatic leadership is about personal conviction and is based on the leader’s charm and conviction. German sociologist and founder of bureaucracy theory , Max Weber introduced the term charismatic leadership in his essay The Tree Types of Legitimate Rule in 1958. Charismatic leadership is based on the personal qualities of the leader and his recognition by his followers, whereby is about an affective bond between the two. Max Weber saw charisma as an attribute of the individual, and it seems as if he / she is in possession of supernatural and exceptional powers.
Persuasiveness
Charismatic leaders are driven by their beliefs and demonstrate exceptional dedication and expertise in their field. They have a clear vision and are able to inspire a large audience. Charismatic leadership stands or falls with the personality of the leader. In addition, they are powerful speakers and committed personalities. They can lift their employees to a higher level and encourage them to make positive changes. In addition, they are also able to communicate on an emotional and empathic level with their followers. In organizations where hierarchy plays a major role, employees will follow the rules and procedures established by their leader. That is possible in such a bureaucratic organizationaccomplished by a charismatic leader who motivates and stimulates them. In organizations where the mission and vision are central, the charismatic leader will focus more on building a strong emotional bond with the employees and inspiring and encouraging them.
Followers
Charismatic leaders do not necessarily have to be the best leaders. People tend to follow others they personally admire. A charismatic leader will gather followers through his personality and charm, rather than any form of power or authority. It actually goes without saying and it comes across naturally. In charismatic leadership, the personal vision of the leader has a lot of influence on his audience and appeals to their emotion. Originally, charismatic leadership is authoritarian, but today a charismatic leader has even more in store:
clear vision, which is conveyed well and clearly
interpersonal behavior; always in contact with others, empathetic and emotionally oriented
creating the sense of we
confident appearance
Attention and trust
The charismatic leader is able to give equal attention to each individual. He will scan his environment and take everything in well. He is sensitive to the mood and atmosphere at that moment and he will sharpen his actions and words and adapt them to the situation. Charismatic leaders also show great respect and trust to their supporters. They themselves are very convincing and they make effective use of both non-verbal communication (body language) and verbal communication (choice of words and language). For this they use story techniques, metaphors and symbolism. On an emotional level, they can focus attention on a group, give them confidence and make the group special.
The charismatic leader focuses on identifying the group. Charismatic leadership is often thought to correspond to transformational leadership . Charismatic leadership, however, does not aim to bring about a change, but focuses purely on enthusing and motivating employees.
Can you learn charismatic leadership?
Charismatic leadership is not a substitute for true leadership style. It is a good way of personal development, which can help a manager to be stronger in his shoes. Charismatic leadership is innate on the one hand, but with the necessary help from, for example, a personal coach, the basic skills can indeed be learned. Below is a step-by-step path to charismatic leadership:
1. Security
You must be sure that you want to become a charismatic leader. Not to tackle uncertainty, but to communicate your plans and focus within the organization to employees. Practice ‘management by speech’ and regularly go to the workplace to address employees, inspire them and inform them of information that is important to them.
2. Personal values
Think about your personal values and what motivates you. From this background it is easier to motivate and stimulate others. Stand behind your own views and those of the organization, so that you can communicate it well to others.
3. Appearance
Effective charismatic leaders are aware of their appearance and feel comfortable. Many characteristics of charisma are expressed physically. Be aware of your appearance and what effect this has on the environment.
4. Preparation
Good preparation is half the job. This certainly applies to presentations. Where it seems that a charismatic leader speaks loosely in front of a group of people, in many cases good preparation precedes. It comes down to correct choice of words, timing, taking a rest at the right moments, looking at a crowd and intonation and use of voice.
5. Exercise
The properties of charism contain both tangible (for example, public speaking) and intangible elements (for example, appearance). By practicing with a coach you can work on the correct intonation, choice of words and convey a powerful message.
Pitfalls
Pitfalls can be attached to charismatic leadership. For example, such leaders are often so convinced of themselves and their abilities that they believe they are infallible. This enables them to lead their followers to a possible abyss. Their self-confidence can also lead to narcissistic and bigoted behavior towards the environment.
Below are three more pitfalls of charismatic leadership:
Leaders can develop tunnel vision or arrogance and nullify their past good deeds.
Organizations can become too dependent on their charismatic leaders and can no longer develop their own vision; when the leader leaves, the company is nowhere and out of control.
Charismatic leaders tend to believe they are above the law and engage in certain behaviors that are not permitted by law or ethics.
Charismatic leaders examples
Several well-known charismatic leaders in history can already be identified on religious, political and business levels . Think for example of Martin Luther King , Barak Obama , Richard Brandson, Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs.
All have the same in common; they are phenomenal public speakers, full of power behind the message they convey and responding to the feelings of their followers. Furthermore, they radiate inner peace, patience, empathy and compassion and they are able to motivate others. The world needs charismatic leaders because they fight for the quality of life and a better world. Charismatic leaders have the courage and conviction towards others and are willing to stand up to groups of people, organizations, society and the established order. In this way they can contribute to a common goal.
Now it’s your turn
What do you think? To what extent can Charismatic leadership be applied in today’s modern management environments? Do you recognize the above or do you have additions? What do you think are other success factors that can contribute to good charismatic leadership?
Share your knowledge and experience via the comment field at the bottom of this article.
If you found the article useful or practical for your own knowledge, please share it with your network to friends and business associates.
Exposing your feelings is not recommended in many situations. Statements like “don’t say anything if you don’t have anything nice to say” and thoughts like “expressing feelings is unprofessional” seem deeply rooted in our society. This applies in private situations and in the workplace, but also applies to leaders. Yet radical candor actually contributes to personal growth and gives you the opportunity to be the best version of yourself.
When we hide our feelings from others, we often do it because we don’t want to cause a stir or because we want to protect ourselves from criticism or not be excluded from the group. However, concealing how you really think or feel about something now only helps you in the short term. The price you pay by continuously pleasing is at the expense of your creativity, passion and motivation.
PRACTICE RADICAL CANDOR
With radical candor, we show our full selves to others. By practicing this you are authentic and you are vulnerable. You show that you support your own feelings, take others into account and give them the space to be candid. It is about connecting yourself and others, with care and feeling.
Examples of frankness in the workplace can be admitting as a manager that a new business strategy frightens you, sharing with colleagues that things are not going well for you and that there is something in your private life that distracts you, or telling your employer that his or her comment feels uncomfortable to you.
Openness not only ensures that you stay close to yourself, set your limits and do not suppress your feelings, it also creates space to grow together. Because how great would it be if you knew how everyone felt, if everyone dared to discuss everything in a respectful way and everyone would be heard and seen?
Hello folks.
Hope you are doing well so far in this COVID-19 period.
As I follow
what is happening in and around the world, I want to stick in this blog to
Design Thinking in Government. Especially that Caribbean Leaders need more
Design Thinking in Government to succeed more.
I am design
and created by mother nature. Everything is designed. Design is not only just
what it will looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. Everywhere you
can use design thinking. Yes even my car insurance company uses design.
Design
Thinking is nothing more then a user-centered (people centered) approach to
problem solving.
Actually in
my own opinion Design Thinking is less about thinking, but more about doing.
You just start from what people, users, customers, consumers etc. need or want
to do.
In this case
EMPATHY is the key. It is not about you. You need the ability to understand and
share the feelings of others a very good way.
Design
Thinking stimulates you to look at situations differently and come up with new
effective solutions that go beyond and improve existing alternatives.
Integrative
thinking is key. You need the ability to look at the different aspects of a
problem.
Stop
discussing start working. Make ideas tangible. Prototyping is thinking with
your hands. Test your hypnotises. I do hope you can follow me so far.
In daily
life, we experience how leaders are struggling to succeed. The road to success
does not follow a straight line. The more you are able to loop through
(understand, create, learn), the higher the chance you have for good results.
When things
aren’t running your way, this is the frustrating whirlwind ride we all go on.
Disagreements between people and parties keep us from making any stable form of
progress. They happen very often, and we are so uncompromising that Government
Shutdown might as well be considered a trend.
I my humble
opinion politicians live in a bubble, where they shut themselves in a cave for
a period of time only to emerge gloriously with ludicrously lengthy bills,
preaching their so called glory as if they reached their solution by grace and
wisdom of God. Furthermore they simply pass what they think they should pass;
sometimes they pass what has an earmark with their name on it. And if or when things fail, they repeal the
entirety of it, and try again.
In order for
Government especially in the Caribbean region to better serve their people,
their process should be user-centered9 people centered). Yes clear by the
people, for the people.
Leaders need
to thoroughly research the problems themselves. Who are the people most
affected by the problem. What is the problem, really! How does it impact the
people and how can we try to solve it, and never taking biased view from the
perspective of special interest groups or corporate entities that seek financial
or regulatory gain. Once we identify a problem and hypothesis, we test, Test
and iterate.
The easiest
way for us to start is to iterate upon that which already exists. The best
solutions come with research and iteration. And the iterations must be watched
with a sharp, keen eye, as to identify problems the instant they become
visible, so as to buffer any major impact they may create down to road.
For myself,
I work within the realm of user- centered design and its benefits are very
familiar to me. Design Thinking is a scientific, human-centered, and empathetic
process that yields the best designed solutions. It gets us together in to a
platform of understanding the people and their problems; with firm
understanding and empathy, along with daily continuous innovation, we can
create the best solutions.
With this
blog I hope that more people can and will agree that regardless of political
party of stance, a government educated and practicing design thinking methodologies
will help us all to establish/create a more perfect running country, community,
union etc.
Design
Thinking is not always the answer to every single problem. Keep that in mind.
For some
questions you will need rational thinking, spreadsheets, presentations and even
more women and men in suits to come to a valid answer. If you as a leader want
to become more effective train yourself in Design Thinking.
I am leaving you with the following words : Empathise, Observe, Engage, Watch and Listen….
Now that the new government has been formed in Suriname, it is more than ever time to think carefully about how to make Nickerie a top district of Suriname. We don't have to keep inventing the wheel. So many things are obvious to start with. In this blog I start generating electricity by the local population. We have the sun with us. Policymakers must work towards promoting the green economy. By bringing the people with you,
Nickerie will eventually grow into a sustainable energy district. Together with the local population and other actors, the self-generation of sustainable zone energy will give the district enormous support. Together, the energy transition will have an impact elsewhere in the country. Suriname is getting greener and greener.
As awareness increases, more people will contribute together to biodiversity, nature conservation and the quality of life of local communities.
ALWAYS GREEN
We must all go for more and more Green. It means that in our future (the new normal) many more people will use energy which they have generated themselves. Even if the sun is not shining, or if there is no wind and the generation of green electricity at that time is minimal, this is no problem.
A bit of technology is available for everything. It requires new developments and behavioral change. It is ambitious, but it is possible. If we do it together. Dare to dream big. Who knows, we may see a lot of people driving around with solar panels on the roof of their car[s].
As an active blogger, from time to time I will also focus on Suriname where I come from and stay. Sometimes the triggers may be less beautiful, but they are certainly constructive and offer eye openers to policy makers and other interested parties.
The
Regional
Blog
Authority
Before our eyes, the old world collapses. The new world is forming and everything is still possible. This situation requires extreme alertness. Everyone is now invited to stand up, share information and provide assistance where necessary. I call on you all to participate in the whole.
Everything is changing. The earth is in the
middle of an energetic transformation that is also expressed on the physical
level. We feel this deeply within this new running energy… an enormous desire
for inner and outer freedom, for wisdom and self-determination.
A deep desire for more peace and loving
fulfillments. Suriname is part of the whole. Do not underestimate this. Let us
continue as a large group together and move stronger.
Suriname is our Heaven on Earth
The new world is characterized by this
loving group awareness. The deeply felt recognition that we are all ONE. If we
live by this invocation, we bring heaven to earth. Or rather, we will see that
the earth IS heaven. And even more that we as Surinamese as a unity will and
will continue to be a further example for the world. I mean it from the bottom
of my heart.
This new awareness/consciousness is
accompanied by the realization that we have lived in a big bubble so far, in a world
full of misconceptions and illusions. The drive for power and money prevailed
and we had to work a lot to keep everything going.
Many people believed almost everything the
media and politics told us. Their certainties were based on these destructive structures
and were far removed from universal truth and thus from their own wisdom. I
hope that you as a reader can still follow me.
Our way in the world is to create
conditions in which others can find safety and satisfaction.
Learn to look through the eyes of your own
soul. Because never forget …
We are divine beings who have an experience
as a human being.
Changing of Power in Switi Sranang Kondre
The energetic change that we are now going
through takes place on many levels, not just politically. At the geopolitical
level, in local communities and in the soul of every individual. Yes, you too
as a citizen of the country called Suriname.
Where the new awareness takes shape, the
new world also begins to manifest itself. Whether this will be a long and
painful process or a quick and smooth transition depends on the extent to which we are open to the new energy flow.
It will certainly not go by itself, because
the old world is resisting a lot. This attempts to maintain the old structures
with medical and military coercion, among other things. In its utmost
consequence, the earth becomes a slave planet. Silenced and defiled individuals
living under the knot of a ruthless world government. That is the dream of the
old rulers, but not ours. No, not from our beloved Republic of Suriname.
In the end, the best dream wins.
Let’s help them with that! Above all, let
us realize that we are all ourselves. The world is a reflection of our
consciousness. So the fear of the old rulers is also our own fear. If we free
ourselves from that, we also deliver these opponents.
Getting rid of your own fear
The Higher Self invites you to go in, relax
first and let go of all your luggage. Not being busy with all kinds of
assignments, but just BEING. We are not human doings but human beings.
If you can let go of everything, you can start by focusing
your attention on something that you find pleasant and relaxing.
This way you learn to focus your attention
effortlessly and in the meantime you also learn to really be present in the
now, in the moment. Such a form of presence is strongly linked to your
intuition. It is ubiquity, omniscience, multidimensional consciousness. It is
the ENERGY. Living in connection with all that is around you, is making you
feel free and positive. That’s how you’re led. Here you find the truth of the
moment and you are free from fear.
The real truth is based on trust. There is
nothing to lose because it knows that its origin is universal, a
multidimensional consciousness. The real Self Truth knows where we come from
and where we move collectively. But first… what is hidden must now be revealed.
In silence and full of confidence I keep
feeding my idea, I see it as a perfect shape in my mind. I just have to wait
for it to manifest. I fully realize that I can participate in the principle of
abundance and that everyone can do it.
I know that the Universe is listening to me and that the
universal substance and the power of my own soul will fill every pure desire,
so that it will take its form on earth in Suriname. Because the development of
our inner consciousness, the knowledge of our real nature and origin, belongs
to every person. Only we have the ability to wake ourselves up and embrace new
lifestyles, helping each other. Now is the time for a spiritual re-evolution. A
new world is born from the old world. We are in the middle of heavy
contractions. This transmutation is not without a struggle. Suriname is our
Heaven on earth.
The old rulers do not like such powerful
intentional groups and dynamic local networks. They prefer to see isolated
individuals, because they are more manageable and controllable. Everything that
contributes to these small, maneuverable, self-healing, self-sufficient and
self-managing cores is thus crossed out by Mr. Global. Because of the
transformation and the knowledge that is now released by many, we will remember
who we really are: multidimensional beings. We used to be able to identify with,
for example, a religion, now something else is asked from us these days. Your
self –responsibility is needed. Dispel the illusion of separateness. We are ONE.
Dear all, with this article I hope that I
have given everyone and in particular the population of the Republic of
Suriname a real trigger to wake up and thus give their contribution and support
to the new Government of Suriname.
Suriname a Unique Nation where it’s people live and work in Peace, Unity and Harmony.
As many of
us continue to work from home, I wanted to share with you some of the things I
do to maintain my productivity at home. Some are habits you may not even
realize, but are important or can make a difference in keeping your
productivity high. Please reed further as you will surely discover more of your
own things.
A. Set the stage
If you must
utilize more than one workspace in your home, establish the same environment,
such as a pad of paper, photo, or inspirational quote, in each location every
day.
Repeating
the set up tells your brain that work is “on,” and the visual cue of
returning to the same orchestrated workspace over and over will give you a
sense of power.
I have a
little office set up at home where I go to do my work, so I won’t spill over to
the living or dining or other areas of my home. I’ve found that this helps me
separate my work and personal time now that I’m working from home.
B. Get rid of low value activities
These are
tasks that fills our day like emails, meetings, paperwork, protocols that can
drain the critical capacity of work-from-home teams. These low-value activities
can become a barrier to getting to the important and meaningful aspects of your
work, and reducing the burden requires a shift in mindset and language.
For example,
I usually set myself a fixed amount of time each day to check my emails. I also
set certain days for meetings. You might have other things instead.
C. Add whitespace
When you
feel like you’re drowning in calls, when you tingle from adrenaline, or when
your body is craving sugar or email or caffeine or any of the compensatory
techniques for rest, take a break. Yes kick back and relax
Being
productive is not all about doing as much as you can in a day. It’s also about
conserving energy so you can do things well. Are you still with me . . .?
D. Keep emails to intervals
I mentioned
this in point B about getting rid of low value activities and I’m repeating it
here again because this is one of the most common habit that drains people
without them even knowing!
Whenever we
see or hear an email notification, it’s almost instinctual for us to respond to
it. And we end up losing focus on what we were just working on. And it takes
time to get back into the zone after you’ve checked that email that was
probably an advert.
So set a
fixed time to check your emails every day and stick to it! BAM BAM BAM !!!
E. Create a clocking out ritual
Productivity
can hinge on compartmentalization, which is a vital habit of work-from-home
professionals. Anytime you can put something in a box, literally or
figuratively, it helps you focus.
Use this
concept to end your day visually by opening a literal compartment, such as a
drawer or a cabinet, or just leaving the room that you’ve been working in and
closing the door.
It’s not
easy to clock out in a virtual world where we can be—and sometimes feel we
should be—constantly available. By having a physical clock out ritual, it helps
your mind get used to differentiating between work and personal time at home.
How have you
been coping with working from home? Are there more distractions or
interruptions that you have to overcome? Help yourself to find out more.
If you’re
struggling to overcome your distractions, then check out how you can create an
effective method for yourself so you can apply it every time you feel
distracted to clear up your mind, refocus, and sharpen your attention all the
time.
In the so called new normal where COVID-19 is rolling over all screen around the world, we must not forget to pay sufficient attention to ourselves and love once. From my side I went to do some research which I am sharing in this blog item. I do hope that you as reader and follower can find yourself in the different circumstances. I wish you happy reading. It’s all about you yourself and your environment.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE LASTING
If you were raised by parents who continually told you what a good person you were, who loved you, encouraged you, supported you, and believed in you, no matter what you did or didn’t do, you would grow up with the belief that you were a good and valuable person. By the age of three, this belief would lock in and become a fundamental part of the way you view yourself in relation to your world. Thereafter, no matter what happens to you, you would hold to this belief. It would become your reality.
If you were raised by parents who did not know how powerful their words and behaviors could be in shaping your personality, they could very easily have used destructive criticism, disapproval, and physical or emotional punishment to discipline or control you. When a child is continually criticized at an early age, he soon concludes that there is something wrong with him. He doesn’t understand why it is that he is being criticized or punished, but he assumes that his parents know the truth about him, and that he deserves it. He begins to feel that he is not valuable or lovable. He is not worth very much. He must therefore be worthless.
Almost all personality problems in adolescence and adulthood are rooted in what psychologists refer to as love withheld. The child needs love like roses need rain. When children feel unloved, they feel unsafe and insecure. They think, “I’m not good enough.” They begin to engage in compensatory behaviors to make up for this inner anxiety. This sense of love deprivation is manifested in misbehavior, personality problems, bursts of anger, depression, hopelessness, lack of ambition, and problems with people and relationships.
YOU ARE BORN UNAFRAID
The child is born with no fears, except those of falling and loud noises. All other fears have to be taught to the child as he or she grows up.
The two major fears we all develop are the fear of failure or loss and the fear of criticism or rejection. We begin to learn the fear of failure if we are continually criticized and punished when we try some- thing new or different. We are shouted at and told, “No! Get away from there! Stop that! Put that down!” Physical punishment and the withholding of love, possibilities that scare us and make us feel insecure, often accompany these shouts and criticisms.
We soon begin to believe that we are too small, too weak, incompetent, inadequate, and incapable of doing anything new or different. We express this feeling with the words, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.” Whenever we think about doing something new or challenging, we automatically respond with feelings of fear, trembling, and a churning stomach. We react exactly as if we are afraid of getting a spanking. We say, “I can’t” over and over.
The fear of failure is the primary reason for failure in adult life. As the result of destructive criticism in childhood, we hold ourselves back as adults. We sell ourselves short. We quit before we even try the first time. Instead of using our amazing minds to figure out how to get what we want, we use our reasoning ability to create reasons why we can’t, and why the things we want are not possible for us.
THE NEED TO BE LOVED
The second major fear that holds us back, undermines our confidence, and destroys our desire for a happy
life is the fear of rejection, and its expression, criticism. This emotion is
learned in early childhood as the result of our parents expressing disapproval
of us whenever we do something they don’t like, or don’t do something that they
expect. As a result of our displeasing them, they become angry and withdraw the
love and approval we need so much as children.
The fear of being unloved and alone is so traumatic for a
child that she soon conforms her behavior to do whatever she thinks her parents
will approve of. She loses her spontaneity and uniqueness. She begins to think,
“I have to! I have to! I have to!” She concludes, “I have to do whatever Mommy
and Daddy want me to, or they won’t love me, and I’ll be all alone!”
CONDITIONAL LOVE
As an adult, a child raised with what is called “conditional
love” (as opposed to unconditional love, the greatest gift one person can give
to another) becomes hypersensitive to the opinions of others. In its extreme
form, he cannot do anything if there is the slightest chance that someone else
may not approve. He projects his childhood relationship with his parents onto
the important people in his adult life—spouse, boss, relatives, friends,
authority figures—and tries
desperately to earn their approval, or at least not lose it.
The fears of failure and rejection, caused by destructive
criticism in early childhood, are the root causes of most of our unhappiness
and anxiety as adults. We feel, “I can’t!” or “I have to!” continually. The
worst feeling is when we feel, “I can’t, but I have to!” or “I have to, but I
can’t!”
We want to do something, but we are afraid of failure or
loss, or if we are not afraid of loss, we are afraid of disapproval. We want to
do something to improve our lives, at work or at home, but we are afraid that
we may fail, or that someone else may criticize us, or both.
For most people, their fears govern their lives. Everything
they do is organized around avoiding failure or criticism. They think
continually about playing it safe, rather than striving for their goals. They
seek security rather than opportunity.
DOUBLE YOUR RATE OF FAILURE
Once an author named by Arthur Gordon approached Thomas J.
Watson Sr., the founder of IBM, and asked him how he could succeed faster as a
writer. Thomas J. Watson, one of the giants of American business, replied with
these profound words: “If you want to be successful faster, you must double
your rate of failure. Success lies on the far side of failure.”
The fact is that the more you have already failed, the more
likely it is you are on the verge of great success. Your failures have prepared
you to succeed. This is why a streak of good luck seems to follow a streak of
bad luck. When in doubt, “double your rate of failure. ”The more things you try, the more likely you
are to triumph. You overcome your fears only by doing the thing you fear until
the fear has no more control over you.
YOUR MENTAL HARD DRIVE
Everything you know about yourself, all your beliefs, are
recorded on the hard drive of your personality, in your self-concept. Your
self-concept precedes and predicts your levels of performance and effectiveness
in everything you do. Because of the law of correspondence, you always behave
on the outside in a manner consistent with your self-concept on the inside. All
improvement in your life therefore begins with an improvement in your
self-concept.
You have an overall self-concept that is made up of all your
beliefs about yourself and your abilities. This bundle of beliefs includes all
the experiences, decisions, successes, failures, ideas, information, emotions,
and opinions of your life up to now. This general self-concept determines how
and what you think and feel about yourself, and measures how well you are doing
in general.
YOUR MINI-SELF-CONCEPTS
You have a series of “mini-self-concepts” as well. These
mini-self- concepts combine to make up your overall self-concept. You have a
self-concept for every area of your life that you consider important. This
mini-self-concept determines how you think, feel, and perform in that area.
For example, you have a self-concept for how healthy and fit you are, and how much you eat or
exercise. You have a self-concept for how likable and popular you are with
others, especially with members of the opposite sex. You have a self-concept
for what kind of a spouse or parent you are, for how good a friend you are to
your friends, how smart you are, and how well you learn. You have a self-
concept for every sport you play, and for every activity you engage in,
including how well you drive your car.
You have a self-concept for how well you do your work, and
for how well you do each part of your work. You have a self- concept for how
much money you make and how well you save and invest it. This is a critical
area. The fact is that you can never earn much more or less than your
self-concept level of income. If you want to make more money, you have to
change your beliefs about yourself relative to income and money.
CHANGE YOUR BELIEFS
In every case, if you want to change your performance and
your results in any area of your life, you have to change your self- concept—or
your beliefs about yourself—for that area. Fortunately, your beliefs are
largely subjective. They are not always based on facts. Instead, they are based
largely on information you have taken in and accepted as true, sometimes with
very little evidence or proof.
The very worst beliefs you can have are self-limiting beliefs
of any kind. These are beliefs about yourself that cause you to feel somehow
limited or deficient in a particular
area. These beliefs are seldom true, but if you accept them as valid estimates
of your ability, they become true for you, exactly as if they were correct.
The starting point of unlocking your potential, and accomplishing
more than you ever have before, is for you to challenge your self- limiting
beliefs. You begin this process of freeing yourself from self-limiting beliefs
by imagining that, whatever they are, they are completely untrue. Imagine for
the moment that you have no limitations on your abilities at all. Imagine that
you could be, do, or have anything you really wanted in life. Imagine that your
potential is unlimited in any way. For example, imagine that you could be
earning twice as much as you are earning today. Imagine that you could be
living in a bigger house, driving a better car, and enjoying a more expensive
lifestyle.
Imagine that you have the ability to be one of the top people
in your field. Imagine that
you are one of the most popular, powerful, and persuasive personalities in your
social and business world. Imagine that you are calm, confident, and unafraid of anything. Imagine
that you could set and achieve any goal you put your mind to. This is how you
begin changing your thinking and changing your life.
The starting point of eliminating your fears, and releasing
your potential, is to reprogram your mental hard drive with new, positive,
constructive, and courageous beliefs about yourself and your future. I really
hope that you learned something more now you have read this blog.
Feel free to drop me your comments and maybe your very own COVID-19 lifestyle experiences. It will be highly appreciated. Thank you in advanced. Stay Safe and Blessings.
The measures we need to take because of the coronavirus do little to establish a positive relationship with the people we interact with. We know that we have to keep a meter and a half away and that we definitely shouldn’t touch other people. At the moment we are actually approaching others as if they are (potentially) sick and contagious and pose a danger to our health. Rationally we understand why we do this, but on the emotional level there is a mismatch. Strangers in particular feel as unattractive.
Others are dirty and maybe sick. . . We are now getting used to the desired distance of one and a half meters. In fact, when we see a lot of people standing together in a previously recorded TV program, it gives a kind of feeling of discomfort. The images from New Zealand where people are cozy together give us a feeling that something is not right. Physical closeness is more likely to evoke disgust at this point. For this reason, many people do not yet like to use public transport. For weeks we programmed our brains with the idea that keeping a meter and a half away protects our health. Now suddenly people pass each other at a short distance. Having to wear a mouth mask doesn’t make it any better. It feels stuffy and seeing it in others confirms a sense of potential danger: others are dirty! or maybe sick . . .
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