“He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.” ~Abraham Lincoln.
For as long as I can remember, there has always been a raging war inside me between the terrible twins within—head vs. heart. That is wrong and this is right. This will work out for the best and that won’t. I can ... Views: 4475
Two of my favorite words lately are alignment and purpose. When these two words are in sync with each other you can access unlimited success and abundance and all the positive feelings that come with those things. But when these two words are out of sync with each other, that is when you get ... Views: 741
After decades of both humorous and sad failure attempts to fix broken realities I didn’t like in my own and others’ lives, I think I have finally discovered a simple prescription that I wish I had known about years ago. Many needless broken bones, bleeding and bruises could have been prevented. ... Views: 896
A big challenge in life is to fix the broken realities you don’t like and to create newer and better ones you want. Unfortunately this is much easier thought about in our heads than done with our hands. Most of us are still stuck trying to deal with undesirable realities that are getting in the ... Views: 605
THE TRICKS OF POSITIVE THINKING
By
Bill Cottringer
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill.
Gee, we have all heard enough about the power of positive thinking, right? You only get about 4 ... Views: 3079
WRONG PERCEPTIONS CAN BE LETHAL
By Bill Cottringer
“You are only as wise as others perceive you to be” ~M. Shawn Cole
It would be amusing if it weren’t for the destructiveness that wrong perceptions of people and situations can cause. What is amusing is that we are convinced of the truth ... Views: 13401
UNLOADING THE MANAGEMENT OVERLOAD PROBLEM
By
Bill Cottringer
“I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up.” ~Erma Bombeck.
Is it just my imagination or do other managers feel ... Views: 1055
HOW TO TALK WITH GOD
By Bill Cottringer
The other day I text messaged God’s Administrative Assistant to ask him how God would prefer for us to talk with Her. Since he was very well organized, as would be expected for an administrative assistant of the whole universe, he suggested I just ... Views: 1195
GETTING YOUR HEAD, HEART AND SOUL TO AGREE
By Bill Cottringer
Oh boy, I hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew here with this title. It just came to me as a very important problem to solve—the many important disagreements between the information and choices these three things lead ... Views: 1086
The Purpose of Relationships
By Bill Cottringer
“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.” ~Henry David Thoreau.
Lately, I seem to be more successful at accomplishing what I am trying to do when I remain mindful of my primary purpose in what I ... Views: 1307
How Do You Get Rid of Negative Thoughts?
By Bill Cottringer
“All negativity is an illusion created by the limited mind to protect and defend itself.” ~Ambika Wauters
By now the power of “The Secret” is commonplace knowledge. Since you attract what you ask for, the real secret is ... Views: 3980
SOULFUL SATISFACTION
By Bill Cottringer
“It is not the things in life that bother us but rather our opinions about these things.”
~ Epictetus
Without a doubt, the above quote is my all time favorite, because day by day it keeps growing in meaning and value in my own life and adding ... Views: 696
GET READY TO RUMBLE
by
William Cottringer
There are plenty of dismal headlines in the business and public service news today. “Financial Meltdown,” “Profitability Plague” “Cooked Books,” and “Ethics Erosion” are common phrases today. Are these things just part of a bigger problem?
... Views: 873
REMOVING THE SAFETY SPACE BETWEEN YOU AND LIFE
By
Bill Cottringer
In a recent movie, "Lions for Lambs," the truth of life was pursued to the end from three different directions by three great movie stars, who probably weren’t acting: Tom Cruise, the ambitious politician, Meryl Streep, the ... Views: 856
Humility Is At Least Half-King
By Bill Cottringer
There is one critical virtue I can’t get enough of these days and I don’t think we ever appreciate its ultimate importance and value until the lack of it comes back to bite us in our butts. I think humility should be right up there with ... Views: 798
LIGHT THEIR FIRES
by
William Cottringer
Knowing how to motivate employees is an important part of any supervisor’s toolbox. Fortunately you don’t have to be a psychologist to be an effective motivator. All you have to do is apply practical people principles in a common sense way. Below ... Views: 983
THE WILL TO GROW
By
Bill Cottringer
There is one particular motivation that has a significant impact on the quality of your life; it can result in varying degrees of happiness and unhappiness, success and failure, peace and turmoil and good health and ill health. This single motivation ... Views: 722
HEROES, VILLAINS, VICTIMS & BYSTANDERS
by
William Cottringer
In the game of life there are four main roles we can choose to play. These roles are Hero, Villain, Victim or Bystander. Which of these roles are you playing?
HERO
Heroes dream big, translate their dreams into ... Views: 2708
THE FOUR STAGES OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
by
William Cottringer
The human potential movement of the early seventies employed a helpful frame of reference to understand the process of interpersonal group development. This model involves four distinct stages of development: ... Views: 19001
Reality Repair RX
By Bill Cottringer
“Reality does not conform to the ideal, but confirms it.” ~Gustave Flaubert.
This is a good question: What is reality?
Reality = “Anything about the past, present or future you believe to be actual and true because it comes from trustworthy sources such ... Views: 917
SEVEN THINGS RELATIONSHIP COUNSELORS USUALLY WON’T TELL YOU
By Bill Cottringer
Now I realize that this article is going to rile a few people in the relationship counseling profession, but I will at least try to speak the truth gently and kindly. I have been there, done that and paid my ... Views: 2887
DEALING WITH A CONTROLLING, TOXIC BULLY
By
Bill Cottringer
It is easy to get trapped into feeling negative about being mistreated by a controlling, toxic bully and worse over not feeling you can do anything about it. It is frustrating, humiliating and maddening. And you can get even ... Views: 6481
Sigmund Freud was certainly right about one thing. Human beings do have a ‘personality trinity’ that actually reflects many such equivalent three-part government and social systems. However, I think the three concepts originally used may not convey the relevant story today. Three was ... Views: 695
AN IDEA WHO’S TIME HAS COME
By Bill Cottringer
Thanks to the relatively recent science of neuromarketing, brain research has begun to identify the central role of the reptilian part of the human brain (old brain)—below the thinking and emotional semi-conscious mental activities we ... Views: 718
ANGRY HEARTS
by
Bill Cottringer
There is an unexpected side-effect of being mentally and spiritually healthy: You become more aware of and obligated to help resolve the phenomenon of angry hearts. And this can be more time consuming, draining and beyond what you may think you are ... Views: 1548
LETTING GO OF ‘WHAT YOU KNOW’ MANAGEMENT THINKING
By
Bill Cottringer
What It’s All About
It’s not about—
How smart you are,
Who you know,
Where you’ve been,
Or what you have;
It’s not about you,
Or what you’ve done,
Or left undone.
Here’s what it’s about:
Your silent surrender—
The ... Views: 1309
THE TWO HALVES OF LIFE
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson.
From where I am standing do my looking today, there seems to be two distinct halves to my life. Of course I am interested in finding ... Views: 832
SUCCESS IS EASIER DONE THAN SAID
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
“People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.” ~Albert Einstein.
All the libraries of current success clues are making success harder said than done. We are all buried in the success overload and ... Views: 738
LANGUAGES OF THE HEAD, HEART AND SOUL
By
Bill Cottringer
“Truth is that sweet spot in time and place where your head, heart and soul hover over something from which nothing can be added, subtracted or changed.” ~The Author.
I have been a student of conflict resolution and good ... Views: 1218
AN IRRECONCILABLE CONFLICT?
By
Bill Cottringer
“There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow.” ~Christopher Morley.
In his recent movie, Gone Baby Gone, Director Ben Affleck leaves his brother ... Views: 1850
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE
By
Bill Cottringer
What remains when all is said and done? Take away all the additions, subtractions and changes we make to life with our thinking, perceptions and reactions and what remains is the 5% truth making up our personal success quest. Hidden away in that ... Views: 918
BECOMING SINGLE-MINDED
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
“Self-consciousness creates the illusion that there is a separate self from the rest of reality. That would be the funniest mistake in the world if so many people weren’t so convinced that the illusion is really true.” ~ The author. ... Views: 4988
SUCCESS BY PERSPECTIVE
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
Success—What you get from doing what you do to get it; acquiring any or all of the following: Having an abundance of health, wealth, power, influence, friends and wisdom; gaining a sense of satisfaction from achieving your goals, being ... Views: 996
ULTIMATE SUCCESS SECRET ON A PEDESTAL: RIGHT PERSPECTIVE
By
Bill Cottringer
“It is not the things in life that bother us but rather our opinion about these things.” ~Epictetus
What was Jack Palace meaning , as Curly in the movie City Slicker, pointing with his finger in the sky and ... Views: 1358
Truth = The absolute way things could be in a perfect world, where we are trying to go.
Reality = The relative way things are in the real world, where we are at now.
Conflicts occur when people have differing opinions as to the causes of and solutions to particular truths and ... Views: 2978
JUDGMENTS, DEFENSIVENESS, UNDERCURRENTS, FESTERING & FAIRNESS
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
Sooner or later conflict occurs in any relationship. A particularly difficult conflict is when one person thinks or acts one way about something that is diametrically opposed to the other person’s ... Views: 890
BEING HAPPY WITHOUT MONEY
By
Bill Cottringer
“If you can’t be happy poor you can’t be happy rich.” ~ The Author.
Are we all really capable of achieving great financial wealth like The Secret proponents and all the wealth books and wealth gurus profess? Are we all meant to have wealth? ... Views: 11259
TRUTHFUL THINKING
By Bill Cottringer
“Success is what we get from what we do to get it.” ~ The Author.
Which is more satisfying—week-old, cold apple pie out of the refrigerator or hot, freshly-baked apple pie with cold French vanilla ice cream on top? If Mary wants chocolate cake for ... Views: 1285
WINNING PRINCIPLES
By William Cottringer, Ph.D.
“Winning and success are what you get from doing what you do to get them.”
~The Author.
I have been an avid student of the psychology of winning/success for four decades now—learning all the knowledge and skills that bring about ... Views: 3054
THERE ARE ALWAYS TWO SIDES OF THE STORY
& THEN THERE IS THE TRUTH
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” ~ John Lennon
Actually there are probably as many ‘stories’ as there are people on this planet. But, there is but one overall, unifying truth that ... Views: 779
BEING CERTAIN
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” ~Philip K. Dick.
The other day my daughter Abby was given a question to answer by the instructor of her epistemology class as a high school senior. The question was ... Views: 909
ONLY TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE?
By Bill Cottringer
Getting along with other people and working together cooperatively is the fundamental foundation of successful outcomes in the workplace. This is true teamwork at its best. Organizations without this foundation don’t grow or prosper, at least ... Views: 969
DECODING CONFLICT
By
Bill Cottringer
Organizations today are faced with inevitable conflicts in team-building that will require creative resolutions that may be just slightly outside the leader’s toolbox. Even the most experienced leaders have to approach each new conflict with ... Views: 976
What is Love?
by
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
I have studied the "love phenomenon" personally and professionally for over 40 years now and would like to share a few things I have discovered in my studies. First, it may be that we are being artificial and limiting in trying to describe and ... Views: 879
From Falling in Love, to Being in Love, to Loving
By
Bill Cottringer
Over four decades of trial and error in relationships have taught me a valuable lesson. This lesson is to slow down and learn to listen to the lesson. The main purpose of a relationship is to get you to do something to ... Views: 2437
DIVORCE SURVIVAL KIT
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.
A pending divorce can be a scary and devastating experience for a married couple. For every divorcing person, the future is nothing but uncertainty, anxiety and confusion. Such an emotional state is not good for focusing on priorities or ... Views: 2995
SHARING THE SECRET OF SINGLE-MINDEDNESS
by
Bill Cottringer
The most important gift a leader can share is the illusive secret of single-mindedness. No organization can flourish with consistent growth, abundant prosperity and genuine success without single-mindedness of purpose and effort. ... Views: 1487
CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES
By Bill Cottringer
Probably the one thing we think about and do more than anything else in life is making choices. Many times we even have to choose to make a choice or not. We generally make choices from either our heads or our hearts, but usually somewhere in ... Views: 716
MANAGING GAPS
By Bill Cottringer
Much of the management role involves the important process of identifying critical gaps, understanding the details of what is in between where things are and where you want them to be, and then managing to close these gaps quickly and cost-effectively. Here ... Views: 1011
ANGRY HEARTS
by
Bill Cottringer
There is an undesirable phenomenon going on today that we can all feel—angry hearts. Like any other problem we want to solve, we have to understand it and then figure out what we can do about it as individuals.
Divisions between people seem to be ... Views: 773