Furiously Frustrated
By
Bill Cottringer
In my previous article, “Seeds of Anger,” I think I overlooked the main problem with which we should have more empathy for ourselves and others. The real problem of our day is the frustration that leads either a quiet life of desperation or ... Views: 962
Seeds of Anger
By
Bill Cottringer
I think most people would agree that the main problems of our day are: (a) the artificially dualistic, unfair sharp divide between those who have abundance, power and all the other desirable things in life, and those who don’t have enough of these ... Views: 1132
WHY PRISONS DON'T WORK (AS WELL AS THEY COULD)
By
William Cottringer
“Men simply copied the realities of their hearts when they built prisons.” ~ Richard Wright.
I do not want to offend all the good people who have devoted their entire careers to positive prison reform, but the very ... Views: 1014
LIFE”S HARDEST LESSON
By
Bill Cottringer.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” ~Rick Warren.
A doctor and her patient were having a defining-moment discussion about life’s hardest lesson. “So tell me what it is, said the impatient patient to ... Views: 1334
The Only Unwinnable Conflict Worth Trying to Win
By
Bill Cottringer
“There is one conflict that will never go away until we either figure out how to communicate past it or die trying. This conflict involves arguing for the beliefs and truths we are most certain about.” ~The Author.
... Views: 1006
Three Beatitudes for Better Communication
By
Bill Cottringer
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” ~George Bernard Shaw.
I first heard this simple but profound prescription for better communication below, used as a beginning and ... Views: 1226
Are You Smart Enough?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Half of being smart is in knowing what you are dumb about.” ~Solomon Short.
I have been an avid researcher of the connection between intelligence and success for several decades now, and am finally ready to release my short list for ... Views: 1287
Managing vs. Coaching
by
Bill Cottringer
“You must always be the apprentice, even when you become the master.”
~ Christopher Cumby.
A common problem with new managers is starting out with the wrong perspective, or as Stephen Covey would say, “getting to the top ... Views: 984
Game Plan For All Seasons
By
Bill Cottringer
Psychology has one principle that can be applied to any interpersonal interaction to get the best results. This is the very fundamental principle of human behavior which recognizes that both our commonalities and our differences have to be ... Views: 938
7 SURE BUILDING-BLOCKS OF SUCCESS
By
Bill Cottringer
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.” ~ Bill Gates.
Having both attempted and researched the phenomenon we call “success” now for nearly 7 decades, I have reached the conclusion that ... Views: 838
Choosing the Right Side
By
Bill Cottringer
An elderly Episcopal priest once gave a simple sermon with a single message that makes too much sense to disregard, even for non-religious people. The message was this: There is one main choice in life and that is which side are you on—the ... Views: 770
WORDS ARE WICKED
By
Bill Cottringer
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
For over 50-years now, I have worked in criminal justice as a law enforcement officer, prison warden and a security manager, and ... Views: 896
The Power of Awareness
By
Bill Cottringer
“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.” ~Abraham Maslow.
Focusing on one thing in life being more important than any other is a common mistake we often make. This usually results in over-embracing a ... Views: 995
DO OR DIE
By
Bill Cottringer
“Conflicts give rise to villains, heroes, victims and bystanders. Which are you willing to be, in doing or dying for? ~The Author.
We are all chasing after things we think we want because of how they make us feel—happiness, success, peace of mind, ... Views: 1113
An Epiphany About Intentionality
By
Bill Cottringer
“All things considered, the concept of willfulness loses sight of too many of them.” ~The Author.
I am proposing that our entire justice system is built upon a highly questionable basic assumption—that all wrongdoers are ... Views: 883
WORK SUCCESS
By
Bill Cottringer
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” ~Vince Lombardi.
Success in today’s work place involves a commitment to ... Views: 933
The Paucity Paradigm
By
Bill Cottringer
“Usually the first problems you solve with the new paradigm are the ones that were unsolvable with the old paradigm.” ~Joel A. Barker.
Way back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve did something that contaminated our thinking and the language ... Views: 917
AN ATTITUDE FOR ALL SEASONS
by
Bill Cottringer
“The amount of success you have or don’t have, is more related to how you define success, than all you talents, efforts, motivation, timing and luck combined together.”~ The Author.
I have been an avid student of human behavior and ... Views: 1102
What Employers Need
By
Bill Cottringer
“The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.” ~J. Paul Getty.
Knowing what employer’s need—not necessarily what they think they want (or what they deserve?)—can greatly improve job success in the organization for both employers and ... Views: 859
How to Get a Job in Today’s Marketplace
By
Bill Cottringer
“People will try to tell you that all the great opportunities have been snapped up. In reality, the world changes every second, blowing new opportunities in all directions, including yours.” ~Ken Hakuta.
From all my ... Views: 808
Too Much Familiarity Can Breed Contempt
By
Bill Cottringer
“Familiarity breeds contempt, for others at first, but then inwardly, contempt towards ourselves.”
~Oli Anderson, Synchronesia: A Depressing Existential Novel.
Most relationship experts agree that contempt can creep into a ... Views: 3505
What To Focus On?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” ~Alexander Graham Bell.
Regarding the title question, the answer in a word is—NOW. One very popular view of life is that we are all pawns ... Views: 872
TWO KINDS OF BELIEFS
By
Bill Cottringer
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ~Philip K. Dick.
Beliefs are what drive and explain human behavior. They reassure us the truth of something and justify our thinking, feeling and acting in our minds, ... Views: 978
HEALING THE DIVIDE
By
Bill Cottringer
“The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.” ~Max Born.
Last Month, I published an article in Security Management magazine, entitled “The Two-Way Manager.” This ... Views: 882
Managing Life’s Five Great Illusions for Better Sports and Law Enforcement Performance.
By
Bill Cottringer
As I have already mentioned in a previous article, performance in sports and law enforcement have a lot in common. For one thing, both require a healthy mixture of individuality ... Views: 812
Maintaining More Ups Than Downs
By
Bill Cottringer
“Let it rain on some days, let yourself shiver on some cold nights, so when it's Spring you'll know why it was all worth going through.” ~Sanhita Baruah.
We all have different score-keeping methods about memories of past ups ... Views: 1060
The Problems a Divided Mind Causes
By
Bill Cottringer
“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” ~Alan Watts.
First, I suppose we should clarify what exactly a divided mind is. ... Views: 1054
Birth of The Terrible Twins Within (Our Dualistic Minds)
By
Bill Cottringer
“If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer’s day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the ... Views: 1056
Freedom of Choice?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” ~Jawaharlal Nehru
A perennial philosophical debate that started with the early philosophers and gave birth to all the earlier theories of ... Views: 1015
Ten Best Success Door Openers
by
Bill Cottringer
“If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don’t, you will find an excuse.” ~Jim Rohn.
There are lots of ways to find to do something or the excuses if you don’t. In the meantime, here are the best-known door ... Views: 931
Discussing Politics & Religion
By
Bill Cottringer
“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.” ~Mahatma Gandhi.
Just like the real reason for paying attention to the warnings of the Ten Commandments, being to help you avoid unnecessary pain, ... Views: 1366
Three Paths to The Truth
By
Bill Cottringer
“I wouldn't give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but for the simplicity on the other side of complexity, I would give my life.” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes.
As the above quote implies, there are but three main paths ... Views: 994
What Do You Have to Do to Feel The Way You Want to Feel?
By
Bill Cottringer
“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” ~Aldous Huxley.
While this article title seems to be a rather straightforward question, I doubt that it is ... Views: 852
Two Tantamount Truths
By
Bill Cottringer
“Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us.” ~Jim Caroll
There is no shortage of authors, books and movies about near death experiences, with over 5 million Internet works available. Authors like Moody, Jakoby and Greyson; books like ... Views: 760
Double Vision Decision-Making
By
Bill Cottringer
“Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.” ~Phil McGraw.
Double vision decision-making is a very useful and valuable skill in maneuvering around in today’s plethora of information overload that ... Views: 1266
What Is It About Henry or Mary?
By Bill Cottringer
“Defensiveness is usually someone silently screaming that they need you to value and respect them in disguise. When you look for deeper meanings behind someone’s pain you can then begin to heal not only yourself, but others.” ~Shannon L. ... Views: 997
Ten Best Ways to Build a Quality Work Culture
By
Dr. Bill Cottringer
“To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.” ~Doug Conant, Campbell Soup.
There has been a revolutionary interest in looking for ways to improve the quality of work environments, which lead ... Views: 1130
Redefining Success: Seven New Super-Sized Success Secrets
By
Bill Cottringer
“Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.” ~Arnold H. Glasow.
There are literally thousands of good books and articles already available regarding what to do and how to do it, ... Views: 1128
When Your Back is Against the Wall…
by Bill Cottringer
…Or when you are caught between a rock and hard place and can’t get any lower because you are already lower than a snake’s belly. This is a horrible place to be in life, but only the lucky few escape these painful experiences. Most of ... Views: 1312
“Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means” ~Ronald Reagan.
The transition from the Manufacturing Age to the Information Age brought is a value revolution. The current values revolution has turned the traditional workplace upside down and ... Views: 1135
The Easiest Management Trap to Fall Into & The Hardest One to Avoid
by
Bill Cottringer
“The first rule of business: Control the few controllables and manage the rest the best you can.” ~The author.
This number one rule actually applies to both the public and private sectors equally ... Views: 983
Are There Still Differences Between Male and Female Psyches?
By
Bill Cottringer
After John Gray’s Book “Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus” came out decades ago, significant mental and emotional differences between the sexes explained many of the difficulties that caused ... Views: 1249
Common Sense Or Good Sense?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.”― Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
It seems to be a sad common consensus today that common sense is not so common anymore. But, the validity of that conclusion really depends ... Views: 1042
“P” Point Photography: Seven Success Sources
By
Bill Cottringer
“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” ~Dorothea Lange
Learning the art of good photography offers valuable life lessons that can bring success in other endeavors. Here are seven ... Views: 1055
Lost in Translation
By
Bill Cottringer
Hagar the Horrible was giving worldly advice to his your Viking son. He says, “The secret of happiness is be content with what you got,” …so, he continues, “get enough.” ~Dik Browne.
John married Mary, his high school sweetheart, and after 20 ... Views: 1101
SEVEN COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
By
Bill Cottringer
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” ~George Bernard Shaw.
Communication, like time, is one of our most important resources, but is becoming less cost-effective in usage by the minute, ... Views: 1070
“The Truth About Success That Most Of Us Need To Know.”
By
Bill Cottringer
“To succeed in life you need two things: Ignorance and confidence.” ~Mark Twain.
I have been an avid student of the success phenomenon for nearly 5 decades now, and the deeper I dig in studying this phenomenon, ... Views: 1100
IF YOU CAN’T KEEP AN OPEN MIND, ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE ONE?
BY
Bill Cottringer
“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin.
Here are the few important realities in life that have held to be true long enough to be the exception to this ... Views: 1550
A New Year’s Resolution Worth Considering
By
Bill Cottringer
Normally, I am not one for making or suggesting good New Year’s resolutions, maybe because I have seen too many short-lived ones dissolving after just a few weeks. However, I am going to make an exception to my own rule this ... Views: 1087
A Mission Every Employer Has with Every Employee
By
Dr. Bill Cottringer
“The obscure takes a while to see, but the obvious even longer.” ~Anonymous.
The above quote relates to a lesson I seem to have to keep relearning and remembering from the first book I wrote several years ... Views: 1246