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Browse published articles attributed to William Cottringer, with full-archive search.
The Purpose of Relationships By Bill Cottringe n“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 ...
Ten Right Attitudes to Have About Love to Get More Byr Bill Cottringer “Love is the gentle touching of two souls without the clamor of their exte al equipment.” ~The Author. Want more love? Consider adopting these ten right attitudes that will help you enjoy more love: 1. Keep Things in Proper Perspective.
Ten Tips for Successful Presentations Byr Bill Cottringer Successful selling is often preempted by the requirement of giving a formal presentation to convince the customer to go with your product or service. These presentations require some sensible prep work to result in successful sales. Below are ten useful tips to make that happen.
Managing Better Work Performance By Bill Cottringer “Compelling trust is the highest form of human motivation” ~Stephen Covey.
Ten Best Success Door Openers byr 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 openers to success: 1. Learn, Grow and Improve.
What To Focus On? Byr 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 on a chess board being moved around by destiny (or whatever else you wish to call it), just to see what our reactions will be. This is a provocative perspective, but a plausible one.
BECOMING YOUR SIGNATURE SELFnBy Bill Cottringe nn What do Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Jack Canfield, Tiger Woods, Nichole Kidman, Katie Keric, and Alex Rodriguez all have in common besides being extraordinarily good looking, rich and famous, and masters of their trades? Better yet, what ...
What Employers Need Byr Bill Cottringer “The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.” ~J. Paul Getty.
POWER COMMUNICATIONnBy William Cottringer “Good communication is when an artist conveys the message of his images to a musician who correctly translates them into the musical notes she plays.” ~The author. Today being a good communicator is not enough. Professional success requires ...
Furiously Frustrated Byr 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 extreme stress, anger and even violence, or at least vacillating somewhere between these extremes. In our life stories we all get confronted with three types of conflicts: • Us vs. life. • Us vs. others. • Us vs. ourselves.
LANGUAGES OF THE HEAD, HEART AND SOULnBy Bill Cottringe nn“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 ...
What Do You Have to Do to Feel The Way You Want to Feel? Byr Bill Cottringer “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” ~Aldous Huxley.
Finding The Point Of Entry In The Dark Without A Flashlight By Bill Cottringer What do these people have in common besides the first letter of their first name? • John has been a successful salesman in the technology field for longer than he can remember but his company finally gave up the ...
Better Time Management for 2020 and Beyond byr Bill Cottringer “Time is the one resource that is equally distributed, but unequally used.” ~The Author. This combining millennium will likely just continue to overload us with more and more information, where we end up never having enough time to do all that we need to do. We typically get half us much done in twice the time, instead of how it should be as vice versa. Here are some practical tips to stretch your time:
Three Paths to The Truth Byr 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 we walk to learn what we think is true about something. In a three words, these paths are—short, long and longer. Or, in a little more detail, this is where we walk and what we do:
Finding Your Mental Sweet Spotnby Bill Cottrigner Sitting in two overgrown cedar rocking chairs watching the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River go flowing by in quiet North Bend, WA, two people—one intellectual and the other very practical—were just talking about troublesome life ...
WRESTLING WITH THE ULTIMATE CONFLICT: CONTRADICTORY PARADIGMS By William Cottringer, Ph.D. nnn“The only way you become aware of the intrinsic paradigms that guide your thinking are when they come in open contact with their opposites.” ~The author. I am sorry but I am not going to ...
HOW TO TALK WITH GOD By Bill Cottringe n 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 ...
If Enough People Imagine and Believe in Something, It Will Happen… BynBill Cottringe n“I can believe anything, provided it is incredible.” ~Oscar Wilde. If enough people believe in something, it will happen…”The ‘Yes-but’ rest of the story is…True, but maybe just not quite in the exact way or ...
People That Bother You MostnBy Bill Cottringe nn“Like the herd of animals we are, we sniff warily at the strange one among us.” ~ Loren Eisely Our success quest in life involves the paramount challenge of learning how to get along with other people. However, the reality of people being unique ...
Choosing the Right Side Byr 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 right one or the other one? (Notice the absence of the word “wrong”). Is there a right side of life to be on?
How to Get a Job in Today’s Marketplace Byr 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.
Game Plan For All Seasons Byr 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 understood and considered in our efforts to get the best results in what we are trying to do.
7 SURE BUILDING-BLOCKS OF SUCCESS Byr Bill Cottringer “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.” ~ Bill Gates.
Trust: The # 1 Issue In Living, Relating, Working & Even Sleeping. BynBill Cottringe n“Trust is the secular version of religious faith and faith is the growing belief and comfort in the truth and certainty of something you can’t see or otherwise prove.” ~The author. Why is trust such an ...
The Paucity Paradigm Byr 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.
THE UNNECESSARY SUFFERING PART OF NECESSARY SUFFERINGnBy Bill Cottringe n“Anything, anything would be better than this agony of mind, this creeping pain that gnaws and fumbles and caresses one and never hurts quite enough.” ~Jean Paul Sartre. Life involves a certain amount of painful, ...
Two Tantamount Truths Byr Bill Cottringer “Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us.” ~Jim Caroll
COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIPnBy Bill Cottringe n n“A leader is a dealer in hope.” ~Napoleon Bonaparte. And so the opening question is when have we needed hope more than today, if it is just help to be more optimistic in seeing past the ornery information overload that is burying us all? ...
What Can You Do When You Feel Life Doesn’t Care About Your Pain And Suffering? By Bill Cottringe n“This is where you win the battle—in the playhouse of your mind.” ~Maxwell Maltz. Unfortunately, the short and truthful answer to the title question is not what you want to hear—nothing. ...
The Main Challenge for Leaders Today Byr Bill Cottringer “Diversity: The art of thinking independently together.” ~Malcolm Forbes.
Reality Repair Rx Book Outline By William Cottringer, Ph.D. nnn In writing books or articles it is always good to stop now and then to question the importance and value of your writing topics and what your truest intentions are. I made a door sign some time ago that reads, “Dr. Cottringer, ...
“Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” ~William James. What is this hurricane that disrupts all relationships at work and home? In two words: Wrong ...
Good People, Bad Ethics byr Bill Cottringer “In my college ethics class, someone stole my textbook and I thought that was rather ironic.” ~The author.
TEN SUCCESS PRINCIPLES TO IMPROVE TRAINING RESULTSnBy Bill Cottringe nn Here are the ten best common sense principles to understand and apply in order to improve the quality of your training efforts and the actual results you get: 1. Separate “training” from “teaching” in your mind and ...
A Prescription for Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts byr Bill Cottringer “All conflict can be traced back to someone’s feelings getting hurt, don’t you think?” ~Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies.
REALITY REPAIR: With Stress-less SuccessnBy Bill Cottringe n“Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.” ~Lily Tomlin. This is my 7th book and I am trying something entirely new this time around. I am starting out with a definite title to my book in mind; ...
GETTING YOUR HEAD, HEART AND SOUL TO AGREE By Bill Cottringe n Oh boy, I hope I haven’t bitten off more tha 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 ...
FOUR CRUCIBLES OF SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP Byr Bill Cottringer "A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better." ~Jim Rohn. The four crucibles of successful leadership include: Becoming an expert at managing yourself first, developing proper focus, learning the people principles of managing others and resolving to be a perpetual, insatiable student of work and life. 1. Self-management.
REALITY REPAIR OF THE HUMPTY DUMPTY FALLnBy Bill Cottringer Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses, and all his men, Couldn't put Humpty back together again!n ~Well-known nursery rhyme.n n This well-known children’s nursery ...
The Dynamics of Dishonesty byr Bill Cottringer “Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty.” ~Nathaniel Hawthorne. One of the most important ingredients in any relationship is trust. Trust is enhanced by honesty, while dishonesty is a hungry termite that strips the foundation of trust. Understanding the dynamics of dishonesty can go a long way towards taming its impact on human relations and the quality of our lives. Below are the main interacting factors that drive dishonesty:
THE MOST IMPORTANT YES, BUT…IN ACHIEVING SUCCESS IN ANYTHINGnby Bill Cottringe n“One quality is worth more than four quantities.” ~The author. Although it may seem as though the quantity of your efforts are what lead to success at doing something your are trying, it is rather the quality of ...
Why Going From Surviving To Thriving Is So Difficult By Bill Cottringe n“Life is a series of steps. Things are done gradually. Once in awhile there is a giant step, but most of the time we are taking small, seemingly insignificant steps on the stairway of life.” ~Ralph Ranson. There are ...
Re-Braining for 2020 ByrnBill Cottringer “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ~Albert Einstein. 2020 brings a new decade of Information Age challenges, requiring some major transformational re-braining to navigate the mine fields ahead hidden away in the plethora of information overload, which is growing exponentially. Here are the ten new main brain skills needed to succeed in the coming decade: 1. Mental Flexibility.
The Compromise Imperative Byr Bill Cottringer “I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle. ~Andrew Carnegie. Our main thinking paradigm today is still stuck somewhere between a competitive, win-lose mentality model and a cooperative, win-win model. Russell Crowe in the movie “A Beautiful Mind” played the genius John Nash in discovering a primary driving force in economics. He realized the inevitability of this progression from a win-lose mentality to a win-win one.
Asking Good Questions To Increase Satisfaction In Work, Relationships And PlaynBy Bill Cottringe n Sometimes real success involves flip-flopping the traditional sequence in which we approach things. Then we end up wondering why something doesn’t feel quite right, like the tail seems to be ...
Train Your Brain in Mindfulness byr Bill Cottringer “Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn.
TEN SIMPLE TIPS TO AVOID TERRIBLE TALKnBy Bill Cottringer "It is usually impossible to get a conversation going when everybody is talking too much." ~Yogi Berrann If you want to avoid terrible talk, improve your communication skills and get better results with people, try these ten ...
DO WHAT MATTERS MOST By Bill Cottringer “There's a mess inside you: You clean the outside.” ~Anonymous, The Dhammapada. Do what matters most. I once wrote a book with that title. It took me more than 600 pages to wade through some extreme complexity to get to the profound simplicity of the four things that do matter most—Family, friends, fun and work. In this spirit, I am thinking my way back to the middle of complexity and simplicity to offer a baker’s dozen of the most important things to do in life with family, friends, fun and work: