If you don't live for something, you'll die for nothing.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Quote of the Day: 5/14
The reason we struggle with insecurity is that we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.
~Steve Furtick
~Steve Furtick
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Quote of the day: 5/13
The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.
~Napoleon Bonaparte
~Napoleon Bonaparte
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Quote of the day: 5/12
It's not about forcing hapiness, it's about not letting sadness win.
~Unknown
~Unknown
Friday, May 11, 2012
Quote of the Day: 5/11
I started with this idea in my head, :There's two things I've got a right to...death or liberty."
~Harriet Tubman to her biographer
~Harriet Tubman to her biographer
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Quote of the day: 5/10
Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
~My friend quoting unkown in regards to gun control
~My friend quoting unkown in regards to gun control
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The second thing a leader must do is.....
Get rid of all negativity in his/her life.
This is a very difficult one. We are naturally negative beings. In his amazing book What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, Dr. Shad Helmstetter lets us in on a few absolutely terrifying statistics. Up to 77% of our thoughts are naturally negative. This is made up largely in part by the fact that by the time we turn 18 years old, we will have been told "No" more than 100,000 times.
Now I have no idea where or how Dr. Helmstetter got these statistics, but if you ask me, they are pretty staggering. 100,000 "Noes?" And in the most important time of our lives developmentally?? No wonder 77% of our natural thoughts are negative!! How in the world are we supposed to live positively when the world is just telling us no, no, no, no, no, no no??!?!???
Now, as you know if you've been reading my blog, in Dr. Henry Cloud's 9 Things a Leader Must Do, the first thing a leader must do is invest in his/her dreams and passions in life. Now riddle me this, sir/madam reader......won't someone who has received so many noes in their adolescence and whose thoughts are 77% negative (as a direct or indirect result of so many "Noes"), wouldn't said person have difficulties pursuing and investing in their dreams and goals? With negativity in our lives, we can kiss our goals, dreams, and passions goodbye.
We do, however, have tools to kiss negativity goodbye. Our very brain is a very important tool in this. Our brain is an amazing creature. It can imagine events so vividly that we feel like whatever we imagined actually happened. So, if we imagine our lives in a positive light vividly for 15 minutes every day, it'll be pretty difficult to keep us from reaching our goals and dreams, and becoming the leaders that we want to become. If, however, our days are filled with negative thoughts about life, our future, our friends, etc., then we probably will have difficulties even coming up with dreams that we are capable of fulfilling. Negative self talk leads to a negative outlook, which can lead to poor self-esteem. When you have poor self-esteem, it is not only difficult to realize your potential, it can be downright impossible for you to even realize that you HAVE potential.
Let me be the first to say, my dear reader that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO! If someone has done it before, it can be done again! Maybe you'll have to get creative. Maybe you'll have to ask for help. Maybe you'll have to get lucky. But, with a positive attitude, even if you have a failure, you will realize that failures are just stepping stones to success! Success is difficult! Go out and fail a little. But just make sure you're being positive about it.
Here's my challenge for you. For 15 minutes a day, vividly imagine the life you want. See it. Live it. Feel it. Smell it. Use all your senses. Avoid all negativity. When your brain thinks something like "this is stupid" (and it will, we're only human) just say to yourself, "Thank you for your opinion, but I'm choosing to think differently." I bet if you took on my challenge, you'd be able to realize not only that you have potential, but you'd be able to fulfill that potential to the fullest.
~Hammy
This is a very difficult one. We are naturally negative beings. In his amazing book What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, Dr. Shad Helmstetter lets us in on a few absolutely terrifying statistics. Up to 77% of our thoughts are naturally negative. This is made up largely in part by the fact that by the time we turn 18 years old, we will have been told "No" more than 100,000 times.
Now I have no idea where or how Dr. Helmstetter got these statistics, but if you ask me, they are pretty staggering. 100,000 "Noes?" And in the most important time of our lives developmentally?? No wonder 77% of our natural thoughts are negative!! How in the world are we supposed to live positively when the world is just telling us no, no, no, no, no, no no??!?!???
Now, as you know if you've been reading my blog, in Dr. Henry Cloud's 9 Things a Leader Must Do, the first thing a leader must do is invest in his/her dreams and passions in life. Now riddle me this, sir/madam reader......won't someone who has received so many noes in their adolescence and whose thoughts are 77% negative (as a direct or indirect result of so many "Noes"), wouldn't said person have difficulties pursuing and investing in their dreams and goals? With negativity in our lives, we can kiss our goals, dreams, and passions goodbye.
We do, however, have tools to kiss negativity goodbye. Our very brain is a very important tool in this. Our brain is an amazing creature. It can imagine events so vividly that we feel like whatever we imagined actually happened. So, if we imagine our lives in a positive light vividly for 15 minutes every day, it'll be pretty difficult to keep us from reaching our goals and dreams, and becoming the leaders that we want to become. If, however, our days are filled with negative thoughts about life, our future, our friends, etc., then we probably will have difficulties even coming up with dreams that we are capable of fulfilling. Negative self talk leads to a negative outlook, which can lead to poor self-esteem. When you have poor self-esteem, it is not only difficult to realize your potential, it can be downright impossible for you to even realize that you HAVE potential.
Let me be the first to say, my dear reader that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO! If someone has done it before, it can be done again! Maybe you'll have to get creative. Maybe you'll have to ask for help. Maybe you'll have to get lucky. But, with a positive attitude, even if you have a failure, you will realize that failures are just stepping stones to success! Success is difficult! Go out and fail a little. But just make sure you're being positive about it.
Here's my challenge for you. For 15 minutes a day, vividly imagine the life you want. See it. Live it. Feel it. Smell it. Use all your senses. Avoid all negativity. When your brain thinks something like "this is stupid" (and it will, we're only human) just say to yourself, "Thank you for your opinion, but I'm choosing to think differently." I bet if you took on my challenge, you'd be able to realize not only that you have potential, but you'd be able to fulfill that potential to the fullest.
~Hammy
Monday, May 7, 2012
Quote of the Day: 5/07
It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It's like disapproving of rain.
~Francis Maude
~Francis Maude
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Quote of the day para el Cinco de Mayo!
Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.
~Sir James Dewar
~Sir James Dewar
Friday, May 4, 2012
The first thing a leader must do....
The first thing we as leaders must do according to Dr. Henry Cloud's Nine Things a Leader Must Do, is to find and pursue our dreams and passions wholeheartedly.
Sounds easy enough right? Well, this may be the most difficult thing that we can do. Benjamin Franklin sums it up quite nicely by saying "Many people die at twenty-five, and aren't buried until they are seventy-five." Franklin is saying that by twenty-five, most of us are dead inside.
Now isn't that sad? A quarter of our lives down, and we're as good as dead. In my opinion, Franklin was talking about how by twenty-five, society already has us conditioned to be a certain way, and to be that way, we must give up on all our "silly" hopes and dreams.
Well you know what I say? Damn what society wants! Look at our economy boys and girls.....it appears that what society "wants" from us isn't quite working. It's time to try something else...and maybe that something else is pursuing our dreams rather than sitting in cubicles waiting for a retirement that isn't even guaranteed anymore! (If you love your cubicle job, this does not apply to you and I'm glad you found your calling!)
I can personally relate to Franklin's quote. I have experienced being dead inside, and I was only 20! I started to "die" at 18 years old, when I gave up on my passions in life (swimming, theater, performing), and didn't even bother to look for new passions. It took a massive personal breakdown for me to breakthrough, and start to live my life again! I was on the premed/pre-nursing/pre-professional/sciency path for so long, because I wanted everyone to be impressed with me. See, that's the problem of being intelligent; people always try to push you into the sciences. My whole life, I've been told "You'll make a great doctor, Jonathan, look at how well you do science!" And you know what? I would make a damn good doctor. BUT! (and notice it's a big but [only one T thought teehee]) Being a doctor was not, and is not what I am passionate about! I love the thought of helping people get better, but actually manipulating bodies through surgery or doing research to find cures wasn't my calling.
So what is my calling, you might ask? Well, I've always been a performer. Making people smile is my favorite God-given talent that I've been given. Whether it be in plays, singing, doing magic, or just cracking a joke while hanging out with my friends, I've always considered myself a Chandler Bing sort of character. So, my passion, is the art of theater.
But on this crazy journey, I found a new passion. Psychology. Don't the two just go hand in hand? Psychology and theater. To put on a good show, an actor must assume the psyche of his/her character to the best of his/her ability. And what better way to do so than to study psychology?
The great thing about passions and dreams is that once you figure out what yours are, you could go on for hours and hours about them if someone would let you. And I've found that! I could listen/talk about theater and psychology wholeheartedly for hours at a time, and never get bored!
So, you may ask, what's the next step for you Mr. Jon Hammy? Great question reader, and I'm glad you asked it! I plan to get my BA in psychology and theater at Michigan State. Then I hope to move to NYC or LA and pursue a masters and/or a PhD. program in psychology, all while pursuing my other passion of theater. So if I never "break big" I'll be a doctor of psychology (poor me right?)
Now. I dare you to criticize my dreams. I DARE YOU. Because it'll only fuel me that much more. I'll call you when I'm famous.
~Hammy
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Inspirational Quote of the Day
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Proverbs 6:6-8
In other words.....plan ahead!!! Whenever you feel stuck, remember that even the small ant has a survival plan that allows it to live through the years. If an ant can succeed, so can you sir/madam reader!
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Proverbs 6:6-8
In other words.....plan ahead!!! Whenever you feel stuck, remember that even the small ant has a survival plan that allows it to live through the years. If an ant can succeed, so can you sir/madam reader!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
9 Things a Leader Must Do
In this post, I'll be discussing the book 9 Things a Leader Must Do by Dr. Henry Cloud. I picked this book up in the Phoenix airport whilst waiting for my flight back home to Jackson. What appealed to me about the book was that it was short, and that John C. Maxwell, a leader in the leadership field (imagine that) wrote a forward for the book. Anything written by John C. Maxwell is worth reading and I highly recommend his works. But I digress. The nine things we must do as leaders are listed below. In future blogs, I shall share some personal insight as to how I have used or neglected to use the nine principles.
The nine things you must do as a leader include:
The nine things you must do as a leader include:
- Finding and pursuing your dreams and passions wholeheartedly
- Get rid of any and all negative thoughts, people, or activities that take up space in your life
- Make decisions today to ensure a better future tomorrow
- Ask yourself "What can I do to make this/any situation better"
- Take baby steps/set smaller goals in order to reach your larger goals and dreams
- Be able to "hate" the right things in a healthy manner
- Give to others more than you expect to receive
- Truly love yourself and stop trying to appear like someone you are not
- Be able to make decisions without being afraid of others opinions/reactions.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Howdy!
G'day mates! And welcome to my blog. My name is Jonathan but the friends just call me Hammy. I live in Jackson, Wyoming, but am currently studying theater and psychology at Michigan State University (after about 20 zillion major changes.....but i digress.) This is my blog of stolen wisdom! Basically what I mean is that next to none of the stuff I post is original....I mean how can it be? Somewhere, someone has gone through the same damn thing as me. It's my job to help you the reader see it through my eyes, and hopefully I will do just that. So. Sit back. Relax. Open a diet coke (or a beer I don't care) and enjoy the bumpy ride!
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