Posted by jklemeyer | Posted in Mindset | Posted on 19-05-2012
0
Do you know who said those famous words and when?
They were said in 1933 at his first inaugural address and said by our 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Our country was at the depth of the great depression and despair and uncertainty had set in and seemed to be here to stay. There’s no doubt Mr. Roosevelt had a tough job ahead of him over his first term as President of the United States. Putting politics aside here, he had to relay confidence in American through his speeches and stalwart leadership even though he was crippled by polio.
Here’s what I think Mr Roosevelt meant when he said that famous line… “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Because I have seen this formula if you will, manifest itself time and time again. As a matter of fact, I once had a person who I worked with and in all respects he was top notch. The ability to create a fear and respond to it as if it were real was no exception.
Here’s how I’ve seen it play out… A belief is created, perhaps from a seed of doubt or insecurity and because it’s given the nourishment beliefs like that need to foster and grow. The nourishment of attention and consistent worry, which acts like atomic miracle grow making that small insignificant doubt become all encompassing.
Because the belief has been allowed to foster and grow it has become as if it were reality. This is where it really gets interesting… Behavior begins to be modified to act as if that belief was real. Something like, I begin to think you’re upset with me about something I don’t even know what and then I become sure you’re upset at me and I begin to get upset at you. How dare you! And then magically, even though you were never mad at me, you begin to become frustrated because of the way I am treating you. I have just created what I feared most!
That’s what I think President Roosevelt was talking about when he said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He didn’t want us (our parents and grand parents) to stay in the malaise that had gripped Americana and in so doing make it even worse. I learned in the Dale Carnegie course many many years ago a little saying that goes… “If you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic.”
Be careful what you create in your mind… it might become more real than you really want.
Posted by jklemeyer | Posted in Learning | Posted on 12-05-2012
22d6
0
Jack did you know that how you say what you say matters in your believability?
Today at Toastmasters here in Brownsburg, my good friend Troy Hanna gave a really good speech appealing to the audience to support the halting of “The Grind,” an ancient tradition of slaughtering pilot whales off of the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic. I won’t go into the story that Troy told, you can find out more about all this at Animal Planet on television or their website.
Here’s what I learned while listening intently to Troy’s speech. While it was a compelling speech it could have been one that moved people to action to support the point of view Troy proposed. Here is some of what he said and what I believe he should have said. Remember, you say as much if not much more with your tone and body language (physiology) than you do with just the words you speak.
When talking about a fact he researched on the internet he, with a squinted eye and scrunched face,said, “I believe…” and then went on to relay a point of his research. What he should of said, while holding his chin high, and making eye contact with a member of the audience is “Research shows…” or “According to my research…” and then make his point.
When talking about a fact about the Faroe Islands soil quality Troy said “I think it’s about 2 to 3 inches thick…” and then finished his point about how the soil wasn’t suited for growing food. Perhaps he should have said, “The soil on the Faroe Islands is only 2 to 3 inches thick…” and then add his facts about the soil quality.
Troy is a great speaker and a very passionate individual for animal rights and I appreciate his point of view. I only share these few tips as an example for you to think about your talks of persuasion and how we can all be much better than we think and than we are now.
Posted by jklemeyer | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 12-05-2012
0
You may not know them by name but I am sure you have seen their work. Here’s what you probably didn’t know. Albert and Albrecht Durer were brothers of sixteen other siblings in Germany near Nuremburg during the fifteenth century. Their father was a goldsmith by trade and worked with gold from a local goldmine. They both had a passion and talent for art but with sixteen other siblings they knew their family couldn’t afford to send them both to school. The story goes, one Sunday after church the family gathered around and a coin was tossed, the winner would go on to school to pursue his passion for art.
Albrecht won the toss that day and in fact went on to Nuremburg to attend school and his brother Albert labored in the local goldmine mine, up to 18 hours each day to help put his beloved brother through school. The deal was when Albrecht was finished with school, he would work in the mine or as an artist to return the love of his brother and put Albert through school.
Working in the mine was very difficult and took a heavy toll on Albert’s hands but he kept up the work to put his brother through school.
The day came when Albrecht finished school and returned home. With great joy Albrecht told Albert, “now brother, I’ll work and you may go to school.” But Albert said that his time has passed for you see over the years of working in the mine his hands had become callused, arthritic and scared. He could no longer hold a brush with such hands.
Albrecht asked one last favor of Albert and that was that he pose for a painting. Albert did in fact pose and together their work became known world-wide by millions of people. First as a still life painting and later a sculpture of the praying hands. Those crippled damaged hands that are folded in prayer to be for all the world to see a symbol of prayer. As the late Paul Harvey used to say, now you know the rest of the story that those hands also represent sacrifice from one brother to help another with the passion they both shared.
The lesson… You need not always be the artist or the star to be famous!
