Episode 7 ~ Highlights from Constructive Living
Channel: Our Highest Work
Date: 11/03/2014

"Feelings fade in time unless they are restimulated." ~from Constructive Living

This episode in brief: 

George Kao shares his favorite concepts & passages from "Constructive Living" by David Reynolds, about living with full attention, dealing with negative emotions, and creating a life of joyful productivity.

Today's marketing tip: 

The dance of niche finding:

 Come up with a topic you'd be passionate to explore, to help the world with...
  "Do what you love"

 Go into the world and find out (and answer) people's questions about your topic...
  "...that the world will pay you for."

  To really try to understand, to immerse yourself in their thinking and their context as much as possible... The more you can walk in their shoes, the more you understand their question, the more effective you can create 

Then build your program or service to answer those questions, meet those needs:
  The key lesson, in 3 versions
   Meet people where they're at
   Sell what people want
   Serve others truly

All along the way, clarify your ideal audience in this way:
 Whom do you most enjoy serving
 On whom is your service having the biggest effect?
 Who is paying?

Marketing Resource:

"Online Marketing Simplified" Mindmap: 
http://www.mindmeister.com/347049243/online-marketing-simplified

Links mentioned in the main segment:

Constructive Living:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Constructive+Living+david+reynolds 

The study that Julie Stiles mentioned about NASA and not sitting OR standing all day but to change positions often, and the "Blue Zones" TED talk:
http://j.mp/1iy64M9 


Ideas from the book:

1. Feelings follow behavior.  Influence feelings through purposeful behavior.

I talked about this in the previous episode... OurHighestWork.com/6


2.  Rather than "perseverating" ... repeat or prolong an action, thought, or utterance after the stimulus that prompted it has ceased.... we lose our self-consciousness in the doing of life, in the service to the moment.

The goal is not to ignore or suppress feelings, but to accept them as they happen to be at the moment . . .  and then to get on with doing what is sensible and mature anyway.


3. What to do about people you feel negativity for?

[Do things that stimulate positive feelings for them.]

Quotes from the book:

Write a letter to someone you care about when you are feeling abandoned or isolated. The letter should contain nothing at all about your current sad state. It should inquire about the other person's activities, it should mention your gratitude for specific things that person has done for you, and it should contain an apology for specific things you have done or failed to do in keeping the relationship close.

[Pray for their well-being... that they would accomplish their mission in life with as much ease and happiness as possible.]

4. Life is a constant work of returning to doing what the reality is presenting for us to do... this way we don't become self-centered. 


[Every moment, every situation, especially the hard ones, provides opportunity for self-growth and development of your character.]


No one can guarantee pain-free living. No one can guarantee that success will follow our best effort. Our chances of success do improve as we behave responsibly, but sometimes we'll fail anyway. That's all right. Failure presents something else for us to do, just as success does. It's in the responding to every moment's needs, regardless of success or failure, that we mature.




5. Begin a training period for yourself by simple activities, e.g. small habits that you commit to doing no matter how you feel.  Then you progress to bigger behaviors.  OHW Episode 4 for habit creation: http://www.OurHighestWork.com/4 

*****

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