fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Where Have You Been and Where Are You Going?
By: Will Gragido
Tags: Leading, Beliefs, Values, The Road Ahead, Life

Long Way From Home by Will Gragido

Where Have You Been and Where Are You Going?

A few years ago (2018, I believe), I decided to take a hiatus from public speaking, writing (books, etc.), and podcasting for personal reasons. I felt it was essential to do so as a lot was going on in life that required me to be present. Literally and figuratively, and the distractions associated with doing public speaking events, appearing on shows and podcasts, and even writing (something I enjoy very much) didn’t seem worth the cost when I looked at the cost-benefit analysis. There was work to be done in other areas of life, and that work — professionally and personally, took precedent. I am happy to say that this work is ongoing (as all good results ought to be) and that through it, many wonderful things have come into being and transpired (and I am sure many more are to come). Through the years that followed that decision, I did some blogging professionally and some podcasting but no works of authorship that I pursued with publishers or shared publicly. It was a time to reflect, reexamine, interrogate, challenge, and affirm much in my life.

I am pleased to say that I believe it is time to re-enter the ‘public’ world in speaking, lecturing, writing, podcasting, etc., professionally in and through the opportunities presented to me via my day job and those that are not. Journeys are funny things. Beyond the normative, standard definitions related to traveling from one physical place to another, there’s a more critical; personal meaning associated with and ascribed to journeys. For me, it was rediscovering who I am, in addition to what I believe (and why), who I value(d), and love (and how best to honor them in all the ways one should). And last but not least, the most efficient way to model an example for my children which reflects the beliefs I subscribe to without confusing the journey — in its entirety — peaks and values alike, with vain pursuits. So, all this to say that I am back and will be writing more. Blogging, journaling (for public consumption my thoughts, opinions, question wonderment regarding all that I am willing to share publicly), podcasting, and yes, working on books (related to intelligence and cybersecurity and not related — more on that to come!).

The journey is afoot. And in the immortal words of J.R.R. Tolkien, “…not all those who wander are lost.”. Be well, friends. Yours in Him.

Will Gragido
Values won’t go anywhere
By: Özlem Ülker Günal
Tags: Values

Values are values since the beginning. They are the beliefs that each person considers are important for himself and possibly for as whole humanity. Humankind loves to glorify and put forward certain traits. Honesty, mercifulness and fairness seem to us so important in every case. Even in time, some of them have changed in people’s eye different societies specialise their priorities.

It depends on your religion, culture and country beyond your profession, age and gender. As an example, if you don’t know the traditional way, you can find you in awkward while you want to say just hello in a foreign country. :)

Often people think that what they value is a universally accepted belief and that it is factual and objective. Values are completely subjective and are personal opinions, not facts.

Attitudes are not in the same perspective from our parents’ time to globalization age which we live in now. We hear so much these days about how important to teach values to children. Parents often have an intense drive to make sure their children accept their values and act according to those standards. As a result, conflicts can occur if someone tries to tell another person how to raise his children. Every family is in their way.

However parents and teachers work on it, transmitting values over time is not a planned action. Socialisation draws the lines and actions speak rather than words. Besides this media and some stakeholders are decisively differentiating our morals and values.

We are frequently losing what we have.

What will do our children in the devalued future?
Who Do You Think You Are?
Tags: Values, Identity

Who Do You Think You Are?

Has anyone looked at you with complete disgust and said in a snarky manner “Who do you think you are?” Have you said it to yourself in a moment of doubt or during a state of negativity?

But what about asking this in a healthy manner. Who exactly am I? What do I value, stand for, care about?

What do I believe about myself? Am I worthy, do I deserve to be treated well, am I contributing here on this earth?

This is an argument that the ego has with the essence every moment of every day. Ego tries to convince us that we are small so that we stay safe and therefore more likely to survive. While our essence is abundant, and open and fearless and knows that we were built for amazing, life- enhancing activities.

The essence knows that we are enough… in fact that we are everything. We are here for a purpose. What we love, what we’re good at and how we help others is our zone of genius. Where we should spend the majority of our life.

Are you living in fear, playing small, trying to go along to get along?

Maybe it’s time to figure out who you are, I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Goal for the day: contemplate the question who I am in a joy journal. Write down all the ways you contribute, show up and stand out for yourself, your loved ones and the world at large.
For starters Dharmesh you’re an introvert.
By: Sherman Moore
Tags: Content, Meaning, Values, Médium, Hubspot

For starters Dharmesh you’re an introvert. As a fellow introvert I can’t think of something much more uncomfortable than actually 1) being in a rock band outrageously trying to be the center of attention from lots of people, and 2) entering a battle of the bands with the winner judged by the emotional outburst of the largest crowd of people a promoter could glitter and dazzle into attending an event in order for them to use the most expressive and loudest outgoing outburst to aggressively assert their opinion of their favorite performance.

To an introvert, at least to this introvert, that sounds a little contrived from say, “engaging, meaningful artistic expression of beautiful music”. I’m willing to clap, it’s just that I much more interested in an internal question going on which is whether I’m really moved by this music and is it drawing me into a relationship of participation. If that happens I’ll remember that the feedback mechanism is a hand shaped touch counter and absentmindedly acknowledge the writer though I feel a bit like a mouse being trained to hit a lever enough times to get cheese.

What I will do if truly engaged, enthralled with the writing is be inspired to enter in and join the writer in exploring the subject. There are those of us who couldn’t give a damn about the number of claps but are deeply interested if one person was really moved and added, expanded, modified, enhanced, challenged or in someway displayed they were substantively and meaningfully engaged in the subject.

It’s a little like your discoveries about the volume of content vs the value of content. I’ve been in the top 1-3% of sellers in my tech company for 4 decades but don’t fit the profile of a “seller”. AT&T loved the net new millions rolling in — and dutifully paid me the money, sent me to the Bahamas or wherever year after year but never really trusted me because I didn’t act or look like a clap chaser.

Ah, but were all different! Some people are tracking their claps the way I studied my stat sheets in the day when I played basketball for a living. Visceral, metric feedback — numeric hard score coups are validation of moving up and performing better. I’m in a relationship with one of those types and was unceremoniously confronted about my lack of appreciation due to my weak wrested few claps. Ok, so I’ll click the coded area of the touch screen a bunch of times.

I propose this gets to a bigger question which is what does Medium want to be when it grows up? What are the vectors it wants dominating toward what they see as authentic self-actualization. I think it’s a little confusing right now, don’t you?
Thomas, lots of good ideas here.
By: Roy Cook
Tags: Goals, Success, Values

Thomas, lots of good ideas here. I continue to feel because of my experience as an entrepreneur before reaching my financial goals that what matters most is WHICH goals one selects. Not how to prioritize them. That assumes that one has selected the best goals from which to choose.

It’s fine to focus on prioritizing goals if you have a job with a narrow range of options or if your goals are set for you.

But IMO what matters most is how you select your goals to start with. Lots of the sentences in your piece dealt with a selection of daily goals or habits. In any productivity pyramid, values come first. Values precede goals. Always.

So I believe that the most important question is: do you know your values, your core values. Values are who you are. Goals are what you do or hope to do.

If one doesn’t know his values, he may and probably will chose goals which are not in concert with his core values. That results in frustration.

I’m speaking from experience. This is not theory.

Here’s some thoughts from some very successful folks about understanding the wisdom of discovering one’s core values before trying to prioritize goals:

“It comes from within…It comes from inside-out congruence, from living a life of integrity in which our daily habits reflect our deepest values. Peace of mind comes from when your life is in harmony with true principles and values and in no other way.” Stephen Covey

“The secret to achieving inner peace lies in understanding our inner core values — those things in our lives that are most important to us — and then seeing that they are reflected in the daily events of our lives.” Hyrum Smith

“It also means to begin each day with those values firmly in mind. Then as the vicissitudes come, I can make my decisions based on those values. I can act with integrity. I don’t have to act with emotion, the circumstance. I can be truly proactive, value driven, because my values are clear.” Stephen Covey

“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.” — Thomas Merton

What are core values? Deeply rooted fundamental beliefs. Guides that dictate your behavior and actions. The foundations of what is driving your decisions. Ingrained principles that help you declare who you are and what you stand for. Dawn Barclay, Personal Coach

“You become a person by knowing what your values are…” Peter Drucker

“Align your direction with your innate nature.There are broadly two ways to live well. You can be achievement-oriented, or you can be presence-oriented. While we’re all flexible and incorporate a mix of both, different people are programmed for different things. You should know your place on the spectrum before choosing your goals.” Ray Dalio, author of Principles

“Fulfillment is more important than achievement. Values takes care of all issues about how to spend your time.” Tony Robbins
Respect
By: Aubrey Lynn Sullivan
Tags: Respect, Kind, Values

Respect is value many people hold close to their heart, for others respect is a simple value in life you should follow.

Some people say you must earn their respect, while others say it is key to respect your elders. Respect can go a long way. How you respect someone when you first approach them leaves an everlasting effect on how they view you as a person. Say if I was to walk up to a person as at a automobile shop, and demand that I be serviced at this moment, would be considered disrespectful. Otherwise the respectful way to act ,would to be to respect that they are busy, and wait your turn to receive the service you need.

To me, I feel that you should respect people who respect you. If a person is nice and kind to you, you should do the same for them. It is a personal value that I believe is what makes you, you. It is a core moral that I believe you should respect people around you no matter what ,because sometimes you have to step up and be the bigger person and that’s okay. The way you respect someone will give them an impending idea of who you are, and what you represent.
A Word on Personal Branding.
By: Oyindamola Johnson
Tags: Personal Branding, Branding, Organizational Culture, Values, Communication

A Word on “Personal Branding”.

During the last Elevate Your Game 2019 Masterclass which I organized with my team in Lagos, someone asked a question about having concerns about building his personal brand in such a way that it was sort of coming in direct conflict with the organization he’s working with.

As I attempt to answer that question, I recall one of the modules in the “Personal Branding” online course I’m currently taking at University of Cornell.

Here’s some of the points from the class which I’ll like to share…

“Part of determining your fit with the company you work for is identifying how much difference there is between their brand and yours. Some distance is natural — but flexibility only goes so far.

Recognizing what your company values are can also be a helpful check to see whether the way in which you are developing your own brand is relatively aligned with your industry. If not, that may be an indicator that you are ready for a pivot — or that you need to reevaluate your branding…”

Simply put, there are times when your personal brand is going in a totally different direction from the brand of the organization you’re working with. What you need to do at that point is find areas of intersection. Which areas do they merge or align? It may not entirely fit 100%, but there’ll certainly be areas where they intersect.

If you, however, find out that there are more areas of divergence than convergence, it is obvious that there’s little to no “fit” between you and the organization you’re working with or the sector you’re operating in and may need to reappraise everything, as well as pivot.

Some find it easy to pivot and align their personal brand with their professional work, while for others, it’s not as easy as it may seem due to economic factors and financial reasons.

One thing about building a personal brand is that whether you’re aware or not, and whether you’re conscious of it or not, a “brand” is already been built for and by you. Some people leave this narrative for others to shape, while others are more intentional about building this brand, telling their stories and shaping their narrative.

In conclusion, you may need to do what I call the “Brand Convergence Map” where you write out values which resonates with your personal brand as well as your organizational brand or the sector you work in.

The aim here is to find areas of convergence and divergence, and after this exercise, you should be able to be clear on where you stand and if need be, where you need to pivot.
Seven Ways to Feel Better When You’re Young and Focused on Success
By: Lynn Schommer
Tags: Gratitude, Success, Values, Work, Focusing

Seven Ways to Feel Better When You’re Young and Focused on Success

When I started working I was not focused on success. I was focused on earning a living. I was focused on having a car that would not break down. I was focused on not getting married until I could support myself. I was focused on having an easier life than my parents.

It worked. I got it all and enjoyed the ride. Not every minute was lovely; there was hard work and long hours, but it was at a job I enjoyed most of the time and I felt a daily purpose. Another time I will write about that job.

If you’re young, and focused on success, here are seven things you can do today to help you on your path. You will also have a better day. These are small, daily practices that may seem unproductive to you if you haven’t tried them yet.

Take a deep breath and look around you. Be where you are. Say “Thank You” in your head for what you now have. It helps every part of life to read some articles about gratitude. I didn’t understand this until I started practicing gratitude. Silent, brief, internal gratitude is a pleasure. If you don’t get it, think about water. What if you didn’t have any water available anywhere in your life. Jeez. Know exactly what you want. Know how you want to feel every morning when you wake up. Trust yourself to do the right thing, today and in your big plans. If you’re struggling, know that someone out there is rooting for you. Read the articles about your chosen path, and then focus on one or two things that make sense to you. Trust yourself.

So there are my seven things that might help you toward your success, and help you to have success daily along the way. I am rooting for you.S
I started online dating at 58 (and blind dating)— when my husband decided he no longer wanted to be…
By: Emily Scott
Tags: Dating, Life Lessons, Love, Values, Relationships

I started online dating at 58 (and blind dating)— when my husband decided he no longer wanted to be married. I hadn’t dated/slept with anyone else for 25 years and to say I was daunted, is putting it mildly. And yes, the tsunami of choice and information was exhilarating at first, and many dates later, I realized this was work not fun. And the universal advice was to find someone quickly before I turned 60 because once THAT number shows up in my profile, I am dropped from more algorithms than one can estimate…

My naivety and vulnerability did not serve me well BUT I was adamant that I would be my authentic self — — thereby attracting other authentic selves!

All of what is written by you, Jonathan, and others happened, and then some. Far too many days/nights crying, panicking, disconnects, etc. Far too many stories that my friends either laughed or gasped at. And, there were enough fun, interesting, kind, romantic moments — combined with my eternally hopeful view — — to make me not give up entirely.

I wanted a partner — I love being part of a couple. I wanted that couple bubble. So I reframed the experience and my approach. Maybe my bullshit radar was more practiced, maybe it was my appreciation that “just because I want it, doesn’t mean it will happen,” maybe I took the fear of 60 off the table, maybe I heard and saw things more accurately. Maybe it was that I took a breath!! I don’t know — but after many toads/frogs/others, I believe I have met my mate.

And I tell people often: 1. You are marketing yourself. What are your objectives and how best to attain them (ie — think carefully about your photos and your descriptions). 2. Read profiles, don’t just look at the photos. Be more open than you thought. 3. Drinking coffee with someone for 1 hour is not wasting your time. 4. Most importantly, try to have patience, humor, empathy…I don’t know anyone who is thrilled at online dating at 60+, so a little compassion helps you both.
Maarten, an interesting take on some cliches that, I agree, often aren’t helpful.
By: Roy Cook
Tags: Success, Fulfillment, Values

Maarten, an interesting take on some cliches that, I agree, often aren’t helpful.

This is how I’ve looked at it before retiring from work and now in my most satisfying life phase:

Find out who you are first. That means discovering your inherent 10-20 core values. Your values are who you are.

Then make every decision everyday for the rest of your life consistent with one or more of those values.

The better you are at that, the better chance you’ll have for what Stephen Covey and his partner Hyrum Smith promised almost 30 years ago, fulfillment and peace of mind.

So no, a door does not open with someone greeting you with a “congratulations, you’ve made it. You will now be happy.”

It’s not an external voyage. It is an internal one. When faced with daily choices, daily goals and activities, only choose those that are consistent with one or more of your core values. Say no to everything else. The better that you can do that, the richer your fulfillment will be.

Doesn’t that make sense? Only do those things, only choose those goals that are consistent with those internal values that are nearest to your heart.

Covey, Smith and others promised that. I took it upon faith for the last 26 years. And, some time ago, found that if was true. How could it be otherwise?

So IMO the goal is fulfillment, perhaps a better word than happiness. And I only know one way to achieve it.

I’ll be laying the entire process out in a series of blogs this year and in a book that I will publish later.
How to Build a Culture that Values Integrity
By: Gerard Escaler
Tags: Ethics, Integrity, Culture, Values, Leadership

© 2021. Canva.

To build a truly great company, integrity must be viewed with the same importance as growth and profitability. This article highlights the fundamentals of building a culture of #integrity, leading by example, and how to make reporting ethics violations straightforward and practical.

In the Harvard Business Review article “How to Build a Company That (Actually) Values Integrity,” author Robert Chestnut emphasizes that leadership must openly and directly embrace integrity. A company’s leadership team are its de facto role models who set the company’s ethical underpinnings and its tone at the top. Poor behavior signals to the rest of the company’s employees that they have implicit permission to act the same way. Leaders must embrace integrity and make it integral to the company’s culture, such that employees understand without guidance that they are encouraged to “do the right thing” even if it potentially hurts business in the short run. Doing so, establishes longer term gains and enhances a company’s branding and reputation.

https://hbr.org/2020/07/how-to-build-a-company-that-actually-values-integrity
How we do business as individuals and an enterprise matters
By: Christine Mcdougall
Tags: Values, Syntropic World, Syntropic Enterprise, Syntropy

At Syntropic World

We believe;

That all of life has intrinsic value. Every human and creature has a unique purpose, and that the work we are committed to at Syntropic World is to enable 100% success of Earth and all her creatures, without ecological offence or the disadvantage of anyone.*

Our belief and stand transcends pigment, caste, gender, ability and all the other artificially imposed tropes.

We hold that human dignity, equal access, rights partnered with responsibility, justice, integrity and respect for all-life is foundational to everything we do.

Committed to learning, we hold ourselves to account, we accepted wholeheartedly our responsibility to support those with less rights and less access.

We learn by doing. We make mistakes. We take responsibility for our learning and our mistakes.

We believe that most people are good, most people want to do work that is valued and dignifies life, most people want to bring their creativity and contribution to life. Our question is how we create the ecology and enterprise design that enables this to happen.

Our operating model is to apply the laws inherent in nature to enterprise design and human co-ordination. To focus on the relationships, the spaces between relationship, and the ability to enable human synergy, while also remaining deeply mindful of the precessional effects and the long term consequences.

We are idealistic + practical. Towards a world with a future.

Photo taken March 10th 2021

*in transparency I am not so good at this when a mosquito is in my bedroom, or a fly in my kitchen.

#worldwithafuture #businessreimagined #syntropicworld #syntropicenterprise #syntropy
Where Do You Wanna See Yourself In Next 5 Years?
By: Ayusha Singh
Tags: Storytelling, Goals, Values, Happiness, Life

Well we are often asked about who do we wanna become few years down the lane, which might seem confusing to answer.🙄

While some of us might go into the practicality of the question and might say something like: Owning a company 🏙, a luxurious car, being CEO of a firm or may even be thinking of just quitting something which they might not like.

But this particular inquisition here, is far beyond our work and materialistic goals. Honestly, I don’t actually know what life might offer me in the long run but what I do know is that 5 year down the line, I will be a better person than who I am today in terms of moral values and personal relations. What the majority of people miss here in this long rat 🐀race is the touch of closeness from their near and dear ones 💖.

You might be baffled by my idea here, but this might come to your mind surely someday; when you will sit down owning all the wealth 💰 that you ever logged for, you will realize that you have pushed back your close ones far away from yourself in order to get this materialistic satisfaction in your life.

What one person ever wants in life be it in next five years or even further is just a 9 letter simple yet challenging to obtain word i.e. HAPPINESS 🙂. Being in the youth phase of our life we often feel like grabbing our hands on every fascinating thing we see, resulting in our temptation to conquer it, right before someone else gets their hands on it. We do so because it makes our adrenaline pump up a little bit for a while and then it drops down to below normal 📉. We then realize that it no longer gives us happiness 🤕. So are we actually bored ? OR what is that one major mistake we are doing here, that is leading us to be sad eventually?

The answer to this troubling question lies in the very fact of HAPPINESS. Being happy doesn’t mean you start liking something which someone else has forced upon you ( here by force I mean mental force like getting influenced, being in someone else’s shoes etc.) This should entirely come from within and may last for a short period of time as mentioned above. The only long term happiness comes from people who leaned into relationships, with family, with friends, and with community . This helps you share your mind’s thought process and cleans up all your thoughts be it negative or positive, leading you to a better path.

So, if someone asks me where I see myself in the next few years I will definitely say, “To the person who values happiness more than materialistic things and to the place where I evolve as a person to better handle a situation and closely knit my dear ones.”

Do keep pushing yourself towards finding happiness and you will get whatever you ever wanted in your life. Till then….
Some QA Value Statements
By: Kate Falanga
Tags: Software Engineering, Software Testing, Values, Software Development, QA

I recently had the opportunity to think about what I felt was significant as a QA Leader in an organization. So I wrote down some statements that I thought described what I valued in a QA Team. This list isn’t complete or perfect, but I felt like it was a good exercise and one worth sharing.

People in QA should be empowered, embedded, engaged, and ever-evolving.

People in QA have brains and should be encouraged to use them.

QA is a craft that requires skill, knowledge, and experience to do well.

Exploratory Testing is an essential and challenging skill set that should be the foundation of everything we do.

Test Cases are just one tool in a big toolbox and should only be used when it makes sense.

It’s important to understand the difference between testing and checking.

“Manual” testing and automation are equally valuable in different ways.

Testing is a lot of what we do but not all of what we do.

The role of QA is proactive as well as reactive.

Part of the role of QA is to help create an environment in which quality can occur.

One of the QA team’s primary goals is to provide fast, actionable, and business-focused feedback about a product to stakeholders in order to make informed decisions.

“QAing” isn’t a word and indicates a lack of understanding of QA and testing.

Collaboration is the key to cultural change.
The Value of My Voice
By: Jasmine Sin
Tags: Chinese, American, Language, Voices, Values

Photo by Thomas Le on Unsplash

As an American Born Chinese, I often struggled to balance my life within two cultures. My parents were both born in Canton, China while I was born here, San Francisco, California. Because I was born in America, I am more fluent in English than Chinese which is hardly spoken in at school or at where I work. But that did not mean that I do not know any Chinese.

In fact, ever since I was a little kid, I have been in a Chinese Immersion Program where most of my lessons were taught in Cantonese. And during that time, I was also enrolled at a weekend Chinese school where I was taught Mandarin. All in which I was in the program and weekend school for 9 years and after I stopped learning Chinese in school, all of that went down the drain. I almost forgot everything that I have learned before and now I can only remember the basics with enough information to communicate with my relatives.

But when my grandma, who only understands Chinese and the person who took care of me for my whole life, asked my mom to translate what she was saying to me because she did not think I would understand, it made me realize that I am being disconnected from my culture and I did not notice it until now.

After that event, it made me want to go back and relearn Chinese so that not only would I be able to successfully communicate with my relatives but it will also bring me great benefits in the future.

So I began talking to my grandparents every day, relearning Chinese and new words that I did not learn before. It made my connection with my culture grow and my voice was finally being heard from my family. My voice that creates a language that my family members can understand and possibly with strangers to which I did not know I could relate to.

My voice is a part of who I am and I never want to lose it.
In pursuit of true comedy
By: Shakti Shetty
Tags: Observation, Satire, Comedy, Random, Conversations

A lot of strange things have happened during the (ongoing) pandemic in this (discontinued) lockdown. Pandemic is everywhere. Lockdown is for those who aren’t selfish and actually care about others. Anyway, going back to the first sentence of this paragraph, Norm Macdonald has become one of my favourite comedians. Earlier, I used to find him testy and ridiculously edgy. Not anymore. Thanks to staying at home for over six months at a stretch has taught me how beautifully crafted his comedy is. Patience is lost on those who are in a hurry to go nowhere. What distinguishes a great comedian from a good comedian is the reach of his material and the courage in his words. Turns out Macdonald has plenty of both. While parsing through his stand-up and talk show appearances on YouTube, I realized that he fucks around with his audiences. In other words, he treats his comedy as a superpower. Imagine Superman lifting you up, soaring towards the sky, and dropping you, and just as you are about to hit the ground, he catches you again. That’s exactly what Macdonald does with his flow.

Take his moth joke for a meandering study of his art.

A moth goes into a podiatrist’s office, and the podiatrist’s office says, “What seems to be the problem, moth?”

The moth says “What’s the problem? Where do I begin, man? I go to work for Gregory Illinivich, and all day long I work. Honestly doc, I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I don’t even know if Gregory Illinivich knows. He only knows that he has power over me, and that seems to bring him happiness. But I don’t know, I wake up in a malaise, and I walk here and there… at night I…I sometimes wake up and I turn to some old lady in my bed that’s on my arm. A lady that I once loved, doc. I don’t know where to turn to. My youngest, Alexendria, she fell in the…in the cold of last year. The cold took her down, as it did many of us. And my other boy, and this is the hardest pill to swallow, doc. My other boy, Gregarro Ivinalititavitch… I no longer love him. As much as it pains me to say, when I look in his eyes, all I see is the same cowardice that I… that I catch when I take a glimpse of my own face in the mirror. If only I wasn’t such a coward, then perhaps…perhaps I could bring myself to reach over to that cocked and loaded gun that lays on the bedside behind me and end this hellish facade once and for all…Doc, sometimes I feel like a spider, even though I’m a moth, just barely hanging on to my web with an everlasting fire underneath me. I’m not feeling good. And so the doctor says, “Moth, man, you’re troubled. But you should be seeing a psychiatrist. Why on earth did you come here?”

And the moth says, “‘Cause the light was on.”
4 Books That Will Make You A Better Conversationist
By: Anirban Kar
Tags: Reading, Books, Communication Skills, Book List, Conversations

Communication works for those who work at it. — John Powell

As a part of a highly social race, our very existence depends upon how we converse with others.

Contrary to popular perception, communication is not limited to the mere exchange of words, whether verbally or written.

Indeed, most of our endeavors incorporate some form of communication.

Whenever you read, listen to a song, feel love for someone, or something — you are conversing. You are conversing with the universe and your soul.

So the bottom line is, we all are communicating in a way or another. We have been doing this from the moment we were born, and we will continue doing it till our last breath.

However, there is one minor question here. And that will be: How good are you at it?

Though we are communicating all the time, it can get pretty tricky, especially in professional fields. And communication mishaps at such a level can cost you.

In a study run by David Grossman, over 400 companies, including about 100k employees, reported an average of $62.4 million loss per year because of inadequate communication.

Debra Hamilton asserted, in her article “Top Ten Email Blunders that Cost Companies Money,” that miscommunication cost even smaller companies of 100 employees an average of $420,000 per year. — SHRM

According to Smarp, productivity spikes up to 20–25% if the employees engage in impactful internal communication.

So, you can see that it is crucial to learn to communicate (properly).

But how to do it?

Simple, you can start by renewing your library card.

Reading is among the most convenient and effective ways to be a better conversationist within a short span.

That is not news (unsurprisingly). Most people know it already, yet, their apathy for books is magnanimous. Maybe, it is because they are not aware of how reading works on poor communication skills.

Let’s fix that.

How reading makes you a better conversationist:

Reading improves your vocabulary.

Books liberate you from the limitation of your perception, allowing you to sense others’ points of view.

It helps you differentiate between good writing patterns and impactful speech patterns.

Reading helps you to express more, using fewer words.

Books reward you with in-depth knowledge so you can have an edge on most conversations throughout your day.

So now, when you know why to read, let’s move on to — What to read?
A shout-out to my future Employers, who-so-ever be!
By: Anuj Singh
Tags: Cover Story, Letter, Data Science, Writers On Medium, Conversations

A shout-out to my future Employers, who-so-ever be!

Hi there,

Let’s talk. I have been mind masturbating about this and I don’t know how to put this into words, but I have got a feeling, an intuition that somethings needs to be fixed right away.

There are 2 things:

1. I am a psychopath when working on a data insight project

2. I am an artist when I write and create content.

Now I am riding my huge success journey to fulfil the 1st point mentioned above. I am working on data insight right now with one of the huge companies that I can’t disclose for in a state of mind I signed a NDA which I am not quite proud of. Anyways so I would soon be proficient in that which would take some time for which I won’t lie because truth is super easy and lying is hard af.

Now the second and essential part, I want to write. I have no degrees, no experience but just an intuition that I have it. I want to write and do some experiments on data insight and thus I need you to hire me after sometime. No resumes, no GitHub-ids. Just me.

So, if you trust on this medium cover letter, you know what to do. Hire me, pay me hugely because I know what has to be done .
Miracles Are Possible | Simon Transparently with Charles Eisenstein
By: Simon Paul Sutton
Tags: Community, Miracles, Podcast, Self-awareness, Conversations

Miracles Are Possible | Simon Transparently with Charles Eisenstein

Excerpt: “ We can be part of a creative process that is far greater than ourselves and when we bow into service to that process, then miracles start happening around us. Including the miracle necessary for this world to heal.

We are too far gone for any practical healing plan to work, we are not at that stage right now, we are at the stage where we need miracles. I am very specific what I mean by a miracle, It is something that is impossible from an old story but very possible from a new one and therefore when we experience one, it is like the light coming in from a crack in the shell of the universe showing us there is something beyond that universe. And that’s why a miracle that comes into your life is so impactful, if you accept it, if you take it in, and that’s why we have to take it all in, the darkness and light so that we are operating with a full deck, and we are in reality.

Like those happenings in your life, of synchronicity, of psychedelic insights, of healing miracles, miracles of forgiveness and generosity, the things you can’t believe they are true almost, that its happening, you have to take those in fully, and you can’t believe its true, what those feelings mean, that’s like the bewilderment of reality dissolving into a bigger reality. And I can’t believe it, well you have to believe it, you have to accept the gift of these happenings, and why do I call it a gift? Because you didn’t make it happen,

that’s why its called a miracle because you didn’t make it happen.

You couldn’t have planned it, you couldn’t have forced it, yet it happened and that communicates ‘WOW’ we live in a generous universe. And what I thought was hopeless is not hopeless.”

Charles Eisenstein is one of the most important voices in the world today. A teacher, speaker, philosopher and author focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. He is the author of Sacred Economics & The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible and more from Charles Eisenstein here.

The Power We Have Is Far Beyond What The Rational Mind Understands. What I Thought Was Hopeless Is Not Hopeless.

If this podcast touches you then please share with friends to spread this wonderful interactive experience at these momentus times of transition from the old story into the new.

PODBEAN: Happy to welcome you onto this platform

SPOTIFY:

APPLE PODCASTS:
MSSU does Coffee with a Cop
By: Liz Chandler
Tags: Conversation, Police, Joplin, Coffeewithacop, Mssu

For the first time ever, on Wednesday October 2, MSSU’s police department participated in National Coffee with a Cop day.

MSSU’s police department offered a hot roast provided by Kaldi’s Coffee to passing students in Billingsly Student Center to open up the conversation between police and students.

“We decided to participate and have students come around and let them know what our prevention programs are, and also to see if they have any questions about policing on campus,” said MSSU Chief of Police Kenneth Kennedy.

“Anytime you can develop a rapport with students, you’re more likely to have them come and talk to you about a problem that’s going on or a dangerous situation. So we try to do that, be approachable.”

National Coffee with a Cop day began in 2016 as part of National Community Policing Week and continues each year on the first Wednesday in October. The event aims to bridge the gap between the community and the law nationwide.

Coffee with a Cop provides a casual atmosphere to have real conversations with police officers in a neutral environment.

MSSU offers a year-round program called Coffee with the Chief that allows for a one-on-one conversation with Chief Kennedy to promote a stronger relationship between the police department and those it serves. To request a time for Coffee with the Chief, click here.
Conversations
By: Ayesha S
Tags: Conversations

Conversation between people who know each other well feels comfortable and safe. It seems easy to share everyday experiences. You are able to hold a small talk with them as well as discuss your wildest dreams. In such conversations, we seek affection and encouragement. Both persons are able to learn from each other and you feel excited about seeing them again. As there is no pressure of performance, we can become too candid overtime. So care should be taken to not let that comfort make you come across as a careless and rude person.

Conversations which are formal in nature, where people are only aware of a certain part of the other person’s life do feel safe but also intimidating as there is pressure of performance. Comfort level might not be high but respect and reverence are high which creates a good learning environment. In such conversations, we seek appreciation and acknowledgement. As you are already cautious, so in such conversations you should not gauge everything that comes out of your mouth because it will make the conversation awkward and will break the flow.

Toxic conversations are where the person intrudes your personal space and takes advantage of your history of trauma or things that make you look like a fool. You feel unsafe and judged. You seek for the conversation to end as soon as possible. These are uncomfortable, highly challenging conversations which can lead you to having emotional outbursts if you are not mentally aware and emotionally equipped. The toxic person or abuser involves you in pointless, circular, prolonged, unfruitful discussions. You feel suspended between 2 decisions: should I leave immediately or stay until they are done? You feel bullied and drained at the end.

There are 3 ways to deal with such a situation:

1) Avoid the person.

2) Ignore what they are saying, zone out and think about something important.

3) If they ask a question, give a terse response: short and assertive.
How to de-escalate a heated situation at work 🔥
By: Danae Shell
Tags: Management And Leadership, Work, Management, Conversations

Ever felt your cheeks go hot in a meeting? I sure have. Sometimes it’s because I’ve felt dismissed, sometimes because I’ve felt attacked. But in a work setting, I have to somehow control that reaction and find a way to de-escalate. Here’s a method I’ve used successfully in a lot of heated moments.

Find the unspoken fear

In my experience, when situations get really heated, there’s normally an unspoken fear driving it on one or both sides. Fear makes us all behave in pretty destructive ways, and it’s particularly damaging in the workplace. For example, If I fear losing control and react by micro-managing, I would make a lot of other people’s lives pretty miserable and create a huge ripple effect in my company.

Over the years, I’ve found that if you can find and name that underlying fear, you can change the conversation and usually take the heat out of it. It could be as simple as saying:

Can we take a step back for a second? This isn’t usually a problem — what’s your concern?

In a lot of cases, the other person will be happy with the break in tension and will tell you their concern. Then, you can focus on solving it together.

De-escalating trickier situations

Sometimes, it’s not that easy. De-escalating can be pretty tough if everyone’s already in fight or flight mode, including yourself. In tougher situations, try following these three steps:

Ask yourself — what is your underlying fear in this situation? Pause the conversation (I literally say “can I press pause for a second?”) and share that fear with the other person. Be quiet and see what they say next.

Nine times out of ten, this de-escalates the situation and the other person engages with you. I think it works for two reasons: 1) because you’ve stopped the conversation long enough for everyone to take a breath, and 2) because you’ve taken the risk to be vulnerable first, proving to them that they’re safe enough to stop arguing and voice their own concerns.

Making it safe to talk about fear

I’ve been using this method for a few years, and colleagues are now used to me trying to find the unspoken fear. One of my colleagues said the other day, “hold on, let me do that Danae thing, I think what I’m really afraid of here is…”

I was so happy about this — not because she attributed it to me, although that was cool — but because it’s now so safe to talk about fear that she was doing it on her own. To me, that’s a strong sign of healthy communication and means we can focus on solving problems together.

How to be human at work — join the free newsletter

Managing people is the best part of my job. It’s also hard. I write a newsletter every week about being human at work and the lessons I’ve learned — if you’d like to read it, subscribe here for free or use the link below. Thanks!
Role of PSD to HTML conversion in the success of a website — Learn at SLICEmyPAGE
Tags: Successful Website, SEO, Website Design, Psd To Html, Conversations

Role of PSD to HTML conversion in the success of a website — Learn at SLICEmyPAGE SLICEmyPAGE Mar 22·2 min read

PSD to HTML conversion is a method of web designing in which web designers convert Photoshop design files into HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. This method offers high-quality SEO semantic coding, fast response time, and creates good quality websites.

In this article, we are going to discuss the benefits of PSD to HTML conversion service -

W3C standards

W3C stands for World Wide Web Consortium. There are some standards to make any website, in which we have to follow some rules and guidelines which come under W3C. It ensures that the web works equally well for everyone, regardless of their location and technology on any browser.

SEO friendly

SEO-friendly websites represent your business. If your site is SEO-friendly then it can be easily detected and easily explored and crawled by search engines. An SEO-friendly site is mobile-friendly and has an optimal loading speed.

Responsive web design

Responsive web design is an approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user's device’s behavior. It’s based on screen size, platform, and reduces the possibility of the common mistakes that affect mobile sites. It helps to increase visibility on search engines and allows more visitors to your website.

CMS integration

A good Content Management System(CMS) is essential for any website. It adds many benefits for your websites like cost-saving, time-saving and also manages to edit, modifying and removing content. There are many CMS like WordPress, Wix, Joomla, etc which are used by designers and industries with easy collaboration.

Cross-browser compatibility

Cross-browser compatibility is essential for everyone to see the website the same way, no matter what the browser is accessed because there are many browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc and people are using it according to their choice. Cross-browser compatibility also optimizes the code for high-performance, the web pages will load quickly in different web browsers.

Dynamic functions

Dynamic websites are in demand nowadays because in dynamic websites there is complete control over the content. Search engine optimization can be improved with dynamic functions and it is less expensive because the content is easily added and modified in this.

In this article, we talked about the benefits of PSD to HTML conversion. There are many companies out there who provide this service and SLICEmyPAGE is also among them who provide great quality work at a reasonable cost.

Please tell us how did you like this article and also give your suggestions to us.

Originally published at https://learn.slicemypage.com on March 22, 2021.