On How the idea of “Two Narratives” can change the world

There are always two narratives in a relationship of two, being it a personal relationship or a conflict between two nations. In each case, I do believe that the best way to get to a peaceful and healthy coexistence, is by accepting that we can not build one common narrative but that we have to find the way to live with two parallel ones. I propose that instead of trying to either impose our narrative into the other, or as an alternative build a common narrative at the intersection of two; we just learn to live with the narratives that fit each side of a relationship.

I will look at this from both the perspective of personal relationships and inter-national conflicts as I think that the pattern is somehow the same in these different equations and/or realms.

Many times, marriage or loving relationships fail for the simple reason that one of the two has to give up on his/her own narrative in order to accept the narrative of the one that dominates in the relationship. In fact, each one brings his/her background, personal story, family, dreams and ideas into a new relationship.  Couples sometimes live under the illusion that they have a “common narrative” but that is nothing else than a postponement of hidden needs, ideas, lifestyles of one or both sides that get kept in a drawer. Some of those couples might live like this forever and succeed to make a common life but in many cases it will lead to frustration, disappointment  and eventually separation.

I believe that people need to find a way to let each narrative, each story-that-is-written-as-we-live-it be still developed in the framework of a loving relationship in order to have a healthy, fulfilling and happy life. The key lies in letting each one unveil their own self story while two live together but not to forcefully write a common story when one’s own narrative has to fade away.

If we look at inter-national conflicts, the best example of the above, is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict that is complex enough and is fed all the time by unplanned and surprising events, is constantly embedded by the pressure to find one common narrative to be accepted by both sides or either imposed by one side on the other.

Questions like who was in this land before, and who has the right to settle here, have been at the core of recurring unsuccessful negotiations. But in this issue, there is no wrong or right, both sides have a narrative that tells their own story of suffering and aspirations. And in order to get into a peaceful coexistence, both sides will have to live (not to agree) with the different versions of history and history-to-be-written.

At the end of the day, the idea of living in peace with two narratives is at the core of the broader idea of creating living environments based on tolerance and acceptance of the different. I propose that we take the idea of the two narratives from the smallest form of social relations, the one between two loving partners; to the macro level of resolution of international conflict. Maybe if we succeed at home first, it will be easier to heal the globe.

Thus, by not trying to impose our narrative  into others, we could live happily, in achievement and peace.

Jorge Diener

Copyright 2011 Jorge Diener

 

ABOUT BEGINNINGS, ENDS AND WHAT’S IN BETWEEN

About Beginnings, Ends and what’s in between

The countdown begins, and the bells announce the arrival of that moment we mark once a year, that instant when another cycle ends and begins at exactly the same time. And along comes the sound of New Year’s fireworks triggering a well expected celebration of joy and hope.

We are fascinated by time cycles, we mark weeks and months; in different ways, in different cultures, time is celebrated. We need those marks to highlight a transition that closes and opens cycles, that enables us to organize the chaos and complexity of our lives.

But what is to celebrate at New Year’s? In fact, I always wondered what we were actually celebrating in that very moment when the Old Year meets the New Year. Was it the end of the past year or the beginning of the new one? Was it the successful culmination of a great year or the relief of leaving behind a terrible one?

But then I realized that the beauty of that moment is in the fact that we all have a reason to celebrate.

Because for those of us who end the year with a feeling of achievement, personal fulfillment and good memories to take forward, the end of the year is the moment that summarizes where we stand, what we have done. It’s the moment when we cheerfully exclaim: “Wow! It was a good year,” and we raise a glass to wish ourselves another round of what we had in the past twelve months.

On the other hand, for those of us who end a year as bad as it got, the fact that we put an end and start a new chapter, can only represent a well-deserved reason to celebrate and wish that all the bad images of the past will just evaporate among the sparkling lights.

But at the same time, every end is a new beginning and  as such is always an opportunity to reshuffle, to restart, to build on what we have achieved or rebuild on what has been destroyed.

In Spain, grapes are eaten throughout the countdown towards the beginning of the New Year. In my mind, those grapes symbolize the potential that every one of those last seconds has to transform each grape into the delicious and fine wine we can make in the year to come.

I raise my glass to wish us all a happy closing and a great beginning; to have the courage and positive attitude to face existing and future challenges; to love, to create and to realize our dreams.

A big part of it lies nowhere else but in our own hands.

And in one year, when the clock strikes midnight, we will hopefully look back at a great year that passed.

Jorge Diener

 

The Incredible Power of our Courage to Act. Part 2: THE POWER OF SILENCE

I was 11 years old and the hormones in my body were transforming me into a new creature, one that I couldn’t recognize anymore. It was a bit embarrassing and at the same time strange to see my legs getting closer to my neck and my hair starting to grow not just on my head but elsewhere on my body. It made me suddenly feel uncomfortable. And when I looked around I saw perfect creatures all laughing at me looking at an alien ready to be expelled from community, earth, and beyond. Consequently, for a short period of time, I became SHY. I became an expatriate among my own friends, my own crowd.

As many of you who have already seen me on stage know, this period didn’t last for long and I continuously benefit from my extrovert personality and build on it to further develop my leadership profile. Being shy, was a short-term experience for me, one that helped me understand  the difficulties many people face when having to develop their power to act. However, for many, being shy is part of the way they are, not for the short but for the long run. Still, they may not know that, being shy doesn’t impede them from being courageous and executing their power to act, loudly and surely.

In “The Impotence of Eternal Deliberation” (http://motivationalleadership.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/the-impotence-of-eternal-deliberation/) I described the phenomenon of people’s inability to take initiative as they get stuck in what I called the eternal deliberation process. The eternal deliberation sets in motion a vicious cycle of impotence that, in one way or another, frustrates millions of people who otherwise could realize their dreams.

Among the many who engage in endless discussions with themselves on what to do and how to act, there are those who happen to be shy. There are many reasons for why people are shy and each individual case is different. The world of introvert people is very much like a cave where people dwell in the comfort of the known and familiar. They feel safe in their own environments, without having to risk facing potential judgment from others. In many cases, the source of their shyness lies in previous experiences of unfair judgment by family, friends, teachers and others.

Shy people may require a little  more courage to act, but not as much as they believe. In reality, not every entrepreneur of his/her own life must become a celebrity or perform on stage. We live in an era where success and fame have become synonymous. You have to be famous to make it. Through the variety of reality shows that dominate prime time media, we have created a new path to success, one that demands a lot of make-up and audience-cheering-voting patterns. The culture of “(You-name-the-country) Idol” generated confusion and convinced the introvert that there is no way to leave the cave, as the open jungle is only for those who can sing, dance or shout out their business success.

But the celebrity-road-to-success is as much an illusion as the screens where it takes place. Because, although these new cultural productions are based on the idea that everybody can make it, they also leave behind those who don’t want to be on screen but prefer to shine on their own accord, tempo and  space.

Being shy is not a condition but a result of personality traits and a particular social interaction that marked the way we are. And for the shy, many of the discussions happen internally, with him / herself. The inner world is sometimes more important than what is happening out there. Rejection is prevented by not taking the risk.

Still, the shy can overcome this trap and start shining in his/her own right affecting the world around. Being an introvert is not just a legitimate way of existence but one that enables people to build their own strength through their inner dialogue. Although the typical advise to shy people is that they ought to stop being shy, that they should leave their fears behind and speak out, I found that the path to success for the shy starts by accepting the way they are, avoiding  comparisons with others. Their strength lies in the creative ideas they develop in their minds.

Shyness can cause impotence by setting off an internal deliberation that becomes a goal in itself, a way of existence. This endless self-dialogue may provide a shelter against the risks associated with taking ideas into the world of interaction with others.

But in fact, for the shy, the inner dialogue can be their most precious strength. That intimate, deep and profound way of thinking can provide them with a solid basis to take the lead along those who are busy “talking the walk”.

The shy can powerfully lead if he/she can indentify his/her strengths and not bring his/her self-perceived weaknesses into a popularity contest. For the introvert and shy, the courage to act will depend on abandoning the belief that we live in constant competition where the more expressive win.

In music, notes and pauses are both part of the composition. Indeed, the silence of the shy is like the pauses we hear in a musical piece. And the silence of the Shy can sound loudly and sharp when confidence is built in their internal universe and they succeed to find their way out into plans, actions and leadership of a different kind.

I’m convinced there is place for all of us to find our own path into self-realization, into success, into changing ourselves and the world around.

Jorge Diener

Copyright 2010 Jorge Diener

 

The Incredible Power of our Courage to Act. Part 1: Making the skeptic believe

Power. Courage. Action. Words we hear all the time. In every leadership or self-support book we will find these words. In many famous quotes and speeches we will find one or the combination of these three words. Still, even if it sounds repetitive and redundant, there is nothing like THE INCREDIBLE POWER OF OUR COURAGE TO ACT.

This article is the second part to my previous one called “The Impotence of Eternal Deliberation” (http://motivationalleadership.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/the-impotence-of-eternal-deliberation/)

In that article, I focused on the difficulties of most people to move from the stage of having an idea to the stage of taking the initial action and develop it further. I also analyzed the reasons for this phenomenon and classified the kinds of people who suffer from this “syndrome” into six categories.

In this and each one of the upcoming articles I will deal one by one with each one of the categories and provide a road map that will help each one of the profiled people to get out of the “impotence of eternal deliberation” and be able to finally become an active agent of their dreams and their lives. It will help them upload the incredible power they were not aware they had and boldly use it to transform ideas into action.

So what are the reasons for the skeptic to enter into the “eternal deliberation status”?. The skeptic lacks the essential belief that the world can be changed, that the simple elements in the reality around can be changed. He holds a negative point of view of his surroundings, a cynical perception of himself and of others. In short, the skeptic does not trust.

It is that basic lack of trust that makes the skeptics stay in that area of endless inner conversation between “Pessimism Version 1 and Pessimism Version 2″ . Their Strategic Choices are always between bad and worst, between self-fulfilling prophecies or plain defeat.

But if skepticism is based on a basic lack of trust, then rebuilding trust can be a good starting point for you, the skeptic one, to start believing. I can guess that the basic negative outlook of the world that you carry with you, is based on previous experiences of disappointment caused after trusting others: trusting your friends, your parents, your leaders and so forth. And being again and again failed by expectations that were not fulfilled. It may also be unsubstantiated by any previous negative experience, but by the assumption that you will inevitably be let down by others or yourself.

Through years of counseling, I learned to overcome that basic distrust by understanding that however bad my previous experiences had been, it didn’t mean that every new trusting relationship I would try to build, would replicate the same pattern. I understood that managing my expectations properly from others and from myself, was a key to avoid disappointment and build the kind of trust that would enable me to rely on others and by extent on my own performance and judgement.

Then, the skeptic can start changing by rebuilding step by step two key elements: TRUST and ACTION. This step by step process should be built on small actions, short-term goals and low expectations in order to set a new platform for a different approach to life; an approach where hope and belief are  based on renewed positive and gratifying experiences in lieu of the disenchantment of the past.

Jorge Diener

Copyright 2010 Jorge Diener

 

The Impotence of Eternal Deliberation

A dreamer starts the day with an idea, an original version of reality or an innovative combination of existing elements. He/she takes this idea and frames it into a project, develops a vision of where to take that idea and flies with it to horizons he didn’t even dream he could reach. Although he spends some time analyzing  and studying everything he needs in order to move forward, he does that while he is on the run, while his inner drive is making him move. He is moved by the power of wanting to get his dream to that envisioned place.

For some people, even those who want to transform their dreams into action, this short story is just that: a dream they can’t achieve. They are prisoners of a phenomenon I call “The Impotence of Eternal Deliberation”

The prisoners of this condition basically suffer from a paralysis, a social dysfunction that disables them from moving into the stage of entrepreneurship, risk-taking and decision-making. Although they have dreams and ideas, they can not translate them into action due to a process of endless or eternal deliberation. The process of deliberation is rightfully present at the beginning of the transformation of an idea into an action plan but in the case of the “Impotent”, the deliberation never ends neither leads into movement. It just creates a non-action  zone where people can become trapped throughout their whole lives.

But why does this happen and what can be done about it? In my work as an executive and leadership coach, I encountered different types of people who suffer from this syndrome. Among them, I could find several causes for that pattern that enabled me to classify them in the following categories:

1) THE SKEPTIC: This type is the one that embraces the pessimist outlook on change. For them, nothing can really happen, reality is a given and cannot be transformed. They will cook the “soup of stagnation” on and on finding reason after reason why things will never work.

2) THE SHY: The shy one needs to keep an internal dialogue with himself forever as he is too hesitant to cross the bridge. He lacks the confidence needed to jump into the water. For him, having an internal dialog  justifies his lack of determination as he continuously considers the next move which, by the way, might never occur.

3) THE TALMUDIC: The Talmud is one of the main books in Judaism that provides an interpretation of the Bible and transforms it into law and practices. In what makes the Talmud one of the most fascinating resources in Jewish philosophy, this text uses a technique that basically documents the discussions of all the different religious authorities centuries ago who openly debated  how to translate ideas into action. In that sense, I define the “Talmudic type” as one that takes the essence of the Talmud without reaching its conclusion: it takes the discussion, pros and cons, to a level where the discussion becomes the “end” and the real “end” is forgotten.

4) THE AQUARIUS: According to the Zodiac, people falling into the sign of Aquarius, one of the air signs,  are easily swayed as if they were flowing through the waves of an ocean where there is no direction but just floating. They talk as they float, and while they enjoy the state of sailing, in the end they feel frustrated that they haven’t reached any concrete destination.

5) THE FEARFUL: This is the type that is paralyzed by fear or a number of  fears that may originate from many different places: fear to fail, fear to be judged, fear of being on stage, etc. They are even afraid of showing they are afraid so they will pretend to be thinking about what to do and when to do it, in order not to face those fears and move on.

6) THE PERFECTIONIST: The perfectionist can not live through the process of transformation. For him, it’s always a matter of all or nothing. And in order to reach perfection, they will plan endlessly and avoid the experimentation that is required to reach the stage of performance. If it’s not going to be perfect, then it shouldn’t be at all.

In most cases, those “deliberative impotent” embody many of the types mentioned above into one. They are both fearful and Aquarius, or perfectionist and shy, or any other combination you can find. In essence, they will remain at the stage of thinking, analyzing, planning indefinitely, unable to perform their ideas in the realm of people, nature, society. They will be unhappy dreamers who suffer from an entrepreneurial paralysis.

But the analysis above gives us the clue to overcome this challenging syndrome. Because it basically shows that behind the “eternal deliberation” lie many other possible reasons that once identified can be addressed separately. And thus, enabling each one of those currently impotent to bring out their full potential. Then, the fearful will deal with his fears, and the Aquarius will work on focusing, while the perfectionist will learn to compromise perfection in order to become an achiever.

So, if you or somebody close to you fits into any of the types I mentioned, I suggest you start by examining the real reasons for your impotence and then proceed by following a very simple 5 steps guideline. This list is just a brief introduction to the way I envision the overcoming of this condition. In my upcoming article, ” The Power of our Courage to Act” I will  expand on this simple and effective approach.

1) Look at the list above and identify the real source of your impotence.

2) Once identified, work on a specific course of actions to overcome the source of your inhibition.

3) Reduce the time you deliberate with yourself and others. As you are used to deliberate eternally, you will always feel that you haven’t given enough thought to the matter. You have to force yourself to cut it short at a point you would usually keep going. Set a time frame and stick to it.

4) Make sure you reach a conclusion and decision. Nothing better than putting a dot at the end of the text.

5) Jump into the water and act. Be ready to fail as those who are not afraid of making mistakes have higher chances of success.

You will then discover how beautiful it is to fly over the lands to which you were stuck and realize that the power was always in your hands to reach eternal REALIZATION.

Jorge Diener

Copyright 2010 Jorge Diener

 

The Every Second “Schmuck” Species

We see them walking in the streets, standing behind flower stands, driving cars and bike-cabs in crowded streets. We listened to them on My Space self-promoting pages, read about them on business magazine reviews, online and publish media. We are suspicious of their behavior when they ride our public transport holding their leather bags. Often we see that spark in their eyes, that light that emanates from their faces, those lip movements, expressions of an identity that makes them different.

We are both intimidated and jealous as we love them and hate them. Love them because we want to be like them and hate them because we believe we simply can’t. When they are close enough we can even smell them through that mix of hard-working and triumph fragrances  that makes them so irritably and fatal-attractively noticeable. They belong to a species called “Every Second Schmuck” although in fact they are among the most emotionally intelligent creatures I know.

The understanding of the species mentioned above starts in a previous article that I published in this blog a couple of weeks ago called “The Every Second Schmuck Theory”.  (http://motivationalleadership.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/the-every-second-schmuck-theory/) .

The article had an amazing and surprisingly wide exposure to thousands of people who were interested in this innovative look at motivation, success, leadership and self-realization. That feedback made me think for a while that I could be included in the list of those “every second Schmucks” I am talking about. Bu then I “smelled” myself and realized that there was some extra work to be  done to become one of them.

In contrast to Homo Sapiens predecessors, like Homo Erectus and Neanderthals (that could only evolve through evolution from generation to generation), the “Every Second Schmuck” species are a result of an evolution that may happen in one person’s lifetime.

This amazing exception given by nature enables us to transform ourselves from a relatively passive Homo Sapiens to an actively-seeking-success member of the “Every Second Schmuck” species (I am tempted to call it Homo Schmuckus but I am afraid it will open an entire academic discussion on the naming of the species that I prefer to avoid).

The fact that we can be agents of our own transformation and become part of this particular group opens the door to millions of opportunities to rethink our lives and understand that although we have been born one way, it is IN OUR POWER to become different. We own the opportunity to become one of those people who look around and don’t see unattainable targets but appetizing benchmarks to achieve. Like the man behind the flower stand or the one riding the bike-cab, we can become what we want.

Of course, many would say that the context, and the framework, and the circumstances and what academics would call “structure”,  limit our capacity to draw our destiny. Obviously, those “well-informed” people, won’t become part of the species, will not be one of them (shall I already say one of us?) because they lack the essential inner drive that enables some people to evolve into achievers that combine realization with success, happiness with achievement.

The road to evolution into the ESS* species is neither a short or a simple one, but it starts in the same way that the first human-built fire appeared. Basically, from nothing. Or better said, from the active combination of natural elements in order to provoke the spark of fire and control it. The same can be said about the first step in evolving to ESS: at first, we don’t see how we can create the spirit that is needed to become something we don’t believe we can be.

However,  if we look inside ourselves a bit better, we may find the specific elements that can cause the fire to be lit for the first time: it might  be our ingenuity combined with a sense of organization, or our hidden dreams mixed with the set of skills we have, or simply the little push that somebody else will give us together with a simple idea we have.

Humans were the last species to appear in the last nanosecond of evolution. Paradoxically, although this event was supposed to be the end of evolution, we were given the unique ability to further shape evolution through the creation of new “species”. Like the Every Second Schmuck.  Not tomorrow, not in generations to come, but today, in our lifetime. Here, and now.

Jorge Diener

*ESS: Every Second Schmuck

Copyright 2010 Jorge Diener

 

THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING IN 2 MINUTES

Speaking is an Art that once mastered by learning and practice, can help us reach heights we never thought we could reach. Follow the link for a quick intro into the mastering of the Art of Public Speaking

The short link below deals with the 4 main steps into Effective Public Speaking:

1) Listening

2) Thinking

3) Speaking

4) Listening again

While many presenters would focus on right away speaking, effective ones will carefully study their audience and put themselves in their shoes before planning what to say.

As public speaking is not more than a tool to achieve your goals and objectives, “Thinking” and planning HOW to make your presentation is equally important as the content of what you are presenting, an element often under looked by most.

Speaking is the time of performance and it takes many skills put into action at the same time, to perform greatly.

The interaction with your audience is the best way to learn more from what your market needs, what works better when you talk to them, how do you create that “connect”, that chemistry that enables you to take them to the journey you propose

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=413159431021&ref=mf

Jorge

Copyright 2010 Jorge Diener

 

The Every Second “Schmuck” Theory

A man looks at the mirror and checks himself for a moment. He looks at what he has done in life so far, at the set of skills he has and at the way he looks; and reminds himself that this is what he is, this is as much as he can be regardless of who he wishes he was, and then goes to work.

A woman walks to work and looks around on her way to her office. She sees all these shops, companies, business centers, service providers, and wonders how they could start that, how all of them made it so successfully, how smart these people are to be able to set their businesses, enterprises and corporations.

The man and the woman sit at the end of the day and look through newspapers, Internet pages, TV and other media. They see all those successful business leaders, media stars, political icons, celebrities and else; and feel that they both share their common destiny of being spectators in a world where others, the smart ones, perform the show. They guessed their fate has been sealed and there is no alternative, no way out. They dream of another life, but they feel it’s too late.

For them and all others who feel like them , I have developed a new Theory that I want to briefly share with you: “The Every Second “Schmuck” Theory.

1) Definition of “Schmuck”: Although the word Schmuck is oftentimes considered a pejorative word, I’d rather look at its cute/funny side . I guess that’s connected to the fact that the word is originally an Yiddish language word, the language that my Polish Jewish grandfather spoked, as most Central European Jews did decades ago.  The word was adopted as part of American English slang and basically describes an idiot, a fool, somebody who is not smart. In its heavy form it can sound like a heavy curse (check Wikipedia for  more..) but in street conversations or in good Mel Brooks movies, it is a soft way of calling an idiot an idiot.

2) The “Subjective-pessimistic-look-at-our-odds-to succeed” Phenomenon: As described in the short story above, most people tend to believe that their odds to win, to succeed, are less than 50 % and in many cases under 10 %. It’s like sitting around a poker table and knowing before hand that the cards we will get are going to let us lose everything we have. In fact, it’s only thinking about that, as usually people would not even sit around the table and take the chance. They will rather keep what they have and don’t take any risks. The pessimistic look at statistics, reinforces the feeling among those who are afraid to lose that they are right in not making any move, because the odds are against them.

3) The real statistics: According to reliable statistical data, the percentage of self-employed, small entrepreneurs and business owners/shareholders reach on average almost 50 % of the active civil population in a majority of countries in the world. As an example, according to an OECD study on self-employment from 2008, in Turkey 43.5 % of the active population were self-employed and 36.3 % in Greece. That does not take into account business owners who set companies and hire employees. If  including those, the numbers rise over 50 %.

4) The Experiment: I asked the man and the woman that I mentioned above to repeat the actions I described at the beginning. This time, as part of the experiment, I asked them to be more conscious observers of the “winners” they were seeing around them and asked them to rate each one of them in a scale of 1 to 10, when 1 was a “total unequivocally schmuck” and 10 was “smart in every sense both intellectually and emotionally”. Then I asked them to rate themselves and position themselves on the scale  in comparison to all the others. Surprisingly for them, they found themselves among the 30 % of those who were higher in the scale. This experiment helped them understand that in spite of their previous low self-perception, they DID HAVE the skills and set of tools the others had and are needed for success.

5) The Analysis: When bringing together the statistical data and the results of the experiment, it  turned out clearly that there must be another explanation to the fact that many people can not see themselves moving into the “big light” of entrepreneurship. Obviously it is not based on the lack of essentials skills and qualities, but in lacking the BELIEF and UNDERSTANDING that they can be among the successful ones. The combination of all quantitative and qualitative empirical data provides the basis for a new paradigm that can help the skeptics turn into optimistic achievers.

6) THE EVERY SECOND SCHMUCK THEORY: Many people tend to think that the chances that they can build their own projects, start ups, businesses, personal leadership goals, are very low. They base their attitude on a worldview that divides humankind into born-to-be “winners” and “losers”.

But when they look around and analyze who are the “winners”, they realize that in fact, every second schmuck is opening a business, becoming a political leader or writing a successful blog on WordPress.

Based on the statistic data, observations and empirical information collected, I claim that if every second schmuck is able to make it high into the ladder, every other second person should be able to do so if determined, motivated and committed enough.

So, next time you look around, remember: Every second Schmuck is out there writing a success story, then now is your turn to write yours too. And that doesn’t mean you are also a Schmuck

Jorge Diener

Copyright 2010 Jorge Diener

 

Welcome to my Universe of learning

I am inviting you to my Universe, a Universe where people learn from each other instead of trying to succeed on the expense of others.

This short video is the introduction to a workshop on Presentation Skills I presented at the Junior Achievement Young Entrepreneurs European Entreprise Challenge 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria a couple of weeks ago. The event, organized by the University program of this amazing global organization called Junior Achievement, brought over 50 students from more than 10 countries in Europe to present their visions and business ideas. I only gave them a small last minute push before they had to make their presentations in front of a panel. The event was sponsored by Intel, HP, Nestle, Citibank, Devnya Cement, among others as well as the Bulgarian government.

For a couple of days, I was able to transform my actions, my words, my thoughts into tools that could help others to grow. Executing leadership to empower others.

So, follow the link and get into the spirit of the universe of learning I tried to create. More to come. Enjoy

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=410057861021&ref=mf

Jorge

 

Pride and Naivety

I am proud of being naive, of holding in my daily walk, the naivety that enables me to believe that better can happen, that better can be done through our acts and deeds. I am naive enough to see the simplicity in the challenge of change, of imagining a future that we can shape. My naivety is born out of a deep feeling that ingenuity is created in a place where there are questions but not doubts, in a universe where problems lead into ideas.

In contrast to the cynical skepticism of those who develop sophisticated ways for explaining why we CAN NOT, and explain us all the reasons why our ideas will never work, I naively execute day by day the ability to build the dream, the hard work of painting those colorful pictures we have in our minds.

I am proud of being naive, and I’m not planning to give up

Copyright 2010 Jorge Diener