Change Anything - Great Book!

Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success
I recommend this book!

Great ideas to control the factors that influence us.

1. Make the Undesirable Desirable - Personal Motivation
2. Surpass Your Limits - Personal Ability
3. Harness Peer Pressure - Social Motivation
4. Find Strength in Numbers - Social Ability
5. Design Rewards and Demand Accountability - Structural Motivation
6. Change the Environment - Structural Ability


Sources of Insight.com

• Source 1 – Personal Motivation – whether you want to do it. 
•  Strategy: Consciously connect to values
• Source 2 – Personal Ability – whether you can do it. 
•  Strategy: Demand Deliberate Practice
• Source 3 – Social Motivation – whether other people encourage the right behaviors. 
• Strategy 1: Pave the Way.
• Strategy 2: Enlist the power of those who motivate.
• Strategy 3: Seek the support of those who enable.
• Source 4 – Social Ability – whether other people provide help, information or resources. 
• Strategy 1: Pave the Way.
• Strategy 2: Enlist the power of those who motivate.
• Strategy 3: Seek the support of those who enable.
• Source 5 – Structural Motivation – whether the environment encourages the right behaviors. 
• Strategy 1: Link rewards third and in moderation.
• Strategy 2: Link rewards to vital behaviors.
• Strategy 3: Use rewards that reward.
• Source 6 – Structural Ability – whether the environment supports the right behaviors. 
• Strategy 1: Use the power of space.
• Strategy 2: Use the power of data and cues.
• Strategy 3: Use the power of tools.

Example Goal - Losing Weight                 Apply these insights to any goal.

Source 1 – Personal Motivation	Do you want to lose weight? For example, if you don’t really want to lose weight, you’re not really going to try. It can’t just be for other people. It has to be for you.
Source 2 – Personal Ability	Do you have the skills, knowledge and techniques that work for you? Chances are, you may know the patterns that work for you, or at least the patterns that don’t work.
Source 3 – Social Motivation	Do your friends want to go out drinking every night or encourage you to eat a lot at your favorite haunts?
Source 4 – Social Ability	Is there somebody in your social circle that might have the knowledge or resources you need to get an edge?
Source 5 – Structural Motivation	When you go home, are you greeted by a big bowl of candy or a big bowl of fruit? Your environment can motivate you in a good way or a bad way.
Source 6 – Structural Ability	Do you have a way to workout at home? This can give you a big advantage in the long run.

Scandal in Baltimore

3 days ago

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The real Scandal Fixer heads over to Baltimore.  

I haven't watched the television show, but what a fun comparison it would be to compare the televised versions with real-life examples.

Chipotle Cups

My favorite Chipotle cup is the one by Carlos Ruiz Zafon that speaks of love in the time of apocalypse.  CultivatingThought.com expresses it this way:

Must a cup, or bag, suffer an existence that is limited to just one humble purpose, defined merely by its simple function?

 Two-minute Apocalypse
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The day the world ended I was standing at the corner of 5th and 57th checking my phone when a redhead with eyes of silver turned to me and said, "Have you noticed how the smarter phones get, the dumber people become?"  She looked like a bride of Dracula fresh off a goth shopping spree next door.  "Can I help you, Miss?"  She said the world was coming to an end.  Heavenly Legal had issued a Malfunction Recall and she was a fallen angel sent from below to ensure poor souls like mine found their way into the tenth circle of Hell in an orderly fashion.  "I thought there were only nine circles down there," I objected.  "We had to add one for all of those who've lived their lives as if they were going to live forever."  I never took my medication seriously, but one look into those silver dollar eyes and I knew she spoke the truth.  Sensing my despair, she announced that since I had not worked in the financial sector I was to be granted three wishes before the big bang recanted and the universe imploded back into a red-hot jellybean.  "Pick wisely."  I gave it some thought.  "I want to know the meaning of life, I want to know where I can find the best chocolate ice cream ever, and I want to fall in love," I declared.  "The answer to your first two wishes is the same."  As for the third she gave me a kiss that tasted of all the truth in the world and made me want to be a decent man.  We went for a goodbye walk in the park and then we took the elevator tho the top of the venerable Gothic-spired hotel across the street to watch the world go in style.  "I love you," I said.  "I know."  We stood there, hand in hand, glancing at a furious tide of crimson clouds shrouding the skies, and I cried, happy at last.

Animal Kingdom - May 3, 2015

It was the perfect time to head over to Animal Kingdom and see it before closing time, when the crowds are thinner and the rustle of the leaves is clearer.

There was a nice large moon, so pretty from across the lake, as the construction equipment is out but silent.  I wonder what changes will be made.  There is much construction there; not only around the large lake, but at the front of the park and by the train station and even in the safari; and of course, Avatar-land is on-the-way.

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Garbo as Queen Christina

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The real story is fascinating, yet I've never heard it.  I've known the film in name only, as a Garbo masterpiece.  I didn't even know if the character was real.

 

I wonder why I haven't seen this film before today, and knew so little about her.

 

Garbo is radiant and the story is well-told.  There are few films from the 1930s that hold up today, and this one rolls along beautifully.  How nice it would be to have outtakes and versions.  I think if I were in charge of a film I would keep all of those shots and consider having other versions made later.  Wouldn't it be great to see new edits of old, wonderful films?

 

If a story is worth telling, why not tell it in ten ways?

 

Snow White, It Happened One Night, Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz are the only films from the 30s that I can think of, to be culturally relevant today.  This one, from 1933, certainly could be.  It's a simple story; just part of the real lady's history, and it's good.

 

Generally, the acting style of a film from this period seems too theatrical, but these were real people.  

Magic Kingdom - Friday May 1 2015

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The Dark Side of Innocence - Terri Cheney

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It's difficult enough to grow up.  But do that with bi-polar disorder, and then you have a story to tell.