This building, done in a minimalist style, is located in a vast clearing in the middle of a forest in the mountains of Putney, in the state of Vermont, USA. It was designed by the prestigious architectural firm Kyu Sung Woo Architects, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The area surrounding the home, on the southwestern slope of Putney Mountain, is characterized by lush forests, imposing outcrops, and striking views..
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Photographer Erik Fremsted loves capturing sunrise at Minnesota…
Photographer Erik Fremsted loves capturing sunrise at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge near Minneapolis. “The fog begins to burn and glow while the clouds dance in the sky. I breathe in the scene for as long as possible while the unofficial state bird, the mosquito, eats me alive. A price I am very willing to pay to witness mornings like this.” Photo by Erik Fremsted (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).
Robert Mills Architects Design a Sumptuous Family Home in Toorak, Australia
Verdant House is a private residence designed by Robert Mills Architects. The home is located in Toorak, the most expensive and prestigious suburb of Melbourne, in Australia. Its exterior areas are covered by perfectly tended gardens where a sumptuous pool is the center of attention. The premise from the very beginning was to create a luxurious contemporary family home. The residents wished for it to combine their love of entertaining..
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Taking Ownership: Are You Taking Full Responsibility For Your Life?
One thing I’ve always been very keen on is talking about taking ownership of things. I don’t mean physical things. I mean ownership of what you’re doing and who you’re being. It’s about being responsible for yourself and your life.
As someone who’s both been an employee and an employer, I know that the team members that are valuable to the company are the ones who take full and total responsibility for what’s happening around them. The ones who whine and point their fingers at everyone else are — let’s face it — hard work.
We’ve all experienced it.
We go into a shop or restaurant and the person who’s supposed to be serving us couldn’t give a hoot about what we want or make sure we leave the place as happy and satisfied customers. They make us fully aware that we’re an irritation and that we’re asking too much.
Then you go to a different shop and the person assisting you there makes all the difference. You’ll go back there because of the service and because you feel valued. The person who served you took complete ownership & responsibility for ensuring that you have a wonderful experience. He took it upon himself to give you a great experience.
I could, quite happily, go on for hours about this subject and I hope it’s something I drummed into my kids. This is how I see it:
Whatever you’re doing, you take FULL and COMPLETE responsibility for making sure that whatever is supposed to happen does happen, in a way that leaves everyone involved feeling great.
It doesn’t matter if your boss is an idiot or your colleagues are lazy and have a bad attitude. The only thing that matters is that YOU give it your all and that YOU make sure that you’ve done everything in your power to generate that outcome.
In other words, take full ownership of what’s happening around you and take complete responsibility for the outcomes. Not blame, but responsibility. They’re two completely different things.
See Also: Why Criticizing Others Won’t Get Them to Change … and What Will!
What do I mean by taking responsibility?
Now, it’s really easy to look at this from the perspective of the job we’re in.
If you look around, you’ll see that almost every problem that you encounter in the workplace is potentially caused by your failure and your co-worker’s failure to not take ownership. This can manifest in many different ways, such as:
- Having a bad attitude
- Not wanting to be there
- Someone who doesn’t care
- Having a goal that isn’t in alignment with the company
- Someone who likes to bitch and moan
- Someone who is only on the lookout for themselves
There are lots of ways these things can show. In certain instances, they can come out very subtle.
Now, take a look at your life. Are you taking full, 100% responsibility for your life?
Be honest and consider these things:
- In which areas of your life does your attitude stink?
- Which areas look exactly as you want them to?
- Do you live how you want to live?
- Which areas of your life inspire and motivate you?
- Which areas downright suck?
- Do you go to bed at night completely satisfied with your day?
- Do you show up exactly how you want to show up for everyone in your life?
- Are you the person you want to be?
- Do you do the things you want to do?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of those things or if there are areas which stink or suck, then you’re not taking ownership of your life. And there are a lot more questions I could ask, so don’t go thinking that because I haven’t asked a specific question, you’re off the hook.
You’re not and you’re not being fully responsible. It’s as simple as that.
This is not a blame game
This isn’t blaming and I’m not suggesting that anyone is ever going to be perfect. This is about constantly moving towards your true purpose in life. It’s about trying to get in alignment with who you really are.
Do you see the difference?
Blame is bad and just wrong. It stops you dead in your tracks.
Taking responsibility means you know where you’re going and if you’re not there yet, you just have to keep moving forward.
Let’s go back to employees who take ownership for a minute. Whether you’re an employer or an employee, you know who among your colleagues is great to work with and who isn’t. In other words, you know who takes responsibility for their job and who doesn’t.
Take that analogy and think about it in terms of your life.
If that person who takes responsibility makes such a difference to their workmates and their customers, what kind of a difference do you think it will make if you apply the same level of responsibility to yourself and your life?
See Also: 11 Ways To Pick Yourself Up And Bounce Back After Failure
How would your life be different if you took full, complete, 100% responsibility for it?
What kind of difference would it make to the people around you? What would you do differently?
Who would you make sure you showed up as? Would you experience your life differently? Would it feel different?
What if your real job in life, the one that you absolutely MUST take complete responsibility for and ownership of, was to show up as who you really are? To just be 100% fully you?
The universe put you here for a reason. If you want to reflect that reason, you’d better be fully responsible for showing up EXACTLY as the universe designed you.
What do you need to do to take ownership of your life?
The post Taking Ownership: Are You Taking Full Responsibility For Your Life? appeared first on Dumb Little Man.
May 8th
#quotes #deepquotes #lifequotes #quoteoftheday #photooftheday #art #poetry #happiness #happyquotes #empoweringquote #positivequotes #inspirationalquotes #motivationalquotes
#quotes #deepquotes #lifequotes #quoteoftheday #photooftheday #art #poetry #happiness #happyquotes #empoweringquote #positivequotes #inspirationalquotes #motivationalquotes
#motivationalquotes #relationship #cutequotes #relationshipadvice #dailyquotes
#motivationalquotes #relationship #cutequotes #relationshipadvice #dailyquotes
5 Bizarre Goals to Help You Live a Greater Life
You’re reading 5 Bizarre Goals to Help You Live a Greater Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Perhaps you’re fed up with regular goals? Maybe a monthly income target, or an ideal weight size, just doesn’t get you motivated like it used to.
Or perhaps you’re done with goals altogether? No matter how specific and measurable they are, it doesn’t seem to have much impact on whether you can achieve them.
Well, if that’s the case then I’ve got something that will pique your interest.
My 5 bizarre goals will make you think more than traditional ones. They may seem strange at first but their implications are far reaching. Build your life around them, and you’ll find you’re inexplicably guided towards a stress free, meaningful and, probably, wealthy life.
Goal n#1: To NEVER Write a CV in your Life
What would happen if you never wrote a CV?
Obviously, it would be unlikely that you’d get an employed job, but would it mean that you’d never make money?
Think about that for a moment. Clearly, it would limit your options. However, it would do so in a way that would likely lead you towards far more enjoyable and meaningful work.
70% of the employed American workforce either hate, or are unstimulated, by their jobs. When you consider this, writing a CV is likely to lead you to a stressful and boring life. Not to mention that they’re a pain in the ass to complete, totally inauthentic (coz you know if you were authentic, you’d never get hired!), and most times they get overlooked or ignored. Wouldn’t it be a more productive and enjoyable use of your time if you ditched the CV altogether and started looking for ways to earn money through your own initiative?
Perhaps you have a skill (playing a musical instrument, plumbing, languages) or could train in one, that you could market and then sell or teach?
Maybe you have a unique or expert knowledge about a subject that would allow you to become an information publisher? This route is becoming more accessible through promoting yourself on social media, having a website or blog, selling through Amazon and getting paid through PayPal. You could write an eBook on your specialist subject, coach people on it via Skype and have them sign up to your course on Udemy.
Perhaps you could set up a shop on Amazon or join a network marketing team and build your own team under you?
None of these options require a CV. Pursue one of them, and you get the freedom of being in control of your destiny, the added wealth from all the money going to you and the reward of being responsible for your success.
Goal n#2: To Live your Life Loan Free
What are the implications of refusing to take out a loan?
Does it mean you could never go to College or University, buy a home or start a business?
It would certainly make it harder, but not impossible.
Perhaps higher education would be beyond your reach but you could always defer until you had the necessary funds or work while at University.
Buying a home would be a massive stretch. However, the necessity of having to set your sights higher when it came to earning an income, and being scrupulous in your saving or investments, would instil some positive life and financial practices.
Without a loan, you’d be limited in the businesses you could start. However, these financial constraints would prevent a lot of the unnecessary wastage that goes hand in hand with the initial stages of starting a business.
While these, undoubtedly, are difficult restrictions, let’s consider the positives of never taking out a loan.
On leaving University, you can avoid the debt trap that chains so many people to working jobs they don’t enjoy. Instead, you can take your time, perhaps start your own business or work for free to gain experience.
The home is yours. There’s no obligation to work a job you hate to maintain monthly mortgage payments.
The pressure you face when starting your business is massively reduced. You have the freedom to learn from your mistakes rather than feeling like they might cause the end of your venture.
Goal n#3: To NEVER appear in a court room
Jury service aside, sticking to this goal will save you a whole lot of money and misery.
Clearly, you’ll want to avoid a court room on any criminal charges. However, for most people, this is an unlikely outcome.
What’s more probable is that you might see the inside of a court room over a marriage breakdown or a minor dispute. Preventing yourself from being in this position is of the utmost importance.
It’s easy to avoid minor disputes. Just don’t engage in the trivial. Remember the bigger picture for your life and rise above. Take the hit if necessary. In the long run, it’ll be worth it.
It’s harder to predict the likely outcome of a relationship when changes like age, children, one person growing and the other not wanting to, can all upset the perfect harmony experienced at the start. This means that you must be very cautious when entering a matrimonial union.
Perhaps you and your partner don’t need one. Your love doesn’t require societies stamp of approval.
If it does, then listen to your intuition. Is there a voice inside you, telling you there’s something wrong with the relationship? Do you have any doubts at all?
If so, getting married is a huge risk when you consider the emotional trauma, huge loss of finances and time that can result from ending it in court.
Goal n#4: To be Guided by your Conscience with EVERY Decision You Make
This goal requires a deeper analysis of your life choices and decision making. At first glance, you may believe all your decisions are made in line with your conscience. What kind of a person would you be if they weren’t?
But are they really?
When was the last time you disagreed with something that was happening at work, either to yourself or another person, yet kept quiet for fear of losing your job or damaging your prospects at the company?
Have you ever kept quiet about an issue in your relationship for fear of losing the person who’s treating you unfairly?
Do you buy unethical products (e.g. eating at McDonald’s, investing/saving your money in a mainstream bank or fund) out of convenience or personal gain, knowing that the company is having a detrimental impact on the world?
Listening and acting on your conscience isn’t just about abstaining from screwing people over. It’s about honouring the deeper wisdom that knows right from wrong and can, consequently, guide you to a greater life.
Note that I said greater, not easier life. Undoubtedly, being guided by your conscience in every decision you make is going to lead you into conflict with those that don’t. However, it will give you peace of mind, the pride of being able to look at yourself in the mirror and the respect and love of other people that do.
Goal n#5: To Meditate Every Day of Your Life
Don’t feel you must confine this practise to meditation only. I use this term because it’s the most recognisable. What’s important is having a daily spiritual/mindful practise that connects you with the deeper part of your being.
Sure, getting into the habit of doing this can be a pain in the ass. You’d rather watch TV, do something supposedly more important like work on your business or just make a start to your day. However, the time you invest in this practise will bring you rewards that resting or being productive can’t match.
You gain control over your thoughts through meditating daily. As a result, your susceptibility to fear, anxiety, minor worries and stress will diminish. Furthermore, you develop the ability to focus your mind.
This power will prove invaluable in achieving other life goals. Your mind can be your greatest friend or greatest enemy. While we’re conditioned to believe that our problems and successes lie outside ourselves, our minds are the true gatekeepers.
Meditation teaches you this.
What greater knowledge could you ask for? To know that you are the architect of your destiny is the most liberating realisation you can experience.
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Escape The System: 50 Insights to help you live an Extraordinary Life
Joe Barnes is creator of the Screw The System website and author of the critically acclaimed Escape The System. His mission is to give all Dreamers, Adventurers and Entrepreneurs the inspiration and information necessary to pursue their true calling. He also works as a hypnotherapist and tennis coach.
You’ve read 5 Bizarre Goals to Help You Live a Greater Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Sharing These 20 Truths with Your Child Could Change Their Life
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
― Margaret Mead
Our children grow up so fast. Before we know it they’re out there somewhere in the real world, and we’re left hoping that we’ve done enough to prepare them for everything they’ll encounter. Angel and I talk to course students and coaching clients on a regular basis – mothers and fathers alike – who share these sentiments. They worry about their children. They wonder if they’ve done a good enough job parenting up to this point. And Angel and I totally get it too. Oftentimes we feel the same way. We’re concerned about our son Mac’s well-being and education, and we discuss it frequently, just like most parents.
In fact, from what we’ve researched and studied, the well-being and education of their children is more important to most parents than just about anything else – health care, cost of living, public safety, and even their own well-being. And believe it or not, most non-parents also say they’re concerned about the well-being and intellectual growth of society’s youth; this concern seems to cut cleanly across gender, ethnicity, age, income and political affiliation. So the reality is, to a great extent, we all collectively care about our children. And that’s a really beautiful thing when you think about it.
Anyway, I awoke this morning thinking about all of this – especially the miraculous, life-changing responsibility of parenthood – and two related thoughts immediately crossed my mind:
- Whoa! Time flies. How in the world did Angel and I suddenly become parents to a little boy that’s running all over the place and asking questions about everything under the sun?
- There are so many important truths I want to share with Mac … before he’s in high school with his friends and too cool to listen. And before Angel and I go from “mommy and daddy who know best” to “mom and dad who couldn’t possibly understand.”
So I’m writing this post as a reminder to myself, and to all parents… (more…)
Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the…
Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world. It’s almost 370 feet in diameter and 121 feet deep. Its vibrant color is the result of thermophilic (heat loving) organisms living along the edges of the steaming pool. This unique ecosystem is delicate and dangerous. To protect it and yourself, stay on the boardwalks when visiting and take the #YellowstonePledge: http://ift.tt/2j70UN7. Photo by Manish Mamtani (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).
Sig Nordal 