Habits define our personality and our values

October 12, 2015Scott Miker

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Too much of our life is focused on events

October 07, 2015Scott Miker

I love college football.  Something that happens every year is that good teams will struggle and bad teams will rise up and get a surprising victory.  Because of the variations from week to week, it is very difficult to truly evaluate the college football landscape.  Yet the college football analysts insist they know the answers and can see the future for each of these teams.

Alabama has been a powerhouse over the last 5-10 years.  They have dominated in many years and have been near the top other years.  Yet a few big losses have the experts ruling them out.  They criticize the team and expect them to fail.  

This week they came back and had a big win.  After the game the Alabama coach Nick Saban addressed this premature judgment of his team when he said “We are what we are as an identity only if it happens on a continuum.  You always have the next challenge.”

Let the situation dictate

October 05, 2015Scott Miker

Years ago I read an article about a Navy SEAL who was reflecting on some of the insight he gained through the Navy’s extreme training program to become a SEAL.  When we think of Navy SEALs we tend to think of warrior cowboys who always take control and would fight first and evaluate second.

But I have read a lot of books on the Navy SEALs and I am always surprised at the incredible wisdom of these individuals.  They don’t act without thinking.  They train to the point where decisions can be made quickly and their natural instinct is to be quick and effective because they have reinforced the best possible habits prior to their actual mission.  

How to overcome stressful situations

September 30, 2015Scott Miker

Stress is something that is prevalent in our society.  Our culture today reflects the emphasis that we have put on success.  We have been conditioned to always want more.  We want more money, more fame, more awards, more friends, more likes on Facebook, more alcohol, more clothes etc.  But the often-overlooked aspect of wanting more is that we are not content.  This discontentment leads to unhappiness and stress.

Coaching someone up

September 28, 2015Scott Miker

This means that the argument over punishment or reward is often the wrong argument all together.  What we should be looking at is how can we improve over time.  In other words, how do we take our mean (average) performance and improve that over time.  Not simply focus on the times we fall far outside of the mean and apply praise or correction then.

We understand the story not the reality

September 23, 2015Scott Miker

Our society relies heavily on storytelling.  Watch the evening news and you will see some statistics but mostly you will see stories.  Stories and eye witness reports with data to back up their point of view for the article.  What you typically don’t see is an unbiased look at an event or situation.  

The trend is your friend

September 21, 2015Scott Miker

If you are improving and moving forward understand that you are trending in the right direction.  Embrace it and continue to take steps towards your goal. 

However if you are consistently making bad decisions and following bad habits and routines then that trend will also likely continue.  The best way to change it is to realize that you have to attack the trend.  Do this by making small strides in the right direction and doing them consistently.

Improving through the subconscious

September 16, 2015Scott Miker

In the last article, I discussed the subconscious mind and explained that there is enormous opportunity for improvement.  The best way to access this unaware part of our minds is by focusing on improving the systems and habits in our lives.  But the reality is that this is just one small part of it.  There are actually several keys to improving the unaware part of our mind.

Improvement lies in the subconscious

September 14, 2015Scott Miker

In psychology, distinction is made between our “aware” mind and our “unaware” mind.  Sometimes it is called our conscious thoughts and subconscious thoughts.  Sometimes it is called System 1 and System 2.  One system is apparent when we can immediately sense an emotion when we see an angry face while the other system is used when we have to think about a complex math equation.  

Tribute to Wayne Dyer

September 09, 2015Scott Miker

Most of the people that have had a major impact on my life were people that I have had direct contact with.  Parents, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles etc. shape who we are and help us define the world around us. 

But one person that has made a major impact on my life is Dr. Wayne Dyer.  Though I have never met Dr. Dyer, his messages through books, videos, TV shows, etc. impacted my life in an incredible way.  I was very heartbroken last week when I had learned that Dr. Dyer has passed away.  

Most accidents are avoidable

September 02, 2015Scott Miker

The Wikipedia definition of accident is “an incidental and unplanned event that could have been prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence.”

The journey is more important than the destination

August 31, 2015Scott Miker

When I was in college at Kent State studying psychology I took a course that covered the basics of psychology.  Almost every basic psychology course will, at some point, discuss Abraham Maslow and the incredible contributions he made to help us better understand human thinking. 

Consistency or flexibility?

August 26, 2015Scott Miker

In a world that is constantly changing, most of us realize the need to adapt.  We may be slow to take on new technology but over time we find our own way to change.

But change isn’t always beneficial.  In order to benefit you have to change things for the better.  This can be very difficult and many people struggle with determining whether or not a change is for the better or not. 

Avoid the extreme

August 24, 2015Scott Miker

Life is subtle.  We find variations of happiness and sadness throughout our day.  We feel disappointment, pride and everything in between.  But life isn’t really about living on the extremes.  

Go past the gimmick

August 19, 2015Scott Miker

There is an old saying that “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”  While I’m sure we have all heard that saying, most of us still get caught up in the new theory or gimmick that provides an easy explanation for success. 

Why do we miss our goals?

August 17, 2015Scott Miker

I have done a lot of research into goal setting and the reasons we get stuck and miss our goals.   Despite the massive amounts of research that has gone into this field I still believe it comes down to a relatively simple explanation.  

The world is a perfect system

August 12, 2015Scott Miker

For most of my life I felt that there were horrible things in the world that we should work to control and change.  I spent all of my time forming an opinion and arguing, assured that I was right and there were, obviously, bad things about the world.  

But then I read the Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu and started to change my perspective.  In fact, the 29th verse was the final straw that shifted my thinking.

Traffic Signals – A template for systems improvement

August 10, 2015Scott Miker

Last week Google changed their homepage to reflect the anniversary of the traffic light.  They highlighted how traffic signals evolved and how they were implemented to solve a problem.  

I tend to highlight systems and habits examples a lot but the traffic innovations used to control transportation are truly fascinating to me.  The fact that problems were solved systematically and remain in place today shows the power of thinking systematically in order to solve a problem.  

Changing how we think and react

August 05, 2015Scott Miker

There are systems and habits ingrained in all of us that determine how we respond to situations, how we handle adversity and how we establish routine from repeated behaviors.  

These systems and habits evolve over time and usually get more and more rigid as we gain experience.  The experience tends to validate and solidify these systems even if the systems aren’t leading us in the right direction.  

What’s in your way?

August 03, 2015Scott Miker

Whenever we want to achieve something, we will find that there are things in our path.  Obstacles are always present and we have to learn to overcome obstacles in order to succeed.