Personal Growth Princess » Integrity

The Law of Exposure – use your mind to achieve your goals [video]

Nina East — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:05:58 +0000

Your mind thinks about what it is most exposed to.

If you are exposing your mind to things that are noble, beautiful, full of integrity, generous and innovative, your mind will take on the shape of those characteristics – your CHARACTER will take on those characteristics.

But what if you consistently exposure your mind to worry, anger, frustration, feelings of unworthiness….

You guessed it – your mind takes on that shape instead.

The key, obviously, is to consciously think about what you exposure your mind to.

EVERY DAY.

EVERY WEEK.

EVERY MONTH.

EVERY YEAR.

This video gives a quick explanation of how this works…plus shares a cool idea called the 100-day challenge.

As of today there are 99 days left in the year. What will you exposure your mind to over the next 99 days?

Watch the video, then click directly on the video to join me in the 100 day challenge! [superemotions file="icon_exclaim.gif" title="Exclaimaition Mark"]

Is your work great – or just ho-hum?

Nina East — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:16:42 +0000

What kind of work are you doing? Not the tasks themselves, but the quality or nature of your work? Are you doing good work? Not so good work? Bad work, even? Or are you amping up the meaning of what you’re doing so that it becomes Great Work?

The book being featured this month as a self-help book summary for members at PersonalGrowthPrincess.com is Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stanier. In this, his latest book, Michael sets out a course, or a path, to identifying what your Great Work might be.

Great Work is meaningful work. It is work that you know makes a difference and it makes you feel good – maybe even proud – to be doing it. It “inspires, stretches, and provokes” you. In short, it is work that matters – to you, first and foremost, and ultimately to others (even if they are oblivious to the work you’re doing, or of the need for it). When you are doing Great Work, you feel fully engaged, like you are “in the flow”.

But Great Work also brings with it paradoxes. It often has the quality of uncertainty and discomfort along with the thrill and flow. It is frequently new and challenging (discomfort) and may have possible risks (uncertainty). But this is also what drives innovation and evolution.

Everyone is capable of Great Work, but the 6 Great Work Paradoxes explain why it’s easy to be ambivalent about doing it – as well as why it’s hard to stick with it.

#1 – You don’t need to save the world…and…you DO need to make a difference.
You may have a grand vision or powerful purpose, but you don’t need to be a martyr, give up your friends, quit your job, embrace poverty, etc. in order to do Great Work. You also don’t have to attempt to save the entire world or solve all its problems. Sometimes changes on a small scale can make the biggest difference.

The desire to do Great Work is simply a call to do more meaningful work. It can be very simple or subtle. The point is that if/when you feel called to do something meaningful, you design your life so that you can.

#2 – Great Work is private…and…Great Work can be public.
Doing Great Work isn’t about getting recognition or winning awards – though that can certainly be a by-product. If you’re doing the work for the accolades, you can pretty uch be assured it’s not going to be Great. According to Michael, “because it is a subjective matter – Great Work is what is meaningful for you”. Often the reward or recognition is a private, internal one. YOU will know you’ve done something that matters. Others may or may not know it.

#3 – Great Work is needed…and…Great Work isn’t wanted.
The desire to do Great Work often comes from a personal sense of “I must change this.” Maybe it’s changing the status quo, maybe you just can’t stand by and watch the way something is being managed. Maybe the cost of tolerating something has become too great. Michael says that “Great Work shows up at the intersection where what needs to change in your world meets what’s important to you”.

The paradox is that sometimes Great Work is not wanted. You might be rocking the boat. Sometimes people doing Good Work feel threatened by someone doing Great Work. It can be a challenge, but because it is needed, you need to step up. (I remember being asked by a former boss to start doing things more half-way because I was making everyone else look bad. Shocking, yes? And clearly a sign that Great Work isn’t always celebrated by others.)

#4 – Great Work is easy…and…Great Work is difficult.
The ever annoying paradox. Many times when you are doing Great Work you’re in flow. You lose track of time, things come together as if by magic. But, lest you think it’s all wine and roses, Great Work can also be a grind. There’s a fair amount of discipline involved – you have to keep at it even when the flow is dammed up. It means dealing with things not working, with other people’s negativity, and all the other tests that life puts you through. (In the book, or in the book summary, you will learn about ways to manage this.)

#5 – Great Work is about doing what’s meaningful…and…Great Work isn’t about doing it well.
Great Work, by definition, is new and uncharted territory. You haven’t done it before, at least not at this level of meaningfulness. That means it won’t be perfect. But it isn’t expected to be. The impact you have, or the meaning the work has, is far more important than whether it is delivered perfectly. In order to do great work, you have to get comfortable with making mistakes,

#6 – Great Work can take a moment…and…Great Work can take a lifetime.
Sometimes great work happens in a single moment – a moment of you being at your best, a singular moment of impact. It can also be what looks like a single moment that is really the culmination of years of dedication that coalesces in that one beautiful moment. It can also be a life-long project, something that develops over time. Remember that Great Work can be difficult, so not every moment along the project will feel great, but what it all adds up to is Great.

If you’ve ever done work, or tried to do work, that is extremely meaningful to you, you have no doubt run up against one or more of these paradoxes.

How did you handle it? How did it stretch you and help you to grow?

Leave a comment below and let us know. Maybe sharing your experience here will help someone else…now that would be Great Work.

Taking Action – Do Deadlines Really Work?

Nina East — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:36:08 +0000

All of us, even with the best of intentions, fail to take action on things, even when we’ve said it is really really important. Why is that?

In an ideal world, our behavior would be based on our values – what we say is important to us. But that’s not always how it works, is it? I can really value and want a clean house, but that doesn’t mean I’ll actually get out the broom and Windex.

What does get me to clean my house?

Company.

Sound familiar? Company is coming over for dinner, and boy can I go into a whirlwind of cleaning, straightening, and cramming things in the closet so they’ll be out of sight.

But WHY do we clean our house at that point in time when we could have cleaned it last weekend rather than snuggling up with the latest romance novel? Because all of a sudden it has become URGENT!

Human behavior almost always depends on urgency. That doesn’t have to mean urgency of a dire or catastrophic nature. It can be the simple urgency of friends coming over to visit in 20 minutes…and you with a messy house.

Knowing that urgency has a significant affect on our behavior, and that implicit in reading this post, there is something about yourself or your behavior you would like to change, you can design your environment to support you.

One way to do that is to manufacture urgency…in the form of Deadlines.

The D word.

Why do deadlines work so well – even when it is outside the work situation?
There are three primary reasons:

deadlines represent commitment – commitment to yourself, to others, to the project itself, and perhaps to some greater purpose. We all like the feeling we get when we’ve followed through on a commitment.
deadlines enforce accountability – accountability makes a difference. When you go public with your deadline, and especially if you enlist the support of your friends and coworkers, you are much more likely to follow through. It’s the only way to save face, as well as live up to who you say you are.Even if you don’t tell anyone, so it’s accountability just to yourself, YOU still know when you didn’t live up to who you say you are. You might think that doesn’t matter, but over time, all those seemingly little episodes build up and show up in self-judgment, fear of taking on something new, and even difficulty in relationships.
deadlines create a sense of urgency – no doubt about it. And since this is the #1 factor affecting behavior for 99% of us, it makes sense to use it to our advantage.

When these three factors are in place, you are much more likely to follow through and take action.

So, how can you use this right now in a way that is manageable, maybe even fun, and gets you to take action on the things you said you would.

Here’s one way to do it.

This week I am having a sort of deadline game with my good friend Sandy. Every day we talk at 9am, noon, and 5pm. In each of those quick phone calls, we COMMIT to what we are going to accomplish in the next couple of hours, before we talk again. In the noon and 5pm calls we also CELEBRATE what we accomplished.

It’s only Wednesday, and already both Sandy and I have completed projects that have been on our desks for weeks, if not months. And we’re having fun by making it a game with each other.

What about you? How have you used deadlines effectively? What suggestions do you have for other readers about how they can play with deadlines in an effective way? Type your comments below!

You don’t have to be a girly-girl to be a Princess

Nina East — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:32:55 +0000

One of the biggest misconceptions about Princesshood is that you have to be super girly-girl to qualify.
Au contraire!

Now, you CAN be a girly-girl…and it turns out I do score pretty high on the girly-girl scale…according to Facebook anyway.
The truth is, you can be a princess and still be a tomboy. Girly girl qualities are not required.

Honesty, the most powerful princesses are usually a hybrid blend of tomboy and feminine. After all, that’s how we got to be princesses to begin with, right? You have to have some attitude in order to claim your entitlement.

The thing about being a Princess is that you get to CHOOSE. Being a Princess is all about being completely full of yourself – all you, all the time.

If that means you want someone else to squash the bug, that’s OK. It doesn’t mean you can’t do it yourself, you just know you would prefer not to be the squasher.

If it means you want to wear heels with jeans, so be it. You get to be ALL of you. Remember, “to be someone you are not is to waste the person you are.”

The most important qualification for being a Princess is that you have a Princess Attitude (PA). No, that doesn’t mean ordering the minions to do your bidding. Being a Princess is about kindness, generosity, honesty and integrity…doing what it takes, and expecting to receive the best.

I just wanted to clear that up in case any closet-Princesses are shying away because they think it means they would have to be foo-foo. You can wear the pink boa if you want, but it is definitely not required.
(If you want to take the quiz, you can search for it on Facebook, or perhaps this link will work.)

Select any category to see more posts.

Think Big Manifesto hits the bookshelves today!

Nina East — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:30:45 +0000

Michael Port, author of the Contrarian Effect and the Book Yourself Solid series has just come out with what may just be his best book ever: The Think Big Manifesto.

The tagline for the book, “Think you can’t change your life (and the world)? Think again.” is right on the money based on what Michael delivers in the book.

I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of the book, which I promptly carried around to read whenever I could find a spare moment. The first spare moment came when I was in the doctor’s office, waiting on a friend. I don’t think they’ll let me back there again! I used up every scrap of paper and brochure they had in order to take notes – and that’s because the margins of my copy of the book were already getting full.

I’ve known Michael for years, and while he’s always been someone who told it like he saw it, in The Think Big Manifesto he shares more of what he actually sees. It will challenge you, and inspire you. So make sure you carve out some time to read the book. In a sense, it’s a quick read – just 166 small pages - but it’s not just a “quick think”. : You will definitely be inspired to take action or make a change right away, but you’ll also find that the book sits with you, rolling about in your brain, pushing little buttons, sending up warning flares, long beyond the point of finishing the read.

If you haven’t already gotten your copy (or 10), I encourage you to go right away to get yours. I’m not kidding when I say 10 copies – this book is about coming together as a society, about revolutionaries collaborating, so you’ll want to bring your fellow revolutionaries along with you.

Plus, there are tons of giveaways, as you might expect.

Go straight to the Think Big Manifesto and start thinking BIG!

p.s. We’ll be using this book – plus a personal interview with Michael – as the inaugural kick-off book for Personal Growth Princess, so you’ll want to grab your copy now!

Your Identity = Your Comfort Zone

Nina East — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:36:46 +0000

Do you know who you are? I mean..really know who you are?
If you aren’t sure, take a look at your life and it will tell you exactly who you think you are. Why does that matter? Well, because it also tells you who you will become because it identifies your personal comfort zone.

This video from Tony Robbins (welcome to the world of blogging, Tony!) can help you get real with yourself about who you are, why that matters, and how that can end up sabotaging you.

Tony says “The strongest force in the human personality is the need to remain consistent with our identity.” If that’s true, that means all of our actions (an inactions), conscious or subconscious, are designed to keep us aligned with who we think we are.

It also means the reason we sabotage ourselves is because we are moving outside our comfort zone. In other words, when things are going really great for you, that’s wonderful – you’re happy and on cloud nine…until it starts to seem like things are going too great…too great for someone like you, that is. Sound familiar?

Who came up with this notion of “too great” anyway? Well, in your case, it would be you. In my case it would be me. It’s almost like having a set-point that we migrate back to, even when we’re telling ourselves we’re getting what we want.

How do you change this? After all, if the desire to remain consistent with our identity is the strongest force, how in the world do you change it?

The first step is to do things you don’t normally do. Take a look at the video for the rest of the clues. Your identity will thank you for it.

Here’s the video, plus other videos worth watching. Enjoy!

Why don’t personal growth professionals act with integrity?

Nina East — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:23:36 +0000

Hi everyone,

As promised, here is the information about an upcoming interview you might be interested in. I thought it might be especially interesting to personal growth enthusiasts since we are the ones hiring the professionals and spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on workshops, audio and DVD sets, etc.

Bea Fields, well-known author, is conducting a “summer virtual
book tour”, and as part of the tour, she will be interviewing me on the nature of
integrity in business, particularly as it applies to personal growth professionals
and working with Gen Y leaders.

Please join us if you can.

Bridging the Integrity Gap: How Personal Growth Professionals Are
(And Are Not) Leading the Way. What You Need To Know,
With Nina East, Founder of The Association of Personal Growth Professionals.

Date: One Tuesday, August 5 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern

Led by Bea Fields and Nina East, Founder of The Association of Personal
Growth Professionals. http://www.PersonalGrowthProfessionals.com

We are experiencing the rise of conscious capitalism and the power of the values-driven consumer. One might think that these forces would conspire to ensure integrity at the highest leadership levels, particularly in the arena of Personal Growth Professionals.
After all, they are training us to be our best – surely that would include integrity, yes?

Unfortunately what we are seeing, with far too great frequency, are personal growth
and self-help professionals who have not dealt with their own integrity (or integrity gaps), and therefore cannot model (much less, teach) integrity to their readers, clients, and workshop participants. In other words, those who could – and perhaps should – be leading the way, are not. Why is this happening, what does it mean for the personal growth profession, and what do you need to know about integrity and millennial leaders if your business and your community are to thrive long-term?

To register, go here.

I also highly recommend both of Bea’s books.

Millenial Leaders: Success Stories from Today’s Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders

and Edge – A Leadership Story.

Hope to “see” you on the call.