Two Perspectives

Two Perspectives on Journaling as a Tool for Transformation

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Journaling is one of the best tools for personal transformation. Let us take a look at how to do journaling for personal growth and transformation purposes. Primarily it can be divided into three categories, viz.

• Tool for self-reflection
• Tool for release of anger
• Journaling as a filter

 

Tool for self-reflection

Journaling is primarily a tool for self-reflection. Have you ever reflected upon what are your three core values? Once we decide our three core values, we can do a self-reflection every week, “Am I living according to my values? What are the areas I need to improve? What mistakes did I make in these areas?” as part of the journaling process. You can monitor your own growth by reading what you wrote three months back or a year back and compare your current state.

Tool for release of anger

When you are feeling very angry-you have two options, viz.

• Write it out and then tear the pages
• Write it and keep it to monitor your own progress.

What is written in extreme anger should be destroyed as it can be dangerous if it reaches the wrong person by mistake.

Journaling as a filter

Creative people often have phases of creativity blasts and phases of dryness (of ideas). When you are inspired and are flooded with ideas, the journal becomes your filter too. Write everything in the journal before posting on social media. Double check whether it is worth posting and aligned with your three core values (from focus/personal branding perspective). Double check the errors, if you are developing yourself as a professional author or blogger.

Sometimes when you read your own stuff after six months or a year, you feel like laughing at your stupidities or your raw language at that point of time. So journaling can be a source of entertainment too at times.

The trouble of today is the joke of tomorrow.

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant & Deepest Passion Coach. He is based in New Delhi, India and specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is, “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Brand”

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

 

 

 

For the YouTube video, please click here:    Journaling

If you prefer a quick read, please continue below.

 

Benefits:

• Clarity
• Understanding
• Inner Peace
• Healing
• Increased Self-Esteem
• Joy
• Freedom
  

What You Need:

• Pen or pencil
• Journal or pad of paper
• One hour of uninterrupted time
• Quiet surroundings
• An open mind

Guidelines:

• Don’t censor your thoughts! (I can’t stress this enough.)
• Notice your thoughts.
• Allow your thoughts to flow wherever they want to go.
• Write everything down on your paper
• Just watch what comes through.

Personal Safety:

• What you write is for your eyes alone.
• Feel free to shred what you’ve written at any time.

Don’t be Surprised if:

• You don’t know what to write about. (Just sit in your “not knowing” until thoughts show up.)
• Unexpected emotions suddenly surface. (If these appear, just notice them, and when you are ready, return to your journaling. You may want to use them as a starting point for a new thread of writing.)

Allow Yourself to:

• Misspell words
• Use the wrong word
• Use wrong grammar
• Be judgmental
• Pour out your rage
• Look at your fear
• Grieve

My personal experience with journaling is that I start out struggling with a problem, meander along twisting, winding paths, jump to a seemingly unrelated train of thought that just won’t leave me alone, and end up with new insights and new ideas for moving forward.

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see wordsculptures.com, janetsmithwarfield.com, and wordsculpturespublishing.com.

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Two Perspectives on Optimism, Pessimism, and Pragmatism

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

 

 

 

“Two men look out through the same bars,

One sees the mud, the other sees the stars.”

~Frederick Langbridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frederick Langbridge believed so, but I think he forgot people like me. I believe you should neither see the mud nor the stars, but rather see what is in the front. Optimism may make us unrealistic; pessimism may depress us (and make us lonely also), so pragmatism is the best policy.

But Optimism Sounds Better

People love optimistic company (and not pragmatic) and (on a lighter note) the most optimistic people end up becoming the best motivational speakers. Nobody wants pessimistic company unless you want to crib and share your pessimism at times. Also, it is easier to be a leader when you are optimistic because people have more faith in your success. Everyone is struggling in the world in some way and we all are looking for someone to motivate and inspire us all the time, more so from our leaders.

Best Case Scenario and Worst Case

Even organizations create two scenarios – best case scenario and worst case scenario. I believe neither the best happens in reality, nor the worst. What usually happens is the average. Or sometimes the best happens, sometimes the worst, and ends up on the whole with the average.

Which is Best?

Who gets the optimum in life, the optimistic, the pessimistic or the pragmatic? Should you be pragmatic for yourself and optimistic sounding with people? Should you expect the best and be prepared for the worst? Should you listen to the eternal optimist-soul or eternal pessimist-mind? Tough questions indeed and the answer is different for each person at a different point of time.

The mind is busy in feasibility studies; the soul is busy in possibility studies. The soul is divinely optimistic, the mind is animally pessimistic. You must move from the mind to the soul, which is a long journey. When you have mastered the law of attraction (or have become fully enlightened and under the influence of the soul), you can be optimistic all the time. Till then, it would be good to be pragmatic.

I can read your mind. You are wondering. “So what do you personally do?”

I ask both soul and mind, and then divide it by two.

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant & Deepest Passion Coach. He is based in New Delhi, India and specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is, “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Brand”

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

 

 

 

 

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” ~Michelangelo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the proverbial half full – half empty glass. Which way do you see it? How does your choice affect your emotions? How does it affect your well-being?

When we see the glass as half empty, we see possibilities that have not yet manifested. The choir director working with a newly-formed chorus sees the possibility of a beautiful, harmonious, balanced chorale, energizing and magnetizing its audience into a larger human symphony. Michelangelo saw a block of marble and envisioned David. Jesus, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Plato, Socrates, and many others saw human suffering and dysfunction and envisioned an all-inclusive humanity connecting needs and resources and co-creating a dynamic, peaceful, respectful, accountable, functional society.

And yet, when we see the glass as half full, aren’t we envisioning the same things? Isn’t the space at the top of the glass simply a metaphor for our unmanifested dreams, hopes, and visions for a better life and world?

How do we manifest these visions together, in harmony? Or don’t we? Do we choose instead to blow ourselves up?

 

It is All Very Simple

 

Each of us has only one soul to fix…

Each of us has only one heart to heal…

Each of us has only one head to clear…

 

our own.

 

But we need all of us.

 

Without one, there is disorder…

Without one, there is imperfection…

Without one, there is a hole in harmony…

 

no whole.

 

It is all very simple.

We all matter.

 

Previously published in

Shift: Change Your Words, Change Your World

by Dr. Janet Smith Warfield

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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Additional Resources:

http://blog.ted.com/2012/06/28/the-glass-is-half-empty-and-half-full-tedglobal-2012-day-3-recap/

http://uncommonchick.com/glass-half-empty-or-half-full/

 

 

Two Perspectives on The Power of Intention

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

As I had completed a little more than one year of my passionate journey into Personal Branding Consulting, I felt the need for an annual reflection. I decided to do the introspection and reflection in the Himalayas – probably the best place in the world for contemplative practices.

The questions which were hanging in my mind were related to my intentions and the purity, clarity and parity of my intentions. (I call it the PCP of intentions)

a)  Purity – Are my intentions pure and in alignment with the universe? Are they surrounded with positive energy? Am I doing something which is blocking the manifestation of my intentions?

b)  Clarity – Are my intentions clear? What do I want in life? Why do I want it? How do I expect to get it? Does the order of my prayers match the order of my intentions (priorities)? What future course of action is required to convert my intentions into reality?

c)  Parity – I believe in Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism which says, “Earthly Desires lead to Enlightenment” It means I can ask God/Universe what I want and once my desires are satisfied, I shall be ready for enlightenment. So my daily prayers include my personal wishes. Now the question arises, “Do my prayers match (are at par) with my intentions?”

(Even from the sub-conscious mind perspective, we need to exactly visualize what we want in life and then a complete commitment to our goal creates serendipity.)

The gratitude to Universe started flowing automatically due to the natural beauty and calm of Himalayas. Thus I began my journey of self-reflection with gratitude prayers. I posted on Facebook, “In the heights of the mountains, I found the heights of my consciousness. In the depths of the valleys, I felt the depth of divine love.” Never in my life, have I felt so inspired.

Excellent ideas began to flow. I wrote probably the most beautiful (and concise) sentence I have written in my life, “If he could, he would. So don’t judge and say, he should.” The mind loves to frown and the soul loves to smile. In touch with my soul, I was all smiles. I was like a spring, “Ego is like a stubborn mountain, sometimes an emotional rock. Soul is like a free flowing spring dancing towards the ocean.”

RW Emerson said, “Once you make a decision, the Universe conspires to make it happen.” The decision Intention) must be accompanied by a complete commitment. If our desires continue to change, how can we blame God for not meeting our desires? Poor guy (God) must be so confused because we keep changing what we want and are doubtful about whether we really want it. Sometimes we are praying for the means while we want something else (ends).

Over a period of next seven days, I meditated and reflected upon these questions. The chit-chat between mind and soul began. There is a saying, “When we speak, God listens, when we become silent, God speaks (to us)”

Had I finally understood “The Secret”? I created a list of desires (intentions) which had purity, clarity and parity.

And when I reached absolute silence, God began to speak.

(And I came back with more answers than the questions I had left with.:-))

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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Brand”

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

As we approached Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, 90 miles southwest of London, I could suddenly feel the energy shift. Before us lay miles and miles of open grasslands, gently rolling hills, burial mounds, and peaceful mists. It was as if I had been transported back in time to a space held sacred by a Neolithic culture.

We had passed the restrictive energy of the military complexes surrounding Salisbury Plain. Now, I was beginning to feel the sanctity of the natural environment. Despite a parking lot crowded with tourists, I did not want to take pictures. I wanted to hold the awe of a mystery I couldn’t explain. I wanted to experience amazement over the dedication of those unknown human beings, thousands of years ago, who hauled those massive sarsens, blue stones, and lintels from miles away, then found a way to set them upright, raise the lintels to the top of the sarsens, and chisel them so they were stable and all fitted seamlessly together. I had clearly set my intention not to get sucked into the chaotic tourist chatter in the parking lot.

What I experienced was a mystery my mind could not understand. What I received was peace, awe, amazement, gratitude, connection, unity, wholeness, and sanctity. Had I shifted my intention to taking pictures of a physical place, I would have lost an amazing energetic healing experience. I would have mentally divided the experience into a subject/object relationship with “me” taking pictures of “Stonehenge”.

On the way back, I shifted my intention. This time, I wanted the pictures as a memento of a wonderful experience. I mentally split the energetic field into myself as photographer and Stonehenge as object. The experience was totally different. I had my mementos.

Intention is everything! It sets the direction of each and every moment of our lives, focuses our attention and actions, and allows us to manifest whatever we desire.

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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Two Perspectives on Transformational Leadership

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Become a leader who transforms by being a thought leader.

I am not going to talk about what is transformational leadership. I am not going to impose my views. I will not even tell you how to become a transformational leader. Now you must be thinking, “Then what the hell are you going to do?”

I had once posted on Facebook, “Your secret is in your soul, my secret is in my soul and still they tell you to read ‘The Secret’” Even Lord Buddha said, “Everyone must find his own way to salvation.” Why should we have any one definition of transformational leadership? Why not ask your soul and come up with your own definition? We all can be transformational leaders in our own ways, whether we transform our village, our workplace, our family or even one friend. When we connect to our deepest self, and become authentic in expressing our true self, we will automatically become a leader who transforms and a thought leader who leads by example.

Albert Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Are you a fish who is trying to climb the tree? Is your organization making you a square peg (unfit) in a round hole?

Start the journey of finding your genius. When you find your genius, you will become a leader who transforms by being a thought leader. I will just tell you one possible approach or a road map to thought leadership. You have to undertake your own journey, I can only support you, inspire you and give a suggested road map which you can modify or even use to get an idea to develop your own road map.

Here is my three step approach to thought leadership:-

Step 1

Walk the Walk

Connect with your deepest self through contemplative practice, expressing yourself through arts or appreciating art in a way that it becomes your muse or source of inspiration.

Develop your own concept of thought leadership. Stay in the company of thought leaders and find inspiration. Respect your genius and it will make you a thought leader. I remember another quote of Einstein, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.” Honour your gift to bring out your hidden greatness. Let the silent-intuitive mind take over and make you a thought leader in your own right. Take the action to develop models, philosophy, equations, and diagrams and so on which can depict your ideas.

Step 2

Talk the Talk

Communicate your authentic core to the people around. Share your thought leadership with people who are going to either support you or criticize you constructively (to help you refine your concept further).

Help the people understand your thought leadership model. Unless you help them gain in-depth understanding of your ideas, they will have a superficial understanding only. Even God had to communicate his message through epics, religious books and inspired messages to her channels. Never claim to be a thought leader and let the people validate your thought leadership.

Step 3

Walk the Talk

You are in the implementation phase now. Fine tune whenever you feel like it. Apply the thought leadership to your own life or to the lives of people/organisations you know. Demonstrate results. Counter the opposition with conviction and determination.

“Easier said than done” they say. Contemplation is fine to connect with the deepest self but at the end of the day life is action, not contemplation. Start the spark and fuel the fire. I once jokingly told a client, “Coins make noise and notes don’t. As you grow from 1 rupee coin to 10 rupee coin to a 1,000 rupees note, make less and less noise.” So become humbler by the day. I always tell my clients, “Larger the stature, Briefer the profile”

You have walked enough, you have talked enough, and the time has come to ‘Walk the Talk’. Leave your own footprint of transformation through your ‘Thought Leadership’.

One day, leadership has to die because everyone will become capable enough to lead himself/herself (by mastering the mind and by connecting to the soul.). One day everyone will be a thought leader. You want to be an innovator or a laggard. The life is yours, the choice is yours.

http://suewaters.wikispaces.com/

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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Take Charge of your Life and your Brand” He writes a Blog, “The Joys of Teaching”
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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

“The next Buddha might not be an individual. It might be a group” Thich Nhat Hanh

A MetaHub of a dozen brilliant, talented, aware women have self-organized out of Barbara Marx Hubbard’s Agents of Conscious Evolution Mentors, http://bit.ly/KzuGiC, to dialog about any subject any of them wants to discuss. The topics are not about hair styles or the latest fashions. They are about how to heal ourselves, how to heal our planet, and how to co-create harmony, resonance, and alignment with one another. Each speaks into the circle from her heart. Each listens deeply to the others’ words. New ears and perspectives hear the information offered into the circle. New speakers add their own nuances, perspectives, and understandings. Ultimately, the dialog carries everyone to a clearer and more expanded understanding of the topic being discussed. Disparate viewpoints coalesce into alignment and resonance. Conflicts dissipate as new information enters the circle. Everyone comes together to solve problems.

Is this a new style of leadership? If so, what do we call it? Field leadership? Essence Leadership? Circle Leadership? Transformational leadership? Are we co-creating the Noosphere which Teihard de Chardin wrote about so many years ago, simply by exchanging information through deep, heartfelt, mutually-respective dialog?

Talking circles are not new. Indigenous people in North America have used them for millennia. Circles of stones or wood can be found all over Europe, some dating back 5,000 years or more. Circles bring people together, co-creating positive transformation for all. As Living Justice Press states:

Circles are far more than a technique; they are a way of life. Circles embody a philosophy, principles, and values that apply whether people are sitting in Circle or not. http://bit.ly/L3SE8r

Characteristics of Transformational Leadership:

1. All inclusive – everyone belongs and has the right to speak
2. Everyone is equal
3. Those who are not speaking are listening deeply
4. Can be used in any setting with any topic
5. Draws on our best values
6. Solutions evolve organically
7. Endlessly adaptable and co-creative
8. Helps participants respond from their best selves because they are being heard rather than suppressed.
9. Builds community
10. Generates mutual understanding and respect
11. Honors all voices equally
12. Decisions are made by consensus
13. Cultivates mutual support
14. Honors the gifts, knowledge, talent and experiences each participant brings.

There are many modern circle groups engaged in this kind of transformational community building and leadership. Two I can recommend are Vistar Circles, http://www.vistarfoundation.org/ and Circle Connections, http://circleconnections.com/. They continue to be used because they bring to every participant such a wonderful sense of inclusiveness and community building. When a circle is formally over, the participants rarely want to leave the safe, free-flowing space they have created together.

 

Perhaps Thich Nhat Hanh was right. The next Buddha is all of us co-creating together in peace and harmony.

Additional Resources

1. First Nations Pedagogy Online (Circle Talks) – http://bit.ly/KxrgSa
2. Living Justice Press – http://bit.ly/MueLo4

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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