Ten Easy Ways to Increase Your Common Sense
By
Bill Cottringer
“Commonsense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.” ~Rene Descartes.
If this quote were true, we wouldn’t have any of the challenges, problems, ... Views:852
Exercise Your Thinking Muscles
“Sometimes you must give up the good to get to the great. The key is knowing what to keep and what to discard from your mind.” ~The author.
Success today requires proper diet and exercise in both the physical and mental realms. Here are some healthy ... Views:719
The Baker’s Dirty Dozen Gaps Between What’s
By
Bill Cottringer
“The main challenge in life is to close the gap between where you are now and where you really want to be.” ~The Author.
We all have much work to do to close the above gap. Here are a Baker’s Dirty Dozen Gaps we need to ... Views:733
Successful Thinking Tipping Points
By
Bill Cottringer
“Successful people are just those with more successful habits than others.” ~Brian Tracy.
Success today requires more than just raw IQ points in pure brain power. To achieve success today, you must develop and practice ... Views:878
Re-Braining for 2020
By
Bill Cottringer
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ~Albert Einstein.
2020 brings a new decade of Information Age challenges, requiring some major transformational re-braining to navigate the mine fields ahead hidden away in the ... Views:929
Taming Our Terrible Twin Within
By
Bill Cottringer
“I have noticed that even people who claim that everything is predetermined and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” ~Stephen Hawking.
We are all on a mission to become our best selves and to help ... Views:591
Ten Team-Building Essentials for Leaders
By
Bill Cottringer
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” ~Ryunosuke Satoro.
There is a sure prescription for effective team-building for leaders to be successful in their efforts. Here are the ten essential ingredients ... Views:802
The Compromise Imperative
By
Bill Cottringer
“I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle. ~Andrew Carnegie.
Our main thinking paradigm today is still stuck somewhere between a ... Views:903
The Main Challenge for Leaders Today
By
Bill Cottringer
“Diversity: The art of thinking independently together.” ~Malcolm Forbes.
There are two sound reasons for diversity: (a) It is the right thing to do from a human-kind perspective, and (b) the differences brought by diversity ... Views:977
The Two Main Goals of Personal Development
By
Bill Cottringer
“Small daily improvements are the key to staggering long-term results.” ~Anonymous.
Our personal development efforts in learning, growing and improving are aimed at increasing two very important capacities: (a) our ... Views:905
Three Key Success Factors in Effective Management
By
Bill Cottringer
“The effective management of others always starts with effective self-management.” ~The author.
There are libraries of books on how to manage effectively, but since there is already too much information and too ... Views:976
GAP-CLOSING
By
Bill Cottringer
The most serious problem we have today is the growing divide/gap between this and that group of people and the ineffective gap-closing activities we waste valuable time engaging in. The gaps and divide just keeps getting wider and wider, creating more ... Views:1056
A Disturbing Reality
By
Bill Cottringer
“Logic will never change emotion or perception.” ~ Edward de Bono.
After studying things like success, happiness, failure, frustration and anger for several decades now, I have come to the conclusion there may be a very disturbing reality too ... Views:1267
Furiously Frustrated
By
Bill Cottringer
In my previous article, “Seeds of Anger,” I think I overlooked the main problem with which we should have more empathy for ourselves and others. The real problem of our day is the frustration that leads either a quiet life of desperation or ... Views:1167
Seeds of Anger
By
Bill Cottringer
I think most people would agree that the main problems of our day are: (a) the artificially dualistic, unfair sharp divide between those who have abundance, power and all the other desirable things in life, and those who don’t have enough of these ... Views:1423
WHY PRISONS DON'T WORK (AS WELL AS THEY COULD)
By
William Cottringer
“Men simply copied the realities of their hearts when they built prisons.” ~ Richard Wright.
I do not want to offend all the good people who have devoted their entire careers to positive prison reform, but the very ... Views:1274
LIFE”S HARDEST LESSON
By
Bill Cottringer.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” ~Rick Warren.
A doctor and her patient were having a defining-moment discussion about life’s hardest lesson. “So tell me what it is, said the impatient patient to ... Views:1648
The Only Unwinnable Conflict Worth Trying to Win
By
Bill Cottringer
“There is one conflict that will never go away until we either figure out how to communicate past it or die trying. This conflict involves arguing for the beliefs and truths we are most certain about.” ~The Author.
... Views:1252
Three Beatitudes for Better Communication
By
Bill Cottringer
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” ~George Bernard Shaw.
I first heard this simple but profound prescription for better communication below, used as a beginning and ... Views:1514
Are You Smart Enough?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Half of being smart is in knowing what you are dumb about.” ~Solomon Short.
I have been an avid researcher of the connection between intelligence and success for several decades now, and am finally ready to release my short list for ... Views:1476
Managing vs. Coaching
by
Bill Cottringer
“You must always be the apprentice, even when you become the master.”
~ Christopher Cumby.
A common problem with new managers is starting out with the wrong perspective, or as Stephen Covey would say, “getting to the top ... Views:1300
Game Plan For All Seasons
By
Bill Cottringer
Psychology has one principle that can be applied to any interpersonal interaction to get the best results. This is the very fundamental principle of human behavior which recognizes that both our commonalities and our differences have to be ... Views:1117
7 SURE BUILDING-BLOCKS OF SUCCESS
By
Bill Cottringer
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.” ~ Bill Gates.
Having both attempted and researched the phenomenon we call “success” now for nearly 7 decades, I have reached the conclusion that ... Views:1115
Choosing the Right Side
By
Bill Cottringer
An elderly Episcopal priest once gave a simple sermon with a single message that makes too much sense to disregard, even for non-religious people. The message was this: There is one main choice in life and that is which side are you on—the ... Views:1023
WORDS ARE WICKED
By
Bill Cottringer
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
For over 50-years now, I have worked in criminal justice as a law enforcement officer, prison warden and a security manager, and ... Views:1165
The Power of Awareness
By
Bill Cottringer
“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.” ~Abraham Maslow.
Focusing on one thing in life being more important than any other is a common mistake we often make. This usually results in over-embracing a ... Views:1244
DO OR DIE
By
Bill Cottringer
“Conflicts give rise to villains, heroes, victims and bystanders. Which are you willing to be, in doing or dying for? ~The Author.
We are all chasing after things we think we want because of how they make us feel—happiness, success, peace of mind, ... Views:1398
An Epiphany About Intentionality
By
Bill Cottringer
“All things considered, the concept of willfulness loses sight of too many of them.” ~The Author.
I am proposing that our entire justice system is built upon a highly questionable basic assumption—that all wrongdoers are ... Views:1194
WORK SUCCESS
By
Bill Cottringer
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” ~Vince Lombardi.
Success in today’s work place involves a commitment to ... Views:1196
The Paucity Paradigm
By
Bill Cottringer
“Usually the first problems you solve with the new paradigm are the ones that were unsolvable with the old paradigm.” ~Joel A. Barker.
Way back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve did something that contaminated our thinking and the language ... Views:1084
AN ATTITUDE FOR ALL SEASONS
by
Bill Cottringer
“The amount of success you have or don’t have, is more related to how you define success, than all you talents, efforts, motivation, timing and luck combined together.”~ The Author.
I have been an avid student of human behavior and ... Views:1260
What Employers Need
By
Bill Cottringer
“The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.” ~J. Paul Getty.
Knowing what employer’s need—not necessarily what they think they want (or what they deserve?)—can greatly improve job success in the organization for both employers and ... Views:1107
How to Get a Job in Today’s Marketplace
By
Bill Cottringer
“People will try to tell you that all the great opportunities have been snapped up. In reality, the world changes every second, blowing new opportunities in all directions, including yours.” ~Ken Hakuta.
From all my ... Views:1037
Too Much Familiarity Can Breed Contempt
By
Bill Cottringer
“Familiarity breeds contempt, for others at first, but then inwardly, contempt towards ourselves.”
~Oli Anderson, Synchronesia: A Depressing Existential Novel.
Most relationship experts agree that contempt can creep into a ... Views:3922
What To Focus On?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” ~Alexander Graham Bell.
Regarding the title question, the answer in a word is—NOW. One very popular view of life is that we are all pawns ... Views:1123
TWO KINDS OF BELIEFS
By
Bill Cottringer
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ~Philip K. Dick.
Beliefs are what drive and explain human behavior. They reassure us the truth of something and justify our thinking, feeling and acting in our minds, ... Views:1216
HEALING THE DIVIDE
By
Bill Cottringer
“The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.” ~Max Born.
Last Month, I published an article in Security Management magazine, entitled “The Two-Way Manager.” This ... Views:1154
Managing Life’s Five Great Illusions for Better Sports and Law Enforcement Performance.
By
Bill Cottringer
As I have already mentioned in a previous article, performance in sports and law enforcement have a lot in common. For one thing, both require a healthy mixture of individuality ... Views:1034
Maintaining More Ups Than Downs
By
Bill Cottringer
“Let it rain on some days, let yourself shiver on some cold nights, so when it's Spring you'll know why it was all worth going through.” ~Sanhita Baruah.
We all have different score-keeping methods about memories of past ups ... Views:1294
The Problems a Divided Mind Causes
By
Bill Cottringer
“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” ~Alan Watts.
First, I suppose we should clarify what exactly a divided mind is. ... Views:1302
Birth of The Terrible Twins Within (Our Dualistic Minds)
By
Bill Cottringer
“If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer’s day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the ... Views:1310
Freedom of Choice?
By
Bill Cottringer
“Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” ~Jawaharlal Nehru
A perennial philosophical debate that started with the early philosophers and gave birth to all the earlier theories of ... Views:1246
Ten Best Success Door Openers
by
Bill Cottringer
“If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don’t, you will find an excuse.” ~Jim Rohn.
There are lots of ways to find to do something or the excuses if you don’t. In the meantime, here are the best-known door ... Views:1143
Discussing Politics & Religion
By
Bill Cottringer
“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.” ~Mahatma Gandhi.
Just like the real reason for paying attention to the warnings of the Ten Commandments, being to help you avoid unnecessary pain, ... Views:1644
Three Paths to The Truth
By
Bill Cottringer
“I wouldn't give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but for the simplicity on the other side of complexity, I would give my life.” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes.
As the above quote implies, there are but three main paths ... Views:1145
What Do You Have to Do to Feel The Way You Want to Feel?
By
Bill Cottringer
“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” ~Aldous Huxley.
While this article title seems to be a rather straightforward question, I doubt that it is ... Views:1077
Two Tantamount Truths
By
Bill Cottringer
“Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us.” ~Jim Caroll
There is no shortage of authors, books and movies about near death experiences, with over 5 million Internet works available. Authors like Moody, Jakoby and Greyson; books like ... Views:997
Double Vision Decision-Making
By
Bill Cottringer
“Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.” ~Phil McGraw.
Double vision decision-making is a very useful and valuable skill in maneuvering around in today’s plethora of information overload that ... Views:1533
What Is It About Henry or Mary?
By Bill Cottringer
“Defensiveness is usually someone silently screaming that they need you to value and respect them in disguise. When you look for deeper meanings behind someone’s pain you can then begin to heal not only yourself, but others.” ~Shannon L. ... Views:1254
Ten Best Ways to Build a Quality Work Culture
By
Dr. Bill Cottringer
“To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.” ~Doug Conant, Campbell Soup.
There has been a revolutionary interest in looking for ways to improve the quality of work environments, which lead ... Views:1378