HUNGER! The tie that binds us ...

I have a friend who's son is nothing short of the 8th wonder of the world. When he wakes up his first thought is food – his first thought is hunger. On many occasions he will start his day by telling his Mom to meet him in the kitchen! I recently learned that African cultures recognize two hungers: the lesser hunger -- for the goods and services that sustain us and the means to pay for them, and the greater hunger, which has to do with understanding what life is all about. Yes ... that’s right I've been reading again.

The regular hunger seems to be even greater, for workers and executives. I am witness to both hungers every time I give a speech. And I worry that the only hunger people try to satisfy is the lesser hunger. Money is quite accurately called compensation -- if you can't find a major purpose in life, you compensate for it by making money. What we have today is a bizarre phenomenon: Economies everywhere are growing, but once they've hit a certain level the amount of happiness or contentment in a society doesn't increase. So the lesser hunger simply doesn't satisfy the greater hunger.

There is hope however, and it is not expensive. When I mentioned that I had been reading... turns out that reading is our most economical path for continued learning. So how's your education coming along? I know you are probably out of school, but I hope you haven't stopped learning. When I think about the people I've known, who are most fully alive, invariably, it is those who have never stopped learning who come to mind. It is also those who have developed creative strategies to keep themselves from becoming stuck in a rut, no matter how comfortable that rut may seem.

For example, I asked the participants in my last session to “read” and consider the following questions:

1.) Do I limit myself with my own thoughts? Do I need to think outside of my self-imposed limitations?

2.) What levels of my personal and business expectations are examined and raised?

3.) Are negative attitudes about the objectives identified and properly changed? 

4.) Is the self-talk of each person in my group identified and improved? 

These questions are helping us to form a learning organization. Our goal is to help you and the employees grow toward full utilization of their personal and group potential. And it starts with reading, moves on to thinking, and ends with doing. Here are some definitions for some of the vocabulary used above:

EXPECTATION - The prospect of a future embodiment of an abstract idea; an anticipation.

ATTITUDE (S) - A consciously held belief or opinion; easiest to visualize if we picture ourselves leaning toward those things we like (positive) and away from those things we dislike (negative)

SELF-TALK - An act whereby one evaluates or assesses one’s behavior; how one talks or reaffirms to oneself when one reacts to one’s own evaluation, or others evaluation of one’s performance. Self-talk may have an affirming influence in establishing self-image.