More on "Leverage"

"In the new economy, the people that companies are craving - and are willing to pay for - are people who add value to their enterprises. That means people with talent and skills and judgment."

These words appeared in the November 22, 2008 issue of The Australian and only reiterate my last blog point about human resource or, as the paper called it, "human capital".
I cannot stress more strenuously my objection to leveraging the minimum - is that why it is called "minimum wage"? We have to leverage the utmost of our arsenal; but we have to BUILD an arsenal to begin with.
For the next several weeks, we will address some areas that are vital to increase our "leveraging ability" specifically in relation to living The Significant Life.
Our next topic will be "Personality" - learning who we are and becoming more of what we really are.

(c) 2008, Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai.
No part of this blog post may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holder.

"Leverage"

As we approach the New Year, some things will need to change within our mindsets about our human resource. You see, we drain natural resources by using them up but waste human resources by not using them at all! In other words, what are you leveraging in your daily life? What skills, abilities, talents, and other resources are you leveraging.
If you think this is moot, consider the following: an individual's payscale (hourly or yearly) is directly proportional to the resources said individual is able to leverage to an organization or client. The individual making $8 an hour leverages different resources compared to the attorney earning $500 an hour.
During a recent conversation with one my students, I mentioned how "time" cannot be the only resource that he leverages the remainder of his life. "To live in that 'sweet spot' called The Significant Life," I said, "You will have to leverage not only your time but your expertize and experience." You see, most people leverage only their time and find themselves exploited by the "system" or employers and clients. When we can leverage more than our time, our intrinsic value increases and means that we are living at a significantly higher plane than we would if all we leveraged was our time.
A colleague of mine, Roger Volkema, wrote an amazing book on negotiation in which he states the Golden Rule of Negotiation: "People will negotiate with you only if you can help them or hurt them." Leverage is what we all need for us to traverse the expanse of this constantly changing and challenging world - especially with the manner in which the global economy has been stood on its head and many 'loose' things are falling out.
Dictionary.com defines leverage as "a small investment used to reduce one's own liability" and also the "power or ability to act or influence people, events, decisions, etc." With that in mind, what investments are you putting in? What influence do you have on people, events, decisions, and others factors of human experience that help you (or hinder you) to live life more significantly? What education (formal or otherwise) have you neglected that is now costing you dearly in terms of your influence? What relationships have you not developed (or kept) that have thrown you off course towards significance? Finally, what are you going to do about it?
Leverage...

(c) 2008. Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai. No part of this may be reproduced or stored without the written consent of copyright holder.

Patterns

Here we are...only 21 days before Christmas and 27 days before the New Year. I watch as people frantically scurry through "Christmas Shopping" - many acting as though it were a surprise. "Last I checked, December 25th was the same last year. Why the surprise, people?" I wonder.
Patterns tells us a lot about which journey we are on; that is, The Significant Life Journey or the Hustle & Bustle Til You Drop journey we call a life. When we keep following poor patterns, they send us farther and farther away from the fork in the road where we get to choose The Significant Life. So, where are you? Still fighting last year's patterns? Another year is only days away...what will you do different in the next 27 days to help propel you onto the fast-track towards The Significant Life?

Lessons in Significance

How do you define "reach"? Or, more directly, what have you done in the last few days that has the potential of having a reach farther than a hundred-mile radius of your city? Farther than a hundred-year radius from your death? Deep huh?
Well, so is your ability to affect your world - it runs deeper than you can imagine or fathom. It's amazing how it's easy to think no one is watching but be tapped on the shoulder and told: "Thank you for sharing what you did; it made all the difference for me to be a college student." Life is about the significant moments; moments created by people (not circumstances) who refuse to live life on the surface...people who prefer to live life at the nth degree.

"Halfway Up the Mountain"

I have come to consider myself somewhat of an etymologist. I enjoy searching out the original contexts and meanings of words...and, no, I never won a spelling bee...only because we never had them in Zambia :)
Ehem! Back to our etymological discussion...
The word "mediocre" comes from a Latin root and its meaning was simply: "halfway up the mountain." The word was also used to differentiate between mountains - those that grow to "full height" and those that did not. Those that did not, apparently, were called mediocre.
Where are you? Are you growing to your full height and potential? Or are you satisfied with being...well...average?

Introducing...TSL

The SIGNIFICANT Life®? Yes. A life borne out of convictions and not preferences; a life driven by the sheer disdain for mediocrity. For some, this life is thrust upon us because achievement is next to impossible without it; for others, it must be taught and caught. This blog is meant to be a portal for “the rise against mediocrity” and a forum to discuss the tenets of perfect self-expression.

I welcome you and sincerely hope that you will discover how to perfectly express yourself…