A Good Summer

A Good Summer

I have been having a really good summer. There are two major reasons for this. One is that I have been retired for several months now. This, unfortunately, is only a temporary situation. I will likely be rejoining the labor force in one form or another in September.

Although most of us need to work to survive, the working life is often very stressful. There appears to be only a minority of people that honestly enjoy their jobs. The problem with stress at work is that it can really deplete your energy and will often leave one too exhausted for the things in life that they really enjoy doing. This is a tragedy because life on this earth is short. I have found that one really needs to enjoy the good times in their lives.

The other reason that I have been having a good summer is that the weather has been great in Winnipeg. We have long cold winters here so we really appreciate the warm weather in the summertime. We finally have air conditioning in our house this year and it has been like heaven for us. I enjoy outdoor activities in the summer. I like riding my mountain bike and taking our two dogs to the dog park.

Leadership

Leadership

I have recently been reading and listening to The Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill. On one of his CD disks Mr. Hill talks about the key qualities of a great leader. The world will always need great leaders and there are never enough of them around. If you have been working for any length of time you have probably worked for some bad supervisors, good supervisors, average supervisors and downright bad supervisors. The scary part is how much power these managers have over those employees that they supervise. Many who are promoted to the level of manager or supervisor are not leaders. They may know how to boss people around and how to send in the correct paperwork to their superiors. They may hold their positions for many years but once again they are not leaders. Their department’s performance may be adequate or satisfactory but it will rarely be great.

A leader has the ability to create a positive, enthusiastic working environment for their employees. Some supervisors are so successful in this area that their employees actually love coming to work. In future posts I will write about how these exceptional leaders are able to produce this kind of positive working environment.

What Is Success?

What Is Success?

This week I have started reading a book titled The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill. I have also been listening to the audio book version. As I get older I find that my eyes get tired more easily. For this reason audio books have been a Godsend for me.

This book started me thinking about how one may define success. The answer to this question will vary depending on the individual. What follows is some of the things that I would include in my perception of the concept of success:

1)      Enough money to live comfortably and to be able to afford a few luxuries.

2)      Being able to live at peace with one self.

3)      Being in optimum physical and mental health.

4)      The ability to calmly and reasonably deal with adversity.

5)      Having people in your life who love you.

6)      Having a close and peaceful relationship with your Creator, Higher Power, or God as you understand Him.

7)      The ability to control your thoughts and emotions.

8)      Being capable of having a positive mental attitude most of the time.

9)      Performing work that you enjoy.

10)   Having your own goals and dreams.

11)   Living without fear as much as is possible.

12)  The ability to negotiate positive relationships with others.

I am just getting warmed up and will write more on the topic of success in future posts. I welcome your feed back.

Rock on,

Ken David Stewart

The Common Cold of Mental Illness

Depression has been called the common cold of mental illness. This speaks of how prevalent this medical condition is in our general population. I have noticed some parallels between the common cold and influenza and a major depressive disorder. I have experienced a bout of depression making itself manifest in much the same way as a virus that is attacking your body. You may wake up one morning and notice that you don’t quite feel yourself. You feel tired with no apparent reason. Your thinking may be foggy. You feel down and aren’t sure why. You may feel irritable and don’t want people talking to you. You just want to be left alone. If you have a bunch of responsibilities that you need to carry out that day you don’t know where you’re going to find the energy to do them. You may also notice that your body hurts. You may experience aches and pains throughout your body. Theses are some of the common symptoms of a major depressive disorder. (to be continued).