GO WEST!: Honoring Thy Self... Part II

Go West! with Christine West

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Many of us fail to recognize the innate ability we have to succeed at our endeavors. Yet in order to so, we need to stop participating in activity, buying into self-limitations or of others or feeding ourselves self talk that anchors us spiraling downward.

Pursuing what we want in both our professional and personal endeavors takes persistence and stamina. It requires you to differentiate and distinguish yourself from others. It is about allowing originality and individuality to shine bright by responding to life’s opportunities.

By no means am I diminishing team or group efforts. I feel strong about working in groups or in partnerships. Yet we need pay attention if the group norms are helping or hindering us.

As an example, if you are a horse jockey and you are paid to win. Do you get paid to stay at the same pace of the other horses? Absolutely Not! Or behind the other horses? – think about it for a moment, that is an absurd thought, Right? So why would anyone do it in everyday life?

Do you get paid to react to the other jockeys, horses and audience? – No because you would be way too distracted by your emotions. You would be too focused on the approval of others or how the other jockeys treated you during the race. Not a very good or efficient strategy. Many continue to behave this way at work or in personal relationships.

The winning strategy in a horse-race is to be able to respond to opportunity. Which means the focus is on driving my horse through the path of opportunity. By paying attention and maneuvering the horse through openings past the other horses quickly with graceful efficiency toward the finish line without any hesitation, is the horse that wins. This strategy also requires a jockey who knows how to pace the horse through the openings and once ahead of the competition, continues to run the horse hard to the finish line.

The horse and jockey receive their glory because they figured out how to move past and maintain a pace ahead of the other riders. This is very similar in regular day to day life. When we honor our very existence, something magical occurs. We are no longer distracted by life, negativity, and the pressures to conform to ways of others or need a sense of approval. We anchor ourselves to the sense of purpose within ourselves and we give free rein to our sense of being to respond to life and her opportunities. And we end up belonging to more than we ever imagined.

When we do this, we increase our worth and deepen our self-love, in which radiates outward in all that we do. When we behave out of love instead of manipulation, we allow ideas, resources and opportunity to develop into prosperous endeavors. Our energy is higher and authentic. People want what we have so therefore they become magnetized by our presence. Life becomes fuller and more interesting. Stressors decrease and clarity surrounds us.

No matter what your profession is, all of us need to interact with people to accomplish our goals. When we honor who we are, it is simpler to honor and accept the choices of others instead of becoming consumed by them. People seem to trust people more that interfere less with their existence and behave in authentic means toward them. We will never truly value others until we honor and value who we are.

When continue to build and invest in the greater good of ourselves and in others, that very goodness comes reflecting right back to us. The beauty in this we learn to collaborate, build wealth and a quality of life that is more rewarding.

Genuinely,

Christine

Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/ Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/

For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.







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GO WEST!: Honoring Thy Self... Part II

GO WEST! Honor Thy Self ...

Go West! with Christine West

“You yourself, as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection” Buddha

In every human interaction we teach other people how we wish to be treated. By the very essence of what we accept as acceptable behavior and our interactions establishes the means in which other people end up treating us by the way we treat ourselves.

I am personally fascinated in how most people are blind to this fact. We are constantly teaching others about ourselves. We do this in so many different ways that many are unaware of. Our very behavior sends signals out to the world on how to treat us. Our body language, our energy, our physiology, our words, our beliefs, our actions or inactions, our boundaries, what we take value in, what we make a priority, our self-respect, self-esteem and self worth, are some of the many factors that give others information about us. When we want the world to treat us better, we need to learn to treat ourselves better and make the adjustments within ourselves.

I have personally found when I treat myself with honor, my sales increase, my productivity improves, better people and resources come into my life and I am happy. Honor means I value myself, I make me a priority, I invest my time and energy in activity that creates happiness and moves me closer to my goals, I surround myself with healthy people, resources and activities, I fuel my body and mind with nutritious foods that helps me to focus and be emotionally stable. It also means I sell my services based on my own personal development level and self-worth. I love and accept everything about myself so that I can continue to evolve and prosper.

When we neglect ourselves and allow energy to scatter mixed results occur and we often feel depleted. We end up forgetting about our priorities, our value and end up taking on the priorities of someone else who may be leading us away from our goals. We end up procrastinating and living out the intentions of other people while never advancing ourselves.

If we are to evolve personally, professionally, cognitively, emotionally and spiritually, it is absolutely critical to recognize if you desire true change, then one must be willing to make the changes at the internal level. Nothing in your external world will change if you refuse to on the inside. This statement is true and factual when it comes to personal development, business development, organizational development, relationship development or healing physical impairments.

When we make inner adjustments the external world magically changes. The bottom line is nothing will improve until you improve. If you treat yourself poorly, then you are teaching your employer, your family, your friends and peers to do exactly the same.

I have heard people complain about their external world. What these people are really communicating is the complaints inside themselves. Everything we see in our external world and our very reaction to it is a mirrored reflection of who we are.

This statement may be difficult or easy for you as a reader to digest.

I also realize this is a different statement than some may be familiar with. It is important to reiterate this fact. The beauty or ugliness or anything in between we see in our external world is a reflection of who we are. This is why different people can experience the same event and have a very different experience. The experiences can be contrasting as though the people involved didn’t experience the same the event or the same conversation.

For example, in today’s job market many have been laid off from their job. Some people find this a great opportunity for a new beginning and others find it fatalistic. Some people when a relationship ends focus on harboring resentment and others are grateful for the experience no matter how it ended.

For growth or change to occur, if you don’t like what you see or what you experience then you need to make internal changes, learn to forgive yourself and others for mistakes, set healthy boundaries with yourself, other people and your environment and accept every piece of you. We all are a self-fulfilled prophesy - meaning our beliefs, expectations and behaviors create our reality. We possess a power within by taking responsibility and we give our power up through blaming others for what we experience or our circumstances.

Most people want more respect, more success, more prosperity and less grief and stress, yet most fail to recognize these goals are much easier to reach by learning to honor thy self.

Now, as a reader, you may be asking what do I mean? The bottom line is real simple, when you personally “HONOR” every piece of your life and work on yourself internally, your mirror will naturally reflect your inner changes.

So far I have given you some food for thought. In the next month’s column, I will help you to increase your self-worth so you can increase your prosperity, sales and quality of life. Until then ---

Genuinely,
Christine

Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/ Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/


For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.







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GO WEST! Honor Thy Self ...

GO WEST!!! To Be or Just a WANNABE ?

GO WEST!!! with Christine M. West

We’ve all been invited to numerous social events professionally, personally and online. We connect with someone we want to impress in our audience. We want our audience to be impressed with who we are and have the desire to be interested enough to advance the relationship into a sale. Without realizing it, as you try so hard to get attention that you become totally unaware of the words spuing from your mouth are fraudulent dribble that lacks integrity, honor or ethic and you’re wondering how do I live up to this creation?

Yet it gets worse, the other person believes you and is searching for exactly what you described as a service and you have no clue how to walk the talk you just articulated. Without risking appearing utterly stupid and confessing to the truth you continue to toot your own horn to an expertise that you do not have. Now impressed with yourself, you up the stakes in this relationship and make the other person a client and commit yourself to delivering an image or a service you cannot possibly deliver.

Now under fiduciary responsibility, the only thing you can do to maintain this self-imagined image is to use condescending language with your client to taint their abilities and to create insecurity. And of course to secure your new expertise and to drive your client’s lack of self-confidence in even deeper, you continue to reinforce their fears with sending them mixed signals about your progress and continue to draw them in further into your personal dysfunction.

Eventually, the client expects you to deliver results. The pressure is on and you feel awkward because the only thing you sold to the client is your WANNABE image.

Now your world is closing in because in your mind telling the truth would be detrimental to your newly created reputation as a legend in your WANNABE world. And worse yet as you self-criticize for losing the opportunity gain customer satisfaction, repeat business and you suspect the client can see right through you. And now you are baffled in your own self-created-nonsense and do not know what to do.

Let’s talk about what drives this behavior and what to do.

Quite a while ago, a wise woman told me when you become great at what you do; you won’t need to try so hard to convince others of your expertise because people will know who you are by being who you are.

Many years ago this statement was extremely difficult for me to digest because I did not know what it really meant because I did not know how to honor who I really was and it was so different than my social conditioning. Our social conditioning has guided our behavior to lack honor and integrity. We have been taught to model the role we want to be and eventually we will grow into that role. By playing the WANNABE role we end up creating an image that lacks any substance and is based on deception.

Our EGO’s have been conditioned to being fed things such as constant attention, the need to be needed, the need to be better than everyone else or the need to diminish other people in order to build ourselves up to feel like a winner. When we feed the dogma of our EGO, we stop listening to others and have the need to be the continual informant with our mouths oozing dribble to hear ourselves talk. The EGO’s ideology believes in being right at all times at all costs. The more egotistical the person, the more that individual has an exaggerated sense of self-importance. That person is more interested in acting like as person of authority in subjects where they have no authority. This person wants to advise everyone how to run their lives when their life is a mess.

The EGO is divided. The EGO lives in past and in the future and has no clue about what is happening right now in the moment. When you are living as the “Being” that you really are, you walk the talk in state of wholeness which is undamaged. People are attracted to a frequency that reflects honor and integrity.

When we act with integrity, we do as we say and our values are aligned with our behaviors. We have the courage to reflect upon who we really are and know who we are not. We end up accepting ourselves where we are at and communicate from that place. When you have honor, you have the strength and discipline to unlearn unneeded habits and learn what is needed to grow into being more self actual. We become a trusted resource to ourselves and those around us.

When we come from a place of honor and integrity our words have power and authority when we communicate verbally, non verbally and in writing. People can hear your passion, confidence, truth and courage. You learn to communicate more substance with fewer words to influence your audience for their greater good instead of for self-serving purposes.

The more you are moving toward being self actual; doors of opportunity have a tendency to open easier and quicker. The more you learn to shed the compulsive impulses of your EGO, the Wannabe crowd moves further and further away and REAL people begin showing up.

Tell me, are you here to BE or are you just a WANNABE ?

Genuinely,
Christine

Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/ Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/

For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.





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GO WEST!!! To Be or Just a WANNABE ?

GO WEST!!! Serendipitous Wisdom …

Go West!!! with Christine West

I often wonder how much we as a society really learn from both the wisdom and the lessons of the past. It seems that as a society we find the miracle or serendipity we have searched for and we end up finding ways to make a mess out of the beauty because of greed, poor decisions or in decision, fear and arrogance. In my life experience, I have never heard anyone admit out loud they want their life to be filled with more complex difficulties, stressors, disease and to experience more hardship. Yet today we hear endless stories that reflect what we do not want to experience. The news is filled with never-ending stories, debates and updates on an unattractive healthcare plan, economic hardship, industry downturn, bombings, shootings, assault victims, death, disease, and natural disasters. We keep spreading the word about what we do not want – Why? We rarely align our beliefs, our words and behavior with what we truly want, Why? Why are we so attracted to hearing about devastation instead of stories that are about building our prosperity and our true power?

As I remember the story of Easter Island, the hardy Polynesians who discovered the island found the discovery to be miraculous. This was their serendipitous moment. They brought tools and food, plants and animals to begin a new life. The island they discovered was not a typical Polynesian paradise with tropics, rivers or protective reefs. This island had other resources such a forest of large palms and other trees, with drinking water held by creators. Tools and weapons were created from obsidian and lapilli for constructing statues.

The islanders, once settled, gradually spread across the island, occupying nearly all the available areas. To plant their crops, they resorted to slash and burn agriculture to remove the forest cover. Eventually this caused topsoil to erode during storms and, overtime, the productivity of the land declined.

They built houses and shrines, and carved enormous statues. As statue making increased, the supplies of timber and rope gradually became scarce. The lack of trees meant that canoes could no longer be built, restricting offshore fishing. Without canoes, they could not set off for another island. The islanders found themselves trapped in a degrading environment and a self created prison.

The population of Easter Island reached its peak at 10,000, which far exceeded the capabilities of the small island's ecosystem. Resources became scarce, and the once lush forest was destroyed and the people became competitive, greedy and destructive. Thereafter, a thriving and advanced social order began to decline into bloody civil war and, evidently, cannibalism. Eventually, all of the Moai statues standing along the coast were torn down by the islanders themselves. Then of course Western civilization entered into the picture, which brought more disaster with introducing the islanders to slavery and disease.

Easter Island has become, for many, a metaphor for ecological disaster.

In a larger space we are duplicating the model for ecological disaster when we promote, listen and reward negative destructive acts in our society. For our very survival, when we need to remember we cannot survive in isolation or utilize resources for symbolic falsification. We need to begin to feed our Hearts and Souls instead of our EGO. The EGO forces things to happen, whereas our heart and soul allows things to happen. And we need to become skilled enough to know the difference between the two because our true power resides in the heart and soul of every human being. We all have access to this power yet only a small part of our population uses it.

We need to broaden our awareness to the very decisions we are making. Organizational leaders and those who influence need to “read more before they lead.” Meaning read the environment and people before making decisions that create more hardship or the unwanted turmoil. We need to be able to communicate honestly about where we are, how we feel and how to align our behaviors with our goals. We need to learn how to appropriately ask for help in some situations. We need to admit where we made mistakes and regroup in different direction quickly if needed.

We need to be reminded of our core values as a society. To create social health and advocacy it is every person’s responsibility to be accountable for our choices and our social creation. Many have been taught to build yourself up is by destroying another. I see this behavior constantly with competing groups and corporations. We are constantly trained to bash the competition instead of looking at ways to create mutual value and win-win. Does it really feel good when someone else is suffering?

Many have be taught to harbor negativity. I tell you, the burden you carry because of this decision blocks a piece of your potential. Forgiveness is a very powerful tool. It frees you up from holding on to unwanted behaviors of another. It gives us a place to excuse another instead of focusing on the wrong doings. It does not me you need to be in contact with group or person. It means you have opened space inside yourself to bring in something better. It also allows you to leave people in great shape while you let them go.

When we focus our energies on the greater good of mankind while functioning from our heart and soul serendipitous opportunities begin daily. I have found magical doors open easily in my business and personal life because of these principles. I encourage you to give Serendipitous Wisdom a try …

Genuinely,

Christine

Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/ Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/


For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.



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GO WEST!!! Serendipitous Wisdom …

GO WEST !!! Remember to be Humble

Go West! with Christine M. West, MS, CMHT

One of the most powerful lessons that I have ever learned as a business professional and especially as a speaker for hire is the power behind humbleness. I was reminded of this valuable lesson recently. This invisible power within humbleness was well illustrated recently at a conference that I was an attendee at.

One speaker, who I would rate as stupendous and presented exceptionally well, acted out some key behaviors for all of us to be reminded of. This presenter, who I will name for this article as Credible-Chris, understood the power behind humbleness. Credible-Chris provided value and maintained rapport with his audience because of the following:

1. He demonstrated topic expertise by providing substance, value and practicality.
2. His presentation naturally flowed and 90 minutes flew by fast.
3. He had excellent professional boundaries. When he was outside of his own expertise he identified what expert would be needed.
4. He promoted his services by “walking the talk” instead of behaving arrogantly and telling the audience of his greatness.
5. He involved his audience by engaging in activity that created awareness to identifying the problem to be solved and offering basic solution orientated strategies.
6. He spoke the language of the audience.
7. He gave creditability to ideas in his lecture that stemmed from a different originator.
8. He lived up who he said he was in his bio.
9. He indirectly sold his value proposition by demonstrating it.
10. (By the way his presentation was on Organizational Value, he clearly provided value.)

Another speaker at the conference that stood out for me acted professionally ridiculous. He was an excellent reminder of what NOT to do. I will name him Ridiculous-Ramon. Ridiculous-Ramon, made some very costly mistakes and obviously did NOT remember that GREATNESS comes from a state of being,NOT from a state of telling.


One of the saddest parts for Ridiculous-Ramon was claiming his expertise to be in Psychophysiology of Linguistics. That states he is a communication expert. His bio stated that he worked in the personal growth industry for the past 20 years. These are awesome credentials yet by not truly being able to communicate and engage your audience when you claim you can ------ is Pathetic for any professional.

The story gets worse. The list of mistakes was incredible. The following was my observation:

1. He did not take into account that others in the audience, such as me have an expertise that can validate the credibility of his message.
2. He forgot that I knew him prior to writing a book and I knew him as a salesman, not as a personal growth expert.
3. He lacked professional boundaries, integrity and ethics. He claimed a professional expertise that he did not have. When an audience participant asked who else has done research on what he claims is factual, he said he is the only person on the planet.

(Ridiculous-Ramon did not invent Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) Bandler and Grinder did or Neuro-Associative Conditioning Systems this was Anthony Robbins. Ridiculous-Ramon holds a Master of ART in Counseling not a PhD in Linguistics or Psychology or Sociology or even Anthropology) He created an application to teach the layman how to communicate easier and is using concepts from Anthony Robbins. Anthony Robbins work is based off of concepts in NLP, and NLP is based off of concepts of Social Learning Theory and Cognitive Learning Theory which are the work of Albert Bandura who is a Psychologist who expanded other psychological change theories.

Validity and Reliability of your message are very important claims to professionalism and holding credibility.

A concept is far more credible if you can share with you audience the building blocks of your concept as Credible-Chris did so eloquently.

4. He was arrogant and made the presentation a sales pitch of his greatness and all about him.

5. He was scheduled to lecture for 90 minutes and completed his lecture in 30 minutes. He asked the room moderator how much time he had after 30 minutes, then after 45 minutes, and then after 60 minutes…... This was painful to watch. Pacing is part of communication.

6. He had difficulty engaging with his audience, this skill is called rapport and is a major part of communication.

7. He lacked substance and did not tailor his material toward the industry he was speaking with and claimed his material would transform their specific industry culture. He provided no evidence of how or evidence of where he transformed a culture with this method before. He only gave examples on how to apply his concept to increase sales.

He knows a lot about sales because when I met him he was a sales professional five years ago. And by the way this was not a sales conference, it was a safety conference.

8. He put me on the spot by introducing me as a friend instead of as a professional colleague or acquaintance with a certain expertise. He asked me if he always walks his talk. I stated to the audience I need to be ethical and be honest. I said most of the time yet we are all human and are subject to human error. The audience actually for the first time started to laugh. Life did exist in this audience. Ridiculous-Ramon then grew defensive and illustrated that defense with his audience.

9. After the audience exited the room, Ridiculous-Ramon said to me “that was a tough audience, I could not get them engaged.” I replied “I noticed and least you did too something for you to think about” and I exited.

In conclusion, both speakers I learned something from. When I think about Credible-Chris he is an expert I would like to develop a professional relationship with. When I think of Ridiculous-Ramon, I smile, giggle out loud for a moment and Remember to Be Humble.

Genuinely,

Christine

Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/ Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/

For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.

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GO WEST !!! Remember to be Humble

GO WEST ! FISH the LINE ...

Go West! Fish the Line … with Christine West

I once heard someone say, it is not as important in life to be strong as it is more important to feel strong. When we feel strong we end up believing in our ability to live from a place of courage. When we are courageous, we have strength and a power to overcome life’s obstacles to build our dreams and to reach our goals. Another piece of courage is to be able to recognize it in others and not to be threatened in any way. When are this free and courageous it easy to be grateful for mutual beneficial relationships, resources and give rightful credit. When we are blind and unaware, so many of us end up living and enjoy receiving the benefits of someone else’s courage, yet fail to recognize and acknowledge what it takes to Fish the Line…

When most of us think about networking and going to work, nearly everyone keeps a set range of hours to work and attend various networking events. For the most part, we work with our team or attend a function and go home to a private life. Many have adopted the attitude of “I don’t feel like doing this anymore” or “I feel sick so therefore I quit for the day” or “are we done yet”? One industry that these accepted behaviors cannot be allowed in is commercial fishing. The work of a commercial fisherman expands the boundaries of an ordinary workplace and networking formalities. The commercial fishing industry in the state of Alaska is known as one of the most dangerous occupations in the world with the highest fatal recordable safety incidences, yet the courageous still carry on. It is a lifestyle where long hard work, commitment and resourcefulness with an openness to give and receive help are mandatory characteristics to have for success in the trade.

These brave souls work and live in a culture that requires a true community of courageous teamwork where slackers, victims and complainers are not allowed. Everyone must carry their own weight, otherwise results may be deadly. Each deckhand lives on the boat and is ready to operate for long tedious hours in close-nit quarters with seas that can be flat to 40 foot or higher waves. Within this climate are only those individuals who are willing to face the unknown to achieve the reward of pulling a lavish profusion of fish out of the sea.

I was fortunate a few weeks ago to have an opportunity to interview my friend Bill who now returned from a five week commercial fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Alaska which intersects with the Bering Sea. I did receive the benefit of Bill’s courage from him giving me fresh red sockeye salmon fillets and fresh sea bass. This gift is such a deliciously because it is the gold of the sea and the heart of the commercial fisherman, along with the inspiration for this article.

In the Bristol Bay Region over 3 million fish are extracted from the sea over this five week fishing season. Many imperative business tasks need to be established prior to a commercial fishing crew setting direction to harvest fish. The end goal for the commercial fishing boat is to make money with the fish harvested from the sea. Sounds logical, right? The key in making money and surviving any mood Mother Nature dishes out is establishing a solid system of networking resources that work together in equal importance. Any break in the system can be detrimental for the involved.

This system is based on key relationships that depend upon one another to be unselfishly reliable. It is a system where facing and moving past conflicts quickly is vital. It is a system where communication along with asking for help and giving help is an absolute must. It is a system where arrogance, pride, I can do it myself or I refuse help because I don’t want to owe anyone attitude may cost you and others their life. Anyone who cannot work together or behaves individualistic or whines is not allowed in this culture. It is a system of true responsibility.

To be clear, a prideful individual tries to portray to others the belief that they are strong when in fact they are extremely weak. This fact is because they believe they can do it all themselves and they cannot think beyond themselves. In essence this individual becomes the weakest link and the highest liability in the system. These prideful individuals end up being the ones who carry the most depression, fear, worry, insecurity, anger and concerns themselves with the unimportant which leads to self-sabotage. They end up creating separation in the team and pushing people away. It doesn’t matter how skilled or educated this individual is; this person is still a dangerous risk because of the denial in the crucial skill in how to be a resourceful networker and a reliable team player. Grudges, hurt feelings, excess emotional and mental baggage need to be thrown over-board immediately. This is a place where being an effective leader and an effective follower is essential while knowing what role you play in the moment.

This solid system of networking resources consists of establishing a concrete working relationship with a Mother Ship, who is the fish process plant, who will purchase the harvested fish off the commercial fishing boat. The Mother Ship has contracts with tender boats who house supplies such as fuel, food, clean water, electrical, mechanical, and tools for purchase. Getting along with the tender boat crew can make you or break you. The tender boats have another interesting function. In order to provide fuel, they have relations with the Russians who have developed a market demand to act as Fuel Barges for the commercial seafood industry across the Bering Sea. All relationships need to be solid and trustworthy.

The culture on each boat consists of people who work together to ensure all permitting and licensing are legal, to manage the fishing lines, to repair any mechanical or electrical problem in the moment trouble occurs and to manage a network of relationships. All must be responsive and pay attention to each moment of now. This is down to hiring a cook who understands the food preparation process can either strengthen or weaken the crew.

It is also a must to establish relationships with sister boats. These sister boats are the competition yet they are part of survival if problems such as mechanical, power, fuel filters, etc., occur. You may need to ask for a tow. This does occur. Another relationship is with the coast guard, you may need to be saved if your boat hits blue water and you are sinking. If you are sinking it is a time where you better be able to move fast, be courageous, focus, dress in your survival suit quickly and start the EPIRB beacon. Help is your only way to survive this type of crisis and the grace of God.

One story Bill did share that sent the crew into a state of FEAR, was when their boat lost power and had a severe mechanical and a fuel filter problem. Mother Nature had her fun with hitting the boat with growlers. Growlers are rolling white waves and when they hit the boat it as through the sea is punching every human being hard and fast. It is very similar to a boxing match with a heavy weight boxer and feeling a constant concussion because of being punched so hard repeatedly over and over. They needed power and the ability to repair the boat in these conditions. It ended up after exhausting themselves they called upon one of the sister boats for a tow so the crew could make the necessary repairs on flat water.

Bill’s crew anchored themselves in low tide to fix power and other mechanical problems in which is a positive move. The mistake was they decided to rest too long in this shallow water and when they decided to continue toward deeper waters, Mother Nature had another treat in store for them. The winds were blowing about 50 – 60 mph. This is very dangerous in 20 feet of water because there is a disproportion in how a boat is designed to maneuver through a wave. So they were experiencing what is known as the green zone, which means the waves were hitting the windows hard and the boat had no recovery time for the next wave. These conditions are more dangerous than a 40ft wave in deep water because in deeper waters there is a balance and the boat functions naturally in its design. Green zone conditions are similar to being in a tornado or a major hail and ice storm. These waves could easily blow the windows out or put a hole in the boat.

In these examples, this was a time to work though the FEAR and the problems as a team. Their core foundation was tested when Mother Nature decided to punch them and they had no mechanical power to fight back with. In these times where FEAR set in, Bill’s crew illustrated their commitment to work as a team while paying attention to their circumstances. It was a time to communicate honestly, while being congruently aligned with their resources to receive help from their network to survive this journey. In these examples, the behaviors and decisions made resulted in building a dynamically resilient culture that overcame the stressors and turmoil Mother Nature dished out. And of course they made their fish quota too!!

Mother Nature favors no one and treats everyone the same. So therefore it is our responsibly to be the courageous resource that can recognize and admit to our own FEAR and distinguish between when we are a true help or a true hinder to those around us and of course to ourselves. This type of honesty takes courage and a true thorough introspection into the world of responsibility in which is essential for our very survival and advancement. In Courage there is an Authentic Power where anything is possible …

Genuinely,

Christine

Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/ Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/


For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.



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GO WEST ! FISH the LINE ...

GO WEST! The Road to No-Where – a Million Dollar Bridge and the Child’s Glacier

Go West! with Christine M. West, MS, CMHT

The way people work, live and play is fascinating. Every decision or indecision leads us down a path of experience. Within our experiences we become products of our own decisions and in-decisions. Every belief, thought, emotion, action, movement, and in-action paves our path to where we are in this very moment and to the degree of our enjoyment of the experience.

To actually consciously raise our awareness to this fact, we need to learn to focus and pay attention to ourselves and the world around us. The problem is our attention and impulses are scattered in so many directions that we end up becoming an indentured servant to a world and practices that lead us to congesting our life up with stuff that doesn’t bring us joy, happiness or advancement. We end up unorganized, unfocused, stressed, depleted, confused, limited and emotionally-reactive instead of happy, successful, motivated, inspired and moving in a directed flow in the way we work, live and play.

The indentured servant ends up dancing and moving to the beat of a self-serving master that hinders our happiness. The self-serving master might-be the relationships we maintain, our employer, activities we participate in or how we behave within those activities, our decisions or indecisions, subjecting ourselves to unnecessary chaos or even our own resistance. We all have the capability within to gracefully find a natural flowing peaceful rhythm. Yet in order to do so, we need to pay attention to the signs on our road that give us that very direction.

To give an example that I recently experienced in my own life, I recently participated in a group outing with an outdoor adventure club. Expectations are a funny thing. Most of the planning of this trip was conducted through social media where participants signed up and written communication flowed back and forth between members on the website to detail the trip. Many subjective perceptions about expectations were left up to each participant to interpret, in turn resulted in many different points of view. The curious thing about expectations is when the experience exceeds our expectation, the experience becomes delightfully pleasurable. On the other hand when the experience drops below our expectation, our experience often can be frustrating and unpleasantly painful.

This journey began by leaving port Whittier, Alaska on a luxurious fast ferry with the group paired in small carpooling groups. Extra gear and supplies were able to be taken on this trip because of having vehicles traveling on the ferry with us. This seven hour fast ferry exceeded expectation because it was spacious, new, clean, and exceptionally comfortable. Everyone maneuvered around the ferry freely and naturally with the excitement to arrive in the remote land of Cordova (which can be accessed only by boat or plane). The interesting thing about the human mind is how we anticipate our experiences. We all do this. Some in the group have previously experienced Cordova and some were new to this place. For me, Cordova was uncharted ground. I admit my personal experience was so different than my anticipation. When we have a previous experience with something or someone, the mind reverts back to the last learned memory about that experience and often believes the experience will be duplicated in the same mannerism until we learn something new.

Cordova, Alaska is a scenic small town wonderland with a natural landscape that has minimal man made interference. Within the inner depths of the true wilderness are many mysterious hidden treasures to be explored and discovered. Sometimes to get moving on the path of exploration and discovery the people we are currently experiencing act as bridges to help us find our own hidden treasures. Sometimes these people trigger us to grow and move in a different direction.

Personally how I found my hidden treasure was through paying attention to the signs that helped me find the direction I needed. Often it is through being aware of our own behavior and admitting we have become the indentured servant to our self-made obstacles, our triggers and being honest with ourselves to recognize that we are blocking our own happiness. Life is a lot more fun and gratifying when we learn to truly pay attention and operate from a heightened awareness. In order to accomplish this rewarding skill, one must learn to ultimately let go of being addicted to control, the need to be right, rigid expectations and to release thoughts, beliefs, emotions or any other baggage that is interfering with finding magnificence in the experience.

One of the most difficult things for many people is to let go of control. People who behave controlling are living from an agenda that limits the full potential of the experience. Once we accept and trust that everything we are experiencing is a “Divine Universal Orchestration” to help us move in a meaningful rhythm within our fundamental nature, our perception of the experience is different. These experiences become an intuitive communication that gives us direction to find answers to the next step. The more we pay attention to these signs; life becomes more enticingly tantalizing with reward. We end up freeing ourselves from the unnecessary.

An example of what I am speaking of on this Cordova trip is we departed off the ferry and the group drove to the intended location to set up camp. This location was close to the ferry terminal and underdeveloped. Half the group immediately scattered and drove to another camp ground located at end of the Road to No-Where about 50 miles away. For me, my planned expectations started changing rapidly. For me, my intentions were to find peace, connect with nature and the people in the group, and have fun while being on an adventurous exploration. The funny interesting phenomenon going on in my experience, was receiving my exact expectation. The problem was I didn’t recognize this at first because things just did not begin how I thought it should.

This undeveloped camp ground lacked the perfection I was seeking, which was another problem in this very moment. I was tired and I am sure so were others. It was decided to camp in open area that really wasn’t a piece of land designed for camping. The approach a local woman used to communicate her concerns about the group decision caused more apprehension and confusion. The response one of our members gave back to her added more fuel onto the fire. For me I am sure there was more to this experience than what met the eye. Tension and confusion lingered in the energy of the remaining members who stayed together in this moment. When we are confused and tense stronger personalities begin to clash in which results in more limitations and confusion instead of natural enjoyment.

I came on this trip prepared with enough food and gear to survive and operate independent if needed. Yet the desire was to keep my commitments I previously made to the group and be united with them, yet at this time separation was already in progress. In separation, new agreements between people often are made in an unspoken manner. Everyone except me set up a tent at the undeveloped camp site. I chose to sleep in my truck. I needed a sanctuary to find answers and meaning behind what I was currently experiencing. I wanted direction.

Magically the answers did come to me through a metaphor in nature. This was through my own willingness to let go of control and pay attention. I am not a morning person and to my surprise I woke up at 5:00 am. It is very rare that I am up at this hour. I found myself experiencing peace, in which I liked. I sat on the back of my truck’s tailgate watching the eagles and hawks. By listening to their squawking, I learned that they were having a territory fight over what tree branch to park themselves on. This act of nature was powerful and ironic; I was having a déjà vu moment. They were extremely loud and somewhat pathetic. Each bird was very busy spending a lot of time and energy coercing one another and was not able to see other options were available to move to. These birds have wings and they could fly elsewhere yet they decided to squawk. Then another sign came. A lone wolf appeared out of the brush. The wolf was about 100 yards from me. I realized in that moment with the vision of this wolf that was peacefully care-free without trouble was not wasting time squawking, being loud or trying to control anything. I quickly adjusted and became aware of my direction. I no longer needed to concern myself with the unnecessary. I am free to roam as the wolf.

A few hours later after the group awoke, I communicated I was heading down the Road to No-Where to see what is out there. The gal who car-pooled with me decided she would go along for the ride. All others in that moment were uncertain of their direction. In this moment I had no attachment to any expectation except to find something different.

Magic did occur. On this unpaved dirt road to No-Where, dusty light winds lightly coated a caked-on-film on my red paint and windows. We frequently passed bear scat on the road. Once we moved through and past the cool rainy overcast weather, the sun came out on approximately mile 40 of this 50 mile road. It was almost as though we found a break-through point of not knowing what we would discover. We were both so grateful for the sun and the weather shift. I stopped the truck and we both stepped out. In front of us was clarity with the sky being sunny and clear and in back of us was cloudiness. We were so excited for the next 10 miles of driving. Things became even better. We traveled to the end of the Road to No-Where and discovered the Million-Dollar Bridge.


The significance and the purpose of this Bridge upon its completion in 1910, was it acted as the heart connecting the Copper River and the Northwestern Railway to transport copper. To transport this copper along this 190 mile route many obstacles needed to be overcome such as steep canyons, rivers, hurricane-force winds, mosquitoes, and dozens of glaciers. The significance of this moment was recognizing and releasing the any of our obstacles.

The moment became even better, on the other side this Million Dollar Bridge is one of nature’s greatest miracles named the Child’s Glacier. This stunning 300 foot high active glacier calved about every 15 minutes all night long. This child had a lot to voice. This natural innocence would release huge big chunks of blue ice into the river that would create big waves. When we as humans release and carve off own junk-chucks, sometimes we create big waves too.

It appeared this Child loved the attention of its audience because this glacier is the most active in Alaska. Once we connected with this part of the group who set up camp at the Glacier, we played like children. We road our bikes, hiked, some even some played in the water. We drank and cooked an outstanding meal on an open fire in a cast iron Dutch Oven in front of the Child’s Glacier. We naturally grouped together, shared and enjoyed. The sun was HOT and the skies were clear. (this area is notorious for constant rain)

The third day and final night we all regrouped together at the undeveloped camp site due to an early ferry departure. It was great that all the different parts of the group rejoined as a peaceful unified whole enjoying one another. Our fast-ferry ride home was clear and sunny.

The moral of my story is sometimes we need to be free like the wolf and travel the entire road that appears to go to no-where. If we are willing to seek, we will often find a million dollar treasure to help us eliminate obstacles and bridge us to the active child within. Once we become acquainted with the child within and remember the sound of our own voice, working, living and playing are all orchestrated from a fresh perspective. We are free to reunite with our fragments and become whole.

I am grateful and feel very blessed in experience. I thank all the people who participated in this trip and who indirectly helped me to remember the child within me.

Genuinely,
Christine

Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/ Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/



For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.

Published by THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter. All rights reserved. Subscribe Free - Click HERE.
The National Networker Companies
Forward/Share This Article With Colleagues And Social Media:

GO WEST! The Road to No-Where – a Million Dollar Bridge and the Child’s Glacier