John Schuster – Page 8

Holiday Efficiency: In praise of Dumb processes over SMART goals

December 9, 2011 John Schuster Coaching and mentoring, Self development

We are all taught to use, and teach others, to set SMART goals. This busy time of year, we are “making a list, checking it twice.” So much to do, so little mistletoe. But maybe you need some dumb goals to balance out and enrich your holidays. This SMART acronym, one of the more universally known in the world of organizations – but as a reminder – stands for: Specific Measureable Achieveable/Attainable Realistic Timebound Managers[…]

Looking for the Face I Had

November 15, 2011 John Schuster Past and memory

The holidays are upon us and many people will physically go to a place we think of as home, or home-like, with family, friends, sibs, parents, cousins. Even with the unresolved issues that get stirred up by arriving in family settings, in the main we keep longing for home. The metaphor of coming home resonates spiritually as well. We yearn to come home to the original version of us, the more innocent version who had[…]

Younger Than That Now: Shrinking at 63

November 8, 2011 John Schuster Self development

Oh the age thing! I had a bit of a shock last year. A woman we work with said she went to the doctor, got measured for height, and had shrunk an inch. So I measured myself that night. No mistake about it, down an inch from my six-foot-tall days. Now when did that happen? What a rude sign of mortality and aging! Isn’t getting shorter for people in their late 80s, not me, a[…]

Psychological Wardrobes: Changing into Autumn Clothes

November 1, 2011 John Schuster Self development

By now, at certain latitudes in the northern hemisphere, we have gone through our closets for the Autumn ritual of switching out our wardrobes. Depending on how far south you live, this may or may not be true. (Texas,Florida,Arizona: just imagine how others do this so I can carry through with the metaphor, ok?) My southern hemisphere friends are pulling out the spring look. On the literal side of things, I have to get rid[…]

Letting Go in the Land of Stuff

October 25, 2011 John Schuster Self development, Sustainability

We live in a world of acquisition. We measure ourselves by our numbers, like they say in the ING television commercial showing people walking around with their net worth under their arms—clever ad, and surely sad. What if they instead walked around with their happiness, spiritual or emotional bank account numbers, the lasting wealth of life, under their arms? With acquisition being our culture’s mega-measure, is it any wonder that letting go is difficult for[…]

View and share this daily dose of beauty and love:

October 1, 2011 John Schuster The Power of Your Past

Our souls require a daily diet of beauty and love. I think you will find this 2-minute video part of today’s hit of beauty. The team at Berrett-Koehler did a great job on the visual and musical poetry. I added the words for retrieving fragments of our soul by working with our yesterdays. There is an offer at the end for a free chapter of The Power of Your Past. Do a promotion favor and[…]

Stay in Time

September 19, 2011 John Schuster Past and memory

Remember: we live in time. I gave the mindfulness movement, the fans of the now, credit in my last blog. Now I want to take issue with one of their leaders, Eckhart Tolle, who wrote The Power of Now about 10 years ago and Oprah helped him sell about a jillion copies of his books. He is a good spiritual thinker. I give him credit for much, and you can check him out on YouTube[…]

Stand In Wonder

September 12, 2011 John Schuster Past and memory

Have you done some real thinking lately? Sure you have had thoughts, but more likely than you having them, they have been having you. Thoughts have a life of their own, and sort of stream through our heads of their own accord. I give the mindfulness movement great credit for reminding us how little we really think our thoughts, and how often our thoughts are thinking us. The point of The Power of Your Past[…]