Personal Development: June 2014

Saturday 28 June 2014

Michael Jordan Segal story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNeRqpaoNpQ

Michael Jordan Segal - by Bob Proctor

Butch

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. ~ Thomas A. Edison

I remember it as if it were yesterday, but it occurred so many years ago. Maria, my speech pathologist, was practicing with me for a very important phone call. “All right, say it again.” Maria would repeat time after time, trying to help me with my rate, tempo, speed, as well as my nerves.

Months prior to these sessions, few thought I would survive, much less be practicing for this phone call. I had been severely brain-injured in a robbery when one of three thieves shot me in the head. He thought he had eliminated every witness; he was wrong. I had to relearn to do so much: walk, talk, and do so many things that normal people take for granted.

Almost fourteen months since that eventful night, I was practicing for the phone call that I would make to explain my situation to my first teacher in college since the shooting.

Maria handed me the telephone with a comforting smile after dialing the number. “Hello…” I muttered nervously, “My name is… Mike Segal and I… am going to be in your history class this… summer.”

I was so very nervous. My body was drenched with sweat. But I slowly went on to explain my situation and the fact that I might need extra time to take exams. I never expected the response I got.

“Come on, Johnny. I know this is a joke.”

I broke down sobbing and screaming, “Mister, I wish this was a joke!”

Seeing my reaction, Maria quickly grabbed the phone and sternly said, “This is Maria Dantoni, I am Mike’s speech pathologist at Del Oro Institute for Rehabilitation.” She quickly repeated what had happened to me and said, “Mike was very proud that he finally might be able to resume his classes. However, he appears to be very upset by what you have just said. What did you say?”

The history teacher was crushed. He thought it was a joke and explained to Maria, “Ma’am, when I was in college a few years ago, my roommates and I used to play practical jokes on each other. We still do. I could have sworn that one of my old roommates, John, was just playing a joke. I am so, so sorry.”

I was still sobbing while Maria was listening to his explanation. Many people, I would imagine, would have remained crushed after hearing his response. But I refused to let his comments permanently get me down.

I showed up in room 112 on a warm summer evening to begin my classes with Mr. Butch Johnson as my teacher. It was not simply a question of taking the class; for me, it was a huge hurdle as it would determine whether or not I was cognitively and physically ready to resume my college life, as well as get on with my life in general.

And Butch Johnson was wonderful. He made sure I understood everything in his class. Whatever I needed during the first week of class, he made sure I received it. After one week, we were scheduled to have our first exam. The closer we came to the exam date, the more nervous I became.

Finally, the test day arrived. I was so nervous sitting at my desk before the exam. It had been well over a year since I had taken a college exam. What kind of grade would I make? Would I do okay? I became more and more anxious.
Butch (he had told me that I could call him Butch, rather than Mr. Johnson) handed me the exam first. I looked at it. It consisted of a variety of short answers as well as several multiple-choice questions. Since I was not sure of the first answer (a fact that did not ease my nerves) I went on to question 2, promising myself to return to the first question before I turned in the exam. I was busy trying to answer the questions when I noticed people turning in their tests. When I finally finished my test, the classroom was empty and all the other students were gone.

Finally, about thirty minutes after the bell had rung, I limped up to his desk to turn in my exam.

The next evening at school, Butch passed out the graded exams. I was so fidgety and tense. I thought, “What if I failed? Maybe it was too early for me to try school.” I was full of negative doubts.

Just then, Butch came to my desk, handed me my exam with a smile and said, “Congratulations, Mike.”

I looked down at my desktop and saw a red letter “C” written on my test. Before the shooting, I would have been very upset with a “B,” much less a “C.” But I was smiling from ear to ear with that passing grade. I had done it. I had passed my first exam!

After that first test, I made all “A’s” in that history class. But I was most proud of that first “C,” as it showed me, as well as so many others, that I was ready to return to the world.

Four years after that first history class, I graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin. The moral of this story is not just about an injured teenager returning to college. Rather it is the lesson that everyone should always try to do his best. I’ve learned firsthand that excelling in life is not vital, but trying is! Sometimes, a “C” can be just as precious as an “A”!

Michael Jordan Segal

Shot in the head during a robbery, Michael Jordan Segal defied all odds by first surviving and then returning to college. He then earned two degrees with honors, married his high school sweetheart, Sharon, and became a father to their daughter Shawn. The thieves eliminated Mike's life long desire to become a surgeon; however, they could not eliminate his desire to continue to help people. He is now a social worker at a Level 1 Trauma Center in Houston (touching thousands of lives while working with patients/families of head injury survivors) and an author (currently he has two book projects he's working on as well as a CD of some of his short stories that is available through his web site). He also is a popular inspirational speaker sharing his "recipe" for recovery, happiness, and success.

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Saturday 21 June 2014

Jack Canfield on Law Of Attraction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YrTDgfSbaQ

Saturday 14 June 2014

Motivation........

Motivation is the force that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes us to take action, whether to grab a snack to reduce hunger or enroll in college to earn a degree. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature.

Researchers have developed a number of different theories to explain motivation. Each individual theory tends to be rather limited in scope. However, by looking at the key ideas behind each theory, you can gain a better understanding of motivation as a whole.

Instinct Theory of Motivation

Man with snowshoes walking at Mountain Top

Poncho/Digital Vision/Getty Images

According to instinct theories, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are evolutionarily programmed to do so. An example of this in the animal world is seasonal migration. These animals do not learn to do this, it is instead an inborn pattern of behavior.

William James created a list of human instincts that included such things as attachment, play, shame, anger, fear, shyness, modesty and love. The main problem with this theory is that it did not really explain behavior, it just described it. By the 1920s, instinct theories were pushed aside in favor of other motivational theories, but contemporary evolutionary psychologists still study the influence of genetics and heredity on human behavior.

Incentive Theory of Motivation

The incentive theory suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being paid. Behavioral learning concepts such as association and reinforcement play an important role in this theory of motivation.

Drive Theory of Motivation

According to the drive theory of motivation, people are motivated to take certain actions in order to reduce the internal tension that is caused by unmet needs. For example, you might be motivated to drink a glass of water in order to reduce the internal state of thirst. This theory is useful in explaining behaviors that have a strong biological component, such as hunger or thirst. The problem with the drive theory of motivation is that these behaviors are not always motivated purely by physiological needs. For example, people often eat even when they are not really hungry.

Arousal Theory of Motivation

The arousal theory of motivation suggests that people take certain actions to either decrease or increase levels of arousal. When arousal levels get too low, for example, a person might watch and exciting movie or go for a jog. When arousal levels get too high, on the other hand, a person would probably look for ways to relax such as meditating or reading a book. According to this theory, we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal, although this level can vary based on the individual or the situation.

Humanistic Theory of Motivation

Humanistic theories of motivation are based on the idea that people also have strong cognitive reasons to perform various actions. This is famously illustrated in Abraham Maslow'shierarchy of needs, which presents different motivations at different levels. First, people are motivated to fulfill basic biological needs for food and shelter, as well as those of safety, love and esteem. Once the lower level needs have been met, the primary motivator becomes the need for self-actualization, or the desire to fulfill one's individual potential.

http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologytopics/tp/theories-of-motivation.htm