Socratic Life

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” ~ Buddha

What we are today comes from or thoughts of yesterday,
and our present thoughts build our life for tomorrow:
our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man acts or speaks with an impure mind,
suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows
the beast that draws the cart.
What we are today comes from the thoughts of yesterday,
and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow:
our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind,
joy follows him as his own shadow.

The DHAMMAPADA vs 1-2
The DHAMMAPADA

Instead of choosing to be a Victim: Victim Thinking = Victim Behavior =Victim Reality = Victim Thinking = Victim Behavior = Victim Reality->

We can choose success: Success Thinking = Success Behavior = Success Reality = Success Thinking = Success Behavior->

(You must come up with your own definition of success)

This is not a secret and it is not easy. changing ones belief systems can take hard work and many years of practice. Many of the great minds throughout the history of time integrate improving ones self through Learning, Self introspection, Application and Wisdom.

Only when we learn something can we see where we can improve, applythe areas that we want to do better and then become master of ourselves, thoughts, actions and circles of influence.

Seek after edification, understanding and wisdom

We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. ~ Joseph Smith

Experience as education

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven”
–Orson F. Whitney

Recommended Reading:

Continuing To Learn

Benjamin Franklin: Wit and Wisdom

Self-Education: Socrates

Recently I have been interested in the questions: What is self mastery? and How can I improve all of the aspects of my life through a mastery of myself?

Following is part 1 of a 6 part article titled self discipline from http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/06/self-discipline/ I would recommend visiting this blog as Steve Pavlina is a great thinker and an excellent author.

I’ve already written about 20 pages on self-discipline for my upcoming book, including what it is and how to develop it. I’ll share some of those ideas in this series, focusing on what I call the five pillars of self-discipline.

The Five Pillars of Self-Discipline

The five pillars of self-discipline are: Acceptance, Willpower, Hard Work, Industry, and Persistence. If you take the first letter of each word, you get the acronym “A WHIP” — a convenient way to remember them, since many people associate self-discipline with whipping themselves into shape.

What Is Self-Discipline?

Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you could simply get yourself to follow through on your best intentions no matter what. Picture yourself saying to your body, “You’re overweight. Lose 20 pounds.” Without self-discipline that intention won’t become manifest. But with sufficient self-discipline, it’s a done deal. The pinnacle of self-discipline is when you reach the point that when you make a conscious decision, it’s virtually guaranteed you’ll follow through on it.

Self-discipline is one of many personal development tools available to you. Of course it is not a panacea. Nevertheless, the problems which self-discipline can solve are important, and while there are other ways to solve these problems, self-discipline absolutely shreds them. Self-discipline can empower you to overcome any addiction or lose any amount of weight. It can wipe out procrastination, disorder, and ignorance. Within the domain of problems it can solve, self-discipline is simply unmatched. Moreover, it becomes a powerful teammate when combined with other tools like passion, goal-setting, and planning.

Building Self-Discipline

My philosophy of how to build self-discipline is best explained by an analogy. Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger you become. The less you train it, the weaker you become.

Just as everyone has different muscular strength, we all possess different levels of self-discipline. Everyone has some — if you can hold your breath a few seconds, you have some self-discipline. But not everyone has developed their discipline to the same degree.

Just as it takes muscle to build muscle, it takes self-discipline to build self-discipline.

The way to build self-discipline is analogous to using progressive weight training to build muscle. This means lifting weights that are close to your limit. Note that when you weight train, you lift weights that are within your ability to lift. You push your muscles until they fail, and then you rest.

Similarly, the basic method to build self-discipline is to tackle challenges that you can successfully accomplish but which are near your limit. This doesn’t mean trying something and failing at it every day, nor does it mean staying within your comfort zone. You will gain no strength trying to lift a weight that you cannot budge, nor will you gain strength lifting weights that are too light for you. You must start with weights/challenges that are within your current ability to lift but which are near your limit.

Progressive training means that once you succeed, you increase the challenge. If you keep working out with the same weights, you won’t get any stronger. Similarly, if you fail to challenge yourself in life, you won’t gain any more self-discipline.

Just as most people have very weak muscles compared to how strong they could become with training, most people are very weak in their level of self-discipline.

It’s a mistake to try to push yourself too hard when trying to build self-discipline. If you try to transform your entire life overnight by setting dozens of new goals for yourself and expecting yourself to follow through consistently starting the very next day, you’re almost certain to fail. This is like a person going to the gym for the first time ever and packing 300 pounds on the bench press. You will only look silly.

If you can only lift 10 lbs, you can only lift 10 lbs. There’s no shame in starting where you are. I recall when I began working with a personal trainer several years ago, on my first attempt at doing a barbell shoulder press, I could only lift a 7-lb bar with no weight on it. My shoulders were very weak because I’d never trained them. But within a few months I was up to 60 lbs.

Similarly, if you’re very undisciplined right now, you can still use what little discipline you have to build more. The more disciplined you become, the easier life gets. Challenges that were once impossible for you will eventually seem like child’s play. As you get stronger, the same weights will seem lighter and lighter.

Don’t compare yourself to other people. It won’t help. You’ll only find what you expect to find. If you think you’re weak, everyone else will seem stronger. If you think you’re strong, everyone else will seem weaker. There’s no point in doing this. Simply look at where you are now, and aim to get better as you go forward.

Let’s consider an example.

Suppose you want to develop the ability to do 8 solid hours of work each day, since you know it will make a real difference in your career. I was listening to an audio program this morning that quoted a study saying the average office worker spends 37% of their time in idle socializing, not to mention other vices that chew up more than 50% of work time with unproductive non-work. So there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Perhaps you try to work a solid 8-hour day without succumbing to distractions, and you can only do it once. The next day you fail utterly. That’s OK. You did one rep of 8 hours. Two is too much for you. So cut back a bit. What duration would allow you to successfully do 5 reps (i.e. a whole week)? Could you work with concentration for one hour a day, five days in a row? If you can’t do that, cut back to 30 minutes or whatever you can do. If you succeed (or if you feel that would be too easy), then increase the challenge (i.e. the resistance).

Once you’ve mastered a week at one level, take it up a notch the next week. And continue with this progressive training until you’ve reached your goal.

While analogies like this are never perfect, I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this one. By raising the bar just a little each week, you stay within your capabilities and grow stronger over time. But when doing weight training, the actual work you do doesn’t mean anything. There’s no intrinsic benefit in lifting a weight up and down — the benefit comes from the muscle growth. However, when building self-discipline, you also get the benefit of the work you’ve done along the way, so that’s even better. It’s great when your training produces something of value AND makes you stronger.

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” ~Albert Einstein

 

What is it about the massive gathering of information that makes a person think that they are wise?

Is there more to learning than the gathering of data and memorization of facts?

Where does critical thinking fit in as an infinite process of trying to understand?

What is it that we are trying to accomplish through this understanding?

 

According to Russell Ackoff a system theorist and professor of organizational change, there is a hierarchy of content in the human mind.

 

 

David Moursund mentioned “Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom form a scale, although a rather peculiar scale. The points on the scale are not closely related even though they are often talked about at the same time.

 

Generally I would hesitate to try to convey a thought merely through definition.  I would however like to point out a few key definitions explaining the parts of our thinking system.

 

Data: Factual information (as measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation.

Information: Data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to “who”, “what”, “where”, and “when” questions.

Knowledge: Awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.

Understanding: To understand something is to have conceptualized it to a given measure.

Wisdom: Ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action, based on knowledge and understanding.

 

Robert J Sternberg said “I define wisdom as the application of intelligence and experience toward the attainment of a common good. This attainment involves a balance among (a) intrapersonal (one’s own), (b) interpersonal (other people’s), and (c) extrapersonal (more than personal, such as institutional) interests, over the short and long terms. Thus, wise people look out not just for themselves, but for all toward whom they have any responsibility.”

 

My argument is that the gathering of information and memorizing facts is not only not the entire process of learning but merely a first step to true understanding and wisdom.

 

Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.  ~Edmund Burke

 

The first step past the culmination of information is introspective thinking.  Reflection on ones self. Desire to improve or make a conscious effort to obtain ones best self.

 

He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.  ~William Drummond

 

If one does not perform this type of process, that of critical and introspective reasoning in daily life they are merely a slave to their surroundings.  How can we be otherwise when there is no desire to understand and improve based on our understanding?

 

The step past that of desire to change is to realize that there are parts of oneself that our knowledge and understanding can be applied to.

 

These parts are as follows:

Mental

Emotional

Physical

Spiritual

Social

Financial

 

We realize that the application of our thoughts and knowledge can be applied to each of these different parts.

 

Many of the different organizations and religions throughout the history of time have sought to enlighten oneself through the ability to learn and apply our knowledge to each of these areas.  Please let me point out a few of these groups.

 

Bushido (The way of the samurai)

As Inazo Nitobe defines it: Bushido means literally the military-knight ways – the ways which fighting nobles should observe in their daily life as well as in their vocation; in a word, the precepts of knighthood.

What characterized the samurai and supported their action and knowledge of right and wrong is what we now popularly call the bushido code or the seven virtues of bushido.  Some of the virtues are inspired by the teachings of Confucius and Mencius.

 

Te seven virtues of bushido briefly stated are:

1. GI – Right Action, Duty

do the right thing.

2. YUUKI – Courage

brave, courageous energy.

3. JIN - Benevolence

the benevolence that unites each human being to the other.

4. REI – Politeness or Morality

to have politeness, respect shown in social behavior.

5. MAKOTO – Truthfulness

to follow truly the Law of the Universe.

6. MEIYO – Honor

to enjoy a good reputation, honor.

7. CHUUGI – Loyalty

to act faithfully, to be loyal.

Zen Buddhism

Based on a single, esoteric idea: all humans have a Buddha nature inside them and to realize this nature all a human being has to do is search his or her inner self. The key to Buddhahood in Zen is simply self-knowledge. The way to gain self-knowledge is through meditation (which is what the word “zen” means). Now, “meditation” is one of the cornerstones of Buddhism, where, under the name dhyana , it forms the final and most important aspect of gaining enlightenment. But Zen (in Chinese, Ch’an ) or Meditation Buddhism granted meditation an exclusive importance not ascribed to it in other Buddhist schools. Meditation, which was a means to an end in other Buddhist schools, became the end in itself in Zen: meditation was Truth realized in action. As a result, Zen readily dispenses with the Buddhist scriptures and philosophical discussion in favor of a more intuitive and individual approach to enlightenment. Meditation, however, is a strict religious discipline: the mind must be made sharp and attentive in order to intuit from itself the Truth of Buddhahood. Part of this discipline involves waking up the mind of the disciple, making it aware of the things around it.

Christianity

The Christian life involves a number of different aspects. Among the key ones are

• Fellowship with God

• Our relationships with others

• Obedience to God’s commands

• Discipline

Christianity is about personal relationships: with God and with others. When Jesus was asked to summarize his religion, he said that it was loving God and our neighbor. Everything else is a means to that end. One of the most important terms for Christians is “fellowship”. This term covers our life together as Christians. This means first of all that we spend time together, in worship, educational activities, service to others, and just having fun. In addition to their primary goal, these activities help us get to know each other, and to develop into a community. The Bible refers to the Christian community using organic metaphors, such as a vine and a body. It talks about us sharing with each other and supporting each other.

 

The true test of wisdom is the ability we have to implement that which we have learned.  In looking at the former positions we start to learn that the object of esoteric thought is to gain self understanding and the ability to apply all that we learn.  We can understand why our object will always be self improvement and self mastery.

One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield. ~Buddha

 

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. ~Lau-tzu

 

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. ~Lau-tzu

Excerpts take from Critical Thinking Handbook: High School on http://www.criticalthinking.org

The Role of Socratic Questioning in Thinking, Teaching, & Learning

One of the reasons that instructors tend to overemphasize “coverage” over “engaged thinking” is that they do not fully appreciate the role of questions in teaching content. Consequently, they assume that answers can be taught separate from questions. Indeed, so buried are questions in established instruction that the fact that all assertions — all statements that this or that is so — are implicit answers to questions is virtually never recognized. For example, the statement that water boils at 100 degrees centigrade is an answer to the question “At what temperature centigrade does water boil?” Hence every declarative statement in the textbook is an answer to a question. Hence, every textbook could be rewritten in the interrogative mode by translating every statement into a question. To our knowledge this has never been done. That it has not is testimony to the privileged status of answers over questions in instruction and the misunderstanding of teachers about the significance of questions in the learning (and thinking) process. Instruction at all levels now keeps most questions buried in a torrent of obscured “answers.”

Thinking is Driven by Questions

But thinking is not driven by answers but by questions. Had no questions been asked by those who laid the foundation for a field — for example, Physics or Biology — the field would never have been developed in the first place. In fact, every intellectual field is born out of a cluster of questions to which answers are either needed or highly desirable. Furthermore, every field stays alive only to the extent that fresh questions are generated and taken seriously as the driving force in a process of thinking. To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate thought.

Questions define tasks, express problems and delineate issues. Answers on the other hand, often signal a full stop in thought. Only when an answer generates a further question does thought continue its life as such. This is why it is true that only students who have questions are really thinking and learning. Moreover, the quality of the questions students ask determines the quality of the thinking they are doing. It is possible to give students an examination on any subject by just asking them to list all of the questions that they have about a subject, including all questions generated by their first list of questions. That we do not test students by asking them to list questions and explain their significance is again evidence of the privileged status we give to answers isolated from questions. That is, we ask questions only to get thought-stopping answers, not to generate further questions.

Feeding Students Endless Content to Remember

Feeding students endless content to remember (that is, declarative sentences or “facts” to remember) is akin to repeatedly stepping on the brakes in a vehicle that is, unfortunately, already at rest. Instead, students need questions to turn on their intellectual engines and they must themselves generate questions from our questions to get their thinking to go somewhere. Thinking is of no use unless it goes somewhere, and again, the questions we ask determine where our thinking goes. It is only when our thinking goes somewhere that we learn anything of value to us.

Deep questions drive our thought underneath the surface of things, force us to deal with complexity. Questions of purpose force us to define our task. Questions of information force us to look at our sources of information as well as at the quality of our information. Questions of interpretation force us to examine how we are organizing or giving meaning to information and to consider alternative ways of giving meaning. Questions of assumption force us to examine what we are taking for granted. Questions of implication force us to follow out where our thinking is going. Questions of point of view force us to examine our point of view and to consider other relevant points of view. Questions of relevance force us to discriminate what does and what does not bear on a question. Questions of accuracy force us to evaluate and test for truth and correctness. Questions of precision force us to give details and be specific. Questions of consistency force us to examine our thinking for contradictions. Questions of logic force us to consider how we are putting the whole of our thought together, to make sure that it all adds up and makes sense within a reasonable system of some kind.

Dead Questions Reflect Dead Minds

Unfortunately, most students ask virtually none of these thought-stimulating types of questions. They tend to stick to dead questions like “Is this going to be on the test?” questions that imply the desire not to think. Most teachers in turn are not themselves generators of questions and answers of their own, that is, are not seriously engaged in thinking through or rethinking through their own subjects. Rather, they are purveyors of the questions and answers of others — usually those of a textbook.

We must continually remind ourselves that thinking begins within some content only when questions are generated by both teachers and students. No questions equals no understanding. Superficial questions equals superficial understanding. Most students typically have no intellectual questions. They not only sit in silence; their minds are silent at well. Hence, the questions they do have tend to be superficial, ill-formed and self-serving. This demonstrates that most of the time they are not thinking through the content they are presumed to be learning. In other words, most of the time they are not learning the content they are presumed to be learning.

If we want to engage students in thinking through our content we must stimulate their thinking with questions that lead them to further questions. We must overcome what previous schooling has done to the thinking of students. We must resuscitate minds that are largely dead when we receive them. We must give our students what might be called “artificial cogitation” (the intellectual equivalent of artificial respiration).

The Art of Socratic Questioning

The art of Socratic questioning is important for the critical thinker because the art of questioning is important to excellence of thought. What the word ‘Socratic’ adds is “systematicity”, “depth”, and a keen interest in assessing the truth or plausibility of things.

There is a special relationship between critical thinking and Socratic Questioning because both share a common end. Critical thinking gives one a comprehensive view of how the mind functions (in its pursuit of meaning and truth), and Socratic Questioning takes advantage of that overview to frame questions essential to the quality of that pursuit.

The goal of critical thinking is to establish a disciplined “executive” level of thinking to our thinking, a powerful inner voice of reason, to monitor, assess, and re-constitute — in a more rational direction — our thinking, feeling, and action. Socratic discussion cultivates that inner voice by providing a public model for it.

The Spirit and Principles of Socratic Questioning

While there are numerous ways in which Socratic Questioning can be effectively executed in the classroom, there are a set of principles, which guide a Socratic dialog. In this section, these principles are laid out in the form of directives.

Teachers Engaged in a Socratic Dialog Should:

• Respond to all answers with a further question (that calls upon the respondent to develop his/her thinking in a fuller and deeper way)

• Seek to understand–where possible–the ultimate foundations for what is said or believed and follow the implications of those foundations through further questions

• Treat all assertions as a connecting point to further thoughts

• Treat all thoughts as in need of development

• Recognize that any thought can only exist fully in a network of connected thoughts. Stimulate students — through your questions — to pursue those connections

• Recognize that all questions presuppose prior questions and all thinking presupposes prior thinking. When raising questions, be open to the questions they presuppose. (See the section on logically-prior questions.)

Teachers engaged in Socratic dialog should systematically raise questions based on the following recognitions and assumptions:

Focusing on The Elements of Thought

• Recognize that all thought reflects an agenda. Assume that you do not fully understand the thought until you understand the agenda behind it. (What are you trying to accomplish in saying this? What is your central aim in this line of thought?)

• Recognize that all thoughts presuppose an information base. Assume that you do not fully understand the thought until you understand the background information that supports or informs it. (What information are you basing that comment on? What experience convinced you of this? How do we know this information is accurate?)

• Recognize that all thought requires the making of inferences, the drawing of conclusions, the creation of meaning. Assume that you do not fully understand a thought until you understand the inferences that have shaped it. (How did you reach that conclusion? Could you explain your reasoning? Is there an alternative plausible conclusion?)

• Recognize that all thought involves the application of concepts. Assume that you do not fully understand a thought until you understand the concepts that define and shape it. (What is the main idea you are putting forth? Could you explain that idea?)

• Recognize that all thought rests upon other thoughts (which are taken for granted or assumed). Assume that you do not fully understand a thought until you understand what it takes for granted. (What exactly are you taking for granted here? Why are you assuming that?)

• Recognize that all thought is headed in a direction. It not only rests upon something (assumptions), it is also going somewhere (implications and consequences). Assume that you do not fully understand a thought unless you know the implications and consequences that follow from it. (What are you implying when you say that? Are you implying that . . . ?)

• Recognize that all thought takes place within a point of view or frame of reference. Assume that you do not fully understand a thought until you understand the point of view or frame of reference which places it on an intellectual map. (From what point of view are you looking at this? Is there another point of view we should consider?)

• Recognize that all thought is responsive to a question. Assume that you do not fully understand the thought until you understand the question that gives rise to it. (I am not sure exactly what question you are raising. Could you explain it?)

Systems and Contexts For Thought

• Recognize that all thought has three possible functions: to express a subjective preference, to establish an objective fact (within a well-defined system), or to come up with the best of competing answers (generated by competing systems). Assume that you do not fully understand thinking until you know which of the three is involved. (Is the question calling for a subjective or personal choice? If so, let’s make that choice in terms of our personal preferences. If not, then, is there a way to come up with one correct answer to this question (a definite system in which to find the answer)? Or, finally, are we dealing with a question that would be answered differently within different points of view? If the latter, what is the best answer to the question, all things considered?)

• Recognize that all thought has emerged within a human context. Assume that you do not fully understand the thought until you understand the context which has given rise to it. (Tell us more about the situation that has given rise to this problem. What was going on in this situation?)

How To Prepare To Lead a Socratic Discussion

One of the best ways to prepare to lead a Socratic discussion is by pre-thinking the main question to be discussed using the approach of developing prior questions. Prior questions are questions presupposed by another question. Hence, to settle the question “What is multi-culturalism?” I should be able to first settle the question, “What is culture?” and, to settle that question, I should be able to settle the question “What is the basis of culture?” that is, “What are the factors about a person which determine what culture he/she belongs to?”

Construct A List of Prior Questions

To construct a list of prior questions, simply write down the main question which you are going to focus your discussion on and then pose a question you would have to be able to answer before you could answer the first. Then take the second question and do the same for it (i.e., determine what question you would have to answer to answer it). Then, continue on, following the same procedure for every new question on your list.

As you proceed to construct your list keep your attention focused on the first question on the list as well as on the last. If you do this well, you should end up with a list of questions which probe the logic of the first question, and hence, a list of questions which are relevant to a Socratic discussion of your first question. During the Socratic dialog, you should loosely follow your list of logically prior questions, using it primarily as a guide for deeply probing the issue at hand.

A Sample List

As an example of how to construct logically prior questions, consider this list of questions that we developed in thinking through a key question intended for use in conducting a Socratic discussion on the question, “What is history?”

• What is history?
• What do historians write about?
• What is the past?
• Is it possible to include all of the past in a history book?
• How many of the events during a given time period are left out in a history of that time period?
• Is more left out than is included?
• How does a historian know what to emphasize or focus on?
• Do historians make value judgments in deciding what to include and what to leave out?
• Is it possible to simply list facts in a history book or does all history writing involve interpretations as well as facts?
• Is it possible to decide what to include and exclude and how to interpret facts without adopting a historical point of view?
• How can we begin to judge a historical interpretation?
• How can we begin to judge a historical point of view?

I resolve that:
I think twice before I speak.
That when I do speak it will be gently .
That my thoughts of others are noble and just and to be cared for.
That I condemn no one.
That I help others help them selves.
That I give encouragement.
That I love beauty and hate vileness.
That I respect all others as myself.
That I develop strength and patience.
That I breathe with deep, healthful thoughts.
That I become filled with knowledge and all experiences.
That I love all of my fellow men and believe in co-operation and sacrifice.
That I will give my life protecting the chastity, innocence and purity of women.

That I have Honor no matter what situation I am in.

Brett Morris

Honor. What does it mean to you? What is the essence of honor in your heart?

Some say that It is the evaluation of a persons trustworthiness and social status based on that persons actions.

Dr. Samuel Johnson defined Honor as having several senses, the first of which is ” Nobility of Soul, magnanimity, and a scorn of meanness”

I am drawn toward the virtues of the Bushido to some up what honor means to me personaly.

• Rectitude (義, gi^?)
• Courage (勇, yuu^?)
• Benevolence (仁, jin^?)
• Respect (礼, rei^?)
• Honesty (誠, makoto or 信 shin^?)
• Honor (誉, yo^?)
• Loyalty (忠, chuu^?)
• Filial piety (孝, kō^?)
• Wisdom (智, chi^?)
• Care for the aged (悌, tei^?)

Where in the western tradition has this Honor gone? I guess this is a personal question that each of us must answer for ourselves.

Starting with the knowledge that there are parts of us including mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, social and I am starting to see a place for financial. I have been thinking about the different ways that we can personally improve inside of each of these areas. Is it writing down goals and then hoping to reach them at the end of a time frame that you set for yourself? Is it to be a positive thinker and invite the energy of the universe into your life and hope that you improve? Is it any number of things?”

I would suggest that it takes a very organized an orderly and accountable approach in order to directly improve these areas of your life. The suggestions on the 17 principles of success from Napoleon Hill touch on how to self improve.

1 ) Definiteness of Purpose

2 ) Mastermind Alliance

3 ) Applied faith

4 ) Going the extra mile

5 ) Pleasing Personality

6 ) Personal Initiative

7 ) Positive Mental Attitude

8 ) Enthusiasm

9  ) Self Discipline

10 ) Accurate thinking

11 ) Controlled Attention

12 ) Team Work

13 ) Learning from Diversity and Defeat

14 ) Creative Vision

15 ) Maintenance of sound Health

16 ) Budgeting time and money

17 ) Cosmic Habit force

However they are still almost static. Just sitting there on a page they really don’t do anything for you. Actually nothing can do anything for you. That is unless you have a sincere desire in your heart to change. This brings us to the mighty change of heart that we see in the scriptures. I have found that a mighty change of heart rarely occurs overnight or immediately, but by my definition it is having the energy to choose the right even when you don’t feel like it or even in the face of the adversary. It is an upwards cycle of you doing the best you can even when you have made a mistake. In the LDS faith We promise to have faith, repentance, baptism , holy ghost, endure to the end, search, ponder, pray, have a change of heart, return and report.

It says it well in D+C 109:8 organize yourselves! Prepare every needful thing and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of god. In return we are promised the atonement, the plan of salvation, the scriptures, word of god, revelation, the comforter, being quickened by the spirit and even a renewal of our bodies. In D+C it says that there is a law “irrevocably” decreed that when we obtain any blessing it is by obedience to a law.

Now, what does all of that have to do with self improvement and napoleon hill? Well a few things stick out at me in some of those scriptures. Such as organize yourselves, have a house of learning, a house of order, Search, Ponder, Pray and having a change of heart.

To have a house learning can mean studying the things like we are discussing. Search can mean that while you are learning it can become difficult and you have to search for the answers. Ponder means to think about and self analyze or internalize what we are learning. Having a change of heart means to want to change. It means that you want to change more than you want to………….fill in the blank.

Now I left order and organization out last for a reason. These words are very similar. Let me explain however how they differ. You can be totally organized yet doing things in the wrong order and you may not succeed. In order to Self improve, we must organize ourselves and be more orderly. In order to organize myself usually I write down tasks in a planner and then execute them in the right order. This is very similar to what needs to be done through self improvement. We write down what we want to do. That sounds easy but we must do it in a very specific way.

Going back to the model of Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, Physical, Social and financial, We will write down 2 – 3 things that we want to improve on, but in a very specific way. This way is called APROPOS.

A=Aim. Where are you headed? Where do you want to be? Use Specific Behaviors and dates. How will you know if you have arrived at your destination?

P=Position audit. Where am I now? In relationship to where I want to be? A very clear analysis of my current situation.

R= Resources.What is needed in order for me to reach my aim? People? Money? Specific description.

O= Obstacles and Opportunities. As I start to close the gap of where I am to my goal what will lie in my way and what will be able to help me? How can I forsee roadblocks or tours? What are the consequences with not overcoming the consequences? What are the benefits of taking advantage of the opportunities?

P=Program What is the long term plan to close the gap? 3-5 years

O=Objectives These are the midterm tactics and are for the 1-3 year range

S=Steps What are the action steps needed from now through one year, that are clearly thepath that I shouldtaketo make my goal. This will spell outdates and is the who?, What? Where? Why? and How?

The final section of APROPOS includes a review section that you can record results, your thoughts and feelings. This surprisingly is called a Journal. When I mentioned the return and report, this is where that comes in. We review our action steps at the beginning of the day, week, and month writing down our progress.

As we look at the Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, Physical, Social and financial goals that we have, there is something that we must learn about reality. IT IS FAKE. Really, almost all day long you tell yourself stories that are based on assumptions and judgments. Rarely what we tell ourselves is real at all. You see, usually you let “reality” control your thoughts. You react to events that go on around you and you let yourself become a pawn. This is called the victim story.

Victim Thinking = Victim Behavior =Victim Reality = Victim Thinking = Victim Behavior = Victim Reality->

I mentioned a change of heart. This is where we can apply that. This victim thinking has got to stop in order to reach our goals and ultimately our potentials. This is where you can dramatically improve your lifestyle, your income, your happiness and your way of life.

Now, use your imaginations with me… You are now relieved of having to respond and act like you are expected to. You are now in the reality of “As If” This reality has been given to you by yourself. The reality of “As If” is your potential and is everything that you ever thought you could be or do. It is this reality that we are going to climb onto to make ourselves successful. It is here that we will succeed.

We are going to call this reality “CHAMPION REALITY”. I call it that because It is how champions think.

Champion Reality = Champion Thinking = Champion Behavior = Champion Reality = Champion Thinking = Champion Behavior

When you eliminate in your mind the lies that you tell yourself and replace it with Championship thinking you will quickly realize why this tool is so important.

Once you have learned the tools and have the desire you can now apply.

Let’s say that we are working on the social aspect and have decided that interpersonal communication is what we want to be working on. I say” I am a champion. I am a champion of all things. I am a champion at communication. I can communicate with anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances, because I am a champion.

Now the details are left to ourselves. What do we want to work on? How much self mastery are we willing to work for? These are the things that napoleon hill talks about. But after you read it and it touches you…. You must find away to do it.

What does it take to make a good communicator and why would we want to put so much effort into improving on something that seems so difficult?

As I was thinking about this question and really trying to answer it for my self, I wrote down all of the blocks or internal inhibitors that I use that we discovered in Interpersonal Communication Inhibitors and came to the conclusion that not only do I use a few of these blocks but use all of them at one time or another. Immediately after I posted the Interpersonal Communication Inhibitors article, someone that I am very close to actually emailed me and asked if I wrote it with them in mind. The point is that with all of the roles that we play in this life chances are that we touch on all of the internal inhibitors at some point or another. Some more than others, but all of them at one time or another.

I would challenge you to take the list of internal inhibitors and write down the ten roles that you play the most and leave some space under each that you can write down each of the inhibitors that you use under each role. It may surprise you how often you use them.

It isn’t that you should dwell on how often that you use these blocks in your communication or how detrimental they can be, but it is necessary to look at how often we use them to show what a huge improvement a little bit of work in our Interpersonal communication can bring. There are a few skills that we can be aware of that when applied to the interpersonal communication model will make a very large difference in the way that we communicate, our relationship to others and the positive influence that we have on those around us.

We can look at the example of the Circle of Influence to help us better illustrate this point. As we increase our power of positive influence, the circle of influence expands. Starting with our own self mastery and moving out to our spouses, children and families and then out to our churches, communities and the world. If we rely on anger and negative influence in our relationships within our circle they will no longer listen and push back as we try to communicate. If however, we learn the skills of positive influence and communicate with sincerity, compassion and service our relationships will get better and the people around us will open up to our positive influence. Not only will we have more people in our circle but we will have more power of positive influence with the people in it.

Effective communication involves achieving our goals in a way that maintains and develops trust in the relationship that it occurs. To increase our communication competence and increase our circle of positive influence we have to achieve a goal and generate trust.

Active Listening VS Expressing

What can we expect to learn that will increase our objective of enlarging our circle of positive influence and increase the positive power therein? What should we expect to learn about communication that will hone our skills and enable us to overcome some of the internal inhibitors that we use when we feel threatened while communicating?

We are going to want to take a look at some of the definitions that were listed in the interpersonal communication model and try to increase our understanding and competence of them.

Starting with the sender and receiver in the communication model, In order to have interpersonal communication we have to have people. During most communication sessions we are both a sender and a receiver. As we look specifically at these two roles we will want to break them apart from each other so that we can understand them individually. They will be broken down and labeled with the actions of Active Listening and Expressing.

Active Listening

There are 2 parts of active listening.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing means to repeat back in your own words what someone has just said.  You may not need to include everything that they have said. You can keep a mental note of the bullet points that you think the other person is trying to communicate and then repeat them back when you think you have a good grasp on what they are saying. Let’s look at 5 things that paraphrasing does.

1 ) People really appreciate being listened to

2 ) Helps diminish anger and cools us down when we are flooding

3 ) Cuts down on miscommunication

4 ) Assists listeners in remembering what was discussed

5 ) When you paraphrase you will feel less like using the internal inhibitors

Clarifying

(Golden Nugget) Clarifying is perhaps one of the best ways to master communication. Because it is our objective to achieve a goal and generate trust, we must understand what the other person’s goal is. Clarifying is asking questions to gain a better understanding of their goal. If the picture isnt totally clear, you can clarify until it becomes so. Ask questions about background, circumstances, supportive details or anything else that you feel would assist you in understanding what they are trying to explain.

Expressing

Again, because it is our objective to achieve a goal and generate trust, we should keep this in mind when exercising our expression skills. There are 4 different parts of expression: you can express your observations, thoughts, feelings and needs. When used correctly, each of these parts can give us the capability to communicate exactly what we want to in a positive and trust generating manner.

Observations

Observations are what your senses tell you. They are the facts. Simply put we eliminate speculation, inferences, and conclusions. We are stating something that we have heard, seen, experienced or otherwise observed. An example of this can be: “We are late to the meeting.”

Thoughts

Thoughts are the judgments and conclusions that you have drawn from the observations. They are your attempt to describe the why and how of an event. You are using beliefs, opinions, theory and values to explain a conclusion. We should share our thoughts with respect and clarity with our minds eye focusing on reaching the goal and building trust. An example of this can be: “It seems like the managers have a lot of meetings, they are probably very busy.”

Feelings

How you feel is part of what makes you you. Shared feelings can often allow us to see more clearly what each person is trying to convey. When a person shares feelings this builds relationships and conveys trust. By allowing others to know what makes us happy, sad, frustrated or frightened, they can empathize and understand what we are trying to convey better. An example of this can be: “When I speak in front of people I get butterflies in my stomach and get really anxious.”

Needs

No one knows what your needs are other than you. No one can read your mind or guess what your needs are. In order to have close relationships it is necessary to express our needs. Needs are non-judgmental. These are statements about things that help or please you. An example of this can be: “I am so tired, I sure could use a hot bath”

Looking at these different parts of expression allows us to define what we are doing when communicating. When we are able to think things out in our minds and see from an active standpoint what tools we are using, we can better formulate and process better messages to send.

One of my favorite stories is about a detective named Sherlock Holmes. It is interesting to see the way he solves his mysteries. “Just using the facts” he can think under the most strenuous circumstances and can reason through and solve almost any problem. It is the same with us in our interpersonal communication model, as we learn to use the facts to reach the goal and build trust we become better communicators.

In order to talk about the different ways in which to improve our communication and start increasing the amount of information that is going back and forth it is necessary to recognize the different inhibitors both external and internal. Next it is necessary to learn new techniques with which to replace these inhibitors.

Defining The Model

While thinking about the best way to do this, one may wish to define some of the parts or sections that we will try to improve upon. Lets start, by defining the parts of the communication model.

The very model itself has a definition. It is known as Interpersonal Communication. This is the sending of messages or data from one person or small group to another person or small group of people with an effect and immediate feedback.

What are the are the characteristics or parts of the interpersonal communication model?

Messages

To have any level of communication occurring there must be something being sent and received. For an example we can take a look at our brains. In order for thought to occur there must be a sender that sends a signal, a signal sent, a receptor to receive it, stimulus upon reception and an effect based on the stimulus. These messages can be packaged in a number of ways including Audio, Visual, Tactile, Olfactory, Gustatory or any combination of them. In understanding this we can see that interpersonal communication does not need to be spoken or between two people standing in front of each other. It can be done on the phone, through instant messaging, video conferencing or Morse code. It is also important that we point out the fact that these messages do not need to occur because the sender or receiver wanted them to. The way that someone stands or blinks or smells can all be messages that are being sent.

Persons

In order to have interpersonal communication, we must have at least 2 people. A sender and a receiver. It does not however need to be limited to this number. Interpersonal communication can occur between small groups of people as well. As all communication does we need to start with oneself. Communication with oneself is can be called intrapersonal communication. We need to separate these two in order to fully understand them. We will also need to separate mass communication and public speaking from our topic as well. Mass communications and public speaking are usually unidirectional only, meaning that the message goes from the speaker to the audience but not from audience to the speaker.

Reception

This may be the most obvious point but it is worth understanding. In order for Interpersonal communication to happen there must be a message received.

Effect

The effect of the message can range from total agreement to an inaudible grunt. In order for it to be interpersonal communication the receiver of the message must somehow be different because of it. This is the effect. It doesn’t necessarily need to be seen or observed by the sender.

Feedback

It is here that I would like to spend the most energy. Feedback is the message that the receiver sends back to the sender after receiving a message. In order for this to be interpersonal communication it is necessary to have relatively immediate feedback of some kind. From nodding of the head in agreement to a lengthy banter of disapproval, we can see where feedback comes into the interpersonal communication model.

Encoding and Decoding

In Interpersonal communication the message must first be taken from thought and then formulated into an audio signal or one of the other ways to send a message. This is called Encoding. By taking this message through input stimulus and translating them into thought we are decoding them. A lot like a message sent from one end of a battle field to the other. It must be first encoded, written down, sent, received, decoded and then understood.

Competence VS Performance

Competence otherwise known as linguistic competence, has to do with our capabilities in the linguistic sense. This is relevent to our understanding of sentences, and punctuation. We have learned rules that when followed allow us to put sounds together that make sentences. Our competence lies in our ability to take this set of grammatical rules and match the sound with the meaning.

Performance is more abstract. It has to do with other factors such as how tired we are or if we are stressed out or not. If we are feeling flighty and have a short attention span, this has to do with our performance. There are many things that can influence a poor performance.

It may be that a person is totally competent in communication and knows all of the rules. In order to communicate fully and properly though, we must work on the performance.

Let me start by showing you an image I found while looking through one of my college communications books.

What does this say to you?….?

Communication is not just something that we can expect to happen to us. Its not something that we do to other people. It is something that all parties involved participate in. It is an action, an active tool that, when used effectively can merit extremely productive results.

Why is communication important?

During life, anything that you see, perceive or experience is communicated to you some way or another. Everything that we do requires some type of communication. There is always communication going on.

As you can see in this picture there are 2 receivers who are also senders. They are coding and decoding a message at the same time and they each have an environment that they are working in to encode and decode a message. Although these environments many times overlap, we must be aware that each person has an individual environment.

If we look closely at this image we can shift our view to be aware of the “noise” that presents itself as the communications is happening. One’s first thought when looking at the word noise is that this is of the external nature. A radio, Fan, Lawnmower or TV. I think about things that are distracting like loud noises, bright light, or other people. We may do better by replacing the word noise with a word like “Inhibitor”. This shifts our focus from an outside stimulus and redefines the subject to mean, an agent that inhibits or blocks an activity.

It would follow a path of reason that we can label these inhibitors in 2 different states.

1) External

2) Internal

The first of these, External, can be anything outside of our minds. This can be left mainly to our physical surroundings and understanding this, is a great first step to increasing our abilities in the communication model.

Finding ways to limit or discontinue the external inhibitors creates an atmosphere that welcomes clear communication.

It is the second of these however that I would like to focus on in greater detail.

These internal inhibitors can also be viewed as blocks. Blocks that when put together create a wall in the communication model.

The 12 Communication Blocks

1 ) Comparing

Comparing brings difficulty into the communication model because when one uses this block they are always looking at who is bigger, better, smarter, more funny or more philosophical. Here, when someone is trying to speak to you your are comparing their stories to your own and saying, ” My experience is so much better than theirs” or “My family is so much better at communicating”. In the end you didnt get anything out of what they said because you are constantly measuring your self up to what is being said.

2 ) Mind Reading

Mind readers rarely are even listening to the words that are being said because they are paying attention to the non-verbal cues and body language or perceived intonations and suggestions from the other people in the communication model. They may not really believe what is being said because they fell that maybe the other person is being untruthful or not telling the complete truth. They think ” She probably really wants to stay home and relax and is just saying she wants to go to the movies because I want to go.” or “Everyone can tell that I am strange and they dont like me but they just don want to say anything” These thoughts arent even based on the reality of what the other person is saying but a vague intuition and foggy interpretation based on hunches or paranoia.

3 ) Rehearsing

This is when you arent actually listening to the other persons thoughts because you are to busy rehearsing what you want to say next. You may have only heard the first three words before you start to formulate what it is that you want to say as soon as the other person takes a breath. It is hard for this person to get anything from what is being said because they rarely pay any attention to the thoughts or interests of the one talking.

4 ) Filtering

When a person filters they “listen only to what they want to hear”. This is when a person decides if they are in any type of danger or what mood the person is in and then they lose focus. They may listen just long enough to see if the person speaking is in a good mood or not and then their minds start to wander. A person might listen to her husband long enough to see that he is not angry at her and let her mind wander but not listen to his frustrations about his day at work. Filtering also is a way of avoidance and blocking out anything that is stressful, negative or unpleasant to here. You may not even remember that something was said. You simply don’t remember.

5 ) Judging

Judgments are labels and they have an enormous effect. If you have already decided what a person is like or not like you may block out everything else that they have to say. You may see someone that you think is “stupid, immature or lazy” and then not listen to anything else it is that they are saying. You might even get through the first sentence or two before you decide that ” they are on a tangent again” and then stop listening. This can also work with any other judgments or labels that you place on someone that is communicating.

6 ) Dreaming

Dreaming is lead by personal associations and ends in a shotgun array of random thoughts. A person will tell start by saying that they went to the bank… and you start thinking about the bank, you just got paid, paychecks come every two weeks, there is a concert in two weeks, you like music…… and then tuning back in later they ask what you think should be done about their 12 year old dalmatian. You can see how this might be damaging to the communication model.

7 ) Identifying

Identifiers take everything that is said and reference it to something that has happened to you. The speaker may be trying to share with you a problem that they are having with a difficult coworker and that reminds you of someone that you work with and you start to tell them about the time when you had to go to hr because a coworker was continually yelling. Everything that someone says reminds you about a time, place, thought, experience or something that you have done. You are so engaged with referencing your own experience that you have no time to listen.

8 ) Advising

Advising comes into play when you are great at solving other peoples problems, and ready to tell people about it. You are so ready to instill your wisdom and knowledge on someone that you dont even let them finish what they are trying to say. They can be into the conversation only a few sentences before you start to suggest a way to solve the problem and you may not have gotten to the most important thing of all, the speakers feelings. Acknowledgment and compassion are generally what people need when they are expressing pain or unease about a situation. They now feel like you didn’t listen and alone because you weren’t able to let them express themselves.

9 ) Sparring

Debating and argument are more important than understanding or being understood. Sparring leaves you focused on finding things to disagree with. The other person rarely feels heard or understood if at all. You are so adamant about your beliefs and preferences that you often are willing to damage a relationship in order to be win an argument. One of the most predominant types of sparring is the put-down. This is manifest in sarcasm, discounting, or passing off.

10 ) Being Right

You will go all out to win. You will do just about anything including, lying, twisting things around, making an excuse or verbal abusing in order to be right. You will stick to your guns no matter what is being said or who you are talking to. This often leaves the other person feeling unheard and discouraged.

11 ) Derailing

Derailing occurs when you get bored or no longer want to talk about the subject at hand. You may be uncomfortable and dramatically change the subject in order to derail the conversation. Another way of derailing is to make continual jokes in order to avoid the discomfort of really listening to what is being said.

12 ) Placating

Placating is simply agreeing with what is being said in order to be nice and pleasant. You may not even be listening, but you don’t want to rock the boat so you will agree with everything. You are usually tuned out and apart from the conversation.

The Belief System

I would like to touch for a moment on belief systems and bring your attention to how our belief systems effect each of these inhibitors. Belief systems can be seen as the way that we think or how we digest our interpretation of our experiences and then act on what we believe is happening. This belief system is a result of past, experiences, behavior patterns and thought pathways.

Everything that has happened to us, Everything that we have experienced, seen, believed, Everytime we talk to someone, react to a problem or protect ourselves from a perceived danger, we are creating little pieces that are added to our belief systems and internal inhibitors or blocks.

It is our job to analyze ourselves in our communication and change our belief systems or our created reality and change our minds or the belief system and create a new perception or way of thinking. We are then able to recreate the blocks from an inhibitor to a strength in communication. Very often the very things that plague our progress, when worked out and changed, become our most promising talents and strengths.

Relationships and Roles

As we learn to monitor the inhibitors that we use in our communication it is important to understand the different roles that we have in our lives. Depending on the role that we are playing our communication styles and the inhibitors can change from minute to minute.

Do we use the same communication inhibitors with our children as we do with the our boss? Where you might use placating with one person you may use sparring with someone else.

You may be a Father, Friend, Husband, Teacher, President, Police Officer, Employee and Coworker in the same afternoon. One of the ways that you can find out what inhibitors that you may be using is to start making a list of all of the major roles that you play in your life and write down the different inhibitors that you use as you find yourself in the different roles.

You may find that you use one or two a majority of the time, but most likely you will notice that you use most of them some of the time.

Circle of Influence

When you notice which of the inhibitors that you are using in each of your roles, it will become more apparent how using different communication skills will benefit you. Not only will relationships start to improve but as communication gets better you will find that people start to listen and communicate better with you as well.

Looking at our circle of influence, starting with ourselves, the circle then moves out to our spouses, children and families and then to our friends, churches acquaintances and communities. Our circle of influence gets bigger and bigger as we appropriately influence the people around us through service and good communication. If we don’t know how to properly communicate or positively influence those around us our circle of influence gets smaller and smaller until we cant influence anyone.

The concept is that when we learn proper influence and good communication in our roles, we learn better skills and the right way to influence people.Our circle of influence then gets bigger. People welcome our conversation and let us influence them more. Our circle continues to get bigger and bigger until we can influence everyone through our sincere desire to serve and communicate with compassion and skill.

It starts with yourself and moves continually outward until you have the mastery and skill to communicate with anyone, anywhere and in any situation.

You own how you communicate and only you can make the difference.