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Donna Kim-Brand is known for Living Legacy: Creative Living and Giving along with Creativity and Thinking by Design. She is founder of Globalearning Network LLC and VP of Knowledge Management and Training for Retraining America Now. She creates and delivers programs to retool people reinventing themselves, their work & their legacy for the 21st century with creativity, innovation and thinking by design. Donna works across private, public and educational sectors teaching and applying thinking ... [More]

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Scope-Creep Limits Productivity
[Business:Productivity] Very often in business we are hired to meet a certain job description. Then we get there, only to find we are often given tasks, or take on tasks, which do not align with the job description we were hired for. Still, we do them either to be a 'good sport', to move forward on our actual 'larger' tasks or because it's easier than explaining it to someone else or getting them to do it. Right here, we have fallen victim to scope-creep! We have put ourselves in a position to short-change our productivity, relative to why we were hired.

How to Compare and Be Fair, With Flair!
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] A powerful use of the Goggle Frame is to compare people, or alternative items or choices on anything. For example, you can use Goggles in comparing and then choosing from candidates who are interviewing for a position, choosing a university or a weekend date. This can simplify the process as you are comparing apples to apples, so to speak. You can also easily compare and wax lyrical on more complex issues, such as works of literature or research projects.

Seeing and Thinking Clearly in Any Environment
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] You can gain deep insight just by looking purposefully and rigorously at what is already out there, which can give the complacent sense 'we already do this'. Yes, but not really, in most cases. As Leonardo da Vinci lamented in more detail, "we look but don't really see." Goggles Frame has us role play by looking equally objectively at positives, negatives and interesting perspectives of a thinking focus issue.

Thinking on Your Proverbial Feet
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] We all know the traditional thinker pose- leaning over in deep rumination. There's a place for that. AND, there's a place for rough and ready, up on your feet, quick thinking. Becoming comfortable with thinking tools is one method that helps you with both approaches to effective thinking. Here's another use of the handy-dandy Goggles Frame tool.

Set Purpose & Goals With Telescope Frame Thinking Tool
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] The Telescope InSight Frame is the one you whip out when you want to focus on clarity of PURPOSE and GOALS you want to achieve relative to a specified thinking focus issue. As we all recognize, when we have a clear purpose or intention and set of goals, then energy tends to align and consolidate to be available for fulfillment of those. We are referring to both Macro (overall) goals and Micro (sub or benchmark) goals. This works for individual goals, group goals where there may be a variety of agendas, and even for effective reading.

Thinking Frames to Handle Information Overload
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Whipping our muscles into shape takes effort. You can't just join a gym and have some sort of magic happen to get your body lean, strong and sculpted. It takes putting the time in, starting from whatever condition you are in and working towards your desired goal.

Here's How to Declutter Your Desk and Your Mind
[Self-Improvement:Organizing] Messy desk? We all know what one of those looks like and how it hinders our productivity despite our rationalizations about 'creative clutter'! Believe it or not, there is a correlation between your desk habits and your mental habits. We said you could rationalize a messy desk because you are 'just messy' by character, you have more information coming IN than OUT, you lack storage structures, or you just don't take time to put stuff away. There were specific action habits we suggested to rectify those reasons.

Information Doesn't Speak For Itself
[Business:Innovation] Today Show new anchor Ann Curry got a few facts wrong in a commencement address and it's made the national news. What's the big deal about a few earnestly made factual inaccuracies that wouldn't qualitatively hurt anyone? It happens all the time. Given what I know about how the brain handles information, my brain kept chattering at me about a range of ancillary issues.

May the Force of Creative Tension Be With You to Get Results You Want
[Business:Entrepreneurialism] In the gaps between 'how things really are and how you want them to be' lies your pool of creative opportunity. Just notice how much more empowering it is to look at it this way instead of the usual approach- moaning and groaning about what's not working or what is lacking. You can learn how to turn something most people just complain about into a creative opportunity for delivering results. Use the force of Structural or Creative Tension to catapult you to the results you want.

Creative Way to Revolutionize School Lunches
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] First Lady Michelle Obama and British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver are spearheading movements aimed at getting American school children healthier by moving more and eating better. Both target school lunches as a source of the obesity and diabetes epidemic as well as a key source of the solution through healthier eating. And they are using the power of social media to get the message out to mass support.

Mind Chi Leverages Memes
[Health-and-Fitness:Meditation] Memes occur at all levels of influence, naturally and by design, to wield power and spur change. We can also use the power of memes ourselves, personally and professionally, to design the life of our dreams, achieve work goals and move upward and outward to 'be the change' we seek in the world. In their new book, Mind Chi, authors Richard Israel and Vanda North suggest a method of harnessing the explosive power of a meme in moving us from our present situation to our chosen professional goals.

Memes As Creative Mind Prods
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] A meme is an idea or nugget of information that can be replicated in your own mind and shared with others through viral spreading. An emerging meme, having burst on the scene and established itself as the new norm, now becomes the reference point from which cultures and corporations start their thought processes in relation to that issue and from which they are prodded to take action.

Creative Infidelity Introduced
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] So, what is Creative Infidelity? Popular topic these days, infidelity; and no, I'm not going to give you '50 Creative Ways to Leave Your Spouse.' What I'm referring to here is a dynamic based on a new niche in psychology referred to as memetics, as popularized in Richard Brodie's book Virus of the Mind.

Taking Care of Your Creative Brain
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] I just had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Daniel Amen of the Amen Clinic. That man is a walking encyclopedia of cutting edge knowledge on optimizing our life by caring for our brain. So, who's gonna care for your brain besides Dr Amen? You'd better step up to the plate on your own behalf. As the old commercial goes, you'll be glad you did! For how your brain works influences everything about who you are and what you do.

Creativity ABC's - Challenge 'What Is' in the Spirit of 'Search and Discover'
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] 'C' mindset invites us to challenge 'what is', the staus quo, in the Spirit of 'search and discover' rather than 'search and destroy'. Since creativity is about 'mental movement' one of the ways to get that is to escape the status quo by pushing against it. How we do that is to tip it on it's edge, not in direct confrontation that would be like pushing it flat, but by nudging it out of balance by looking at it in a different way. Or by changing the surrounding circumstances that caused that thing to be the way it is. This happens to us all the time in the real world.

Creativity ABC's - Belief - There's a Better Way & Behaving So
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] This is a two-part Mindset. The belief there's a better way continues the search for alternatives, knowing that by making the effort to widen the idea pool you are likely to choose and develop better ideas than you would by settling for the first one that comes along. The brain uses it powers of perception to filter inputs in order to select appropriate outputs. How we perceive anything (inputs) effects how we subsequently behave (outputs).

Creativity ABCs - Attitude to Look For Alternatives
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] A stands for the 'attitude to look for alternatives'. A creative orientation invites an exploration of multiple options or alternatives before choosing the best one, based on why you need the idea and what the context is. Then you move to try on other ideas for size and fit and take action. By knowing how to generate multiple alternatives, you know you will never be forced to choose a bad option just because it's the only one or because it is the easy way out.

Creativity & Memorable Marketing Messages
[Business:Marketing] For entrepreneurs creating your own branding, remember to connect your creative efforts to the principles of memory and good story telling. Potential customers will then connect your goods with your marketing efforts in a way more likely to bring you the sale even as they gain the value you provide.

Do the Blind Have a Creative Imagination?
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] What a funny question- do the blind have an imagination? Of course, you retort, probably thinking about this issue for the first time. So what is going on here? What are the blind seeing when they use their imaginations? What is really involved in developing the skill of imagination, which requires seeing images at least mentally? Senses, plus meaningful connections as understood in the brain, and accumulated memories of those impressions over time, all together construct a repertoire of material to draw from in then interpolating and extrapolating forward as imagination.

Imagine That! Exercising Your Creative Mind Power
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Once we become conscious of our mental meanderings and then choose to direct them towards more constructive and purposeful ends, we become creators. This is using our imagination for good, which in turn reduces stress and allows us to be more in control of our lives and the situations we encounter. When we make imagination and creativity a conscious, integral part of our lives, we are on the road to creating the outcomes and the future we desire.

Belief in a Better Way Brings Hope - That's Why We Need Creativity
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Applied creativity and good entrepreneurship are all about bringing people and businesses what they need. This requires the ability to know what people are already thinking about what they need, as well as the ability to ferret out what they can't yet articulate.

Steps to Creating New Years Resolutions That Get You What You Really, Really Want
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Achieving New Years Resolutions involves creativity in action. What follows are a series of steps in a process I call Creative Tension, as it includes aspects of the creative process applied to the structural tension dynamic originated by Robert Fritz. While the steps themselves are simple, each requires skill sets of their own.

Seven Obstacles to Creativity at Work
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Creativity causes a paradox for most humans. Between the brain as a pattern recognition mechanism and our innate urge to bring things into being, we are pulled in what appears to be opposite directions. So, many of us vacillate between the urge to be creative and the pull of inertia to stick with what we already know. This manifests in several behaviors that become obstacles to our creativity at work. These occur both in our creativity applied to life issues as well as the more complex dynamics of creativity in the workplace.

New Years Resolutions Are Your Ticket to Creative Living
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] New Years tends to bring on renewed hope, motivation and sometimes even conscious thinking about how to deliver on our personal dreams and business visions for the year to come. We formulate these intangibles into so-called resolutions, which embody both what we plan to focus our attention on and our mental intention to implement by doing what it takes.

Design Thinking is Creativity Haute Couture
[Business:Entrepreneurialism] Forbes Magazine has identified 'Design Thinking' as The Big Trend in the new year. Design thinking which is innovating via a structured analysis of specific challenges in a particular process or industry, is all about creating outcomes that serve one's business, customers and wider market in highest and best use fashion.

Creative Living Rides the Tide - Not Just Once in a Blue Moon
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] A Blue Moon is the phenomenon of experiencing two full moons in one calendar month. Based on a mathematical calculation, a Blue Moon occurs about every 2.5 years, with the month of the double showing rotating over that period of time. A Blue Moon on New Year's Eve, however is much rarer, occurring every 19 years.

Bold Creativity Can Spur the Economy
[Business:Entrepreneurialism] Forbes Magazine recently reported that "Genuinely new ideas--not timid, incremental improvements--will spur economic growth." Bold, rigorous application of creativity and innovation is also the best and cheapest way to make use of existing resources to come up with ways to slash costs and increase income. This is at the heart of both business survival and long-term sustainability as a thought leader in each industry or niche.

Imagination As an Awe-Full Creative Force
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Imagination is creating pictures on your mind of what 'could be'. There's a Japanese car advertisement which says the 2 most powerful words in English are 'WHAT IF'? They are words inviting imagination of what is possible, for better or worse. Exercising our imaginations is a skill too often left under-developed in our modern world.

Creative Lex-Appeal
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Words create our reality; they are powerful transmitters of thoughts, feelings and concepts. We often underestimate the effect of our words, or the ripple effect they can create. Apparently the New Oxford American Dictionary votes each year on 'the year's HOT WORD' to enter the lexicon of daily speech. The word selected this year pays homage to our socially networked digital world.

Creative Resolution of Moral Dilemmas
[Book-Reviews:Self-Help] In Rushmore Kidder's 1995 book "How Good People Make Tough Choices", Mr. Kidder claims that inventiveness and human progress have created ethical issues that never existed before. (ie only a computer age would need to be concerned with unlicensed copying and global pirating of Intellectual Property.) This has brought to the fore the need to understand and deal with a range of new ethical dilemmas.

Strategic Mental Resilience and the Roman Room Memory System
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Strategic mental resilience is a discipline which combines understanding the strategic imperative of information management based on how the brain processes information along with tactical success rituals which move you towards your desired outcomes. One simple memory system is called the Roman Room, after, guess who, those structured ancient Romans!

Sweeping Mental Resilience
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] I can see him now- gliding past in his wide reaching golf ball sweeper-upper. It's like a vacuum cleaner for balls on the driving range and allows for quick retrieval of thousands of little white spheres dotted across the lawn.

Did You Know the Heart Has a 'Brain'?
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Our perception leads us to behave as we do...well, partly, as there are a few additional factors that flit by in between what we see (or experience) and what we do. Now I hear that the heart (yes the actual organ) has a nervous system of its own which predates the brain based system. And, frankly, it doesn't surprise me, given the primal role of human emotions and many historical references to the heart as the seat of our feelings which very often drive what we do.

Shake it Till You Make It - Wiggle Your Way to Creative Resilience
[Self-Improvement:Techniques] Here's a simple exercise that can be easily and effectively used by both males and females, adults and children. Dr. John Gray, of Mars Venus fame, recommends to literally 'shake things up' in our body with the 'Bounce and Shake', which you can do anytime day or night for 1 minute to an hour. The Bounce and Shake movement causes all the cells in your body to vibrate faster, and you will feel tingly all over. As long as you have adequate water, oxygen and minerals in your body, you will generate cellular electricity, which increases your metabolism and acts as a flush to your system.

Don't Let Mental Gravity Weigh You Down
[Book-Reviews:Self-Help] Weight Loss for the Mind by Stuart Wilde is a tiny booklet that packs a wallop none-the-less. It explores dysfunctional mass psychology and how it can cause us to groan under the weight of wrong or uninformed opinions of others that we've taken on as our own. Losing our need to know it all and off-loading our misconceptions will help us shed some mental dross that otherwise unwittingly, and invisibly like gravity, weighs us down. It takes discipline, but the rewards are worth it in a return to our natural, serene state, entertained by the wonder and grace of this strange gift we call life.

Think About It - Self-Reliance
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] I'm big on self-reliance. I think it's under-taught as a basic skill of maturing to adulthood. And politics aside, the recent hoo-ha over President Obama's impending speech to school kids the day after Labor Day underscores that as a society, we just don't get it. We should be encouraging our youth not just to stay in school, but to become confident, competent independent learners and thinkers.

Directing Your Brain With No Pain - Quit Yer Bellyaching!
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Have you seen this t-shirt for fishermen? "If a man speaks at sea where no woman can hear, is he still wrong?" Ha! It's a variation on the old Zen riddle, but refers to our human tendency to find fault. Let me tell you a story about where the idea showed up in a slightly different way...

Pride As a Social Lubricant
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] I once heard a distinction that has proven itself useful time and time again. That is, the difference between being confident and arrogant, both of which exhibit similar behaviors.

Make Your Memory Work For You
[Self-Improvement:Memory-Training] One of the most beneficial ways to boost overall cognitive development and expression - your brain power- is to develop your memory. Memory is actually made up of several skill sets, one for remembering information you take in-both short-term or longer-term, another for retaining that information until you need to make use of it at some later date, and recalling- or pulling out from your brain- exactly what you need when you need it.

Pollyanna Productivity
[Business:Entrepreneurialism] I've been called a Pollyanna all my life, most often used against me for being considered 'too naive'. I'm always looking for the proverbial silver lining and looking through the so-called rose-colored glasses to find the best possible option in every situation.

"Think Happens" - Mental Conditioning to Deal With Life in the Fast Lane
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Mental preparation before white water rafting was a key to our successful and fun trip. The reality was, anything could have happened, for better or worse, and we couldn't cover every eventuality. We were conditioned mentally with key elements in a most likely case scenario. For anything else, we'd have to keep our wits sufficiently to deal with it however we could on the spot. The key was in removing the fear by preparation ahead of time.

Mindfulness - What Floats Your Boat?
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] How often, in the course of everyday work and life, do we plunge into tasks just in order to get through them? After all, that's being efficient, right? The reality is, it may be efficient but not necessarily the most EFFECTIVE approach. Sometimes, a more effective approach requires slowing down - either to build relationships while working, to notice the dynamics of a process, to pace ourselves for the long-haul, or to simply tune in to ourselves being 'on-task.'

Winning by Design Or by Chance
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] A recent experiment using computerized slot machines revealed a tendency that helps explain compulsive gambling and addictive behaviors. The brain doesn't distinguish between a win or near-win, both of which trigger the reward center of the brain. So what?

Rapid Learning For White Water Rafting
[Recreation-and-Sports:Extreme] This summer I finally got to experience wild and woolly white water rafting on the Chilko River in B.C. Canada. Our guides set the serious tone required to make the event fun. Learning to survive Level 4 & 5 rapids requires preparation, or one could literally be 'dead in the water'. We needed to understand both the overall context of the situation as well as specific actions to take as required by certain circumstances that might arise. So before getting on the river we received some 'brain training' to set the stage for a positive experience, required immediately.

Creative Lens and Your Point of View
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Point of View, perspective, perception: all have something to do with how we see things, and of course a lens is what we see through to focus-whether from our eyes (and brain) or a viewing device. Our point of view, or vantage point, affects how we experience what we see ourselves, or what other people viewing the same scene from another aspect see and experience.

Rights & Responsibilities Through Creative Self Leadership
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Exercising our rights responsibly is an act of self leadership, as we must make the personal choice to effectively tend what is rightfully ours. This requires discipline, application of appropriate skill sets and usually some investment of time, effort or resources. Very often trade-offs or sacrifice are involved; not often sought in our instant gratification society. One way to leverage the difficulties inherent in being responsible about our rights is to cultivate a creative approach to carrying out our tasks. Being creative allows us to be uniquely our self while contributing responsibly in our societal and historical context.

A Living Legacy of Two Legends
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Michael Jackson - gone and yet eternalized by what he did best- singing, dancing, entertaining. He was masterful in his realm, breaking new ground in the industry as a child star, an African-American and stellar performer. His self-expression was strong, defined and uniquely his own while in his element. Notice, however, how many troubles he had outside his field of specialization, just like others such as Princess Diana.

Creative Business Hub Design
[Business:Entrepreneurialism] Have you ever experienced a 'storm at your hub'? Any number of things could knock you down or out unless you have back up support or automation or a cushion of sorts. In this age of just-in-time delivery and tough economic times, most entrepreneurs operate lean business machines. That means no extra fat, no cushion. The more we can collaborate in networks the more we gain both peer collegiality and back-up support needed This might be counter-intuitive for some who are used to handling everything themselves. Don't I know it!?

Simple Steps to Read For What You Need
[Self-Improvement:Speed-Reading] Anybody staggering under the weight of information overload? Any approach that allows me to grapple with and suck the guts out of information faster, more easily, and with more contextual comprehension is welcome in my world. Here's a simple overview of an approach to reading books or reports, particularly when you are reading them because you need what's in the content.

Speed Reading Framework For Information Control
[Self-Improvement:Speed-Reading] There are times when we need to rip through piles of information to suck the guts out and put them into action. That's where reading both fast and effectively comes in handy. While it's not enough to know the formula without putting it into action, understanding what the process is is a great place to start.

Can You Learn to Be an Entrepreneur?
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Think about Masterson's book title and its play on the usual phrase of 'ready, aim, fire'. What do you think he means by his title, Ready, Fire, Aim? It relates to an entrepreneurial reality of our age that speed to market matters, coupled with a scientific principle that it's easier to adjust direction from a moving position. So the answer is Yes, you can learn to be an entrepreneur as long as you are so inclined to do what it takes to put your learning to the test.

Something Wrong With Your Vision?
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Depending on how we see things, or don't see things, we behave accordingly. The behavior follows our vision- physical vision in these cases. What's also cool is that the same principle applies with mental vision, or perception, and our subsequent behavior and learning. Let's explore a bit.

The Power of Being Present Now
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Sometimes in life things, opportunities and people disappear- poof! and we don't get that chance to interact with them again. Then we are left to wonder whether we have done enough so far anyway, or whether it's worth doing it over again, if we can. I guess to live a life with fewest regrets it comes down to living as fully in each moment as possible. Not always easy, even if we know the formula. It takes a fair amount of personal focus, mental discipline and emotional steadiness

Creative Living a La Albert Schweitzer
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] In the spirit of Dr. Schweitzer's Reverence for Life, I continue to search for pivotal ways to make a difference. My approach is through what I call 'Creative Living', where I make choices and live a lifestyle that captures the essence of creativity- routinely looking to break from routines (notice the structure in my free-flow?), being open to new perspectives, pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone and always seeking connections to come up with new ideas or solutions in order to add value.

Focused Creativity is F-U-N!
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Linking the idea of intentional focus with being creative seems counter-intuitive; almost moronic! It's actually FUN! Where F stands for Focus, U stands for Unleash, and N stands for Narrow. Read more here.

We Look But Don't See
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] It is actually often the case, as DaVinci said, that 'we look but don't see'. This happens when we neglect to engage our brains while experiencing something, and we therefore slide past whatever we have encountered then have no memory of it later. (This, by the way, accounts for many misunderstandings in our relationships! Think about it...he said , she said. Who is right? Well, both, but...)

Creative Flow - Ever-Changing, Never-Changing
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Living in Creative Flow requires a certain amount of movement, and movement implies change, even if it is just a shift in placement of the same things. And yet most people will balk at the notion of change. We value both, creative flow and constancy, so how can we reconcile the two? Let's probe a little.

Creative Living Causes a Ripple Effect
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] When we are out in the world doing our thing, living creatively to our highest and best use of our talents and skills, we create ripples amongst the people and places we touch. This then can spread to impact people they touch, and beyond them in ways we'll never know. And when your efforts merge with mine, or someone else's, the possibility of amplification of effort exists.

Pulling Back the Wizard's Curtain on Creativity
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] What did the Wizard of Oz have that Dorothy, the Tinman, the Lion and the Scarecrow didn't? In simple terms, he knew they already possessed whatever they thought they lacked. It took them going on a journey of experiential discovery to gain the feedback, self-awareness and eventual self-confidence they each needed.

What's Creative Living All About, Alfie?
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] In your best Alfie singing voice, go for it- "What's it all about....?" Who is to say? Who is to know, really?

We Act Because We Know Why
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Have you heard of the study that had researchers scoot to the front of the line at a copy machine, asking if they could please cut ahead because they needed to make copies. Well, even though everyone was there to make copies, when the researchers used 'because' even for some inane reason, people let them in. It's as if the brain filters out the actual reason once it hears 'because', a word of justification. (Try that one on in your sales and marketing efforts and see what happens to your results!)

Ignorance Isn't Always Creative Bliss
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] It behooves us as professionals to deliberately find and then design out potential risks and limitations. Sometimes these can only be done by experts who are fully aware of the full story- at face value and considering implications beyond the obvious. In our Creative Situation Room, armed with creativity tools exercised within a creative mindset, we can hunt for the pitfalls, ask the hard questions and force the issue among well-informed colleagues before we enter the real-world marketplace.

Chaos Breeds Creativity - Why is That?
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Chaos breeds creativity? Well, yes, although that's only part of the story, and popularized by the notion of the absent minded professor. This possibility is a characteristic of the brain based on it being an asymmetric self-organizing patterning system. To illustrate what I mean, let me tell you a story I read today in a financial newsletter.

Your Life As a Masterpiece and Legacy in the Making
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] We live in an age of socially conscious multi-talented people of all ages who are brimming with good will. Younger people refuse to be chained to a career, let alone a desk, which stifles their creative verve and desire to contribute on a global level. Those more advanced in years are not about to be put out to pasture before our time- not without squeezing out every last vestige of well-earned skill, experience and networking that could be put to good use in the wider world beyond the boardroom. We are ripe for using our lifestyle in creative living as the springboard for expressing our lives as a Living Legacy. We refuse to wait until on our deathbed to make our mark on the wider world.

Investment in Creative Living - Lookin' Good!
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] We live in a society which celebrates celebrity and expects them to live large. We seek to live vicariously through them. We also castrate any non-celebrity who we think is getting 'too big for their britches.' What's going on here? Creative living is a threat to many who don't have the fortitude to make the effort required to 'look good' and go after their big dreams.

Your Mental and Physical Backbone - Time For an Adjustment
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Seems to me that focus and mental discipline are the mental equivalent of the spine and chiropractic care. Both are pretty much unrecognized for their far-reaching contributions to our underlying good health and countenance in the world.

Self Leadership and Creative Expression
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Sometimes otherwise talented people never quite seem to fulfill their potential, be they pan-handlers or even ourselves. While there may be many reasons, one is because they, or we, lack a sense of self-leadership. With some guidance and coaching, self-direction can be cultivated so that self- leadership can be internalized and expressed. Here are 5 winning practices, magnified when intertwined.

Creative Living Personified in 'Swagga'
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Pres. Obama has got it...swagga, that is. But I say it's because he comes from a place of confidence based on accomplishment, caring and self belief. Now that's an approach to creative living worth cultivating!

Listening As Self-Leadership and Diplomacy
[News-and-Society:Politics] Pres. Obama's view is to show leadership by listening and working in partnership with others in humility even while taking a stand. Naysayers proclaim this will show up the United States as weak and therefore vulnerable. From a more informed view, one could say he was simply using good practices of finding common ground and building rapport with his audience. Leadership of others starts with self-leadership and creative expression.

Creative Living to the Tune of the Pina Colada Song
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Remember the storyline of the song 'Pina Colada'? Guy & gal in a relationship gone stale seek excitement and shared experiences elsewhere. Lo and behold, who answers their want-ads but their very own partner! And how surprised they both are to realize the other wanted (and wasn't getting) exactly what they did; at least the fun, spontaneity and sense of connection afforded by what they sought. So how did they miss it? While this scenario could be the stuff of soap operas, it's partly thanks to our pattern-forming brains which have trouble seeing alternatives without help.

Focused Creativity - What Are You Again, Some Kind of Oxymoron?
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] It's FUN to use the creative process to come up with ideas that move your life and business forward. I refer to a series of steps that are FUN, where F stands for Focus, U stands for Unleash, and N stands for Narrow. It's always a good idea to start with defining your creative focus- F. What area, issue, topic, product, service, market tactic, operational strategy, human resource matter or anything else needs freshening up with new or improved ideas? All are fair game for the seriously FUN game of intentional creative thinking.

Creative Brain Power - Where Words Take Us
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] Our million million brain cells (minus the ones you left on your pillow when you woke up this morning one day older) work through links, connections and associations. With or without a focus, your brain will dart about making or creating connections. The good news is that by knowing this little fact, you can learn how to harness and take advantage of your amazing brain power.

Creativity at Work - 7 Benefits to Increase Productivity and Profits
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] When developed and harnessed at the individual and organizational levels, creativity provides a route map forward for consistent value creation in volatile times. When you know how to do it, you can solve problems and create new opportunities at the same time, assuring your organization remains viable and profitable.