Submit Articles - Search & Find Free Content

Search:

Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D.'s Articles

Display Category\|Title\|Newest\|Oldest
The Amazing Power of Believing in Yourself If you think you can’t do something, you probably won’t try. Even if you do make an attempt, you’re likely to give up when difficulties seem to prove your doubts. But if you believe you can do it, you’ll eventually prove what was always true—that you can work through most difficult tasks. Why People Give Honest Feedback...In Spite of the Potential Downsides Feedback doesn't have much value if people don't "tell it like it is." But in any given organization, employees may be circumspect about giving realistic feedback. 360-Degree Feedback: Avoiding the Problems and Achieving the Benefits 360-degree (multi-source) feedback is powerful because it makes it easy to gather and report credible feedback about important issues that are otherwise hard to quantify. Like any powerful tool, it needs to be used with care in order to derive all the benefits. Here are seven recommendations for avoiding problems. The Failure of Basic Education in America A recent study showed that most college students can't perform simple math and literacy skills. These are skills they should have learned in high school. Getting Real about Feedback in the Workplace Most people don't see themselves as others see them. For this reason, they often don't understand the impact their actions have on others. They have "blind spots." So if they want to improve how well they do their jobs, they'll need others to tell them about these problem areas. They'll need "feedback." Statements of Affirmation and Hope...from My Friends I once asked my friends for affirmations that serve as rays of light for the hard times. Some are original thoughts, and some are quotes. Hopefully, you'll relate to some of what has been shared here, reflect on it and use it to cope with your situation. Do People Choose to Be Homosexuals - Or Are They Born That Way? As everybody knows, gay marriage is a huge issue in our country right now. Whenever I read or hear opinions about gays and gay marriage, I remember my one and only sexual encounter with a homosexual. When Feedback Fails, Try Appropriate Consequences Feedback is a powerful relationship tool, but people don’t always respond well to it. A friend recently told me a funny story about how she managed a relationship with a neighbor by applying the principle of “appropriate consequences.” The Journey to Accepting Loss What in your life is hard to accept? How does the reluctance to accept it hold you back? Recipe: Rich Home-Made Stock Keeping the pounds off means eating right. One trick to switching to a lifestyle that includes really healthy food that tastes better than “regular” food is homemade stock - using ingredients that otherwise would be thrown away. Watch Your Back: Why I Left the Big City I learned to follow my wife's many rules for urban survival. I have to admit that doing so made me feel safer, just as following my own rules in Viet Nam made me feel safer. But I didn't like it. Future Hall of Fame Pitcher Randy Johnson At age 42, will "The Big Unit" pitch another season? Do you remember what he did only two years ago, something that no one believed was possible. ... No Regrets...And the Choices We Make In relationships, we make choices - some trivial, some painful and life-changing. It is how you build a life. If you do what you believe is best and right, and continue to do so, you should never regret your choice. Death and Dying: The Journey Towards Acceptance The death of a loved one is a hard thing to confront and accept. As a surviving family member, thinking about the journey towards acceptance made my mother's dying easier for me. Recipe: Friendship Pasta Salad Picnic? Tailgate? Potluck? Gotta bring the good stuff! With this recipe you can enjoy yourself without doing damage to your weight loss program. Carlos Castaneda: The Final Lesson in Spirituality As I look around at the constructs of humankind, I see the living earth raped and poisoned without remorse. I see incredible cruelty and pain. I see lies and nonsense embraced as truth. I see unhappy people who aren’t true to themselves, wasting their lives. It’s enough to make me want live an authentic life, a journey I have not taken lightly. The Key to Improving Soft Skills: Assessment, Training and Reinforcement Senior managers mistakenly believe that people skills training programs by themselves can change how employees relate to each other. Organizations can gain a far better return on their investment in people skills training if they would do three things. The Ultimate Training and Development Challenge: Improving Soft Skills Typically, about half of what an employee is required to do involves “soft skills” (also called “people skills”). These are typically hard to observe, quantify and measure. What's worse, people come to work with these interpersonal behavior patterns already ingrained. Diversity Rules: No One on Earth Is Exactly Like You In truth, there's no one on earth exactly like you. You have to tolerate the differences if you want friends. This diversity is one of the great richnesses of life. Carlos Castaneda: The Fourth Natural Enemy For me, don Juan's explanation of the four enemies is the most remarkable stretch of writing I've ever read, not because of its artfulness, but because of its simple truth and usefulness. There are other guides to living and spirituality, and this one is particularly challenging. But since I first encountered it in 1973, I see myself on a journey towards knowledge. Carlos Castaneda: The Third Natural Enemy Power, like clarity, is not only the reward gained by defeating one of the enemies of knowledge, it can also become the instrument of one's undoing. Carlos Castaneda: The Second Natural Enemy From a young age we're told how things are. Do we stop there? If we can defeat fear and clarity, we can continue the journey of learning, we can remain open to yet more enlightenment and understanding. Carlos Castaneda: The First Natural Enemy Don Juan's framework made sense to me: certain aspects of life were hard to confront and it would take a warrior's attitude to cope with them. Recipe: Salmon Soup If you're trying to lose weight, you can help yourself to a huge, delicious portion. It's fast - total time to serving is only 20-30 min. And it's good for you, And Now Live...Beethoven's Ninth Symphony I think of Beethoven as the Shakespeare of classical music. His Ninth is an amazing composition, perhaps the greatest ever written. My favorite part is the fourth movement, “Ode to Joy.” All You Really Need Is Heart When people use the word “heart,” they mean that someone demonstrates inner strength. You have heart, and you can exhibit it any time you choose to do so. The Ultimate Use for 360-degree Feedback: Validating Individual Improvement in Performance Considering the billions of dollars invested annually in leadership development, organizations need a way to demonstrate whether these programs are actually changing behavior. Open Your Mind to the Whole Picture...Both the Possibilities and the Limitations It’s okay to “get real,” but possibilities are real, too. Open your mind to the positives as well as the negatives. Michael Jordan's Realistic View of Success Success isn’t a project. It’s not a goal with a plan and a deadline. It’s not something you work towards until you achieve it, and then enjoy the rewards. Success is a way of life,. It's Important to Be Generous...Even When You're Needy The more you struggle, the more you hope that people will appreciate your situation. If you hope for compassion from others, you have to be willing to give it yourself. Think Good of Yourself You may be imperfect, but you have significant strengths and huge reserves of goodness within you. You deserve the love of your friends, as well as success from your best efforts. Books Can Be the Doorway to New Strengths and Opportunities There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island. How Can You Build Support for 360-Degree Feedback? Any organization can benefit from a well-administered program of multi-source feedback, if it has prepared the way for this new technology. However, implementing 360-degree feedback is not as simple as installing a software program and leading a few workshops. Personality Compatibility Test for Couples in Romantic Relationships Based on a scientifically grounded personality test, "Compatibility Forecast" is designed to help couples in romantic relationships understand areas of personality compatibility and difference to help them choose what their next step should be, if any. Is Your Organization Ready for 360-degree Feedback? The initial introduction of 360-degree feedback can cause concerns and questions. Does it help if your organization already has an established program of performance appraisal? The Growing Child's Brain and the Crucial Windows of Development In a child, each area of the cortex develops at different times, but each area grows during a limited period of time, during which the magnitude and quality of the basic functioning network and the child's potential are defined once and for all. Taking Responsibility Will Maker You Stronger, Better A lot depends on whether people do things that need to be done. How often do you accept the role to take action? Pumpkin Soup You'll impress your guests with this one. It only takes 20 minutes to make and has a wonderful blend of flavors. And it's good for you. There's a Time to Stop Thinking and Start Taking Action Being decisive means acting on your best option at the most opportune time. Do It with Energy and Enthusiasm! Some people are willing to put an amazing amount of personal energy into something. Survey Items Need to Be Well Constructed How well are people doing their jobs? A major part of the answer may be found using multi-source feedback. But everything depends on whether the survey items are well-constructed. How Can You Get Feedback at Work? To do a better job, you need to improve your performance. But how can you do that if you aren't sure how you're doing right now. It always helps to have feedback. A Warrior's Dream This article is unusual because it offers encouragement in the form of poem. And while its form appears to be prose text, it is actually far more poetic than most conventional poems you'll see... Why We Dream People are often disturbed by their dreams. They worry about what they might mean. To understand dreams, I think it helps to know why we dream in the first place. A Caring Way to Give Constructive Feedback No one likes criticism, and most people don’t know how to give constructive feedback. Because it’s so difficult to bring up these issues, most people don’t bother. They just stew. You Need an Answer To: Why Am I Doing This? Friends and sports heroes remind me that to achieve your goal, you need the inner strength to keep plugging away in spite of discouragement and fatigue. Nothing Is Ordinary A grackle is just a black bird, so common you don't even notice them, even when they arrive by the hundreds. Maybe you should notice them. More for Less I’d rather eat a homemade sandwich on sitting on the beach than have lunch in any restaurant in town. What Is Your Song? In my experience, most people are singing someone else’s song. I respect their need and choice to do so, but to be your own person you have to go your own way. Poison in the Silver Spoon Parents may want to give their children the things they couldn't have when they were young, to protect them from a difficult childhood. But if kids are to grow up to be mature, self-reliant adults, they need to build strengths of character. When You Come to a Fork In the Road... Being decisive means acting on your best option at the most opportune time. People Skills Are Hard Skills People skills are much harder to improve than any other kind of skill. Here's why. Learning Is Physical What happens in in the development of any behavior pattern is the physical connecting of a neural pathway in the brain. And what stimulates this growth is repeated behavior. These are the dues you pay for learning any skill. Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam: The Dues They Pay Tiger Woods is one of the all-time great professional golfers, and he hits hundreds of golf balls in practice every day. But even Tiger had to stick with his new swing for the better part of a year before the new patterns became ingrained and he achieved noticeable improvements in his game. Recipe: Pizza Lite Now you can satisfy your craving for pizza with a hot treat that not only tastes great, it's good for you. A Simpler, More Spiritual Life I think it's wonderful that the best things in life (most of them, anyway) really are free. Others Will Help You Achieve Your Goals If you help others, they’ll be willing to help you. We Can Serve Even if you have only a small amount of time to give, that’s all it takes to positively influence someone else’s life. The Reinforcement Imperative Learning a professional skill is like learning a sport skill. If you want it to feel comfortable and natural and if you want to do it well as a matter of habit, it will take lots of practice. Never Give Up! Sometimes the journey is hard, like being in the ring with a brutal foe. More often than not, the secret is simply to keep on fighting. Mass Extinction Most biologists believe the Earth is undergoing the sixth mass extinction to occur since the beginning of the planet. Even if you're concerned, the problem is so huge that it's hard to think about it. When Personalities Clash, Stretch for Rapport A revealing story about my encounter with someone who is very different from me. Using 360-Degree Feedback to Assess Whether Performance Is Improving Instead of evaluating whether there’s a causal link between assessment and the bottom line, it makes more sense to evaluate whether developmental programs are actually improving performance. Composure: Being Strong for Life Unless you live a protected life, your next crisis is probably already on its way, coming at you from the future. It's reassuring to know that you have the inner strength to stand up to the surprises life hands out and just deal with the situation. Should You Spank Your Child?...A Story Some say there is a time and a place and a right way to hit a child to instill discipline. Maybe this is true. Here's a story to consider in the debate... Joy to the Fishes? The Indian River Lagoon in Florida has more diverse sea life than any other body of water in America. But it is being slowly polluted and the sea life is dying. Can the facts presented by a world-renowned expert do any good? Recipe: Curry Chicken Salad Very low cal...very high taste...a great lunch! Optimism Makes You Strong for Life When bad things happen, I need to be strong enough to recognize the possibilities, to work with the resources available to me. My Guilty Pleasure: A Steak Sandwich I'm blessed to be married to a woman who thinks cooking is a form of creativity and fun. But every now and then, I've got to have my steak sandwich. Don't Take Best Friends for Granted It takes a lot of time, effort and commitment to cultivate a close, long-lasting relationship with another person. Four Reasons Why Employees Take Performance Feedback Seriously If 360-degree feedback isn’t linked to compensation or personnel action, what would motivate a person towards self-improvement? Before Working on Getting Stronger, Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses You can be in control, and you can improve your situation if you begin with self-examination and self-awareness. Four Factors That Contribute to Effective Workplace Performance A supervisor can have a positive impact on all four factors, thereby helping a team member improve performance. Patience Is Making Me Stronger Being patient has never been my strong suit, but I'm working on it and I've experienced some wonderful benefits. Orange Carrots If raw carrots don't appeal to you, try carrots prepared this way... Love, Emotion and Your Brain How the brain and body interact to produce emotions is a fascinating story. People Will Like You for Who You Are Relationships are based on trust. If you put up a false front, eventually that trust will be lost, along with the relationship. Why I Exercise When your health fails, you die. I was never an athlete. But now, as a senior citizen, I exercise to make my body stronger, to protect myself against injury and disease. It Helps to Know How Learning Happens You can't manage what you don't understand. Learning happens in the brain. Here's how it happens. Compassion and Empathy The movie "Pay It Forward" inspires thoughts of compassion, a human trait that has been heralded by the great minds for thousands of years. 360-Degree Feedback: A Tale of the Technology Employees aren't likely to improve their performance if they don't know how they're doing. 360-degree feedback solves this problem handily, and what used to be a rigid, cumbersome expensive service is now quite flexible, easy to use, and affordable. A Familiar Tale of Woe...and the Practical Solution It's amazing how many billions of dollars are wasted annually by corporate training that fails to improve workplace performance. The fault lies in seeing training as an event, which is never enough to alter behavior patterns that have been ingrained for decades. Give and Serve...for the Right Reasons You can serve your neighbors and community. The idea is to give what you can to something you really care about. Oprah on Loyalty If you want to know who's loyal to you, notice who sticks by you during the tough times. Are You a Life-Long Learner? Not everyone is on the journey of becoming a stronger and better person. But most highly successful people are. Recipe: Herbed Veggie Turkey Frittata Here's an amazing breakfast treat that's low in calories and high in taste. In the Zone: What's Really Happening in the Brain The study of how the brain functions gives an elegant explanation of peak "in-the-zone" performance. Uncertainty...Risk...You'll Need Courage to Succeed Venturing into unknown territory can be scary. What if it doesn’t work out? Who knows what could happen? Intimacy Sexual intercourse is only physical intimacy. The problem is that sex is often so physically exciting that it produces powerful emotions that can be mistaken for the love and affection of relationship intimacy. Mental Toughness...When It Counts During tough times, will your emotions get the better of you, or will you be able to clear your mind and deal with the situation? If You Value the Relationship, Let Go of the Hurt In any kind of relationship, it’s possible somebody will get hurt, even if the parties mean well. The question is, how long will you stay hurt? All Men Are Not from Mars, and All Women Are Not from Venus It's much easier to stereotype people than it is to recognize the complexity and diversity of people. Broad generalizations may make for fun reading, but they don't help you relate to others. Recipe: Shrimp Boil Fast, easy, delicious, and good for you...this dish has been my favorite since I was a little boy. The Fourth Pillar of Reinforcement: Accountability Why would an organization invest in training if they didn't expect people to improve their workplace performance? That return on investment isn't likely without an extended program of follow-through reinforcement. There are ways to tell whether learners have actually changed their behavior, and holding people accountable helps to motivate them to do the hard work of establishing new patterns. Extraordinary Success: Are You Willing to Pay the Price? Highly successful people know that there’s really no secret to success. That "overnight success story" is usually the result of years of hard work. About Courage... Life is full of risks, small and large. That means to get what you want, you'll need to exercise some form of courage on a regular basis. The Third Pillar of Reinforcement: Coaching A new skill must be reinforced for quite a while before it starts to feel natural, and only then will you use it habitually. A vital component of reinforcing the new skill is coaching. Character Strength Character strength is a major success factor, but very few people really understand what it involves. Recipe: Baked Salmon and Onions with Beans This recipe is a great example of how to combine nutrition-rich "power foods" while kicking the taste up a couple notches. Recipe: Anasazi Chili Beans My wife and I eat for both health and flavor, and she believes that we should eat a half-cup of beans every day because of the protein, fiber (people need 30 grams per day) and trace minerals. This recipe delivers lots of both.
[1] [2]

Home
Member Login
Sign Up
learn more.

How to Submit Articles
to Articledestination.com and drive users to your site

Top Authors Most Popular Articles Submission Guidelines Ezine Notifications Article RSS Feeds About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Service

Copyright © 2005-2012 ArticleDestination.com All Rights Reserved.

Powered by Article Dashboard