Growing vs. Growing Up...

There is something powerful about growing up.

There is something even more powerful about
growing.

                                         Stuart Knight

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The Law of Garbage Truck!!! The Video...

Take a look at the video that David Pollay has created to share with us the Law of Garbage Truck and ask us to join him in the pledge!!!

The No Garbage Trucks!™ Pledge:

"I do not accept Garbage in my life.

When I see Garbage Trucks,
I do not take them personally.
I just smile. I wave. I wish them well.
And I move on.

And I do not spread Garbage to others.
I am not a Garbage Truck!

I do not accept Garbage in my life."

© 2007 David J. Pollay

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

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Alone...

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.

From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:

From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,

From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,

From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

Edgar Allan Poe

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WARNING: "WE" does not exist without "I"...

Lately I have been witnessed how so many new "gurus" of leadership, social entrepreneurship, etc. keep on making this strong emphasis on the "we" as the most important element of any human and organizational process...

I assume that those people are making a point that is very valid under the premise that cannot exist WE without "I"...
However today I saw a slide show in which stated clearly the countdown from the 5 more important words in Leadership...

The 5 more important words...
The 4 more important...
The 3...
The 2...
And the MOST important word is....
WE

So far, cool...
After that, and out of the blue, in a slide that I not really understand why is there, I read:

"The least important word: I"

WTF!!???

I lost all interest for the opinions of whoever made the slide show...
Not because different opinions are not welcomed, but because of the fact that I think stating such things as truths can mislead people, mostly young people in search for answers and that trust what "gurus" have to say...

Unfortunately, we live in a stupid world where people are taught to listen and learn from "gurus", to believe what they say, and to follow the "book"... (whatever the book is, we are all surrounded by books that we are supposed to follow...)
Instead of living in a world where young people are encouraged to live and discover by themselves life and make their own conclusions...

Well, I am here not to state a truth, but MY truth, what I believe...
I believe there cannot be WE without I.
I believe the most important word in life is "I"...
I makes us take responsibility:

I made a mistake vs. They do not listen

I believe vs. This is the truth

I feel vs. People think/say/never... (looong etc here)

My use of I has freed me...

The absence of I in some parts of my life condemned me to sorrow and self-pity, excusing myself for everything by blaming the others...

-----------

Don't get me wrong, is not about isolating myself from the world, at the en of the day "I" is the result of my interactions with all the people that I have meet in my life, the ones that I loved, the ones that I disappointed, the ones that made me laugh, the ones that I cried for... All of them...

But I feel deep inside that is so dangerous to live in a world where we are being brainwashed about it, to believe that WE is more important than I...

I believe that:
WE is crucial for US as a community of life.
I is crucial for LIFE itself.

For Dey:
The most important word is "I"
The rest is secondary.
Because I love myself and accept who I am I can be part of the world, 

I can belong to WE.

I am not looking for a solution to my problems and a scape to my sorrow in the WE...

I am looking for a sense and feeling of community in the WE.

A community of very strong, determined and powerful Is.

Love tons.

From the I that I am to the I that is reading...

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Christmas Holidays Approaching... COME VISIT ME!!!

I just put together some pics and made a vid...

Christmas season approaching and I am looking forward to receive some of my friends in Lisbon and have the best time ever...

I am truly excited about showing you the city and be the best host ever...

Are you UP to take upon the challenge???

Let me know and let's get ready to rock the Portuguese Nativity Holidays!!!

I am waiting for you...

Love tons,

Dey

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Why Working On Our Strengths and Not On Our Weaknesses???!!!

Just came across a new post on my friend David Pollay's Blog that caught my attention...

While leading discovery conversations and talking about focusing on Strengths, people usually ask me why not to work on those things that we are not good at... It seems he is getting the same type of questions...

I have found several ways to explain the reasons why I find it more effective to work and focus on what we are good at; however David has mastered the usage of own tales from his family experiences...

Here is an excerpt from his post:

The other day one of you wrote to me and asked, “David, why should we focus on our strengths? We can do some more work on what we’re already good at, but why not just get right to our weaknesses?” Let me tell you about an experience I had with one of my daughters.

Making a bracelet

Last year, Eliana, who was 4 at the time, came into the kitchen with a big smile and a “rattling” box in her hands. She walked past me, climbed up on a stool, and dropped the box on the breakfast counter. I had barely enough time to read the box cover, “Jewelry Making Kit,” when Eliana said, “Papi, let’s make a bracelet.”

Eliana and I delicately strung beads on a bracelet wire. We used beads of all colors, beads with numbers, and we even spelled Eliana’s name. One hour later and our bracelet was complete.

Not a fit

There was just one problem. The bracelet did not fit Eliana’s wrist! I couldn’t believe it! After all that effort, it was too small!

I wouldn’t accept it; I had invested too much time to give up, and I didn’t want to disappoint Eliana. So I tried everything to make it work. I took off beads. I made the knots on the ends smaller. I tried to stretch the wire. And then finally, somehow I found a way to hook the bracelet, but just barely.

I was relieved until I heard a yell from the playroom five minutes later. I ran in to find Eliana, and Ariela, my then 3 year old, looking at the floor. Not only had the bracelet popped off, all the beads were now buried in our carpet!

Missing material

The bottom line was simple: The bracelet just didn’t fit. It didn’t matter what we did, there was not enough material to work with: We did not have enough wire to make the bracelet.

The same is true when we try to do great things in our lives by spending our energy focusing on our weaknesses: We get coached, we get trained, we get motivated, we get inspired, but there’s only so much we can do. Why? There’s just not enough material to work with; that’s a principal reason why they’re weaknesses.

Read the complete post here.

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MyAIESEC.net for Alumni

To all my fellow AIESEC Alumni...

Here it is an invitation to join

MyAIESEC.net for Alumni...

A cool platform to connect wit other alumni for networking purposes, start business together, share what we are doing and more, much, much more...

Hope to see you there...

Love tons,

Dey

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