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by: Inner IDEA

Meditation is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. But many meditation techniques exist so how do you learn how to meditate?

In Buddhist tradition, the word meditation is equivalent to a word like sports in the U.S. Its a family of activities, not a single thing, University of Wisconsin neuroscience lab director Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., told The New York Times. And different meditation practices require different mental skills.

Its extremely difficult for a beginner to sit for hours and think of nothing or have an empty mind. We have some tools such as a beginner mediation DVD or a brain sensing headband to help you through this process when you are starting out. In general, the easiest way to begin meditating is by focusing on the breath an example of one of the most common approaches to meditation: concentration.

Concentration meditation involves focusing on a single point. This could entail following the breath, repeating a single word or mantra, staring at a candle flame, listening to a repetitive gong, or counting beads on a mala. Since focusing the mind is challenging, a beginner might meditate for only a few minutes and then work up to longer durations.

In this form of meditation, you simply refocus your awareness on the chosen object of attention each time you notice your mind wandering. Rather than pursuing random thoughts, you simply let them go. Through this process, your ability to concentrate improves.

Mindfulness meditation encourages the practitioner to observe wandering thoughts as they drift through the mind. The intention is not to get involved with the thoughts or to judge them, but simply to be aware of each mental note as it arises.

Through mindfulness meditation, you can see how your thoughts and feelings tend to move in particular patterns. Over time, you can become more aware of the human tendency to quickly judge an experience as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant. With practice, an inner balance develops.

In some schools of meditation, students practice a combination of concentration and mindfulness. Many disciplines call for stillness to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the teacher.

There are various other meditation techniques. For example, a daily meditation practice among Buddhist monks focuses directly on the cultivation of compassion. This involves envisioning negative events and recasting them in a positive light by transforming them through compassion. There are also moving meditation techniques, such as tai chi, qigong, and walking meditation.

If relaxation is not the goal of meditation, it is often a result. In the 1970s, Herbert Benson, MD, a researcher at Harvard University Medical School, coined the term relaxation response" after conducting research on people who practiced transcendental meditation. The relaxation response, in Bensons words, is an opposite, involuntary response that causes a reduction in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

Since then, studies on the relaxation response have documented the following short-term benefits to the nervous system:

Contemporary researchers are now exploring whether a consistent meditation practice yields long-term benefits, and noting positive effects on brain and immune function among meditators. Yet its worth repeating that the purpose of meditation is not to achieve benefits. To put it as an Eastern philosopher may say, the goal of meditation is no goal. Its simply to be present.

In Buddhist philosophy, the ultimate benefit of meditation is liberation of the mind from attachment to things it cannot control, such as external circumstances or strong internal emotions. The liberated or enlightened practitioner no longer needlessly follows desires or clings to experiences, but instead maintains a calm mind and sense of inner harmony.

This meditation exercise is an excellent introduction to meditation techniques.

Maintain this meditation practice for two to three minutes to start, and then try it for longer periods.

Maintain this meditation practice for two to three minutes to start, and then try it for longer periods. If youd like to follow along with a Meditation for Beginners DVD, we can help with that.

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Meditation 101: Techniques, Benefits, and a ... - Gaiam

DetailsCategory: general

Life Foundation

Presents

A Two-Day Workshop On

Past Life Regression & Spiritual Science

What you are today is the sum total of your past, which not only includes your past from the present lifetime but also from all your previous lifetimes as well.The memories and impressions, of each and every moment your past, are stored in your subconscious mind which shapes your personality.

Principle

Objectives

This workshop is designed to help you in the following ways:

Target Audience

This very intensive workshop on soul-journey and self-discovery is very useful for individuals:

Prerequisite

There is no prerequisite for attending this Workshop.

Methodology

This empowering and wisdom based workshop has three main aspects:

The workshop is arranged to answer many of your questions and the practical sessions are designed to bring about a transformation in your life. A wide range of audio-video multimedia presentations on related topics would also be presented during this training program to give you the best possible information and enrich you overall experience.

Syllabus

The Workshop Includes The Following Topics:Essentials of spiritual science: astral travel, third eye, kundalini energy, aura, e.s.p., intuition, akashic records, thought power, spirit guides, master's wisdom, over-self contact, meditation, past-lives, future lives, self-healing, dream mastery etc.

Apart from the above sessions, there are other practical sessions on various extra-sensory-perceptions (ESPs) like telepathy, psycho-kinesis, astral-travel, aura reading etc. that will help you understand your true multidimensional nature.

Workshop Schedule

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LIFE RESEARCH ACADEMY - Past-Life-Regression & Spiritual ...

This article is about evolution in the field of biology.

Broadly defined, biological evolution is any heritable change in a population of organisms over time. Changes may be slight or large, but must be passed on to the next generation (or many generations) and must involve populations, not individuals.

Similarly, the term may be presented in terms of allele frequency (with an "allele" being an alternative form of a gene, such as different alleles code for different eye colors): "Evolution can be precisely defined as any change in the frequency of alleles within a gene pool from one generation to the next" (Curtis & Barnes 1989). Both a slight change (as in pesticide resistance in a strain of bacteria) and a large change (as in the development of major new designs such as feathered wings, or even the present diversity of life from simple prokaryotes) qualify as evolution.

However, "evolution" commonly is used more narrowly to refer to the specific theory that all organisms have descended from common ancestors, also known as the "theory of descent with modification," or to refer to one explanation for the process by which change occurs, the "theory of modification through natural selection." The term also is used with reference to a comprehensive theory that includes both the non-causal pattern of descent with modification and the causal mechanism of natural selection.

Evolution is a central concept in biology. Geneticist T. Dobzhansky (1973) has stated, "Nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution," and biologist Ernst Mayr (2001) has stated, "Evolution is the most profound and powerful idea to have been conceived in the last two centuries."

Nonetheless, the concepts of evolution have often engendered controversy during the past two centuries, particularly from Christians, whose traditional views have been challenged both by the long time period of evolution and by the purposeless, materialistic mechanism inherent in having natural selection be the creative force. Modern Christian viewpoints range from rejecting both descent with modification (the pattern) and the mechanism of natural selection (the process), to accepting descent with modification but not the theory of natural selection, to those claiming natural selection as God's way of creating things. (See evolution and religion below.)

The development of modern theories of evolution began with the introduction of the concept of natural selection in a joint 1858 paper by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, and the publication of Darwin's 1859 book, The Origin of Species. Darwin and Wallace proposed that evolution occurs because a heritable trait that increases an individual's chance of successfully reproducing will become more common, by inheritance, from one generation to the next, and likewise a heritable trait that decreases an individual's chance of reproducing will become rarer. In the 1930s, scientists combined Darwinian natural selection with the re-discovered theory of Mendelian heredity to create the modern synthesis, which is the prevailing paradigm of evolutionary theory.

As broadly and commonly defined in the scientific community, the term evolution connotes heritable changes in populations of organisms over time, or changes in the frequencies of alleles over time. A popular definition along these lines is that offered by Douglas J. Futuyma (1986) in Evolutionary Biology: "Biological evolutionis change in the properties of populations of organisms that transcend the lifetime of a single individual. The changes in populations that are considered evolutionary are those that are inheritable via the genetic material from one generation to another." In this sense, the term does not specify any overall pattern of change through the ages, nor the process whereby change occurs (although the term is also employed in such a manner).

However, there are two very important and popular evolutionary theories that address the pattern and process of evolution: "theory of descent with modification" and "theory of natural selection," respectively, as well as other concepts in evolutionary theory that deal with speciation and the rate of evolution.

The "theory of descent with modification" is the major kinematic theory that deals with the pattern of evolutionthat is, it treats non-causal relations between ancestral and descendant species, orders, phyla, and so forth. The theory of descent with modification, also called the "theory of common descent," essentially postulates that all organisms have descended from common ancestors by a continuous process of branching. In other words, narrowly defined, all life evolved from one kind of organism or from a few simple kinds, and each species arose in a single geographic location from another species that preceded it in time. Each group of organisms shares a common ancestor. In the broadest sense of the terminology, the theory of descent with modification simply states that more recent forms result from modification of earlier forms.

One of the major contributions of Charles Darwin was to marshal substantial evidence for the theory of descent with modification, particularly in his book, Origin of Species. Among the evidences that evolutionists use to document the "pattern of evolution" are the fossil record, the distribution patterns of existing species, methods of dating fossils, and comparison of homologous structures. (See evidences of evolution below.)

Main articles: Darwinism and Natural selection

The second major evolutionary theory is the "theory of modification through natural selection," also known as the "theory of natural selection." This is a dynamic theory that involves mechanisms and causal relationships. The theory of natural selection is one explanation offered for how evolution might have occurred; in other words, the "process" by which evolution took place to arrive at the pattern.

The term natural selection may be defined as the mechanism whereby biological individuals that are endowed with favorable or deleterious traits reproduce more or less than other individuals that do not possess such traits. Natural selection generally is defined independently of whether or not there is actually an effect on the gene-frequency of a population. That is, it is limited to the selection process itself, whereby individuals in a population experience differential survival and reproduction based on a particular phenotypic variation(s).

The theory of evolution by natural selection is the comprehensive proposal involving both heritable genetic variations in a population and the mechanism of natural selection that acts on these variations, such that individuals with greater fitness are more likely to contribute offspring to the next generation, while individuals with lesser fitness are more likely to die early or fail to reproduce. As a result, genotypes with greater fitness become more abundant in the next generation, while genotypes with a lesser fitness become rarer. This theory encompasses both minor changes in gene frequency in populations, brought about by the creative force of natural selection, and major evolutionary changes brought about through natural selection, such as the origin of new designs. For Darwin, however, the term natural selection generally was used synonymously with evolution by natural selection.

In the theory of natural selection as currently conceived, there is both a chance component and a non-random component. Genetic variation is seen as developing randomly, by chance, such as through mutations or genetic recombination. Mayr (2002) states that the production of genetic variation "is almost exclusively a chance phenomena." In every generation, new mutations and recombinations arise spontaneously, producing a new spectrum of phenotypes for natural selectiona non-random selective force (Mayr 2002)to act upon. However, Mayr (2002) also notes that chance plays an important role even in "the process of the elimination of less fit individuals," and particularly during periods of mass extinction. Thus, chance (stochastic processes, randomness) also plays a major role in the theory of natural selection.

According to the theory of natural selection, natural selection is the directing or creative force of evolution. Natural selection is considered far more than just a minor force for weeding out unfit organisms. Even Paley and other natural theologians accepted natural selection, albeit as a mechanism for removing unfit organisms, rather than as a directive force for creating new species and new designs.

Concrete evidence for the theory of modification by natural selection is limited to microevolutionthat is, evolution at or below the level of species. The evidence that natural selection directs changes on the macroevolutionary levelsuch as the major transitions between higher taxa and the origination of new designsnecessarily involves extrapolation from these evidences on the microevolutionary level. The validity of making such extrapolations has recently been challenged by some prominent evolutionists.

The theory of natural selection received a much more contentious response than did the theory of descent with modification. One of Darwin's chief purposes in publishing the Origin of Species was to show that natural selection had been the chief agent of the changes presented in the theory of descent with modification. While the theory of descent with modification was accepted by the scientific community soon after its introduction, the theory of natural selection took until the mid-1900s to be accepted. However, even today, this theory remains controversial, with detractors in both the scientific and religious communities.

Main articles: Speciation and Species

The concepts of speciation and extinction are important to any understanding of evolutionary theory.

Speciation is the term that refers to creation of new and distinct biological species by branching off from the ancestral population. Various mechanisms have been presented whereby a single evolutionary lineage splits into two or more genetically independent lineages. For example, allopatric speciation is held to occur in populations that become isolated geographically, such as by habitat fragmentation or migration. Sympatric speciation is held to occur when new species emerge in the same geographic area. Ernst Mayr's peripatric speciation is a proposal for a type of speciation that exists in between the extremes of allopatry and sympatry, where zones of differentiating species abut but do not overlap.

Extinction is the disappearance of species (i.e. gene pools). The moment of extinction generally occurs at the death of the last individual of that species. Extinction is not an unusual event in geological time. The Permian-Triassic extinction event was the Earth's most severe extinction event, rendering extinct 90 percent of all marine species and 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrate species. In the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, many forms of life perished (including approximately 50 percent of all genera), the most often mentioned among them being the extinction of the dinosaurs.

One of the unheralded laws of evolutionary theory is that macroevolutionary changes are irreversiblelineages do not return to their ancestral form, even when they return to the ancestral way of life.

Main article: Punctuated equilibrium

The concept of gradualism has often been linked with evolutionary thought. Gradualism is a view of descent with modification as proceeding by means of slow accumulation of very small changes, with the evolving population passing through all the intermediate stagessort of a "march of frequency distributions" through time (Luria, Gould, and Singer 1981).

Darwin himself insisted that evolution was entirely gradual. Indeed, he stated in the Origin of Species:

The Darwinian and Neo-Darwinian emphasis on gradualism has been subject to re-examination on several levels: the levels of major evolutionary trends, origin of new designs, and models of speciation.

Punctuated equilibrium. A common misconception about evolution is that the development of new species generally requires millions of years. Indeed, the gradualist view that speciation involved a slow, steady, progressive transformation of an ancestral population into a new species has dominated much of evolutionary thought from the time of Darwin. Such a transformation was commonly viewed as involving large numbers of individuals ("usually the entire ancestral population"), being "even and slow," and occurring "over all or a large part of the ancestral species' geographic range" (Eldredge & Gould 1972). This concept was applied to the development of a new species by either phyletic evolution (where the descendant species arises by the transformation of the entire ancestral population) or by speciation (where the descendant species branches off from the ancestral population).

However, paleontologists now recognize that the fossil record does not generally yield the expected sequence of slightly altered intermediary forms, but instead the sudden appearance of species, and long periods when species do not change much.

The theory of punctuated equilibrium ascribes that the fossil record accurately reflects evolutionary change. That is, it posits that macroevolutionary patterns of species are typically ones of morphological stability during their existence (stasis), and that most evolutionary change is concentrated in events of speciationwith the origin of a new species usually occurring during geologically short periods of time when the long-term stasis of a population is punctuated by this rare and rapid speciation event. The sudden transitions between species are sometimes measured on the order of hundreds or thousands of years relative to their millions of years of existence. Although the theory of punctuated equilibrium originally generated a lot of controversy, it is now viewed highly favorably in the scientific community, and has even become a part of recent textbook orthodoxy.

Note that the theory of punctuated equilibrium merely addresses the pattern of evolution and is not tied to any one mode of speciation. Although occurring in a brief period of time, the species formation can go through all the stages, or can proceed by leaps. It is even neutral with respect to natural selection.

Punctuated origin of new designs. According to the gradualist viewpoint, the origin of novel features, such as feathers in birds and jaws in fish, can be explained as having arisen from numerous, tiny, imperceptible steps, with each step being advantageous and developed by natural selection. Darwin's proposed such a resolution for the origin of the vertebrate eye.

However, there are some structures for which it is difficult to conceive how such structures could be useful in incipient stages, and thus have selective advantage. One way in which evolutionary theory has dealt with such criticisms is the concept of "preadaptation," proposing that the intermediate stage may perform useful functions different from the final stage. Incipient feathers may have been used for retaining body warmth or catching insects, for example, prior to the development of a fully functional wing.

Another solution for origin of new designs, which is gaining renewed attention among evolutionists, is that the full sequence of intermediate forms may not have existed at all, and instead key features may have developed by rapid transitions, discontinuously. This view of a punctuational origin of key features arose because of: (1) the persistent problem of the lack of fossil evidence for intermediate stages between major designs, with transitions between major groups being characteristically abrupt; and (2) the inability to conceive of functional intermediates in select cases. In the later case, prominent evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould (1980b) cites the fur-lined pouches of pocket gophers and the maxillary bone of the upper jaw of certain genera of boid snakes being split into front and rear halves: "How can a jawbone be half broken? What good is an incipient groove or furrow on the outside? Did such hypothetical ancestors run about three-legged while holding a few scraps of food in an imperfect crease with their fourth leg?"

The concept of punctuational origin is not necessarily opposed to natural selection as the creative force. For example, the rapid transition could be the product of a very small genetic change, even one mutation occurring by chance in a key gene, which is then acted upon by natural selection. However, the concept of a punctuational origin of new designs (as with punctuational equilibrium), is also viewed favorably by those advocating divine creation, due to the alignment of this view with the concept of discontinuous variation being the product of divine input, with natural selection simply the weeding out of previous, less well-adapted forms.

Punctuational models of speciation. Punctuational models of speciation are being advanced in contrast with what is sometimes labeled the "allopatric orthodoxy" (Gould 1980a; Gould and Eldredge 1977). Allopatric orthodoxy is a process of species origin involving geographic isolation, whereby a population completely separates geographically from a large parental population and develops gradually into a new species by natural selection until their differences are so great that reproductive isolation ensues. Reproductive isolation is therefore a secondary byproduct of geographic isolation, with the process involving gradual allelic substitution. Contrasted with this view are recent punctuational models for speciation, which postulate that reproductive isolation can rise rapidly, not through gradual selection, but without selective significance. In such models, reproductive isolation originates before adaptive, phenotypic differences are acquired. Selection does not play a creative role in initiating speciation, nor in the definitive aspect of reproductive isolation, although it is usually postulated as the important factor in building subsequent adaptation. One example of this is polyploidy, where there is a multiplication of the number of chromosomes beyond the normal diploid number. Another model is chromosomal speciation, involving large changes in chromosomes due to various genetic accidents.

Main articles: Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism

Darwinism is a term generally synonymous with the theory of natural selection. Harvard evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould (1982) maintains: "Although 'Darwinism' has often been equated with evolution itself in popular literature, the term should be restricted to the body of thought allied with Darwin's own theory of mechanism [natural selection]. Although the term has been used in various ways depending on who is using it and the time period (Mayr 1991), Gould nonetheless finds a general agreement in the scientific community that "Darwinism should be restricted to the world view encompassed by the theory of natural selection itself."

The term neo-Darwinism is a very different concept. It is considered synonymous with the term "modern synthesis" or "modern evolutionary synthesis." The modern synthesis is the most significant, overall development in evolutionary thought since the time of Darwin, and is the prevailing paradigm of evolutionary biology. The modern synthesis melded the two major theories of classical Darwinism (theory of descent with modification and the theory of natural selection) with the rediscovered Mendelian genetics, recasting Darwin's ideas in terms of changes in allele frequency.

In essence, advances in genetics pioneered by Gregor Mendel led to a sophisticated concept of the basis of variation and the mechanisms of inheritance. Gregor Mendel proposed a gene-based theory of inheritance, describing the elements responsible for heritable traits as the fundamental units now called genes and laying out a mathematical framework for the segregation and inheritance of variants of a gene, which are now referred to as alleles. Later research identified the molecule DNA as the genetic material through which traits are passed from parent to offspring, and identified genes as discrete elements within DNA. Though largely maintained within organisms, DNA is both variable across individuals and subject to a process of change or mutation.

According to the modern synthesis, the ultimate source of all genetic variation is mutations. They are permanent, transmissible changes to the genetic material (usually DNA or RNA) of a cell, and can be caused by "copying errors" in the genetic material during cell division and by exposure to radiation, chemicals, or viruses.

In addition to passing genetic material from parent to offspring, nearly all organisms employ sexual reproduction to exchange genetic material. This, combined with meiotic recombination, allows genetic variation to be propagated through an interbreeding population.

According to the modern synthesis, natural selection acts on the genes, through their expression (phenotypes). Natural selection can be subdivided into two categories:

Through the process of natural selection, species become better adapted to their environments. Note that, whereas mutations (and genetic drift) are random, natural selection is not, as it preferentially selects for different mutations based on differential fitness.

In recent years, there have been many challenges to the modern synthesis, to the point where Bowler (1988), a historian of evolutionary thought, states; "In the last decade or so it has become obvious that there is no longer a universal consensus in favor of the synthetic theory even within the ranks of working biologists." Gould (1980a) likewise notes "that theory, as a general proposition is effectively dead." These challenges include models of punctuational change, the theory of neutralism, and selection at levels above the individual. What some historians and philosophers of evolutionary thought see as challenges to the modern synthesis, others see as either erroneous theories or as theories that can be included within the umbrella of the modern synthesis.

Main article: Evidence of evolution

For the broad concept of evolution ("any heritable change in a population of organisms over time"), evidences of evolution are readily apparent. Evidences include observed changes in domestic crops (creating a variety of corn with greater resistance to disease), bacterial strains (development of strains with resistance to antibiotics), laboratory animals (structural changes in fruit flies), and flora and fauna in the wild (color change in particular populations of peppered moths and polyploidy in plants).

Generally, however, the "evidences of evolution" being presented by scientists or textbook authors are for either (1) the theory of descent with modification; or (2) a comprehensive concept including both the theory of descent with modification and the theory of natural selection. In actuality, most of these evidences that have been catalogued are for the theory of descent with modification.

In the Origin of Species, Darwin marshaled many evidences for the theory of descent with modification, within such areas as paleontology, biogeography, morphology, and embryology. Many of these areas continue to provide the most convincing proofs of descent with modification even today (Mayr 1982; Mayr 2001). Supplementing these areas, are molecular evidences.

It is noteworthy that some of the best support for the theory of descent with modification comes from the observation of imperfections of nature, rather than perfect adaptations. As noted by Gould (1983):

All of the classical arguments for evolution are fundamentally arguments for imperfections that reflect history. They fit the pattern of observing that the leg of Reptile B is not the best for walking, because it evolved from Fish A. In other words, why would a rat run, a bat fly, a porpoise swim and a man type all with the same structures utilizing the same bones unless inherited from a common ancestor?

Fossil evidence of prehistoric organisms has been found all over the Earth. Fossils are traces of once living organisms. Fossilization on an organism is an uncommon occurrence, usually requiring hard parts (like bone) and death where sediments or volcanic ash may be deposited. Fossil evidence of organisms without hard body parts, such as shell, bone, teeth, and wood stems, is sparse, but exists in the form of ancient microfossils and the fossilization of ancient burrows and a few soft-bodied organisms. Some insects have been preserved in resin. The age of fossils can often be deduced from the geologic context in which they are found (the strata); and their age also can be determined with radiometric dating.

The comparison of fossils of extinct organisms in older geological strata with fossils found in more recent strata or with living organisms is considered strong evidence of descent with modification. Fossils found in more recent strata are often very similar to, or indistinguishable from living species, whereas the older the fossils the more different they are from living organisms or recent fossils. In addition, fossil evidence reveals that species of greater complexity have appeared on the earth over time, beginning in the Precambrian era some 600 millions of years ago with the first eukaryotes. The fossil records support the view that there is orderly progression in which each stage emerges from, or builds upon, preceding stages.

One of the problems with fossil evidence is the general lack of gradually sequenced intermediary forms. There are some fossil lineages that appear quite well-represented, such as from therapsid reptiles to the mammals, and between what is considered land-living ancestors of the whales and their ocean-living descendants. The transition from an ancestral horse (Eohippus) and the modern horse (Equus) is also significant, and Archaeopteryx has been postulated as fitting the gap between reptiles and birds. But generally, paleontologists do not find a steady change from ancestral forms to descendant forms, but rather discontinuities, or gaps in most every phyletic series. This has been explained both by the incompleteness of the fossil record and by proposals of speciation that involve short periods of time, rather than millions of years. (Notably, there are also gaps between living organisms, with a lack of intermediaries between whales and terrestrial mammals, between reptiles and birds, and between flowering plants and their closest relatives.) Archaeopteryx has recently come under criticism as a transitional fossil between reptiles and birds (Wells 2000).

The fact that the fossil evidence supports the view that species tend to remain stable throughout their existence and that new species appear suddenly is not problematic for the theory of descent with modification, but only with Darwin's concept of gradualism.

The study of comparative anatomy also yields evidence for the theory of descent with modification. For one, there are structures in diverse species that have similar internal organization yet perform different functions. Vertebrate limbs are a common example of such homologous structures. Bat wings, for example, are very similar to human hands. Also similar are the forelimbs of the penguin, the porpoise, the rat, and the alligator. In addition, these features derive from the same structures in the embryo stage. As queried earlier, why would a rat run, a bat fly, a porpoise swim and a man type all with limbs using the same bone structure if not coming from a common ancestor, since these are surely not the most ideal structures for each use (Gould 1983).

Likewise, a structure may exist with little or no purpose in one organism, yet the same structure has a clear purpose in other species. These features are called vestigial organs or vestigial characters. The human wisdom teeth and appendix are common examples. Likewise, some snakes have pelvic bones and limb bones, and some blind salamanders and blind cave fish have eyes. Such features would be the prediction of the theory of descent with modification, suggesting that they share a common ancestry with organisms that have the same structure, but which is functional.

For the point of view of classification, it can be observed that various species exhibit a sense of "relatedness," such as various catlike mammals can be put in the same family (Felidae), dog-like mammals in the same family (Canidae), and bears in the same family (Ursidae), and so forth, and then these and other similar mammals can be combined into the same order (Carnivora). This sense of relatedness, from external features, fits the expectations of the theory of descent with modification.

Phylogeny, the study of the ancestry (pattern and history) of organisms, yields a phylogenetic tree to show such relatedness (or a cladogram in other taxonomic disciplines).

A common evidence for evolution is the assertion that the embryos of related animals are often quite similar to each other, often much more similar than the adult forms. For example, it is held that the development of the human embryo is compatible to comparable stages of other kinds of vertebrates (fish, salamander, tortoise, chicken, pig, cow, and rabbit). Furthermore, mammals such as cows and rabbits are more similar in embryological development than with alligators. Often, the drawings of early vertebrate embryos by Ernst Haeckel are offered as proof.

It has further been asserted that features, such as the gill pouches in the mammalian embryo resemble those of fish, are most readily explained as being remnants from the ancestral fish, which were not eliminated because they are embryonic "organizers" for the next step of development.

Wells (2000) has criticized embryological evidence on several points. For one, it is now known that Ernst Haeckel exaggerated the similarities of vertebrate embryos at the midpoint of embryological development, and omitted the earlier embryological stages when differences were more pronounced. Also, embryological development in some frog species looks very similar to that of birds, rather than other frog species. Remarkably, even as revered an evolutionist as Ernst Mayr, in his 2001 text What Evolution Is, used Haeckel drawings from 1870, which he knew were faked, noting "Haeckel (sp.) had fraudulently substituted dog embryos for the human ones, but they were so similar to humans that these (if available) would have made the same point."

The geographic distribution of plants and animals offers another commonly cited evidence for evolution (common descent). The fauna on Australia, with its large marsupials, is very different from that of the other continents. The fauna on Africa and South America are very different, but the fauna of Europe and North America, which were connected more recently, are similar. There are few mammals on oceanic islands. These findings support the theory of descent with modification, which holds that the present distribution of flora and fauna would be related to their common origins and subsequent distribution. The longer the separation of continents, such as with Australia's long isolation, the greater the expected divergence is.

Renowned evolutionist Mayr (1982) contends that "the facts of biogeography posed some of the most insoluble dilemmas for the creationists and were eventually used by Darwin as his most convincing evidence in favor of evolution."

Evidence for common descent may be found in traits shared between all living organisms. In Darwin's day, the evidence of shared traits was based solely on visible observation of morphologic similarities, such as the fact that all birdseven those which do not flyhave wings. Today, the theory of common descent is supported by genetic similarities. For example, every living cell makes use of nucleic acids as its genetic material, and uses the same twenty amino acids as the building blocks for proteins. All organisms use the same genetic code (with some extremely rare and minor deviations) to translate nucleic acid sequences into proteins. The universality of these traits strongly suggests common ancestry, because the selection of these traits seems somewhat arbitrary.

Similarly, the metabolism of very different organisms is based on the same biochemistry. For example, the protein cytochrome c, which is needed for aerobic respiration, is universally shared in aerobic organisms, suggesting a common ancestor that used this protein. There are also variations in the amino acid sequence of cytochrome c, with the more similar molecules found in organisms that appear more related (monkeys and cattle) than between those that seem less related (monkeys and fish). The cytochrome c of chimpanzees is the same as that of humans, but very different from bread mold. Similar results have been found with blood proteins.

Other uniformity is seen in the universality of mitosis in all cellular organisms, the similarity of meiosis in all sexually reproducing organisms, the use of ATP by all organisms for energy transfer, and the fact that almost all plants use the same chlorophyll molecule for photosynthesis.

The closer that organisms appear to be related, the more similar are their respective genetic sequences. That is, comparison of the genetic sequence of organisms reveals that phylogenetically close organisms have a higher degree of sequence similarity than organisms that are phylogenetically distant. For example, neutral human DNA sequences are approximately 1.2 percent divergent (based on substitutions) from those of their nearest genetic relative, the chimpanzee, 1.6 percent from gorillas, and 6.6 percent from baboons. Sequence comparison is considered a measure robust enough to be used to correct erroneous assumptions in the phylogenetic tree in instances where other evidence is scarce.

Comparative studies also show that some basic genes of higher organisms are shared with homologous genes in bacteria.

Concrete evidence for the theory of modification by natural selection is limited to the microevolutionary levelthat is, events and processes at or below the level of species. As examples of such evidences, plant and animal breeders use artificial selection to produce different varieties of plants and strains of fish. Natural selection is seen in the changes of the shade of gray of populations of peppered moths (Biston betularia) observed in England.

Another example involves the hawthorn fly, Rhagoletis pomonella. Different populations of hawthorn fly feed on different fruits. A new population spontaneously emerged in North America in the nineteenth century sometime after apples, a non-native species, were introduced. The apple-feeding population normally feeds only on apples and not on the historically preferred fruit of hawthorns. Likewise the current hawthorn feeding population does not normally feed on apples. A current area of scientific research is the investigation of whether or not the apple-feeding race may further evolve into a new species. Some evidence, such as the fact that six out of thirteen alozyme loci are different, that hawthorn flies mature later in the season, and take longer to mature than apple flies, and that there is little evidence of interbreeding (researchers have documented a 4 to 6 percent hybridization rate) suggests this possibility (see Berlocher and Bush 1982; Berlocher and Feder 2002; Bush 1969; McPheron, Smith, and Berlocher 1988; Prokopy, Diehl, and Cooley 1988; Smith 1988).

The evidence that natural selection directs the major transitions between species and originates new designs (macroevolution) involves extrapolation from these evidences on the microevolutionary level. That is, it is inferred that if moths can change their color in 50 years, then new designs or entire new genera can originate over millions of years. If geneticists see population changes for fruit flies in laboratory bottles, then given eons of time, birds can be built from reptiles and fish with jaws from jawless ancestors.

However, at question has always been the sufficiency of extrapolation to the macroevolutionary level. As Mayr (2001) notes, "from Darwin's day to the present, there has been a heated controversy over whether macroevolution is nothing but an unbroken continuation of microevolution, as Darwin and his followers have claimed, or rather is disconnected from microevolution."

Textbook authors have often confused the dialogue on evolution by treating the term as if it signified one unified wholenot only descent with modification, but also the specific Darwinian and neo-Darwinian theories regarding natural selection, gradualism, speciation, and so forth. Certain textbook authors, in particular, have exacerbated this terminological confusion by lumping "evidences of evolution" into a section placed immediately after a comprehensive presentation on Darwin's overall theorythereby creating the misleading impression that the evidences are supporting all components of Darwin's theory, including natural selection (Swarts et al. 1994). In reality, the confirming information is invariably limited to the phenomenon of evolution having occurred (descent from a common ancestor or change of gene frequencies in populations), or perhaps including evidence of natural selection within populations.

"Evolution" has been referred to both as a "fact" and as a "theory."

In scientific terminology, a theory is a model of the world (or some portion of it) from which falsifiable hypotheses can be generated and tested through controlled experiments, or be verified through empirical observation. "Facts" are parts of the world, or claims about the world, that are real or true regardless of what people think. Facts, as data or things that are done or exist, are parts of theoriesthey are things, or relationships between things, that theories take for granted in order to make predictions, or that theories predict. For example, it is a "fact" that an apple dropped on earth will fall towards the center of the planet in a straight line, and the "theory" that explains it is the current theory of gravitation.

In common usage, people use the word "theory" to signify "conjecture," "speculation," or "opinion." In this popular sense, "theories" are opposed to "facts." Thus, it is not uncommon for those opposed to evolution to state that it is just a theory, not a fact, implying that it is mere speculation. But for scientists, "theory" and "fact" do not stand in opposition, but rather exist in a reciprocal relationship.

Scientists sometimes refer to evolution as both a "fact" and a "theory."

In the broader usage of the term, calling evolution a "fact" references the confidence that scientists have that populations of organisms can change over time. In this sense, evolution occurs whenever a new strain of bacterium evolves that is resistant to antibodies that had been lethal to prior strains. Many evolutionists also call evolution a "fact" when they are referring to the theory of descent with modification, because of the substantial evidences that they perceive as having been marshaled for this theory. In this later sense, Mayr (2001) opines: "It is now actually misleading to refer to evolution as a theory, considering the massive evidence that has been discovered over the past 140 years documenting its existence. Evolution is no longer a theory, it is simply a fact."

When "evolution" is referred to as a theory by evolutionists, the reference is generally to an explanation for why and how evolution occurs (such as a theory of speciation or the theory of natural selection).

Symbiogenesis is evolutionary change initiated by a long-term symbiosis of dissimilar organisms. Margulis and Sagan (2002) hold that random mutation is greatly overemphasized as the source of hereditary variation in standard Neo-Darwinistic doctrine. Rather, they maintain, the major source of transmitted variation actually comes from the acquisition of genomesin other words, entire sets of genes, in the form of whole organisms, are acquired and incorporated by other organisms. This long-term biological fusion of organisms, beginning as symbiosis, is held to be the agent of species evolution.

For example, lichens are a composite organism composed of a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (usually either green algae or cyanobacteria, but in some cases yellow-green algae, brown algae, or both green algae and cyanobacteria). These intertwined organisms act as a unit that is distinct from its component parts. Lichens are considered to have arisen by symbiogenesis, involving acquisitions of cyanobacterial or algal genomes.

Another example is the photosynthetic animals or plant-animal hybrids in the form of slugs (shell-less mollusks) that have green algae in their tissues (such as Elysia viridis). These slugs are always green, never need to eat throughout their adult life, and are "permanently and discontinuously different from their gray, algae-eating ancestors" (Margulis and Sagan 2002). This is held to be another example of a symbiosis that lead to symbiogenesis.

Yet another example is cattle, which are able to digest cellulose in grass because of microbial symbionts in their rumen. Cattle cannot survive without such an association. Other examples of evolution resulting through merger of dissimilar organisms include associations of modern (scleractinian) coral and dinomastigotes (such as Gymnodinium microadriaticum) and the formation of new species and genera of flowering plants when when the leaves of these plants integrated a bacterial genome.

The formation of eukaryotes is postulated to have occurred through a symbiotic relationship between prokaryotes, a theory called endosymbiosis. According to this theory, mitochondria, chloroplasts, flagella, and even the cell nucleus would have arisen from prokaryote bacteria that gave up their independence for the protective and nutritive environment within a host organism.

Margulis and Sagan (2002) state that the formation of new species by inheritance of acquired microbes is best documented in protists. They conclude that "details abound that support the concept that all visible organisms, plants, animals, and fungi evolved by "body fusion."

The conventional paradigm of the theory of descent with modification presumes that the history of life maps as the "tree of life," a tree beginning with the trunk as one universal common ancestor and then progressively branching, with modern species at the twig ends. However, that clean and simple pattern is being called into question due to discoveries being made by sequencing genomes of specific organisms. Instead of being simple at its base, the tree of life is looking considerably more complex. At the level of single cells, before the emergence of multicellular organisms, the genomic signs point not to a single line of development, but rather to a bush or a network as diverse microbes at times exchange their genetic material, especially through the process of lateral gene transfer.

Other complicating factors are proposed based on the relatively sudden appearance of phyla during the Cambrian explosion and on evidence that animals may have originated more than once and in different places at different times (Whittington 1985; Gordon 1999; Woese 1998; Wells 2000).

The current paradigm of the theory of natural selection is that the process has a major stochastic (random) element, with heritable variation arising through chance, and then being acted upon by the largely non-random force of natural selection made manifest as various species compete for limited resources. An alternative view is that the introduced variation is non-random.

In particular, various theistic perspectives see directed variation, from a Supreme Being, as the creative force of evolution. Natural selection, rather than being the creative force of evolution, may be variously viewed as a force for advancement of the new variation or may be considered largely inconsequential. Some role may also be accorded differential selection, such as mass extinctions. This view sees the evolutionary process as progressive, non-materialistic, and purposeful.

Neither of these contrasted worldviewsrandom variation and the purposeless, non-progressive role of natural selection, or purposeful, progressive variationare conclusively proved or unproved by scientific methodology, and both are theoretically possible.

The appearance of life on earth (see origin of life) is not a part of biological evolution.

Not much is known about the earliest developments in life. However, all existing organisms share certain traits, including cellular structure and genetic code. Most scientists interpret this to mean all existing organisms share a common ancestor that had already developed the most fundamental cellular processes. There is no scientific consensus on the relationship of the three domains of life (Archea, Bacteria, Eukaryota) or the origin of life.

The emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis (around 3 billion years ago) and the subsequent emergence of an oxygen-rich, non-reducing atmosphere can be traced through the formation of banded iron deposits, and later red beds of iron oxides. This was a necessary prerequisite for the development of aerobic cellular respiration, believed to have emerged around 2 billion years ago.

In the last billion years, simple multicellular plants and animals began to appear in the oceans. Soon after the emergence of the first animals, the Cambrian explosion (a period of unrivaled and remarkable, but brief, organismal diversity documented in the fossils found at the Burgess Shale) saw the creation of all the major body plans, or phyla, of modern animals. About 500 million years ago, plants and fungi colonized the land, and were soon followed by arthropods and other animals, leading to the development of the land ecosystems of today.

Utilizing the fossil record, scientists have constructed geological timetables, or geological time scales to offer a picture of the history of life on earth, organized by presenting the type of plant and animal life according to the time of appearance (often listed in terms of era, period, epoch, and years). This timetable, for example, locates the first bacteria and the first algae in the Precambrian era, over 1 billion years ago, the first marine invertebrates in the Cambrian period of the Paleozoic era (some 580 million years ago), early mammals in the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era, the first flowering plants in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era, and the development of early hominids in the Pliocene epoch of the Tertiary period of the Cenozoic era, and so forth.

One of the great puzzles in biology is the sudden appearance of most body plans of animals during the early Cambrian period and why there have been no major new structural types in the subsequent 500 million years (Mayr 2001).

Scientists also strive to show lineages, from ancestral to descendant organisms. There are numerous evidences that are used in constructing this more defined history of life, with the best known being the fossil record, but also utilizing the comparative anatomy of present-day plants and animals. By comparing the anatomies of both modern and extinct species, biologists attempt to reconstruct the lineages of those species. Transitional fossils have been proposed to picture continuity between two different lineages. For instance, the connection between dinosaurs and birds has been proposed by way of so-called "transitional" species such as Archaeopteryx.

The development of genetics also has allowed biologists to investigate the genetic record of the history of life as well. Although we cannot obtain the DNA sequences of most extinct species, the degree of similarity and difference among modern species allows geneticists to reconstruct lineages. It is from genetic comparisons that claims such as the 98 to 99 percent similarity between humans and chimpanzees come from, for instance.

Read the original post:
Evolution - New World Encyclopedia

Ah! how ineptly cometh the word "virtue" out of their mouth! And when they say: "I am just," it always soundeth like: "I am just-revenged!"

With their virtues they want to scratch out the eyes of their enemies;and they elevate themselves only that they may lower others.

And again there are those who sit in their swamp, and speak thus from among the bullrushes: "Virtue - that is to sit quietly in the swamp. We bite no one, and go out of the way of him who would bite; and in all matters we have the opinion that is given us."

And again there are those who adore attitudes, and think that virtue is a sort of attitude. Their knees continually adore, and their hands are eulogies of virtue, but their heart knoweth naught thereof.

And again there are those who regard it as virtue to say:

"Virtue is necessary";

but, after all is said and done,

they believe only that policemen are necessary.

Thus Spake Zarathustra

A madman runs into a marketplace crying incessantly,

"I seek God!

I seek God!"

This action provokes laughter from the menin the marketplace who do not believe in God.

In jest, they ask the madman whether God is lost, hiding, or traveling on a voyage.

With piercing vision, the madman confronts his tormentors with this announcement:

"God is dead.

God remains dead.

And we have killed God."

From 1880 until his collapse in January1889, Friedrich Nietzsche led a wandering existence as a stateless individual,writing most of his major works during this period.

The initialsymptoms of Friedrich Nietzsche'sbreakdown, asevidenced in the letters he sent to his friends in the few days of lucidityremaining to him, bear many similarities to the ecstatic writings of religiousmystics.

Friedrich Nietzsche's letters describe his experience as areligious breakthrough and he rejoices, rather than laments.

A paper published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavicareconsiders the insanity and death of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who iscommonly thought to have died of neurosyphilis.

The story of Nietzschehaving caught syphilis from prostitutes was actually concocted after the SecondWorld War by Wilhelm Lange-Eichbaum, an academic who was one of Nietzsche'smost vociferous critics.

Jewish intellectuals at the time were keen todemolish the reputation of Nietzsche, who they claimed came up with the conceptof the "Superman" to underpin Nazism whenin fact the idea of the Chosen Peoplestarted in Judah.

In the late 19th century more than 90 per cent ofthose with advanced syphilis rapidly declined and died within five years ofdiagnosis. Nietzsche, in contrast, lived for another 11 years.

Theauthors of the new study published in published in Acta PsychiatricaScandinavica suggest that Nietzsche died of frontotemporal dementia atype of dementia that specifically affects the frontal and temporal lobes.Other studies of medical records suggest that Friedrich Nietzsche almostcertainly died of a slowly-developing brain tumor.

"Nietzsche was notantiSemitic or a nationalist, andhated the herd mentality,"said Prof Stephen Houlgate, a Nietzsche scholar at Warwick University. "If thisnew research gets rid of another misconception about him,I'm delighted."

Friedrich Nietzsche was heavily influenced byArthur Schopenhauer.

Arthur Schopenhauer theorized thathumans living in the realm of objects areliving in the realm of desire, and thus are eternally tormented by that desire (thisparallels the dharma of SiddharthaGautama).

That drive was defined byArthur Schopenhauer as the inherentdrive within humans beings, and indeed all creatures, to stayalive and to reproduce.

ArthurSchopenhauer believed that through art the thinkingindividual could be jarred out oftheir limited, individualprespective to feel a sense of the universal (metaphysics)directly.

Nietzsche's hypothesis of the human condition to someextent left out thesocial engineering variable by assuming that the herd is willing toaccepts its role - most ofthe time they are born into it and quite simply see no otherway.

There most definitely is apecking order mentality in that people will agree with powerful personalitiesin the hope of currying those people's favor and many willing ride the force ofa personality wave regardless of moral concerns.

That is dueto the fact that these individuals basically owe theirincreased material wealthand power to their lack of empathy which gives them an operationaladvantage.

This website defines a new perspective with which to engage reality to which its author adheres. The author feels that the falsification of reality outside personal experience has forged a populace unable to discern propaganda from reality and that this has been done purposefully by an international corporate cartel through their agents who wish to foist a corrupt version of reality on the human race. Religious intolerance occurs when any group refuses to tolerate religious practices, religious beliefs or persons due to their religious ideology. This web site marks the founding of a system of philosophy named The Truth of the Way of the Lumire Infinie - a rational gnostic mystery religion based on reason which requires no leap of faith, accepts no tithes, has no supreme leader, no church buildings and in which each and every individual is encouraged to develop a personal relation with the Creator and Sustainer through the pursuit of the knowledge of reality in the hope of curing the spiritual corruption that has enveloped the human spirit. The tenets of The Truth of the Way of the Lumire Infinie are spelled out in detail on this web site by the author. Violent acts against individuals due to their religious beliefs in America is considered a "hate crime."

This web site in no way condones violence. To the contrary the intent here is to reduce the violence that is already occurring due to the international corporate cartels desire to control the human race. The international corporate cartel already controls the world economic system, corporate media worldwide, the global industrial military entertainment complex and is responsible for the collapse of morals, the elevation of self-centered behavior and the destruction of global ecosystems. Civilization is based on cooperation. Cooperation does not occur at the point of a gun.

American social mores and values have declined precipitously over the last century as the corrupt international cartel has garnered more and more power. This power rests in the ability to deceive the populace in general through corporate media by pressing emotional buttons which have been preprogrammed into the population through prior corporate media psychological operations. The results have been the destruction of the family and the destruction of social structures that do not adhere to the corrupt international elites vision of a perfect world. Through distraction and coercion the direction of thought of the bulk of the population has been directed toward solutions proposed by the corrupt international elite that further consolidates their power and which further their purposes.

All views and opinions presented on this web site are the views and opinions of individual human men and women that, through their writings, showed the capacity for intelligent, reasonable, rational, insightful and unpopular thought. All factual information presented on this web site is believed to be true and accurate and is presented as originally presented in print media which may or may not have originally presented the facts truthfully. Opinion and thoughts have been adapted, edited, corrected, redacted, combined, added to, re-edited and re-corrected as nearly all opinion and thought has been throughout time but has been done so in the spirit of the original writer with the intent of making his or her thoughts and opinions clearer and relevant to the reader in the present time.

See the original post here:
Nietzsche - unique-design.net

SelfAwareness Test submission count updated: 9/1/2018

Welcome! The iNLP Center self awareness test is on this page. Youll get your results once you hit the submit button. No email or obligation is required.

You can scroll down to the quiz right away, but we suggest reading the introductory sections first the instructions.

Approaching 10,000 submissions, this is our most popular online quiz because it reveals uncommon opportunities for personal growth. The self awareness test does not include interpersonal skills, which may be a future project.

Created by the iNLP Center. Private. Non-commercial. Confidential.

Do you have enough curiosity to take a penetrating self awareness test with a few twists? The quiz on this page will inspire you to think about areas of life you may have never considered. It could be challenging. Thats good!

Why?

Because enlightenment begins with self awareness. This quiz puts self awareness in a framework that creates insight. On a journey toward greater enlightenment, this could be a tool youve been missing. Most people report more than one aha-moment.

Sound good?

The iNLP Center uses the diagram above when teaching the NLP Meta Model, which is a set of questions that probe beneath the surface of vague communication. The Meta Model opens the door into a whole new world of self-discovery. Some of these discoveries are featured in our self awareness test.

The self you can be aware of is much more than the conscious mind. Neuro-Linguistic Programming suggests much of our thinking and communication lies outside conscious awareness (non-verbal communication, to give one simple example, goes largely unnoticed by most). Non-conscious thoughts and communication have a much greater impact than what we consciously notice. Heres a great post that cites research on this.

Likewise, your unconscious mind has a greater impact on your life than you can imagine. For example, 90% of decisions are made unconsciously, according to research. You only know what youve decided moments after the fact.

The more aware you are, the more choices you have!

NLP and life coaching students have an advantage over non-NLP-trained people. Theyve learned things that expand self awareness. Of course, you dont need to be enrolled in an NLP course to benefit from this test. Its for everyone.

The self awareness test should prove to be enlightening to anyone, even to those whove been working on themselves for years.

Each question on the self awareness test has five response options. Choose the option that best describes you. When you submit the self awareness test, youll be forwarded to your score and an interpretation.

FYI, this self awareness test is not a scientific or clinical assessment. Its based on 25 years experience as a counselor, NLP trainer and life coach. We have no control over the test conditions, so consider your results for entertainment purposes or education only.

The areas represented on the self awareness test represent the hot spots of self awareness that can save you from problems and pain or lead you straight into them.

A classic model of neuro-linguistic programming, the VAK model suggests we process information on the inside through seeing, hearing and feeling. Further, our processing is redundant. In other words, seeing an internal image will inspire feelings about the image and sounds either related to the image or our own inner commentary. Seeing, hearing and feeling all work together.

A personal paradigm is a worldview. It answers questions about how life exists and why were here. There is a God who created the universe. There is not a God. People are basically good and here to help each other. People are animals interested in survival. And so forth.

Personal beliefs are perspectives about what is true (for you). In the self-awareness test, well focus on your internal beliefs related to who you are and what youre capable of accomplishing in the world.

Life values are indications of whats important to you in life. You can trust that a value is important to you (or congruent) when it successfully guides your decisions. So, if health is important to you, then you will make healthy decisions. If success is important to you, then youll make decisions and spend your time in ways that lead to greater success.

Inner conflict is part of the human condition. It happens when your beliefs conflict with each other. For example, you may believe you are capable of succeeding in life. At the same time, you may harbor doubt about your abilities. This is a sign of inner conflict.

You may also have values that conflict. You may value security because it helps you feel safe. At the same time, you may love freedom. These two values may lead to conflicting desires and difficult decisions.

Triggers are those things in the outside world that automatically set you off into a negative state. A classic example is someone running their fingernails down a chalkboard (although chalkboards arent so common anymore:) This might make you cringe instantly.

When you find yourself in a negative state, there is always a trigger. Something that prompted your reaction. A particular tone of voice or seeing a specific object (dirty socks on the floor) might trigger you, for example.

The influence of parents or primary caregivers is pervasive. Nobody leaves childhood without taking their parents with them on the inside. Beliefs, values, behaviors and personal paradigms are all heavily influenced by parents during formative years. How are you carrying your parents?

We all have limitations. Some of these are self-imposed, usually due to limiting beliefs. Others are legitimate limitations to our intelligence and natural skills. For example, I know I do not have the intellectual capacity to formulate physics theories like Einstein. I know I cant beat Roger Federer in tennis. In this case, the word cant is not a negative term. Its simply the truth about the limits of my skills or natural gifts.

Your own worst enemy! Do you know why you sometimes sabotage your success? Do you know how or understand the intention behind self sabotage? This part of the quiz will highlight how you might get in your own way.

People are naturally goal-oriented. We move toward what we want. Consciously setting goals is one way to be intentional about the future. This section of the self awareness test will help you learn where you stand in this area.

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About Mike BundrantMike Bundrant is a retired psychotherapist, Master NLP trainer, and practicing life coach. He and his wife, Hope, co-founded iNLP Center in 2011.

Continued here:
Self Awareness Test - iNLP Center

Last Updated on February 14, 2019

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of being. John Wooden

What good is life coaching? Why do I need someone to tell me how to live my life? How would listening to someone else talk about what they think I should do really help me? Am I not capable of being my best self on my own?

These are some of the questions that many people have been asking themselves and has contributed to a misunderstanding of what life coaching is, how it works, and how it can help people find out what drives them and apply it to create a better and more fulfilling life.

If this description of life coaching sounds like it could benefit just about anybody, its because it can. Life coaching is not therapy or counseling, which pairs a mental health professional with a client who may be struggling with an illness or disability.

Its not mentorship, in which a professional is paired with a more experienced professional. Life coaching is also distinct from a training relationship, where a teacher or trainer agrees to share their knowledge or skills with a client for a short period of time.

Life coaching can help fill in the gaps in our master plans and clarify the path from where we are to where we want to be. It is a partnership between the life coach and the client designed to help the client explore their options, focus on their goals, and create a personalized action plan.

Life coaches do not give their clients a list of boxes to tick or a strict set of steps to follow, rather they aim to help their clients discover their own motives and goals, and aid them in finding the best path towards them.

The Positive Psychology Toolkit

Become a Science-Based Practitioner!

The Positive Psychology toolkit is a science-based, online platform containing 135+ exercises, activities, interventions, questionnaires, assessments and scales.

Life coaching is not for the faint-hearted.

Its a career path that allows you to put your skills to use helping others, facilitating their personal and professional growth. The range of problems, challenges, and goals that clients bring to coaches is so vast, it would take an entire article just to list them all.

With such a broad range of practice, there are many skills and tools that a life coach must have in order to be successful. In this piece, we provide 40 exercises, tools, and tips for effective life coaching, plus links to other resources that may prove useful.

Read on to see if there are any exercises or tools that you can apply to your practice!

Coaching is unlocking a persons potential to maximize their own performance. Its helping them to learn rather than teaching them. Timothy Gallwey

There are numerous tools in the life coachs toolbox, and each life coach will likely have their own tools, exercises, and methods. However, there are some tools that have so much potential, they would be at home in almost any coachs practice.

One of the life coachs most valuable and versatile tools is the Wheel of Life. Its a simple and easy-to-use exercise that can help clients find out which areas of their lives are most satisfying and where they would like to focus attention on improving their quality of life (The Coaching Tools Company, 2012).

There are only two steps to this exercise:

1) Review the 8 categories on the wheel and think about what would represent a satisfying life in each area:

2) Draw a line across each segment that best represents the current level of satisfaction, with the center of the wheel equal to 0 and the edge of the wheel equal to 10, the maximum level of satisfaction.

The end result looks a bit like a spider web and can give your client a general idea of their overall life satisfaction in relation to their desired life satisfaction.

You can find the Wheel of Life exercise and download a copy for yourself here. For more information on how you can use the Wheel of Life, check out this article.

One of the many ways that we tend to get off track or bogged down while striving towards our goals relates to our spheres of influence. The idea behind the spheres of influence tool is that there are three distinct areas we can sort the comings and goings of life into:

While we may feel like there is nothing under our control at times, there is always at least one thing we have direct control over ourselves. Even when we are under enormous pressure or when we feel trapped, we always have at least some level of control over our attitude and our behavior.

The second area is that of factors we can influence. We do not have direct control over these factors, but we can put our effort into pushing them in the right direction. For instance, while we cannot control others attitudes or behavior, we can offer them advice, guidance, or provide evidence to help them make good decisions.

The final area is things that we have no control or influence over. This is the largest area since the majority of what happens around us is not under our direct control. A good life coach will help his or her clients to recognize and accept that there is much we cannot control, but will also help them to find opportunities to effect change through taking control or influencing that which is within their reach.

Life coaches can walk their clients through the spheres, helping them identify what is within their control, what is in their sphere of influence, and what cannot be controlled. To read more about this tool, plus learn how clients can apply the lessons learned to their work, click here.

Keeping a journal can be useful for many different reasons, including as a life coaching exercise. Daily journaling facilitates reflection and can spark useful brainstorming about how to better strive toward your goals. Coaches can help ensure that their clients journaling is helpful by providing some guidance.

To guide your client in effective journaling, use can use the handy JOURNAL acronym (Coach Federation, 2013):

To learn more about the JOURNAL acronym, check out this blog.

The action brainstorming worksheet can help clients get out of a rut or a sticky situation.

This easy to use tool is only one page long, with a table that is split into five columns. The instructions are to think of actions or behaviors that you frequently engage in or would like to engage in, and direct them into the appropriate column.

This easy-to-use, one-page tool can be viewed and downloaded here.

The Understanding Our Goals worksheet is intended to help clients figure out whether their goals are worth their time and energy, or to help them prioritize their goals in terms of utility.

This worksheet invites readers to identify their top three current goals and asks a series of questions to help them learn about why each goal is important to them and what they are hoping to gain. These questions begin with the simple Why do you want this goal? What does it give you? and essentially repeat several times to help the reader drill down into what they are really hoping to achieve.

After answering these questions four times, the final question for each goal is What will this goal help you feel? Once the reader has reached the heart of the goal, answering this question should be easy.

As an example, take the goal of losing 20 pounds.

An answer to the first question may be To look and feel better.

The answer to the second repetition could be something like Achieving this goal will allow me to take pride in my body.

The third iteration may elicit a response like Taking pride in my body will help me feel better about myself overall.

The fourth question may then be answered with Feeling better about myself overall will help me to tackle my other goals and improve my quality of life.

Finally, the answer to the ultimate question, What will this goal help you feel? might be something like Confident, proud of myself, and motivated to pursue all of my other goals.

To see the worksheet for yourself or to download a copy for your clients, follow this link.

The coaching website from Kristin Houser (www.mshouser.com) is an excellent resource for instructional coaches, but the tools and tips are not limited to one kind of coach they can be adapted or modified to apply to all forms of coaching.

Here are some of her tools and processes for coaching, from beginning to end (Houser, Instructional Coaching Tools):

This is a great way to begin a coaching relationship, as it gets both parties up to speed on what the coach can offer and what the client is hoping to work on.

Questions to be answered at the kick-off meeting include Whats going well? and What are they struggling with? This is also where the coach and client can set up a schedule and agree on a way to keep in touch and track progress on goals.

The coaching work plan tool includes space for identifying the client, the coaching goal, brainstorming ways to support the goal(s), how you will track progress, and any other notes. As you work through the coaching process, you can also note the progress that has been made and how you can support the client moving forward.

This tool is an excellent way for coaches to stay organized and devote as much time as possible to working with their clients.

This tool is geared towards teacher coaches, but it can be used with any client who a coach has the opportunity to observe in action. It provides space to take notes on what the coach observes when sitting in on a class or other client-led activity.

After the observation has ended, there are prompts to review the next steps and ask any clarifying questions, as well as discussion prompts for the coach and client to go over together. Finally, it ends with space for identifying the next steps.

These tools can help many coaches with many different kinds of clients, ensuring that the coach stays organized and on top of their coaching duties.

For more instructional coaching tools, there is an excellent resource page from http://www.instructionalcoaching.com that you can access here. You will find teaching tools, forms, and exercises that can take coaching from effective to highly impactful.

Coaches know that to make a change, you need to first assess your current state. Assessment tools are a great way to do this, and there are dozens if not hundreds of different assessments in disparate areas that can help.

No matter the area of life that a client is committed to improving, there is probably an assessment that can help them get started!

Here, we go over four essential areas that coaches often help their clients understand, improve, or maximize (Stinnett, 2011):

These areas are identified in the context of leadership coaching, but we find that they are extremely relevant for life coaching as well. What is the intention of life coaching, if not to help the client take leadership of their own life?

Leadership is a common area that coaches are called in to assess and improve. Whether its leadership in the boardroom, in a work team, or in ones own personal life, leadership skills are an excellent resource to have in your toolbox.

These are some of the most popular leadership assessment tools.

The Leadership Competency Inventory measures leadership skills as a function of four leadership dimensions:

This assessment is composed of 46 items gauging the degree to which the user has demonstrated certain behaviors. If the client is interested in getting a more holistic view of their leadership skills and abilities, they can have their colleagues, subordinates, or even friends respond to these items as well.

To learn more about the Leadership Competency Inventory, click here.

This assessment from developers Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard helps the client figure out their leadership style and generates scores in four leadership areas:

The quadrant in which the client has the highest score is considered their dominant style, while the next highest score or scores represent their fallback style or the style they can use when their dominant style is not appropriate or effective.

This assessment is most useful for those who must practice active leadership in their work, but it can help those who may someday take on a more leading role to learn and prepare for that future.

You can download the assessment and try it for yourself or your clients here.

This questionnaire is similar to the previous assessment, in that it divides leadership style into four quadrants. However, this assessment replaces the Supports quadrant with Facilitating.

The different styles can be briefly described as follows:

Directing

A leader high in the Directing style likely provides detailed instructions, specific goals, and works closely with staff.

Coaching

A coaching leader likes to motivate and encourage staff, both praising their success and providing feedback for them to improve.

Facilitating

A facilitating leader involves staff in the decision-making process, listens to their comments and concerns, and is likely to have an open-door policy.

Delegating

A leader high in Delegating provides less detail than a directing leader, and expects staff to find their own way in navigating their goals and objectives.

Like the LEAD, this assessment can be a useful tool for leaders and future leaders to think about their own personal style. This questionnaire can be accessed by anyone through SurveyMonkey at this link.

Personality assessments are very common in all types of coaching, as well as the classroom, a therapists office, and in guidance counseling.

While there is no personality assessment that can tell you exactly who you are and what is most important to you, the results from these assessments can be an excellent guide to learning more about yourself and making sure your goals line up with your priorities.

A few of the most popular personality assessments are described below.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , or MBTI , is perhaps the most well-known personality inventory. It narrows down the test takers personality based on four bipolar dimensions:

Individuals can fall anywhere along the spectrum between the two poles, but they will always be a bit closer to one than the other. This results in 16 possible personality types, all with their own unique characteristics.

This tool has been put to good use in the corporate world as well as in schools and universities. The idea is that when you know more about your distinct preferences, you can learn how to put them to best use. Your results are not a crystal ball in which you can see your life plan, but they can be a useful resource when building an outline of your future goals.

You can learn more about the MBTI or complete the assessment here.

The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths, or VIA-IS, is another popular assessment tool. This is slightly different from the MBTI in that it focuses on values instead of traits or preferences. It still provides a window into understanding your personality, but it focuses on your strengths instead of neutral factors.

There are 24 character strengths, divided into 6 categories:

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Your Ultimate Life Coaching Tools Library 2019 (+PDF ...

You've heard of Zen. You may even have had moments of Zeninstances of insight and a feeling of connectedness and understanding that seem to come out of nowhere. But what exactlyis Zen?

The scholarly answer to that question is that Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that emerged in China about 15 centuries ago. In China, it is called Ch'an Buddhism. Ch'an is the Chinese rendering of the Sanskrit word dhyana, which refers to a mind absorbed in meditation. "Zen" is the Japanese rendering of Ch'an. Zen is called Thien in Vietnam and Seon in Korea. In any language, the name can be translated as "Meditation Buddhism."

Some scholars suggest that Zen originally was something like a marriage of Taoism and traditional Mahayana Buddhism, in which the complex meditative practices of Mahayana met the no-nonsense simplicity of Chinese Taoism to produce a new branch of Buddhism that is today known the world over.

Be aware that Zen is a complicated practice with many traditions. In this discussion, the term "Zen" is used in a general sense, to represent all different schools.

Zen began to emerge as a distinctive school of Mahayana Buddhism when the Indian sage Bodhidharma (ca. 470543) taught at the Shaolin Monastery of China. (Yes, it's a real place, and yes, there is a historic connection between kung fu and Zen.) To this day, Bodhidharma is called the First Patriarch of Zen.

Bodhidharma's teachings tapped into some developments already in progress, such as the confluence of philosophical Taoism with Buddhism. Taoism so profoundly impacted early Zen that some philosophers and texts are claimed by both religions. The early Mahayana philosophies of Madhyamika(ca. third century A.D.) and Yogacara(ca. third century A.D.) also played huge roles in the development of Zen.

Under the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng (638713 A.D.), Zen shed most of its vestigial Indian trappings, becoming more Chinese and more like the Zen we now think of. Some consider Huineng, not Bodhidharma, to be the true father of Zen since his personality and influence are felt in Zen to this day. Huineng's tenure was at the beginning of what is still called the Golden Age of Zen. This Golden Age flourished during the same period as China's Tang Dynasty, 618907 A.D., and the masters of this Golden Age still speak to the present through koans and stories.

During these years, Zen organized itself into five "houses," or five schools. Two of these, called in Japanese the Rinzai and the Soto schools, still exist and remain distinctive from each other.

Zen was transmitted to Vietnam very early, possibly as early as the seventh century. A series of teachers brought Zen to Korea during the Golden Age. Eihei Dogen (12001253) was not the first Zen teacher in Japan, but he was the first to establish a lineage that lives to this day. The West took an interest in Zen after World War II, and now Zen is well established in North America, Europe, and elsewhere.

Bodhidharma's definition:

Zen is sometimes said to be "the face-to-face transmission of the dharma outside the sutras." Dharma refers to the teachings, and sutras, in a Buddhist context,are sacred texts or scriptures, many of which are considered to be transcriptions of the oral teachings of the Buddha. Throughout the history of Zen, teachers have transmitted their realization of dharma to students by working with them face-to-face. This makes the lineage of teachers critical. Genuine Zen teachers can trace their lineage of teachers back to Bodhidharma, and before that to the historical Buddha, and even to those Buddhas before the historical Buddha.

Certainly, large parts of the lineage charts have to be taken on faith. But if anything is treated as sacred in Zen, it's the teachers' lineages. With very few exceptions, calling oneself a "Zen teacher" without having received a transmission from another teacher is considered a serious defilement of Zen.

Zen has become extremely trendy in recent years, and those who are seriously interested are advised to be wary of anyone proclaiming to be or advertised as a "Zen master." The phrase "Zen master" is hardly ever heard inside Zen. The title "Zen master" (in Japanese, zenji) is only given posthumously. In Zen, living Zen teachers are called "Zen teachers," and an especially venerable and beloved teacher is called roshi, which means "old man."

Bodhidharma's definition also says that Zen is not an intellectual discipline you can learn from books. Instead, it's a practice of studying the mind and seeing into one's nature. The main tool of this practice is zazen.

The meditation practice of Zen, called zazen in Japanese, is the heart of Zen. Daily zazen is the foundation of Zen practice.

You can learn the basics of zazen from books, websites,and videos. However, if you're serious about pursuing a regular zazen practice, it is important to sit zazen with others at least occasionally; most people findthat sitting with others deepens the practice. If there's no monastery or Zen center handy, you might find a "sitting group" of laypeople who sit zazen together at someone's home.

As with most forms ofBuddhist meditation, beginners are taught to work with their breath to learn concentration. Once your ability to concentrate has ripened (expect this to take a few months), you may either sit shikantazawhich means "just sitting"or dokoanstudy with a Zen teacher.

As we find with many aspects of Buddhism, most peoplehave to practice zazen for a while to appreciate zazen. At first you might think of it primarily as mind training, and of course, it is. If you stay with the practice, however, your understanding of why you sit will change. This will be your own personal and intimate journey, and it may not resemble the experience of anyone else.

One of the most difficult parts of zazen for most people to comprehend is sitting with no goals or expectations, including an expectation of "getting enlightened." Most peopledo sit with goals and expectations for months or years before the goals are exhausted and they finally learn to "just sit." Along the way, people learn a lot about themselves.

You may find "experts" who will tell you zazen is optional in Zen, but such experts are mistaken. This misunderstanding of the role of zazen comes from misreadings of Zen literature, which is common because Zen literature often makes no sense to readers intent on literalness.

It isn't true that Zen makes no sense. Rather, "making sense" of it requires understanding language differently from the way we normally understand it.

Zen literature is full of vexatious exchanges, such as Moshan's "Its Peak Cannot Be Seen," that defy literal interpretation. However, these are not random, Dadaist utterings. Something specific is intended. How do you understand it?

Bodhidharma said that Zen is "direct pointing to the mind." Understanding is gained through intimate experience, not through intellect or expository prose. Words may be used, but they are used in a presentational rather than a literal way.

Zen teacher Robert Aitken wrote in "The Gateless Barrier":

No secret decoder ring will help you decipher Zenspeak. After you've practiced awhile, particularly with a teacher, you may catch onor not. Be skeptical of explanations of koan study that are found on the internet, which are often peppered with academic explanations that are painfully wrong, because the "scholar" analyzed the koan as if it were discursive prose. Answers will not be found through normal reading and study; they must be lived.

If you want to understand Zen, you really must go face the dragon in the cave for yourself.

Wherever Zen has established itself, it has rarely been one of the larger or more popular sects of Buddhism. The truth is, it's a very difficult path, particularly for laypeople. It is not for everybody

On the other hand, for such a small sect, Zen has had a disproportionate impact on the art and culture of Asia, especially in China and Japan. Beyond kung fu and other martial arts, Zen has influenced painting, poetry, music, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony.

Ultimately, Zen is about coming face-to-face with yourselfin a very direct and intimate way. This is not easy. But if you like a challenge, the journey is worthwhile.

Aitken, Robert. The Gateless Barrier. North Point Press, 1991.

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Zen 101: An Introduction to Zen Buddhism - ThoughtCo

Dan Pena, also known as The 50 Billion Dollar Man, is an American born entrepreneur, philanthropist and the worlds most successful high performance business success coach.

In 1982 he founded Great Western Resources with $820 dollars and during an 8 year period in a bear market he grew it into a $450 million dollar business.

For the past 20 plus years hes been running his eight-day Castle Seminar from his home Guthrie Castle in Scotland; teaching students his Quantum Leap Advantage (QLA) methodology and has created to date somewhere in the region of $800 billion in equity value amongst his mentees and devotees.

Hes the author of several books, most notably Your First Hundred Million, he is the recipient of countless awards and recognitions, and he was appointed by her majesty the Queen as member of the Order of Saint John.

Dan pulls no punches as we discuss the influences and events that shaped him, what makes him an effective mentor, his life goals and legacy, and even the ghosts of Guthrie Castle!

This is not for the faint of heart.

00.00 Trailer

00.18 Introduction

01.45 Dans early life and background

09.45 Dans parents and work ethic

22.40 How can people develop self esteem?

28.30 The changes in Brian Rose of London Real

34.00 What makes Dan an effective coach?

47.30 If Dan woke up with no money whatsoever, whats the first thing he would do?

50.20 Dan on his biggest failure

58.40 Dan on his purpose

1.07.20 How does Dan define success?

1.08.25 How important is money to Dan?

1.11.00 Why does Dan live in Scotland?

1.12.30 The best piece of advice Dan has ever received

1.15.40 What would Dans 5 year old self think of him now?

1.20.00 Was Dans dad proud of him?

1.21.00 How do we evolve from where we are?

1.22.00 Dan on Guthrie Castle and its history

1.26.50 How does Dan account for ghosts?

1.28.30 What does Dan think will happen when he passes?

1.35.10 What would Dan change in the world?

You can find Dan at:

http://www.danpena.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/CastleSeminar/

Tweets by danspena

https://www.instagram.com/danspena/

https://www.youtube.com/c/DanPe%C3%B1

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpena/

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Dan Pena - The 50 Billion Dollar Man - INSPIRED EDINBURGH

Having self-awareness means that you have a clear recognition of your overall personality.

This includes your strengths and weaknesses, thoughts and beliefs, emotions, and sources of motivation. Having self-awareness helps you understand other people and how they view you and your actions.

Many people assume that self-awareness comes easily and naturally, but this sense of heightened awareness can actually be hard to come by.

With practice, however, you can learn to increase your self-knowledge and find new ways to interpret your thoughts, actions, feelings, and conversations that you have with other people.

Achieving self-awareness gives you the opportunity to make positive changes in your behavior and increase your self-confidence.

Here are 33 self-awareness activities that can help increase self-awareness in adults and students.

What is Self-Awareness (and Five Ways to Increase It)

Not sure about how to be more self-aware? In this video, we define self-awareness and five proven strategies that can help you increase it. And for more actionable, habit-related videos, be sure to subscribe to our brand new YouTube Channel.

Self-Awareness Activities - Written Exercises

1. Write morning pages.

This exercise comes from Julia Camerons An Artists Way, which teaches readers techniques to gain self-confidence by harnessing their creative talents and skills.

For this exercise, compose three pages of longhand stream-of-consciousness writing every morning as soon as you wake up. Not only does this help declutter your mind, but it also helps you recognize the things that are in the forefront of your brain that you may need to address that day.

Keeping a journal creates a permanent record of your thoughts, feelings, and the events in your life. This will allow you to look back on important life events and rediscover how you felt at the time. This can be a learning experience because, as you grow and live through new trials and tribulations, the way that you react to certain situations may change.

By reading about your past experiences, you can see how you have grown or matured, and put things into perspective. Its also nice to have a written record of your past.

3. Use feedback analysis.

When you are faced with an important decision, write down exactly how and why you came up with your decision. What factors motivated you, and what steps did you take to come to your conclusion?

After a set time (usually nine months), go back and reflect on your decision-making process. Assess the outcome of your choice in detail and analyze your ability at the time to make the best decision based on your self-awareness at the time.

4. Create a life vision-mission.

In an organization, mission and vision statements serve three important roles. They state the purpose of the organization, they inform people of strategy development, and they display measurable goals and objectives to gauge the success of the organization.

Creating a vision-mission statement for your life can define your clear direction and rank your priorities. It will help set measurable goals and provide a tactical way to measure success.

5. Write a personal manifesto.

A personal manifesto describes your core values and beliefs, the specific ideas and priorities that you stand for, and how you plan to live your life. This acts as both a statement of personal principles and a call to action.

A personal manifesto can help frame your life, point you in the right direction to help achieve your goals, and act as a tool to remind you of your primary concerns.

To get started, ask yourself questions such as: What things do you stand for? What are your strongest beliefs? How do you want to live your life? How do you want to define yourself? What words do you want to live by? A personal manifesto can be a powerful tool for bringing about your best life. Refer to your personal manifesto often.

6. Record your ABCs.

This is a good activity to do after you experience an adverse event. It is a helpful way to debrief yourself and get a chance to reflect and discover your beliefs after a big, negative incident occurs in your life.

Doing this can help you understand your response to stress. While many people can experience the same activating adverse event, their thought processes about it can have a great impact on their lives moving forward. Using the ABC model can help people recognize their automatic thoughts when they're upset or mad, and change those thoughts into positive things.

For example, imagine you are stuck in a long line, but you are in a rush. You may become very anxious at the thought of possibly being late to your next obligation, causing you to complain out loud to the people around you about how long the line is taking to move. Alternatively, you may decide to relax and put on your headphones to listen to some calming music while you wait. Either way, the "A" remains the same, but the "B" and "C" show how you respond to the stress.

This can help you look at things more positively and lead you to find alternatives to solving problems and staying calm.

7. Write a regret letter.

Write a letter to your younger self. This is a surprisingly cathartic exercise that is more than simply listing what you wish youd known. Tell your younger self about the regrets youve had in your life so far, and apologize for any mistakes that you may have made and opportunities that you let pass by.

Aside from gaining a feeling of empowerment from accepting your vulnerable younger self, your words can also help others who are in similar situations as you faced in the past. Your newfound wisdom can let readers know that they are not alone in their struggles, and provide them with advice on how to move forward.

8. Do the funeral test.

This exercise was made popular by Stephen Covey in his book,The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

To do this, write your own eulogy and answer questions such as:

Doing this will help you add more purpose to your everyday activities and how you live your life. It may also help you think twice before reacting to a situation harshly or making a decision before thinking about its possible outcomes first.

9. Record your personal narrative.

How would you tell the story of your life to yourself? What would your autobiography look like?

One essential component of our personalities are our life stories, so mapping out what yours is may help you make some positive changes for the future.

10. Write down your most important tasks regularly.

Your most important tasks (MITs) are the things that you need to accomplish each day to help you achieve your long-term goals. Every night, write a to-do list of your three priority tasks for the following day.

This will allow you to start your day with a purpose and keep you aware of where your focus should be. It will help set a precedent for the day if you are able to accomplish your main goals first and get them out of the way to make room for other items on your to-do list.

11. Create a bucket list.

Having a bucket list will help you identify your personal and professional goals. When the daily routines of your life begin to set in, you are likely to let the days pass by without thinking too much about your long-term goals and desires.

Use a bucket list to keep yourself focused, and make an effort every day to accomplish at least one small task that will lead you towards crossing things off of your bucket list.

Self-Awareness Tests You Can Take By Yourself

12. Know and understand your personality type.

Knowing your personality type will help you understand why you're different or similar to other people, help you manage your time and energy better, and help you recognize your emotions.

When you are armed with this information, you will be better equipped to view other people as being different rather than wrong. It will also help you understand what you need to be able to thrive, and allow you to structure your days accordingly.

There are many free psychometric tests you can take online, including:

13. Discover your Eulerian Destiny.

Filling out the Eulerian Destiny circles provokes critical thinking and self-reflection.

Doing this requires you to look at four areas of your life by answering the following questions:

Take a while to write these things down in four overlapping circles and see where they all meet. This may take time and serious thinking, but it can result in defining and refining your purpose in life. This will provide you with a framework to form your future and a basis of self awareness.

14. Utilize The Freedom Diagram.

The Freedom diagram is one of the fun self-swareness activities. It is a short and practical guide to help figure out where you should use your energy in life, you can use The Freedom Diagram.

The three components of The Freedom Diagram are talent, fun, and demand. Talent refers to what you just happen to be good at doing. The fun component is what you wish you could do all the time, even if you werent paid to do it. Demand is what people in the world actually need or want, and will pay for.

Creating this guide for you will help you decide what skill you should focus on building so you have a higher chance of success.

Self-Awareness Activities - Thought Process Exercises

15. Ask the "Three Whys."

Many self-awareness activities simply asking yourself difficult questions and trying to answer as honestly as possible. The "three whys" is the perfect example of that.

The "Three Whys" are exactly what they sound like. Before making a big decision, or if you are trying to get to the root of an issue, ask yourself "why?" three times. This will help to reveal deep and specific issues that you may not otherwise consider.

It's not coincidental that "why?" is a rather simple question. It is an important realization that you must go a few layers deeper before making any critical decision. Whether you are trying to create a new business, hire a new employee, add a new feature to an existing product, or buy something expensive, you always have to dig a bit deeper to reveal the truth behind your motives.

16. Put a name to your feelings and emotions.

Expanding your emotional vocabulary will allow you to articulate yourself better. Once you are able to specifically identify what you are feeling, it will allow you to release stress and resentment that may be building up inside of your mind.

Here is a list of feeling words that are better able to describe your emotions than simply "good" or "bad". Getting more specific to explain how you feel is a cathartic way to relieve stress and anxiety.

17. Pay attention to your self-talk.

Have you ever noticed how we are quick to praise other people in the same instances where we often criticize ourselves? When we fall just short of achieving a goal or we dont live up to some high expectation, we tend to judge ourselves and dismiss our efforts.

How you talk to yourself in response to your successes and failures affects how you view yourself, and how you think others view you as well. Rather than focusing on small things that you are not able to accomplish at a given moment, think about how far you have come, or your successes up to that point. Focus on the positive rather than the negative.

18. Question your assumptions.

Assumptions are a natural thing that people use to help make quick sense of the world. You probably expect people who are in a certain place to look and dress in a particular way. If your expectations do not meet reality, you make assumptions that can be absolutely wrong.

James Altucher suggests putting a question mark instead of a period after each of your opinions. This helps you create an argument with yourself on some of your beliefs and worldviews, which can prevent you from falling prey to irrational thoughts.

19. Ask questions about yourself.

The Proust Questionnaire is a self-exploration questionnaire that is designed to help you uncover your outlook on life and get clarity on how you think. This questionnaire is about one's personality, and will make you think about what you want out of life and the things that you appreciate the most.

20. Observe your stream of consciousness.

Your stream of consciousness is unpredictable, and not always influenced by the world around you. For example, you may be at work trying to focus on a project when all of a sudden you start thinking about a memory you made years ago on a family vacation.

Be an observer of your own thoughts and feelings, especially those that are negative. Let these thoughts simply pass you by as you move on.

21. Build the Pause-and-Plan Response habit.

We are all well aware of the fight-or-flight mode that we tend to find ourselves in during stressful situations. During these times, it is common to stop thinking rationally and just go with your initial urge. If you act in the moment, you likely will not make the best decision.

How can you overcome your natural fight-or-flight response and reactivate the rational thinking areas of your brain? The key is to engage the pause-and-plan response habit. Here, your brain is able to connect with your body to accomplish your goals and pause your impulses.

The pause-and-plan response is able to lead you in the opposite direction of where the fight-or-flight response takes you. Rather than speeding up, your pulse slows down and your muscles relax. This will help set you up to make positive choices.

Self-Awareness Activities - Physical Exercises

22. Be aware of your body language.

Sometimes self-awareness activities are not about what you do or say but how you go about doing it. Body language is an example of this.

Not only will your posture and gestures affect how you perceive yourself, they will also have a great impact on how others perceive you. Your body language will also set the tone for how others act around you.

For example, if people feel that your body language is showing that you are uncomfortable, they may try to look for the cause of your discomfort so they can remove it. Alternatively, if someone feels that you are relaxed, they are likely to be able to relax as well, and enjoy their interaction with you.

While few people have actually trained themselves to deliberately analyze people's body language, everyone still subconsciously reacts to it. For instance, if your body language demonstrates that you are bored or disinterested in what is going on around you, others will think twice before engaging in conversation with you.

Evaluate your own body language by studying a video of yourself so you can find ways to improve.

23. Practice grounding techniques.

Grounding techniques can be used to help keep you in the present. People who have anxiety about future events often forget to live in the moment and take things as they come. Practicing techniques to keep you grounded will help relieve anxiety and make future tasks seem easier to do.

24. Observe other people.

Just as we can use our bodies to communicate how we want other people to perceive us, we can also observe other people to try to figure them out. Observing other people can be a fun and potentially worthwhile hobby. If you stop to watch the behavior, postures, and mannerisms of the people around you, it can help you learn about how similar or different you are from them.

While you don't want to constantly compare yourself to others, it is something that you will naturally do when you are faced with other people in your environment.

Some traits that you are likely to notice are someone's appearance, their self-esteem, their emotional state, their warmth, and their extroversion. Knowing that other people are observing you as well will certainly help you be more self-aware.

25. Take a morning walk.

Taking a walk first thing in the morning can help you connect with your senses and examine your thoughts and feelings. Take this time to meditate about what is going on in your life, and your goals for the day. Sort through your feelings and make an action plan to be productive with your time.

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26. Practice Zhan Zhuang.

Zhan Zhuang is a simple yet effective tai chi standing practice that helps you gain mental clarity and energy. While practicing Zhan Zhuang, you keep your body still and mostly upright, and become aware of your body as it stabilizes itself. Doing this will help you gain control over your health, posture, and muscle stability. Heres how you can start practicing it.

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33 Self-Awareness Activities for Adults and Students

Hilary Hinton Ziglar was an American salesman, motivational speaker, and author. He was better known as Zip Ziglar. According to the latest estimates, his net worth stands at $15 million. He was born on the 6th of November, 1926 in Coffee Country, Alabama.

Ziglars fame and wealth came from his work as an author, salesman and as the Vice President and Training Director of Automotive Performance Company. He worked as a motivational speaker of Christian Values and also wrote several books that dealt with a lot of issues. Ziglar is an avid author. He has written many books, such as; "Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World", "See You at the Top", "The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar", "Confessions of a Grieving Christian", "Born to Win: Find Your Success Code", "Top Performance: How to Develop Excellence in Yourself and Others", and many others.

He served in the US Navy during World War II between 1943 and 1945. He was in the V-12 Navy College Training Program and attended the University of South Carolina.

Ziglar has worked in several companies as a salesman. Eventually in 1968, he became the training director and vice president for the Automotive Performance Company. This is when he had an accident. However, he continued to travel and give motivational seminars despite falling down the stairs that lead to short term memory problems.

He met Jean, his wife when he was just 17 years of age. That was in 1944. They got married in 1946 and stayed married untilZiglars death. He died on 28th November 2012 due to pneumonia at the age of eighty-six, in a hospital in Dallas.

Earnings & Financial Data?

The below financial data is gathered and compiled by TheRichest analysts team to give you a better understanding of Zig Ziglar Net Worth by breaking down themost relevant financial events such as yearly salaries, contracts, earn outs, endorsements, stock ownership and much more.

Estimated annual earnings of Zig Ziglar

$2,500,000

Estimated earnings received from speaking engagements

$50,000

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Zig Ziglar Net Worth | TheRichest