I have always been drawn to wisdom in knowledge through philosophical studies. My perspective on life has evolved and matured over the years.
The 'Feel Good' Philosophy
HOW ARE YOU TODAY?
My philosophy for life is very simple: have a purpose to feel good! Everything we say, do, and think ultimately reverts back to how we feel. Humans are emotional beings. An old proverb tells us that "without a purpose, the people perish." Our prisons are filled with people lacking guidance and direction. Without a purpose, a person becomes lost in self-centered despair. If a person's only purpose is the job, too often these people become ill or die soon after retirement. Neuroscience has revealed the health benefits of brain plasticity through a purpose of continual learning and many diverse interests. All during life, each person needs a sense of purpose and connections with other people for a healthy mental existence.
Promotions, incentives, and rewards make us feel good. When we are punished or are disappointed through unfulfilled expectations, we feel bad. Research shows that happy people live longer. The perception that wealth, prestige, and power are the keys to a happy life is not necessarily true. We are all in the “pursuit of happiness” as stated by Thomas Jefferson. Some people take a detour in seeking short-term solutions for happiness that may include drugs and alcohol. It is critical to always look at the long-term benefits for our actions today. Most things in moderation are fine, but excess will often have negative side effects. In theory, we should be joyful always. Provided we have an attitude of gratitude and an enduring desire to better ourselves and others, we will be on the right path to a happy and healthy life.
[source: Clint Dantinne]
TOTAL HEALTH
A balance of Intellectual * Physical * Social * Emotional * Spiritual
All things in moderation
PERSPECTIVE
We have this moment to hold in our hands,
And to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;
Yesterday's gone, and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today.
BEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE Now is the time. Now is the best time. Now is the best time of your life.Life is a prize, live every minute.Open your eyes and watch how you win it!Yesterday's memories may sparkle and gleam,tomorrow is still but a dream.Right here and now,you've got it made.The world's forward marching and you're in the parade!Now is the time.Now is the best time.Be it a time of joy or strife.There's so much to cheer for, be glad you're here.For it's the best time of your life.
[source: Walt Disney's CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS theme song 1978-1994]
Managing by Motivation
TEN MOST POWERFUL MOTIVATORS
(1) INPUT: Solicit employees’ ideas, and use them. Involve employees in planning, decision making, and problem-solving. Not only will this motivate them, but you will be amazed how many great ideas workers will come up with.
(2) CHOICE: Let employees make choices about their work. Obviously there are “mandatory” tasks that have to be performed, but letting employees fill out their job descriptions with “discretionary” tasks of their own choosing will give them a far greater sense of ownership in their work.
(3) RESPONSIBILITY: Expand employees’ responsibilities. Employees today want more responsibility, not less – as long as it is real responsibility (not just dumping more work on them) and it comes with commensurate authority.
(4) TEAMWORK: Use the power of teamwork. You can mobilize enormous energy by forming teams to improve every aspect of an organization. But, make sure each team has clear goals and guidelines up-front.
(5) LEARNING: Increase learning opportunities. You don’t need to spend a fortune on formal training classes; just include learning goals in each employee’s job description.
(6) FUN: Add a little fun to work. No matter how tedious and routine work tasks might be, any work can be made more motivating by interspersing occasional fun activities, such as humor, contests, surprise treats, and “productive” social interaction.
(7) MEASUREMENT: Encourage continuous “scorekeeping.” The key to motivation measurement lies in the feedback it provides. Identify key measures for each job and keep a running “scorecard” for each employee and each work group. This way employees will always know exactly how they are doing and will be better able to improve their own performance.
(8) GOALS: Set challenging goals. Don’t be afraid to set goals high. Ambitious goals are highly motivating, as long as employees understand why the goals are important and are confident that they won’t be penalized should they fall a little short.
(9) APPRECIATION: Create a “climate of appreciation.” Nothing motivates like sincere appreciation. Unfortunately, few organizations show adequate recognition for employees’ contributions, especially for their extra efforts. When extra effort isn’t appreciated, employees stop trying so hard.
(10) SIGNIFICANCE: Stress the significance of work. Some employees perceive their work as drudgery, while others view the same work as “a calling.” In other words, do employees recognize the value of their organization’s products or services and their contribution to improving customer’s lives?
Incidentally, not one of these motivators costs a penny!
TEN “MOST DEADLY” DEMOTIVATORS
(1) POLITICS: Most employees are all too familiar with subjective decision-making which operates according to unwritten “rules of success,” having little to do with performance. Under such conditions, the lion’s share of rewards, promotions, and resources go to those who are the best at “playing politics.”
(2) UNCLEAR EXPECTATIONS: Mixed messages and confused priorities often cause employees to work on the wrong tasks and accomplish the wrong results, only to find out – after the fact (usually at performance appraisal time) – that they were on the wrong track.
(3) UNPRODUCTIVE MEETINGS: Meetings are important, but too many are unnecessary, disorganized, passive, lengthy, and boring – leaving employees, according to one observer, “feeling powerless as another meeting wanders into oblivion.”
(4) CONSTANT CHANGE: Change is vital to organizational success, but today’s workplace is turbulent enough without unnecessary changes, which employees deride as “programs-of-the-month” and which are often adopted and discontinued without any follow-up whatsoever.
(5) DISHONESTY: Whether it involves making a false claim, covering up a mistake, omitting a key fact, saying one thing but doing another, or an outright lie, nothing demotivates employees like being deceived by their organization.
(6) WITHHOLDING INFORMATION: One of the most common employee complaints is “not being informed.” How many times have you heard, “I wish I had known that earlier” or “The Company doesn’t keep us informed about what’s happening”? Lack of information makes employees feel stupid and distrusted.
(7) DISCOURAGING RESPONSES: Too many organizations and managers say they want employees’ ideas, but then ignore them. Most employees are familiar with discouraging phrases (such as “It can’t be done here”) and many suggestion systems are “black holes” into which suggestions seem to disappear, never to be seen again. Just consider how many millions of great ideas were killed by this demotivator alone, not to mention the devastating impact it has had on workers’ self-esteem.
(8) UNFAIRNESS: Nothing offends employees like preferential treatment, special favors, and perks given to some but not to others. Most workers become particularly irate when they learn of astronomical management compensation packages, while excellent employees are paid only a few dollars more than those who do the minimum.
(9) BEING TAKEN FOR GRANTED: Employees everywhere report that they receive little or no positive feedback or recognition, not even for their outstanding efforts.
(10) BEING FORCED TO DO POOR-QUALITY WORK: Short-term time and cost constraints too often force quality compromises. Being robbed of the right to pride in workmanship is demoralizing and demeaning to employees. As one discouraged worker lamented: “We all knew the product was garbage, but it was shipped anyway. We left work each day feeling awful.”
[source: Dean R. Spitzer, Ph.D.]Strong Relationships
RELATIONSHIPS - EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT
Everyone has an Emotional Bank Account. This concept is primarily how we interact with friends, family, co-workers, etc. If I make deposits into an Emotional Bank Account with you through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping my commitments to you, I build up a RESERVE. Your trust toward me becomes higher, and I can call upon that trust many times if I need to. I can even make mistakes and that trust level, that emotional reserve, will compensate for it.
But if I have a habit of showing discourtesy, disrespect, cutting you off, overreacting, ignoring you, becoming arbitrary, betraying your trust, threatening you, or playing little tin god in your life, eventually my Emotional Bank Account is OVERDRAWN. The trust level gets very low. Then what flexibility do I have? -- NONE! I'm walking on mine fields. I have to be careful of everything I say. I measure every word. It's tension city, memo haven. It's protecting my backside, politicking. And many organizations are filled with it. Many marriages and families are filled with it. I must be careful, otherwise I could permanently close my account with you – end of our relationship.
SIX MAJOR DEPOSITS IN A PERSON'S EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT
(1) Understanding the Individual
(2) Attend to the Little Things
(3) Keeping Commitments
(4) Clarifying Expectations
(5) Showing Personal Integrity
(6) Apologizing Sincerely When You Make a Withdrawl
[source: adapted from Stephen R. Covey's THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE]
In the Workplace
SIX WAYS TO IMPRESS YOUR BOSS
(1) REPORT FREQUENTLY: Bosses like to know what's going on at all times. Always hand in your reports and other paperwork on time. Look for ways to communicate informally, too.
(2) BE CANDID: No one likes surprises. If you discover a problem pending, don't try to sweep it under the rug. Discuss the situation - before your boss starts looking for someone to blame.
(3) BE RESOURCEFUL: Never use your manager for a dumping ground for problems. Whenever you report a problem, always suggest at least one solution.
(4) BE WILLING: You're not going to win every time. If your boss overrules you, do the best you can to make the policy or plan work, despite your reservations.
(5) BE STRAIGHTFORWARD: Honesty never hurts. So if you notice a policy or plan that doesn't seem right, say so.
(6) SUCCEED: Last, but far from least: Employees who meet their goals and beat their quotas are the most likely to attract their boss's positive attention.
[source: Irwin Pollack]Understanding Discipline
DISCIPLINE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND IN LIFE
Discipline is future-oriented while punishment is past-oriented. Punishment is something such as loss, pain, or confinement imposed for wrongdoing. Discipline is a structured way of thinking reflected in manners, behavior, and lifestyle. Words have meanings. Actions have consequences.
Proverbs 12:1 - Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
Proverbs 13:18 - He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
[source: adapted from the book of Proverbs]"In youth we learn; in age we understand." - Marie Ebner Eschenbach
Really Caring for Others
A LIFE OF LOVE
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
[source: from the first book of Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4 through 7]Know Yourself
BE WATCHFUL
Watch your THOUGHTS; they may become your words.
Watch your WORDS; they may become your actions.
Watch your ACTIONS; they may become your habits.
Watch your HABITS; they may become your character.
Watch your CHARACTER; it might become your DESTINY!
"Good habits formed at youth make all the difference." Aristotle
The Speed of Trust
TRUST IS THE ONE THING THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Any type of relationship needs a basis of trust to be healthy and vibrant. Self trust, relationship trust, organizational trust, market trust, and societal trust are the five waves to define and examine confidence. The four cores of credibility are integrity, intent, capabilities, and results. The first two are based in character and the last two are based in competence.
[source: adapted from Stephen M. R. Covey's THE SPEED OF TRUST]Being Evaluated
"There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say and how we say it." - Dale Carnegie
We are continually evaluating and being evaluated. It is human nature to classify and evaluate. For more primitive reasons, we subconsciously evaluate each person we meet to establish our safety. Is this person a friend or foe? We also evaluate for mating purposes. Is this person a yes, no, or maybe? Let's digest this quote.
(1) "What we do." Our actions, behavior, and performance are always under scrutiny. Whether in sporting competitions, social gatherings, or classroom evaluations, we are always being compared and contrasted. The most obvious situation for observation and critique happens to each person on the job.
(2) "How we look." This type of evaluation is often the basis for discrimination. There are physical characteristics that we inherit from the DNA in our genealogy. These characteristics often change with age and weight fluctuation. In social situations, there are norms as to how we should look. The type of clothes we wear makes a social statement.
(3) "What we say." The content of our communication to our target recipient(s) is always evaluated and classified. We say many things not only through the language of our native tongue, but in facial expressions, hand gestures, and our written words.
(4) "How we say it." There are many people that say brilliant thoughts in writing, but have difficulty communicating orally. A politician, teacher, or radio announcer may all say the same thing, but how it is said often translates very differently. An effective public speaker must not only communicate the necessary content, but deliver it in an understandable way that will be accepted by the audience. A thought may be transmitted in an e-mail, but to hear the person actually say it aloud may lead to an alternate conclusion. Vocal tone, inflection, and even regional dialect are factors in how we communicate and how we are perceived.
Throughout life, we must continually prove our worth and value. Do not get caught in the web of mediocrity. Being your best has many rewards. Most of all, it make you feel good!
[source: commentary by Clint Dantinne]Diversity and Cultures
I believe in problem solving through an exchange of ideas and asking intelligent questions. There really are solutions to life’s problems. Communication is the essential core to all functioning societies. The Arts & Entertainment cable television network aired a series in late 1999 called 'Biography of the Millennium: 100 People - 1,000 Years'. Between the period of A.D. 1000 and 2000, Johannes Gutenberg was proclaimed the most influential person of the millennium. His simple invention in 1440, the movable-type printing press, allowed communication to flourish internationally. The renaissance of ideas and information that followed changed the world forever.
I take civic concerns and social problems seriously. It grieves me terribly to see people at war… abroad in foreign countries and domestically in our own cities. We are all people - to me it is that simple. There are no boundaries. Since the creation of this personal web site, I have always listed my creed according to the preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." I wish for all people to be self-empowered through knowledge and wisdom. Self-esteem comes from discipline, treating others with kindness, and hard work. Behavior from our students and adults that encourage violence, abusive language, and disrespect should not be tolerated. It is unfortunate that our media often has a negative influence on impressionable minds by glamorizing hatred, robbery, murder, rape, and every form of human suffering. Reality exists in each individual human psyche [(garbage in = garbage out) or (goodness in = goodness out)]. Everyone is ultimately accountable for his or her own self.
My fondest memories are of working and living at Walt Disney World. While on their college program, my Disney roomies were international students representing the many countries of World Showcase in EPCOT Center. This was living diversity in action. I loved it! There are so many exciting experiences brought to life by our world’s cultures. I would stake my “life, fortune, and sacred honor” in being color blind. However, I am not culture blind. The United States has many wonderful cultures and sub-cultures. There is no single perfect culture. We all have potential for individual growth and societal value, yet we are still flawed humans trying to make it through life as best we can. Regardless of race, gender, age, or nationality, people need to understand and embrace the basic concepts and laws that govern a free society. The American Adventure in Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center features the ‘spirits’ of adventure, compassion, discovery, freedom, heritage, independence, individualism, innovation, knowledge, pioneering, self-reliance, and tomorrow. As America recently celebrated its 400th anniversary with the settlement of Jamestown, we need to continually remind our ourselves of these core concepts.
Walt Disney said “Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards - the things we live by and teach our children - are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.” With this assumed, we can choose to ignore problems without seeking a remedy or we can engage in courageous conversations to establish a common vision. Please don’t settle for mediocrity. Dreams can become reality!
[source: Clint Dantinne]Quotes
"Six words that govern my life: Do what’s right. Make things better." - Clint Dantinne
"Words have meanings. Actions have consequences." - Clint Dantinne
"If the United States had a slogan, perhaps it would read 'America: There's something for everyone'." - Clint Dantinne
"Value determines business practices. Metrics determines value." - Clint Dantinne
"Discipline is your best friend in life." - Clint Dantinne
"You know you've mastered a skill when doing it comes without really thinking." - Clint Dantinne
"There's a big difference between humor and hate. It would be anything but humorous if we could no longer laugh at ourselves and our differences." - Clint Dantinne
"Only be with people that want to be with you." - Clint Dantinne
"Do not pass the torch of vengeance to future generations for past injustice. If it didn’t happen during your lifetime, let it go." - Clint Dantinne
"Although often necessary for a civilized society, each law, rule and regulation chips away at the foundation of our absolute freedom." - Clint Dantinne
"Radio is the voice actor's stage." - Clint Dantinne
"How we think is everything. What we think about will determine our own private universe." - Clint Dantinne
"Gazing at the moon is a virtual portal to the past and future. All eyes from every culture around the world and throughout time have seen our lunar friend." - Clint Dantinne
"Differing viewpoints do not necessarily offend me. I am more curious WHY people believe what they believe." - Clint Dantinne
"A mind at rest performs the best." - Clint Dantinne
"Who we are, which decisions we make, where we are going, and what we do; is all determined by how we think." - Clint Dantinne
"Mindfulness is always thoughtful, aware and kind. It gives you understanding, freedom and peace. It is void of bias and ego." - Clint Dantinne
"The spirit of adventure begins in your own backyard. The familiar rarely seems as exotic as a distant land, yet there are cultural curiosities and natural wonders all around us." - Clint Dantinne
Clint Dantinne "Insights for business and living"
Twitter 'X' (2010-2023) | Threads (2023-present) | Spoutable (2023-present)
Favorite Insightful Books and Links
Emotional Leadership (class)
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Spirit-Controlled Temperament by Tim F. LaHaye (worksheet)
Living A Connected Life: Creating and Maintaining Relationships that Last by Kathleen A. Brehony
The SPEED of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey
Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel G. Amen
I also have a private library of learning resources on my Digital Download System.
My Creed
The preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence claims that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
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