"solutions...with Courtney Anderson!"™

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-168-myth-warriors-series-everything-happens-for-a-reason.html   SHOW NOTES: In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not. We are warriors fighting to establish clarity between what is accurate and what is simply a myth (or falsehood) in life. This episode is, “Everything Happens For a Reason.” Our options that we discuss in this show are: 1) Everything happens. 2) Everything happens for a reason. 3) Everything happens for a specific reason (religious based, scientifically based, etc.). This is intriguing show! Please join in as we explore some ideas that will challenge our assumptions about “what we know.” I did not anticipate that I would be so drawn into examining my own ideas about our world as I was in this show! I am not a theologian, a historian, a philosopher, a physicist or anything other than a layperson with curiosity about these topics. If you do not want to think about the questions

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-167-joyful-art-of-business-series-i-am-competing-with-three-billion-people-for-my-job-really.html   SHOW NOTES: In our JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series we explore how to combine the positive benefits of our professional endeavors (“business”) with the overall positive emotional return on our efforts (“joy”). The act of engaging in professional endeavors, in any capacity (i.e., as an employee, employer, entrepreneur, contractor, volunteer, paid, full time, part time, intermittently, etc.) is an expression of our ideas and creative talents (“art”). All of this is in furtherance of our mission to surpass our goals! Our episode today is, “I Am Competing With Three Billion People For My Job! Really?” Yes.  This show is intended to remind us that whether or not we want to think from a global perspective as individuals that we are subject to global realities. Thus, instead of focusing on your employment opportunities in a particular city, country, region or other

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-166-satisfaction-saturation-series-i-am-used-to-having-things-my-way-and-i-have-no-patience-when-they-arent-help-me.html   SHOW NOTES: You are craving a new mountain to climb. This series, “SATISFACTION SATURATION™”, is for you. We will address the challenges in reaching the SATISFACTION SATURATION state in regards to specific experiences, how to recognize it, how to treat it, how to prevent it, and how to handle the feedback from other people (“Must be nice to have that job, that house, that car, that award,” etc.).  This specific episode is, “I Am Used To Having Things MY WAY and I Have NO PATIENCE When They Aren't. Help Me!" Who are we after an extended time period of being catered to by others?  When we get used to having our needs and desires met (because we are the boss, the important client, the well paying supporter, etc.) it may result in us starting to believe that we deserve to be catered to and treated as a “special” person. We get used to ha

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-165-help-situation-spotlight-series-i-was-taught-that-i-have-to-be-twice-as-good-as-themhellipand-i-am-exhausted.html   SHOW NOTES: In our HELP! SITUATION SPOTLIGHT™ series, we shine the light on challenges that community members have shared. This episode is, “ I Was Taught That I Have to Be Twice As Good As Them…and I Am Exhausted." This is an episode that I feel very strongly about! The central question is who is in charge of your life? Is it you? Or, someone or something else? If you are in charge of your life then you define your goals, your value and your experiences. If you accede that power over your life to other people or entities then they will define your goals, your value and your experiences.  How much money should you make per year? What type of neighborhood should you live in? Either you will decide or someone (or something) else will decide. When do you decide that you have done your best (versus when you have more to give)? What is ‘good

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-164-joyful-art-of-business-series-why-you-have-to-apply-for-jobs-you-dont-think-you-are-qualified-for.html   SHOW NOTES: Our episode today is, "Why You Have To Apply For Jobs You Don’t Think You Are Qualified For!” I often make the assertion that “data is your friend.” That is because credible data will help us make better decisions as we will have more reliable information and facts. We will also have a more accurate perspective on society at large (instead of simply relying on our individual skewed experiences and beliefs).  One challenge is that you will never have perfect data. There will be some incomplete, outdated or corrupted information that impacts your decisions. Thus, how do you know that you are not the most qualified for a job? Perhaps you determine that you are unqualified because you ‘only’ have 55% of the stated job criteria, yet you do not know who else will apply and what their percentages will be. This is due to the fact that you only

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-163-educatorsrsquo-eden-series-grading-feedbackhow-much-is-too-much.html SHOW NOTES: Our show topic is, “Grading Feedback...How Much Is Too Much?" I really enjoy grading student submissions! Yes, I honestly look forward to the student grading process. Grading student submissions  is one of the most fascinating aspects of teaching! We just have to prepare and plan ahead for it to be fun! Having the opportunity to access the student submissions where they share their innermost thoughts, their analysis, and their unique worldview is a privilege. The entire process of disseminating information to several students at the same time and in the same manner (via in class lecture in a physical classroom, via releasing an audio lecture in an online classroom, etc.) and then having the ability to observe how different students accessed that information and interpreted it is exciting. It is like going to see a movie with a group of friends and then discussing it afterwa

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-162-myth-warriors-series-you-dont-have-to-do-anything-that-you-dont-want-to-do.html SHOW NOTES: In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not. We are warriors fighting to establish clarity between what is accurate and what is simply a myth (or falsehood) in life. This episode is, “You Don't Have To Do Anything That You Don't Want To Do!” Angry. Bitter. Regretful. Ecstatic. Proud. Enthusiastic. I have worked with all types of people throughout my career. In some professional capacities people are at their lowest points (they are facing divorce, child custody conflict, probating the will of a loved one who has died, facing criminal charges, facing bankruptcy, etc.). As an attorney I have been needed by clients to address some of the most stressful, painful and difficult issues in life. In my other professional roles, for example, as a consultant and corporate educator, I have had the joy of working t

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-161-satisfaction-saturation-series-i-am-financially-comfortable-how-do-i-stop-that-from-making-me-complacent.html   SHOW NOTES: This specific episode is, “I am financially comfortable! How do I stop that from making me complacent?” Is it a “real problem” for someone to worry about being complacent if they have financial resources? Yes.  Have you ever known about a person with wealth who hurt themselves (or even self-destructed)? Abuse of alcohol, drugs, food. Addictions. Greed. Being victimized by people. We know the story so well. It is partially due to the challenges that we face when we accomplish financial stability. We forget, in our quest to surpass our goals, to examine how our lives will change after we accomplish what we set out to do! How will our options and daily decisions change once we live out our dreams? What do we do afterwards?  Striving for financial independence takes up an enormous amount of time and energy (budgeting, working, savi

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-160-help-situation-spotlight-series-i-want-to-be-someone-else.html SHOW NOTES: In our HELP! SITUATION SPOTLIGHT™ series, we shine the light on challenges that community members have shared. This episode is, “I want to be someone else.” The title of this episode makes me sad. One of the fascinating and wonderful aspects of being alive is that we have characteristics that are uniquely ours. Most of us have unique DNA and even identical twins are rarely completely the same (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/identical-twins-genes-are-not-identical/). All of us are unique in terms of the way we express ourselves (via our behavior).  “Researchers have identified that every individual creates a unique pattern of physical behaviour including the speed at which they type, the way they move a mouse of the way they hold a phone. About 500 different behaviours are unique to every individual and, taken together, form what they call "eDNA", or electronically Defi

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-159-joyful-art-of-business-series-is-the-size-of-your-vocabulary-limiting-the-size-of-your-paycheck.html   SHOW NOTES: Our episode today is, “Is The Size of Your Vocabulary Limiting The Size of Your Paycheck?” Whoa! Do words matter that much? I was teased as a kid in school for "using big words" and "reading too much" (it was not fun being teased and taunted). I have a lifelong love of words and reading. I was not popular when I was growing up, especially when I would rudely "correct" people for using or pronouncing words inaccurately (so don't do this!). I am naturally biased to want to believe that all of the teasing had a silver lining and that there is a benefit to having larger vocabularies. That does not mean it is true, just that I would love for it to be true as it would make me feel better. So, as we discuss in many of our programs, what does the data tell us? Why is vocabulary important (for my income)?... PLEASE VISIT SHOW SITE for the rest of

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-158-hr-heroes-hangout-series-how-much-law-do-i-really-need-to-know-to-succeed-in-the-hr-field.html  SHOW NOTES: In this episode our topic is, “How much law do I really need to know to succeed in the HR field?”  Answer: As much as possible. Human Resources is all about humans! Finding, hiring, retaining, engaging, educating and serving humans. The end-users for organizations are humans. Even at a veterinarian the human is the end-user customer who finds, procures and pays for the animal medical service. In the arts the human audience or attendee is the end-user. For-profit organizations have human end-users as clients and customers as do public governmental agencies. The human is the entire focus of commerce, government and society. It is therefore logical that the expert in human resources is a pivotal role in an organization! The HR professional is a professional. The field of HR is rapidly changing with new issues impacting business (technology, transpa

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-157-joyful-art-of-business-series-fake-it-til-you-make-it.html SHOW NOTES: This is part of the JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series and our episode today is, “Fake it ’Til You Make It?” This is a popular concept and we need to really explore what it means! 1) What are we faking?    Confidence. 2) What is confidence? Belief in yourself that is communicated to other people. It strongly correlates to power as people believe in leaders who believe in themselves. “Confidence,” he told us, “is the stuff that turns thoughts into action.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/the-confidence-gap/359815/) 3) Why are we faking it? Because it is necessary, we don’t have it and we know it. Effective (and contented) leaders (of an organization, of a family, of a group, etc.) believe in themselves and then have a much easier time having other people follow their lead. “Success, it turns out, correlates just as closely with confidence as it does with compe

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-156-financial-fierceness-series-suze-orman-is-right-you-canrsquot-afford-it-and-neither-can-i.html SHOW NOTES: Our FINANCIAL FIERCENESS!™ series integrates our financial goals into our development plan for surpassing our goals. We deal with the specific issues we need to explore in order to achieve (and surpass) our financial goals. This episode is, “Suze Orman Is Right! You Can’t Afford It and Neither Can I! Money I have - Money I Owe = Money I Can Use (save, spend, etc.) Money I have = Money I have Future money ≠ (does not equal) Money I have Future money includes future paycheck, future appreciation, etc.  The default position we all should have is that we cannot afford it! We may not be able to afford the math part of the equation (not have sufficient income, savings, etc) or we may not be able to afford the emotional aspect of the equation (decreased happiness due to lack of anticipation). No matter how many financial resources we have, the anticip

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-155-management-magicians-series-how-to-effectively-avoid-the-mean-manager-syndrome.html SHOW NOTES: Our MANAGEMENT MAGICIANS™ series is dedicated to those exceptional few who step forward to serve as guides, sages and responsible parties for others in pursuit of the greater good for society and their organization! In this episode, our topic is, "How to effectively avoid the ‘Mean Manager Syndrome’!” Remember, most people do not want to be managers (aka “the boss”)! The “Mean Manager Syndrome” often is a result of a person who never should have accepted (or continue to accept) a management position as it overloads them (in terms of time, stress, skills, emotional outlay, etc.). You will not experience the syndrome if you: 1) Do not accept a position as a manager if it is “too much” (of anything). 2) If you do accept a position as a manager (or continue to accept one), understand that your goal is for your team to view you as “tough but fair.” When this is

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-154-myth-warriors-series-why-the-smartest-thing-you-can-say-is-i-dont-know.html SHOW NOTES: In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not. We are warriors fighting to establish clarity between what is accurate and what is simply a myth (or falsehood) in life. This episode is, “Why The Smartest Thing You Can Say Is ‘I Don’t Know.’” “I Don’t Know. “ Beautiful in its simplicity. Concise in its meaning. Unambiguous. Powerful. Indicative of intellect and introspection. Underused. How often are you in communication with someone and they use a word or phrase that you don’t know? All of the time. It happens to me on a daily basis. Let’s imagine that someone was talking to me at work about types of snow skies and I have never been snow skiing, have never read anything specifically about snow-skiing and have no prior interest or knowledge about snow skiing.  What would be the best (in terms of good outcomes

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-153-help-situation-spotlight-series-they-dont-want-me-here.html SHOW NOTES: In our HELP! SITUATION SPOTLIGHT™ series, we shine the light on challenges that community members have shared. This episode is, “They Don’t Want Me Here.” Rejection. Isolation.  Shunned. Ostracized. Despised. Reviled.  When we are somewhere that we are not wanted, it may hurt. We all crave acceptance, support and being embraced by others. In our families, in our social groups, with our romantic partners and friends we must be treated with affection, attention and acknowledgement. We design and choose (as adults) all of these relationships that we engage in on a daily basis. As we have discussed in many other programs, people who positively care about us, who are our friends all pass this test, “Our happiness is their happiness. Our hurt is their hurt. Our disappointment is their disappointment.” If a person is happy when we are hurt, they are not our friend and are not deserving o

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-152-financial-fierceness-series-getting-rich-is-easy-staying-rich-is-hard-why-that-is-and-how-to-beat-the-odds.html SHOW NOTES: Our FINANCIAL FIERCENESS!™ series integrates our financial goals into our development plan for surpassing our goals. We deal with the specific issues we need to explore in order to achieve (and surpass) our financial goals. This specific episode is “Getting ‘Rich’ is Easy. Staying ‘Rich’ is Hard. Why that is and how to beat the odds.” As we have previously discussed in other programs, wealth is relative. A person will determine if they feel wealthy (or “rich”) based on their upbringing, culture, ethics, religious, spiritual, education, philosophical and political frameworks. If a person has more resources (or appears to have more resources) than other peers, it tends to make them feel wealthy. If a person has less resources (or appears to have less resources) than peers, they feel poor. I have known people who made $2,000 USD a mon

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-151-myth-warriors-series-stereotype-threat-does-not-exist.html SHOW NOTES: In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not. We are warriors fighting to establish clarity between what is accurate and what is simply a myth (or falsehood) in life. All of this is in furtherance of our mission to surpass our goals! In this episode we explore, “Stereotype Threat does not exist.” What is a Stereotype? "Stereotypes are widely held cultural beliefs that are resistant to change."  (Block, Koch, Liberman, Merriweather, & Roberson, 2011) What is Stereotype Threat? “The phenomenon known as “stereotype threat.” Members of groups believed to be academically inferior — African-American and Latino students enrolled in college, or female students in math and science courses — score much lower on tests when reminded beforehand of their race or gender. […] found that black students performed comparably with white

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-150-help-situation-spotlight-series-i-keep-getting-fired-from-jobs-what-should-i-do.html SHOW NOTES: This HELP! Situation™ series addresses challenges, obstacles and problems (real or perceived) that are preventing a person from surpassing their goals! What is holding you back from surpassing your goals? In this episode we examine the issue, "I Keep Getting Fired From Jobs! What Should I Do?” Why are you fired? Be honest. No excuses and/ or rationalizations. I have been fired (several decades ago when I was working minimum wage jobs in food service and retail).  I was fired due to my soft skills (attitude). I was always asking questions and trying to "improve" things. My job was to carry out the established processes and procedures and not to try to reengineer and change those established paramete

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-149-joyful-art-of-business-series-where-is-your-idea-generation-location.html SHOW NOTES: This episode is part of our JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series wherein we explore how to combine the positive benefits of our professional endeavors (“business”) with the overall positive emotional return on our efforts (“joy”). The act of engaging in professional endeavors, in any capacity (i.e., as an employee, employer, entrepreneur, contractor, volunteer, paid, full time, part time, intermittently, etc.) is an expression of our ideas and creative talents (“art”) . This episode is, "Where is your 'Idea Generation Location'?" (NOTE: it can be anywhere, even the shower!) Definition of Idea- : a thought, plan, or suggestion about what to do : an opinion or belief : something that you imagine or picture in your mind Idea. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idea Generation 2b :  the process of coming or bringing into being