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It is getting to be that time of year again, the warm-up to high school and college graduations. Today, here are a few thoughts directed toward young people heading into "graduation season," about education and about being successful after they graduate from school. 
 
Regardless of your field or interests, education by and of itself is not going to be enough to get you where you want to go. You have done a lot of work in school and you rightfully want to reap some rewards for that work. But the rewards that you earn, both material and otherwise, will… >>>

Is it hard for you to deal with criticism? Does it make you feel worthless or angry?
 
How you respond to other people's criticism depends to a great extent on how critical you are of yourself. If you were raised by critical parents, who caused you to believe that making mistakes was just about the worst thing you could do, you probably have a hard time when other people criticize you, now that you are grown. 
 
That's because you have internalized your parents' critical voices and have developed a harsh critical voice of your own. When your self-esteem… >>>

What is the one thing that determines, more than anything else, the quality of your life? 
 
Some people say, "You are what you eat," but it might be more appropriate to say, "You are what you think." Now, this is not really "new" news. This is one of the great universal truths, handed down over the centuries by poets and philosophers and by almost every great religious leader the world has ever known. 
 
We move toward and become like what we think about, and our present thoughts, more than anything else, determine our future. So it is important… >>>

We talk a lot about positive thinking on the Winner's Circle daily e-mail. Seeking to be positive and optimistic are valuable allies in keeping depression away. But is it possible to be too positive? Let's look at the idea of overdoing optimism.
 
Positive thinking is definitely a good thing, but when it comes to being positive, can you overdo it? Can you have too much of this particular good thing? Of course you can. In fact, you can probably identify plenty of people whose reckless optimism got them into trouble. How many people do you know who are "under… >>>

Are you an option thinker? Can you adapt to setbacks and see alternative solutions to problems? Let's talk about the importance of option thinking today.
 
One of the marks of successful individuals is the ability to move on to another option when the one they are trying doesn't work out. They are successful not only because they see themselves as problem solvers, but also because their minds hold an array of alternatives.
 
When you watch a skillful running back moving down the field in a football game, you are actually seeing a lesson in the exercise of option… >>>

Everybody knows that it's not what you say, it's the way that you say it. The same thing seems to go for what you see.
 
It used to be fair to say that objective reality was measurable and quantifiable. This meant that the true nature of material things could be absolutely and clearly determined. These days however, quantum physics has pretty well proved that there is really no such thing as objective reality. 
 
Matter, when reduced to its smallest particles, can behave as either particles or waves and can't be classified as clearly one or the other. Things… >>>

How do you like being criticized? Does it make you feel like changing to accommodate your critic? 
 
Negative criticism is almost always a mistake. Do you know anyone who likes it? It brings you down, makes you feel angry and resentful, and it hardly ever makes you want to change, does it? 
 
Constructive feedback is a horse of a different color. There's no sting in it, because it is not about your deficient character and it doesn't come at you like an attack. It is designed to give you valuable information and it assumes you care about doing… >>>

If you see something violent in a movie or on TV and you imitate it - who is responsible? This is an interesting question, and one that bears some serious thought.
 
If a kidnapper imitates something she saw in a movie, are the moviemakers responsible for her actions? For a lot of people, that answer is "no." If a murderer says he was inspired by something he saw on a TV show, is the TV show responsible? It's a question that is being presented to juries these days. 
 
Should our entertainment media aim for high-quality productions that improve… >>>

Creativity is a highly valued character trait and today, let's talk about how to help children grow into creative adults.
 
Creative adults don't just happen. Creative people are usually raised in ways that encourage them to use their imagination while they are still children. But what can parents or grandparents - or any adult vital to a child's life - do if they want to encourage their children's creativity? Well, one way is to help them develop a rich fantasy life.
 
Of course, kids need to be able to tell the difference between fact and fantasy. But a… >>>

Just about everyone agrees that it's a good thing to be responsible, but not everyone agrees about what "responsibility" means. Are you a responsible person? What does it mean to you to be responsible? Does it mean doing what is expected of you? Keeping your promises? Being a good provider? 
 
Well, all these things are important, but being responsible means more than that. In fact, I believe that we are responsible for absolutely everything in our lives - all the successes, and all the failures, too. 
 
If you don't accept responsibility for your life, you are likely to… >>>