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At the edge of chaos, unexpected outcomes occur. The risk to survival is severe.
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Michael Crichton (The Lost World (Jurassic Park, #2))
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I detach myself from preconceived outcomes and trust that all is well. Being myself allows the wholeness of my unique magnificience to draw me in those directions most beneficial to me and to all others. This is really the only thing I have to do. And within that framework, everything that is truly mine comes into my life effortlessly, in the most magical and unexpected ways imaginable, demonstrating every day the power and love of who I truly am.
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Anita Moorjani (Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing)
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People being incoherent might get on our nerves sometimes. We like coherence in actions and thoughts since we value clarity and structure in our lives. But at times, we are alarmed because we cannot help being incoherent when we want to challenge established norms and explore unconventional paths that lead to unexpected connections or new insights. Allowing ourselves some incoherence might open the door to new perspectives and surprising outcomes. ("Drunken sailor”)
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Erik Pevernagie
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Uncertainty is fearful to the ego, which always wants to control reality, but from the viewpoint of detachment, a constantly shifting and changing universe must remain uncertain. If things were certain, there could be no creativity. Therefore spirit works through surprises and unexpected outcomes.
We achieve peace of mind only when we accept the wisdom of uncertainty.
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Deepak Chopra (The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents: Guiding Your Children to Success and Fulfillment)
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Humans are very attached to outcomes. We say we trust God but behind the scenes we work our fingers to the bone and our emotions into a tangled fray trying to control our outcomes. We praise God when our normal looks like what we thought it would. We question God when it doesn’t. And walk away from Him when we have a sinking suspicion that God is the one who set fire to the hope that was holding us together.
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Lysa TerKeurst (It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered)
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That the War of Independence resulted in the strengthening, not the termination, of slavery was not an unexpected outcome for Southerners: protecting slavery had been the point of the war for them. It was the principal Southern political goal at every moment until slavery was destroyed.
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Ned Sublette (The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry)
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Many social justice or social activist movements have been rooted in a position. A position is usually against something. Any position will call up its opposition. If I say up, it generates down. If I say right, it really creates left. If I say good, it creates bad. So a position creates its opposition. A stand is something quite distinct from that.
There are synonyms for “stand” such as “declaration” or “commitment,” but let me talk for just a few moments about the power of a stand. A stand comes from the heart, from the soul. A stand is always life affirming. A stand is always trustworthy. A stand is natural to who you are. When we use the phrase “take a stand” I’m really inviting you to un-cover, or “unconceal,” or recognize, or affirm, or claim the stand that you already are.
Stand-takers are the people who actually change the course of history and are the source of causing an idea’s time to come. Mahatma Gandhi was a stand-taker. He took a stand so powerful that it mobilized millions of people in a way that the completely unpredictable outcome of the British walking out of India did happen. And India became an independent nation. The stand that he took… or the stand that Martin Luther King, Jr. took or the stand that Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony took for women’s rights—those stands changed our lives today. The changes that have taken place in history as a result of the stand-takers are permanent changes, not temporary changes. The women in this room vote because those women took so powerful a stand that it moved the world.
And so the opportunity here is for us to claim the stand that we already are, not take a position against the macro economic system, or a position against this administration, although some of you may have those feelings. What’s way more powerful than that is taking a stand, which includes all positions, which allows all positions to be heard and reconsidered, and to begin to dissolve.
When you take a stand, it actually does shift the whole universe and unexpected, unpredictable things happen.
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Lynne Twist
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Choices which are made based upon guesswork or assumptions are likely to cause inconvenience or unexpected outcomes at some stage.
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Steven Redhead (Life Is A Circus)
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As a result, there’s an unexpected outcome: the good child is heading for problems in adult life, typically to do with excessive compliance, rigidity, lack of creativity and an unbearably harsh conscience that might spur on suicidal thoughts. Meanwhile, the naughty child is on the way to healthy maturity, which comprises spontaneity, resilience, a tolerance of failure and a sense of self-acceptance.
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The School of Life (The Good Enough Parent: How to raise contented, interesting, and resilient children)
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In short, lucky people are open-minded, upbeat, proactive, and always willing to try something new. While it’s good to be directed in your career, you’ll want to stay open and alert to unexpected possibilities. And when they show up, act on them. You never know what the outcome might be.
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Jocelyn K. Glei (Maximize Your Potential: Grow Your Expertise, Take Bold Risks & Build an Incredible Career (99U Book 2))
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I detach myself from preconceived outcomes and trust that all is well. Being myself allows the wholeness of my unique magnificence to draw me in those directions most beneficial to me and to all others. This is really the only thing I have to do. And within that framework, everything that’s truly mine comes into my life effortlessly, in the most magical and unexpected ways imaginable, demonstrating every day the power and love of who I truly am.
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Anita Moorjani (Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing)
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I admit that so often I have held tightly to my own plans and to the outcomes that I think should come to pass. But I know the story You’re writing for me is so much better than any story I could ever write for myself. Help me to cling to this truth when my circumstances are uncertain and unpredictable. I declare my trust in You above it all. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Lysa TerKeurst (It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered)
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The most basic tenet of chaos theory is that a small change in initial conditions—a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil—can produce a large and unexpected divergence in outcomes—a tornado in Texas.
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Nate Silver (The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't)
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In later years, I will often write about the unthinkable, the element of unpredictability that determines outcomes. And game-changing encounters, the unexpected juxtapositions that can shift the course of a life.
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Philippe Besson (Lie With Me)
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Whoever infringes upon individual 'charity,'" I began, "infringes upon man's nature and scorns his personal dignity. But the organizing of 'social charity' and the question of personal freedom are two different questions and are not mutually exclusive. Individual goodness will always abide, because it is a personal need, a living need for the direct influence of one person on another.
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In sowing your seed, in sowing your 'charity,' your good deed in whatever form it takes, you give away part of your person and receive into yourself part of another's; you mutually commune in each other; a little more attention, and you will be rewarded with knowledge, with the most unexpected discoveries. You will be bound, finally, to look at your work as a science; it will take in the whole of your life and maybe fill the whole of it. On the other hand, all your thoughts, all the seeds you have sown, which you may already have forgotten, will take on flesh and grow; what was received from you will be passed on to someone else. And how do you know what share you will have in the future outcome of human destiny? And if the knowledge and the whole life of this work finally raises you so high that you are able to plant a tremendous seed, to bequeath a tremendous thought to mankind, then...
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Fyodor Dostoevsky (The Idiot)
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No one knows where they came from, whether they're the result of some unnatural twist of evolution or the unexpected outcome of some bizarre magical or scientific experiment. No one believes they were created on purpose, though. There isn't a sorcerer or scientist insane enough to even contemplate such a thing, let alone actually do it. Chiranha are a cross between piranha and Chihuahua, and as silly as that might sound, no one in Nekropolis laughs at them.
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Tim Waggoner (The Nekropolis Archives)
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Ida Mae Gladney, Robert Foster, and George Starling each left different parts of the South during different decades for different reasons and with different outcomes. The three of them would find some measure of happiness, not because their children had been perfect, their own lives without heartache, or because the North had been particularly welcoming. In fact, not a single one of those things had turned out to be true. There had been sickness, disappointment, premature and unexpected losses, and, among their children, more divorces than enduring marriages, but at least the children had tried. The three who had come out of the South were left widowed but solvent, and each found some measure of satisfaction because whatever had happened to them, however things had unfolded, it had been of their own choosing, and they could take comfort in that. They believed with all that was in them that they were better off for having made the Migration, that they may have made many mistakes in their lives, but leaving the South had not been one of them.
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Isabel Wilkerson (The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration)
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In later years, I will often write about the unthinkable, the element of unpredictability that determines outcomes. And game-changing encounters, the unexpected juxtapositions that can shift the course of a life.
It starts there, in the winter of my seventeenth year.
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Philippe Besson (Lie With Me)
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The army leadership, taking these wishes of Hitler on board and also bearing in mind the outcome of the war games, had already adjusted its strategic thinking when, on 18 February, Hitler spoke of the favourable impression he had gained of Manstein’s plan the day before.42 The die was now cast. By chance, the basic thoughts of the amateur had coincided with the brilliantly unorthodox planning of the professional strategist. Further refined by the OKH, the Manstein plan gave Hitler what he wanted: a surprise assault in the most unexpected area which, though not without risk, had the boldness of genius. The
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Ian Kershaw (Hitler, Vol. 2: 1936-1945 Nemesis)
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The most basic tenet of chaos theory is that a small change in initial conditions—a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil—can produce a large and unexpected divergence in outcomes—a tornado in Texas. This does not mean that the behavior of the system is random, as the term “chaos” might seem to imply. Nor
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Nate Silver (The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't)
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Rather than rely on false assumptions that matters were inevitable and preordained, we should remember Bloch’s warning about the bias of hindsight. The paradox of unexpected events, such as the opening of the Wall on November 9, 1989, is that they are improbable outcomes—but after they occur, they seem inevitable
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Mary Elise Sarotte (The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall)
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You will write if you will write without thinking of the result in terms of a result, but think of the writing in terms of discovery. The act of creation is not about achieving a specific outcome but about exploring the unknown, uncovering new truths, and experiencing the joy of finding something unexpected and beautiful.
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Gertrude Stein (The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas)
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There is pleasure in reading a version of myself I know in my heart could never exist, since mine is not an iron mind coldly calculating every possible option and outcome. Instead I am a businessman who loves excitement, loves tension, loves risk and the unexpected, and just happens to possess an extraordinary, on occasion even miraculous, degree of good luck.
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Jacob Wren (Rich and Poor)
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You think an idea's bad but to others, it's a brilliant idea. Instead of thinking that an idea is bad, look at it differently and the final outcome of this "bad" idea will shock you. Rules should be followed. It is a tradition to know what can and can't be done. But innovation doesn't require the boundaries rules provide. It is when you stop following that you start having unexpected fun.
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Tina Seelig (What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20)
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The anti-fat campaign has been one of the truly bizarre phenomena in the history of science — in this most scientific of periods, we have simply ignored the failures of the numerous experimental tests of the low-fat idea. Proponents of fat reduction have done all the big, expensive studies. They’ve put it to the test. The experiments almost always fail, but they keep doing them on the chance that something new will happen, on the chance that some unexpected change in the universe will make the saturated fat that they know is so bad, actually have a bad outcome. It’s got to be.
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Richard David Feinman (The World Turned Upside Down: The Second Low-Carbohydrate Revolution)
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When the course of civilization takes an unexpected turn—when, instead of the continuous progress which we have come to expect, we find ourselves threatened by evils associated by us with past ages of barbarism—we naturally blame anything but ourselves. Have we not all striven according to our best lights, and have not many of our finest minds incessantly worked to make this a better world? Have not all our efforts and hopes been directed toward greater freedom, justice, and prosperity? If the outcome is so different from our aims— if, instead of freedom and prosperity, bondage and misery stare us in the face—is it not clear that sinister forces must have foiled our intentions, that we are the victims of some evil power which must be conquered before we can resume the road to better things? However much we may differ when we name the culprit—whether it is the wicked capitalist or the vicious spirit of a particular nation, the stupidity of our elders, or a social system not yet, although we have struggled against it for half a century, fully overthrown—we all are, or at last were until recently, certain of one thing: that the leading ideas which during the last generation have become common to most people of good will and have determined the major changes in our social life cannot have been wrong. We are ready to accept almost any explanation of the present crisis of our civilization except one: that the present state of the world may be the result of genuine error on our own part and that the pursuit of some of our most cherished ideals has apparently produced results utterly different from those which we expected.
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Friedrich A. Hayek (The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents: The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F.A. Hayek Book 2))
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I will never forget the sensation that plagued my body as my husband’s business partner told me of Jeff’s fate that day. As his words reached my ears, I found myself in a fog of utter disbelief and paralyzing fear. It was almost as if I was part of a movie. As his business partner was telling me what happened, life began to move in slow motion and I was trying to convince myself that what I was hearing wasn’t true. “Jeff has been in a horrible car accident and has been airlifted to Advocate Christ Hospital,” he said. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Not my Jeff. There’s no way. The tears came without warning. It was as if a dam broke on a lake I didn’t know existed. This wasn’t really happening. We were a young couple with two small children living the American dream. We had everything going for us. This couldn’t really be happening to me. To us. To him. I had to force myself to focus on his words, “Wait, where was he taken again?” I asked. He repeated the name, but it didn’t sound any more familiar. “Where is that?” I asked. “In Chicago,” he said. Why Chicago? I wondered. I thanked him and somehow managed to end the conversation without completely losing it. God kept me focused and at peace. I still don’t remember how I got everything done that day.
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Jeff Huxford (Finding Normal: An Uninvited Change, An Unexpected Outcome)
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I soon had an occasion to apply what I had learned from Feller. The Yom Kippur War broke out in 1973, and my only significant contribution to the war effort was to advise high officers in the Israeli Air Force to stop an investigation. The air war initially went quite badly for Israel, because of the unexpectedly good performance of Egyptian ground-to-air missiles. Losses were high, and they appeared to be unevenly distributed. I was told of two squadrons flying from the same base, one of which had lost four planes while the other had lost none. An inquiry was initiated in the hope of learning what it was that the unfortunate squadron was doing wrong. There was no prior reason to believe that one of the squadrons was more effective than the other, and no operational differences were found, but of course the lives of the pilots differed in many random ways, including, as I recall, how often they went home between missions and something about the conduct of debriefings. My advice was that the command should accept that the different outcomes were due to blind luck, and that the interviewing of the pilots should stop. I reasoned that luck was the most likely answer, that a random search for a nonobvious cause was hopeless, and that in the meantime the pilots in the squadron that had sustained losses did not need the extra burden of being made to feel that they and their dead friends were at fault.
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Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow)
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When we are at peace about the possibility of losing our marriage, failing as a parent, making errors at work, and hundreds of other outcomes we may otherwise fear, we open ourselves to experiencing God’s presence in our life. I have had dozens of experiences in which things have worked out in unexpected and beautiful ways when I first let go of trying to control the result I wanted. We do our part and then God does his part. The outcome we get is in his hands, not ours.
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John Kuypers (The Peace Promise: Trusting God to Solve the Unsolvable)
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A few years ago, we engaged a team of experts to determine the “secret sauce” that propelled those rare leaders, organizations, and movements to success. They discovered five principles that are consistently present when transformational breakthroughs take place. To spark this sort of change, you must: 1. Make a Big Bet. So many people and organizations are naturally cautious. They look at what seemed to work in the past and try to do more of it, leading to only incremental advances. Every truly history-making transformation has occurred when people have decided to go for revolutionary change. 2. Be bold, take risks. Have the guts to try new, unproven things and the rigor to continue experimenting. Risk taking is not a blind leap off a cliff but a lengthy process of trial and error. And it doesn’t end with the launch of a product or the start of a movement. You need to be willing to risk the next big idea, even if it means upsetting your own status quo. 3. Make failure matter. Great achievers view failure as a necessary part of advancing toward success. No one seeks it out, but if you’re trying new things, the outcome is by definition uncertain. When failure happens, great innovators make the setback matter, applying the lessons learned and sharing them with others. 4. Reach beyond your bubble. Our society is in thrall to the myth of the lone genius. But innovation happens at intersections. Often the most original solutions come from engaging with people with diverse experiences to forge new and unexpected partnerships. 5. Let urgency conquer fear. Don’t overthink and overanalyze. It’s natural to want to study a problem from all angles, but getting caught up in questions like “What if we’re wrong?” and “What if there is a better way?” can leave you paralyzed with fear. Allow the compelling need to act to outweigh all doubts and setbacks. These five principles can be summarized in two words: Be Fearless.
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Jean Case (Be Fearless: 5 Principles for a Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose)
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The United Nations—in its official statement for World Health Day in 2017—explained3 that “the dominant biomedical narrative of depression” is based on “biased and selective use of research outcomes” that “cause more harm than good, undermine the right to health, and must be abandoned.” There is a “growing evidence base,” they state, that there are deeper causes of depression, so while there is some role for medications, we need to stop using them “to address issues which are closely related to social problems.” We need to move from “focusing on ‘chemical imbalances’ to focusing on ‘power imbalances.
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Johann Hari (Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions)
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Error is an unexpected deviation from an expected outcome.
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Todd Conklin (Pre-Accident Investigations: An Introduction to Organizational Safety)
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In addition to being statistically unlikely, perfectly fulfilled expectations are boring. We assume that we, in our infinite wisdom, are capable of imagining the best, most optimal outcomes for ourselves. But as it turns out, unfettered reality and unexpected detours are often the very things that force us to come into our own.
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Clara Bensen (No Baggage: A Minimalist Tale of Love and Wandering)
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Uncontrolled circumstances can create unexpected or unwanted outcomes that are driven totally by chance rather than specific choices to bring about exactly what is personally required.
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Steven Redhead (Life Is A Circus)
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Reflection • Think of a desirable but unrealistic outcome. Why exactly it is unrealistic? Whose comfort zones does it disrupt? Idea • Courageous goals have their own momentum. They force a change of scene, raise entirely new questions, and call new relationships into being. Tool • Use the Courageous Goal Starter Kit to get things moving: 1) Dream it, 2) Declare it, and 3) Get started. Tool • Make it sticky with SUCCES: Get more buy-in for your Courageous outcome by describing it using the principles defined by Chip and Dan Heath and their acronym, SUCCES – it should be 1) Simple, 2) Unexpected, 3) Concrete, 4) Credible, 5) Emotional, and 6) contain a Story.
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Dave Stitt (Deep and deliberate delegation: A new art for unleashing talent and winning back time)
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We cannot control our outcomes. We cannot formulate how the promises of God will actually take shape. And we will never be able to demand any of the healing from all the hurt to hurry up.
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Lysa TerKeurst (It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered)
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Transforming Challenges into Opportunities: Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills through Critical Thinking
In today's fast-paced and competitive business world, the ability to think critically and solve problems effectively is crucial for success. Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or a budding startup owner, developing strong problem-solving skills can give you a significant edge in the market. By harnessing the power of critical thinking, you can transform challenges into opportunities and propel your business towards success.
As a coach for business start-ups and a catalyst for innovation, I understand the importance of equipping entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to overcome obstacles and thrive in the face of adversity. In this blog post, I will explore how honing your critical thinking skills can help you navigate the challenges of starting and growing a business.
1. Identifying the Problem:
Critical thinking involves the ability to accurately identify and define the problem at hand. As a coach for business start-up ideas, I can help you analyze your unique challenges and break them down into manageable parts. By clarifying the problem, you can focus your efforts on finding the most effective solution.
2. Analyzing Different Perspectives:
One of the key aspects of critical thinking is considering different perspectives and viewpoints. When faced with a problem, it is important to step back and evaluate the situation from various angles. This allows you to gain valuable insights and uncover opportunities that may not be immediately apparent. As a coach, I can guide you through this process, helping you see the bigger picture and explore alternative solutions.
3. Developing Creative Solutions:
Critical thinking encourages out-of-the-box thinking and the ability to generate creative solutions. By breaking away from conventional thought patterns, you can discover innovative approaches to solving problems. As your coach, I can help you tap into your creative potential and unlock new possibilities for your business.
4. Evaluating Risks and Benefits:
Effective problem-solving requires a thorough analysis of the risks and benefits associated with different solutions. Through critical thinking, you can weigh the pros and cons, assess potential outcomes, and make informed decisions. As your coach, I can guide you in evaluating the risks and benefits of various options, enabling you to make strategic choices that align with your business goals.
5. Adapting to Change:
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, adaptability is crucial. Critical thinking allows you to embrace change and adapt your strategies as needed. By honing your problem-solving skills, you can navigate unexpected challenges with ease and turn them into opportunities for growth. As your coach, I can provide you with the tools and techniques to foster adaptability and resilience in the face of change.
In conclusion, developing strong problem-solving skills through critical thinking is essential for entrepreneurs and business start-ups. By working with a coach who specializes in business start-up ideas, you can enhance your problem-solving abilities, uncover new opportunities, and position your business for long-term success. So, why wait? Invest in your critical thinking skills today and unlock the potential within your business.
If you are looking for a coach to guide you in transforming challenges into opportunities, I am here to help. Contact me to explore how we can work together to enhance your problem-solving skills and achieve your business goals.
Keywords: coach startup ideas, coach for business start-up, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, challenges, opportunities, entrepreneurs, innovation, analyze, creative solutions, risks, benefits, adaptability.
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Lillian Addison
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Princeton University mathematician York Dobyns found that the seven years of new PEAR RNG results closely replicated the preceding three decades of RNG studies reviewed in the meta-analysis.37 That is, our 1989 prediction had been validated. Because the massive PEAR database provides an exceptionally strong confirmation that mind-matter interactions really do exist, we can confidently use it to study some of the factors influencing these effects. Psychologist Roger Nelson and his colleagues found that the main RNG effect for the full PEAR database of 1,262 independent experiments, generated by 108 people, was associated with odds against chance of four thou sand to one.38 He also found that there were no “star” performers—this means that the overall effect reflected an accumulation of small effects from each person rather than a few outstanding results from “special people.” This finding confirms the expectation that mind-matter interaction effects observed in the hundreds of studies collected in the 1989 RNG meta-analysis were part of a widespread ability distributed throughout the population, and were not due to a few psychic “superstars” or a few odd experiments. Further analysis of the PEAR data showed that the results in individual trials were best interpreted as small changes in the probabilities of individual random events rather than as a few instances of wildly large effects. This means that the results cannot be explained by unexpected glitches in the RNG devices, or by strange circumstances in the lab (like a circuit breakdown). Rather, the effects were small but consistent across individual trials, and across different people.39 If we accept that one person can affect the behavior of an RNG, another question naturally arises: would two people together produce a larger effect? The PEAR database included some experiments where cooperating pairs used the same mental intention on the same RNG. Analysis of these data found that, on average, the effects were indeed larger for pairs than for individuals working alone. However, two people didn’t automatically get results that were twice as large as one person’s results. Instead, the composition of the pairs was important in determining the outcome. Same-sex pairs, whether men or women, tended to achieve null or slightly negative outcomes, whereas opposite-sex pairs produced an effect that was approximately twice that of individuals. Moreover, when the pair was a “bonded” couple, such as spouses or close family members, the effect size was more than four times that of individuals.
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Dean Radin (The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena)
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Princeton University mathematician York Dobyns found that the seven years of new PEAR RNG results closely replicated the preceding three decades of RNG studies reviewed in the meta-analysis.37 That is, our 1989 prediction had been validated. Because the massive PEAR database provides an exceptionally strong confirmation that mind-matter interactions really do exist, we can confidently use it to study some of the factors influencing these effects. Psychologist Roger Nelson and his colleagues found that the main RNG effect for the full PEAR database of 1,262 independent experiments, generated by 108 people, was associated with odds against chance of four thou sand to one.38 He also found that there were no “star” performers—this means that the overall effect reflected an accumulation of small effects from each person rather than a few outstanding results from “special people.” This finding confirms the expectation that mind-matter interaction effects observed in the hundreds of studies collected in the 1989 RNG meta-analysis were part of a widespread ability distributed throughout the population, and were not due to a few psychic “superstars” or a few odd experiments. Further analysis of the PEAR data showed that the results in individual trials were best interpreted as small changes in the probabilities of individual random events rather than as a few instances of wildly large effects. This means that the results cannot be explained by unexpected glitches in the RNG devices, or by strange circumstances in the lab (like a circuit breakdown). Rather, the effects were small but consistent across individual trials, and across different people.39 If we accept that one person can affect the behavior of an RNG, another question naturally arises: would two people together produce a larger effect? The PEAR database included some experiments where cooperating pairs used the same mental intention on the same RNG. Analysis of these data found that, on average, the effects were indeed larger for pairs than for individuals working alone. However, two people didn’t automatically get results that were twice as large as one person’s results. Instead, the composition of the pairs was important in determining the outcome. Same-sex pairs, whether men or women, tended to achieve null or slightly negative outcomes, whereas opposite-sex pairs produced an effect that was approximately twice that of individuals. Moreover, when the pair was a “bonded” couple, such as spouses or close family members, the effect size was more than four times that of individuals. There were also some gender differences. PEAR lab psychologist Brenda Dunne found that women tended to volunteer more time to the experiments, and thus they accumulated about two-thirds of the full database, compared with one-third for men. On the other hand, their effects were smaller on average than those of men, with odds of the difference being due to chance at eight hundred to one.
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Dean Radin (The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena)
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Humans are very attached to outcomes. We say we trust God but behind the scenes we work our fingers to the bone and our emotions into a tangled fray trying to control our outcomes. We praise God when our normal looks like what we thought it would. We question God when it doesn’t. And walk away from Him when we have a sinking suspicion that God is the one who set fire to the hope that was holding us together. Even the most grounded people can feel hijacked by the winds of unpredictable change. We feel weighed down by grief while at the same time unable to get our bearings as the weightless ashes of all we thought would be fly away.
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Lysa TerKeurst (It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered)
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FROM OTHER SOURCES Pre–race and Venue Homework Get hold of any history of past events at the venue, plus any information that the conducting club may have about weather and expected conditions. Go to the weather bureau and get history for the area. Speak to sailors from your class who have this venue as their home club or who have sailed there on a number of occasions. Boat, Sails, Gear Preparation Checklist Many times the outcome of a race is as dependent on what you have done prior to the race as to what you do out on the course. Sometimes no matter how good your tactics and strategy are a simple breakage could render all that useless. Hull – make sure that your hull is well sanded and polished, centreboard strips are in good condition, venturis if fitted are working efficiently, buoyancy tanks are dry and there are no extraneous pieces of kit in your boat which adds unwanted weight. Update any gear that looks tired or worn especially control lines. Mast, boom and poles – check that all halyards, stays and trapeze wires are not worn or damaged and that pins are secure, knots tight and that anything that can tear a sail or injure flesh is taped. Mark the full hoist position on all halyards. Deck hardware – check all cam cleats for spring tension and tape anything that may cause a sail tear or cut legs hands and arms. Check the length of all sheets and control lines and shorten anything that is too long. This not only reduces weight but also minimises clutter. Have marks on sheets and stick or draw numbers and reference scales for the jib tracks, outhaul and halyards so that you can easily duplicate settings that you know are fast in various conditions. Centreboard and rudder – ensure that all nicks and gouges are filled and sanded and the surfaces are polished and most importantly that rudder safety clips are working. Sails – select the correct battens for the day’s forecast. Write on the deck, with a china graph pencil, things like the starting sequence, courses, tide times and anything else that will remind you to sail fast. Tools and spares – carry a shackle key with screwdriver head on your person along with some spare shackles and short lengths of rope or different diameters. A tool like a Leatherman can be very useful to deal with unexpected breakages that can occur even in the best prepared boat.
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Brett Bowden (Sailing To Win: Guaranteed Winning Strategies To Navigate From The Back To The Front Of The Fleet)
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Neither blame fate nor the outcome but blame your decision because fate is an unexpected outcome made by choice.
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Zinny Ekechukwu
“
Leaders act. The best leaders bring people together, and they engage with them. These leaders work to establish an organizational routine of connecting with customers, their peers, and their teams. They engage resources and connect them—see Leadership is conjunctive above—and they enable new and unexpected or unanticipated or even unimagined outcomes.
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Kevin R. Lowell (Leading Modern Technology Teams in Complex Times: Applying the Principles of the Agile Manifesto (Future of Business and Finance))
“
I slowed my steps as I started up the path toward the front entrance, feeling like I was about to walk on smoldering embers. Had the fire burned down enough that it couldn’t harm me? Or would I be scorched? Reaching the front door, I took a deep breath, aware of the importance of what I was about to do and fearful that I would not succeed. Then I rapped firmly upon the dark wood. This was not the time to practice timidity.
Grayden opened the door himself and our eyes met. For a moment, neither of us moved, equally flustered--he was stunned to find me on his stoop, while I had expected a servant to answer my knock.
“May I come in, my lord?” I inquired, sounding more nervous than I would have liked.
“As you wish.”
He leaned back against the door frame and gestured for me to enter, his manner not entirely hospitable. I stepped inside and glanced around the spacious foyer, then cleared my throat, ready to begin a short, but well-rehearsed, statement of contrition.
“I owe you an apology, Lord Grayden. I’m sorry for failing to attend the dinner to which you were invited at my family’s home. While I do not deserve your kind regard, I hope you will be gracious enough to forgive me.”
“That depends on what you were doing instead.”
“Excuse me?” I squeaked, for this was an unexpected reaction. My mind spun, trying to decide what to do. Did I need to apologize better? Or should I just leave?
He laughed, and I felt even more flustered. “Your mother and sisters kept changing their stories. Makes me think they didn’t know what you were doing. I’d like the mystery solved.”
Taken aback, I surveyed him, noting his dark brown hair that made his skin appear all the more fair, his perfectly proportioned nose, his gorgeous green eyes and his inviting smile. He wanted me to be honest. I decided to risk it, for nothing worse could come of his knowing the truth.
“I forgot you were coming.”
He straightened and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “At least I know you’re not a liar.”
“Not usually,” I blurted, and he laughed once more.
“Well then, I accept your apology.”
“That’s very considerate of you.” I hesitated then gave him another curtsey. “Good day to you, my lord.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’re leaving so soon?”
“Yes,” I replied, a grin playing at the corners of my mouth. “You see, I haven’t been invited to stay.”
Before he could respond, I slipped past him and out the door, pleased at his befuddled expression. All in all, things had gone well--I had accomplished my appointed task; at the same time, I was certain I could cross another suitor off the list. After all, even the best impressions Lord Grayden had of me left much to be desired. But I didn’t feel as happy about that outcome as I had expected. Strangely, the young man held more appeal for me now than he had before. I sighed, for my nature did indeed appear to be a fickle one.
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Cayla Kluver (Sacrifice (Legacy, #3))
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To an omniscient being, nothing in all of Creation can be original, fashionable, or even distinct, as every event, thought, action, adventure and discovery is occurring simultaneously in one stretched-out moment. To be omniscient means to have never felt even the slightest twang of curiosity, for there can be no unexpected twists if every outcome to every drama and experiment is already known. Without the capacity for curiosity it is, therefore, impossible for the omniscient being to be interested in anything, let alone be attentive to His own pleasure, as pleasure is inaccessible if all of Creation is, from His great perspective, perfectly flat and of a uniform temperature.
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John Zande (The Owner of All Infernal Names: An Introductory Treatise on the Existence, Nature & Government of our Omnimalevolent Creator)
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Poverty is the events of forced separation of mass from the nature. Poverty is not the cause but the outcome. Poverty is not natural, it is created, it is abnormal, unexpected and unwanted. Its was never part of the nature and never will be. Poverty has been engineered by few Unwise, irresponsible and selfish individuals.
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William Gomes
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Life at times, gives the most unexpected and shocking outcome for the most ordinary person, leading to extraordinary tales.
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Arvind Parashar (Kabira- Not Until I Die)
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Letting go is hard for me. I have spent too many anxious moments and sleepless nights in worry over what would happen if I let go. Much like being part of a search-and-rescue effort, I would find myself always searching for the unexpected spins in life while preparing to rescue the outcome.
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Eve M. Harrell (Confessions of a Helicopter Mom)
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heritage a secret. This secrecy is probably a matter of protection for her and for Mordecai. As Ahasuerus is preparing for a new wife, as Mordecai is preparing Esther for a new life, Esther is preparing to be come a queen. It is important to notice that Esther is obedient and faithful without being certain of the outcome of this year. She has no guarantee of ever returning to her own life, she has no guarantee that she will become queen, so we must assume that she is not motivated by results in her service to the Lord. Esther is obedient without any promise other than the knowledge inside her that she will not be abandoned by the Lord at any time. She will be faithful regardless of foreseeable consequences, and the example that this kind of faithfulness sets for us is fantastic. Once evaluated by Hegai worthy of the expense of the preparations, each young woman must undergo Ahasuerus’ scrutiny as well. After a year, Esther is prepared to face the king, and is now awaiting her turn to enter his chambers. Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace.In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. Esther 2:12-13 After their period of preparation, the women go, one at a time, in to the king’s palace. They leave the women’s quarters in the evening and return in the morning… and their life’s course is determined within a period of 24 hours or less. Imagine the scene: these women were taken from their families and everything familiar to them a year or so before they are sent into the king. For a year, they are in the custody of Hegai the custodian of the women. Each step that these women take toward the palace is a step toward one of two things: either the beginning of a new life or the death of every possible dream that each one might have had for her life. A step toward becoming Ahasuerus’ wife and queen of Persia — tremendous honor and riches; or a step toward becoming one of the king’s concubines — a life devoid of true love or passion. Each candidate completed these twelve months and went into the king as a potential queen. The next morning, each woman left the king’s chambers as one of a countless number of mistresses in his harem. The history does not indicate that they were rejected and returned to their own homes. They were returned to Shaashgaz, the keeper of the king’s concubines. The finality and sadness of the conclusion of this year must have been excruciating. “She would not go into the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.” Esther 2:14 Like a splash of ice water, that sentence feels cold. A rush of emptiness and loneliness all of a sudden, they have been used and, for all practical purposes, thrown away. When they returned the next morning, they did not even go to the court that has been their home for the past year. These women went into the custody of Shaashgaz, the eunuch custodian of the concubines. That is quite a demotion for these young women — their future has just been decided, and they had no say in it. Hopes of marriage to anyone for one of these rejected women is completely over. “She would not go into the king again...” These women must have felt a tremendous loss and sorrow. Whether or not they had actually wanted to be queen (remember that they had no choice in the matter — they had to come to the palace either way), they had been preparing for this moment for a year. Perhaps they had waited even longer
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Jennifer Spivey (Esther: Reflections From An Unexpected Life)
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If I send my writing to scholars, they ignore it; if I send it to fools, they fail to understand it. It is a literary dilemma, and most writers experience unexpected appearances and outcomes.
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Ehsan Sehgal
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Lowering expectations doesn’t mean you're hopeless, it means you're being grounded in reality and understanding that outcomes are rarely guaranteed. Avoid unnecessary disappointment and, instead, find joy in unexpected successes. Approaching situations with a predetermined result in mind is limiting. Life is unpredictable, and setbacks are inevitable. We may not have control over every outcome, but we always have control over how we respond to uncertainty.
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Carson Anekeya
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She doesn’t realize the profound truth of her words. The concept of fate and destiny, some high power guiding our paths, is often dismissed as a mere belief or superstition. It comes with unexpected and sometimes unwelcome outcomes, like falling in love with your father’s second wife. But that’s the beauty of the universe—it has a way of surprising us and completely transforming our lives.
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Cora Kent (Sweet Revenge (Blackmore University #3))
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Knowing how people are going to react given their current state of mind or recent experiences is critically important. Looking at ways to determine possible outcomes or reactions given current context (and emotional state) will help to deliver the message in the right way at this particular time. You can’t expect to get the emotional side of things correct all the time because of our irrational behavior and unexpected randomness. But, we can try to show some real empathy in our engineered solutions.
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M. Pell (The Age of Smart Information: How Artificial Intelligence and Spatial Computing will transform the way we communicate forever)
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Needing certainty shackles my potential for the unexpected. Feeling I don’t know, or Let’s see what happens, allows my expanded self to provide answers and solutions that may be completely serendipitous and outrageously synchronistic. When I step into the realm of ambiguity I’m really at my most powerful. Letting go of all previous beliefs, disbeliefs, dogma, and doctrines puts the infinite universe at my disposal and works to give me the best possible outcome for my life. This is where I receive the most internal clarity. It’s where magic happens.
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Anita Moorjani (Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing)
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Somewhat unexpectedly, talking about how we give allows us to broach a lot of challenging topics—from religious or political beliefs to issues of wealth, from life stages to our dependence on the internet. It’s critical to focus these conversations on the how and not the how much or to whom/what issues. The first question, how, actually works to open up the discussion, allowing people to share all kinds of choices and for others to reflect on their own behavior. This question allows people who disagree on politics or who are unfamiliar with others’ cultural or linguistic traditions to still talk about actions that mean a great deal to them. It lowers the judgmental heat between people: while causes and preferred outcomes may vary, the tactics or hows of getting there can overlap or inspire.
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Lucy Bernholz (How We Give Now: A Philanthropic Guide for the Rest of Us)
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Irony is the unexpected outcome of an expected situation.
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Cassandra Clare
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Shortly afterward, Cook faced another unexpected personal challenge: he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The disease threatened to disable his brain and impair his spinal cord. He later learned that it had been a misdiagnosis, but the health scare inspired him to raise money for MS research and contributed to a period of introspection. Around that time, he found himself asking: What is my life’s purpose? “It began to dawn on me then that the purpose of life wasn’t to love your job,” he told a group of Oxford students two decades later. “It was to serve humanity in some broad way, and the outcome of doing that would mean that you would love your job. I began to realize I wasn’t in a place to do that.
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Tripp Mickle (After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul)
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QuickBooks Online Support +1-877-788-4840
QuickBooks Online Support is the chief reason which makes user to a habitual of this meaningful accounting software suite. It is expectation of many customers that problem cannot happen with this accounting and finance software. A great number of people hypotheses that no problem arise with the administration of forthcoming time. Nonetheless, no one has the power to stop the unexpected event in it. By the way, some series of technical problems has been outline in it. Generally, it is the common thing the normal QuickBooks pitch has resolved through self practice. If the existence of problem is out of capacity, then you would not forget to get the smooth interaction of QuickBooks online support. These experts are not adhering with specific time interval to give the valid assistance to their customers.
In case you are willing to nullify is non-expected result, then you should not need to explore most update knowledge with the coverage of time. You must active with QuickBooks online support phone number if you dislike to stay connects with long durability of its frustrated outcome. Making worry against the technical issue does not provide the effective solution to decrease the problem stability. You must tell whatever issue to technical team so that they do their best for offering the customer friendly result. First of all, you must see the brief look of encountered QuickBooks conflictions.
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XORIR
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Framing the issue as a choice identifies a preliminary set of options for resolving the problem; the next task is to broaden the list of possibilities. The objective in this step is to be inclusive rather than restrictive of the number and diversity of possibilities on the table. Here is the opportunity to encourage creative and more-unexpected strategies. In this context, a possibility should be expressed as a narrative or scenario, a happy story that describes a positive outcome. That is why we like to call them possibilities rather than options.
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A.G. Lafley (Playing to win: How strategy really works)
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Follow your highest excitement, for it holds the key to abundance and success. By aiding the happiness of others, opportunities and support shall effortlessly gravitate towards you. Embrace the unpredictability of the journey, while maintaining trust in the process. Take inspired action in harmony with your excitement, and pave the path towards a life of fulfillment and abundance.
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Dan Desmarques
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When the course of civilization takes an unexpected turn- when, instead of the continuous progress which we have come to expect, we find ourselves threatened by evils associated by us with past ages of barbarism--we naturally blame anything but ourselves. Have we not all striven according to our best lights, and have not many of our finest minds incessantly worked to make this a better world? Have not all our efforts and hopes been directed toward greater freedom, justice, and prosperity? If the outcome is so different from our aims- if, instead of freedom and prosperity, bondage and misery stare us in the face--is it not clear that sinister forces must have foiled our intentions, that we are the victims of some evil power which must be conquered before we can resume the road to better things? However much we may differ when we name the culprit--whether it is the wicked capitalist or the vicious spirit of a particular nation, the stupidity of our elders, or a social system not yet, although we have struggled against it for half a century, fully overthrown-- we all are, or at least were until recently certain of one thing: that the leading ideas which during the last generation have become major changes in our social life cannot have been wrong. We are ready to accept almost any explanation of the present crisis of our civilization except one: that the present state of the world may be the result of genuine error on our own part and that the pursuit of some of our most cherished ideals has apparently produced results utterly different from those which we expected.
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Hayek F. A. (The Road to Serfdom)
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The answer to what rules the known or the unknown of the blind side may never be fully known, but to live is to embrace that which is fortuitous and to be in harmony and tranquility with providential and unexpected outcomes.
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Oliver Harper, LPC
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I let go of my expectations. I surrender and trust everything is working out for me—even this. I am loved even if things don’t go according to how I expect. I go with the flow. Everything is exactly as it should be even if I can't see it yet. I respect others and their opinions. I can’t control life, I can only control my response to it. I am patient. I am calm. I am at peace with or without my desired outcome. Being respectful is the most powerful approach. True power is secure and capable of handling things not going my way. True power is calm and composed. My peaceful nature is respected. I appreciate others. I can wait. There are no enemies. Nothing can take from me. I can handle whatever arises unexpectedly with composure. Nothing can withhold love from me. I am loved. I am secure. Security and worthiness of love are within me.
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Mathew Micheletti (The Inner Work: An Invitation to True Freedom and Lasting Happiness)
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...an incisive, smartly informative memoir that celebrates the power of the cohesive family unit—its outcome will offer positivity and hope to those facing similar challenges. —KIRKUS REVIEWS
Deep Waters is a survival story of the highest order, navigating the complex terrain of marriage, medical crisis, and a future reimagined. After the trauma of her husband’s stroke, Mathews returns to a basic truth: through love, we discover who we are, and who we hope to become. —CAROLINE VAN HEMERT, award-winning author of The Sun is a Compass
Mathews has penned a deeply personal love story with the careful rigor of the scientist she is, free of any giddy prose or rainbows. Instead, Deep Waters comes at the reader with the gloves off and goes a full twelve rounds,
documenting in granular detail the fears and conflicts attending a life-altering event that can drive even a strong relationship onto the ropes, and the endurance, commitment, and deep love that can save it. —LYNN SCHOOLER, critically acclaimed author of The Blue Bear and Walking Home
With love as rugged and wild as the Alaskan landscape she made home, biologist Beth Ann Mathews tells the story of another wilderness: marriage after a life-altering stroke. Deep Waters is a thoughtful and provoking read, a
reminder that life and love are inexplicably fragile and resilient, full of unexpected discovery. —ABBY MASLIN, author of Love You Hard
Urgent, informative, emotionally satisfying, and thought-provoking, Deep Waters opens with a harrowing medical mystery and rewards the reader with a loving account of an adventurous partnership made stronger by crisis. —ANDROMEDA ROMANO-LAX, author of Annie and the Wolves
We felt like we were there with Beth, sharing her emotions, anguish and struggles through the stroke, hospital stay, and recovery. We felt like part of the family as we read, gasped, cried and hoped for recovery and for peace in her heart.”—TBD BOOK CLUB, Seattle, WA
If books were birds, this one would be an arctic tern—powerful and graceful, beset by storms and learning to survive, and more, to thrive. The writing is feather-light yet strong. —KIM HEACOX, author of Jimmy Bluefeather
Mathews writes with poignant honesty about the challenges of marriage, family, and community in a moving story that highlights the strengths of human relationships. Deep Waters starts with a bang and just keeps going—lively, vivid, and personal. — ROMAN DIAL, author of The Adventurer’s Son: A Memoir
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Beth Ann Mathews (Deep Waters: A Memoir of Loss, Alaska Adventure, and Love Rekindled)
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Amazon Comprehend is a natural language processing (NLP) solution that uses machine learning to find and extract insights and relationships from documents. •Amazon Forecast combines your historical data with other variables, such as weather, to forecast outcomes. •Amazon Kendra is an intelligent search service powered by machine learning. •Amazon Lex is a solution for building conversational interfaces that can understand user intent and enable humanlike interactions. •Amazon Lookout for Metrics detects and diagnoses anomalies in business and marketing data, such as unexpected drops in sales or unusual spikes in customer churn rates. •Amazon Personalize powers personalized recommendations using the same machine-learning technology as Amazon.com. •Amazon Polly converts text into natural-sounding speech, enabling you to create applications that talk. •Amazon Rekognition makes it possible to identify objects, people, text, scenes, and activities in images and videos. •Amazon Textract automatically reads and processes scanned documents to extract text, handwriting, tables, and data. •Amazon Transcribe converts speech to text. •Amazon Translate uses deep-learning models to deliver accurate, natural-sounding translation.
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Paul Roetzer (Marketing Artificial Intelligence: Ai, Marketing, and the Future of Business)
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One of the most useful tools for improving process is the practice of doing debriefs (also called retrospectives or postmortems). You can do this at the completion of a project, on a periodic basis, or anytime an unexpected event or error occurs. Here’s how it works: You invite the team to come together for an hour or two to reflect on what happened. What went well, what didn’t go well, and what would the team do differently next time? The process is both cathartic and instructive. There is something to learn even if the outcome was positive (how can we take away best practices for other projects?). If the outcome wasn’t good, debriefs help you avoid the same mistakes in the future.
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Julie Zhuo (The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You)
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All the sounds, words, emotions and memories of previous experiences cannot prepare us enough for the encounters with the unexpected, challenging our values, preconceptions and beliefs. It is then that one is either rewarded for his faith or punished for the lack of it. The ultimate test, however, emerges in the form of what one desires the most hidden beneath the layer of what is simultaneously feared. No one knows the outcome of this invisible battle until its very end. It is when the heart is finally offered to that confrontation that one faces the last gate of his own mortal life, and in doing so, is led to either an immediate rebirth or a slow death.
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Dan Desmarques (Codex Illuminatus: Quotes & Sayings of Dan Desmarques)
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A good risk estimate requires data that can do two things: (1) reveal lessons from the past that will be relevant in the future, and (2) predict that certain past outcomes are more likely than others.
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Allison Schrager (An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk)
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Force gratitude until it becomes habitual. Gratitude helps us stop trying to control outcomes. It is the key that unlocks positive energy in our life. It is the alchemy that turns problems into blessings, and the unexpected into gifts.
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Melody Beattie (The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency (Hazelden Meditation Series))
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When Indiana Jones shoots the huge sword fighter in Raiders of the Lost Ark, it became one of the most iconic duels ever primarily because the outcome was totally unexpected. It broke the rules. It wasn’t fair. And we loved it because of that.
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Michael Shea (Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master)
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I viewed this image inside of a box and pictured the edges of the box reaching outer space. I knew the Divine would have to create the path; I wasn’t innovative enough to do so. Within a few days, an entirely unexpected outcome emerged.
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Cyndi Dale (Energetic Boundaries: How to Stay Protected and Connected in Work, Love, and Life)
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This is one insidious outcome of a system that has been built from its very inception by White people and on the backs of the Black community. Simply put, Whites have amassed wealth and Blacks have not. That’s not liberal bullshit. It’s the truth.
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Mashama Bailey (Black, White, and the Grey: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship and a Beloved Restaurant)
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Victory arrived unexpectedly in June 2001, when a UN AIDS conference was due to open in New York. On that same day, the United States withdrew the complaint against Brazil from the WTO. I have no doubt that this favorable outcome was decisively influenced by global public opinion.
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Fernando Henrique Cardoso (The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir)
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Obviously the students preferred to assign themselves to the appealing task and their partners to the unappealing task, but they also recognized that it would be fairer to toss a coin to decide who would undertake each task. The laws of probability state that if the students were using the coins fairly, roughly half of them should have been assigned to the positive task, and the other half should have been assigned to the negative task. Though all of the students tossed the coin, the researchers found that 85 percent of the students assigned themselves to the positive task, suggesting that the coin was merely a prop that allowed them to defend the fairness of the desired outcome. Since they weren’t supervised, you can imagine how the students interpreted a negative outcome: if they lost the first toss, perhaps they decided that the outcome should rest on a best-of-three scenario. The researchers tried the task again, this time placing the students in front of a large mirror. Forced to stare at their reflections as they tossed the coin, the students were perfectly fair, assigning their phantom partner to the positive task exactly 50 percent of the time. Incredibly, the students claimed they reached their decision fairly in both situations, but only the students who sat in front of a mirror actually obeyed the outcome of the coin toss.
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Adam Alter (Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave)
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The clinical stories that make up a good deal of this part of the book are drawn from my experiences with the courageous people who have come to our clinic over the years.
Most have them have felt so broken that they thought they would never heal, but somehow we made our way together through the uncertain territory of their inner world toward their own version of what healing can look like for them.
I have been struck by the uniqueness and creativity of their systems when they have been given support to unfold along their natural path. Often the results have been unexpected, and certainly not in conformity with any list of outcomes. Sometimes, from a certain viewpoint, we could say that therapy failed, and yet something has happened that has been meaningful and transformative in its own way.
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Bonnie Badenoch (The Heart of Trauma: Healing the Embodied Brain in the Context of Relationships (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology))
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Rather than believing they have to start with a big idea or plan out a whole project in advance,” he writes, “they make a methodical series of little bets about what might be a good direction, learning critical information from lots of little failures and from small but significant wins” [emphasis mine]. This rapid and frequent feedback, Sims argues, “allows them to find unexpected avenues and arrive at extraordinary outcomes.
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Cal Newport (So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love)
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Write down the POV character in the scene, the objective, and a list of possible obstacles. Write a tentative outcome. Spend a couple of minutes making a list of unexpected things. Go wild. One of them will please you. Then you’re ready to write.
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James Scott Bell (Super Structure: The Key to Unleashing the Power of Story (Bell on Writing))
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One of the key paradoxes in Buddhism is that we need goals to be inspired, to grow, and to develop, even to become enlightened, but at the same time we must not get overly fixated or attached to these aspirations. If the goal is noble, your commitment to the goal should not be contingent on your ability to attain it, and in pursuit of our goal, we must release our rigid assumptions about how we must achieve it. Peace and equanimity come from letting go of our attachment to the goal and the method. That is the essence of acceptance. Reflecting on this seeming paradox, of pursuing a goal yet with no attachment to its outcome, Jinpa explained to me that there is an important insight. This is a deep recognition that while each of us should do everything we can to realize the goal we seek, whether or not we succeed often depends on many factors beyond our control. So our responsibility is to pursue the goal with all the dedication we can muster, do the best we can but not become fixated on a preconceived notion of a result. Sometimes, actually quite often, our efforts lead to an unexpected outcome that might even be better than what we originally had in mind.
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Dalai Lama XIV (The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World)
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There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just an unexpected outcome. You learn from it and learning is never a failure.
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Don Rittner
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This is a deep recognition that while each of us should do everything we can to realize the goal we seek, whether or not we succeed often depends on many factors beyond our control. So our responsibility is to pursue the goal with all the dedication we can muster, do the best we can but not become fixated on a preconceived notion of a result. Sometimes, actually quite often, our efforts lead to an unexpected outcome that might even be better than what we originally had in mind.
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Dalai Lama XIV (The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World)
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Destruction. Anyone who didn’t know the real meaning of that word now has the opportunity to learn it here. You might have thought that you already knew its real name and how to pronounce it. But during the first major bombardment you experience, you find himself in the semi-darkness of a cellar with a crowd of frantic people, already killed by fear. What such people do and the way they speak and behave is completely outside the framework of the accepted standards of behaviour that prevail at the time, and indeed has its origin in the other side of human consciousness. But all voices are silenced and all movements frozen by an explosion, or rather, a series of explosions, scattered somewhere around the city centre. And then, in the darkness and silence that reign after the explosions, the distant but clear crashing of multi-storey buildings can be heard, like an echo. It is an alarming, uncommon sound, akin to a series of consecutive stone avalanches, the voice of giant hordes, formed up beside each other, roaring their indecipherable and terrible cheers to someone riding swiftly ahead of them; their shouts overlap and merge as they tail off. This new sound that touches a place inside you hitherto unknown, is the true name of destruction and its proper pronunciation. Destruction’s strange voice takes wing, and seeks within the mass an individual it can frighten, and within each individual a weak point open to fear. And it finds it, at least here. Because anyone who as a result is frightened, is already beaten, regardless of all the possible convoluted developments of the war, and even its final outcome. Thus it happens that, in addition to the major destruction to visible things, even greater destruction is wrought within and between people, which only a few of them, and even then only gradually, begin to see and understand. The destruction tears off man’s final mask, turns his innards inside out and throws into view unexpected characteristics, contrary to everything known or thought about a person, and even what he believed about himself; it disrupts family relations and changes the established social order and relationships, even those considered eternal and unchanging, such as gender relations.
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Ivo Andrić
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Adopting an attitude of agile optimism—expecting to receive unexpected insights before we see the outcomes—is how we build the neural pathways that create the spring-fever effect.
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Nick Tasler (Your Year of Wonders: Embrace Change. Grow Faster. Win Bigger.)
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The Most Common Immigration Problems and How Lawyers Solve Them
Immigration law is notoriously complex and can be fraught with unexpected challenges. Whether you’re seeking a visa, green card, citizenship, or trying to navigate through deportation proceedings, you may encounter numerous obstacles along the way. The good news is that immigration lawyers are specifically trained to tackle these challenges and provide solutions that give you the best chance for success. Below are some of the most common immigration problems people face and how lawyers can help resolve them.
1. Visa Denials
Problem: One of the most common issues in immigration cases is visa denials. U.S. embassies and consulates around the world deny visa applications for a variety of reasons, including missing documents, failure to prove ties to your home country, or issues with your immigration history. For instance, someone might apply for a tourist visa, but the consular officer might believe that the applicant intends to overstay their visa, leading to a denial.
How Lawyers Solve It: An experienced immigration lawyer will review your case thoroughly and advise you on how to address the reasons for the denial. They will help you gather the necessary documentation, strengthen your case, and file an appeal if necessary. If the denial is based on a perceived lack of strong ties to your home country, your lawyer might help you present more compelling evidence to demonstrate that you will return after your visit. In some cases, they may recommend applying for a different type of visa that better suits your circumstances.
2. Green Card Delays
Problem: Green card applications often face significant delays, sometimes lasting several months or even years. These delays are typically due to backlogs in the immigration system, issues with documentation, or administrative errors. Some applicants may also experience delays if their priority date is not current, especially in family-based or employment-based green card categories.
How Lawyers Solve It: Immigration lawyers can help expedite the process by ensuring that all paperwork is completed correctly and filed on time. They can also track your case and follow up with USCIS if there are unnecessary delays. In certain situations, they may request expedited processing or appeal delays based on specific circumstances (e.g., medical emergencies or military deployment). Additionally, lawyers can help you understand the visa bulletin and priority date system, ensuring that you're aware of when your case is likely to be processed.
3. Requests for Evidence (RFEs)
Problem: Immigration applications are often delayed or denied because of Requests for Evidence (RFEs). These are issued when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or other authorities require additional documentation or clarification to process your case. For example, if you’re applying for a green card based on marriage, USCIS might request more proof that the marriage is bona fide (genuine).
How Lawyers Solve It: Immigration lawyers are experts at responding to RFEs. They know what additional evidence will satisfy USCIS's concerns and can help you gather and submit the required documents in a timely manner. Lawyers will ensure that your response to the RFE is complete, clear, and well-organized. Their experience in handling RFEs increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome by addressing the request in a way that meets all of USCIS's requirements.
4. Inadmissibility Issues
Problem: Some individuals may be inadmissible to the U.S. due to certain legal issues, such as criminal convictions, prior immigration violations (e.g., overstaying a visa), or health-related grounds (e.g., communicable diseases). Inadmissibility can prevent individuals from obtaining visas or entering the country.
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immigrationlawyer
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It will be the article of the century, I promise,” Marshall said. “You might even win an award. ‘Train Murder Runs Off the Rails with Unexpected Outcome.’ There—I thought up a headline for you.
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Chloe Gong (Last Violent Call)
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Though we can’t predict or control or demand the outcome of our circumstances, we can know with great certainty we will be okay. Better than okay. Better than normal. We will be victorious because Jesus is victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57). And victorious people were never meant to settle for normal.
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Lysa TerKeurst (It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered)
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Throughout life man is constantly adjusting his assemblage point unconsciously. However, in doing so, he ‘forgets’ many of his experiences and the means by which he has arrived at that knowledge. To understand this it should be realised that the assemblage point is very much like the dial on a tuner. The purpose of such a dial is to enable us to access certain radio frequencies which give us a particular broadcasting station. Every time we move the dial we will access another band of frequencies which will of course constitute another station. The assemblage point of man works in exactly the same way in that it gives us access to certain energy fields which constitute our view of the world. Under the impact of this view we gain certain experiences and knowledge which are peculiar only to that particular view. If then we access other energy fields we also access another view. This new view causes us to lose contact with or to ‘forget’ the experiences and knowledge gained previously. Needless to say, we do not really forget. It is just that our old view becomes overlaid with the impact of our new view and its attendant experiences. When knowledge becomes overlaid in this manner it becomes what has been termed subliminal or subconscious. The fact that knowledge is subconscious does not imply that it ceases to influence our actions. On the contrary, our thoughts and feelings, and consequently also our actions, are continuously being influenced by this subconscious knowledge. This is why an apprentice will often struggle to break an old habit. Such subconscious knowledge has the tendency to pop up most unexpectedly, and the apprentice finds himself having concluded an act triggered by this subliminal knowledge even before he realises what he is doing. It therefore stands to reason that in order to have total recall and also to be able successfully to practise not-doing, it is necessary to be able to move the assemblage point back to all of its former positions. Only by accessing these former positions can we recall the knowledge gained there, and the habits initiated by those experiences. It is vital to grasp that it does not matter if at first we meet only with apparent failure. Paradoxical as it may sound, success in walking the Path of Knowledge does not lie in the outcome of our struggle, but only in how impeccably we struggle, because it is this struggle which forces us to move the assemblage point. Once we can move the assemblage point everything falls into place smoothly and effortlessly. The only thing which is a struggle is to make the assemblage point move in the first place. Once this has been accomplished the road lies clear ahead.
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Théun Mares (Return of the Warriors: The Toltec Teachings - Volume I (The Toltec Teachings - Théun Mares Book 1))
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Perfection means having an expected outcome. Perfect lines, perfect colors, perfect brushstrokes. But perfection is unachievable. Indeed, it is the attempt, the strokes we did not mean to make, that leave us with an unexpected beauty.
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Megan Walker (Miss Newbury's List)