I’ve always loved Venn diagrams. I think they make things clear. Two circles overlap, leading to a shaded area. But I have taken the concept further, as a tool I use with clients. I call it VennSure. There is no reason to think of a Venn Diagram as a black and white or one-dimensional drawing. […]
KEITHABLOWART.COM Human beings turn out to have an Achilles heel that may also be our Achilles heal. We cannot resist new technologies if those technologies replicate or attempt to replicate human behaviors. Hence, robots galvanize our attention, almost as if we are all children saying, “Look! Look! A machine that walks and talks!” When […]
Sometimes, it’s the little things that bring the big things back into perspective. A friend of mine who runs a technology startup was in the midst of sharing with me some of the very real challenges he faces in getting his company up and running. His brow was furrowed, and hhe kept sighing. He seemed […]
Now, maybe more than ever in this country, messaging from many quarters of government is contrary to the Pain-2-Power philosophy. Stated simply that philosophy is: Boldly pursue your true SELF and true goals, being willing and even eager to confront the discomfort of doing so, in order to become the strongest you can be. Government […]
In Robert Pirsig’s book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, he talks about what he calls the “ego climber.” These are individuals whose energy to pursue goals doesn’t emanate from a core passion aligned with a true sense of self, but, instead, from a desire to prop up a false self—one connected to trying […]
One of the most daunting psychological resistors to using Pain-2-Power to become the most authentic, powerful version of yourSELF is the idea that it is “too late.” It’s too late because you’re so far along on a career path that, while it doesn’t speak to your soul, pays the bills. It’s too late because the […]
There’s part of the musical version of Don Quixote, the Spanish novel authored in the early 1600s by Miguel de Cervantes, that I occasionally find myself reminding people about. Don Quixote is, of course, the nobleman from La Mancha who reads so many romances involving chivalry that he comes to believe that he must revive […]
Depersonalization is a psychiatric term that means having the sense that you are observing yourself from outside your body or that things around you are not real. It is essentially the feeling of being a detached observer of oneself, and it is extremely painful. People need to feel firmly rooted to a core identity, in […]
Nothing is wasted in this life, unless we forget that we have the ability to turn pain into power. That means that every page and chapter and theme of your life story that you found challenging or painful or traumatic or trying is just waiting for you to give others the gift of the insights […]
Every one of us has a story. The roots of each of our stories reaches deeper than we can remember and has chapters in previous generations. Some of the “backstory” that set the stage for your journey, challenges and gifts involves psychological dynamics that unfolded many years ago, setting the stage for the kind of […]