Cirlce of influence or concern

We've been talking about the circle if influence and the circle of concern. This is a good and interesting concept to look at because it makes me aware on what are the things that I concentrate more. It is very interesting that I concentrate on the things that i cannot change or have not control over. By focusing on my circle of influence, then I can do something about and change my situation that I am in.
We also talked about the "I have to" or "I must" and "I choose to" or "I want to". These are very interesting to say because some of the "I have to" are not negative but just phrases that we automatically say, and of course, there are others that we say in as a negative emotion that we don't want to do it. One example that comes to mind is when I say: I have to call my parents. It is a phrase that I say in a positive way, but also to remind myself to do it.
It was funny yesterday in class, because we were asked to make a whining list. Yes, I whining list, and as for me, I do not like to whine (no, I'm not perfect just trying to be positive), but since it was an activity, then okay. The list turned out to be not so much a whining list, but just a list of the things that I need to do... or have to do?. Anyway, I need to be aware of the language that I use when doing things that I have to do, when in reality I want to do, or I choose to do. Wow, sounded very complicated, but I got it.

Life is Beautiful

Last time in class, we watched the movie "Life is Beautiful" and today we related that movie to Habit #1. This movie had so many wonderful examples of how a person can change his attitude towards the situation he is in. Guido showed positive attitude, the way he sacrificed his life for his family, and to make the situation better, I think, it takes tremendous dedication, love, sacrifice for your family, for yourself, and for others.
I love this movie, it is really funny, but it also has many good life lessons that we can all learn. One of those lessons is to be able to look at life in a positive healthy way, no matter the circumstances. It takes time to just change the way you look at life, but little by little, step and step, we can all choose how we're going to react to any situation.

Habit 1

Last week, we started talking about Habit 1, Be Proactive. It is a habit of choice and influence. A habit of controlling ourselves. One of the videos shown to us talked about 'carrying your own weather.' That phrase has made me think about my own life and the moments that I felt sad because of what people said or do to me. I remember moments when a friend tells me to just ignore that comment, and many times I wish I could ignore and erase it from my memory and feel happy again or maybe not hurt. But, it is really hard. It is a process, one doesn't magically change from one day to the other or maybe someone can, who knows. I admire people who can do that and change their perspective about the situation. Boy, I have so much to learn.

Deposits to your account

Today, my teacher's dad came in and gave a great presentation about "Emotional Bank Account". To be able to make large deposits and get a high reserve in our account is to do what we were taught when we were little kids. Those things are:
- Treat people with kindness, respect and courtesy
- Seek to understand
- Making and keeping promises
- Be loyal to the absent
- Set clear expectations
- Learn to apologize
- Learn to forgive and forget
- Gratitude... real and sincere
One of the points that I hear a lot from people do, is the opposite of being loyal to the absent. Personally, I do not like when people talk bad about other people, even worse when they are not present in the same room. Why do they do that? I mean, I don't think they gain anything by saying bad things about others. I guess they still need to grow a little bit more.
Anyway, we need to evaluate ourselves and see what needs to be improved, because there is always room for improvement and learning.

First day

The first thing that I noticed when I was about to register for this class was how long the class was, 2 hrs 45 min. Yes, very long, but did that stop me to from taking the class? I guess not. This is a very interesting class and book. The book, I believe makes you remember what are the basic things that you need to do to be able to improve yourself in various aspects of your life. So, lets begin our journey to a better self.