Blog Carnival: 10 Posts about Realizing Your Potential — September 2008

Welcome to the September 17, 2008 edition of 10 posts about realizing your potential. Thanks to everyone who submitted!

Every month, I pick 10 best posts from all the submissions. I do this because I feel that what internet needs right now is an opinion leader, not just an aggregater. Most blog carnivals simply slap together all submissions, leaving readers to sift through the muck looking for the best content. You’ve come to this site to read my personal opinions — so that’s what you’ll get on this carnival.

Below are the cream of crop of self improvement/personal development blogs, according to yours truly. 😉

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FIRE Finance presents Knock Out Your Financial Problems Like Rocky posted at FIRE Finance.

Indeed, I got totally knocked out by this very inspirational tale of Sylvester Stallone’s rise to success. I had known that he had a rags-to-riches story, but didn’t know how determined he was. The bit about his dog was particularly touching. Thanks for sharing this tale!

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And here are 9 more expertly written essays:

Mark David Gerson presents Larger than Life posted at Mark David Gerson’s New Earth Chronicles.

Mark describes how a Barbra Streisand concert inspired him to explore what it means to be “Larger than Life.” Over the course, he mentions several musicians to make his point. Being a musician, I really related to this article — and the fundamental point about living without reducing yourself.

Alaia Williams presents Get Organized, Get Healthy: Health Issues Causing Disorganization & Clutter posted at One Organized Life Blog.

Alaia covers a lot of grounds in this article about possible causes of clatter and disorganization. The source may turn out to be deeper than you think. If this is an issue in your life, this article is worth a read.

Dawne presents Magical Moments posted at The Incurable Romantic.

Here’s a heart-warming tale of someone who found her soulmate. Not as much an advise as it is more of a picture of the rosy destination. It’s very inspiring to read about someone who successfully found, forged and maintained intimate and satisfying relationship. An ideal all couples should aspire to.

Dawn Abraham Life Coach presents Life Purpose How to Get One! posted at Qualified Life Coach.Com.

This is a topic well-covered in our circles, yet Dawn’s write-up is a comprehensive and thorough recount of how she went about it. I am a strong believer in sharing one’s personal tale, as it brings concepts to life, make theories real. Well-written and very readable, too.

Chris Edgar presents To Feel Inspired, Focus On What You’re Contributing posted at Purpose Power Coaching.

Chris tells us where to turn to if we struggle to find justifications for what we do and what we get paid for. I could very much relate, as one of the roadblocks I had with my pursuit of music was that it was a selfish affair that didn’t make positive impact — until I realized that the truth is quite contrary. Discovering the positive impact your actions makes is indeed inspiring!

CG Walters presents Ego as Spiritual Ally posted at Into the Mist.

Now here’s a reading for truly deep thinkers. CG’s premise that ego is our asset, not liability, is an idea I’ve encountered before and agree with, but his writing is very eloquent, poetic and refreshing. I read this entry as much for its beautiful writing style as I did for the message contained. A challenging but rewarding read.

Toni presents You always have a choice posted at Happy Nest.

Toni tells of her personal tale of what happened to some of her friendships when she learned that she didn’t have to be a “yes-woman.” It is an empowering realization, but it brings to forefront potential toxicity in relationships that were formed before you became true you. I wished if she included some positive aspects of her evolution, but yet, I can definitely relate to her story of outgrowing relationships. A compelling read.

Mark Babineaux presents what is a repressed feeling posted at What Is A Repressed Feeling?.

OK, this is a very extended essay on how repressed feelings affect our lives and our societies at large. If you have a few minutes to kill and want to ponder things larger than just your life, check this out.

Glowing Face Man presents The Nimbus Quest: Introduction posted at Glowing Face Man.

This is an entertaining read about a quest to be “in the zone” (as in peak performance) constantly. I’m not sure if it’s possible or not (Mr. Glowing Face Man wonders about that, too) but his observations are worth a read. And I’m certainly not knocking down his ambition! Whether he reaches his desired state or not, I think he’ll have a lot to share us from his pursuit.

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As always, a big thank-you to everyone who submitted! This carnival is growing each month, and it’s getting harder to choose the top 10. Which is a good thing. 🙂 Unfortunately, I still received many multiple-submitters. Please know that this carnival runs monthly, submission deadline is the 10th, and I accept only one submission per blog per month.

I was surprised this month to see that many of the submitters are still new to me. I figured same group of people go on submitting to carnivals over and over, but many of those who were in the last month are not in here. That said, it was good to get exposed to a whole new batch of blogs! Unfortunately I didn’t get to read fully and comment on all of them because of lack of time, but I hope to do some of that in the next few days.

By all means, browse through the rest of submissions — just because I chose the above as the best doesn’t meant that you’ll agree. And if you have anything to say about realizing your potential, please submit to the carnival.

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Nicholas Powiull presents Conscious Flex: How to Find Your Passion and Make It Your Career: by Nicholas Powiull posted at Conscious Flex.

Patrick A. Sizemore presents Working in a Crappy, Interrupting, Distracting Place – The Fifth Dimension posted at School is Hard.

Maria Gudelis presents Series II – Lessons learned from the Enlightened Wealth Institute posted at Maria Gudelis.

Sid Savara presents Positive Talk Creates Positive Action – How to Stop Talking Like a Loser posted at Sid Savara . com – Personal Development, Maximizing Productivity and Life Hacking.

Mike King presents Making Small Yet Measurable Progress posted at Learn This.

HighGrace presents 15 Great Ways to Beat the Blues posted at Face to the Sun.

Nadege presents Are you playing to win or are you playing not to lose? posted at Clearly Envision.

Richard Johnson presents What’s Really Bothering You? posted at Reaching A Better Place.

Richard Onebamoi presents Your Mind: Key to your Success posted at SELF-IMPROVE-BLOG.

Mitesh Solanki presents 10 Greatest Mistakes While Brainstorming posted at Invent Creativity.

Woman Tribune presents Forever the Other Woman posted at Woman Tribune.

Charles Chua C K presents All About Living with Life: Bruce Lee (1940-1973) and his “SMART” Goals posted at All About Living with Life.

axel presents Basic Relationship Skills posted at axel g.

Anmol Mehta presents Potent Yoga Breathing Exercise to Increase Energy & Treat Depression posted at Mastery of Meditation, Enlightenment and Kundalini Yoga.

Jose DeJesus presents Clearing Your Mind and Getting Things Done posted at Physician Entrepreneur.

Stephen presents How to Stop Procrastinating, Get Motivated & Achieve posted at Balanced Existence.

KateAddict presents Existance. posted at slyparadox.com Blog.

Vince presents Lifestyle: The all round approach to game + my work out plan posted at Vince Charming.

Britannica Blog presents Why Men Cheat: Is It Really All About Sex? | Britannica Blog posted at Britannica Blog.

brianohio presents Blue Angels, DBT, and the missing face? posted at “…if you only applied yourself.”.

Razvan Dobre presents How To Live A Better Life – 13 Ways To Live A Better Life Today! posted at RazvanDobre.com Blog.

Tushar Mathur presents 5 Tips to Avoid Travel Sickness posted at Travel – Eat – Sleep.

Brice Hogan presents Universal Laws of Attraction posted at My World | Independent Profit Center.

WD Favour presents Discover Yourself posted at WDFavour.com.

Dianne M. Buxton presents Everyday Spirituality and Your Miracle on a New Earth posted at manifestingsuccess.

Ralph Jean-Paul presents Meet Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere posted at Potential 2 Success.

Flash Gordon presents A Spiritually Uplifting Story: Learning to Trust in Something More posted at Great New Books that Are a Must Read.

Joshua Seth presents Stop Procrastinating and Start Getting Things Done | posted at Joshua Seth Blog.

Grace Young presents Facing Reality posted at Grace R Young OT.

Peter presents Joe Williams in Ireland – Seminar Review posted at we overstep.

Sandip Tripathy presents Cougar Hunting 101: The Ultimate Guide to Dating Older Women (And Have a Blast Doing So) posted at Soul Mating.

Ken Nubo presents How to ?instantly? get rid of fat belly posted at Ken Nubo, PUA extraordinaire and ranting buddhist..

Carole Gold presents Finding The Light Within posted at Gold Post-it.

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That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of 10 posts about realizing your potential using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Blog Carnival

19 Comments

    1. Hello Fire —

      Welcome to OBV! And thanks for telling a good story. It was sure inspiring to me.

      What I’d love to know now, is where Stallone found the courage and strength to stick to his convictions. Most of us in his condition would have compromised at the chance of having his first script sold and made into a movie. That’s one of the amazing part, to me — although he hadn’t had success yet, he didn’t settle for a lesser success. Very gutsy.

      ari

    1. Hi Dawn,

      Welcome to OBV! Thanks for the Stumble. I’m glad you liked my comments — though, really, it’s not that different from comments I would leave at people’s blogs.

      I just thought about what would make a blog carnival worthwhile. I’m getting positive feedback about what I’m doing. 🙂

      ari

    1. Hi Tom,

      Well, I did look through all valid submissions — so it would have taken only a bit more time to go and comment on some of them. I usually have something to add to a discussion.

      I’m tickled that you called what I do a “service.” Thanks!

      ari

    1. Hi Kristi,

      >If everyone could find their purpose in life, the world would be happier, and better managed overall.

      I couldn’t agree more. I don’t know about everyone else, but to me, one of my mental blocks were that my own pursuit was “selfish” thing to do — I still struggle with some deep-set versions of that belief. But really, finding and pursuing a purpose in life is the greatest service one can make to the world. Now that I know what it’s like to live such a life, I realize what a great injustice that most of us are not doing this.

      First, I need to make sure I’m living what I believe. Then I’ll be able to help others do the same.

      ari

  6. Oh, thank you so much for visiting my site and leaving such kind words. While you were there I was just writing about my other son. I hope you can come back and visit.

    Your words about my sensitive son touched me. He so different than his older brother. It is a blessing and challenge to have been given two different children with different paths in life. I have learned so much from each.

    It is late here but I will be back tomorrow to read. I have found so many wonderful bloggers lately. I am looking forward to coming back and reading your blog.

    Tammy Warren’s last blog post..Adventure through time

    1. Hi Tammy,

      Welcome to OBV! Thanks for counting me among your “wonderful bloggers” you met.

      I have two children, too, younger than yours, I think, at 4 and 1. A girl and a boy. They are indeed worlds apart in terms of personalities. You’ll notice that I mention my kids a lot around here — they are my greatest teachers. It’s like looking at a prototype of human beings — before it gets bent out of shape. It shows me, more clearly than anything, how we are originally made.

      As for being sensitive, it can be a challenge, can’t it? It appears that a signal that has an impact of 1 to most people, for us it feels like 5. Other people have a hard time understanding this, as they cannot comprehend why what feels like a minor stimulus to them feels like an electric shock to us. I feel like I have to protect myself and my family (my wife is sensitive, too) from much of the world, as they appear to us as if they’re carelessly swinging about their turbulent emotions, violent visions, and stressful dramas. My daughter knows to protect herself — when a movie she’s watching gets stressful (what appears to be a mild crisis — like being separated from a parent — which is vividly terrifying to her), she asks to turn it off.

      But the flip side is that where other people learn one thing, we learn five. Give us carefully filtered signals, and we’ll surprise you with how much we get out of tiny bits of exposures. Gentle touches are all we need — we don’t need shock treatments, “toughening up,” or kicks in the butt. We can steer ourselves just fine, once we know that we are secure.

      Wow, sorry, I got carried away — but it was fun for me to describe what it feels like to be me, at least. 😉 I could delete what I just wrote, but I’m going to let them go, trusting that you’ll get out what you can use and discard the rest. 😉 I have no idea how much of this applies to your son and obviously I’m not about to tell you how to raise him.

      Anyway, thanks for visiting and I look forward to getting to know you!

      ari

      1. Hey…thank you for taking the time to comment to me. I have struggled with this for a year or so. His older brother has always been fearless. He cannot understand what “sensitive” means. Lately, I am using a different approach in the house in reference to his accepting his brother rather than making fun of him. I know there is that sibling rivalry going on. I have explained that he is 13 and he has to let Dylan come into his own being his way. I am extremely sensitive. Overboard actually. Dylan is slowly growing out of a great deal of his ways. I know in my heart that he will always struggle with those that want to “toughen him up.” He does stand on his own two feet. You are right…once he feels secure he is just fine. He has chosen to tackle a great deal of things that is totally opposite than his brother. Ice hockey is his latest. (go figure that one out…sensitive gone wild)

        Really, these words meant a great deal to me. I discarded nothing that you wrote. It all applied to my son and I. He is my “sensitive son.”

        Tammy Warren’s last blog post..Adventure through time

        1. Hi Tammy,

          Glad to hear you found value in what I said. I can see how it must be hard with an older brother who is fearless and strong.

          I think it just comes down to encouraging Dylan to be who he is, whatever that means, doesn’t it? He doesn’t have to do anything to prove anything. He doesn’t have to do anything to please anyone but himself. Being sensitive doesn’t mean he’s weak, gentle or effeminate.

          About him and hockey — well, this is pure speculation here, but it makes some sense to me. He’s either trying to assert his “masculine” side or there is something beneath his “sensitive” exterior. Sensitive means just that — we have very able antennas. We pick up signals other people don’t, and weak signals feel strong to us. So we have to limit our exposures — which makes everyone, including ourselves, feel that we are gentle and timid. Well, they’d be cautious, too, if their senses were as touchy as ours! It has nothing to do with being mild-mannered or sweet-natured. I’m sure you’ve heard of a very sensitive man named Kurt Cobain. 😉

          If he’s doing it trying to prove something, he may not enjoy hockey as much as he thinks he would or he pretends to be. But then, it may release something in him that were not unleashable elsewhere. Either way, it’s great that he’s taking initiative to explore and you’re encouraging him to!

          I myself listen to very heavy, dark and angry music, and make music like that some of the times as well. I think the two reasons I mentioned above are very much involved here — for obvious reasons, I’m trying not to put too much weight on proving my masculinity or whatever, though really, it’s an issue I can’t simply tell it to go away. I need to do it until I feel that I don’t need to. And in my case, I’m pretty certain that I will keep listening to and making music beyond that, anyway. People who get to know me outside of my music often tell me that they didn’t expect me to make this type of music. That sense of unexpectedness feels nice to me. 😉

          Tammy, I bet Dylan’s an amazing kid, who’s doing just fine. I look forward to reading about how he goes though his phases and grows assured of who he is.

          ari

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