Joel’s newsletter, July 1,
2009
An ezine about Creative thinking, Coaching, and Making a difference
- by Joel Remde, joel@joelremde.com
Your feedback is welcome! Please email your comments and suggestions to
joel@joelremde.com .
Making a Difference
Can you actually make a difference in the world? Today I saw a news story
about a New Jersey woman who helps low-income individuals get started in
business. Alfa Demmellash is the CEO and co-founder of Rising Tide
Capital, a New Jersey organization that provides training and funding to over
250 entrepreneurs in the Jersey City area, mostly single mothers, and also
ex-offenders, who are trying to start or grow their businesses. She was
recognized by President Obama yesterday. See the story at cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/06/30/cnnheroes.demmellash.obama
This an excellent example of making a positive difference in the
community. The non-profit organization, Rising Tide, helps struggling
individuals who have little, if any, other source of assistance. The training
is provided at low cost to these entrepreneurs. Without this support
their businesses might not survive. Thanks to the training provided by
Rising Tide, the entrepreneurs are able to support themselves, and the
businesses benefit the community. Rising Tide also helps raise funding
from corporations and government for the training, thus allowing others to
contribute to making a real difference. So the whole community is
involved and also benefits.
I am inspired by and appreciate what Demmellash is doing, and the fact that
Obama gave recognition to this kind of work. I hope that will encourage
others to look for ways to contribute to the betterment of the world.
Are you the kind of person that wants to make a difference, in you community,
or in the world? Perhaps you have a desire but don’t know what to
do. Or maybe it seems like it would be too much work. Or maybe
there is not enough time. Or perhaps it’s too much struggle to take care
of your own needs.
I’ve always wanted to do something to make a positive impact in the
world. But the reasons I’ve just mentioned have held me back.
Someday I hope to start an organization similar to Alfa Demmellash’s that helps
empower others. I’ll write about it in a future issue of this newsletter.
If you have a particular desire to make a positive impact out there, and would
like to let others know about it, I’d be happy to write about it in this
newsletter. Just email me at joel@joelremde.com.
Creative visualization
One of the most powerful forms of creative thinking is visualization.
When you see something in your mind, it is almost as real as though it were
actually happening. Creative visualization is using the mind
intentionally to visualize what you want, rather than letting your thoughts occur
on their own. When you have a clear picture in your mind of something you
want, and you can come back to that image frequently, then it is much more
likely to become real.
The mind can easily form images, although it’s not always easy to do it consciously.
For example, last week I was installing an attic floor. It was tiring
work. After I stopped working for the day, I kept seeing images of floor
boards in my mind. Even when I tried to think of something else, the
attic kept coming back in my thoughts. I was surprised how vivid the
images were. I don’t know how much my visualizing helped to get the rest
of the work done. But I did finish the floor.
If we could visualize that clearly what we choose, how effectively could we
make something that we want to come into reality? I believe that
visualization is very effective. I’ll write more about creative
visualization in future issues.
If you’re interested in learning more about Coaching, Visualization or Creative
Thinking, contact Joel at joel@joelremde.com or 973-635-1048.
Quote of the week
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.
- R. Buckminster Fuller.”
This is an interesting thought. Looking at a caterpillar, you’d never
guess that it would become a butterfly, unless you’re familiar with the life
cycle of such insects. What this means to me is that the potential isn’t
always visible, although it is very real. It’s like DNA, which determines
the form a living organism will become. But the DNA itself doesn’t look
anything like the result. A seed doesn’t look like the tree it will
become. Computer software doesn’t look anything like the output and the
functions it generates. In manufacturing, the parts often don’t resemble
the finished product. We can’t always trust our eyes alone. We must
trust another kind of knowledge to know what the result will be.
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This newsletter is written by Joel Remde, joel@joelremde.com . I welcome
your comments and feedback; that will help me learn more about what you’re
interested in and help me to improve the newsletter.
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