Emotional Bonding (The Soul of Leadership, Chopra)

L-E-A-D-E-R
(E = Emotional Bonding)

     Emotional bonding is crucial in being a leader.  "When people are emotionally bonded to you, they want to have contact with you." says Chopra in The Soul Of Leadership. To create a lasting emotional bond, Chopra says to make a habit of asking the following questions:  How do I feel?  How do they feel?  What are the hidden stumbling blocks between us?  By getting in touch with feelings this gives the space for you to lead.
     Chopra lays out for us important skills to have as a leader.  First, is emotional freedom; be free of guilt, resentment, anger and aggression (Its ok to have these feelings but to be clear about them so you do not have an emotional outburst.)  Second, have shared enthusiasm; think "This is great for us!"  People are moved to help a leader when they think they are also helping themselves and not just you.  Third, genuinely care for others; instead of asking how someone is doing, look them in the eye, forget everything else and respond naturally.  Fourth, be willing to build a relationship; our souls are equal so act like it.  Fifth, reinforce the strengths of others; encourage each person to develop his or her best qualities and be specific.  Lastly, increase the self-esteem of others; let them know they are doing a good job and appreciate them.
     Being a leader, doesn't mean you have to have a following of 500 people or be a great speaker.  You are most likely already a leader within your family, circle of friends, or at work.  The idea of being a leader is filling the need that is there in the world.  We all need guidance and it takes a leader to fill that need.

Fill the Basic Need, Be a Leader (The Soul of Leadership, Chopra)

     There are 7 essential needs that people need filled.  In The Soul of Leadership, Chopra, lists these basic needs.  Once the first is fulfilled people can move onto the next.  In order to be a leader you need to fulfill these needs.

1. Safety, security
2. Achievement, success
3. Cooperation
4. Nurturing, belonging
5. Creativity,  progress
6. Moral values
7. Spiritual fulfillment

     Which of these human needs does your business fill?  How can you fill a need and a be a leader for others?  Safety and security is the first basic need and spiritual fulfillment is last.  Is there a way to market your business to how it fills the first basic need, safety and security? For me, Pure Qualities, my inspirational card business, fulfills spiritual fulfillment.  Could it also, possibly, fill the need for safety and security? 

Inspiration (The Soul of Leadership, Chopra)

L-E-A-D-E-R-S
L=Look and listen

    What inspires you? The most successful leaders are what Chopra, in his book The Soul of Leadership,  calls successful visionaries because they all began with passion and a view of the big picture.  Visions are usually created from a need, a crisis, management problem, or a social issue that needs a leader to offer guidance. 
     The first letter in leaders tells us to look and listen.  Do this by observing and gathering information around you.  Chopra states, "Begin by being as open and impartial as possible."  Next, use sound judgement and analysis on what you see and hear; weigh and analyze the need.  Then,  feel and reflect; what feels light and right for you? Lastly, let go and wait.  Allow time for your vision to incubate. How can you make your vision happen?
     My vision is to inspire others with daily tools to bring joy into their lives.  What is your vision?

Fulfilling Needs, Becoming a Leader (The Soul of Leadership, Chopra)

     Stepping into your role as a leader is taking responsibility for directing your own life, states Deepak Chopra in his latest book, The Soul of Leadership.  Ask yourself, "Who am I?" and "Why am I here?"  As you begin to question and direct your life, people will be drawn to you.  Furthermore, by directing your life and fulfilling your needs, others will be drawn to you to lead them to fulfill their own needs.
     We all have the ability to be great leaders by listening to our soul.  There are basic needs, survival, safety, and love that need to be fulfilled first.  Then, higher needs such as a sense of dignity and spiritual purpose need to be fulfilled.  Leaders fulfill others needs.  Following your own soul you can be a great leader to people in need while opening your own awareness every step of the way. 

New book! The Soul of Leadership by Deepak Chopra

  Deepak Chopra has a new book, The Soul of Leadership, released December 28, 2010 which is my next book to blog about.  Chopra, who has been teaching leadership to CEO's for 8 years has outlined the path that can be applied to any business.  The review of the book explains that these principles are also relevant to every community and area of life, from family and home to school.  Here is Chopra's acronym for L-E-A-D-E-R-S:

L = Look and Listen
E = Emotional Bonding
A = Awareness
D = Doing
E = Empowerment
R = Responsibility
S = Synchronicity
 
     The review further explains that, "Once that connection is made, you have unlimited access to the most vital qualities a leader can possess: creativity, intelligence, organizing power, and love.  The Soul of Leadership aims to fill the most critical void in contemporary life, the void of enlightened leaders. “You can be such a leader,” Chopra promises. “The path is open to you. The only requirement is that you learn to listen to your inner guide.” In this unique handbook you are shown how to do just that, in words as practical as they are uplifting. The future is unfolding at this very minute, and the choice to lead it lies with each of us, here and now."

     Please join me on this next level of discovery to enlighten and surprise the senses.   What more is available to learn from this new book by Deepak Chopra?

The Last Call, Love (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

     Of all the ways Chopra, in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind has taught us to be ageless he expresses his last point upon us, love.  He says that love isn't a feeling but a state of being.  When experienced, "...love feels tremendously real and alive, with no desire to do anything except exist within the fulfillment of love." states Chopra.  Just being in love, is a state of non-attachment which allows you the space to be open to all that the universe wants to give you.  Being in love lets others be who they are without judgment but with acceptance.  This is the gift of love to others and to yourself; the ultimate timeless awareness.
     Love can be explained through the eyes of those who are in love.  They see no wrong in the other person, they give unconditionally and they are filled with excitement for the other person.  Love is a beautiful thing.  How much more love can you be for yourself and others?

Dharma (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

     What is your purpose?  What does your energy guide you towards?  Is it helping poor people, taking care of animals, or designing gadgets?  In Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra explains that dharma is a person's work or profession, his higher purpose in life, and the spiritual ideal to which he is committed.  The root word of "dharma" means to "up hold" which in the broadest sense, dharma upholds the universe.  Therefore, the ultimate way of avoiding aging and death is to live in dharma, explains Chopra because you are upholding the universe, which is timeless.
      My dharma is to bring tools to add more joy and love into your life with ease and joy.  I believe that certain tools can bring awareness into your life so you can feel more whole.  All the self-help books that I blog about have great tools and unique ways of finding your inner peace and strength.  Another tool that I created is Pure Qualities.  I believe that practicing certain life-giving qualities (love, truth, joy, trust, forgiveness) throughout the day you can add a deeper understanding to life, a greater bond with others, and more love into your life with daily practice.  What is your dharma?

Be as a Child (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

     Have you wondered how to live life more authentically and in the moment?  Chopra, in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind gives us three exercises to achieve this state of timelessness.

1. Experiencing and trusting emotions:  Write down several feelings you have throughout the day, positive or negative. This will bring you in the present moment and allow you to get in touch with your authentic feelings.  Chopra states, "Yet nothing is more important than experiencing your feelings.  They are the most spontaneous part of your makeup, the most primary expression of your awareness as it relates to the world."

2.  Remaining centered amid chaos:  Take 5 minutes before the 2 most hectic times for you during the day.  Close your eyes, focus on your breath for several minutes.  Then, place your awareness on your chest.  Stay in this silent moment for a few minutes.  This will aid you in finding your center when confusion is around you.

3.  Being childlike:  Choose 2 activities that you did as a child to do tomorrow.  ie. hopscotch, baking muffins, reading a children's book, watching a cartoon...In this place, find the intrinsic aliveness and joy of just being.

When we experience the above exercises they bring us back to our awareness and wholeness.  Creating an ageless body and a timeless mind.

How Can We Be Timeless? (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

    Why are we alive?  Why do we die?  Chopra, in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind states, "Death is ultimately just another transformation, from one configuration of matter and energy to another."  He explains that death, while a mystery, still tells us that there isn't a time that we remember of ever not existing.  Therefore, death, being finite, is only a belief passed down from our parents.  He encourages us to see ourselves in terms of timeless, deathless Beings; that true immortality can be experienced here and now, in this living body.  The key is how you metabolize your experiences and ultimately your time.

3 key beliefs for being an ageless body, timeless mind:

1.  There is plenty of time
2.  Your intelligence occupies no physical space
3.  Death is a form of change

As the famous guru said, "People have a wrong idea about death.  They see it as an end, but it is really a beginning."

Breathing (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

      Notice your breathing.  Is it shallow and short or deep and meaningful?  Take a deep breath in and exhale.  How do you feel now?  "Breath is the junction point between mind, body, and spirit." states Chopra in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.  Changes in our feelings are directly correlated with our breathing.  Chopra explains that anger produces shallow inhalation while fear creates rapid, shallow breathing.  On the other hand, joy induces more regular breathing.  In moments of beauty or revelation, it can stop for a moment, such as in a breathtaking moment.  The beauty of recognizing our breath is that we can alter our emotions to our advantage.  When you are angry, nervous or feeling agitated, take a moment for several deep breaths says Chopra.
     When I was younger I would throw temper tantrums.  I would be crying hysterically and breathing shallow, short breaths.  Someone stopped me one time by asking me to take several deep breaths in and out.  Surprisingly, I was calmed by the third inhalation.  The link between our breath and emotions exists.  The next time you want to calm yourself try taking several deep breaths.  I know I will.

     

Use it or Lose it (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

      Studies show that aging is vastly unique for each individual.  Chopra, in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, points out that, "If we consider how to improve physical and mental function every day for the rest of our lives, three values emerge that must be part of everyone's intention:

1. Longevity itself,  since life is a primary good
2. Creative experience, which keeps life interesting and makes us want more of it
3. Wisdom, which is the collective reward of long life

     It's what we do now, routinely,  that will have an affect on us in our older age.  Chopra explains that it's the "Use it or lose it." philosophy.   If you do a lot of problem solving in your daily work then this will be a skill kept throughout into old age.  What type of skills and abilities are you doing now that will aid you later?

Living past 100 (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

     It is possible to live past 100 years old.   The Abkhasians have been proving this for countless years explains Chopra in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.  Most of them work into their late 90's!  One man, at the age of 104, attributes his long life and good health to God, the mountains, and a good diet.  Most of them eat much less than Americans, ranging from 1500-2000 calories per day.  Some other factors they contribute to are; not being rushed; no deadlines; not working to exhaustion.  Truly, they feel and live by the rhythm of life.
    My dad used to say, "You are what you eat."  There are so many chemicals in our food that are having an affect on our health and our longevity.  I heard good advice this morning, eat what God has made not what man has made.  In what ways could you cut down on your intake of human made food?  What would it be like to live past 100 with good health?

Calorie Restriction and Long Life (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Chopra)

     It's been proven that sticking to a 1200-1400 calorie diet can increase the length of life, although proof of why is still unclear, explains Chopra in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.  Although, it seems unlikely that many people will undertake this type of restricted diet, occasional fasting also has benefits.  Chopra states, "In India, there is a tradition, centuries old, that longevity can result from taking little or no food one day a week (in the form of fruit juice, warm water with honey, or low-fat milk."  The idea is that you are allowing your digestive system to rest and flush out accumulated impurities.  This is not proven by modern physiology but spiritual tradition boasts longevity to people who adhere to this.
     I can see the logic behind this practice of a weekly fast.  When I have fasted in the past (for a day) it was tough, yet spiritual and empowering.   I haven't fasted in a long time because, frankly, I'm chicken.  What would it take for you to cut down on your caloric intake for one day or even a meal?