Category Archives: inspiration

Where Do I Start? (Ask Dieter)

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Ask Dieter

This is the first issue of “Ask Dieter”, a monthly no-cost program that is open to everyone!

Thank you for all the 28 questions I’ve received, keep them coming! I’ve answered all of them, and chosen the first one to come in to be published here:

 

This month’s question from my portal “Ask Dieter: Directions
for living a meaningful Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

Question

 

 

I have been trying to write a Paper for University, which I consider to be very important, as it demonstrates the possibilities for a huge shift in how care can be delivered for each individual, sensitively, and in a way that each finds comfortable.

Because of the importance of this work, I am not happy submitting anything less than my best effort. However, personal difficulties, illness, lack of finances and lack of support have left me feeling demoralized, lacking the drive and passion that required to finish the work.

I do not believe that I lack staying power or perseverance. I am extremely persistent once I have started.  But I have now started this work so often, that I feel defeated before I start.

How do I overcome this?

 Answer

 

Hi and thanks for your question.

Apparently something is blocking you. And I’m not primarily referring to the outside events. And in a way you are giving the answer yourself: “lacking the drive and passion that required finishing the work”, aren’t you?

Frankly, this has happened to me many times as well (and still does): contemplating about a great new project, business idea and it’s implementation, a conversation I should have with someone, whatever. And then – all of a sudden – problems popped up. Both from corners I never would have expected it, as well as things I should have dealt with before, but haven’t.

Painful experience let me to the conclusion that there is a bigger obstacle behind all of this:

I had no clear answer to the question why I really wanted to do it. Sometimes it was simply to make money, other times to really help people solve their problems, and other times it was something I considered utterly unjust and in need to be corrected, sometimes it was just to prove that I can do it (as well, or even better than all others), or to get recognition from the people I considered important.

Now I’m not saying that any of these (or any other) reasons are bad. I only need to become aware, really aware, of why I want to undertake something.

And then you are left with two options: a) the idea looses it’s appeal; because it was just a placeholder for something much more important you should deal with. Or, understanding the real “why” gives me the needed kick to finally get started. With positive inspiration, inside-out.

So 1st, answer to yourself the question why you really, really want to do it. And then, be reasonable and follow your guts feeling – forget it or go for it, with a completely different kind of energy.

Live a meaningful life,

Dieter Langenecker

Dieter Langenecker

 

PS: “Ask Dieter: Directions for living a meaningful Life” is a monthly no-cost
program that is open to everyone! Each month, I’ll select and personally respond to one question received via the above “Ask Dieter” page that I feel in my heart will help the most people. (You may choose to remain anonymous if you wish, with our full support.) It is my deep, heartfelt intention that in answering your questions I may provide you with wisdom inspirations that in committed application will set you free. Simply submit YOUR burning question at:  www.langenecker.com/askdieter.html


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Change occurs GRADUALLY, not all at once!

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One of the most pervasive beliefs I see that stops people from manifesting their purpose and their goals is that change and inspiration is this huge quantum moment that happens all at once. 

It’s just not true.Change happens one day, one moment, one step at a time. It’s 10,000 small steps that add up to a big leap.

The good news is that all you need to do right now is take one step. The  tough news is that there’s a BUNCH of these small steps that you need to take to make the transformation you are dreaming about a reality.

Sorry.

It’s not the best news in the world, but what’s rad is that all you need to  do is focus on the next step. Not the third step, or the 100th step, just the next one.

Life is all about just putting one foot in front of the other and taking that step. That step is what it’s all about it. The NEXT one. I’m all about just doing the next step.

Sure, I plan and plan. But I only ACT one step at a time. It’s SO easy to get caught up in the hypothetical outcomes that we never actually take  action. I truly believe that inspiration doesn’t just come; it usually comes as a byproduct of taking action. It’s in the action that we learn and change course. It’s in the action that we reality test and see which strategies work and which don’t. It’s in the action that we become more, we learn, we grow and we eventually make our dreams come true.

So many people think that this will happen all at once on one magical day. That’s not how it works. It’s a process, and sometimes a slow one at that, because The Divine needs to prepare us to live our best lives. And that sometimes means trials, setbacks and suffering – not as punishment, but as preparation for truly being able to give our gifts to the world.

The BIG goal happens one step, one moment and one action at a time.

What’s your next step?

 

With kind regards,
Dieter Langenecker

Stop Focusing on Your Performance

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The night before our wedding, Eleanor and I stood awkwardly in the center of a large room, surrounded by our family and our closest friends. There was no particular reason to be uncomfortable; this was just a rehearsal. Still, we were in the spotlight and things weren’t going smoothly. Neither the rabbi nor the cantor had arrived and we didn’t know where to stand, what to say, or what to do.
It had taken us 11 years — and a lot of work — to get to this point. Eleanor is Episcopalian, the daughter of a deacon, and I am Jewish, the son of a Holocaust survivor. The one thing our parents agreed about before the wedding was that we shouldn’t get married.
A friend of ours, Sue Anne Steffey Morrow, a Methodist minister, offered to stand in for the Jewish officiants who were absent. She moved us through the rehearsal, placing people in position, reading prayers, and lightening the mood with a few well-timed jokes.
When the rehearsal was over and we were feeling more relaxed, she offered me and Eleanor a piece of advice that remains one of the best I have ever received.
“Tomorrow hundreds of people will be watching you on the most important day of your life. Try to remember this: It’s not a performance; it’s an experience.”
I love that she said “Try to remember this.” On the surface it seems easy to remember but in reality it’s almost impossibly difficult, because much of what we do feels like a performance. We’re graded in school and get performance reviews at work. We win races, earn titles, receive praise, and sometimes gain fame, all because of our performance. We’re paid for our performance. Even little things — leading a meeting, having a hallway conversation, sending an email — are followed by the silent but ever-present question: “How’d that go?”
In other words, we think life is a performance because, well, it kind of is. We feel … continue reading at Harvard Business Review