Through my internship with Milliner & Associates, I have access to many resources through the American Staffing Association (ASA), one of which is webinars on their website. These webinars are conducted by professionals around the nation who are subject matter experts on what they teach. From marketing and social media to employment law and employee engagement, these webinars offer a variety of content with wonderful advice for businesses and people alike.
The most recent webinar I watched was titled “Power Up; Stress Down”. Guided by Adam White (motivational speaker), this webinar covered a lot of great topics and he had many great little nuggets of wisdom. While there were plenty of different things that I took away from Adam’s speech, I wanted to share with you 5 things I learned from Adam White:
- Knowledge is not power, applied knowledge is power!
I live in a generation that has an “a degree is enough” mentality because that’s the world that our parents lived in and have taught us to think. But the job market right out of college is becoming more competitive as the players get smarter… they’re getting more internships, work experience and developing bigger networks at a younger age. A degree (knowledge) is great, but you’re less desirable unless you show the world that you know how to apply it through real-world experience. So don’t just learn, APPLY!
- Confrontation creates change. You can’t change what you’re unwilling to confront.
I like to bow down from conflict. Anyone who knows me knows that I will be the first person to submit in an argument, agree with the other person and go their way. I hate conflict, and this is an area that I need to work on because in order for anyone to stay happy, they need to be able to stand up for themselves and make changes to the things they don’t like.
- The ability to affect emotion is the ability to affect intellect.
Can you remember a time where someone persuaded you into doing something? Odds are, it wasn’t because they had good facts and figures, it’s because they sparked an emotion inside of you that made you want to do it. Affecting emotion is affecting intellect.
- The mere knowledge of how others view us causes us to take actions that are consistent with another’s perception of us.
It’s no secret that we form our identity around the people that we see every day and what they think of us. My friends have all generalized that I really like nachos because I got really excited about nachos one time, and because they think that, I’ve started liking nachos more. The way other people see us causes us to change in ways that will make us consistent with what they think. The moral here is to be aware of what other people think of you and how it changes your behavior. Every now and then, do a self-evaluation to make sure you’re still who you want to be, not what everyone thinks you are.
- Your worst enemy is your own quick reaction.
How many times have you been in an argument and said something that you wish you hadn’t, or you didn’t mean, or you reaction was hysterically on steroids and wish you would have calmed down? Long question, short response. Just calm down! Take 10 breaths before you respond to something and think about the situation from a different angle. Trust me, it’ll help.
I know my head was packed with thoughts after listening to Adam for an hour. Just remember to apply your knowledge, be willing to confront things, affect emotion before intellect, be aware of how other people’s perceptions of you change your behavior, and breathe!