The Hidden Treasure

Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Psychology

Does encouragement really influence performance?

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Jun• 28•10

Really believe in your heart of hearts that your fundamental purpose, the reason for being, is to enlarge the lives of others.  Your life will be enlarged also.  And all of the other things we have been taught to concentrate on will take care of themselves.     Pete Thigpen

Ask yourself this question:  Do you need encouragement to perform at your best?  Typically, about 2/3 of those asked will respond “Yes!”  They need encouragement to be at their best.  This may appear to be quite high at first, but the fact is…far more than 2/3 of individuals are impacted by positive feedback.  In fact, when the question is rephrased:  When you get encouragement, does it help you elevate your performance? Only 4% tend to answer “no.”  Studies of North American workers consistently find that 96% agree with the statement that…”I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing I’ve done a good job.”

So, if encouragement elevates performance and morale, why is it so sorely lacking in most work environments?  Research indicates that only about 40% of American workers say they receive any form of positive feedback for work well done.  Only 50% of managers report giving positive recognition for high performance.  A common management mindset is:  Why should I give positive feedback for work my people are getting paid to do?

The problem is, most of us grew up with minimal amounts of positive feedback.  It just doesn’t feel comfortable to give what we have never received.  We have all received a lot of negative feedback when our performance was subpar.  The truth is, we are probably fortunate if the negative feedback we have received doesn’t outweigh the positive by more than three to one!

Not good news is it?  In 1949, a famous study by Lawrence Lindahl asked employees to rank the rewards of their job they valued most.  The highest on their list was  1) feeling appreciated; and 2) being informed about decision and changes that were happening.  Their managers believed they would rank good wages and job security at the top of their list.  This just goes to show you how in touch most managers are with the value system that drives their employees’ performance!

Lindahl’s results have been replicated dozens of times over the years.  The bottom line is you can rationalize all you want about why learning to provide praise and positive feedback isn’t really important to organizational success.  You are simply rationalizing away your discomfort at giving positive feedback!  If you really want to improve your ability to motivate human performance, you have to get really good at giving positive recognition and encouragement.  This is where a good coach is worth their weight in platinum!

Working with a good coach can elevate your skills in delivering positive feedback and excel in your ability to motivate your workforce.  Is it time you elevate your game by learning how to deliver positive encouragement in ways that really make a difference for those you manage?  98% of your workforce may think so!

Call me for more info…go back to www.rebmanconsulting.com or 260-471-9902

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Discover Your Potential

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Mar• 25•10

1180616_mountains[1]Inside each and every one of us is the potential to accomplish great things in a way that is uniquely our own.  Abraham Maslow, the great motivational psychologist, wrote about becoming “self -actualized.”   He used the term to describe those unique individuals who had tapped into their inherent greatness, and found  unique ways of sharing that greatness with the world.  The ability to self actualize is within each of us; it’s programmed into our DNA.

Jesus spoke of this self -actualizing process. He taught that for those who believe they could and would, do even greater things than he.  This was his way of encouraging us to recognize that within each of us is the potential for greatness.  To bring out our greatness, however, requires a willingness to do two things:

1)   Believe that there is greatness within you.  Nothing positive can happen until we first believe.  Belief  is what opens the doorway into  positive potential.

2)  Affirm that your greatness is found in a power and wisdom that is beyond yourself.  The human ego loves to celebrate it’s specialness. Thinking of one’s self as “special” is not what were talking about here.  No one is special, but every one is unique.

Once you are willing to believe:  1) There is a power in you that is a source for unlimited  good.   2) This power seeks to manifest  in ways that are uniquely your own.   3)  This power is  in you, but not of  you.    Now, you are on your way to self -actualizing.  One might think of  positive potential as the energy of unconditional love waiting for the opportunity to manifest in the world.  You are here for a purpose and have within you the potential to manifest  good.

There are those in need of your unique service, that is, your manifestation of greatness.   They are waiting on you!  Awaken  to your potential and fulfill the role that you have been assigned.  It  is your divine destiny.  To live a life of anything less is not to have really lived at all!!

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Giving and Receiving Are One In The Same

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Jan• 28•10

Power Lesson #4  God can do no more for you than He can do through you.

So often we look 1209466_blue_space_wave[1]at life and our relationships and ask “Why God?”  Why can’t things be different? We pray and seek change, but things continue along the same old path, and it seems the only change we experience is with those things we wish could remain the same.  It’s easy to question why God is not more  influential in our healing.  These are the moments when we need to step back and remind ourselves of two very important facts:

1) God is a word used to describe the power of unconditional love. God is love-literally.

2) To experience love, we must give it away.  Try holding on to love and you lose it.

God (love) can do no more for us than we are willing to allow it to do through us.   To experience the power of miracles in our lives, we must give love away abundantly.  The more we give it away, the more it flows back to us and manifests in abundant and fruitful ways through a wisdom that only love knows.

God can do no more for us than we allow love to flow through us.  Need some miracles??? Open your eyes and look around you.  See all the opportunities to give your love, kindness and compassion away, and for no good reason other than because you see the need and you have love to give.  Give your love away abundantly and watch the healing miracles flow into your life.

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More On The Power Of Belief

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Jan• 13•10

1240565_bruncu_teulaPower Lesson #3  We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.

Reality, as we experience it, is nothing more than a reflection of our deeply held beliefs and convictions.  We now have over six billion people in the world, so we  now have over six billion conflicting realities all attempting to co -exist and demanding validation!  Is it any wonder we battle and war against  one another ?

Wayne Dyer is  fond of saying “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”  This is, of course, his way of saying that we never see things as they are, but rather as we are.  We spend countless hours and infinite amounts of creative energy  attempting to persuade others to see the world as we do.  We have politicians who invest entire careers in telling us how we should perceive things; all while spinning to fit their own personal agenda.

Of course, we all engage in the game of political posturing; attempting to persuade others to our point of view, so we can experience the false security that comes with having our view of the world validated.  If, for one minute, we could all step back aand realize that none of us have it completely right, and there is value (not to mention fascination and humor) in listening to each others’ distorted points of view, we would open  a window for reason to prevail.  In that brief monent , we might simultaneously see that we are all wrong and all right, all at the same time.  None of us see things as they truly are, and all of us deserve to be valued and respected; now the window is open for an experience in oneness.

We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.  That is how it was created to be.  The world was not intended to be a place for validating our personal points of view.  It was, rather, intended to serve as a mirror for evaluating  how we are doing in learning  to love one another unconditionally.  That is how I see it and I do recognize –it’s just my point of view.  What’s yours?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1  No wonder

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The Definition Of Faith

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Jan• 08•10

1210515_sun_burst[1]Power Lesson #2:  Faith is another word for expectancy.

Faith is the power of belief manifesting.  In psychology we talk of the power of the “self-fulfilling prophecy.”  It is an uncanny way in which–what we expect becomes what we eperience.  You expect the worst and you experience the worst.  Folks who spend large portions of their time worrying about the future attract into their lives the very stuff they’re worrying about!!  It’s just the power of  thought manifesting in the physical world.

Of course, the opposite is true as well.  When we expect great things, great things show up.  The bottom line is we don’t get in life what we want, nor do we get in life what we pray for.  We get in life what we expect.  This is because what we expect  is the reflection of what we are believing to be true.  Henry Ford  once said “Believe you can or  believe you can’t, either way you are right.”

Faith is another word for expectation.  Do you like what life is showing you?  If not make a decision to change your mind and change your life.  Change what you are expecting out of life and you change the quality of your life. Always remember -we don’t always get what we want-but we always get what we expect!

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The First In a Series: Christmas

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Dec• 22•09

1212432_lighthouse[1]            “The greatest power in all the universe rests in mans ability to change his mind.” 

Albert Einstein

Eastern religions teach that the world is but a reflection of our state of mind.  Einstein’s quote reminds us of this fact (Yes, it is now a well established fact that our thoughts and the world out there are intimately entangled.) Einstein was also quoted as saying, “The world is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. ”

OUR TOUGHTS ARE A POWERFUL CREATIVE FORCE.  Change the way you think and you change the quality of you life.  With this in mind, my next ten postings will explore 10 powerful  thoughts which I have found to be extremely helpful in raising my level of consciousness and improving the quality of my life.  These thoughts have come to me over the last month through my readings, meditations, and discussions with friends and colleagues.  I hope you find them as powerful as I have.

Power Lesson #1  The True Meaning  Of Christmas

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. Jesus’ birth is not a celebration of God becoming man, but of man claiming his oneness with God.  Through  his life and ministry, Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven could only be found within one’s self (Luke 17:21).  Within each and every one of us live the power that created the universe. The power of the divine lives within each of us and is activated through our willingness to believe.  Jesus encouraged us to realize that we are capable of even greater things than he (if we choose to believe).

Jesus does not call us to worship him, but to emulate him.  We are called to claim our divinity; to put on the mind of Christ, through which miracles become  natural expressions of love..  We are called not to act as he did, but to think as he did.  Action is a product of thought.  When we adopt the mindset of Jesus we rediscover our oneness with God and anything becomes possible.   Merry Christmas!!!

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Some Problems Can’t Be Solved!

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Sep• 24•09

1180616_mountains[1]I came across a quote the other day from the great psychologist Carl Jung:

   ” Our most important problems can’t be solved, they must be outgrown.”

What a profound observation! In my life, as well as the thousands I’ve had the privilege of counseling and coaching, I have found this to be absolutely true.  Psychologist Abraham Maslow spent a great deal of his life studying those who were highly successful individuals. One of his observations was that highly successful people are those who are constantly striving to improve themselves, and not for the tangible rewards such striving brings.  They were driven simply because they could imagine it. They envisioned themselves as  being a certain way in the world and could not accept anything less. They always looked on the hardest issues of their life as their greatest opportunity.

I believe this is what Carl Jung is addressing in the above quote. If we are honest we all have some issue in life we just can’t seem to solve-no matter how much we struggle with it.  At some point, we are forced to give up struggling and accept that it is what it is. Paradoxically, as we come to accept our issue and quit struggling with it, we become open to seeing  it as an opportuinty to grow.  We come to see that it is in our life by Divine design- to challenge us to become more than we currently are.

Truth always come to us in  paradox. If you are willing to stop struggling to change that issue you have been wrestling with for so long ( possible years) and surrender it to a greater wisdom, while asking to be shown the opportunity it provides for growth-a window for change opens. It’s a tremendous paradox: when we accept what we have been struggling with and instead embrace it as a gift (an opportunity to become more than what we currently are), that’s when insight often comes and a whole new world opens up to us.

Any thoughts?

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MIRACLES REQUIRE A SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Aug• 19•09

1209466_blue_space_wave[1]I have been given the honor of hosting a workshop on the psychology of Miracles . The workshop will be held at Unity Church on Oct. 4th at 1:30.  In the program I will be integrating principles from quantum physic with scriptural lessons from Jesus and ACIM to produce a three step process for manifesting MIRACLES in our personal lives, relationships and organizations.  Michelle Colchin will be co-hosting the program -presenting her original music from ACIM lessons. She literally sings with angels. You do not want to miss it! In addition I will be giving the lesson at the 10:30 service and Michelle will be providing the special music. I hope to see you there. E-mail me for further info.

Below is a brief article I wrote for the Unity news letter as a brief introduction to some of the ideas we will be exploring in the workshop. Let me know your thoughts and feedback!

From Fear to Love

The Pathway Into Miracles

Vic Rebman, Ph.D. 

Einstein has been quoted as saying, “The greatest power in all the universe lies within one’s ability to change their mind.”  He knew so well the power  of thought!  Quantum physicists tell us that the physical world is but a reflection of consciousness.  In other words, we are what we think.  Isn’t it fascinating how modern science has come full circle, creating a scientific foundation for the support of ancient wisdoms?  Consider these:

  • If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.     Lao Tzu (Ancient Chinese Philosopher)
  • As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.     Proverbs 23:7
  • Anything is possible for him who believes.    Mark 9:23

We live in a culture that often chooses to believe that changing one’s mind is a sign of weakness or insecurity.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In the power to change our mind lies the power to experience miracles.  In fact, A Course In Miracles goes to so far as to define a miracle as a shift in perspective; a choice to embrace love and let go of fear.

Living with miracles requires a willingness to change our mind.  When we are willing to think differently about the meaning we attach to our life experiences, we exercise our creative power at the deepest level.  This also means we change the way we think about fear and anger.  In the process of co-creating miracles, fear and anger become emotions not to be avoided, but to be embraced.  They are the cues that signal us that the Spirit is calling us to shift our perspective.  In any form fear appears, be it anxiety, criticism, anger, judgment, jealousy, stress, self-doubt—you name it, it serves as our cue that a shift in perspective is in order.

As we learn to embrace and correct the perceptions that fear creates, we walk a pathway into miracles of healing and growth.  Fear, in any form, is always calling us to step back and listen to the lesson of love the Spirit is calling us to learn.  A willingness to listen ensures we will hear.  As Jesus put it, “He who has ears, let him hear.”  The willingness to walk, with spiritual guidance, the mental/emotional pathway from fear to love, leads to the manifestation of miracles in our life, relationships, and organizations.

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Science Validates Ancient Wisdom!

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Aug• 14•09

1119963_meditation___[1]Lao-tzu -author of the Tao Te Ching, a book of wisdom, which is thousand of years old and has been translated more then any other volume in the world (with the exception of the Bible) , writes:

   “If  you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place”

Shortly after reading Lao-tzu’s quote I came across a journal article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (June 2009 issue) which evaluated the merits of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program developed to help at risk teens avoid depression. They were judged to be at risk for the development of depression due to the fact their parent had been diagnosed and treated for depression. We now know that depression does run in families, but not so much due to a genetic link, but as to learned styles of thinking and coping, which serve to create and maintain depression.

These teens were taught cognitive reappraisal (how to challenge and change the MEANING they attributed to stressful life events) as well as effective problem solving skills.  The entire program occurred over 8 weeks for a total of 12 hours of cognitive skills training. Follow-up results over a  five year  period showed significantly lower depression rates for those teens receiving the training vs. those who did not.

These findings are not surprising for those of us who accept the fact that the MEANING we give to the events of our lives is what determines our moods, stress levels and performance.  I love it when science serves to validate  the ancient masters of the East!! 

Wouldn’t it be great if  simple, yet effective programs like this one were made available to all of our youth as part of their school curriculum?That I guess is just too easy a solution—not to mention  too cost effective to be attractive to those who rule our health care and pharmaceutical industry!! Any thoughts on this??

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Welcome To “Think For A Change!”

Written By: Vic Rebman Ph.D - Aug• 09•09

1191558_flight_over_water_1[1]Hello!   Welcome to my blog “Think For a Change!”  I am Dr Victor Rebman – I just go by Vic. I am a cognitive clinical psychologist, which means I help people change the quality of their lives by changing  the way they think.  Einstein once said that the greatest power in all the world rests with one’s ability to change their mind! Change the way you think and you change  your life.

Whether you seek to improve your health, relationships, work performance, leadership/management skills–you name it–all positive change begins with a change in perspective. That is why in “Think For A Change!” I will be posting ideas, tips, and challenges on a range of topics from mental health and family/marital/work relationships to issues in leadership, management, health, and any other topic that impacts the quality of our lives here on planet Earth!!

It is my intention to make postings informative, challenging, stimulating and inspiring, so they stimulate and provoke new and creative ways of thinking ,which in turn improve the quality of your life.  I hope you will subscribe to “Think For A Change!” and let your friends and colleagues know about the blog as well. I also hope you will leave your comments and reactions and share your ideas on topics to be addressed, so we can collectively think together for a change!  Thoughts are powerful things-our beliefs and perceptions literally shape and direct our destiny.  As Wayne Dyer so eloquently puts it (yes I am a Wayne Dyer fan):

    “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!” 

Welcome to  “Think For A Change!”

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