What to Do When You Are Chased by a Snake

I lived for several years on the Japanese island of Okinawa. It is a tropical island setting with a wealth of beauty and lots of things to do. We lived on the side of a mountain that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. The beauty that we were able to observe from there was breathtaking.

There were a lot of enjoyable things about living in Okinawa, but one of the things that I enjoyed most was learning to scuba dive. The island itself is a coral reef island so it is surrounded by all different types of coral - different colors, different shapes. There are also dozens of varieties of tropical fish. And the water was as clear as a bell. Even from the surface, by wearing a mask, you could see all of the beautiful sea life that was thirty or forty feet down.

But for a diver, it is not just the sea life. Different parts of the island have very different terrain, and you didn't even have to have a boat to enjoy it. In most places you can just swim out a few feet and have a great dive in water that is anywhere from fifty to one hundred and twenty feet deep. In some places there is a wall. You swim out and all of a sudden the bottom goes from twelve feet to sixty feet deep straight down. Other places have caverns or giant boulders or wavy hills.

So much variety.

Of course, scuba diving can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. That is why people who want to take up the sport have to get training. There is an actual certification that a person must get in order to participate in the sport. In the certification class you study all of the things you need to know to be safe. You learn how to use the equipment and actually practice doing it. You learn how to calculate the length of time you can dive at different depths so as not to get the bends. And, of course, you learn about different kinds of sea life - particularly about creatures that can be dangerous.

One day I was out diving with a friend and I came across a brown water snake. There were two kinds of snakes in the waters of Okinawa. Both are poisonous, but the brown ones are more so, and they are more aggressive. Well, I didn't see this snake until I was fairly close to him and when he saw me, he started coming at me. I had seen this kind of snake before and always steered clear, but had never had one come toward me. I had been told that they won't mess with you unless you mess with them, but for some reason this guy started coming and kept coming.

Now I don't like snakes, to begin with, and especially poisonous ones. When I saw him coming, I turned around and swam away as fast as I could. After I had gone a little ways I looked back and, to my surprise, he was still coming. You guessed it, I swam even harder. That rascal chased me close to forty yards before he finally gave up. Well, I knew that he wouldn't chase me forever and that if I could move out of his territory he would leave me alone. If I had not known what to do, though, I might have tried to attack him back or do something else stupid that would have caused disastrous results.

The Four Foundations for Gaining Control of Your Life

Knowing what to do is not something that just happens to us. We have to take the time and make the effort to figure out what we need to know, then go after it. We have to prepare. But we also need the whole picture. If we prepare in the wrong areas, or if our preparation is incomplete, we will end up as if we had never done any preparation at all. This principle applies to every arena of life - to our family, our job, our sports activities and every other area. Since the principle is so pervasive, it is important to make sure we completely understand it so we can use it in life.

People tend to be way too narrow in the way they apply growth principles to life. It is not possible to select one or two elements of life to grow in and neglect the rest. The areas that are not strong will, eventually, pull down even the areas that are strong. We have to develop our whole self all the time. So just what are the areas that we have to focus on? Well, there are four.

Emotional Control

The first element of our personhood relates to our emotional development. We can be in control of our emotions or they can be in control of us. Many people think that they can't have that kind of control, but there are skills related to emotional flexibility, attitude, coping mechanisms and identification which can allow us to become quite adept at controlling our emotions.

Physical Control

The second element relates to our physical body. In order to maintain personal control we have to exert a lot of energy - and that requires good physical conditioning. With proper nutrition, rest and exercise it is possible for us to develop the stamina necessary to move us to higher levels of personal development.

Mental Control

The third element involves our mental development. It is actually possible to develop our brain capacity in various ways so that we can be more effective in the activities we involve ourselves in. We can develop our brain function skills in the areas of content acquisition, quickness, outlook, concentration, focus and perspective.

Spiritual Control

The final element relates to our spirit. The spiritual part of our being involves our self-awareness, creativity, conscious relationships, communication, choice, analysis, contemplation, imagination, self-discipline and perspective. These are the elements that make up the core of our being as humans. We are also able to develop each of these elements of our spirit to become more effective in our development.

The Choice to Take Control

To really get a grasp on the full scope of these four areas would require a whole book. But even a brief description of the whole gives us a sense of the personal development task. We can't just work on one part of our life, or even several parts, and neglect the others. Every part makes up who we are and we have to develop them all or the ones which don't grow will begin to pull down the others.

We all have choices to make in life. Some of the choices have small consequences, but others may have life or death significance. Preparation for the choices is not something that just happens. We have to deliberately become aware of the areas of our lives that need work, then actively and aggressively go after it. But when me make the effort to get it right, all the preparation is worth it. At that point we are able to see those snakes that are coming toward us and know exactly what to do to deal with them.

About The Author

Dr. Freddy Davis is the owner of TSM Enterprises and conducts conferences, seminars and organizational training for executives, managers and sales professionals to help develop greater effectiveness and productivity. He is the author of the book Supercharged! as well as the Nutshell Series of books for strengthening business. You can visit the TSM website at www.tsmenterprises.com, or you can contact Freddy directly at 888-883-0656 or davis@iname.com.

davis@iname.com

---

Managing Creativity and Innovation, Part 2 of 2

Leaders, consultants and managers must be competent in at least thirteen domains to even begin effectively managing creativity and innovation. Part 2 of Managing Creativity and Innovation covers the last six of these... Read More

Discontinuous Innovation

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Creativity, Innovation, and the Importance of Spontaneity

Spontaneity occurs when ideas or behaviours are expressed without evaluation. This lack of evaluation is the key to good idea generation. Some of the links include:a) Large, quality idea pools are built up... Read More

Can We Change People?

There was a class of "challenged" children and many teachers were brought in over time but each one ended up quitting in frustration. Finally, a teacher was brought in and a miracle happened.... Read More

Innovation Management ? predicting winners

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly,... Read More

The 99 Percent Rule

It's Friday night, you're sitting at a restaurant, and as your meal arrives, the server says, "Now, don't touch that plate. It's hot." What's the first thing you do?Well, 99% of the time... Read More

Knowledge Gains in Innovation

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Business Innovation ? Masks and Trance

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Opportunity: Could You Be Colour-blind?

Do you consider your vision perfect? You may never have needed an eye specialist in your life, but this is no indication of perfect vision. And if you just happen to also think... Read More

What to Do When You Are Chased by a Snake

I lived for several years on the Japanese island of Okinawa. It is a tropical island setting with a wealth of beauty and lots of things to do. We lived on the side... Read More

Putting Your Ideas Into Action

Ideas are everywhere. Some are small and seemingly insignificant. Others are big giant ideas with the chance to change large portions of our lives. Each idea that we encounter, whether we create the... Read More

Owning Your Power

Owning your power, your power to be real, to be who you really are, is really about owning your freedom. Consider how your reasons for not being yourself may have been to get... Read More

Great Ideas and Radical or Disruptive Innovation

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Accelerate Your Learning

Although you may not currently be a student, learning is a life long process. Perhaps you need to learn something new for your job, or you would like to learn a new language... Read More

Business Innovation ? Radical and Disruptive Innovation

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Use Your Intuition As a Valuable Tool for Change

Here's a subject that we don't normally think of when we think about change. Yet, intuition can be a very powerful force for change if we honor it fully. So let's take four... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Decision Makers

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Cumulative Gains in Innovation

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Perfectionism - The Dangerous Trap!

Just when I have something figured out, along comes another how-to-article telling me how to be or do something better or even change my entire life. No matter where I turn, I am... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management - Good Ideas Part 2

The relative ease of i) generating good ideas and ii) lack of resources means that there are usually more good ideas available than can be successfully innovated. As a result, it is often... Read More

Life ? The Teacher

You've probably heard the phrase "repetition is the mother of learning" well apparently it's also the mother of teaching. Often it seems, Life ? The Teacher uses the tool of repetition to imprint... Read More

Improve Your Small Talk - Gain Big Dividends!

Do you hate to make small talk? If so, you have lots of company.You may find small talk irritating, predictable, mind-numbingly boring.Yet, learning to play the small talk game can have lots of... Read More

Business Innovation ? Confidence through Competence

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

The Pendulum Swings Right - A Major Shift is Happening Inside Our Brains

The world is now changing again, it appears. The logical and analytical skills that continue to form the basis of Western economies is slowly shifting, according to the savvy American business observer Daniel... Read More

Business Ideas ? Need a New Idea? Try Changing Your Perspective

One definition of creativity states that creative people look at the same thing everyone else does, yet they see something no one else does.But even creative people (which includes all of you, of... Read More

Managing Creativity and Innovation, Part 1 of 2

Leaders, consultants and managers must be competent in at least thirteen domains to even begin effectively managing creativity and innovation. Part 1 of Managing Creativity and Innovation covers the first seven of these... Read More

Business Innovation ? Confidence in People

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Business Innovation ? Small Changes, Big Effects

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More

Innovation Management ? Isolating Problems and Implementing Solutions

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be... Read More