Money and profits, over the long-term, are the result of providing value and benefit to individuals, organizations and communities. Fortune 500 companies change often because, according to many experts, quarterly returns, rather than valuable service or product delivery becomes their focus. This even happen to Toyota when they focused more on becoming the “biggest” auto maker rather than the “best”.

Money follows, it cannot lead. 

The “Best” following Toyotas work with Dr. Deming meant producing the highest quality automobiles. As Toyota discovered, bigger and higher profits was the lag indicator of having the highest quality. This means being the “Best” was the lead indicator and being the “Biggest” was” the lag indicator.

Processes, or our actions, are always leading indicators. Results, or products, such as satisfaction, profits, value and other  outcomes are the lag indicators. As noted from research, Moral licensing is a cognitive bias that occurs when a person uses their prior “good” behavior to justify later “bad” behavior, often without explicitly using that logic. In other words, good processes do not need to be upheld because of past processes done well. The result of moral licensing is very much like risk homeostasis theory.

As I noted in Expectationism Over Engineering-Education-Enforcement “…when cars have anti-lock breaks, air bags or because drivers have additional driver training, their general response is to  drive more recklessly, possibly because of overconfidence, and this behavioral compensation maintains them at their static target risk level. Risk homeostasis theory explains that people have a set level of risk they are willing to take.  If they do something very safely, they take more risks in other areas. In other words, driving processes are leading indicators for lagging safety outcomes.

I was reminded of how the process determines the product while watching the Netflix’s Social Dilemma movie.

The movie made a big deal out of the fact that social media company processes are manipulating behavior to get more advertising dollars. Our behaviors have always been manipulated. Cities built green areas to get people to move to their cities, and to encourage play. Walking downtowns were built to encourage more people to go downtown. The concern with social media is its ubiquitous presence for so many people and because its primary motive is for money, rather than the common good.

Everybody is trying to manipulate behaviors. Even with our friends and family, we attempt to manipulate their actions. I also have been attempting to manipulate your behaviors with my posts. My goals have been for you to engage in Selfish, Selfless, Synergistic actions because if you do, I get to live in a better world. In other words, if you I can encourage you (selfless action) to take action to help yourself (selfish), such as walk with friends, grow your own food, develop more competence, and eat more plants – we all benefit – synergy. I get to live in a better world. #SelfishSelflessSynergy

If health promoting actions are taken, such as eating more plants, making gardens, engaging in physical activity, having fulfilling vocations, having beneficial communications with others, and learning more, the businesses that provide these products and or services become more profitable. If done right, this also means we will help generate a circular, regenerative environment that can help everyone and everything thrive.

We have a tremendous opportunity to use the wonderful social media tools available to all of us to encourage, and support  the generation of comprehensive benefits by helping to create pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. We are all in this together so helping anyone benefits in these ways helps everyone and everything benefit. According to Robert Putnam in his new book Upswing, this is how the Great Convergence in the early part of the 20th century happened. We focused on mutualism and helping each other. The great convergence improved the common good. Please share how you use your social media accounts to improve the common good by contributing toward generating comprehensive improvements so everyone and everything benefits.

Be Well’r,

Craig Becker

Be selfish, selfless, & synergistic so everyone and everything benefits!

#SelfishSelflessSynergy

Please share your thoughts and questions below.
Contact me: BeWellr@gmail.com

Differences & Similarities

I had always thought that what matters most is how we are similar, not how we are different. I now realize, similarities and differences are both important. A focus on differences often leads to conflict. Differences, however, or diversity of views and background helps generate better ideas through increased creativity.

Differences

Differences are important and exposure to these differences can help us become a better version of ourselves. This means learning about others helps us be more creative and it can lead to a better world which supports Selfish, Selfless, Synergy. #SelfishSelflessSynergy. This idea is clearly demonstrated in abundant research outlined in the interesting, linked, NPR Hidden Brain podcast: The Edge Effect: Creativity And Diversity: How Exposure To Different People Affects Our Thinking.

Similarities

Differences are important, yet we are all more similar to each other than we are different. We also know that people are more likely to help others when they have similarities.

We have similarities to all living things on this planet. We share much of the same DNA. This suggests we should be helping everyone and everything as much as possible for many reasons, but most importantly because it generates comprehensive improvements due to the pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions created that helps everyone and everything benefit.

The “Hidden Brain” podcast outlines the research findings by Adam Galinsky, a professor of business at Columbia Business School and co-author of the book Friend and Foe, Harvard economics professor Richard Freeman’s interesting studies on diversity and Cristina Pato that explain how and why this happens.

Differences provide an opportunity for us to grow and learn. It doesn’t mean that we have to agree, however it can help us re-evaluate and rethink why we do and think what we do. It also can help us develop a better way. This type of introspection often helps us have a stronger understanding of who we are and how we can become a better version of ourself. It is not your way or their way but a better way (see We Need to Use the 3rd Alternative).

Voting Season

Of course it is voting season and it is important to be an informed society and to participate. We want to vote in a way that we believe will generate the comprehensive benefits for everyone and everything. After all, helping others is helping yourself and is another way to be selfish, selfless, and synergistic. Additionally, if we want to be part of the solution, that means we need to be part of the process. You will be a part of the process by exercising your right to vote. If you need information about your voting location, please get information at Vote.gov.

A Recommendation

After you vote, it is time to relax. You did your part. To stay in a good state of mind, I recommend the comics. The comics are a wonderful source of joy to me. It is the way I start every day. The Sunday September 6, 2020  Comic provided a what I thought was a great recommendation that I want to share.

Enjoy the  here.

I look forward to hearing how you help generate comprehensive benefits by creating pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits.

Be Well’r,

I am confused by our currents attempts to achieve health. If you follow me you know, I am confused because we seem to focus on disease rather than health. It is as if we go after B (disease – prevent and treat), hoping to get A (health and well-being). But these states are independent, though related. Simply making less or more of one state does not necessarily have a  corresponding change in the other state.

I am continually reminded of this current confusing approach, or what seems to be honest attempts at chasing A (disease) to improve B (health), such as in Dan Heath’s new, interesting book, Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen. Once again the focus is on fixing problems…just earlier, or upstream. Upstream reminded me of a passage in John Robbins 1996 book “Reclaiming Our Health”. In the beginning he shared a story about a fictitious society that lives on a mountain. He explained that people kept falling off the mountain and the society made faster and faster ways to rescue and treat people after they fell off the mountain. Of course the faster they got, the better they thought they were doing. Finally someone suggested they build a fence. Obviously a fence is better than people falling off the mountain, but it does not make us better than we would have been if we didn’t fall off the mountain. It just went further Upstream. We should aim to make things MORE GOOD, NOT JUST LESS BAD (see Create More Good, Not Just Less Bad).

I think some solutions of how we can be More Good are being offered in Bradley and Taylors work outlined in their book, “The American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More is Getting Us Less” and in their NYTimes column, that seems to have an inaccurate title, To Fix Health Care, Help the Poor. Their work documents that America does not actually spend the most on health care if you consider treatment AND social services provided in most other countries. Social services benefit health and well-being of society, thus creating a higher quality of life, and they also lower treatment and disease costs.

Without question, better health will come from improved physical, mental and social well-being. This has been proven over and over again. Higher health means more prevention and less issues, less problems however is the side effect of better health. In addition when something difficult does happen in life, as it most assuredly will, better health provides value because now they will be able to overcome, heal because the difficulty will be less problematic due to their higher health status. Those benefits of overcoming difficult disease problems are the side effect of having a better life. The primary focus on health, needs to be on health and how to improve it. If we do that, not only do we get better health, a higher quality of life, a by-product or secondary benefit is less problems and prevention of other difficulties.

 

This episode seems inspired by Vivian Lee, MD’s book, The Long Fix: Solving America’s Health Care Crisis With Strategies that Work for Everyone. Without question, the inefficient bureaucracy of our health care system is causing many problems and her solutions will help. It will be less bad. However, just finding a way to make it more economically efficient is not enough. Although I have not read her book yet, the podcast seems to suggest she realized this also. At the end they discuss a doctors office that does better at helping people live a better life, that office then also does better economically, and as a side effect…their patients have more prevention. While more study should be done, evidence seems to overwhelmingly indicate that we should change our objective so better health is the primary focus instead of less disease. Then if we improve the processes that promote health, a better life can be had by most and then… as a by-product many of the problems will take care of themselves.

There is much more to say about how to improve, but we must act to cause health. Overall it seems clear, we are asking the Wrong Questions if better health is our goal. This concept is also discussed in Asking Better Questions Can Generate a Better Tomorrow. We should be asking Aaron Antonovsky’s salutogenic question, “How can we understand movement of people in the direction of the health end of the continuum?” In other words, what helps people improve health such that it means more than just less disease. As we begin to achieve more holistic good, less bad has to follow.

My attempts to create more good first that also results in less bad is to generate comprehensive improvements by creating pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. As more and more of us engage in these actions, we will move toward a better world for everyone and everything, which will also mean less problems. And when we do have problems, which we will, our increased capacity and better health will enable us to handle those issues more effectively.

I look forward to hearing how you do good from selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions  #SelfishSelflessSynergy.

Please share how you do good…

Be Well’r,

Craig Becker

Be selfish, selfless, & synergistic so everyone and everything benefits!

#SelfishSelflessSynergy

Please share your thoughts and questions below.

.

I just started watching Patriot Act by Hassan Minaj. It was great and he seems to support #SelfishSelflessSynergy. I encourage all to go back and watch what they can. I first watched an episode on YouTube that caught my eye, Is College Still Worth It? | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj .

I then learned, after watching a few GREAT episodes, the show is being cancelled.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53833224

Patriot Act: Fans of Hasan Minhaj’s show urge Netflix to reconsider 19 August 2020

Hasan Minhaj was one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2019

Fans of Netflix’s topical comedy show Patriot Act have voiced their disappointment after it was cancelled.

I encourage you to watch, it seems most episodes are also on YouTube. I learned a lot of eye opening information in the few episodes I watched. I plan to watch more.

For instance, although I use TurboTax, it seemed impossible to find the free version. I thought mine was too complicated, but I also I found that I could not help my daughter use the free version. Hers was simple and should be free. Here is why:

Why Doing Taxes is So Hard | Patriot Act

In reporting about the explosion in Beirut, the reporter on the 9-6-2020  New York Times Daily Podcast said, “Resilience is not always a virtue. Something needs to change.” In this situation, it referred to the government’s inaction to secure dangerous chemicals. That statement stuck with me as important. It was important because if we are always coming back from difficulty, that should tell us something needs to change. It seemed to relate to many quotes, such as:

Are you too busy mopping up the floor to turn off the tap?

This quote comes from a story about a person busily mopping up the floor without realizing the tap is open, and water is flowing on the floor. If the person simply turned off the tap, they could do something other than just mop up the water.

and

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me

This ancient proverb refers to our need to learn from our experiences. As I have noted in Best Practices are Contraindicated for Improvement and Making a Better (+3) New Normal, we can’t just keep fixing what we break. We need to build a better system.

Resilience is defined as 1) the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness: the often remarkable resilience of so many British institutions. 2) the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape. We are incredibly adaptive creatures, and we learn to adapt to anything. Being able to adapt is great, but is it the best? Deming explains improvement is not continuous but continual and discontinuous. It happens in spurts.

This means Resilience and Thriving are different. Being resilient does not mean Thriving. To thrive, we need to do better and be better. To be better, we need increased capacities to live a better life. To be able to do and accomplish more and have a better life. Those capacities can then also, SECONDARILY, or as a by-product, help us bounce back during difficult times when needed. The capacities, therefore, are to improve life, not just in case something happens, though they are useful when they do.

Being resilient doesn’t mean avoiding stress. Rather, it means having the skills to get through stressful times.

Resilience is a secondary benefit of increased capacities. Once again, I am suggesting we change our priorities. In health, I recommend we focus on enhancing physical, social, and mental well-being to create the desired life. Secondarily it also will protect us against difficult times as necessary. This Pandemic provides another example. It is difficult to be healthier when something happens. We needed to achieve that prior to the pandemic.

Please share how you are able to increase your capacities and abilities and how they make your life better today. Of course, the main benefit is being able to do what you want and a by-product knowing you are more protected. Building more capacities and abilities will help you generate comprehensive improvements as you create pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic (#SelfishSelflessSynergistic = +3) interactions from which everyone and everything benefits. I look forward to hearing about your successes.

On August 19, 2021, Seth Godin offered these supporting thoughts on Seth’s Blog:

Mollified

If your customer service strategy consists of mollifying angry customers, you’ll always be behind.

Life becomes a fire drill and work becomes an endless chore.

The alternative is to invest in cycles that lead to better systems.

Because better systems put out the fire when it’s really small.

And to invest in design, because better design leads to clearer promises, which are easier to keep.

And to invest in quality as the focus of production, because keeping your promises creates delight and lowers costs so much it pays for itself.

Be Well’r,

The editorial Board of the New York Times laid out what is necessary, or the processes needed to create improvements. Their article:

The Jobs We Need

Workers have been left behind as the U.S. economy expanded and chief executive salaries skyrocketed over the last four decades.

…if the Earth improves because of our presence, then we will flourish. If it does not, then we will die off.

Please share how you generate comprehensive improvements.

Timothy Gallwey’s book, “The Inner Game of Tennis” has become a classic. After reading it I understand why. Of course it is not just about tennis, it is about life. He discusses our 2 Self’s. Self 1 is our “Telling” self, such that it tells us how we are doing and is often criticizing for not doing things well. Self 2 is Doer and is the self that does everything. He explains how when or if Self 1 is in charge, it focuses on judging and determining how things are done. If Self 1 is in charge, we are bound to have a difficult life. If however we focus and let things go without constantly positively or negatively judging, we do better.

He put Focus in a different light. He notes that to be focused we must be curious and find something interesting. He uses a focus on the seams of a ball or the sounds generated during a tennis match as an “other” focus that will allow Self 2 to conduct itself better. Self 2 functions better when there is no interference from Self 1. He also points out the value of focus by analogizing it to providing light in dark spaces. He says focus allows us to see how things really are just as a bright light enables us to really see something that we could not see if it were dark. Beyond just the difference between dark and light, it is also about when we don’t see things clearly when there is only a “flickering” light. I thought he compared seeing things in a flickering light to seeing things without a focus to mean that when we don’t focus we cannot really know or understand what we are seeing.

I realized I had recently experienced the benefit of a focus, or the shining of a brighter light on something. Of course this is also what education accomplishes by shining a brighter light on information so it can be better understood and used. Although the “Defund the Police” rant at first blush seems preposterous, I discovered after focusing on and learning more about this, not only does it make sense, it is what we should do. The “Defund the Police” movement is not trying to defund the police but to spread the funding out to appropriate agencies so police are not handling problems beyond their training. By “Defund the Police”, activists are asking for a shift of resources away from police agencies toward public goods that would enhance the health, safety, efficacy, sense of belonging and citizenship within communities. This could help all.

The idea of changing funding being offered by “Defund the Police” reminded me of something I read in Dan Heath’s new book, “Upstream”. In the book he explains that although the US and Norway spend the same amount on health care for children 0-18 years, the money is disbursed differently. Norway spends money “Upstream” on daycare, parental leave, and education. America on the other hand spends money downstream on problems and treatment. The results on quality of life are dramatically better when funds are disbursed “Upstream” as they are in Norway compared to when money is spent downstream as they are  in America. It is amazing what I learned from a focus that shed more light on an issue.

He also reaffirmed what my work and the work of others has demonstrated. Relationships are important to everything in life. He explains that that our life depends on the relationship people have between Self 1 and Self 2. The book outlines how to create a more effective relationship. Although he says we need to use natural abilities, he does not discount developing abilities.

Overall he recommends this process:
Step 1: Non-Judgmental Awareness. How did things go?
Step 2: Picture the Desired Outcome (I would suggest an Idealized Outcome)
Step 3: Trust Self 2 – or the doer. Let self do what it wants more than judging how well you are doing.
Step 4: Non-Judgmental Observation of Change and Results – how did things go?

He is actually recommending a life that includes a continual process improvement. He says we should always be learning what works and what doesn’t so we can continually improve. He notes that this process is natural because our Self 2 is constantly searching for and attempting to improve by trying new methods, even without conscious effort. We therefore need awareness to see, without judgement, what works and what doesn’t. Judging inhibits this ability because positive or negative judgements impede the process.

I also appreciated his discussion about competition. I have always said, based on Deming’s work, that cooperation is more powerful than competition for achieving desired results. Which I still believe. He however provided a new perspective on competition. He said competition, as a game, is when you have at least 1 player, an obstacle between the player and the goals and a motive for playing. He also explains that True Competition is really True Cooperation.

Competition is cooperation because it means you agree to provide the greatest obstacle to the other person’s goal using an agreed upon set of rules. These competitions then enable the player to discover and improve their capacities. He suggests competition is really just a great training method to allow one to improve. For those of us that have competed in sports, we know competition enabled us to improve. He also suggested competition is not useful if it is being used to prove self because of insecurity or self-doubt.

Overall I strongly recommend “The Inner Game of Tennis” to help people in all areas of their life. He provides ideas to develop a stronger Inner Game. As we all know now, due to COVID-19, getting things together so we are prepared must happen before, “Upstream”. However, we should remeber getting things together isn’t just valuable if something bad happens. A stronger Inner Game makes life better today, its a by-product would enable us to handle unexpected difficulties. 

A strong Inner Game, made possible with a better relationship between Self 1 and Self 2 is a way to Practice Paneugenesis  because it can generate comprehensive improvements by creating pervasive, reciprocal, selfish selfless interactions so everyone and everything benefits. Make it a Great Day & Week!

Be Well’r,
Craig Becker

Be selfish, selfless, & synergistic so everyone and everything benefits!

Please share your thoughts and questions below.
Contact me: BeWellr@gmail.com

A friend shared this valuable message. For now, enjoy the company of your family and those you can, and when this is over…

Enjoy and grow from the process of life, including this detour, and all its wonder….including some imperfections.

Be safe doing what you can to generate comprehensive improvements by creating pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone you can safely interact with benefits.

Be Well’r,
Craig Becker

Be selfish, selfless, & synergistic so everyone and everything benefits!

Thank you for reading, please comment below and contact me:
Email: BeWellr@gmail.com

In The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties, Paul Collier recommends the need for reciprocal obligations and less individualism. In law, a reciprocal obligation, also known as a reciprocal agreement is a duty owed by one individual to another and vice versa. It is a type of agreement that bears upon or binds two parties in an equal manner,

The idea of reciprocal obligations are what can make lives worth living. Simon Sinek suggests that reciprocal obligations can benefit others because what we do for others has a direct impact on how we feel about ourselves. In other words, reciprocal actions can give our lives meaning because they provide us with a way to have a positive impact on others and the world. Reciprocal obligations can provide a way to exhibit Selfish, Selfless, Synergy. It is an action that is intrinsically rewarding, extrinsically beneficial and also helps move society forward.

I was reminded of these ideas when I read the story of an epilepsy patient, Epilepsy treatment side effect: New insights about the brain, by CARLA K. JOHNSON and MALCOLM RITTER Associated Press. In the article she states,

Looking back, she said she’d encourage others to take the same step (letting researchers study her brain). “It is something you feel good about later,” she said. “Let your life be defined by the lives that you change”…Contributing brain cells to science “makes me so proud and so satisfied,” she said. “It makes me feel more connected to the human race.”

Please remember, a negative does not become a positive. As I noted in Make 2020 Your Best Decade Yet…

We cannot turn a negative into a positive. The best we can do is learn from a bad event and make things better in the future. For example, my Dad passed away last year and he had Alzheimers. It is a terrible disease because it turned him into a person we could not even recognize and everyone suffered. After seeing the terrible event, I have learned a lot more about brain disease and brain potential (see links and video’s by Merzenich and Doidge below). This does not make his death a positive, it will always be sad. I am however using that event to inspire me to learn more so I can design a better future for everyone and everything. This future will also make Alzheimers less likely as a by-product.

We all have an innate need for fairness, even for ourselves. We don’t want things we do not deserve. I guess this means to feel good, we should do good because doing good helps us earn the right to feel good.

In another take on Reciprocal Obligations, the Friday February 21st Daily Podcast, “The Field: An Anti-Endorsement in Nevada – The state’s largest labor union has fought hard for health care. And now its fighting Bernie Sanders” outlined the concern the union had about losing their healthcare insurance. As they explain in the podcast, most think it would be better if all had good insurance, Medicare For All, and not just them. This also shows the pull of loss aversion, that is the innate concern of losing what they have.

As Kahneman & Tversky, Barbara Fredrickson and Corey Keye’s research demonstrates, along with what I show in my work…negative events have a stronger impact than positive events. The general understanding is that we need to have a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative events to be thriving or to feel as if we are flourishing.

Understanding that all could benefit, not just them, is an example of reciprocal obligations because people are looking out for the greater good more than self-interest. For me this is an example of selfish, selfless, synergy because individuals are better when the whole is better. I was moved by those that understood and believed it to be more important for all to do well than it was for them to personally benefit. It makes sense because in the end working for the greater good serves self-interest more effectively.

Overall it is an example of practicing paneugenesis because it is an example of generating comprehensive improvements by creating of pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits.

Be Well’r,
Craig Becker

Be selfish, selfless, & synergistic so everyone and everything benefits!

Please share your thoughts below. If you have questions or ideas to share, please contact me:
Email: BeWellr@gmail.com

I am sometimes amazed by what happened in the past. Usually I am amazed because I cannot understand how it could have happened. I catch myself thinking, “how could that be true?” I am now learning it wasn’t true, I misunderstood what actually happened.

Prohibition, or the outlawing of the sale of alcohol, seems like an anomaly in our past and is something I thought, “how could that be?” Its seemed especially odd since it was during a time called the “Roaring ’20s“. I have now learned, it didn’t happen as I had thought. The biggest misperception I had was that it was a reaction to too much drinking or religious fundamentalism. According to the January 17, 2020 NYTimes  article, “Why Americans Supported Prohibition 100 Years Ago“, prohibition was enacted to stop big business from profiting on poor addicted people. As noted often in the article:

Temperance crusaders weren’t crackpots. They were fighting the business of making money off addiction.

Specifically, it was a move against Saloons that became too powerful and were taking advantage of poor. As it explained

…prohibition (was enacted) “for the safety and redemption of the people from the social, political and moral curse of the saloon.”

I had also thought, due to movies there was a rush to get alcohol. The articles states it was met more with yawns than yelling. It states:

…there was no mad dash for hooch on the night of Jan. 16, 1920, no “going out of business” liquor store sales on Prohibition Eve. The United States had already been “dry” for the previous half-year thanks to the Wartime Prohibition Act. And even before that, 32 of the 48 states had already enacted their own statewide prohibitions.

They said it was not a big issue because…

…with debates over ratifying the Peace of Versailles and a war scare with Bolshevik Russia, the 18th Amendment was barely front-page news.

They did note:

A few restaurants and hotels held mock funerals for booze, but the city’s saloons had long since been shuttered, and “the spontaneous orgies of drink that were predicted failed in large part to occur.”

False beliefs exist now about why prohibition was enacted. I know I had an incorrect understanding. Prohibition happened because of something that sounds far too familiar. Prohibition was intended to push back against…

…powerful business interests — protected by a government reliant on liquor taxes — getting men addicted to booze, and then profiting handsomely by bleeding them and their families dry.

As most of us know, when we fail to learn from history, it has a tendency to repeat. It is hard to know what happened if we weren’t there so it is valuable to educate ourselves. The article suggests…

Our inability to comprehend the past comes from taking current worldviews and projecting them backwar

…are opioids deja vu all over again?

If you have time, I encourage you to read the full article at the NYT. For me it was thought provoking article. Please share your thoughts…

Be Well’r,
Craig Becker

Be selfish, selfless, & synergistic so everyone and everything benefits!

Thank you for reading, please comment below and contact me:
Email: BeWellr@gmail.com

We recently watched the movie, “Instant Family” and were pleasantly surprised. It was a GREAT movie! It was not a sappy feel good movie, it was emotionally powerful. I thought it was going to slap stick humor, instead it made me and my family laugh, cry, get upset and also want to be better. It was funny, heartwarming, heart tugging, enriching and wonderful to watch.

The movie seemed realistic because it made us want to be foster parents, but also made us very scared about becoming a foster parent. We thought it was great and I strongly recommend all to watch it. We saw it on Amazon Prime, it is also at video stores if any are left, and you can stream it from multiple sources. Below are two the trailers.

The movie also demonstrated that it takes work to be good, it doesn’t just happen (see last weeks post, Sharing “Atomic Habits” Wisdom from James Clear …).

To practice paneugenesis it takes effort. Practicing paneugenesis helps you earn the right to feel good. To me this movie also demonstrated how we can generate comprehensive benefits by creating pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits – in the long run. The short run, as they showed int his movie, is often messy. I am sure you can relate.

When you watch it , please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Make it great holiday season by Practicing Paneugenesis!

James Clear is the author of the very good book, “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones“.

He also provides a very good weekly newsletter he titles, “3 ideas, 2 quotes, 1 question”.My post is a repost of some things in his December 5, 2019 newsletter. He shared, what demonstrated to me, that if we want something we must take action to make it more likely. It also demonstrated why using prevention or avoidance efforts is likely less effective. He noted:

New goals don’t deliver new results. New lifestyles do… a lifestyle is not an outcome, it is a process. For this reason, all of your energy should go into building better habits,(Optimize the Process) not chasing better results.(the results are a by-product of the process)

In other words, we need to cause something to happen. Things won’t just happen if we do not do something or avoid something bad.

To emphasize this he shared a formula for happiness and or unhappiness. He explained:

For Happiness: Get outside each day, Move: walk, exercise, dance, Spend less than you earn, View life as play, Be the one who looks for solutions, Develop a bias to contribute and create, Learn from the lucky and successful, Be the first to say hello, and Be reliable

For Unhappiness Invert Those Ideas:

To Be Unhappy:Stay inside all day, Move as little as possible, Spend more than you earn, Take yourself (and life) too seriously,Look for reasons why things won’t work, Always consume, never contribute, Resent the lucky and successful, Never say hello first, and Be unreliable.

In other words, take action and generate data and experiences to cause happiness. This reiterates what Tal Ben-ShaHar explained in Happier, that is “…happiness must be pursued to be attained. If we do nothing, unhappiness will follow.”

To drive home his points, he ended his December 5, 2019 note with a line from the Bhagavad Gita about focusing on the process rather than the results:

“You are only entitled to the action, never to its fruits.” 

Source: Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, verse 47​​