High School Public Speaking Memory, Today's Early Morning Plans

 I remember, looking back on my high school times at Nova, how one of my female blonde classmates one day suddenly "saw the light" and underwent a speedy transformation into a glib, smooth public speaker.  She even got on the closed circuit school television and delivered a five-minute monologue to the school about how good and easy public speaking was, and that folks like little-old "almost subhuman" me had no excuses for not dazzling the world with my oratory skills.  A little later on ,we were introduced by a mutual friend, on whom she definitely had her eyes set.  I smiled and tried to look and sound nice, but she only came across as a rejecting snob who was fending me off...not that I was even remotely interested in her on the slightest level.  I could have tactfully (or brutally) put her in her proper place by interjecting that good speaking is only part of the equation, and that good listening skills are at least equally as important as well .  You can either esteem (or insult) your counterpart based on your attitude toward them as people, hopefully encouraging them in the process. That one speech I heard was special in one way: afterwards, and I could have brought this up to her, I couldn't think of a single section within the presentation that was of any use.  Oh well, I dealt with the snub in a dignified manner by henceforth avoiding her like the plague...I could see that she was grooming herself to be a finger-pointer later in life...probably launched into tr  ashing me soon after our greeting. So I arose at 3:30, brewed coffee, ran in place, and wrote this article. It's now a little past 5 and the day (March 8) lies ahead (we 'lept' ahead into Daylight Savings Time).  I'm still frustrated by my lack of endurance when it comes to going on modest walks. I want to continue hearing and implementing Jim Rohn YouTube podcasts, read a flawed fantasy novel by Josh Khan and study foreign languages.  And, now that I have that connecting cord, do some journal writing on my wonderful oldAlpha Smart processor before I nod off into an afternoon nap..

Podcaster's Notion of "Being Yourself" Needs Slight Revision

On his Mindset Mentor podcast last Friday, personal development coach Rob Dial discussed a topic I thought pertinent: how to be your true self.  I've heard of folks putting on their "church faces" on Sunday morning while presenting themselves differently at other times in the workplace, at home, or behind the wheel.  And I understand that different social situations call for different standards of speech and behavior.  Dial posits a different point of view, stating that each of us should be true to his or her own authentic self...and he gave a personal example.  Dial likes to swear, and I don't mean using just lightweight profanity either.  At the start of his podcasting, he used to refrain from cussing and said his listener numbers were low, but after he decided to speak in the highly colorful manner that he is accustomed to, they skyrocketed.  And then he said that we shouldn't tailor our personal presentation for approval from others...yet his own chosen example seems to contradict this!  After all, maybe Rob Dial thinks cursing in any situation he finds himself in is just him being his authentic self, while someone else "authentically" never admits defeats and always claims rigging in any contest they're in: do you know who I'm talking about?  Or perhaps somebody has always had a tendency to react in a knee-jerk violent manner to any perceived provocation from others...and yet another thinks it's just acting according to who they are to depend on chemicals to alter their mental state.  I could go on and on about "authentic selves" and antisocial behavior...wouldn't it be better to work to transform oneself to a higher level, authentically becoming that new person with better habits?  Just saying...

Having been on Facebook a number of years as you also likely have, I've seen myriad postings along the lines of "I'm going to be this way and if you don't like it, go screw yourself", or something to that effect.  How does this kind of message "push the needle forward" as Dial likes to say?  As for cursing, I used to freely engage in it as a growing kid around others, but I discovered that its primary use was as a tool of verbal aggression and immature bravado and came to greatly curtail its use. So, I think that, while Dial's notion of staying consistently true to who you are is flawed in some ways, it is also worth considering and adopting...but only in line with the good habits that one wants to inculcate while working to become a better person.  Sure, consistently be the same person in all circumstances...but be a "better" same person with higher standards...