Dan Pink- Empathy

In Dan Pink’s talk with Oprah, he talked about how empathy and how people grow with it. But in the interview Pink said one thing I disagreed with, which is that empathy can be taught. I believe that after a certain age  a person’s empathy will stay about the same.   I took an empathy test where I scored 47 out of 80.  This score seems low but it is actually the average for women, 5 points higher than the average man at 42.  I did expect to be higher on the scale, though, as I think of myself as a more empathetic person.  But this made me think about others and where they would be on the scale. One person I know would be almost all the way at the top in my standards; he will always ask you about issues in your life and really try to help you out with them. Even better than that, he always knows when to stop asking questions and start cheering you up. On the contrary there are those who will put others down and be hurtful as long as it will but them ahead or make someone else feel bad for their own benefit.  In life, I believe it is necessary to try to avoid being the one who puts others down and to try to be the one who uplifts others for the ultimate benefit of ourselves and those around us.

Final Project Research

How do some entrepreneurs develop their companies into multi-million dollar corporations, and how can I implement these skills to any future business ideas?

 

       This is my essential question from an earlier blog entry.  My final project for the Honors Mentorship Program will be based around this question.  I will try to incorporate technology into my project for the presentation.  A way I could do so is to make my presentation on a web based video. 

 

       I believe the best way to develop theories and ideas is to discuss your questions with people who have achieved what you want to achieve and to read about others experiences in that field.  But ultimately, the only way you can know the answers is to see for yourself.  Personally I would try to write different ideas into a business plan and try to think through what the outcomes of it would be.

Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin, writer of books such as The Happiness Project, talks about how to her a New Year’s resolution is most effective and memorable if it is one word that is meaningful to you.  This way you can always have that word in the back of your head to effect the way you do things all year.  My one word resolution would be “achieve”.  This word will challenge me to achieve more in everything I do.

Rubin also talks about making changes in our lives. In one of her YouTube videos she says that she envied successful writers before she even knew she wanted to be one.  Rubin also said that she would lie about things that she was not proud of.  Her point with these stories was that if you are willing to lie about something or you envy someone then you most likely need some sort of change.  If there is one person I envy it would be a man I might in another country.  He is a deputy chief ambassador for the U.S. I am envious of him because he has a well-paying, steady job, but best of all he gets to travel to travel around the world with his family.