JAMES McPARTLAND'S BLOG

"Our judgements about the world tell us a great deal about ourselves, and very little about the world. When I share my thoughts and feelings, I'm telling you about me - not about you". James K. McPartland The game of life changes when we choose to see that each day we create our own experiences, and that someone else or something else is not doing it for us. Taking responsibility means we locate cause inside of ourselves, looking not to blame, but rather to learn from our mis

"Our thoughts, words, and actions - when reinforced with the emotional intensity of our feelings - create our life experiences". James K. McPartland What an amazing gift we possess and, in our own reality, get to see the results of these creations each and every day. Scientific research has demonstrated that our brain changes, in an almost identical fashion, from either the physical or mental rehearsal of an activity. Simply put, our emotionally charged thoughts become our ex

"We have access to a world of possibility when we use our words to create reality, not to describe it". James K. McPartland All things in life arise in language, and it is the conversations that we participate in that lead to the outcomes we produce in our life. By paying attention to how we speak, what we listen for, and who we are being in the game of life, we learn that we are truly responsible for all of our results. Choose wisely. #personaldevelopment #executivecoach #br

"Love can overcome fear. Love is about authenticity, generosity, and sacrifice. You can't be afraid of who you are, you can't run away from your own power. You have to embrace your strengths. You have to have the courage to open your "gifts". James K. McPartland We can't give away what we don't own, be that love, strength, courage, or truth. The person we fear most is the person we must learn to love most, and that journey starts with the man or woman who looks back at us whe

"The foundation of a complaint is the structure we have created so we get to be right." James K. McPartland Almost all business challenges arise from people believing they are right about their perception of situations, people, or themselves. In reality, one point of view is too small for the whole truth. Whenever we don't allow reality to be what it is, to focus on facts instead of feelings, we are in opposition to life. Opposition is the cause of suffering, and suffering i

"Our assignment in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into someone we think we are supposed to be, but to find out who we authentically are and become it." James K. McPartland We are born into this world with a personal destiny. We have a gift and a responsibility to fulfill our life assignment by giving our gift away. Further, we get to help others to discover their own gifts, and ask that they teach the same process as they pay it forward for others. Each of us enters

"When we stop listening, we stop learning." James K. McPartland The essence of powerful communication exists in our listening, as the future resides inside of other peoples speaking. Listening is presence in action and our attention is one of the greatest gifts we can give to another human being. We can learn the direction of a person's life if we pay attention to their choice of words. We all describe our path of the future we are living into with how we speak about our fear

"The giver of gifts is not known for what he accumulates - only for what he allocates." James K. McPartland What we get in life may be important, yet who we become is far more important as that can never be taken from us. We cannot give away what we do not own, however, we don't get to keep it unless we give it away. Giving is an architectural design for powerful living. Knowing that you possess great gifts, those placed inside of you prior to birth, an inspiring goal is to s

"Sometimes a misstep is the most important step along the path of our dreams." James K. McPartland Most everyone would agree that the greatest of lessons we learn very often come from our setbacks, yet most of us work hard to avoid making mistakes. If at the end of the day we are all seeking to advance toward meaning and a life well lived, the best we can hope for is progress. A day is our life in miniature form, and our days become weeks, weeks become months, and our months

"The inspiration to take action can be linked to making the choices that instill inside of us a feeling of control - a belief that we are advancing toward meaningful goals. Deep down, it is the sense of self determination that gets us going." James K. McPartland In the great game of life the specific choice itself matters less in sparking motivation than the assertion of control. Figuring out how a task is connected to something we care about, and why it truly matters, makes

"Clarity requires distance, and distance allows us to see that what we are unable to let go of ultimately traps us." James K. McPartland Working hard to achieve goals frequently has us mistake the promise of reward for happiness. We misjudge the experience of pursuit for a guarantee of success. When we free ourselves from the false promise of reward we often find that the thing we were seeking happiness from was the main source of our misery. #personaldevelopment #executiveco

"It takes subtraction, not addition, to achieve our most meaningful goals and to experience a life of fulfillment." James K. McPartland Exceptional people create their own reality and have ample time to accomplish that which is of the highest importance to them. It is seldom that we actually have too little time, it is that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have. Time is a finite resource and when we spread ourselves out to do more we pay the price of high

"People do not stop learning and improving because of innate limits. They stop learning and growing because they stopped practicing or never even got started." James K. McPartland The desire to grow is internally driven, and it is a switch we can flip on by choice. Motivation is derived from the belief that we have authority over our actions and surroundings, and that we are in control. Viewing choices as affirmations of our goals and values is tied to the practice of deliber

"Everything we seek on our life’s journey is on the other side of resistance." James K. McPartland From a strength-training perspective, resistance serves to make a muscle bigger and stronger. From a life perspective, what we resist tends to get bigger and stronger. When confronted by events, people, or information that challenges us, we are inclined to resist that which goes against our belief systems or rules of how the game of life is to be played. While this is not necess

"The major obstacle to overcome for people who believe they can't reach their goals is that belief itself." James K. McPartland Behaviors do not change until the underlying beliefs change. Further, for the underlying beliefs to change, experience has to change. For experiences to change we simply need practice, deliberate practice. When we have a compelling future, inspired by a bold set of goals, our practice and learning becomes a way of taking control of our destiny. We ca

"Mastery is not about reaching your potential, it is about building it." James K. McPartland Challenging ourselves beyond "good enough" requires far more practice than most people are willing to devote time to. Research proves that if you wish to become significantly better, you can. Nobody develops extraordinary abilities without preparation, training, rehearsal, and repetition. #personaldevelopment #executivecoach #breakthrough #lifecoach #selfawareness #clarity #highperfor

"Our way of seeing things is also our way of not seeing things." James K. McPartland The lens through which we see the world is essentially created by our language. Consider words, terms, phrases, and their relation to each other. We see in our life, world, and reality, what our lens allows us to see. It is like looking through a screen, although we are not aware it is there. One example is a doctor. When we need to visit her, she will see in us our patient history, probable

"Passion is displayed in our willingness to suffer for what we love most, especially on the days that we don't really love it." James K. McPartland When you meet a person who is executing their life assignment, living on purpose, or working in pursuit of their highest aspirations, you will find that they love it even when things are not going their way. And since things will not always go our way, resilience and springing back from setbacks are the litmus tests to evaluate if

"A willingness to change is different from knowing how to change or even wanting to change. Willingness is letting go of control and the illusion that we are safe and secure when we avoid the unknown." James K. McPartland Ask yourself: Am I really willing to change? If you say you are - but you don't know how - you are more than likely creating an excuse. Excuses provide a temporary relief from your unwillingness to face your unwillingness. If we do not face our own resistanc

"Presence is the art of showing up like you are supposed to be there." James K. McPartland More often than not we arrive at our intended destination, conduct a telephone conversation, participate in a meeting, and make important decisions in spite of being distracted. Autopilot gets us through a workout, reading or writing an email, interviewing a candidate, eating a meal, and spending time with our family. We are in survival mode and have become accustomed to feeling special