Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Op-Ed on ex Col. Russell Williams published in Winnipeg Free Press

"By all outward appearances, Russell Williams looked and played the part of a shining hero who could do no wrong; a rising star soaring high on the national stage before going down in flames as perhaps the most ruthless sociopath in Canadian history..."

You can read the rest of my opinion piece, "The darkness that lies within us all" on the Winnipeg Free Press op-ed page. (A side to the story I felt the media was not covering).



Sharif Khan

Author of Psychology of the Hero Soul

An inspirational book on awakening the hero within

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Friday, November 05, 2010

Creed to Succeed

[Excerpted from the Hero Soul ezine on Personal Growth]

I was reading about the success story of Urban Prep Academies, an inner-city Chicago school that achieved a 100% college acceptance rate for its entire graduating class of 107 boys. That’s an impressive figure in itself given the sad state of today’s educational system, but given the fact this was an inner-city school where only 4 percent of the school’s seniors were reading at grade level when they started out as freshmen – now that’s an astonishing achievement!

It got me thinking, what were some of the factors that contributed to such an enormous success, and more importantly, how can we apply these factors to improve our own lives and our communities.

The first thing that struck me was the exceptional staff support available to all students. Each student is assigned at least one staff mentor and all staff are provided cell phones so students can reach them day or night.

The second thing that got my attention was the psychology behind the success. The school has a Creed which is recited by all students in community each morning. Here’s a portion of the Creed:


The Urban Prep Creed
We believe.
We are the young men of Urban Prep.
We are college bound.
We are exceptional-not because we say it, but because we work hard at it.
We will not falter in the face of any obstacle placed before us.
We are dedicated, committed and focused.
We never succumb to mediocrity, uncertainty or fear.
We never fail because we never give up…

WE BELIEVE (To read the full creed visit: http://www.urbanprep.org/about/creed.asp)

WOW! That’s one inspiring creed! How would your life be different if you had such an uplifting creed to energize you every day? Is there a way you could apply this creed psychology in your workplace, school, or team environment?

If not, then consider developing your own personal creed that you can recite out loud every day. Something short and simple using the personal pronoun I and in the present tense. I recommend laminating it on a business card or recording it on a CD that you can listen to and repeat while commuting to work.

To help get you started, let me give you another example. Here’s a wealth creed that T. Harv Eker has developed. It’s called “Attitudes of Wealth”: http://bit.ly/czF0gk

To your success,

Sharif Khan
http://www.herosoul.com
Writer, Author of "Psychology of the Hero Soul"
An inspirational book on awakening the hero within

Read the latest review on The Hero Soul by New Consciousness Review - Media for enlightened living: http://bit.ly/b55lbS

To subscribe to the Hero Soul ezine, visit http://www.HeroSoul.com and click on the ‘newsletter’ tab.