Wishful Thinking as an Obstacle to Virtuous Action

As quoted in a recent edition of the New Yorker, John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, said: “I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue…..more

Overcoming Strategy: Self Coaching via Repetition of Admonishments

I have recently noticed that one strategy that seems to help implement resolves for change in behavior or attitude relates to repetition of the message…..more

The Role of Positive Psychology in Overcoming Inner Blocks

An article about positive psychology from the Harvard Mental Health Letter came across my desk recently. First offered as a treatment for depression, it appears now…more

Main Motivators for Helping Overcome Social Anxiety

I have been taking my measure as an applied self discipline coach and find that in matters of procrastination and social anxiety, the unachieved action or change that is sought only happens if…more

Stories of Courage: The Unreluctant

The emphasis on reluctance in this blog has up until now focused on things like inhibition, avoidance and the costs of not acting or not speaking up….more

How to Achieve More Self Responsibility

A period of doubt has entered my mind this week with regard to the value of these posts.  For I find  that good ideas for change are usually not sufficiently strong enough to catalyze the will and one falls back or simply continues along in the line of least resistance… more

Fear of Disapproval: Is Dissolution Possible?

I was told once by some one in the therapeutic community that my reluctance to communicate my ideas was due chiefly to fears of disapproval. This was around the issue of overcoming writer’s block. …more

Negating the Fear of Disapproval to Optimize Need Fulfillment

It has become a common place in therapeutic circles to argue that fears of disapproval disconnect people from their desires. And when that happens, frustration and self downing are the inevitable result…more

Fear of Disapproval, Shyness and Social Anxiety

I want to do a series of blogs on the topic of fear of disapproval. In this segment, I want to examine how fear of disapproval deters, delays and blocks initiative whether this consists of failure to speak up or engage with others….more 

Why the Reluctance to Talk About Race

I have been thinking about reluctance and fear and how it isn’t always the avoidance of anxiety that deters people from speaking up or taking action. Sometimes it is the unwillingness to disclose unflattering information that thwarts speaking up….more