The challenges facing our times are rooted in fundamental questions that we as a society have largely ignored because the questions make us uncomfortable.  We at the Institute for Living believe that it is in embracing these types of questions, and the discomfort that they evoke, that solutions to our problems will ultimately be found.

Every week, we will present one of these questions on our website, and we invite you to join in the discussion by leaving a comment or two.

Our first question deals with education.  Feel free to discuss other aspects of the issue that you feel are relevant, even if they are not mentioned here.

What skills, behaviors and attributes should high school graduates demonstrate?

This is a core issue for any discussion on education.  Graduates are the successful end result of the educational process, and the characteristics they demonstrate determine whether an educational system is, in fact, working.  So from your perspective, whether you are an employer, a parent, a student or simply a member of the public, what should people be able to do, say or think by the time they graduate from high school?

Core Value System© Training Program

IFL Partners are people who have been uniquely selected; many of whom have gone through a rigorous process to help implement the robust vision of The Institute for Living.

Additionally, anyone who has become part of the Institute for Living “family” — by following this site and participating in the discussions — will have a future  opportunity to enroll in a formal Core Value System© Training Program.

More information will be posted about this program in the future. At this time, we hope you will begin to “catch the vision” and seize the opportunity to think differently about the true values of  your life.

Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall

by David Leonhardt and Geraldine Fabrikant
Friday, August 21, 2009

provided by

(excerpts)

The rich have been getting richer for so long that the trend has come to seem almost permanent.

They began to pull away from everyone else in the 1970s. By 2006, income was more concentrated at the top than it had been since the late 1920s. The recent news about resurgent Wall Street pay has seemed to suggest that not even the Great Recession could reverse the rise in income inequality.

But economists say — and data is beginning to show — that a significant change may in fact be under way. The rich, as a group, are no longer getting richer. Over the last two years, they have become poorer. And many may not return to their old levels of wealth and income anytime soon.

The relative struggles of the rich may elicit little sympathy from less well-off families who are dealing with the effects of the worst recession in a generation. But the change does raise several broader economic questions. Among them is whether harder times for the rich will ultimately benefit the middle class and the poor, given that the huge recent increase in top incomes coincided with slow income growth for almost every other group. In blunter terms, the question is whether the better metaphor for the economy is a rising tide that can lift all boats — or a zero-sum game.

Just how much poorer the rich will become remains unclear. It will be determined by, among other things, whether the stock market continues its recent rally and what new laws Congress passes in the wake of the financial crisis. At the very least, though, the rich seem unlikely to return to the trajectory they were on.

Bill Gates, Warren E. Buffett, the heirs to the Wal-Mart Stores fortune and the founders of Google each lost billions last year, according to Forbes magazine.

In one stark example, John McAfee, an entrepreneur who founded the antivirus software company that bears his name, is now worth about $4 million, from a peak of more than $100 million. Mr. McAfee will soon auction off his last big property because he needs cash to pay his bills after having been caught off guard by the simultaneous crash in real estate and stocks.

In 2007, Mr. McAfee sold a 10,000-square-foot home in Colorado with a view of Pike’s Peak. He had spent $25 million to buy the property and build the house. He received $5.7 million for it. When Lehman collapsed last fall, its bonds became virtually worthless. Mr. McAfee’s stock investments cost him millions more.

One day, he realized, as he said, “Whoa, my cash is gone.”

His remaining net worth of about $4 million makes him vastly wealthier than most Americans, of course. But he has nonetheless found himself needing cash and desperately trying to reduce his monthly expenses.

The Prayer Guarantee, which is showcased in the sidebar on the right, says this on page 77:

It’s all about value perception. All of our lives we have been

conditioned to place value on material things. We evaluate ourselves

and each other on the basis of material possessions. Look at the

overarching statement that we use to describe the most successful

people in our country. We will say that Mr. X is “worth” four

billion dollars! Our language has betrayed our true feelings…we

have literally said that Mr. X is “worth” the dollar value of his

accumulated assets minus his liabilities. We have not said his worth

is the number of grandchildren he has, or his years of marriage, or

how many smiles he caused on other people’s faces last year, or how

many sick people he has visited the last ten years….Perhaps there

was someone who was ready to commit suicide and he talked to

them and was an instrument in their recovery, but we don’t use that

to measure his worth. Our concrete, definitive way of measuring

people’s value is very clearly based on material assets.

Perhaps these challenging economic times provide all of us with a marvelous opportunity to examine our values. We can continue to hold on to things made of Teflon, or we can try to find something that is really permanent.

What is success? Really…

I was talking with a friend recently who said one of the favorite phrases he remembers from back when he used to attend church was when preachers or other leaders would say, “When You Know, That You Know, That You Know.”

He didn’t remember anything else from church, except the power and certainty of that phrase.

Well–talk about self confidence – it seems like a phrase like that really sums it up. A person in that position is perhaps even in a state beyond belief; they are in a state of knowing with certainty. Isn’t that the ideal position that we would all like to be in with regard to our place in life?

When I was graduating from college and the country was in a recession. Most of my colleagues were afraid that they would not be able to find a job (although we were graduating from a prestigious Ivy League school). Somehow, my self confidence was such that I had no doubt that I would receive job offers. And, indeed, I received multiple offers. I am further reminded of numerous entrepreneurs who, upon losing a business have said with conviction, “I’ll build another one, just like I built this one.” And they did.

So what are the steps to building self confidence?

1. Plan Purposefully. Nothing is more important to happiness and success than “being on-purpose.” Discover what your special gift to the universe is, by asking what you would do if you didn’t have to work for a living. If you cannot immediately find that exact job, see how close you can get to it — or do it on a volunteer basis.

2. Prepare Prayerfully. Whatever “prayer” means for you, seek guidance. We are connected to the universe, so listen! When we listen, doors will be opened, things will become clearer, and we are given the strength that we need for the journey.

3. Dress for Success. “Your attitude determines your altitude” is a well known adage. Your dress, posture, speech, and presence communicate your vision of success to other people. It is for sure that no one will believe your vision if you don’t. Everything about your physical appearance speaks volumes to others about your confidence. So shine! Buying designer clothes is not necessary — that speaks to their success. Clothes that are right for you, and do not distract from your message will enhance your mission.

4. Proceed Positively. Once you have defined your dream, brought it into clear focus, and prayerfully prepared for it, proceed with positive energy to put all the pieces in place. When a person builds a house, they have to see the house on the empty lot before one shovel has plowed the ground. They then proceed with vigor to do all the things necessary to bring into being a house that does not exist! And so it is with bringing a dream into reality.

5. Pursue Persistently. Anyone who has ever built a house knows how persistent they must be with the architect, the builder and others to stay on top of every detail to get it done. And so it is with our dreams: bringing it to reality requires persistency, diligence and hard work.

6. Record Success. On the journey to bringing our vision to reality there will inevitably be joys and sorrows. Winners learn to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones. In other words, every time there is a setback use that as an invaluable lesson. When successes occur, record them. Celebrating the successes provides the fuel to keep going.