Personal Development Archives - Jeff Havens | Keynote Speaker | Leadership Keynote Speaker https://www.jeffhavens.com/category/personal-development Leadership | Generational Issues | Entertaining Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:06:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 The Power of Negative Thinking https://www.jeffhavens.com/decision-making/the-power-of-negative-thinking https://www.jeffhavens.com/decision-making/the-power-of-negative-thinking#respond Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:06:36 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14464 We’ve all heard about the power of positive thinking.  And I’m pretty certain that somebody has encouraged you to “look on the bright side” when something isn’t going the way you’d like. But have you ever considered the power of negative thinking?  By which I do not mean being hopelessly pessimistic.  Maybe there’s some value…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/decision-making/the-power-of-negative-thinking/feed 0 Why Engage with People That Think Differently Than You https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/why-engage-with-people-that-think-differently-than-you https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/why-engage-with-people-that-think-differently-than-you#respond Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:35:42 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14424 I like it when people agree with me.  I think most of us do.  It’s hard not to enjoy hearing that others think our ideas, attitudes, and beliefs are right.  In fact, I’m sure the world would be a much simpler place if everyone just agreed with every single thing I ever did or said. …

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/why-engage-with-people-that-think-differently-than-you/feed 0 The Importance of Doing Absolutely Nothing https://www.jeffhavens.com/stress-management/the-importance-of-doing-absolutely-nothing https://www.jeffhavens.com/stress-management/the-importance-of-doing-absolutely-nothing#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:51:44 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14419 A few days before Christmas, I felt rather stressed and frustrated.  Hardly a shocking statement, since most of us feel that way at least once during the holidays.  My reasons were for feeling stressed and frustrated were not unique – I was trying to finish up shopping, tie up various loose ends with work, figure…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/stress-management/the-importance-of-doing-absolutely-nothing/feed 1 What’s the Best Stress Management Technique https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/whats-the-best-stress-management-technique https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/whats-the-best-stress-management-technique#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2025 15:16:40 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14370 Sometimes when I’m stressed I like to go down into my basement and play the drums.  I’ve been playing them since I was 10, and one of the things I’ve always liked about them is that you can hit them as hard as you want.  You’re supposed to hit them, in fact – that’s the…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/whats-the-best-stress-management-technique/feed 2 How to Get What You Really Want Out of Life https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-to-get-what-you-really-want-out-of-life https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-to-get-what-you-really-want-out-of-life#comments Mon, 08 Sep 2025 14:30:59 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14360 I figured a title like that might pique your interest.  Most of us want to figure out how to get what we really want out of life.  And don’t worry – I actually do know how to make that happen for you, even if I have no idea what exactly you want out of life. …

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-to-get-what-you-really-want-out-of-life/feed 2 How to Handle Difficult Changes https://www.jeffhavens.com/change-management-2/how-to-handle-difficult-changes https://www.jeffhavens.com/change-management-2/how-to-handle-difficult-changes#respond Thu, 10 Jul 2025 18:00:33 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14352 Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we expect it to.  At least, that’s the phrase we use, which is at least a little dramatic.  Life?  Like, all of it, the entirety of our existence, just somehow went entirely the opposite direction from what we wanted?  That’s probably not the case.  What’s actually happening is…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/change-management-2/how-to-handle-difficult-changes/feed 0 How to Respond When You’ve Made a Mistake https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-to-respond-when-youve-made-a-mistake https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-to-respond-when-youve-made-a-mistake#respond Tue, 03 Jun 2025 20:23:17 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14340 A couple months ago I wrote an article about how to avoid allowing a mistake to challenge your sense of self-worth.  This month, though, I realized I left something out of that conversation.  It focused on the personal benefit of learning to accept that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process.  This month,…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-to-respond-when-youve-made-a-mistake/feed 0 How Using Both/And Can Change Your Life https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-using-both-and-can-change-your-life https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-using-both-and-can-change-your-life#respond Tue, 06 May 2025 13:36:43 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14335 The April 2025 issue of National Geographic featured an awards show of sorts – 33 individuals around the world whose work (at least according to National Geographic) is improving the world in some way.  Many of them, as you might imagine, are doing things related to the environment.   Several, however, were businesspeople, and two in…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-using-both-and-can-change-your-life/feed 0 Understanding What Failure Is (And Isn’t) https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/understanding-what-failure-is-and-isnt https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/understanding-what-failure-is-and-isnt#respond Wed, 02 Apr 2025 18:13:28 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14323 I recently had a conversation with my 8-year-old son about how to deal with failure – and then had an almost identical conversation with a 37-year-old friend about the same thing.  It made me realize that, for many of us, our attitude toward failure doesn’t change much as we get older – we don’t like…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/understanding-what-failure-is-and-isnt/feed 0 Why You Should Ask Dumb Questions https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/why-you-should-ask-dumb-questions https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/why-you-should-ask-dumb-questions#comments Tue, 04 Mar 2025 19:46:24 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14298 Recently my 8-year-old son came home from school and asked me if I knew how many uses for the peanut George Washington Carver had discovered.  After silently thanking his teachers for encouraging his love of random information, I admitted that all I knew was that it was a lot.  “More than 300,” he told me…

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