We live in a world where there is positive and negative reinforcement, as well as positive and negative validation. Negative reinforcement and negative validation aren't always a bad thing (and excessively positive things aren't always good), but this episode focuses on positive reinforcement and validation, because I feel like positive reinforcement and validation, both in personal lives and in work spaces, tends to be lacking. There's a popular saying (with the wording varying slightly):

People won't congratulate you for the 100 things you did right, but they will criticize you for the one thing you did wrong, even if it is a small thing.

Fostering an attitude of gratitude in a way that gives people motivation when they doing good, rather than solely berating people for when things don't go your way, is all too common and the lack of balance is essentially the driving force for this episode. Actually, polls have consistently shown that a significant portion of employees, for example, feel underappreciated a work. Nearly two-thirds (!) felt unappreciated daily (!!) and many feel they've never had an employer truly appreciate their work (!!!), and it isn't just a work-related thing. Check out one related article on this at:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nearly-half-americans-quit-jobs-145250545.html

Validation and reinforcement should be authentic, considerate of the target audience or individual or people, and it does NOT have to be grand in scope. Essentially, in the most basic words, positive reinforcement and validation often comes down to showing courtesy and decency to whoever you are with, reminding them of their impact or their potential (in and out of work. One great way of being a positive influence on people is to be a positive role model, especially if you are working to change things for the better in your communities. Just be careful not to diminish people's experiences by turning absolutely everything into a positive --- there is balance, as well as a time and place, like with most things!

Check out my website and socials (all new and growing), and if you like what you've seen or heard, please share and review! They help RJ and the podcast grow! Check out my websites below:

⁠⁠⁠https://rjsworldlens.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.meetup.com/757uplifters/⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-wallace-6637b545/⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rjsworldlens/

My lens on soft skills, leaders, and leadership. Knowledge is very valuable and hard skills, also referred to as technical skills, are great, but is it possible that the value of knowledge and/or hard skills is overstated? Listen as I explain how developing soft skills and good leadership traits are excellent because they have broad usage. Hard skills and knowledge, while valuable, have significantly less impact without developing soft skills and quality leadership traits/skills.

Check out my website and socials (all new and growing), and if you like what you've seen or heard, please share and review! They help RJ and the podcast grow! Check out my websites below:

⁠⁠https://rjsworldlens.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠https://www.meetup.com/757uplifters/⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-wallace-6637b545/⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rjsworldlens/

Growing up in school, I felt like the "structured learning environment" was too restrictive...or rather, I learned that when I got older! In school and in life, we learn, fail, and succeed, and are more driven to succeed when different personal metrics are met. By playing things too safe, and being afraid to fail, is it possible to hinder growth and limit our own success? Very much so! Failure is not often looked upon very favorably, but through trying something and failing, you learn not only more about what you do, and build retention through failure (not just success), but you learn more about yourself.

The more you know about yourself, you are able to better position yourself to seeking things that align more with your personal desires, find work or work environments that are a better fit for you, and more! Future episodes will discuss both failure and success in more detail.

Check out my website and socials (all new and growing), and if you like what you've seen or heard, please share and review! They help RJ and the podcast grow! Check out my websites below:

⁠https://rjsworldlens.com⁠⁠

https://www.meetup.com/757uplifters/⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-wallace-6637b545/⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/rjsworldlens/

We are often curious about other people, but not ourselves...why is that? Curiosity of self seems to be in low supply, and I've met many people who can talk about others all day long but struggle to tell others about themselves. Unsurprisingly, that can reveal that there are some amazing things within self that can be discovered and be brought from the background to the foreground. So much can be found by asking "Why?" --- Especially if you ask the question numerous times. Learn some of the ways I navigate life and self and become familiar with "root cause analysis" and "the five whys", and more! What you discover can help you improve in a personal sense and in a business sense.

Five whys - Wikipedia

APA Dictionary of Psychology

Future episodes will discuss topics like self-improvement, stories of RJ's community work (with 757 Uplifters, created by RJ, etc.) growth and development, leadership, hardships and strategies to overcome them, self-reflection, and more! Check out my website and socials (all new and growing), and if you like what you've seen or heard, please share and review! They help RJ and the podcast grow! Check out my websites below:

⁠https://rjsworldlens.com⁠⁠

https://www.meetup.com/757uplifters/⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-wallace-6637b545/⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/rjsworldlens/

In this episode, I cover some past experiences, including a piece of art in a mall (sadly, most malls are closing) that left such a strong impression on me, that I began to start pursuing growth and change more than perhaps any other time in my life...though I did not know it at the time! There are various bits of advice, as I speak on social media, community service, social anxiety, keeping positive influences around you that motivate/inspire (which includes differing opinions, often from loving critics), and more!

Future episodes will discuss topics like self-improvement, stories of RJ's community work (with 757 Uplifters, created by RJ, etc.) growth and development, leadership, hardships and strategies to overcome them, self-reflection, and more! Check out my website and socials (all new and growing), and if you like what you've seen or heard, please share and review! They help RJ and the podcast grow! Check out my websites below:

⁠https://rjsworldlens.com⁠⁠

https://www.meetup.com/757uplifters/⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-wallace-6637b545/⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/rjsworldlens/

This episode briefly puts you inside the mind of RJ! A couple of things that I think about often are overthinking (no, really), accountability, and all the ways that holding oneself more accountable can bolster how much we can learn and grow...and allow new ideas to actually reach our ears. Accountability is actually one thing that can act as a catalyst for developing a positive change mindset.

That said, because humans tend to be defensive and resistant to change and/or accountability, it is certainly not easy to do either change or hold one's self accountable. It is, however, worth it and there are heaps of rewards for doing so, whether in one's personal life or in one's professional life. There are seemingly endless strategies out there that work for different kinds of people. In this episode, a handful of strategies and ideas are discussed for different situations.

Future episodes will discuss topics like self-improvement, stories of RJ's community work (with 757 Uplifters, created by RJ, etc.) growth and development, leadership, hardships and strategies to overcome them, self-reflection, and more! Check out my website and socials (all new and growing), and if you like what you've seen or heard, please share and review! They help RJ and the podcast grow!

⁠https://rjsworldlens.com⁠

⁠757 Uplifters⁠

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-wallace-6637b545/⁠

⁠RJ's World Lens (@rjsworldlens) • Instagram

In this introduction episode fit for a short car drive, you will learn about RJ and what got him into podcasting, with the general message being that you have something to give others and the world, and you have more value than you may realize. You are also a "lifelong learner", so stumble, learn, grow, develop!

The episode discusses personal experiences and how personal experiences can broaden our perspectives and the way we see the world. Lastly, the episode discusses that there is flexibility in how you approach podcasting and life, based on what professionals have done, as well as non-professionals, so don't be too hard on yourself!

Future episodes will discuss topics like self-improvement, stories of RJ's community work (with 757 Uplifters, created by RJ, etc.) growth and development, leadership, hardships and strategies to overcome them, self-reflection, and more! Check out my website and socials (all new and growing), and if you like what you've seen or heard, please share and review! They help RJ and the podcast grow!

https://rjsworldlens.com

757 Uplifters

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-wallace-6637b545/

RJ's World Lens (@rjsworldlens) • Instagram

If you are interested in public speaking, please give Arvee Robinson's page a visit:

Arvee Robinson