Can drag be a good thing?
Only in sports.
Like in baseball, when a pitcher has been pummeling a batter with hard and straight fastballs and then throws a change-up. It looks like a fastball at first, but then it literally drops right before it reaches the batter. He swings wildly, striking out. The crowd goes crazy.
But what's really crazy is watching that ball spin in slow motion. It's amazing what professional league pitchers can do! By holding and releasing that ball in just the right way, pitchers create a spin that moves against the thrust that they themselves give the ball. In just the right proportion, it causes the ball to begin a rapid dissent as it loses speed at just the right moment.
That's using drag to your advantage, which works in sports with a ball, but rarely helps in real life. Its the type called induced drag--resistance caused by competing forces.
In the world of every day, a negative mindset results in negative thoughts, words and actions. Because you choose your mindset, it's fair to say that the hurtful thoughts, words and actions that result from negativity are self-induced.
They spin against the forward momentum that you may get from studying hard, working smart, making good connections, and the like. At some point, if that drag hits the right proportions at the right time and place, you can lose all momentum and fall like a stone.
I've seen it happen. Haven't you? A negative person who steps all over co-workers keeps his job only because he works hard, stays late, and seems to get the job done. But, the minute his performance doesn't measure up, there are no friends around to help him hold onto his position. Bye-bye. And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
It's an effect that is similar to that induced by the final type of drag--wave drag. When a jet hits super sonic speeds, shock waves are created that cause pressure against the aircraft's surface, which in turn slows it down. So to speak, the very success of the aircraft as it hits maximum speeds actually begins to work against it.
Can you say "Leona Helmsley"? Dubbed the "queen of mean," this hotel magnate managed holdings valued at about $5 billion. Yet, she had a reputation for terrorizing not only low-level employees (like the maids), but executives as well. When charged with tax evasion, guess who the star witnesses were. Duh! The employees who knew her tactics and attitudes best.
Success is not the culprit. But how you achieve success can make all the difference. The negative things that Leona did in smaller venues didn't hurt her to the degree they did when she hit it big. The moral of this story: Be nice to people on the way up and they may treat you nicely on your way down.
As I said, overcoming negativity is a matter of mind and spirit. If you think positively, positive things will come out of you. Develop a spirit of humility and of caring for others. You'll exude a sense of well-being that is attractive to others and that smooths your way through whatever you do. Let go of negative thoughts that create drag in your life. It's the last thing you need.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Drag of Negative/Go Deep
Imagine you're a jet.
Thrust is your friend. It propels you forward, giving you the momentum to take flight.
Drag is your enemy, working against thrust. Drag slows you down. Too much drag brings you to a dead stop.
Negativity is like that--a drag on your life. In a multitude of ways, thinking, feeling, living and talking negative holds you back. It's difficult enough to move through this life. Your goal should be to move through it as smoothly as you can. The last thing you need is drag.
There are four kinds of drag that work on objects moving through the air. I was surprised at the parallels between the dynamics of physics and the realities of life. See if you agree as we look at the first two.
Friction--a result of surface roughness--is perhaps the best known form of drag. Anything that interrupts the smoothness of an object's surface slows it down as it moves through air, water, whatever. That's why competitive swimmers shave their legs, why rivets on airplane wings are rounded, and why dragsters are covered with slick fiberglass shells.
Some people are just easier to work with, have you noticed? They greet you with a smiling, open face that puts you at ease. Their voice is upbeat, giving you a confidence that things can get done. They talk solutions, not hurdles. They go about their work without grousing.
Others walk around like they have sandpaper for skin. Their eyes hide behind furrowed brows that say, "Deal with me at your own risk." Criticism comes quickly and in just about every situation. (You wonder if you're next.) Every day is a Monday and every mole hill becomes a Mount Everest.
These people are not only a drag on themselves, they are a drag on others. Every thought, word, and action becomes a rough bump on their surface that slows them down.
To some extent, folks are inclined a certain way from birth. That speaks to the second type of drag--form. The shape of a body passing through the air either contributes to drag or reduces it. Being streamlined is best.
Although personalities are born-in, a person's environment tends to nurture those tendencies, either for good or bad. Also, circumstances can reinforce those personality traits. Negatives tend to become more negative with hard settings and difficult experiences.
But, as adults, we have a choice as to who we will be and how we will treat others. When life treats you poorly, think of the experience as a kind of chisel that is streamlining your body and as sandpaper that is smoothing your surface. With each new difficulty, determine that it will improve your ability to glide through trouble.
Over the years, that positive attitude will turn into positive actions and the momentum will keep you flying high. There are two more types of drag, though, that can hold you back. We'll cover them this Friday.
Thrust is your friend. It propels you forward, giving you the momentum to take flight.
Drag is your enemy, working against thrust. Drag slows you down. Too much drag brings you to a dead stop.
Negativity is like that--a drag on your life. In a multitude of ways, thinking, feeling, living and talking negative holds you back. It's difficult enough to move through this life. Your goal should be to move through it as smoothly as you can. The last thing you need is drag.
There are four kinds of drag that work on objects moving through the air. I was surprised at the parallels between the dynamics of physics and the realities of life. See if you agree as we look at the first two.
Friction--a result of surface roughness--is perhaps the best known form of drag. Anything that interrupts the smoothness of an object's surface slows it down as it moves through air, water, whatever. That's why competitive swimmers shave their legs, why rivets on airplane wings are rounded, and why dragsters are covered with slick fiberglass shells.
Some people are just easier to work with, have you noticed? They greet you with a smiling, open face that puts you at ease. Their voice is upbeat, giving you a confidence that things can get done. They talk solutions, not hurdles. They go about their work without grousing.
Others walk around like they have sandpaper for skin. Their eyes hide behind furrowed brows that say, "Deal with me at your own risk." Criticism comes quickly and in just about every situation. (You wonder if you're next.) Every day is a Monday and every mole hill becomes a Mount Everest.
These people are not only a drag on themselves, they are a drag on others. Every thought, word, and action becomes a rough bump on their surface that slows them down.
To some extent, folks are inclined a certain way from birth. That speaks to the second type of drag--form. The shape of a body passing through the air either contributes to drag or reduces it. Being streamlined is best.
Although personalities are born-in, a person's environment tends to nurture those tendencies, either for good or bad. Also, circumstances can reinforce those personality traits. Negatives tend to become more negative with hard settings and difficult experiences.
But, as adults, we have a choice as to who we will be and how we will treat others. When life treats you poorly, think of the experience as a kind of chisel that is streamlining your body and as sandpaper that is smoothing your surface. With each new difficulty, determine that it will improve your ability to glide through trouble.
Over the years, that positive attitude will turn into positive actions and the momentum will keep you flying high. There are two more types of drag, though, that can hold you back. We'll cover them this Friday.
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Drag of Negative/Think About It
Editor's Note: This blog has just passed 31 weeks of 3-days-a-week posts. My site meter indicates an average of about 12 visitors per week. I'm glad you're out there. And I would really appreciate hearing questions that you'd like covered. What issues are you facing that you could use some input on? Send me a comment.
My college days came right at the end of the Vietnam War.
It was an especially negative time in this country.
Even though I attended a university in a very conservative region, the elements of anti-war negativism were still present. In particular, the staple comic of the college newspaper, "Doonesbury."
"Doonesbury" was all about bashing the war and the institutions and the culture and the people that author Gary Trudeau considered responsible for the war and its atrocities. Consummately negative in his world view, Trudeau day-in-and-day-out satirized them all for their evil motives, the underhanded dealings, and their shameless greed.
A journalism professor commented one day on what he felt was the lasting deleterious influence of a daily diet of Trudeau's venom. You can imagine the abuse the professor took from a class of students that held tightly to the sense of power that criticism and ridicule gave them.
I don't remember his exact words, but his ideas have stuck with me now some 30 years beyond the day they soaked through my thick skull. And, over the years, I've seen the wisdom in his opinion, which rings true for my life and the lives of others I've observed.
Basically, the Prof argued that a steady diet of negativism, even when delivered on behalf of a just cause, will burden a man's life. Somewhere deep in a person's soul a seed of discontent is sown and then nurtured by the negative energy of constant criticism, sarcasm, and ridicule. Before long, a life becomes a staging ground for negative thoughts, which lead to negative words, which invariably lead to negative consequences.
We live in a very negative culture. It's all around us. From the evening news to the published commentaries, to entertainment, politics, late-night comedy talk shows, and even television commercials, it seems the highest rewards are given to those who can best turn a sardonic phrase against a competitor or society or life in general.
The trick is recognizing the drag of negative forces on your life and not just compensating for them, but eliminating them if you can. It's a matter of the mind and spirit, but also of physics.
Ever been taught physics by a J-student? Get ready to go deep Wednesday.
My college days came right at the end of the Vietnam War.
It was an especially negative time in this country.
Even though I attended a university in a very conservative region, the elements of anti-war negativism were still present. In particular, the staple comic of the college newspaper, "Doonesbury."
"Doonesbury" was all about bashing the war and the institutions and the culture and the people that author Gary Trudeau considered responsible for the war and its atrocities. Consummately negative in his world view, Trudeau day-in-and-day-out satirized them all for their evil motives, the underhanded dealings, and their shameless greed.
A journalism professor commented one day on what he felt was the lasting deleterious influence of a daily diet of Trudeau's venom. You can imagine the abuse the professor took from a class of students that held tightly to the sense of power that criticism and ridicule gave them.
I don't remember his exact words, but his ideas have stuck with me now some 30 years beyond the day they soaked through my thick skull. And, over the years, I've seen the wisdom in his opinion, which rings true for my life and the lives of others I've observed.
Basically, the Prof argued that a steady diet of negativism, even when delivered on behalf of a just cause, will burden a man's life. Somewhere deep in a person's soul a seed of discontent is sown and then nurtured by the negative energy of constant criticism, sarcasm, and ridicule. Before long, a life becomes a staging ground for negative thoughts, which lead to negative words, which invariably lead to negative consequences.
We live in a very negative culture. It's all around us. From the evening news to the published commentaries, to entertainment, politics, late-night comedy talk shows, and even television commercials, it seems the highest rewards are given to those who can best turn a sardonic phrase against a competitor or society or life in general.
The trick is recognizing the drag of negative forces on your life and not just compensating for them, but eliminating them if you can. It's a matter of the mind and spirit, but also of physics.
Ever been taught physics by a J-student? Get ready to go deep Wednesday.
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