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Let's dive into the fascinating world of noveling, the cutting-edge self-help tool that's redefining the way we cope with life's challenges. Imagine having a personal guide, a kind of narrative compass, that helps us navigate the intricate stories of our life. That's what noveling is all about.

At the heart of noveling is the understanding that our lives are woven from countless stories —stories of triumph, struggle, joy, and heartache. These narratives shape our perceptions and, in many ways, dictate how we confront obstacles. But here's the twist: sometimes, the very stories we tell ourselves can become barriers, preventing us from seeing the full spectrum of possibilities and solutions at our disposal.

noveling steps in as a transformitive tool by helping us to unravel these complex narratives. It's like having a mirror that reflects not just our outer selves but the inner tapestry of our thoughts and emotions. By engaging through noveling, we start to see the underlying patterns and "rules" that govern our stories. These aren't just arbitrary guidelines; they're the principles and beliefs that underpin our actions and reactions.

Think of it as being handed the pen in the story of our life. noveling empowers us to question, "Why am I reacting this way? What plot twists have led me here?" It's about recognizing that, while we can't always control the storyline, we have the power to shape our character's journey.

What's truly revolutionary about noveling is its role in mental wellness and self-improvement. In a world where traditional coping mechanisms can sometimes fall short, noveling offers a refreshing, narrative-based approach to self-help. It encourages us to become active authors of our stories, rather than passive characters swept along by the plot. In embracing noveling, we learn to navigate our lives with a new sense of agency and purpose, understanding that every challenge is an opportunity for character development and every setback, a plot twist leading to new growth.

We don’t have just one story. We are the product of many stories. Along with shifting from story to story over time, we have participated in many stories at the same time in days gone by and have key roles in multiple stories today. Our stories mostly blend and mix more or less smoothly but occasionally clash and become incompatible.

If things are not going well for us, let’s stop with the something is wrong with us notion. Although we perform well most of the time, in most of our stories, sometimes a story and our role in it is just not working for us. That should not be interpreted as something wrong with us. Right now, it is little more than being in a story we would do better not to be in, having a role that isn’t working for us, or not understanding the role well enough to pull it off.

An element constrains our ability to quickly resolve issues with one or more of our stories and our roles in them. Our stories are not all separate and distinct. We can’t always make changes with respect to this or that story without causing unwanted or unintended disruption to others of our stories. We don’t need to fix us or fix someone else in our story. Help for us comes in terms of changing or rewriting our stories on the one hand or changing or rewriting our roles on the other. Either would be relatively easy were it not that we aren’t the only people in our stories and we usually can’t change or rewrite one of our stories without affecting other stories – ours and those of other people in our stories.

The story of noveling will be continued in future posts and episodes. For now, give some thinking time to any of your stories that are not working for you and to the story's plot line and your roll. What is the issue with one or both elements causing the story not to work for you. Just keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with you. The problem is with the story line or your role. Help will come with rewriting or recasting the

The podcast team has three special segments for you in this episode. You hear about annoying people while waiting on a place to park, the missing muse that might not have been missing, and the mystery of modern day magic. Please listen and enjoy.

Do you think optimism and pessimism are a choice we all can and do make? It's our world and how we look at it are up to us? Would it were true. Listen and decide for yourself.

Who drives you up the wall? The frustration factor comes up for all of us now and then. Mainliners are among the most frustrating of the frustrating elite. Listen and learn how to deal with the mainliners of the world.

The Truth About People:
All people at all times have needs, problems, and vulnerabilities beyond their individual capacity to cope. That applies to me and applies to you. Fortunately, many if not most people are more or less self-sufficient. They have the means and resources to assure that their needs are met. They can normally resolve their problems. They can manage their vulnerabilities. Even so, they still require services and resources controlled by others.

Of course, the ability of people to manage, to cope with their reality, varies a lot depending where in the world they are and on local circumstances. Some of us are far better off than others of us. And therein lies the question. What level of responsibility do any of us have to provide for those of us who are unable to manage, unable to individually cope with our reality?

This same truism operates at levels beyond individual people. It’s a fact of life for families, organizations, and communities. It’s true for business from one-person enterprises to international corporations. It is a daily reality for governments from home owner associations to nations. At the most fundamental level, the inability to go it alone is the reason why these social, economic, and political constructs exist. The value of collective support, effort, and participation generally exceeds the value of the associated loss of autonomy and personal independence.


The Issue:
For many reasons and myriad circumstances, Some people and groups of people acquire and control significantly more resources and opportunities than other people. Concurrently, for equally numerous reasons and circumstances, some people neither acquire nor control adequate resources to successfully manage and cope with their reality. Just as this inequity applies to individuals, it also applies to families, communities, businesses, regions, and nations. This fundamental disparity prompts several questions that need answers from each of us, from each community, from each business, from each government, from each nation.

• What limits if any should there be on the level or amount of resources and control any one individual, family, community, business, organization, or government may possess?

• What if any rules or restrictions should be imposed on any one individual, family, community, business, organization, or government?

• What responsibility do individuals, families, communities, businesses, groups, networks, or other entities have to share their resources and control with entities outside their immediate domains?

• What authority or power should any government have to restrict, regulate, seize, or enhance the resources or control of people or entities within its jurisdictions?

• What responsibility if any does government have to protect people and other entities within its jurisdiction from risks and jeopardies within that jurisdiction – from outside that jurisdiction?

• What responsibility if any does government have to compensate for the inability of people and other entities within its jurisdiction to successfully cope with or manage their needs, problems, and vulnerabilities?

• What rights and entitlements do people and other entities have that cannot be limited, restricted, or interfered with through government action or inaction?


Policy and Politics:
The answers to these questions are policy and the process of answering these questions is politics.

Regardless of how rational and orderly governance and politics are in principle, they are not exempt from the forces and proclivities present within other entities including families, communities, businesses, other organizations, and among people more generally. Resources and control do not distribute evenly. Some politicians gain more resources and control than others. Some are more successful accruing power and influence than others. Some more successfully sustain their political careers than others.

In this episode of the Leadership Shop Podcast, the series on adaptive leadership continues. Being organized is the first element discussed. This is followed by attention to the importance of timeliness which is followed by one of the key elements in adaptive leadership. Adaptive leaders are never slow to pitch in and do what needs done. Please listen as you enjoy this continuing series.