How To Applaud Yourself You Deserve It!

By John W. Shepard Ed. D

Between the covers of How to Applaud Yourself You Deserve It!, you will find the secrets of what makes you a truly special person. Each of us possesses qualities that reflect our inborn uniqueness, yet it is rare that we fully realize what these personal traits are.

In How to Applaud Yourself You Deserve It!, you will identify those specific attributes that will propel you to a higher quality of life. This means experiencing an improved sense of self-understanding, personal resolve, energy, and confidence. The book's text is also built to significantly enhance your career development, personal decision-making, and social and family relationships.

While you undoubtedly will enjoy reading the book from start to finish, you will also experience a profitable journey unlike any event you may have encountered before. Armed with what you have learned about yourself and motivated to move forward with a newly discovered array of life possibilities, there is little you cannot accomplish!

I sincerely hope you enjoy this book's offerings as I enjoyed bringing it to you!

Best wishes for your future,

Dr. John W. Shepard

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798885055949

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Preface

Introduction

Part 1: Understanding Yourself

Chapter 1: What Factors Have Influenced Your Life?

Chapter 2: Understanding Who You Are Today

Chapter 3: Your Sweet Spot

Chapter 4: Summarizing Who You Are Today

Part 2: Applauding Yourself: Self-Applause Motivates the Soul

Introduction

Chapter 5: Appreciating Who You Are

Chapter 6: Finding Happiness and Fulfillment

Chapter 7: How You See Yourself

Chapter 8: Increasing Your Self-applause

Chapter 9: Looking Out for Oneself

Chapter 10: Priority Management

Chapter 11: Dealing with Adversity

Chapter 12: Social Relationships and Communication

Chapter 13: Taking Charge of Your Life

Chapter 14: How to Applaud Yourself

Chapter 15: Busting Out Your Goals

Chapter 16: The Joy of Taking Action

Chapter 17: The Need to Applaud

Chapter 18: Let's Play Twenty Questions

References

About the Author

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How To Applaud Yourself You Deserve It!

John W. Shepard Ed. D

Copyright © 2022 John W. Shepard Ed.D

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2022

ISBN 979-8-88505-593-2 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88505-594-9 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Applause, Applause, Applause

What is it that we're living for? Applause, Applause. Nothing I know brings on the glow, like sweet applause. You're thinking you're through, that nobody cares. Then suddenly, you hear it starting, and somewhere you're in charge again, and life's a ball. Trumpets all sing, life seems to swing, and you're the king of it all! 'Cause you've had a taste of the sound that says love!

—Tony Award Winner (1970)

Preface

Reading this book will enhance the following:

Self-understanding and acceptance

Motivation to grow and succeed

Control of your life

Focus and direction

Personal development

Relationships with friends, work, and family members

Career development

Goal setting, action steps, and positive momentum

Introduction

What is applause? What does it mean to applaud? The New World Dictionary defines applause as "to praise, approve, and commend." Similarly, Webster II Dictionary defines applauding as to express approval of. To applaud then is to provide acknowledgment and validation. When we go to a show, hear a speech, and observe our friends and family in action, we often clap and by clapping applaud in appreciation for the thoughtful effort given.

Clearly, applause displays the kind of deference and respect which in turn imparts confidence and force of strength in others. Applause, by its very bearing, buoys the soul and marks the course, hue, and duration of effort each of us imparts throughout our daily existence. Applause furnishes a key catalyst and guiding force to what we do and how we do it. It is first encountered when we are young as parents, peers, and teachers grant praise and feedback regarding our burgeoning behaviors. This maiden acclaim has a primal effect on how we eventually see ourselves as teens and young adults.

While children truly bask in the afterglow of appreciation, life's messages can also relay damaging judgments, and emotional muggings indelicately thrust upon a child's psyche and inevitable nature. Sadly, what is said and indicated to our youth is often premature, inaccurate, and significantly damaging. In response, the callow child has little recourse but to believe the perceptions of their older and supposedly wiser caregivers. For both good and bad, how others have described and treated us markedly impacts how we view ourselves and in turn how we step forward through the spectrum of a full life.

Perhaps it is time for you to sort out and mollify the influence others have imposed upon your present existence and begin to assess the future directions you independently wish to take. Perhaps it's time to look directly at what you can be and separate from the arbitrary conditions that life has placed upon you. In effect, it may, in fact, be time to take a breath, clear the imminent air, and breathe anew. Fresh vistas and opportunities await you to choose from. Are you willing to take a newer, more objective perspective?

As the literature is replete with studies and extended musings addressing how outside forces have and will affect our individual destinies, this text's composition is designed to help you put significantly less emphasis on the influence others have had on your life and decidedly more on the magic of whom you were born to be. Particular emphasis will be placed on the roles personal introspection and self-recognition (which this writer terms Self-applause) can play in the achievement of your true potential and the personal fulfillment that invariably follows.

The book's text is organized into two major segments. Part 1 involves self-assessment and personal discovery. It is hoped you will find Part 1's work booklet to be no work at all but a labor of love addressed to you the reader. Part 2 provides a means of translating your newly identified and validated characteristics into a meaningful, enjoyable, and opportunistic future.

As a caveat, the book does not address the social/political issues of our times. Nor is there any direct reference to the racial, gender, political, and religious differences in people. Additionally, this is not a self-help book in the traditional sense of the term. There is, however, ample emphasis on an in-depth assessment of those characteristics that make you a unique entity as well as clearly defined methods of putting your specialness into beneficial play. The text's rationale and scope are composed to provide an exploration of both who you the reader are and can eventually become. For most, such a rendering can provide a sanguine, freshly baked platform for experiencing the joys and self-applause that our existence deserves!

I hope you enjoy and profit from its review. I enjoyed providing it to you.

Respectfully yours,

Dr. John W. Shepard

Part 1

Understanding Yourself

Chapter 1

What Factors Have Influenced Your Life?

Each of our lives is influenced by a medley of fluid variables and stages, all acting as stepping-stones for a singular destiny. Each human existence begins with the merging of inheritable traits and is then further shaped by the emerging forces of environment and motivation. Family dynamics, childhood experiences, school days, adolescent and early adult issues, the impact of employment, and the scale of physical and mental maturation all combine to place us where we find ourselves today. Human development is dynamic and subject to a myriad of influences. That being said there are also reasonably predictable stages and phases that each of us typically journey through. Here is a brief compendium of how human existence normally unfolds:

Human Development 101

Age ranges:

0–2: Natural and inherited traits are present at birth and need to be nurtured to both develop and prosper.

2–4: Child develops locomotive skills, trust, and increased independence.

4–5: Imagination and social skills take form.

5–14: Rule compliance, academic, and functional abilities are learned; self-awareness and identity emerge.

14–21: Significant physical maturation occurs. Peer relationships take precedence; personality traits crystalize. Uncertainty about self and future exists. Educational and career options are explored.

21–32: Personality style firms up. Goals are explored and actively pursued. Uncertainty regarding the future is still present. Both career exploration and occupational change occur. Parenting of offspring is emphasized.

30–50: The plaster of personality continues to set and dry. Significant work and marital changes may occur by the late forties and fifties.

50–70: Importance is placed on maintaining occupational status. Introspection and mentoring increase. Retirement planning and early retirement begin.

70–: Retirement and/or semi-retirement occur. Leisure activities increase. Health and vigor gradually decline. Self-reflection and mentoring predominate.

Your life's development

Now let's look at the specific environmental factors that have helped mold you into the unique individual you are today. Please make a check mark ( ) in the right-hand column to signify the issues that have significantly affected your life to date. Check only those factors that are considered of the highest importance to your growth and maturation.

Chapter 2

Understanding Who You Are Today

There are five (5) major characteristics that truly define the fiber of your nature and the makeup of your maturing spirit. A solid understanding of each is essential to self-understanding and personal applause. They are:

Your values (What is important to you?)

Your personality (What is your personal style?)

Your interests (What do you enjoy?)

Your aptitudes (What are your potential talents?)

Your skills (What can you presently do well?)

Work and leisure experiences thrive best when they reflect your life values.

Life values

What are life values? While interests are defined as what you enjoy doing, values echo what you find meaning and fulfillment in. Interests quite naturally flow from the formation of values.

Pursuit of interests brings about transitory happiness. Attainment of life values furthers long-term fulfillment.

While there are a number of universally held values, it is your