"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
~Nelson Mandela
Written by a former child
Author Unknown
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator and I immediately wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.
When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's alright to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, 'Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.'
Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher or friend) influences the life of a child. How will you touch the life of someone today?
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
To rejoice in another's prosperity, is to give content
to your own lot: to mitigate another's grief,
is to alleviate or dispel your own.
--Thomas Edwards
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
You're happiest while you're making the greatest contribution.
--Robert F. Kennedy
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Energy and persistence conquer all things.
--Benjamin Franklin
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.
--William Thackeray
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Heed the still small voice that so seldom leads
us wrong, and never into folly.
--Marquise du Deffand
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness;
it is generally the by-product of other activities.
--Aldous Huxley
The introduction of this beautiful book starts like this:
When I was a younger man, I lived my life with a philosophy of, "What's in it for me?" That all changed with one sentence... "You need to get your affairs in order. You have three months, six at the most, to live."
I sat across the desk from my oncologist as he spoke those words that shook my world. I thought he must be talking about somebody else.
I was diagnosed with a very rapid, fatal form of cancer. The doctor told me that there really wasn't anything they could do for it. He asked if I would be willing to try different types of experimental treatments. I figured I had no other options. The treatments made me unbelievably ill. There were many times when I thought that death would be kinder.
This was the bad news for Barry Gottlieb. The goods news, however was "off the charts!" A few weeks later he received a phone call from his doctor screaming on the phone..."You don't have cancer! It was a misdiagnosis...a mistake by the lab."
Can you imagine this happening to you? The roller coaster of emotions!
However, for Barry, it changed the way he thought about life. From that day forward, he said, "I made the decision to treat every day as a gift." Thus, the inspiration for this wonderful "manual for life."
Today, I'll share one of Barry's 33 chapters with you, titled True Abundance. Enjoy!
An Excerpt from Every Day is a Gift
by Barry Gottlieb
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
-The Dalai Lama
What does "True Abundance" mean to you?
According to Wikipedia, the definition of abundance is "the opposite of scarcity." I believe true abundance is not measured by what you have; rather, it is measured by what you give.
In our culture, it seems that most people are caught up in their "need for greed." Perhaps this is why so many people struggle to find their happiness, and why over 25% of the people in our country suffer from anxiety. We live in a culture where we are taught to judge a person based on what they have, rather than on who they are and what they contribute to society.
I was very fortunate to have met a professor that changed my whole way of thinking. I was one of those people with a, "What's in it for me" attitude when I started his class. By the end of the semester though, my philosophy and my attitude had changed. Forever! This is what I learned:
"You can have anything you want in life, if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
-Zig Ziglar
I challenge you to focus on this philosophy for an entire month! Here are some action steps that will help you stay focused on this incredible gift:
ACTION STEPS
Gratitude. Every night before you go to sleep, recite aloud at least ten things for which you are grateful.
Forgive. Let go of the past. Forgive those who have hurt or angered you. Stop carrying this poison around with you every day.
Love. Be sure to tell those people in your life who mean so much to you that you love them and appreciate them.
Donate. Go through your closets. Anything you haven't worn or used in the past year, box it or bag it and take it to a place where those who are less fortunate will benefit from your donation. Get your children involved!
Praise. Make time to praise. Look for and recognize the good in others.
Sometimes the best helping hand you can get is a good, firm push."
-Joann Thomas
Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become."
-Jim Rohn
"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb...that's where the fruit is."
-Harry S. Truman
The Introduction from
Motivational Quotes
by Mac Anderson
My friend, Zig Ziglar, has a way with words. He said, "When I speak, people will occasionally say...'Zig, I loved your talk, but for me, motivation doesn't last!' I always tell them...bathing doesn't either. That's why I recommend it daily."
What a great quote! I'm often amazed that some people think that because I am who I am, I must have a great attitude at all times. "You started Successories. You couldn't possibly have a negative thought!" Well, here's a confession. One of the main reasons I started Successories is that I saw the need for continuous reinforcement in my life and in others when it comes to attitude, goals and values.
In a perfect world, we hear something once, record it in our brain, and never need to hear it again. Well, I don't know where you're living, but my world is far from perfect. I occasionally have doubts, fears, and disappointments in my life. During those times I need "shots of inspiration" to reinforce, to encourage, and to motivate.
Here's a secret. My #1 resource for that "quick boost" when I'm feeling down is a little book titled Motivational Quotes. I don't know about you, but for me, the right quote at the right time can turn the switch from "off" to "on." And, that's exactly what Motivational Quotes provides for me...an "a-ha" moment when I need it most. As most of you know, I love quotes and in this little book I share my all-time favorites.
In fact, this is the book that inspired me to start Successories. In 1985, my love of quotes encouraged me to publish a small, 80-page quotation book that I called Motivational Quotes. At first, it was offered as a corporate gift, but then we decided to sell it on a plastic easel next to the register, in hotel and airport gift shops. Little did I know what was about to happen. Sales exploded! We couldn't print them fast enough and over the next 18 months, we sold 800,000 copies.
The light bulb went off when I discovered that many people love quotes as much as I do. I began to wonder...would they want to put quotes on their walls? With this thought, the "big idea" for Successories was born. Our theme, in the beginning was...Decorate your walls with great ideas. And I'm pleased to say that millions of customers did just that!
Twenty five years have passed. The book you see on this page is the new, improved, updated version of Motivational Quotes. It still has my 80 favorite quotes that I introduced in 1985, but I've added 80 more that, since then, have helped to motivate me in good times and bad.
Here's how you can make it work for you. Just keep it visible on your desk at work, and whenever you're feeling a little down (for whatever reason), just pick it up and read 10 quotes. It'll only take a minute, and I'll guarantee that you'll feel better!
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"The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed."
~Martina Navratilova
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Love ultimately proves its reality.
-- Alan Cohen
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A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company.
-- Charles Evans Hughes
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The richest freedom is the power to choose inner peace.
-- Alan Cohen
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Stop thinking of all the reasons why you cannot be successful, and instead, think of all the reasons why you can."
~Dr. David Harold Fink
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"Now, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success - and success is in direct proportion to our service. Most people have this law backwards. They believe that you're successful if you earn a lot of money. The truth is that you can only earn money after you're successful."
~Earl Nightingale
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Be clear on where you want to go and you will get there far more rapidly than if you harbor mixed intentions.
-- Alan Cohen
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LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Great thoughts come from the heart.
--Luc de Clapiers
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Ideas won't keep; something must be done about them.
--Alfred Whitefield
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
It's not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts.
--Adlai Stevenson
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The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we;" they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit...This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done."
The bottom line is that it's easy for any organization to say..."we value teamwork." However, saying it versus committing to the principles to grow it can be two different things. And that's what Pulling Together is all about! Author John Murphy presents the ten rules for high performance teams in a way that every person in your organization can understand. John is a highly recognized author (7 books), speaker and management consultant who has helped some of the world's leading organizations create environments that value and reward teamwork.
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Excerpt from
Pulling Together...10 Rules for High Performance Teams,
by John Murphy
Consistent application of the 10 rules of high performance teamwork ultimately generates trust, respect, unity and power within any team. Conversely, consistent violation of any one rule destroys this bond. While the author of the following is unknown, "Lessons From the Geese" is a powerful illustration from nature of the rules of high performance teamwork. As you read about the natural unity that exists among this species remember - this same unity can exist in your organization!
As geese flap their wings, they create an uplift for the bird following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if any bird were to fly alone.
If we share a common direction and a sense of community, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily because we are traveling on the thrust of one another!
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.
If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go, and we will be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position.
If we take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership as with the geese, we become interdependent with one another.
The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. If we "honk," we need to make sure it is positive and encouraging.
When a goose gets sick or wounded or is shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock.
If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong. Let us all try to fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who might need it!
BEHOLD THE POWER OF TEAMWORK
The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good. Look behind every winner and you will find a great coach. Look out in front of every superstar and you will see a positive role model. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find caring people offering encouragement, support and able assistance.
Rising to this level of interdependent thinking can be challenging and difficult. Looking beyond oneself, asking for help or accepting help can feel risky. But people are not given life to simply take from one another. We are here to give. Our mission in life is to offer our gifts to benefit one another, to create mutual gain in the world. This is called teamwork, a win/win mindset stemming from a genuine commitment to the rules that allow it to happen.
Pulling Together captures the essence of teamwork better than any book I've read. It takes what can be a complex topic and presents the ten rules in a way that anyone can understand. If you have each member of your team read it, and then discuss how each rule applies to your organization, your chances of "pulling together" will be greatly improved!
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What someone allegedly said or did to someone else 10 years ago shouldn't impact your happiness today. It's your choice whether you let it or not. When you hold on to ill feelings you're victimizing yourself. Let it go and take responsibility for making a positive future. You're in charge of you and your actions."
~Al Ritter
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LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Nine-tenths of wisdom is appreciation. Go find somebody's
hand and squeeze it, while there's time.
--Dale Dauten
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Sometimes you gotta create what you want to be a part of.
--Geri Weitzman
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
--Helen Keller
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Thursday, July 08, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
good thots
Team members have to be focused on the collective good of the team. Too often, they focus their attention on their department, their budget, their career aspirations, their egos."
~Patrick Lencioni
"The healthy team recognizes that people are people. We have off days. We make mistakes. We have doubts. We assume too much. We differ. This is where great teams distinguish themselves from all the rest. They see these differences as advantages, not excuses to give up."
~John Murphy
I believe managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it."
~Patrick Lencioni
"The healthy team recognizes that people are people. We have off days. We make mistakes. We have doubts. We assume too much. We differ. This is where great teams distinguish themselves from all the rest. They see these differences as advantages, not excuses to give up."
~John Murphy
I believe managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it."
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
good thots
"There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer,
no disease that enough love will not heal, no door that enough love will not open,
no gulf that enough love will not bridge, no wall that enough love will not throw down,
no sin that enough love will not redeem.
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble,
how great the mistake, sufficient realization of love will resolve it all.
If you could love enough, you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world."
no disease that enough love will not heal, no door that enough love will not open,
no gulf that enough love will not bridge, no wall that enough love will not throw down,
no sin that enough love will not redeem.
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble,
how great the mistake, sufficient realization of love will resolve it all.
If you could love enough, you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world."
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is strong yet delicate. It can be broken. To truly love is
to understand this. To be in love is to respect this.
--Stephen Packer
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.
--Robert Half
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past
can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.
--Ralph Blum
First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.
-- Epictetus
Sometimes when things seem to be going wrong, they are going right for reasons you are yet to understand.
-- Alan Cohen
"Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair."
~Douglas MacArthur
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
...When a man cares he is unafraid. When he is fair, he leaves
enough for others. When he is humble, he can grow.
--Lao-Tzu
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The older I get, the less I pay attention to what people say or think or hope.
I notice what they do, how they Live, and what they work for.
--Robert Fulghum
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need
only take a deep breath and say, "Yes," and hope will reappear.
--Monroe Forester
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."
-Jim Rohn
Failure is an event, not a person. So regardless of what happens to you along the way, you must keep on going and doing the right thing in the right way. Then the event becomes a reality of a changed life."
~Zig Ziglar
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The kinder and more thoughtful a person is, the
more kindness he/she can find in other people.
--Tolstoy
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Remember every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it.
Autograph your work with excellence. --Anonymous
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Act with courage and dignity; stick to
the ideals that give meaning to life.
--J. Nehru
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter
and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so
you can be all that you were intended to be.
+ Charles "Tremendous" Jones +
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which,
more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.
+ William James +
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
There are no hopeless situations; there are only
people who have grown hopeless about them.
+ Clare Boothe +
The only thing more important than how you spend your money is how you spend your thoughts.
-- Alan Cohen
"When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it."
~Edgar Watson Howe
"We all have difficulties, challenges, problems to bear. We can't ask someone else to take them from us, for they already have their own. But we can ask them to help us - to share our burdens and trials. And we, in turn, can do the same for them."
~BJ Gallagher
True and Real
By Mac Anderson
You can't fake passion. It is the fuel that drives any dream and makes you happy to be alive. However, the first step to loving what you do is to self analyze, to simply know what you love.
We all have unique talents and interests, and one of life's greatest challenges is to match these talents with career opportunities that bring out the best in us. It's not easy - and sometimes we can only find it through trial and error - but it's worth the effort.
Ray Kroc, for example, found his passion when he founded McDonald's
at the age of 52. He never "worked" another day of his life.
John James Audubon was unsuccessful for most of his life. He was a terrible businessman. No matter how many times he changed locations, changed partners, or changed businesses, he still failed miserably.
Not until he understood that he must change himself did he have any shot at success. And what changes did Audubon make? He followed his passion. He had always loved the outdoors and was an excellent hunter. In addition,
he was a good artist and, as a hobby, would draw local birds.
Once he stopped trying to be a businessman and started doing what he loved to do, his life turned around. He traveled the country observing and drawing birds, and his art ultimately was collected in a book titled Audubon's Birds of America.
The book earned him a place in history as the greatest wildlife artist ever. But more importantly, the work made him happy and provided the peace of mind he'd been seeking all his life.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips.
They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own
image on men's souls, and a beautiful image it is.
+ Blaise Pascal +
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it.
You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be
tough enough to follow through.
+ Rosalynn Carter +
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
People think I'm disciplined. It is not discipline.
It is devotion. There is a great difference.
+ Luciano Pavarotti +
By the choices we make, by the attitudes we exhibit, we are influencing lives every day in positive or negative ways...our family, our peers, our friends, and even strangers we've never met before and will never meet again. So when you brush your teeth every morning, look in the mirror and ask yourself...'Are there things I'd like to change?'"
~Mac Anderson
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
-- Lao-tzu
"Sometimes there is no evidence that this is the right time to pursue your dream. But by believing in it and acting on that belief, you make your dream possible. Moving forward on what you believe is paramount and creating a new belief is the first step in changing it."
~Marcia Wied
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.
--Les Brown
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence,
is the quality that most frequently makes for success.
--Dale Carnegie
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
All of us need to grow continuously in our lives.
--Les Brown
Love is strong yet delicate. It can be broken. To truly love is
to understand this. To be in love is to respect this.
--Stephen Packer
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.
--Robert Half
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past
can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.
--Ralph Blum
First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.
-- Epictetus
Sometimes when things seem to be going wrong, they are going right for reasons you are yet to understand.
-- Alan Cohen
"Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair."
~Douglas MacArthur
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
...When a man cares he is unafraid. When he is fair, he leaves
enough for others. When he is humble, he can grow.
--Lao-Tzu
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The older I get, the less I pay attention to what people say or think or hope.
I notice what they do, how they Live, and what they work for.
--Robert Fulghum
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need
only take a deep breath and say, "Yes," and hope will reappear.
--Monroe Forester
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."
-Jim Rohn
Failure is an event, not a person. So regardless of what happens to you along the way, you must keep on going and doing the right thing in the right way. Then the event becomes a reality of a changed life."
~Zig Ziglar
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The kinder and more thoughtful a person is, the
more kindness he/she can find in other people.
--Tolstoy
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Remember every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it.
Autograph your work with excellence. --Anonymous
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Act with courage and dignity; stick to
the ideals that give meaning to life.
--J. Nehru
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter
and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so
you can be all that you were intended to be.
+ Charles "Tremendous" Jones +
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which,
more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.
+ William James +
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
There are no hopeless situations; there are only
people who have grown hopeless about them.
+ Clare Boothe +
The only thing more important than how you spend your money is how you spend your thoughts.
-- Alan Cohen
"When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it."
~Edgar Watson Howe
"We all have difficulties, challenges, problems to bear. We can't ask someone else to take them from us, for they already have their own. But we can ask them to help us - to share our burdens and trials. And we, in turn, can do the same for them."
~BJ Gallagher
True and Real
By Mac Anderson
You can't fake passion. It is the fuel that drives any dream and makes you happy to be alive. However, the first step to loving what you do is to self analyze, to simply know what you love.
We all have unique talents and interests, and one of life's greatest challenges is to match these talents with career opportunities that bring out the best in us. It's not easy - and sometimes we can only find it through trial and error - but it's worth the effort.
Ray Kroc, for example, found his passion when he founded McDonald's
at the age of 52. He never "worked" another day of his life.
John James Audubon was unsuccessful for most of his life. He was a terrible businessman. No matter how many times he changed locations, changed partners, or changed businesses, he still failed miserably.
Not until he understood that he must change himself did he have any shot at success. And what changes did Audubon make? He followed his passion. He had always loved the outdoors and was an excellent hunter. In addition,
he was a good artist and, as a hobby, would draw local birds.
Once he stopped trying to be a businessman and started doing what he loved to do, his life turned around. He traveled the country observing and drawing birds, and his art ultimately was collected in a book titled Audubon's Birds of America.
The book earned him a place in history as the greatest wildlife artist ever. But more importantly, the work made him happy and provided the peace of mind he'd been seeking all his life.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips.
They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own
image on men's souls, and a beautiful image it is.
+ Blaise Pascal +
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it.
You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be
tough enough to follow through.
+ Rosalynn Carter +
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
People think I'm disciplined. It is not discipline.
It is devotion. There is a great difference.
+ Luciano Pavarotti +
By the choices we make, by the attitudes we exhibit, we are influencing lives every day in positive or negative ways...our family, our peers, our friends, and even strangers we've never met before and will never meet again. So when you brush your teeth every morning, look in the mirror and ask yourself...'Are there things I'd like to change?'"
~Mac Anderson
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
-- Lao-tzu
"Sometimes there is no evidence that this is the right time to pursue your dream. But by believing in it and acting on that belief, you make your dream possible. Moving forward on what you believe is paramount and creating a new belief is the first step in changing it."
~Marcia Wied
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.
--Les Brown
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence,
is the quality that most frequently makes for success.
--Dale Carnegie
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
All of us need to grow continuously in our lives.
--Les Brown
Saturday, June 26, 2010
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
You know you are in love when you see the world in
her eyes, and her eyes everywhere in the world.
--David Levesque
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
A leader is a dealer in hope.
--Napoleon Bonaparte
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear,
who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can
be who you have always known you could be.
--Tom Landry
Everyone has the power of greatness. Not for fame, but greatness. Because greatness is determined by service."
~Martin Luther King Jr.
You can give away yet still feel filled up. Working for free can be more significant than working for money. To consume less doesn't mean that we live without. Satisfying someone else's needs can be a great source of self-satisfaction. When we befriend our neighbor, we benefit the world. Making the world a better place is a labor of love."
~Matt Emerzian and Kelly Bozza
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
When you are ready to learn a teacher will appear.
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
It is good to have an end to journey toward,
but it is the journey that matters in the end.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Sitting quietly, doing nothing, springs come and grass grows by itself
An Excerpt from
Eat That Frog!
by Brian Tracy
The 80/20 Rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the "Pareto Principle" after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the "vital few", the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the "trivial many", the bottom 80 percent.
He later discovered that virtually all economic activity was subject to this principle as well. For example, this principle says that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results, 20 percent of your customers will account for 80 percent of your sales, 20 percent of your products or services will account for 80 percent of your profits, 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do, and so on. This means that if you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.
Number of Tasks versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.
Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the frog that you should eat first.
Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done.
Before you begin work, always ask yourself, "Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?"
The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue. A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.
Motivate Yourself
Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next. And you are always free to choose the task that you will do next. Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.
Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. They force themselves to eat that frog, whatever it is. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.
You know you are in love when you see the world in
her eyes, and her eyes everywhere in the world.
--David Levesque
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
A leader is a dealer in hope.
--Napoleon Bonaparte
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear,
who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can
be who you have always known you could be.
--Tom Landry
Everyone has the power of greatness. Not for fame, but greatness. Because greatness is determined by service."
~Martin Luther King Jr.
You can give away yet still feel filled up. Working for free can be more significant than working for money. To consume less doesn't mean that we live without. Satisfying someone else's needs can be a great source of self-satisfaction. When we befriend our neighbor, we benefit the world. Making the world a better place is a labor of love."
~Matt Emerzian and Kelly Bozza
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
When you are ready to learn a teacher will appear.
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
It is good to have an end to journey toward,
but it is the journey that matters in the end.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Sitting quietly, doing nothing, springs come and grass grows by itself
An Excerpt from
Eat That Frog!
by Brian Tracy
The 80/20 Rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the "Pareto Principle" after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the "vital few", the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the "trivial many", the bottom 80 percent.
He later discovered that virtually all economic activity was subject to this principle as well. For example, this principle says that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results, 20 percent of your customers will account for 80 percent of your sales, 20 percent of your products or services will account for 80 percent of your profits, 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do, and so on. This means that if you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.
Number of Tasks versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.
Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the frog that you should eat first.
Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done.
Before you begin work, always ask yourself, "Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?"
The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue. A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.
Motivate Yourself
Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next. And you are always free to choose the task that you will do next. Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.
Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. They force themselves to eat that frog, whatever it is. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.
thots to ponder
Excerpt from: Twice as Much in Half the Time,
by Amy JonesWhat does it mean to manage your time (and life) better? Simply put, it means to live your life in such a way that you are able to accomplish more, so that at the end of each day you can realize measurable results and enjoy a sense of fulfillment. This often involves learning to do things differently so that the outcomes are more efficient and effective (and even less time-consuming) than before. After reading from countless resources and speaking to over half a million people on the subject of time management, I have come up with a simple truth. Learning to manage your life and your time isn't rocket science. Anyone can do it! In fact, it is often the simple things you can do that will make profound differences. Sometimes you even have to go backward in order to go forward; so let's go back-to-basics with this example.
First, grab a pencil and paper. Think back to the time you started school, all the way back to kindergarten. One of the first things you learned was how to identify shapes. Next you learned to draw them. On that sheet of paper I want you to do something very simple. Draw one triangle. That was simple, wasn't it? Now, draw as many triangles as you can in twenty seconds. Stop. Count how many you were able to draw. Write down that number. Do you think there might be another way to complete this activity and draw more in less time?
Start at one side of the paper and draw connected W's all the way across the page. Now put a line across the top and the bottom. See how many you can draw in twenty seconds using this method. Wow, that creates a lot of triangles! In only a few seconds you have learned to do this activity more efficiently and effectively in a much shorter amount of time. A seemingly insignificant change can make a significant difference in what can be accomplished in a given amount of time. In fact, you most likely made up to four or five times as many triangles the second time around.
What if you could do four or five times your sales volume by making a simple change? Or what if you could get four or five times as much done each day by making a simple change? Would that work for you?
If so, always be on the lookout for "new" ways to do "old" things, and keep your mind open to using alternative methods and plans of action. This book is filled with simple things that can make a profound difference. Are you ready to learn some new ways to manage your life and your time even better?
Then let's get started!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are two kinds of worries - those you CAN do something about and those you CAN'T. Don't spend any time on the latter."
~Duke Ellington
"The word TIME is composed of only four letters, but if you divide the word you will see that there are two extremely important words inside. They are 'I' and 'Me'... In order to make the best use of your time, in order to do twice as much in half the time, you must take TIME for 'I' and 'Me.' You must make time to recharge and be rejuvenated."
~Amy Jones
Personal growth is not a matter of learning new information but of unlearning old limits.
-- Alan Cohen
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is like a mustard seed; planted by God and watered by man
--Muda Saint Michael
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do
and let them surprise you with their results.
--George S. Patton
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
My advice is find fuel in failure. Sometimes failure
gets you closer to where you want to be.
--Michael Jordan
"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on."
~Thomas Jefferson
"Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment."
~Mahatma Gandhi
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
--George Sand
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone.
You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it.
--Elaine Agather
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
When we wake up in the morning, we have two
simple choices: go back to sleep and dream,
or wake up and chase those dreams.
--Author Unknown
Introduction from
No Glass Ceiling, Just Blue Sky
By Marcy BlochowiakWomen. What an extraordinary group of people! We are so good at so many things. If you want to get something done, have a woman do it. We love a challenge. We love showing people we can accomplish so much. We also care deeply about others. We just can't help ourselves. It is part of who we are. We love helping people. We love making a difference. We love laughing and being a part. We love contributing. The bottom line is...WE LOVE LIFE.
We live in a time where people of all backgrounds have a chance to build a great team in business regardless of gender. However, it's not uncommon for women to hit a glass ceiling and never see any blue sky. When I was working as a flight attendant, early in my career, you would think I saw blue sky all the time. What I saw, unfortunately, was a system that was seniority based, not performance based, and I realized my options were limited. I made a decision then and there to become an entrepreneur. In ten short years, at World Financial Group, we have built a great team of thousands around the country using the timeless principles I am going to share with you in this book.
As Peggy Anderson said, "Great women are not considered so because of personal achievements, but for the effect their efforts have had on the lives of countless others. From daring feats of bravery to the understated ways of a compassionate heart, great women possess a common strength of character. Through their passion and persistence, they have advanced womanhood and the world."
I remember early on in my career, I was told by several people, "Don't hire any women. They have too many responsibilities. They have children and husbands and charities, etcetera. They will not be able to put in the time it takes to really make their business work."
I listened to that for a brief time and then I accidentally hired some women. I was ready for all the excuses, but I never heard any. I was also blown away by how much they could get done, and how they were performing better than everyone else in the office. I realized we had a secret weapon. You want your business to grow - HIRE MORE WOMEN!
There have been many "ceilings" in the past pertaining to women. A lot has changed in the last couple of years. Consider these facts based on reports by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Center for Women's Business Research in 2003:
Women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms.
One in every 11 adult women owns a business.
Women entrepreneurs generate nearly $2.3 trillion in revenues to the U.S. economy.
More than 18 million workers are employed by a women business owner.
What does all this mean? WOMEN RULE!
I hope to give all the powerful ladies that read this book some insight on how to move their business forward. With a successful team and business comes freedom. With freedom comes quality of life. And, with quality of life comes the opportunity to make a difference and leave a legacy.
We are only here once and we all want to be remembered.
The true measure of your character is what you would do if you were sure no one would ever find out."
~John Maxwell
"Leaders take risks. That's not to say that they are reckless, because good leaders aren't. But they don't always take the safest route. Rarely can a person break ground and play it safe at the same time. Often, leaders must take others into the unknown, march them off the map. Look at wise leaders who take risks, and you will find that they: Gather information wisely. Risk from strength. Prepare thoroughly. Fail successfully. Display flexibility."
~John Maxwell
You Just Never Know
Author UnknownP
Bill worked in a factory on a production line, he was a big, awkward, homely guy. He dressed oddly with ill-fitting clothes. There were several fellow workers who thought it smart to make fun of him.
P
One day one fellow worker noticed a small tear in his shirt and gave it a small rip. Another worker in the factory added his bit, and before long there was quite a ribbon of cloth dangling. Bill went on about his work and as he passed too near a moving belt the shirt strip was sucked into the machinery. In a split second the sleeve and Bill was in trouble. Alarms were sounded, switches pulled, and trouble was avoided.
P
The foreman then summoned all the workers and related this story:
P
In my younger days I worked in a small factory. That's when I first met Mike. He was big and witty, was always making jokes, and playing little pranks. Mike was a leader. Then there was Peter who was a follower. He always went along with Mike. And then there was a man named Murray. He was a little older than the rest of us - quiet, harmless, apart. He always ate his lunch by himself.
P
He wore the same patched trousers for three years straight. He never entered into the games we played at noon, wrestling, horseshoes and such. He appeared to be indifferent, always sitting quietly alone under a tree instead. Murray was a natural target for practical jokes.
P
He might find a live frog in his lunch box, or a dead spider in his hat. But he always took it in good humour. Then one autumn, when things were quiet in the factory, Mike took off a few days to go hunting. Peter went along, of course. And they promised all of us that if they got anything they'd bring us each a piece.
P
So we were all quite excited when we heard that they'd returned and that Mike had got a really big buck. We heard more than that. Peter could never keep anything to himself, and it leaked out that they had real whopper to play on Murray. Mike had cut up the buck and had made a nice package for each of us. And, for the laugh, for the joke of it, he had saved the ears, the tail, the hoofs - it would be so funny when Murray unwrapped them.
P
Mike distributed his packages during the lunch break. We each got a nice piece, opened it, and thanked him. The biggest package of all he saved until last. It was for Murray. Peter was all but bursting; and Mike looked very smug. Like always, Murray sat by himself; he was on the far side of the big table. Mike pushed the package over to where he could reach it; and we all sat and waited.
P
Murray was never one to say much. You might never know that he was around for all the talking he did. In three years he'd never said more than hundred words. So we were all quite astounded with what happened next. He took the package firmly in his grip and rose slowly to his feet. He smiled broadly at Mike - and it was then we noticed that his eyes were glistening. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down for a moment and then he got control of himself.
P
'I knew you wouldn't forget me,' he said gratefully, 'I knew you'd come through! You're big and you're playful, but I knew all along that you had a good heart.'
P
He swallowed again, and then took in the rest of us. 'I know I haven't seemed too chummy with you men; but I never meant to be rude. You see, I've got nine kids at home - and a wife that's been an invalid - bedridden now for four years. She ain't ever going to get any better. And sometimes when she's real bad off, I have to sit up all night to take care of her. And most of my wages have had to go for doctors and medicine.
P
The kids do all they can to help out, but at times it's been hard to keep food in their mouths. Maybe you think it's funny that I go off by myself to eat my lunch. Well, I guess I've been a little ashamed, because I don't always have anything between my sandwich. Or like today - maybe there's only a raw turnip in my lunch box. But I want you to know that this meat really means a lot to me. Maybe more than to anybody here because tonight my kids' ... as he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand ... 'tonight my kids will have a really good meal.'
P
He tugged at the string. We'd been watching Murray so intently we hadn't paid much notice to Mike and Peter. But we all noticed them now, because they both tried to grab the package. But they were too late. Murray had broken the wrapper and was already surveying his present. He examined each hoof, each ear, and then he held up the tail. It wiggled limply. It should have been so funny, but nobody laughed - nobody at all.
P
But the hardest part was when Murray looked up and said 'Thank you' while trying to smile. Silently one by one each man moved forward carrying his package and quietly placed it in front of Murray for they had suddenly realised how little their own gift had really meant to them, until now.
P
This was where the foreman left the story and the men. He didn't need to say any more; but it was gratifying to notice that as each man ate his lunch that day, they shared part with Bill and one fellow even took off his shirt and gave it to him.
P
THINK, BE KIND ALWAYS...YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT SOMEONE IS FACING IN THEIR LIVES!
by Amy JonesWhat does it mean to manage your time (and life) better? Simply put, it means to live your life in such a way that you are able to accomplish more, so that at the end of each day you can realize measurable results and enjoy a sense of fulfillment. This often involves learning to do things differently so that the outcomes are more efficient and effective (and even less time-consuming) than before. After reading from countless resources and speaking to over half a million people on the subject of time management, I have come up with a simple truth. Learning to manage your life and your time isn't rocket science. Anyone can do it! In fact, it is often the simple things you can do that will make profound differences. Sometimes you even have to go backward in order to go forward; so let's go back-to-basics with this example.
First, grab a pencil and paper. Think back to the time you started school, all the way back to kindergarten. One of the first things you learned was how to identify shapes. Next you learned to draw them. On that sheet of paper I want you to do something very simple. Draw one triangle. That was simple, wasn't it? Now, draw as many triangles as you can in twenty seconds. Stop. Count how many you were able to draw. Write down that number. Do you think there might be another way to complete this activity and draw more in less time?
Start at one side of the paper and draw connected W's all the way across the page. Now put a line across the top and the bottom. See how many you can draw in twenty seconds using this method. Wow, that creates a lot of triangles! In only a few seconds you have learned to do this activity more efficiently and effectively in a much shorter amount of time. A seemingly insignificant change can make a significant difference in what can be accomplished in a given amount of time. In fact, you most likely made up to four or five times as many triangles the second time around.
What if you could do four or five times your sales volume by making a simple change? Or what if you could get four or five times as much done each day by making a simple change? Would that work for you?
If so, always be on the lookout for "new" ways to do "old" things, and keep your mind open to using alternative methods and plans of action. This book is filled with simple things that can make a profound difference. Are you ready to learn some new ways to manage your life and your time even better?
Then let's get started!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are two kinds of worries - those you CAN do something about and those you CAN'T. Don't spend any time on the latter."
~Duke Ellington
"The word TIME is composed of only four letters, but if you divide the word you will see that there are two extremely important words inside. They are 'I' and 'Me'... In order to make the best use of your time, in order to do twice as much in half the time, you must take TIME for 'I' and 'Me.' You must make time to recharge and be rejuvenated."
~Amy Jones
Personal growth is not a matter of learning new information but of unlearning old limits.
-- Alan Cohen
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is like a mustard seed; planted by God and watered by man
--Muda Saint Michael
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do
and let them surprise you with their results.
--George S. Patton
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
My advice is find fuel in failure. Sometimes failure
gets you closer to where you want to be.
--Michael Jordan
"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on."
~Thomas Jefferson
"Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment."
~Mahatma Gandhi
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
--George Sand
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone.
You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it.
--Elaine Agather
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
When we wake up in the morning, we have two
simple choices: go back to sleep and dream,
or wake up and chase those dreams.
--Author Unknown
Introduction from
No Glass Ceiling, Just Blue Sky
By Marcy BlochowiakWomen. What an extraordinary group of people! We are so good at so many things. If you want to get something done, have a woman do it. We love a challenge. We love showing people we can accomplish so much. We also care deeply about others. We just can't help ourselves. It is part of who we are. We love helping people. We love making a difference. We love laughing and being a part. We love contributing. The bottom line is...WE LOVE LIFE.
We live in a time where people of all backgrounds have a chance to build a great team in business regardless of gender. However, it's not uncommon for women to hit a glass ceiling and never see any blue sky. When I was working as a flight attendant, early in my career, you would think I saw blue sky all the time. What I saw, unfortunately, was a system that was seniority based, not performance based, and I realized my options were limited. I made a decision then and there to become an entrepreneur. In ten short years, at World Financial Group, we have built a great team of thousands around the country using the timeless principles I am going to share with you in this book.
As Peggy Anderson said, "Great women are not considered so because of personal achievements, but for the effect their efforts have had on the lives of countless others. From daring feats of bravery to the understated ways of a compassionate heart, great women possess a common strength of character. Through their passion and persistence, they have advanced womanhood and the world."
I remember early on in my career, I was told by several people, "Don't hire any women. They have too many responsibilities. They have children and husbands and charities, etcetera. They will not be able to put in the time it takes to really make their business work."
I listened to that for a brief time and then I accidentally hired some women. I was ready for all the excuses, but I never heard any. I was also blown away by how much they could get done, and how they were performing better than everyone else in the office. I realized we had a secret weapon. You want your business to grow - HIRE MORE WOMEN!
There have been many "ceilings" in the past pertaining to women. A lot has changed in the last couple of years. Consider these facts based on reports by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Center for Women's Business Research in 2003:
Women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms.
One in every 11 adult women owns a business.
Women entrepreneurs generate nearly $2.3 trillion in revenues to the U.S. economy.
More than 18 million workers are employed by a women business owner.
What does all this mean? WOMEN RULE!
I hope to give all the powerful ladies that read this book some insight on how to move their business forward. With a successful team and business comes freedom. With freedom comes quality of life. And, with quality of life comes the opportunity to make a difference and leave a legacy.
We are only here once and we all want to be remembered.
The true measure of your character is what you would do if you were sure no one would ever find out."
~John Maxwell
"Leaders take risks. That's not to say that they are reckless, because good leaders aren't. But they don't always take the safest route. Rarely can a person break ground and play it safe at the same time. Often, leaders must take others into the unknown, march them off the map. Look at wise leaders who take risks, and you will find that they: Gather information wisely. Risk from strength. Prepare thoroughly. Fail successfully. Display flexibility."
~John Maxwell
You Just Never Know
Author UnknownP
Bill worked in a factory on a production line, he was a big, awkward, homely guy. He dressed oddly with ill-fitting clothes. There were several fellow workers who thought it smart to make fun of him.
P
One day one fellow worker noticed a small tear in his shirt and gave it a small rip. Another worker in the factory added his bit, and before long there was quite a ribbon of cloth dangling. Bill went on about his work and as he passed too near a moving belt the shirt strip was sucked into the machinery. In a split second the sleeve and Bill was in trouble. Alarms were sounded, switches pulled, and trouble was avoided.
P
The foreman then summoned all the workers and related this story:
P
In my younger days I worked in a small factory. That's when I first met Mike. He was big and witty, was always making jokes, and playing little pranks. Mike was a leader. Then there was Peter who was a follower. He always went along with Mike. And then there was a man named Murray. He was a little older than the rest of us - quiet, harmless, apart. He always ate his lunch by himself.
P
He wore the same patched trousers for three years straight. He never entered into the games we played at noon, wrestling, horseshoes and such. He appeared to be indifferent, always sitting quietly alone under a tree instead. Murray was a natural target for practical jokes.
P
He might find a live frog in his lunch box, or a dead spider in his hat. But he always took it in good humour. Then one autumn, when things were quiet in the factory, Mike took off a few days to go hunting. Peter went along, of course. And they promised all of us that if they got anything they'd bring us each a piece.
P
So we were all quite excited when we heard that they'd returned and that Mike had got a really big buck. We heard more than that. Peter could never keep anything to himself, and it leaked out that they had real whopper to play on Murray. Mike had cut up the buck and had made a nice package for each of us. And, for the laugh, for the joke of it, he had saved the ears, the tail, the hoofs - it would be so funny when Murray unwrapped them.
P
Mike distributed his packages during the lunch break. We each got a nice piece, opened it, and thanked him. The biggest package of all he saved until last. It was for Murray. Peter was all but bursting; and Mike looked very smug. Like always, Murray sat by himself; he was on the far side of the big table. Mike pushed the package over to where he could reach it; and we all sat and waited.
P
Murray was never one to say much. You might never know that he was around for all the talking he did. In three years he'd never said more than hundred words. So we were all quite astounded with what happened next. He took the package firmly in his grip and rose slowly to his feet. He smiled broadly at Mike - and it was then we noticed that his eyes were glistening. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down for a moment and then he got control of himself.
P
'I knew you wouldn't forget me,' he said gratefully, 'I knew you'd come through! You're big and you're playful, but I knew all along that you had a good heart.'
P
He swallowed again, and then took in the rest of us. 'I know I haven't seemed too chummy with you men; but I never meant to be rude. You see, I've got nine kids at home - and a wife that's been an invalid - bedridden now for four years. She ain't ever going to get any better. And sometimes when she's real bad off, I have to sit up all night to take care of her. And most of my wages have had to go for doctors and medicine.
P
The kids do all they can to help out, but at times it's been hard to keep food in their mouths. Maybe you think it's funny that I go off by myself to eat my lunch. Well, I guess I've been a little ashamed, because I don't always have anything between my sandwich. Or like today - maybe there's only a raw turnip in my lunch box. But I want you to know that this meat really means a lot to me. Maybe more than to anybody here because tonight my kids' ... as he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand ... 'tonight my kids will have a really good meal.'
P
He tugged at the string. We'd been watching Murray so intently we hadn't paid much notice to Mike and Peter. But we all noticed them now, because they both tried to grab the package. But they were too late. Murray had broken the wrapper and was already surveying his present. He examined each hoof, each ear, and then he held up the tail. It wiggled limply. It should have been so funny, but nobody laughed - nobody at all.
P
But the hardest part was when Murray looked up and said 'Thank you' while trying to smile. Silently one by one each man moved forward carrying his package and quietly placed it in front of Murray for they had suddenly realised how little their own gift had really meant to them, until now.
P
This was where the foreman left the story and the men. He didn't need to say any more; but it was gratifying to notice that as each man ate his lunch that day, they shared part with Bill and one fellow even took off his shirt and gave it to him.
P
THINK, BE KIND ALWAYS...YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT SOMEONE IS FACING IN THEIR LIVES!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
something to ponder
"To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
~Anatole France
"Our emotions are powerful motivators, and more than almost anything else in our lives they will drive our behavior. Sometimes our greatest challenge is to get inside our own heads to understand what makes us tick. Why do we feel and behave the way we do?"
~Mac Anderson
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength;
loving someone deeply gives you courage.
--Lao Tzu
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Live out of your imagination, not your history.
--Stephen Covey
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.
--Pablo Picasso
Excerpt from:
Simple Truths of Life,
by Linda Ellis
Dash of Hope
My poem, The Dash, is based on that little line on a tombstone, between the dates of birth and death. Ultimately, that dash is a symbol which represents every day we've spent alive on earth. Therefore, how you spend your "dash" is all that really matters. Following is an amazing story about someone whose dash truly made a difference.
Recently I heard about a little girl named Hope Stout. After learning more about her life, I couldn't help but feel it was not by coincidence, nor happenstance, that she had been named "Hope." It had to be attributed to fate. The compassion and generosity housed in her young heart made a lasting impression on me and countless others, and her legacy of love continues to bless lives every day. Though I never had the opportunity to meet her, I wish I had. It seems as though she was wise beyond her tender years and very, very special. When I tell people her story, I always say, "if this doesn't inspire you, I don't think there's much that could..."
Hope was a twelve-year old girl who was offered a "wish" in early December 2003 by the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation after being informed that she had a rare type of bone cancer. However, when she found out that more than 150 children in her area were waiting for their wishes to be granted, she unselfishly used her wish to ask that those children have their wishes granted. She also asked that it be done by January 16, 2004. Unfortunately, however, the organization informed her that her noble request could not be granted as the funds were simply unavailable. They calculated that they would need to raise more than one million dollars in thirty days in order to grant her wish. Disappointed, but not discouraged, she turned her dismay into an enthusiasm that inspired caring individuals to spearhead fundraising to help grant the wishes of the other children, and eventually hers as well. Newspaper columnists and reporters for radio and TV stations shared the story of this caring young girl who had touched the hearts of so many and as word spread, the community was challenged. Committees were formed and schools, corporations and various organizations assisted in raising money to help bring Hope's dream to fruition.
Though she lost her battle in 2004, knowing that her wish was going to come true, Hope lives on. Her heartfelt efforts were not in vain as they continue to help others, not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well. At the initial fundraiser and gathering to celebrate her life, "A Celebration of Hope" on January 16, 2004, the announcement was made that they had indeed received donations totaling more than one million dollars on behalf of Hope Stout. Her wish had been granted!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It is easy to choose a path in life that has been well traveled by many before you and crowded by many walking beside you. There is safety in knowing the obstacles ahead, comfort and warmth from the companionship of others and certainty in the destination. Embarking on a journey into unknown territory requires steely courage, an adventurous spirit, a deep belief in oneself and simple hope for a better tomorrow."
~Marcy Blochowiak
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
We don't see things as they are;
we see things as we are.
--Anais Nin
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The most important thing about goals is having one...
--Geoffrey Abert
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Life is 10 percent what you make it
and 90 percent how you take it.
--Irving Berlin
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Success is not measured by what a person accomplishes, but by the opposition they have encountered, and the courage with which they have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."
~Orison Swett Marden
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating
all of your energies on a limited set of targets.
--Nido Qubein
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The first law of success is concentration - to bend all
the energies to one point, and to go directly to that
point, looking neither to the right nor to the left.
--William Mathews
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
When every physical and mental resource is focused, one's
power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously.
--Norman Vincent Peale
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~Anatole France
"Our emotions are powerful motivators, and more than almost anything else in our lives they will drive our behavior. Sometimes our greatest challenge is to get inside our own heads to understand what makes us tick. Why do we feel and behave the way we do?"
~Mac Anderson
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength;
loving someone deeply gives you courage.
--Lao Tzu
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Live out of your imagination, not your history.
--Stephen Covey
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.
--Pablo Picasso
Excerpt from:
Simple Truths of Life,
by Linda Ellis
Dash of Hope
My poem, The Dash, is based on that little line on a tombstone, between the dates of birth and death. Ultimately, that dash is a symbol which represents every day we've spent alive on earth. Therefore, how you spend your "dash" is all that really matters. Following is an amazing story about someone whose dash truly made a difference.
Recently I heard about a little girl named Hope Stout. After learning more about her life, I couldn't help but feel it was not by coincidence, nor happenstance, that she had been named "Hope." It had to be attributed to fate. The compassion and generosity housed in her young heart made a lasting impression on me and countless others, and her legacy of love continues to bless lives every day. Though I never had the opportunity to meet her, I wish I had. It seems as though she was wise beyond her tender years and very, very special. When I tell people her story, I always say, "if this doesn't inspire you, I don't think there's much that could..."
Hope was a twelve-year old girl who was offered a "wish" in early December 2003 by the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation after being informed that she had a rare type of bone cancer. However, when she found out that more than 150 children in her area were waiting for their wishes to be granted, she unselfishly used her wish to ask that those children have their wishes granted. She also asked that it be done by January 16, 2004. Unfortunately, however, the organization informed her that her noble request could not be granted as the funds were simply unavailable. They calculated that they would need to raise more than one million dollars in thirty days in order to grant her wish. Disappointed, but not discouraged, she turned her dismay into an enthusiasm that inspired caring individuals to spearhead fundraising to help grant the wishes of the other children, and eventually hers as well. Newspaper columnists and reporters for radio and TV stations shared the story of this caring young girl who had touched the hearts of so many and as word spread, the community was challenged. Committees were formed and schools, corporations and various organizations assisted in raising money to help bring Hope's dream to fruition.
Though she lost her battle in 2004, knowing that her wish was going to come true, Hope lives on. Her heartfelt efforts were not in vain as they continue to help others, not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well. At the initial fundraiser and gathering to celebrate her life, "A Celebration of Hope" on January 16, 2004, the announcement was made that they had indeed received donations totaling more than one million dollars on behalf of Hope Stout. Her wish had been granted!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It is easy to choose a path in life that has been well traveled by many before you and crowded by many walking beside you. There is safety in knowing the obstacles ahead, comfort and warmth from the companionship of others and certainty in the destination. Embarking on a journey into unknown territory requires steely courage, an adventurous spirit, a deep belief in oneself and simple hope for a better tomorrow."
~Marcy Blochowiak
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
We don't see things as they are;
we see things as we are.
--Anais Nin
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The most important thing about goals is having one...
--Geoffrey Abert
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Life is 10 percent what you make it
and 90 percent how you take it.
--Irving Berlin
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Success is not measured by what a person accomplishes, but by the opposition they have encountered, and the courage with which they have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."
~Orison Swett Marden
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating
all of your energies on a limited set of targets.
--Nido Qubein
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The first law of success is concentration - to bend all
the energies to one point, and to go directly to that
point, looking neither to the right nor to the left.
--William Mathews
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
When every physical and mental resource is focused, one's
power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously.
--Norman Vincent Peale
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOME THOTS FOR U
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
To the world you may be just one person,
but to one person you may be the world.
--Brandi Snyder
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Success seems to be connected with action.
Successful people keep moving. They make
mistakes, but they don't quit.
--Conrad Hilton
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
How you respond to the challenge in the second half
will determine what you become after the game,
whether you are a winner or loser.
--Lou Holtz
An Excerpt from
The Strangest Secret
by Earl Nightingale
George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."
Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.
Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.
How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.
Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.
We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.
Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.
As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.
The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.
You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.
To the world you may be just one person,
but to one person you may be the world.
--Brandi Snyder
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Success seems to be connected with action.
Successful people keep moving. They make
mistakes, but they don't quit.
--Conrad Hilton
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
How you respond to the challenge in the second half
will determine what you become after the game,
whether you are a winner or loser.
--Lou Holtz
An Excerpt from
The Strangest Secret
by Earl Nightingale
George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."
Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.
Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.
How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.
Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.
We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.
Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.
As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.
The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.
You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
SOME THOTS FOR U
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Once you choose hope, anything's possible.
--Christopher Reeve
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.
--John Powell
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Joy is not in things; it is in us.
--Richard Wagner
When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."
~Alexander Graham Bell
"Middle-class performers operate like there is an endless amount of time in a day, week, month, year and life. The world class is extremely sensitive to time. The great ones have a sense of urgency because they are operating at a level of awareness that constantly reminds them the present moment is all any of us really have. The world class is on a mission to fulfill a dream, and they know the clock is ticking."
~Steve Siebold
"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
~Leonardo da Vinci
Once you choose hope, anything's possible.
--Christopher Reeve
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.
--John Powell
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Joy is not in things; it is in us.
--Richard Wagner
When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."
~Alexander Graham Bell
"Middle-class performers operate like there is an endless amount of time in a day, week, month, year and life. The world class is extremely sensitive to time. The great ones have a sense of urgency because they are operating at a level of awareness that constantly reminds them the present moment is all any of us really have. The world class is on a mission to fulfill a dream, and they know the clock is ticking."
~Steve Siebold
"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
~Leonardo da Vinci
Peter Drucker, the legendary management consultant and author says this about teamwork:
"The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we;" they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit...This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done."
The bottom line is that it's easy for any organization to say..."we value teamwork." However, saying it versus committing to the principles to grow it can be two different things.
Excerpt from
Pulling Together....The 10 Rules for High Performance Teams,
by John Murphy
At the center of every high performance team is a common purpose - a mission that rises above and beyond each of the individual team members. To be successful, the team's interests and needs come first. This requires "we-opic" vision ("What's in it for we?"), a challenging step up from the common "me-opic" mind-set.
Effective team players understand that personal issues and personality differences are secondary to team demands. This does not mean abandoning who you are or giving up your individuality. On the contrary, it means sharing your unique strengths and differences to move the team forward. It is this "we-opic" focus and vision - this cooperation of collective capability - that empowers a team and generates synergy.
Cooperation means working together for mutual gain - sharing responsibility for success and failure and covering for one another on a moment's notice. It does not mean competing with one another at the team's expense, withholding important data or information to be "one up" on your peers, or submitting to "groupthink" by going along so as not to make waves. These are "rule breakers," that are direct contradictions to the "team first" mind-set.
High performance teams recognize that it takes a joint effort to synergize, generating power above and beyond the collected individuals. It is with this spirit of cooperation that effective teams learn to capitalize on individual strengths and offset individual weaknesses, using diversity as an advantage.
Effective teams also understand the importance of establishing cooperative systems, structures, incentives and rewards. We get what we inspect, not what we expect. Think about it. Do you have team job descriptions, team performance reviews and team reward systems? Do you recognize people by pitting them against standards of excellence, or one another? What are you doing to cultivate a team-first, cooperative environment in this competitive, "me-opic" world?
To embrace the team-first rule, make sure your team purpose and priorities are clear. What is your overall mission? What is your game plan? What is expected of each team member? How can each member contribute most effectively? What constants will hold the team together? Then stop and ask yourself, are you putting the team first?
An Excerpt From Pulling Together
by John Murphy
Consistent application of the 10 rules of high performance teamwork ultimately generates trust, respect, unity and power within any team. Conversely, consistent violation of any one rule destroys this bond. While the author of the following is unknown, "Lessons From the Geese" is a powerful illustration from nature of the rules of high performance teamwork. As you read about the natural unity that exists among this species remember - this same unity can exist in your organization!
As geese flap their wings, they create an uplift for the bird following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if any bird were to fly alone. If we share a common direction and a sense of community, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily because we are traveling on the thrust of one another!
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go, and we will be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position. If we take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership as with the geese, we become interdependent with one another. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. If we "honk," we need to make sure it is positive and encouraging.
When a goose gets sick or wounded or is shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock.
If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong. Let us all try to fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who might need it!
BEHOLD THE POWER OF TEAMWORK
The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good. Look behind every winner and you will find a great coach. Look out in front of every superstar and you will see a positive role model. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find caring people offering encouragement, support and able assistance.
Rising to this level of interdependent thinking can be challenging and difficult. Looking beyond oneself, asking for help or accepting help can feel risky. But people are not given life to simply take from one another. We are here to give. Our mission in life is to offer our gifts to benefit one another, to create mutual gain in the world. This is called teamwork, a win/win mindset stemming from a genuine commitment to the rules that allow it to happen.
"The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we;" they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit...This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done."
The bottom line is that it's easy for any organization to say..."we value teamwork." However, saying it versus committing to the principles to grow it can be two different things.
Excerpt from
Pulling Together....The 10 Rules for High Performance Teams,
by John Murphy
At the center of every high performance team is a common purpose - a mission that rises above and beyond each of the individual team members. To be successful, the team's interests and needs come first. This requires "we-opic" vision ("What's in it for we?"), a challenging step up from the common "me-opic" mind-set.
Effective team players understand that personal issues and personality differences are secondary to team demands. This does not mean abandoning who you are or giving up your individuality. On the contrary, it means sharing your unique strengths and differences to move the team forward. It is this "we-opic" focus and vision - this cooperation of collective capability - that empowers a team and generates synergy.
Cooperation means working together for mutual gain - sharing responsibility for success and failure and covering for one another on a moment's notice. It does not mean competing with one another at the team's expense, withholding important data or information to be "one up" on your peers, or submitting to "groupthink" by going along so as not to make waves. These are "rule breakers," that are direct contradictions to the "team first" mind-set.
High performance teams recognize that it takes a joint effort to synergize, generating power above and beyond the collected individuals. It is with this spirit of cooperation that effective teams learn to capitalize on individual strengths and offset individual weaknesses, using diversity as an advantage.
Effective teams also understand the importance of establishing cooperative systems, structures, incentives and rewards. We get what we inspect, not what we expect. Think about it. Do you have team job descriptions, team performance reviews and team reward systems? Do you recognize people by pitting them against standards of excellence, or one another? What are you doing to cultivate a team-first, cooperative environment in this competitive, "me-opic" world?
To embrace the team-first rule, make sure your team purpose and priorities are clear. What is your overall mission? What is your game plan? What is expected of each team member? How can each member contribute most effectively? What constants will hold the team together? Then stop and ask yourself, are you putting the team first?
An Excerpt From Pulling Together
by John Murphy
Consistent application of the 10 rules of high performance teamwork ultimately generates trust, respect, unity and power within any team. Conversely, consistent violation of any one rule destroys this bond. While the author of the following is unknown, "Lessons From the Geese" is a powerful illustration from nature of the rules of high performance teamwork. As you read about the natural unity that exists among this species remember - this same unity can exist in your organization!
As geese flap their wings, they create an uplift for the bird following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if any bird were to fly alone. If we share a common direction and a sense of community, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily because we are traveling on the thrust of one another!
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go, and we will be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position. If we take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership as with the geese, we become interdependent with one another. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. If we "honk," we need to make sure it is positive and encouraging.
When a goose gets sick or wounded or is shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock.
If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong. Let us all try to fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who might need it!
BEHOLD THE POWER OF TEAMWORK
The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good. Look behind every winner and you will find a great coach. Look out in front of every superstar and you will see a positive role model. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find caring people offering encouragement, support and able assistance.
Rising to this level of interdependent thinking can be challenging and difficult. Looking beyond oneself, asking for help or accepting help can feel risky. But people are not given life to simply take from one another. We are here to give. Our mission in life is to offer our gifts to benefit one another, to create mutual gain in the world. This is called teamwork, a win/win mindset stemming from a genuine commitment to the rules that allow it to happen.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
food for thot
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness
rather than in its value. --Charles Dudley Warner
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
--Dorothy Bernard
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you,
but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe
out that judgment now. --Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"People are like sticks of dynamite. The power is on the inside, but nothing happens until the fuse gets lit."
~Mac Anderson
"There once was a very cautious man,
Who never laughed or cried,
He never cared, he never dared,
He never dreamed or tried.
And when one day he passed away,
His insurance was denied.
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died."
~Tom Mathews
Aim for the Heart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others,
and the delight in the recognition.
--Alexander Smith
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
I buy when other people are selling.
--J. Paul Getty
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Wisdom outweighs any wealth.
--Sophocles
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from: Living a Five Star Life,
by Betty Mahalik
In this day and age, we are surrounded by messages that virtually scream, "Your life would be perfect if..." My life would be perfect if I had a different job, a different house, car, nose, spouse, bank account (fill in the blank). Or my life would be perfect if I could be like some celebrity whose life appears so well-ordered and perfect-o. This week I encourage you to stop playing "my life would be perfect if," and start playing "my perfect life." What's the difference? Three things: being in the present, an attitude of gratitude, taking action with what's available now.
When we're caught up in the "my life would be perfect if" trap, we've lost touch with the present. And the moment we detach from the present, we can no longer practice gratitude. Think about it: it's difficult to be grateful for what you don't have...and what you don't have is always somewhere out in future-ville.
Look around you right now. Think of 10 things you're grateful for. Do you have a roof over your head and food to eat? I'm guessing the answer is yes. Do you have at least a few good friends or close relationships? Then appreciate them too, right now. Keep going, and practice being in the present and being grateful for what is here and now at least a couple times a day.
You're also probably sitting there thinking "yes but." Yes, but I want more money, a better relationship, more time to travel, to be thinner, happier or whatever. It's one of the great mysteries I'll never figure out. The minute you stop focusing on what you lack, start focusing on what you've already got, and add the "magic" ingredient of action, you actually begin to attract more of what you want. It's an amazing formula for really living your perfect life!
Let's say you want to lose weight or get in better shape, but you don't have an hour a day to spend exercising at the gym. Therefore, you've pretty well resigned yourself to not losing weight or getting in shape. What if you had five minutes though...just about everyone can find five minutes to exercise, stretch, walk around the block or walk the dog. Would you be willing to be grateful for five minutes and make the best possible use of it? Therein lies the beginning of your perfect life!
A simple formula may help you remember how to apply this principle:
The present
+ an attitude of gratitude
+ positive action
= my perfect life.
Try it for a day.
Each time you start dreaming about how perfect your life would be if...come back to this moment, give thanks for what is, and do one thing to perfect what you have and who you are right now. There's a saying that "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." If you're ready to start perfecting your life, your teachers are all around you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Advance planning is like taking the deep breath before the plunge. It's the calm before the storm. And that's when it's time to prepare, while it's calm, to ensure success no matter what unexpected storms might come up. Advance planning is the first step to exceeding expectations."
~Robin Crow
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A Parent's Note to a Teacher"
by Anonymous
I'm the voice of a grateful parent
whose child was in your class...
the one who needed help to find his way
You've been a special blessing
as you helped my child succeed
and I'm thankful for the part you had to play
You gave him so much more
than just the lessons in the books
you gave him wings...so he could learn to fly
You ignited a flame within his soul
a passion to learn and grow...
to never give up and always be willing to try
Your encouragement inspired him
and your kindness was so real
but the thing that thrills my heart the most is this...
By building his self-confidence
you changed his life this year
he believes in himself...and a brighter future is his!
IT'S UP TO ME
by Haim Ginott
I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love,
and to let it come in. +Morrie Schwartz+
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
No matter what the tax rate is, you can
still build your personal wealth.
--Jim Rohn
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Do something big, bold and beautiful today that makes the world a better place,
and which moves you ever closer to the achievement of your goals.
--Gary Ryan Blair
The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness
rather than in its value. --Charles Dudley Warner
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
--Dorothy Bernard
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you,
but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe
out that judgment now. --Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"People are like sticks of dynamite. The power is on the inside, but nothing happens until the fuse gets lit."
~Mac Anderson
"There once was a very cautious man,
Who never laughed or cried,
He never cared, he never dared,
He never dreamed or tried.
And when one day he passed away,
His insurance was denied.
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died."
~Tom Mathews
Aim for the Heart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others,
and the delight in the recognition.
--Alexander Smith
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
I buy when other people are selling.
--J. Paul Getty
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Wisdom outweighs any wealth.
--Sophocles
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from: Living a Five Star Life,
by Betty Mahalik
In this day and age, we are surrounded by messages that virtually scream, "Your life would be perfect if..." My life would be perfect if I had a different job, a different house, car, nose, spouse, bank account (fill in the blank). Or my life would be perfect if I could be like some celebrity whose life appears so well-ordered and perfect-o. This week I encourage you to stop playing "my life would be perfect if," and start playing "my perfect life." What's the difference? Three things: being in the present, an attitude of gratitude, taking action with what's available now.
When we're caught up in the "my life would be perfect if" trap, we've lost touch with the present. And the moment we detach from the present, we can no longer practice gratitude. Think about it: it's difficult to be grateful for what you don't have...and what you don't have is always somewhere out in future-ville.
Look around you right now. Think of 10 things you're grateful for. Do you have a roof over your head and food to eat? I'm guessing the answer is yes. Do you have at least a few good friends or close relationships? Then appreciate them too, right now. Keep going, and practice being in the present and being grateful for what is here and now at least a couple times a day.
You're also probably sitting there thinking "yes but." Yes, but I want more money, a better relationship, more time to travel, to be thinner, happier or whatever. It's one of the great mysteries I'll never figure out. The minute you stop focusing on what you lack, start focusing on what you've already got, and add the "magic" ingredient of action, you actually begin to attract more of what you want. It's an amazing formula for really living your perfect life!
Let's say you want to lose weight or get in better shape, but you don't have an hour a day to spend exercising at the gym. Therefore, you've pretty well resigned yourself to not losing weight or getting in shape. What if you had five minutes though...just about everyone can find five minutes to exercise, stretch, walk around the block or walk the dog. Would you be willing to be grateful for five minutes and make the best possible use of it? Therein lies the beginning of your perfect life!
A simple formula may help you remember how to apply this principle:
The present
+ an attitude of gratitude
+ positive action
= my perfect life.
Try it for a day.
Each time you start dreaming about how perfect your life would be if...come back to this moment, give thanks for what is, and do one thing to perfect what you have and who you are right now. There's a saying that "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." If you're ready to start perfecting your life, your teachers are all around you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Advance planning is like taking the deep breath before the plunge. It's the calm before the storm. And that's when it's time to prepare, while it's calm, to ensure success no matter what unexpected storms might come up. Advance planning is the first step to exceeding expectations."
~Robin Crow
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A Parent's Note to a Teacher"
by Anonymous
I'm the voice of a grateful parent
whose child was in your class...
the one who needed help to find his way
You've been a special blessing
as you helped my child succeed
and I'm thankful for the part you had to play
You gave him so much more
than just the lessons in the books
you gave him wings...so he could learn to fly
You ignited a flame within his soul
a passion to learn and grow...
to never give up and always be willing to try
Your encouragement inspired him
and your kindness was so real
but the thing that thrills my heart the most is this...
By building his self-confidence
you changed his life this year
he believes in himself...and a brighter future is his!
IT'S UP TO ME
by Haim Ginott
I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love,
and to let it come in. +Morrie Schwartz+
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
No matter what the tax rate is, you can
still build your personal wealth.
--Jim Rohn
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Do something big, bold and beautiful today that makes the world a better place,
and which moves you ever closer to the achievement of your goals.
--Gary Ryan Blair
THIS ONE IS FOR THE LADIESSSS
Oh, Thank Goodness It's Not Just Me!
by BJ Gallagher and Lisa Hammond
It was October, so it was time for me to start talking about having a Halloween party - something I have done for at least half a dozen years. I don't actually end up having a Halloween party; I just talk about having one. It has become a running joke around our house.
Entertaining and having friends over for dinner always seems like such a good idea but the truth is, I just never feel like I am good enough to actually do it.
I have ongoing chatter in my head that goes something like this: What are you going to make? Who are you going to invite? You don't have the time. You will say you are going to do this and then you won't get out of the office in time.
I have plenty of friends who seem to be able to manage both a successful career and entertaining frequently. They race home from work, whip up three course meals, and serve the perfect wine. They look calm, cool and collected when guests arrive. I am both impressed - and depressed - by this.
Recently, I wanted to be a thoughtful dinner guest at a friend's home so I decided to at least bring dessert. Although I had a jam-packed day at work, I didn't want to be a slacker, and figured I could handle making a cake. I did what I have done countless times - I decided to make a favorite family recipe, Raspberry Cream Cake.
Once I started to make the cake, I remembered why I don't do it very often - half of the ingredients can only be found in the state where the recipe came from! So I had to wing it and substitute ingredients. Then the mixer fell apart as I was using it and whipped cream went flying all over the kitchen. Then the cake burned while I was stuck on a conference call. When I finally got the cake into the fridge for the mandatory five hours of chilling prior to being served, I decided to rename it the Raspberry Curse Cake and vowed never to make it again.
When my husband and I arrived at the dinner party - crappy Curse Cake in hand, our gracious hostess was looking relaxed as she put together a simple salad. And there I was - frazzled, with raspberry juice still in my hair. As we sat down to dinner I asked her for the recipe for the delicious rice dish she was serving. She laughed and handed me her phone as she said, "Are you kidding me? I didn't have time to cook all of this - it's take-out!"
Oh, I have so much to learn from other women! I had been stressing out all day, trying to simultaneously work and bake a cake, juggling mixers and conference calls and cursing like a sailor - while my wise friend had been at work phoning in take-out!
The entire episode made me realize how much pressure women are under to be all and do all - almost all of it self-imposed! How much are we missing out on because of our insecurity and fear?
By the time you read this I will have invited friends over for margaritas and dinner at our place - paper plates, take-out food, and fun will be had by all!
by BJ Gallagher and Lisa Hammond
It was October, so it was time for me to start talking about having a Halloween party - something I have done for at least half a dozen years. I don't actually end up having a Halloween party; I just talk about having one. It has become a running joke around our house.
Entertaining and having friends over for dinner always seems like such a good idea but the truth is, I just never feel like I am good enough to actually do it.
I have ongoing chatter in my head that goes something like this: What are you going to make? Who are you going to invite? You don't have the time. You will say you are going to do this and then you won't get out of the office in time.
I have plenty of friends who seem to be able to manage both a successful career and entertaining frequently. They race home from work, whip up three course meals, and serve the perfect wine. They look calm, cool and collected when guests arrive. I am both impressed - and depressed - by this.
Recently, I wanted to be a thoughtful dinner guest at a friend's home so I decided to at least bring dessert. Although I had a jam-packed day at work, I didn't want to be a slacker, and figured I could handle making a cake. I did what I have done countless times - I decided to make a favorite family recipe, Raspberry Cream Cake.
Once I started to make the cake, I remembered why I don't do it very often - half of the ingredients can only be found in the state where the recipe came from! So I had to wing it and substitute ingredients. Then the mixer fell apart as I was using it and whipped cream went flying all over the kitchen. Then the cake burned while I was stuck on a conference call. When I finally got the cake into the fridge for the mandatory five hours of chilling prior to being served, I decided to rename it the Raspberry Curse Cake and vowed never to make it again.
When my husband and I arrived at the dinner party - crappy Curse Cake in hand, our gracious hostess was looking relaxed as she put together a simple salad. And there I was - frazzled, with raspberry juice still in my hair. As we sat down to dinner I asked her for the recipe for the delicious rice dish she was serving. She laughed and handed me her phone as she said, "Are you kidding me? I didn't have time to cook all of this - it's take-out!"
Oh, I have so much to learn from other women! I had been stressing out all day, trying to simultaneously work and bake a cake, juggling mixers and conference calls and cursing like a sailor - while my wise friend had been at work phoning in take-out!
The entire episode made me realize how much pressure women are under to be all and do all - almost all of it self-imposed! How much are we missing out on because of our insecurity and fear?
By the time you read this I will have invited friends over for margaritas and dinner at our place - paper plates, take-out food, and fun will be had by all!
Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
-- Rabindranath Tagore
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Looking back, I have this to regret, that
too often when I loved, I did not say so.
--David Grayson
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Our favourite holding period is forever.
--Warren Buffett
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment.
--Buddha
An Excerpt from
The Best Way Out is Always Through
by BJ Gallagher
Mary Kay Ash banged her head on the corporate glass ceiling one too many times. Working for several direct sales companies from the 1930's until the early 1960's, she achieved considerable success. She climbed the corporate ladder to become the sole woman on the board of directors of the World Gift Company - quite an accomplishment for a woman in the 1950's.
But life wasn't rosy at the top. Even though Mary Kay had the title and the track record, she was not taken seriously by her male peers. In board meetings, her opinions and suggestions were ignored, dismissed, or even ridiculed. Male board members minced no words in their judgment - pronouncing her guilty of "thinking like a woman."
Since the sales force was almost entirely female, Mary Kay thought that thinking like a woman was an asset. But her fellow board members disagreed. Finally, in frustration, she retired in 1963, intending to write a book to assist women in the male-dominated business.
Sitting at her kitchen table, she made two lists: one list was all the good things she had seen in the companies where she'd worked, and the other list was all the things she thought could be improved. As she re-read her lists, she realized that what she had in front of her was a marketing plan for her ideal company. In just four weeks, her "book" had become a business plan, and her retirement was over.
Both her accountant and her attorney did their best to discourage her, warning that she would be throwing her money away on this venture. But Mary Kay had heard enough male nay-saying in her corporate years - she ignored her advisors.
Her husband, unlike her accountant and attorney, was very supportive. With his help, Mary Kay developed the cosmetic products, designed packaging, wrote promotional materials and recruited and trained her female sales force.
Then the unthinkable happened; her husband of twenty-one years died of a heart attack. Another woman might have dropped her plans, or at least delayed them, but Mary Kay was a strong Texas woman. She stayed on track with the help of her twenty-year-old son, Richard Rogers and rolled out her new business in September of 1963.
Beginning with a storefront in Dallas and an investment of $5,000, Mary Kay Cosmetics earned close to $200,000 in its first year - quadrupling that amount in its second year. When Mary Kay took her company public in 1968, sales had climbed to more than $10 million.
Mary Kay's unusual corporate motto, "God first, family second, career third," was unconventional, to say the least. But she understood the need for women to have balance in their lives, and she was committed to providing unlimited opportunity for women's financial AND personal success.
Mary Kay authored three books, all of which became best-sellers. Her business model is taught at the Harvard Business School. She received many honors, including the Horatio Alger Award. Fortune magazine has named Mary Kay Cosmetics as one of the Ten Best Companies for Women, as well as one of The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.
At the time of her death in 2001, Mary Kay Cosmetics had 800,000 independent beauty consultants in 37 countries, with total annual sales of over two billion dollars. Never underestimate the power of a woman with a mission!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves."
-Dale Carnegie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PERSEVERANCE DEFINED
Persist no matter what.
Endure discomfort.
Request help.
Steadfastly hold on to your beliefs and values.
Envision triumph.
Very consistently keep at it.
Embrace adversity as your teacher.
Refuse to give up.
Enjoy and celebrate every tiny bit of progress!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged,
sympathetic with the striving,
and tolerant with the weak...because in your life you will have been all of these."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard."
~Unknown
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Children reflect the light of their parents long before
they acknowledge they have their own light.
--Forrest Carter
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Never turn your back on enthusiasm!
--Buddy Ebsen
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
When a man cares he is unafraid.
When he is fair, he leaves enough for others.
When he is humble, he can grow.
--Lao-Tzu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to
hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might.
--Marian Anderson
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so?
Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live.
Before they know it, time runs out.--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
One day at a time - this is enough. Do not look back and grieve
over the past, for it is gone: and do not be troubled about the
future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make
it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.
--Ida Scott Taylor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An excerpt from
The Strangest Secret
by Earl Nightingale
George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."
Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.
Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.
How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.
Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.
We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.
Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.
As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.
The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us.
You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are You Open?
by Kay Richae
No matter where we are in life or what we have achieved or understood it behooves us to always be open to accepting new things for this is the way of GOD. The Universe is always expanding and we are microcosms of the macrocosm meaning that we have all of GOD’s creation to enlighten us to the truth about ourselves.
If we truly want to be our best selves we must always be open to embracing the new. Now, I am not saying that we should drift whichever way a current trend takes us, but rather we should always be open to new ways of thinking and being.
To state the matter differently; I am not saying that we should be influenced by society, the media, or things outside of ourselves to change but I am saying we should always remain open and receptive to what the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us is sharing to take us to our next level of greatness. And believe me, the guidance from within is being broadcast; it is only a matter of if we are willing to be receptive to it.
When we are not receptive or when we have not attuned to the inner voice of our Counselor, life can seem boring and unexciting. Sometimes we can even feel stuck.
There may be times when we may not be able pinpoint anything that is really ‘wrong’ so to speak, but we just feel unfulfilled. This is because it is our true nature to constantly expand from one level of completeness to another.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce.
The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage.
--Robert Anderson
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure
an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness.
--John Dewey
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Ya gots to work with what you gots to work with.
--Stevie Wonder
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Anything that is not growing is dead and because of the Eternal nature of our souls (which are constantly growing and expanding whether we like it or not) when we try to house our newly expanded selves in a body temple that is still operating under the mind and heart-sets of who we used to be, the result is often the negative emotions outlined above.
Sometimes fear of losing who we really are can keep us from being willing to say yes to our expansion. The voice of the ego may tell us that if we change how we think and feel we may not remain true to who we really are. We may be afraid of what those close to us will think about our new selves.
In reality, being open and receptive to growth and change is the only way for us to be true to the best version of ourselves and is the way we embrace our true freedom. When we give an inner yes to our best yet to be we allow GOD greater expression in and as our lives because we have attuned ourselves to the guidance of the still, small Voice inside of us that is the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things.
When we live from this place of awareness life is fun, exciting, and fulfilling! We are happy and inspired in our actions and/or inaction for we know that they are right actions with great purpose guided by Spirit.
Life becomes a fun adventure guided from within each of us where we are free and no longer bound by the imaginary shackles of obligation, habit, and expectation of others.
We will no longer feel that we need to conform to our current world but will know that we are free to be transformed by the renewing of our minds toward the unfoldment of our best selves. What a great place to be!!!
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2Corinthians 3:17
Will you say yes to your best self, the self you came here to be for GOD, by being open and receptive to the Eternal broadcast of good?
I invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with me on my blog at ASpeakerforGod.com
I love you and GOD adores you!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Give people a fact or an idea and you enlighten their minds; tell them a story and you touch their souls."
~Hasidic Proverb
Kids communicate with no inhibitions.
They speak from the heart.
Strive to communicate person-to-person, heart-to-heart in everything we do.
Stories create intimacy and relationships. And that's the essence of a strong brand.
Have everyone share stories and listen to stories. Especially stories from our customers.
~Tom Asacker
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them -- that only creates sorrow. . . Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
-- Lao-tzu
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Conflict cannot survive without your participation.
--Wayne Dyer
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Nothing will work unless you do.
--Maya Angelou
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.
--Dean Acheson
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You cannot judge what should bring others joy, and others cannot judge what should bring you joy.
-- Alan Cohen
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ~Ralph Waldo EmersoN
"William Henley said, 'I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.' Once you believe this (I mean, really believe it,) nothing will hold you back. Something unexplainable happens when we accept complete responsibility for our behavior and our results. But it's not an easy thing to do."
~Mac Anderson
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
I cannot always control what goes on outside.
But I can always control what goes on inside.
--Wayne Dyer
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Far and away the best prize that life has to offer
is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
--Theodore Roosevelt
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.
--Henry David Thoreau
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We could change the world tomorrow if all the millions of people around the world acted the way they believe."
-Jane Goodall
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you must raise your voice, do it to cheer your students on."
~Author Unknown
"It's not easy being a Teacher...
and this Heart takes a beating each day
Sometimes it breaks for a hurting child
and a piece is given away.
But there's strength in the Heart of a Teacher
and a special vision to see
the difference you make in the heart of a child
...can affect eternity!"
~Paula J. Fox
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Rabindranath Tagore
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Looking back, I have this to regret, that
too often when I loved, I did not say so.
--David Grayson
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Our favourite holding period is forever.
--Warren Buffett
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment.
--Buddha
An Excerpt from
The Best Way Out is Always Through
by BJ Gallagher
Mary Kay Ash banged her head on the corporate glass ceiling one too many times. Working for several direct sales companies from the 1930's until the early 1960's, she achieved considerable success. She climbed the corporate ladder to become the sole woman on the board of directors of the World Gift Company - quite an accomplishment for a woman in the 1950's.
But life wasn't rosy at the top. Even though Mary Kay had the title and the track record, she was not taken seriously by her male peers. In board meetings, her opinions and suggestions were ignored, dismissed, or even ridiculed. Male board members minced no words in their judgment - pronouncing her guilty of "thinking like a woman."
Since the sales force was almost entirely female, Mary Kay thought that thinking like a woman was an asset. But her fellow board members disagreed. Finally, in frustration, she retired in 1963, intending to write a book to assist women in the male-dominated business.
Sitting at her kitchen table, she made two lists: one list was all the good things she had seen in the companies where she'd worked, and the other list was all the things she thought could be improved. As she re-read her lists, she realized that what she had in front of her was a marketing plan for her ideal company. In just four weeks, her "book" had become a business plan, and her retirement was over.
Both her accountant and her attorney did their best to discourage her, warning that she would be throwing her money away on this venture. But Mary Kay had heard enough male nay-saying in her corporate years - she ignored her advisors.
Her husband, unlike her accountant and attorney, was very supportive. With his help, Mary Kay developed the cosmetic products, designed packaging, wrote promotional materials and recruited and trained her female sales force.
Then the unthinkable happened; her husband of twenty-one years died of a heart attack. Another woman might have dropped her plans, or at least delayed them, but Mary Kay was a strong Texas woman. She stayed on track with the help of her twenty-year-old son, Richard Rogers and rolled out her new business in September of 1963.
Beginning with a storefront in Dallas and an investment of $5,000, Mary Kay Cosmetics earned close to $200,000 in its first year - quadrupling that amount in its second year. When Mary Kay took her company public in 1968, sales had climbed to more than $10 million.
Mary Kay's unusual corporate motto, "God first, family second, career third," was unconventional, to say the least. But she understood the need for women to have balance in their lives, and she was committed to providing unlimited opportunity for women's financial AND personal success.
Mary Kay authored three books, all of which became best-sellers. Her business model is taught at the Harvard Business School. She received many honors, including the Horatio Alger Award. Fortune magazine has named Mary Kay Cosmetics as one of the Ten Best Companies for Women, as well as one of The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.
At the time of her death in 2001, Mary Kay Cosmetics had 800,000 independent beauty consultants in 37 countries, with total annual sales of over two billion dollars. Never underestimate the power of a woman with a mission!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves."
-Dale Carnegie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PERSEVERANCE DEFINED
Persist no matter what.
Endure discomfort.
Request help.
Steadfastly hold on to your beliefs and values.
Envision triumph.
Very consistently keep at it.
Embrace adversity as your teacher.
Refuse to give up.
Enjoy and celebrate every tiny bit of progress!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged,
sympathetic with the striving,
and tolerant with the weak...because in your life you will have been all of these."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard."
~Unknown
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Children reflect the light of their parents long before
they acknowledge they have their own light.
--Forrest Carter
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Never turn your back on enthusiasm!
--Buddy Ebsen
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
When a man cares he is unafraid.
When he is fair, he leaves enough for others.
When he is humble, he can grow.
--Lao-Tzu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to
hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might.
--Marian Anderson
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so?
Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live.
Before they know it, time runs out.--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
One day at a time - this is enough. Do not look back and grieve
over the past, for it is gone: and do not be troubled about the
future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make
it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.
--Ida Scott Taylor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An excerpt from
The Strangest Secret
by Earl Nightingale
George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."
Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.
Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.
How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.
Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.
We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.
Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.
As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.
The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us.
You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.
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Are You Open?
by Kay Richae
No matter where we are in life or what we have achieved or understood it behooves us to always be open to accepting new things for this is the way of GOD. The Universe is always expanding and we are microcosms of the macrocosm meaning that we have all of GOD’s creation to enlighten us to the truth about ourselves.
If we truly want to be our best selves we must always be open to embracing the new. Now, I am not saying that we should drift whichever way a current trend takes us, but rather we should always be open to new ways of thinking and being.
To state the matter differently; I am not saying that we should be influenced by society, the media, or things outside of ourselves to change but I am saying we should always remain open and receptive to what the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us is sharing to take us to our next level of greatness. And believe me, the guidance from within is being broadcast; it is only a matter of if we are willing to be receptive to it.
When we are not receptive or when we have not attuned to the inner voice of our Counselor, life can seem boring and unexciting. Sometimes we can even feel stuck.
There may be times when we may not be able pinpoint anything that is really ‘wrong’ so to speak, but we just feel unfulfilled. This is because it is our true nature to constantly expand from one level of completeness to another.
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LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce.
The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage.
--Robert Anderson
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure
an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness.
--John Dewey
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Ya gots to work with what you gots to work with.
--Stevie Wonder
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Anything that is not growing is dead and because of the Eternal nature of our souls (which are constantly growing and expanding whether we like it or not) when we try to house our newly expanded selves in a body temple that is still operating under the mind and heart-sets of who we used to be, the result is often the negative emotions outlined above.
Sometimes fear of losing who we really are can keep us from being willing to say yes to our expansion. The voice of the ego may tell us that if we change how we think and feel we may not remain true to who we really are. We may be afraid of what those close to us will think about our new selves.
In reality, being open and receptive to growth and change is the only way for us to be true to the best version of ourselves and is the way we embrace our true freedom. When we give an inner yes to our best yet to be we allow GOD greater expression in and as our lives because we have attuned ourselves to the guidance of the still, small Voice inside of us that is the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things.
When we live from this place of awareness life is fun, exciting, and fulfilling! We are happy and inspired in our actions and/or inaction for we know that they are right actions with great purpose guided by Spirit.
Life becomes a fun adventure guided from within each of us where we are free and no longer bound by the imaginary shackles of obligation, habit, and expectation of others.
We will no longer feel that we need to conform to our current world but will know that we are free to be transformed by the renewing of our minds toward the unfoldment of our best selves. What a great place to be!!!
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2Corinthians 3:17
Will you say yes to your best self, the self you came here to be for GOD, by being open and receptive to the Eternal broadcast of good?
I invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with me on my blog at ASpeakerforGod.com
I love you and GOD adores you!
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"Give people a fact or an idea and you enlighten their minds; tell them a story and you touch their souls."
~Hasidic Proverb
Kids communicate with no inhibitions.
They speak from the heart.
Strive to communicate person-to-person, heart-to-heart in everything we do.
Stories create intimacy and relationships. And that's the essence of a strong brand.
Have everyone share stories and listen to stories. Especially stories from our customers.
~Tom Asacker
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Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them -- that only creates sorrow. . . Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
-- Lao-tzu
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Conflict cannot survive without your participation.
--Wayne Dyer
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Nothing will work unless you do.
--Maya Angelou
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.
--Dean Acheson
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You cannot judge what should bring others joy, and others cannot judge what should bring you joy.
-- Alan Cohen
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ~Ralph Waldo EmersoN
"William Henley said, 'I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.' Once you believe this (I mean, really believe it,) nothing will hold you back. Something unexplainable happens when we accept complete responsibility for our behavior and our results. But it's not an easy thing to do."
~Mac Anderson
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
I cannot always control what goes on outside.
But I can always control what goes on inside.
--Wayne Dyer
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Far and away the best prize that life has to offer
is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
--Theodore Roosevelt
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.
--Henry David Thoreau
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We could change the world tomorrow if all the millions of people around the world acted the way they believe."
-Jane Goodall
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you must raise your voice, do it to cheer your students on."
~Author Unknown
"It's not easy being a Teacher...
and this Heart takes a beating each day
Sometimes it breaks for a hurting child
and a piece is given away.
But there's strength in the Heart of a Teacher
and a special vision to see
the difference you make in the heart of a child
...can affect eternity!"
~Paula J. Fox
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
leadership
Dear shamugam,
"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. They are much like eagles...They don't flock, you find them one at a time."
-Mac Anderson
Leadership is a complicated topic, because there are probably as many definitions as there are leaders in the world.
That's because a leader is a person with many roles...CEO, soldier, coach, entrepreneur, department head, politician, teacher, minister...as well as parent, spouse, and other personal roles.
Stay Motivated,
Motivation in a Minute
A Simple Truths Company
"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. They are much like eagles...They don't flock, you find them one at a time."
-Mac Anderson
Leadership is a complicated topic, because there are probably as many definitions as there are leaders in the world.
That's because a leader is a person with many roles...CEO, soldier, coach, entrepreneur, department head, politician, teacher, minister...as well as parent, spouse, and other personal roles.
Stay Motivated,
Motivation in a Minute
A Simple Truths Company
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
some thots
"Always look for opportunities to challenge your best people because many of them are like sticks of dynamite; the power's on the inside, but nothing happens until the fuse gets lit."
~Mac Anderson
You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School
"Have you ever wondered why so many people work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular, and others don't seem to work hard, yet seem to get everything? They seem to have the magic touch. You've heard people say, 'Everything he touches turns to gold.' And have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue to become more successful - and, on the other hand, have you noticed how someone who's a failure tends to continue to fail? Well, it's because of goals. People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. It's that simple."
~Earl Nightingale
The Strangest Secret
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
With each decision, we should be convinced that we're
doing the best we can under the circumstances -- best
for ourselves, best for our family, best for our loved
ones, and, possibly, best for society as well.
--Alexandra Stoddard
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to practice peace.
--Morihei Ueshiba
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
The mind is its own place, and in itself
can make a heaven of Hell,
and a hell of Heaven.
--John Milton
Do not make assumptions
Just because you failed many times, do not assume that you will never succeed.
Just because there is so much wrong in the world, do not assume that nothing is right here.
Just because someone has a different accent than yours, do not assume that he or she is ignorant.
Just because you cannot see God, do not assume that God does not exist.
Just because a man or woman is overweight, do not assume that he or she is lazy.
Just because a young man has long hair, do not assume that he is into drugs.
Just because a child is difficult to teach, do not assume that she will never learn.
Just because you have not yet realized your dream, do not assume that you never will.
Just because you do not how to do banking, do not assume that you cannot learn.
Just because the road ahead is difficult, do not assume that you will never reach the destination.
Change is Good...You Go First
by Mac Anderson and Tom Feltenstein
As a leader, however, deciding to make changes is the easy part. Getting your people on board is much more difficult. Why is that? Quite simply, change is an emotional process. We are all creatures of habit who usually resist it, and welcome routine. Uncharted waters are scary!
In the long run, however, sameness is the fast tract to mediocrity. And, mediocre companies won't survive. Tuli Kupferburg said it best..."When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge." And, that is your challenge...to convince your team that the new world you are trying to create is better than the one you're in. Is it easy? Of course not. It takes planning, commitment, patience and courage.
The truth, of course, is that change can be a wonderful gift. In fact, it is the key that unlocks the doors to growth and excitement in any organization. And, most importantly, without it...your competition will pass you by. A big part of success, as a leader, will be your ability to inspire your team to get out of their comfort zones; to assure them that even though they are on a new path, it's the right path, for the right reasons.
Learn From Old Warwick- THE SPIRIT OF TEAM WORK
Fostering a spirit of teamwork is critical in times of change. The key element is trust. Trust for the leader and trust for each other.
There is a wonderful story from the play, Some Folks Feel the Rain; Others Just Get Wet; and I think it's worth sharing again to shed some light on how people think about teamwork...
A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn't injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.
"Warwick can get you out of that ditch," said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the decrepit old mule and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating.
"Yep, old Warwick can do the job." The man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the mule made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins, he shouted,
"Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!"
And the mule pulled that car right out of the ditch.
The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, "Why did you call out all of those names before you called Warwick?"
The farmer grinned and said, "Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he's part of a team, he doesn't mind pulling."
The biggest enemies we have to overcome on the road to success are not a lack of ability and a lack of opportunity but fears of failure and rejection and the doubts that they trigger."
~Brian Tracy
Eat That Frog
"Habits are those actions that get us through our day without a whole lot of conscious thought on our part. It's our habits, those actions that flow from our thoughts, beliefs and words that distinguish winners from everyone else."
~Vince Lombardi Jr.
What it Takes to be Number One
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt. --Max Lerner
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.
--Tom Brokaw
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Like what you do, if you don't like it, do something else.
--Paul Harvey
"Wolves do not aimlessly run around their intended victims, yipping and yapping. They have a strategic plan and execute it through constant communication. When the moment of truth arrives, each understands his role and understands exactly what the pack expects of him."
~Twyman Towery
Wisdom of Wolves
The more you see yourself as a valuable and important person, the more positive and optimistic you will be. When you consider yourself to be important, you will treat other people as if they are important as well."
~Brian Tracy
The Power of Discipline
"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about."
~Charles Kingsley
Motivational Quote
"Gratitude is not a fair weather virtue. True gratitude means appreciating your life no matter what the storms may bring. Is simply being alive gift enough for you to feel grateful?"
~Mac Anderson
Learning to Dance in the Rain
~Mac Anderson
You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School
"Have you ever wondered why so many people work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular, and others don't seem to work hard, yet seem to get everything? They seem to have the magic touch. You've heard people say, 'Everything he touches turns to gold.' And have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue to become more successful - and, on the other hand, have you noticed how someone who's a failure tends to continue to fail? Well, it's because of goals. People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. It's that simple."
~Earl Nightingale
The Strangest Secret
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
With each decision, we should be convinced that we're
doing the best we can under the circumstances -- best
for ourselves, best for our family, best for our loved
ones, and, possibly, best for society as well.
--Alexandra Stoddard
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to practice peace.
--Morihei Ueshiba
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
The mind is its own place, and in itself
can make a heaven of Hell,
and a hell of Heaven.
--John Milton
Do not make assumptions
Just because you failed many times, do not assume that you will never succeed.
Just because there is so much wrong in the world, do not assume that nothing is right here.
Just because someone has a different accent than yours, do not assume that he or she is ignorant.
Just because you cannot see God, do not assume that God does not exist.
Just because a man or woman is overweight, do not assume that he or she is lazy.
Just because a young man has long hair, do not assume that he is into drugs.
Just because a child is difficult to teach, do not assume that she will never learn.
Just because you have not yet realized your dream, do not assume that you never will.
Just because you do not how to do banking, do not assume that you cannot learn.
Just because the road ahead is difficult, do not assume that you will never reach the destination.
Change is Good...You Go First
by Mac Anderson and Tom Feltenstein
As a leader, however, deciding to make changes is the easy part. Getting your people on board is much more difficult. Why is that? Quite simply, change is an emotional process. We are all creatures of habit who usually resist it, and welcome routine. Uncharted waters are scary!
In the long run, however, sameness is the fast tract to mediocrity. And, mediocre companies won't survive. Tuli Kupferburg said it best..."When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge." And, that is your challenge...to convince your team that the new world you are trying to create is better than the one you're in. Is it easy? Of course not. It takes planning, commitment, patience and courage.
The truth, of course, is that change can be a wonderful gift. In fact, it is the key that unlocks the doors to growth and excitement in any organization. And, most importantly, without it...your competition will pass you by. A big part of success, as a leader, will be your ability to inspire your team to get out of their comfort zones; to assure them that even though they are on a new path, it's the right path, for the right reasons.
Learn From Old Warwick- THE SPIRIT OF TEAM WORK
Fostering a spirit of teamwork is critical in times of change. The key element is trust. Trust for the leader and trust for each other.
There is a wonderful story from the play, Some Folks Feel the Rain; Others Just Get Wet; and I think it's worth sharing again to shed some light on how people think about teamwork...
A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn't injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.
"Warwick can get you out of that ditch," said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the decrepit old mule and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating.
"Yep, old Warwick can do the job." The man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the mule made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins, he shouted,
"Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!"
And the mule pulled that car right out of the ditch.
The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, "Why did you call out all of those names before you called Warwick?"
The farmer grinned and said, "Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he's part of a team, he doesn't mind pulling."
The biggest enemies we have to overcome on the road to success are not a lack of ability and a lack of opportunity but fears of failure and rejection and the doubts that they trigger."
~Brian Tracy
Eat That Frog
"Habits are those actions that get us through our day without a whole lot of conscious thought on our part. It's our habits, those actions that flow from our thoughts, beliefs and words that distinguish winners from everyone else."
~Vince Lombardi Jr.
What it Takes to be Number One
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt. --Max Lerner
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.
--Tom Brokaw
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Like what you do, if you don't like it, do something else.
--Paul Harvey
"Wolves do not aimlessly run around their intended victims, yipping and yapping. They have a strategic plan and execute it through constant communication. When the moment of truth arrives, each understands his role and understands exactly what the pack expects of him."
~Twyman Towery
Wisdom of Wolves
The more you see yourself as a valuable and important person, the more positive and optimistic you will be. When you consider yourself to be important, you will treat other people as if they are important as well."
~Brian Tracy
The Power of Discipline
"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about."
~Charles Kingsley
Motivational Quote
"Gratitude is not a fair weather virtue. True gratitude means appreciating your life no matter what the storms may bring. Is simply being alive gift enough for you to feel grateful?"
~Mac Anderson
Learning to Dance in the Rain
happy administrative professionals day
One of my all-time favorite quotes is..."Customer service is not a department, it's an attitude."
How true it is! As much as we try to complicate what great service is...it's really pretty simple: It is giving more than the customer expects...consistently. You notice I said simple, not easy. There is a big difference.
I'm a big fan of Nordstrom. My wife is a bigger fan! For many years we've been impressed with the "Nordstrom attitude" when it comes to serving their customers. A few years ago, we were in Nordstrom doing some last minute Christmas shopping. As we were walking through the men's department, an employee came out of nowhere and said, "Sir, wait right here, I'll be right back." I watched him run over to the next counter about 100 feet away, grab something and start running back. When he got back, he said, "Sir, I think you've been trying on sweaters." I said, "How'd you know?" He said, "The back of your black shirt looks like it's been snowed on, and it's not snowing in here!"
We both laughed and he proceeded to remove the fuzz with his lint roller. After about 10 seconds, he said, "That's it...You're free to buy more stuff! I hope you and your wife have a wonderful Christmas!"
After spending about one hour in the store, we each had 3 Nordstrom bags, and as we were walking out the exit into the rest of the mall, another employee ran over and said, "Let me keep all these bags here while you do the rest of your shopping. They'll be right here, just ask for me." He introduced himself, as did we, and he handed me his card.
About one hour later, with more packages from the mall, we came back. As we walked into the store, I saw the gentleman who had taken our bags walking towards us and with a big smile, "Welcome back Mr. and Mrs. Anderson." He then looked at our new shopping bags and said, "My goodness, you're going to have a load. Can I help you take these bags to the car?" Now please understand, it's Christmas, the store is full of people, it's cold outside, the parking lot is full...and this gentleman is asking if he can help take our bags to the car! And even though I said, "No thanks" I knew his intentions were 100% sincere. I have to tell you the whole service experience on that day blew me away, but I've learned over the years, it's business as unusual at Nordstrom!
How true it is! As much as we try to complicate what great service is...it's really pretty simple: It is giving more than the customer expects...consistently. You notice I said simple, not easy. There is a big difference.
I'm a big fan of Nordstrom. My wife is a bigger fan! For many years we've been impressed with the "Nordstrom attitude" when it comes to serving their customers. A few years ago, we were in Nordstrom doing some last minute Christmas shopping. As we were walking through the men's department, an employee came out of nowhere and said, "Sir, wait right here, I'll be right back." I watched him run over to the next counter about 100 feet away, grab something and start running back. When he got back, he said, "Sir, I think you've been trying on sweaters." I said, "How'd you know?" He said, "The back of your black shirt looks like it's been snowed on, and it's not snowing in here!"
We both laughed and he proceeded to remove the fuzz with his lint roller. After about 10 seconds, he said, "That's it...You're free to buy more stuff! I hope you and your wife have a wonderful Christmas!"
After spending about one hour in the store, we each had 3 Nordstrom bags, and as we were walking out the exit into the rest of the mall, another employee ran over and said, "Let me keep all these bags here while you do the rest of your shopping. They'll be right here, just ask for me." He introduced himself, as did we, and he handed me his card.
About one hour later, with more packages from the mall, we came back. As we walked into the store, I saw the gentleman who had taken our bags walking towards us and with a big smile, "Welcome back Mr. and Mrs. Anderson." He then looked at our new shopping bags and said, "My goodness, you're going to have a load. Can I help you take these bags to the car?" Now please understand, it's Christmas, the store is full of people, it's cold outside, the parking lot is full...and this gentleman is asking if he can help take our bags to the car! And even though I said, "No thanks" I knew his intentions were 100% sincere. I have to tell you the whole service experience on that day blew me away, but I've learned over the years, it's business as unusual at Nordstrom!
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
U R GREATTTTT
A $100 Dollar Bill
Author Unknown
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $100 bill. In the room of 200, he asked. "Who would like this $100 bill?"
Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $100 to one of you - but first, let me do this."
He proceeded to crumple the 100 dollar note up. He then asked. "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $100.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to God and to those who love you.
The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do, what we have or who we know, but by...WHO WE ARE.
You are so special in all the world there is only one you -- don't ever forget it.
Remember, you may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
Author Unknown
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $100 bill. In the room of 200, he asked. "Who would like this $100 bill?"
Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $100 to one of you - but first, let me do this."
He proceeded to crumple the 100 dollar note up. He then asked. "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $100.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to God and to those who love you.
The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do, what we have or who we know, but by...WHO WE ARE.
You are so special in all the world there is only one you -- don't ever forget it.
Remember, you may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
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