LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge
over which he himself must pass.
--George Herbert
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
One of the secrets of success is to refuse
to let temporary setbacks defeat us.
--Mary Kay
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness.
It is not attained through self-gratification but through
fidelity to a worthy purpose. --Helen Keller
"Happiness is not a when or a where; it can be a here and a now. But until you are happy with who you are you will never be happy because of what you have."
~Zig Ziglar
Inspiration 365 Days a Year
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Who wishes perfect and complete happiness will never be
completely happy; who conforms with relative happiness
will be much happier!
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Do the right thing...especially when no one's watching.
--Cherie Carter-Scott Ph.D.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
The Universe rearranges itself to fit your perception of reality.
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
When we blame, we give away our power.
--Greg Anderson
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
When you play it too safe, you're taking
the biggest risk of your life...Time is
the only wealth we're given.
--Barbara Sher
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
You have to accept whatever comes and the
only important thing is that you meet it
with the best you have to give.
--Eleanor Roosevelt
"Many of us who are great team members at work take off our teamwork hats when we walk in the door at home. We do not seem to realize that our spouse and children are not nearly as interested in our job title as our taking time to relate to them as equals. Are you guilty of this? How would they want you to act differently?"
~Twyman Towery
Wisdom of Wolves
"Amateur performers habitually play not to lose and procrastinate because they fear making a mistake. The great ones know mistakes will be made and can be corrected."
~Steve Siebold
Secrets of the World Class
Saturday, February 27, 2010
some thots
The Derrick Redmond Story from
The Power of Attitude
by Mac Anderson
August 1992.
Derrick Redmond from Great Britain was favored to win the 400-meter race during the summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, but as he powered around the backstretch his hamstring snapped. Derrick tried desperately to finish the race, but he still had half the distance to go. Because he couldn't walk, he began to hop. One step-a grimace. Two steps-a yell.
Jim Redmond had to get to his struggling son. He doesn't remember all the steps down from Section 131, Row 22, Seat 25 of the Olympic Stadium. He doesn't really remember leaping over the railing or pushing off security guards who were too stunned to stop him. He was not just a spectator at the Olympics anymore; Jim Redmond was a father, and he had to get to his son.
"Dad," Derrick said, "Dad...Get me back to lane five. I want to finish."
And leaning on each other, father and son made their way around the track as the crowd, with the whole world watching, rose to their feet cheering. Olympic Organizers can light the skies with fireworks, they can invite kings and queens...but this was the magic of real life.
That day people saw an example of great courage, but they witnessed an even greater story about love.
Love, simply stated, is the essence of life. It can put the smile on your face, the bounce in your step, and most importantly, the joy in your heart. Even when your whole world is crumbling around you, one person holding your hand, looking into your eyes, saying "I love you" is enough to get you through.
Love is to attitude as the rain is to flowers. Surround yourself with people who love you, and whom you can love back. This, more than anything else you can do, will provide the music for your life and the fuel for your soul.
Just recently a friend included a wonderful poem by Robert Ward in her letter to me. I hope you like it as much as I did.
I wish you the courage to be warm when the world
Would prefer that you be cool.
I wish you successes sufficient to your needs;
I wish you failure to temper that success.
I wish you joy in all your days; I wish you sadness
So that you may better measure that joy.
I wish you gladness to overbalance grief.
I wish you humor and a twinkle in the eye.
I wish you glory and the strength to bear its burdens.
I wish you sunshine on your path and storms to season
Your journey.
I wish you peace in the world in which you live and in the
Smallest corner of the heart where truth is kept.
I wish you faith to help define your living and your life.
More I cannot wish you, except perhaps love, to make
All the rest worthwhile.
The Power of Attitude
by Mac Anderson
August 1992.
Derrick Redmond from Great Britain was favored to win the 400-meter race during the summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, but as he powered around the backstretch his hamstring snapped. Derrick tried desperately to finish the race, but he still had half the distance to go. Because he couldn't walk, he began to hop. One step-a grimace. Two steps-a yell.
Jim Redmond had to get to his struggling son. He doesn't remember all the steps down from Section 131, Row 22, Seat 25 of the Olympic Stadium. He doesn't really remember leaping over the railing or pushing off security guards who were too stunned to stop him. He was not just a spectator at the Olympics anymore; Jim Redmond was a father, and he had to get to his son.
"Dad," Derrick said, "Dad...Get me back to lane five. I want to finish."
And leaning on each other, father and son made their way around the track as the crowd, with the whole world watching, rose to their feet cheering. Olympic Organizers can light the skies with fireworks, they can invite kings and queens...but this was the magic of real life.
That day people saw an example of great courage, but they witnessed an even greater story about love.
Love, simply stated, is the essence of life. It can put the smile on your face, the bounce in your step, and most importantly, the joy in your heart. Even when your whole world is crumbling around you, one person holding your hand, looking into your eyes, saying "I love you" is enough to get you through.
Love is to attitude as the rain is to flowers. Surround yourself with people who love you, and whom you can love back. This, more than anything else you can do, will provide the music for your life and the fuel for your soul.
Just recently a friend included a wonderful poem by Robert Ward in her letter to me. I hope you like it as much as I did.
I wish you the courage to be warm when the world
Would prefer that you be cool.
I wish you successes sufficient to your needs;
I wish you failure to temper that success.
I wish you joy in all your days; I wish you sadness
So that you may better measure that joy.
I wish you gladness to overbalance grief.
I wish you humor and a twinkle in the eye.
I wish you glory and the strength to bear its burdens.
I wish you sunshine on your path and storms to season
Your journey.
I wish you peace in the world in which you live and in the
Smallest corner of the heart where truth is kept.
I wish you faith to help define your living and your life.
More I cannot wish you, except perhaps love, to make
All the rest worthwhile.
some thots
"Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted."
David Bly
Nobody Owes You Anything: From Gardener to Entrepreneur
The average Nicaraguan is born in a shack with a dirt floor. He earns less than $15 a week.
"E," my gardener in Nicaragua, does much better than that. But he is still, by U.S. standards, poor. Since I am in daily contact with E when I'm there, I often think about how I can help him earn more money. He wants more material goods -- and who can blame him, when he sees how "well" we gringos live (in person and on television)?
Several years ago, I was tempted to give him the few thousand dollars it would have taken to make his house one of the nicest in the hamlet where he lives. But I knew from experience that it would do him no good. It would go as quickly as it came. Given money always does.
Worse, it would reinforce the very bad idea that money comes from me to him, instead of from his own labor and ingenuity.
Because I wanted E to have a nicer house and because I wanted him to understand that money represents something of value (hard work, enterprise, etc.), I gave him the opportunity to do some extra work for me.
Since he was already being paid for gardening, I told him I'd pay him considerably more on a per-hour basis than what he was making on a salary -- but to earn it, he had to work in his spare time and develop more valuable skills.
He began by learning to paint and do a little carpentry. Then he learned how to do a bit of plumbing and electrical work.
About two years ago, we switched from hourly pay to job-related pay. This gave him the chance to learn how to estimate his time and write up bills and keep receipts and even to negotiate (with me!).
Today, he has the house I would have liked to give him years ago, but he got it with his own efforts. It wasn't a gift, and he knows it.
He's also used some of his extra earnings to build and stock a little store that sits in front of his house. His wife works there. It provides his family with a second income.
In his transformation from gardener to entrepreneur, E faced an obstacle that was greater than his lack of skills.
E went to grammar school (the only school they had) during the Sandinista years. The Sandinistas, to remind you, were Communists -- so E was taught two very dumb ideas about wealth:
Everyone is entitled to an equal share of it. ("To each according to his needs.")
Those who have more than others should give it up. ("From each according to his means.")
These ideas move very quickly into thoughts like:
"It is the responsibility of my government to take care of me."
"It is the responsibility of my boss and the business I work for to make me secure and financially successful."
When E met me, the path to wealth was through Michael Masterson because Michael Masterson, his boss, had the money that E wanted. He didn't want to have money like me. He wanted to have my money.
He saw money as a static thing. He believed that there was just so much of it in the world, and the only way to get some for himself was to get it from someone else. Since I was the only wealthy guy he knew, it made perfect sense for him to base his strategy for growing rich on "101 ways to talk Michael Masterson into giving me money."
It is a very good feeling to know that E doesn't feel like that anymore. I am still his biggest client, but he has done fix-it jobs for other homeowners in our community -- and he has the extra income from his store.
Wrongheaded ideas about wealth are not unique to Communist countries. They exist in every country of the world, including the United States.
Some people think they are entitled to be taken care of by the government. The result: They spend their time applying for government handouts.
Others think that all the profits of a company should be distributed to its workers. The result: They're never happy with what they earn.
Still others think that no one is entitled to have more money than they have. The result: They keep trying to get people they know to give them some of theirs.
None of that will make you wealthy. In fact, it will make it harder for you to acquire wealth. Every minute you spend thinking about or asking for money you didn't earn is a minute wasted and a bad habit reinforced.
Becoming wealthy in America s not difficult if you are willing to work for it. Anyone who is willing to do what E did can enjoy a much higher income and, eventually, financial independence.
It starts with recognizing that you are responsible for your own future. You must reject every idea that is about acquiring wealth for free. That includes blaming others for your situation -- however bad it may be.
The next step, as E learned, is to acquire financially valuable skills. For him, that meant painting and carpentry at first -- and later, the basics of owning a business. You probably already have a financially valuable skill -- something you know how to do better than just about anyone else you know. You can build on that by acquiring marketing skills. And then management, negotiating, and the other skills that made E the successful entrepreneur he is today.
But to begin, you must overcome inertia. Inertia is the enemy of every worthwhile goal.
Inertia is the reason you can't find the time to start developing the skills that will bring you financial independence. Or the reason you start, get busy... and then forget about it. Inertia is every excuse I have ever heard from people who return to ETR's wealth-building bootcamps year after year and tell me why they haven't yet started turning their dreams into reality.
Inertia is the problem, and there is only one way to overcome it. That way is to take action. Some significant, positive action that will get you going, even if you are not now sure exactly where you want to go.
The Internet abounds with self-help and wealth-building programs that can guide you along the way. (At ETR, we like to think that we offer some of the best.) If you have done nothing else so far, invest in one of these services today and get started on applying the lessons you learn.
And here is where the circle connects: Action is the key, but action won't happen until you decide that you are responsible for your success.
So repeat after me:
"My parents owe me nothing."
"My children owe me nothing."
"My friends owe me nothing."
"The world owes me nothing."
"I -- and no one else -- am responsible for my success."
[Ed. Note: Michael Masterson welcomes your questions and comments. Send him a message at AskMichael@ETRFeedback.com.]
David Bly
Nobody Owes You Anything: From Gardener to Entrepreneur
The average Nicaraguan is born in a shack with a dirt floor. He earns less than $15 a week.
"E," my gardener in Nicaragua, does much better than that. But he is still, by U.S. standards, poor. Since I am in daily contact with E when I'm there, I often think about how I can help him earn more money. He wants more material goods -- and who can blame him, when he sees how "well" we gringos live (in person and on television)?
Several years ago, I was tempted to give him the few thousand dollars it would have taken to make his house one of the nicest in the hamlet where he lives. But I knew from experience that it would do him no good. It would go as quickly as it came. Given money always does.
Worse, it would reinforce the very bad idea that money comes from me to him, instead of from his own labor and ingenuity.
Because I wanted E to have a nicer house and because I wanted him to understand that money represents something of value (hard work, enterprise, etc.), I gave him the opportunity to do some extra work for me.
Since he was already being paid for gardening, I told him I'd pay him considerably more on a per-hour basis than what he was making on a salary -- but to earn it, he had to work in his spare time and develop more valuable skills.
He began by learning to paint and do a little carpentry. Then he learned how to do a bit of plumbing and electrical work.
About two years ago, we switched from hourly pay to job-related pay. This gave him the chance to learn how to estimate his time and write up bills and keep receipts and even to negotiate (with me!).
Today, he has the house I would have liked to give him years ago, but he got it with his own efforts. It wasn't a gift, and he knows it.
He's also used some of his extra earnings to build and stock a little store that sits in front of his house. His wife works there. It provides his family with a second income.
In his transformation from gardener to entrepreneur, E faced an obstacle that was greater than his lack of skills.
E went to grammar school (the only school they had) during the Sandinista years. The Sandinistas, to remind you, were Communists -- so E was taught two very dumb ideas about wealth:
Everyone is entitled to an equal share of it. ("To each according to his needs.")
Those who have more than others should give it up. ("From each according to his means.")
These ideas move very quickly into thoughts like:
"It is the responsibility of my government to take care of me."
"It is the responsibility of my boss and the business I work for to make me secure and financially successful."
When E met me, the path to wealth was through Michael Masterson because Michael Masterson, his boss, had the money that E wanted. He didn't want to have money like me. He wanted to have my money.
He saw money as a static thing. He believed that there was just so much of it in the world, and the only way to get some for himself was to get it from someone else. Since I was the only wealthy guy he knew, it made perfect sense for him to base his strategy for growing rich on "101 ways to talk Michael Masterson into giving me money."
It is a very good feeling to know that E doesn't feel like that anymore. I am still his biggest client, but he has done fix-it jobs for other homeowners in our community -- and he has the extra income from his store.
Wrongheaded ideas about wealth are not unique to Communist countries. They exist in every country of the world, including the United States.
Some people think they are entitled to be taken care of by the government. The result: They spend their time applying for government handouts.
Others think that all the profits of a company should be distributed to its workers. The result: They're never happy with what they earn.
Still others think that no one is entitled to have more money than they have. The result: They keep trying to get people they know to give them some of theirs.
None of that will make you wealthy. In fact, it will make it harder for you to acquire wealth. Every minute you spend thinking about or asking for money you didn't earn is a minute wasted and a bad habit reinforced.
Becoming wealthy in America s not difficult if you are willing to work for it. Anyone who is willing to do what E did can enjoy a much higher income and, eventually, financial independence.
It starts with recognizing that you are responsible for your own future. You must reject every idea that is about acquiring wealth for free. That includes blaming others for your situation -- however bad it may be.
The next step, as E learned, is to acquire financially valuable skills. For him, that meant painting and carpentry at first -- and later, the basics of owning a business. You probably already have a financially valuable skill -- something you know how to do better than just about anyone else you know. You can build on that by acquiring marketing skills. And then management, negotiating, and the other skills that made E the successful entrepreneur he is today.
But to begin, you must overcome inertia. Inertia is the enemy of every worthwhile goal.
Inertia is the reason you can't find the time to start developing the skills that will bring you financial independence. Or the reason you start, get busy... and then forget about it. Inertia is every excuse I have ever heard from people who return to ETR's wealth-building bootcamps year after year and tell me why they haven't yet started turning their dreams into reality.
Inertia is the problem, and there is only one way to overcome it. That way is to take action. Some significant, positive action that will get you going, even if you are not now sure exactly where you want to go.
The Internet abounds with self-help and wealth-building programs that can guide you along the way. (At ETR, we like to think that we offer some of the best.) If you have done nothing else so far, invest in one of these services today and get started on applying the lessons you learn.
And here is where the circle connects: Action is the key, but action won't happen until you decide that you are responsible for your success.
So repeat after me:
"My parents owe me nothing."
"My children owe me nothing."
"My friends owe me nothing."
"The world owes me nothing."
"I -- and no one else -- am responsible for my success."
[Ed. Note: Michael Masterson welcomes your questions and comments. Send him a message at AskMichael@ETRFeedback.com.]
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is metaphysical gravity.
--Buckminster Fuller
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living.
The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
--Mark Twain
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more
than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
--George Bernard Shaw
"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."
~Pericles
Love is metaphysical gravity.
--Buckminster Fuller
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living.
The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
--Mark Twain
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more
than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
--George Bernard Shaw
"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."
~Pericles
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Numerous scientific studies show that acts of kindness result in significant health benefits, both physical and mental
It's not what happens to you that matters, what matters most is how you choose to respond. Always choose to Finish Strong!
OVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is love's reward.
--John Dryden
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Action is the foundational key to all success.
--Pablo Picasso
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Turn your wounds into wisdom.
--Oprah Winfrey
It's not what happens to you that matters, what matters most is how you choose to respond. Always choose to Finish Strong!
OVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is love's reward.
--John Dryden
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Action is the foundational key to all success.
--Pablo Picasso
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Turn your wounds into wisdom.
--Oprah Winfrey
Health Benefits of Kindness
Health Benefits of Kindness
from The Random Acts of Kindness Website
Numerous scientific studies show that acts of kindness result in significant health benefits, both physical and mental. Here are some key points:
Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders serious and minor, psychological and physical.
A rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, after performing a kind act is often referred to as a “helper’s high,” involving physical sensations and the release of the body’s natural painkillers, the endorphins. This initial rush is then followed by a longer-lasting period of improved emotional well-being.
Stress-related health problems improve after performing kind acts. Helping reverses feelings of depression, supplies social contact, and decreases feelings of hostility and isolation that can cause stress, overeating, ulcers, etc. A drop in stress may, for some people, decrease the constriction within the lungs that leads to asthma attacks.
Helping can enhance our feelings of joyfulness, emotional resilience, and vigor, and can reduce the unhealthy sense of isolation.
A decrease in both the intensity and the awareness of physical pain can occur.
The incidence of attitudes, such as chronic hostility, that negatively arouse and damage the body is reduced.
The health benefits and sense of well-being return for hours or even days whenever the helping act is remembered.
An increased sense of self-worth, greater happiness, and optimism, as well as a decrease in feelings of helplessness and depression, is achieved.
Once we establish an “affiliative connection” with someone – a relationship of friendship, love, or some sort of positive bonding – we feel emotions that can strengthen the immune system.
Adopting an altruistic lifestyle is a critical component of mental health.
The practice of caring for strangers translates to immense immune and healing benefits.
Regular club attendance, volunteering, entertaining, or faith group attendance is the happiness equivalent of getting a college degree or more than doubling your income.
Source: Luks, Allan. The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others. New York: iUniverse.com, 2001. Our thanks to the Niagara Wellness Council, Niagara Fall, NY, for compiling this list from Luks’ book. The Niagara Wellness Council may be reached by email at niagwellness@opticlick.com.
Random Acts of Kindness Week, Feb 15-21, more info - http://www.actsofkindness.org
from The Random Acts of Kindness Website
Numerous scientific studies show that acts of kindness result in significant health benefits, both physical and mental. Here are some key points:
Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders serious and minor, psychological and physical.
A rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, after performing a kind act is often referred to as a “helper’s high,” involving physical sensations and the release of the body’s natural painkillers, the endorphins. This initial rush is then followed by a longer-lasting period of improved emotional well-being.
Stress-related health problems improve after performing kind acts. Helping reverses feelings of depression, supplies social contact, and decreases feelings of hostility and isolation that can cause stress, overeating, ulcers, etc. A drop in stress may, for some people, decrease the constriction within the lungs that leads to asthma attacks.
Helping can enhance our feelings of joyfulness, emotional resilience, and vigor, and can reduce the unhealthy sense of isolation.
A decrease in both the intensity and the awareness of physical pain can occur.
The incidence of attitudes, such as chronic hostility, that negatively arouse and damage the body is reduced.
The health benefits and sense of well-being return for hours or even days whenever the helping act is remembered.
An increased sense of self-worth, greater happiness, and optimism, as well as a decrease in feelings of helplessness and depression, is achieved.
Once we establish an “affiliative connection” with someone – a relationship of friendship, love, or some sort of positive bonding – we feel emotions that can strengthen the immune system.
Adopting an altruistic lifestyle is a critical component of mental health.
The practice of caring for strangers translates to immense immune and healing benefits.
Regular club attendance, volunteering, entertaining, or faith group attendance is the happiness equivalent of getting a college degree or more than doubling your income.
Source: Luks, Allan. The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others. New York: iUniverse.com, 2001. Our thanks to the Niagara Wellness Council, Niagara Fall, NY, for compiling this list from Luks’ book. The Niagara Wellness Council may be reached by email at niagwellness@opticlick.com.
Random Acts of Kindness Week, Feb 15-21, more info - http://www.actsofkindness.org
Monday, February 01, 2010
Not Giving Up
by Kip Davis
I can remember a period in my life when I was unemployed and money was running short. I needed a job very badly and it seemed as if no one was hiring.
A very good friend of mine approached me one day with an offer. "I'm going to have to let this job go and I was wondering if you would like to take it over?"
"That would be great," I replied.
I went to speak with the manager and he said he could use me, but never gave me a start date. Really needing the job, I made it a point to go and check in with him every day.
I knew he would eventually get tired of me and give me a starting period. Finally one day he said, "You can start Monday morning."
Come Monday morning, I showed up for work extra early. I was ready to do my best. When I went inside I was informed that I would be buffing the floors. My friend was there to show me how to operate the buffer.
"It's real easy," he said, running the machine very smoothly.He handed it over to me and said, "Here, you give it a try." I grabbed the handles with a "no problem" attitude and gave it some gas. To my surprise, the buffer whipped around in a big circle, running over my friend's brand new pair of boots, and sending him jumping up on a check-out counter.
Several times, I tried to run it again and failed. I really had to fight that thing to make it go.
"What am I going to do?" I thought to myself. "I finally found a job and I can't do it. Am I going to have to tell them I have to quit?"
After several rough days of buffing, I finally made up my mind that I was going to do this. For about a week, I struggled with the buffer, putting all my weight and strength into it.
Eventually, I learned the trick was not to struggle with it at all, just go with the flow of it, and by the second week, I was showing off and running it with one hand.
A few months later, I thought back and wondered what would have happened if I had given up that first week. I certainly would not have had the newfound confidence or a paycheck.
Sometime after that experience, I started a new job that required the use of a buffer. I even had to train others to use it, and I always got a kick out of seeing them run it for the first time. I knew, though, if they stuck with it, they would do just fine; they just needed a little encouragement and a lot of practice.
Michael Jordan said, "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
"LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before
you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or
lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
--Richard Bach
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Avoid problems, and you'll never be the one who overcame them.
--Richard Bach
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Here is the test to find whether your mission on
Earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't.
--Richard Bach
At 211 degrees...water is hot.
At 212 degrees...it boils.
And with boiling water, comes steam.
And steam can power a locomotive.
And, it's that one extra degree that...
Makes all the difference.
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.
--Richard Bach
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
I don't want to do business with those who don't make
a profit, because they can't give the best service.
--Richard Bach
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth it?
--Richard Bach
The human race has only one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. The moment it arises, all your irritations and resentments slip away and the sunny spirit takes their place."
http://www.thelaughtermovie.com/?cm_mmc=Responsys-_-WK-_-1.22.10-_-LVACmovie1a
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
If you love someone, set them free. If they come back
they're yours; if they don't they never were.
--Richard Bach
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it. If we
can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim.
--Richard Bach
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Listen to what you know instead of what you fear.
--Richard Bach
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is the reason all of us are here now.
--Mr. Positive!
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Things turn out best for those who make
the best of the way things turn out.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
I never failed; I just discovered 1,000 ways in which the light bulb
would not work. And every attempt brought me closer to the knowledge
of how it would. --Thomas Edison
by Kip Davis
I can remember a period in my life when I was unemployed and money was running short. I needed a job very badly and it seemed as if no one was hiring.
A very good friend of mine approached me one day with an offer. "I'm going to have to let this job go and I was wondering if you would like to take it over?"
"That would be great," I replied.
I went to speak with the manager and he said he could use me, but never gave me a start date. Really needing the job, I made it a point to go and check in with him every day.
I knew he would eventually get tired of me and give me a starting period. Finally one day he said, "You can start Monday morning."
Come Monday morning, I showed up for work extra early. I was ready to do my best. When I went inside I was informed that I would be buffing the floors. My friend was there to show me how to operate the buffer.
"It's real easy," he said, running the machine very smoothly.He handed it over to me and said, "Here, you give it a try." I grabbed the handles with a "no problem" attitude and gave it some gas. To my surprise, the buffer whipped around in a big circle, running over my friend's brand new pair of boots, and sending him jumping up on a check-out counter.
Several times, I tried to run it again and failed. I really had to fight that thing to make it go.
"What am I going to do?" I thought to myself. "I finally found a job and I can't do it. Am I going to have to tell them I have to quit?"
After several rough days of buffing, I finally made up my mind that I was going to do this. For about a week, I struggled with the buffer, putting all my weight and strength into it.
Eventually, I learned the trick was not to struggle with it at all, just go with the flow of it, and by the second week, I was showing off and running it with one hand.
A few months later, I thought back and wondered what would have happened if I had given up that first week. I certainly would not have had the newfound confidence or a paycheck.
Sometime after that experience, I started a new job that required the use of a buffer. I even had to train others to use it, and I always got a kick out of seeing them run it for the first time. I knew, though, if they stuck with it, they would do just fine; they just needed a little encouragement and a lot of practice.
Michael Jordan said, "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
"LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before
you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or
lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
--Richard Bach
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Avoid problems, and you'll never be the one who overcame them.
--Richard Bach
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Here is the test to find whether your mission on
Earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't.
--Richard Bach
At 211 degrees...water is hot.
At 212 degrees...it boils.
And with boiling water, comes steam.
And steam can power a locomotive.
And, it's that one extra degree that...
Makes all the difference.
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.
--Richard Bach
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
I don't want to do business with those who don't make
a profit, because they can't give the best service.
--Richard Bach
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth it?
--Richard Bach
The human race has only one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. The moment it arises, all your irritations and resentments slip away and the sunny spirit takes their place."
http://www.thelaughtermovie.com/?cm_mmc=Responsys-_-WK-_-1.22.10-_-LVACmovie1a
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
If you love someone, set them free. If they come back
they're yours; if they don't they never were.
--Richard Bach
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it. If we
can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim.
--Richard Bach
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Listen to what you know instead of what you fear.
--Richard Bach
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is the reason all of us are here now.
--Mr. Positive!
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Things turn out best for those who make
the best of the way things turn out.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
I never failed; I just discovered 1,000 ways in which the light bulb
would not work. And every attempt brought me closer to the knowledge
of how it would. --Thomas Edison
SOME THOTS FOR U
"Don’t be afraid to ask dumb questions. They’re more easily handled than dumb mistakes."
~William Wister Haines
how to seek forgiveness after spreading rumours?
One day a man named Chit Chat went to the village sage feeling terrible about all the gossip and the wicked things that he had said about other people.
He said to the elder, “I feel terrible about all the rumors I have spread all my life. What can I do to make amends to the good people of the village?” The wise elder thought for a moment and then he said, “Go to the market and purchase the finest chicken you can find. Then pluck all the feathers from the chicken and bring it to me just as fast as you possibly can."
Chit Chat ran to the market and spent some time looking for the finest chicken. When he was satisfied that this was the best chicken in all the marketplace he returned at a full run while plucking feathers from the chicken along the way. By the time he got to the elders hut all the feathers were gone from the chicken.
He handed the chicken to the old sage who carefully turned it over and over until he was finally satisfied that there were no feathers on it. Then he said to Chit Chat, “Now go get me all the feathers you have plucked from the chicken."
Exasperated, the Chit Chat exclaimed, “How can I do that? The wind must've carried them a long way off and scattered them all across the land!" The old sage, looking at Chit Chat with great compassion said, "Yes that is true, and it is the same with rumors you have spread, they have gone so far and wide you can never retrieve them. I would suggest that you go and apologize to the people that you have dishonored, that is how you may gain forgivenes
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.
--Zelda Fitzgerald
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions.
--John Randolph
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.
--Gilbert K. Chesterton
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing
that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to
have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.
--Margaret Thatcher
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.
--Les Brown
Be Decisive:
Success is the intentional, pre-meditated use of choice and decision. Unless you choose - with certainty - what it is you want, you accept table scraps by default!
The world is plump with opportunity. With boldness and conviction, stick a fork into the goals you want by being decisive.
You are born with great capabilities, but you will not achieve your potential until you call upon yourself to fulfill it. You will rise to the occasion when it presents itself; yet, to assure self-fulfillment, you must provide occasions to rise to. Clearly defined goals allow you to travel toward another horizon that represents the end of one experience and the transition to a new and better existence. The objective is to choose the right goals, and then to create the necessary causes - the effects will follow!
The difference between what one person and another achieves depends more on goal choices than on abilities. The profound differences between successful people and others are the goals they choose to pursue. Individuals with smaller talents, intelligence, and abilities will achieve different results because they select and pursue different goals.
Each decision affects what you become. We form our decisions and our decisions form us. There is no escaping this; the smallest choices are important because - over time - their cumulative effect is enormous.
Never overlook the obvious: The nature and direction of your life change the instant you decide what goals you want to pursue.
Once you make a decision, you start down a path to a new destination. At the moment the decision is made, your decision to pursue a goal alters what you are becoming. Just one spin of the lock's dial - a single choice - can alter your life, your destiny, your legacy.
Think about it - your goal decisions represent and express your individuality. You seal your fate with the choices you make. You define yourself by your decisions.
Your dialogue with success is ultimately a solo one. Decisions and goals made must be your own if you are to call your life a success.
Always establish the best goals you can. Goals are the seeds of success - you become only what you plant. The quality of your harvest is a direct reflection of the quality of your seeds-your decisions!
Indecision is the big eraser of opportunity and potential. Risks and costs accompany every decision; however, the price of decision is far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. When it comes to decisiveness, squatters have no rights.
Everyone has an official wish list of things they think are "reasonable". What about the unofficial wish list? The one that common sense tells you to ignore? The list that exists deep in your mind, the list that keeps you up at night, that makes your toes wiggle when you think of it? Why not choose that list for a change?
How long have you dreamed of being, having, and doing what you really want? Think big, as when it comes to your goals, the size of your ambition does matter.
"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins . . . not through strength but by perseverance."
~H. Jackson Brown
"A person struggles. You help. A door needs to be opened. You open it. A piece of trash is in your path. You pick it up and throw it away. A child needs some extra attention. You give it. A job needs to be completed. You do it.
"One more act of kindness a week will add 52 moments of inspiration to your year. Push it to two a week and you add more than 100. Imagine the possibilities."
~Sam Parker and Mac Anderson
212: The Extra Degre
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is the immortal flow of energy that nourishes,
extends and preserves. Its eternal goal is life.
--Smiley Blanton
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it
with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.
--Henry Ward Beecher
n Excerpt from
Charging the Human Battery
by Mac Anderson
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital," he continued; "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.
It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.
There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.
It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 year old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
~William Wister Haines
how to seek forgiveness after spreading rumours?
One day a man named Chit Chat went to the village sage feeling terrible about all the gossip and the wicked things that he had said about other people.
He said to the elder, “I feel terrible about all the rumors I have spread all my life. What can I do to make amends to the good people of the village?” The wise elder thought for a moment and then he said, “Go to the market and purchase the finest chicken you can find. Then pluck all the feathers from the chicken and bring it to me just as fast as you possibly can."
Chit Chat ran to the market and spent some time looking for the finest chicken. When he was satisfied that this was the best chicken in all the marketplace he returned at a full run while plucking feathers from the chicken along the way. By the time he got to the elders hut all the feathers were gone from the chicken.
He handed the chicken to the old sage who carefully turned it over and over until he was finally satisfied that there were no feathers on it. Then he said to Chit Chat, “Now go get me all the feathers you have plucked from the chicken."
Exasperated, the Chit Chat exclaimed, “How can I do that? The wind must've carried them a long way off and scattered them all across the land!" The old sage, looking at Chit Chat with great compassion said, "Yes that is true, and it is the same with rumors you have spread, they have gone so far and wide you can never retrieve them. I would suggest that you go and apologize to the people that you have dishonored, that is how you may gain forgivenes
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.
--Zelda Fitzgerald
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions.
--John Randolph
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.
--Gilbert K. Chesterton
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing
that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to
have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.
--Margaret Thatcher
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.
--Les Brown
Be Decisive:
Success is the intentional, pre-meditated use of choice and decision. Unless you choose - with certainty - what it is you want, you accept table scraps by default!
The world is plump with opportunity. With boldness and conviction, stick a fork into the goals you want by being decisive.
You are born with great capabilities, but you will not achieve your potential until you call upon yourself to fulfill it. You will rise to the occasion when it presents itself; yet, to assure self-fulfillment, you must provide occasions to rise to. Clearly defined goals allow you to travel toward another horizon that represents the end of one experience and the transition to a new and better existence. The objective is to choose the right goals, and then to create the necessary causes - the effects will follow!
The difference between what one person and another achieves depends more on goal choices than on abilities. The profound differences between successful people and others are the goals they choose to pursue. Individuals with smaller talents, intelligence, and abilities will achieve different results because they select and pursue different goals.
Each decision affects what you become. We form our decisions and our decisions form us. There is no escaping this; the smallest choices are important because - over time - their cumulative effect is enormous.
Never overlook the obvious: The nature and direction of your life change the instant you decide what goals you want to pursue.
Once you make a decision, you start down a path to a new destination. At the moment the decision is made, your decision to pursue a goal alters what you are becoming. Just one spin of the lock's dial - a single choice - can alter your life, your destiny, your legacy.
Think about it - your goal decisions represent and express your individuality. You seal your fate with the choices you make. You define yourself by your decisions.
Your dialogue with success is ultimately a solo one. Decisions and goals made must be your own if you are to call your life a success.
Always establish the best goals you can. Goals are the seeds of success - you become only what you plant. The quality of your harvest is a direct reflection of the quality of your seeds-your decisions!
Indecision is the big eraser of opportunity and potential. Risks and costs accompany every decision; however, the price of decision is far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. When it comes to decisiveness, squatters have no rights.
Everyone has an official wish list of things they think are "reasonable". What about the unofficial wish list? The one that common sense tells you to ignore? The list that exists deep in your mind, the list that keeps you up at night, that makes your toes wiggle when you think of it? Why not choose that list for a change?
How long have you dreamed of being, having, and doing what you really want? Think big, as when it comes to your goals, the size of your ambition does matter.
"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins . . . not through strength but by perseverance."
~H. Jackson Brown
"A person struggles. You help. A door needs to be opened. You open it. A piece of trash is in your path. You pick it up and throw it away. A child needs some extra attention. You give it. A job needs to be completed. You do it.
"One more act of kindness a week will add 52 moments of inspiration to your year. Push it to two a week and you add more than 100. Imagine the possibilities."
~Sam Parker and Mac Anderson
212: The Extra Degre
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Love is the immortal flow of energy that nourishes,
extends and preserves. Its eternal goal is life.
--Smiley Blanton
LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it
with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.
--Henry Ward Beecher
n Excerpt from
Charging the Human Battery
by Mac Anderson
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital," he continued; "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.
It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.
There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.
It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 year old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
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