"The best way to inspire people to superior performance is to convince them by everything you do and by your everyday attitude that you are wholeheartedly supporting them."
~Harold S. Geneen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
good thots
I’ve learned that life is like a carnival with all its sights and sounds; sometimes you need to skip the rides and just hang out with the clowns!"
~Linda Ellis
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can."
~Danny Kaye
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~Linda Ellis
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can."
~Danny Kaye
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 23, 2010
good thots
"What you love and God's will for you are
one and the same."
- from The Passion Test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
one and the same."
- from The Passion Test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
good thots
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change is not easy, but it is simple. Things will always change. We don’t have a choice about that. But we do have a choice about how we react to change. It really boils down to this…either we manage change, or it will manage us."
~Mac Anderson
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
~Martin Luther King Jr.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from: Secrets of the World Class,
by Steve Siebold
When average performers have had enough for the day and call it quits, champions are usually just getting started. Discipline is the watchword of great performers. Discipline makes the difference between the good and the great. The great ones will tell you discipline is more of a decision than it is an active skill. It's the ability to stay the course and complete promises you've made. The fulfillment of these promises builds confidence and self-esteem, which eventually leads champions to believe almost anything is possible. It's a habit and a self-fulfilling prophecy built into one. Discipline is a logic-based decision that performers adhere to, regardless of whether they feel like it or not.
Discipline pushes performers past pain and punishment. As my late business partner and mentor Bill Gove always said, "It's easier to get yourself into good thinking than it is to think yourself into good action." This is the mindset of the champion. The great ones, like Bill Gove, don't let feelings interfere with their performance. Instead, they harness the power of their emotional motivators to propel them past the competition. Average people see discipline as a painful chore to be avoided at all costs. The world class sees it as the ultimate power tool for performance.
Action Step for Today:
On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being most disciplined, how disciplined are you in the different areas of your life?
Categories include:
Business/ Career
Family/ Friends
Money/ Finances
Recreation/ Fun
Health/ Diet/ Exercise
Faith/ Spiritual
Personal/ Development
If you want to improve your life or advance your career, this book could help change your thinking. It's filled with 26 Secrets of the World Class, along with action steps and additional resources to help you turn mediocrity into greatness in every area of your life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Excerpt from Attitude is Everything, by Vicki Hitzges)
Keep an Attitude of Gratitude
Years ago, I was the public relations director for motivational guru, Zig Ziglar. At the time, he was arguably the best-known, most loved speaker in the world. When audience members heard Zig, they witnessed a man chockfull of energy, vitality and joy. Having worked closely with him and knowing him well, I can tell you that the Zig you saw on stage was the real Zig Ziglar. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing him when he was not happy and upbeat.
The Zig I knew was one carbonated guy.
Every time Zig answered his home phone, he picked up the receiver and said with gusto, "This is Jean Ziglar's happy husband!" And he meant it!
Awhile back one of Zig's closest friends and I were discussing Zig's aura of happiness. "Completely genuine," his friend said. "I have never seen him down." Then he added thoughtfully, but with love, "Hardly what you'd call normal."
"What's Zig's secret?" I asked.
"I think," he said, "it comes down to feeling grateful. Never met a guy more grateful than Zig. Period."
You'd think anyone that grateful must have had an easy life. But that's not so.
Zig started out poor. Dirt poor. His father died when he was six, leaving his mother to raise eleven children alone. The family was virtually penniless. Yet despite their poverty, Mrs. Ziglar instilled a strong work ethic in her children and raised them to believe that both she and God loved them. She also instructed her children to practice saying "please" and "thank you." Those lessons stuck. Her formula of work, love and faith made their difficult lives easier. Gratitude made their lives enjoyable.
Zig once told me, "When we neglect to require our children to say `thank you' when someone gives them a gift or does something for them, we raise ungrateful children who are highly unlikely to be content. Without gratitude, happiness is rare. With gratitude, the odds for happiness go up dramatically."
Years ago, Zig created the popular phrase, "Have an attitude of gratitude." According to Zig, "The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for."
I know firsthand that giving thanks brings joy. Awhile back, I heard Oprah Winfrey urge viewers to keep a Gratitude Journal. It seemed pretty schmaltzy to me, so I didn't do it. But Oprah was a jackhammer. Day after day, week after week, she kept pounding on that idea. I'd catch her show here and there. Same thing: Keep a Gratitude Journal. A few months later, I was speaking to a government group and staying in a cruddy hotel. I was seated at the hotel's indoor restaurant by a swimming pool reeking with enough chlorine to purify the Love Canal. As I waited impatiently for my meal to arrive, I suddenly remembered Oprah's directive. What the heck? I had a pen and some scrap paper.
I listed my mother who spent time each day praying for me. I wrote down my father who deeply loves me. My kind, funny brother and his family. My job and the opportunity to travel and encourage people. Friends. Laughter. For the fact that I had a place to sleep that was safe. For a private bathroom. (You start listing - you begin to get thankful!) I quickly listed about 30 things and noticed that not only did I have a lot to be thankful for, but suddenly I was in a terrific mood!
Publisher Malcolm Margolin was grateful for something that's right outside our doors, but most of us have never taken the time to experience it. He wrote, "The next time it begins to rain... lie down on your belly, nestle your chin into the grass, and get a frog's-eye view of how raindrops fall... The sight of hundreds of blades of grass bowing down and popping back up like piano keys strikes me as one of the merriest sights in the world."
That might strike you as advice from a person with not nearly enough to do, but personally, I like it. If Margolin can feel joy in soggy clothes looking at wet grass, you and I can find all kinds of things for which we can give thanks!
Try it! Count your blessings. Jot them down. At least stop and think of as many things as you can that you're thankful for right now. It worked for Oprah, Zig, Margolin and me. Give it a shot. If you want to feel happy, try on an attitude of gratitude for a change in your mood, your outlook and you.
Attitude is Everything is a great resource to keep you positive everyday. It also makes a wonderful gift for friends, family and members of your team. It's filled with wonderful stories, great quotes and many "a-ha" moments that'll turn the switch from "off" to "on."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you are clear, what you choose to create
in your life will show up, and only to the
extent you are clear."
- From The Passion Test
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change is not easy, but it is simple. Things will always change. We don’t have a choice about that. But we do have a choice about how we react to change. It really boils down to this…either we manage change, or it will manage us."
~Mac Anderson
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
~Martin Luther King Jr.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from: Secrets of the World Class,
by Steve Siebold
When average performers have had enough for the day and call it quits, champions are usually just getting started. Discipline is the watchword of great performers. Discipline makes the difference between the good and the great. The great ones will tell you discipline is more of a decision than it is an active skill. It's the ability to stay the course and complete promises you've made. The fulfillment of these promises builds confidence and self-esteem, which eventually leads champions to believe almost anything is possible. It's a habit and a self-fulfilling prophecy built into one. Discipline is a logic-based decision that performers adhere to, regardless of whether they feel like it or not.
Discipline pushes performers past pain and punishment. As my late business partner and mentor Bill Gove always said, "It's easier to get yourself into good thinking than it is to think yourself into good action." This is the mindset of the champion. The great ones, like Bill Gove, don't let feelings interfere with their performance. Instead, they harness the power of their emotional motivators to propel them past the competition. Average people see discipline as a painful chore to be avoided at all costs. The world class sees it as the ultimate power tool for performance.
Action Step for Today:
On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being most disciplined, how disciplined are you in the different areas of your life?
Categories include:
Business/ Career
Family/ Friends
Money/ Finances
Recreation/ Fun
Health/ Diet/ Exercise
Faith/ Spiritual
Personal/ Development
If you want to improve your life or advance your career, this book could help change your thinking. It's filled with 26 Secrets of the World Class, along with action steps and additional resources to help you turn mediocrity into greatness in every area of your life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Excerpt from Attitude is Everything, by Vicki Hitzges)
Keep an Attitude of Gratitude
Years ago, I was the public relations director for motivational guru, Zig Ziglar. At the time, he was arguably the best-known, most loved speaker in the world. When audience members heard Zig, they witnessed a man chockfull of energy, vitality and joy. Having worked closely with him and knowing him well, I can tell you that the Zig you saw on stage was the real Zig Ziglar. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing him when he was not happy and upbeat.
The Zig I knew was one carbonated guy.
Every time Zig answered his home phone, he picked up the receiver and said with gusto, "This is Jean Ziglar's happy husband!" And he meant it!
Awhile back one of Zig's closest friends and I were discussing Zig's aura of happiness. "Completely genuine," his friend said. "I have never seen him down." Then he added thoughtfully, but with love, "Hardly what you'd call normal."
"What's Zig's secret?" I asked.
"I think," he said, "it comes down to feeling grateful. Never met a guy more grateful than Zig. Period."
You'd think anyone that grateful must have had an easy life. But that's not so.
Zig started out poor. Dirt poor. His father died when he was six, leaving his mother to raise eleven children alone. The family was virtually penniless. Yet despite their poverty, Mrs. Ziglar instilled a strong work ethic in her children and raised them to believe that both she and God loved them. She also instructed her children to practice saying "please" and "thank you." Those lessons stuck. Her formula of work, love and faith made their difficult lives easier. Gratitude made their lives enjoyable.
Zig once told me, "When we neglect to require our children to say `thank you' when someone gives them a gift or does something for them, we raise ungrateful children who are highly unlikely to be content. Without gratitude, happiness is rare. With gratitude, the odds for happiness go up dramatically."
Years ago, Zig created the popular phrase, "Have an attitude of gratitude." According to Zig, "The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for."
I know firsthand that giving thanks brings joy. Awhile back, I heard Oprah Winfrey urge viewers to keep a Gratitude Journal. It seemed pretty schmaltzy to me, so I didn't do it. But Oprah was a jackhammer. Day after day, week after week, she kept pounding on that idea. I'd catch her show here and there. Same thing: Keep a Gratitude Journal. A few months later, I was speaking to a government group and staying in a cruddy hotel. I was seated at the hotel's indoor restaurant by a swimming pool reeking with enough chlorine to purify the Love Canal. As I waited impatiently for my meal to arrive, I suddenly remembered Oprah's directive. What the heck? I had a pen and some scrap paper.
I listed my mother who spent time each day praying for me. I wrote down my father who deeply loves me. My kind, funny brother and his family. My job and the opportunity to travel and encourage people. Friends. Laughter. For the fact that I had a place to sleep that was safe. For a private bathroom. (You start listing - you begin to get thankful!) I quickly listed about 30 things and noticed that not only did I have a lot to be thankful for, but suddenly I was in a terrific mood!
Publisher Malcolm Margolin was grateful for something that's right outside our doors, but most of us have never taken the time to experience it. He wrote, "The next time it begins to rain... lie down on your belly, nestle your chin into the grass, and get a frog's-eye view of how raindrops fall... The sight of hundreds of blades of grass bowing down and popping back up like piano keys strikes me as one of the merriest sights in the world."
That might strike you as advice from a person with not nearly enough to do, but personally, I like it. If Margolin can feel joy in soggy clothes looking at wet grass, you and I can find all kinds of things for which we can give thanks!
Try it! Count your blessings. Jot them down. At least stop and think of as many things as you can that you're thankful for right now. It worked for Oprah, Zig, Margolin and me. Give it a shot. If you want to feel happy, try on an attitude of gratitude for a change in your mood, your outlook and you.
Attitude is Everything is a great resource to keep you positive everyday. It also makes a wonderful gift for friends, family and members of your team. It's filled with wonderful stories, great quotes and many "a-ha" moments that'll turn the switch from "off" to "on."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you are clear, what you choose to create
in your life will show up, and only to the
extent you are clear."
- From The Passion Test
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
good thots
Distinctive Ring Tones
So we see, to play successfully the game of life, we must train the imaging faculty. A person with an imaging faculty trained to image only good, brings into his life "every righteous desire of his heart" - health, wealth, love, friends, perfect self-expression, his highest ideals.
— Florence Scovel Shinn
In the film Tin Cup, Kevin Costner’s character proclaims, “When the defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you.” We have been led to believe that life determines who we are, when at every moment we determine what our life is.
One strong metaphor for attuning to your unique guidance is the cell phone. Most people have a unique cell phone ring tone. We choose melodies and songs that we enjoy and that represent our unique taste and style. When cell phones first became popular, there were no distinctive tones, so when I stood in line at an airport, for example, a cell phone would ring and five people would each reach for their phone, in case someone was calling them. Now the rings are so distinctive that you reach for your call and not someone else’s.
Your soul’s calling also has a distinct tone. When your inner voice speaks to you it bestows a feeling of peace, ease, flow, aliveness, and a sense of coming home. By contrast, the voice of the ego, or fear, is burdensome, demanding, and disquieting. When considering whether to hearken to a voice within you, test its frequency. Is it broadcasting from fear, or love? Practice picking up the phone for love calls and refuse to answer the fear calls. As a Chasidic sage nobly stated, “Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.”
Do you recognize the frequency of your own true inner voice?
Considering a decision before you, what does the voice of love say to you?
I listen to the my own true voice and I act on it with confidence.
I am always guided to my greater good.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So we see, to play successfully the game of life, we must train the imaging faculty. A person with an imaging faculty trained to image only good, brings into his life "every righteous desire of his heart" - health, wealth, love, friends, perfect self-expression, his highest ideals.
— Florence Scovel Shinn
In the film Tin Cup, Kevin Costner’s character proclaims, “When the defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you.” We have been led to believe that life determines who we are, when at every moment we determine what our life is.
One strong metaphor for attuning to your unique guidance is the cell phone. Most people have a unique cell phone ring tone. We choose melodies and songs that we enjoy and that represent our unique taste and style. When cell phones first became popular, there were no distinctive tones, so when I stood in line at an airport, for example, a cell phone would ring and five people would each reach for their phone, in case someone was calling them. Now the rings are so distinctive that you reach for your call and not someone else’s.
Your soul’s calling also has a distinct tone. When your inner voice speaks to you it bestows a feeling of peace, ease, flow, aliveness, and a sense of coming home. By contrast, the voice of the ego, or fear, is burdensome, demanding, and disquieting. When considering whether to hearken to a voice within you, test its frequency. Is it broadcasting from fear, or love? Practice picking up the phone for love calls and refuse to answer the fear calls. As a Chasidic sage nobly stated, “Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.”
Do you recognize the frequency of your own true inner voice?
Considering a decision before you, what does the voice of love say to you?
I listen to the my own true voice and I act on it with confidence.
I am always guided to my greater good.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, August 19, 2010
good thots
Laugh loud, and laugh often. It’ll keep you happy, keep you healthy, and keep your attitude headed in a positive direction."
~Mac Anderson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What you love and God's will for you are
one and the same."
- from The Passion Test
It's not an accident you love the things you
love. It's not an accident you care about the
things you care about.
Neither is it an accident when you find your-
self miserable or unhappy. This is the sign
or signal that you are off the path of passion.
Follow the loves in your life and you will have
all the joy, all the success, all the wishes
of your deepest heart.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------No stream or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined."
~Harry E. Fosdick
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction from The Power of Discipline
By Brian Tracy
Why are some people more successful than others? Why do some people make more money, live happier lives and accomplish much more in the same number of years than the great majority?
I started out in life with few advantages. I did not graduate from high school. I worked at menial jobs. I had limited education, limited skills and a limited future.
And then I began asking, "Why are some people more successful than others?" This question changed my life.
Over the years, I have read thousands of books and articles on the subjects of success and achievement. It seems that the reasons for these accomplishments have been discussed and written about for more than two thousand years, in every conceivable way. One quality that most philosophers, teachers and experts agree on is the importance of self-discipline. As Al Tomsik summarized it years ago, "Success is tons of discipline."
Some years ago, I attended a conference in Washington. It was the lunch break and I was eating at a nearby food fair. The area was crowded and I sat down at the last open table by myself, even though it was a table for four.
A few minutes later, an older gentleman and a younger woman who was his assistant came along carrying trays of food, obviously looking for a place to sit.
With plenty of room at my table, I immediately arose and invited the older gentleman to join me. He was hesitant, but I insisted. Finally, thanking me as he sat down, we began to chat over lunch.
It turned out that his name was Kop Kopmeyer. As it happened, I immediately knew who he was. He was a legend in the field of success and achievement. Kop Kopmeyer had written four large books, each of which contained 250 success principles that he had derived from more than fifty years of research and study. I had read all four books from cover to cover, more than once.
After we had chatted for awhile, I asked him the question that many people in this situation would ask, "Of all the one thousand success principles that you have discovered, which do you think is the most important?"
He smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye, as if he had been asked this question many times, and replied, without hesitating, "The most important success principle of all was stated by Thomas Huxley many years ago. He said, "Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."
He went on to say, "There are 999 other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work."
Self-discipline is the key to personal greatness. It is the magic quality that opens all doors for you, and makes everything else possible. With self-discipline, the average person can rise as far and as fast as his talents and intelligence can take him. But without self-discipline, a person with every blessing of background, education and opportunity will seldom rise above mediocrity.
In the pages ahead I will describe seven areas of your life where the practice of self-discipline will be key to your success. These areas include goals, character, time management, personal health, money, courage and responsibility. It is my hope that you'll find a few "nuggets" that will help make your dreams come true.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny."
~Unknown
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep your face to the sunshine and you will not see the shadows."
~Helen Keller
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What nourishes you is not vitamins in food. It is the joy you feel in eating it.
-- Ramtha
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part of you thinks that you are not going to die because part of you is not going to die.
-- Alan Cohen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In every person is hidden a child who wants to play."
~Harvey Ruben
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This would be a fine world if all men showed as much patience all the time as they do while they're waiting for fish to bite."
~Vaughn Monroe
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.
-- Source unknown
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest mistake people make in life is not
making a living at doing what they most enjoy."
- Malcolm S. Forbes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You believe that a lover will bring you love, but it is your love that will bring you a lover.
-- Alan Cohen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
~Ben Franklin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without question, the art of listening is one of the most underestimated keys to success. I want you to stop and think about the friends you really enjoy being with, the bosses you've enjoyed working for, and I'd be willing to bet they all have one thing in common . . . they're good listeners."
~Mac Anderson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Give up your identity as a seeker, and become a finder. Then everything you ever sought will find you.
-- Alan Cohen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are more likely to create success when you are relaxed about a result than when you are uptight about it.
-- Alan Cohen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
-- Charles Du Bos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insanity doesn't run in my family. It gallops."
~Cary Grant
The best time to give advice to your children is while they're still young enough to believe you know what you're talking about."
~Evan Esar
When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift beats a face-lift any day.
-- Marty Bucella
~Mac Anderson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What you love and God's will for you are
one and the same."
- from The Passion Test
It's not an accident you love the things you
love. It's not an accident you care about the
things you care about.
Neither is it an accident when you find your-
self miserable or unhappy. This is the sign
or signal that you are off the path of passion.
Follow the loves in your life and you will have
all the joy, all the success, all the wishes
of your deepest heart.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------No stream or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined."
~Harry E. Fosdick
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction from The Power of Discipline
By Brian Tracy
Why are some people more successful than others? Why do some people make more money, live happier lives and accomplish much more in the same number of years than the great majority?
I started out in life with few advantages. I did not graduate from high school. I worked at menial jobs. I had limited education, limited skills and a limited future.
And then I began asking, "Why are some people more successful than others?" This question changed my life.
Over the years, I have read thousands of books and articles on the subjects of success and achievement. It seems that the reasons for these accomplishments have been discussed and written about for more than two thousand years, in every conceivable way. One quality that most philosophers, teachers and experts agree on is the importance of self-discipline. As Al Tomsik summarized it years ago, "Success is tons of discipline."
Some years ago, I attended a conference in Washington. It was the lunch break and I was eating at a nearby food fair. The area was crowded and I sat down at the last open table by myself, even though it was a table for four.
A few minutes later, an older gentleman and a younger woman who was his assistant came along carrying trays of food, obviously looking for a place to sit.
With plenty of room at my table, I immediately arose and invited the older gentleman to join me. He was hesitant, but I insisted. Finally, thanking me as he sat down, we began to chat over lunch.
It turned out that his name was Kop Kopmeyer. As it happened, I immediately knew who he was. He was a legend in the field of success and achievement. Kop Kopmeyer had written four large books, each of which contained 250 success principles that he had derived from more than fifty years of research and study. I had read all four books from cover to cover, more than once.
After we had chatted for awhile, I asked him the question that many people in this situation would ask, "Of all the one thousand success principles that you have discovered, which do you think is the most important?"
He smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye, as if he had been asked this question many times, and replied, without hesitating, "The most important success principle of all was stated by Thomas Huxley many years ago. He said, "Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."
He went on to say, "There are 999 other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work."
Self-discipline is the key to personal greatness. It is the magic quality that opens all doors for you, and makes everything else possible. With self-discipline, the average person can rise as far and as fast as his talents and intelligence can take him. But without self-discipline, a person with every blessing of background, education and opportunity will seldom rise above mediocrity.
In the pages ahead I will describe seven areas of your life where the practice of self-discipline will be key to your success. These areas include goals, character, time management, personal health, money, courage and responsibility. It is my hope that you'll find a few "nuggets" that will help make your dreams come true.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny."
~Unknown
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep your face to the sunshine and you will not see the shadows."
~Helen Keller
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What nourishes you is not vitamins in food. It is the joy you feel in eating it.
-- Ramtha
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part of you thinks that you are not going to die because part of you is not going to die.
-- Alan Cohen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In every person is hidden a child who wants to play."
~Harvey Ruben
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This would be a fine world if all men showed as much patience all the time as they do while they're waiting for fish to bite."
~Vaughn Monroe
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.
-- Source unknown
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest mistake people make in life is not
making a living at doing what they most enjoy."
- Malcolm S. Forbes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You believe that a lover will bring you love, but it is your love that will bring you a lover.
-- Alan Cohen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
~Ben Franklin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without question, the art of listening is one of the most underestimated keys to success. I want you to stop and think about the friends you really enjoy being with, the bosses you've enjoyed working for, and I'd be willing to bet they all have one thing in common . . . they're good listeners."
~Mac Anderson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Give up your identity as a seeker, and become a finder. Then everything you ever sought will find you.
-- Alan Cohen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are more likely to create success when you are relaxed about a result than when you are uptight about it.
-- Alan Cohen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
-- Charles Du Bos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insanity doesn't run in my family. It gallops."
~Cary Grant
The best time to give advice to your children is while they're still young enough to believe you know what you're talking about."
~Evan Esar
When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift beats a face-lift any day.
-- Marty Bucella
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
good thots
Are you living in the present moment?
Jeanette M. Pintar
We always hear people talking about living in the present moment.
But what does that really mean?
Obviously we’re all here right now in this moment.
But are we fully here? Or are our thoughts drifting to what the boss
said, when we have to meet our friend or pick up the kids,
the chores that need to be done, and how lousy the day was?
Life is a beautiful and precious thing.
Each of us was created in love to give love and receive love.
Yet we often feel very alone and un-loved.
Perhaps this is because we block out the love which is meant
to flow through us with our distracting thoughts.
Because we’re so focused on everything else we don’t allow
ourselves to see and experience the love directed toward us.
If we can allow ourselves to focus on those we’re connecting
with and bring an attitude of openness and love to the experience,
we become present in the moment.
We heighten our awareness of the positive energy, love and sense
of connection we have with those we care for.
Perhaps that’s really what being present in the moment is about?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Excerpt from
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!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
~T.S. Eliot
How can you learn and grow when you never step out and try something new and exciting? There is never a lack of resources, only a lack of ideas. Without risk, there can be no progress. All of us only have so much sand left in the hourglass, and one day our sand will run out. The time to risk is now and the great ones know it."
~Steve Siebold
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeanette M. Pintar
We always hear people talking about living in the present moment.
But what does that really mean?
Obviously we’re all here right now in this moment.
But are we fully here? Or are our thoughts drifting to what the boss
said, when we have to meet our friend or pick up the kids,
the chores that need to be done, and how lousy the day was?
Life is a beautiful and precious thing.
Each of us was created in love to give love and receive love.
Yet we often feel very alone and un-loved.
Perhaps this is because we block out the love which is meant
to flow through us with our distracting thoughts.
Because we’re so focused on everything else we don’t allow
ourselves to see and experience the love directed toward us.
If we can allow ourselves to focus on those we’re connecting
with and bring an attitude of openness and love to the experience,
we become present in the moment.
We heighten our awareness of the positive energy, love and sense
of connection we have with those we care for.
Perhaps that’s really what being present in the moment is about?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Excerpt from
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!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
~T.S. Eliot
How can you learn and grow when you never step out and try something new and exciting? There is never a lack of resources, only a lack of ideas. Without risk, there can be no progress. All of us only have so much sand left in the hourglass, and one day our sand will run out. The time to risk is now and the great ones know it."
~Steve Siebold
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, August 07, 2010
good thots
"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future."
~Paul Boese
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
-- William Hutchinson Murray
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Introduction from
The Right to Lead
by John Maxwell
WHAT GIVES A MAN OR WOMAN THE RIGHT TO LEAD?
It certainly isn't gained by election or appointment. Having position, title, rank, or degrees doesn't qualify anyone to lead other people. And the ability doesn't come automatically from age or experience, either. No, it would be accurate to say that no one can be given the right to lead. The right to lead can only be earned. And that takes time.
The Kind of Leader Others Want to Follow
The key to becoming an effective leader is not to focus on making other people follow, but on making yourself the kind of person they want to follow. You must become someone others can trust to take them where they want to go. As you prepare yourself to become a better leader, use the following guidelines to help you grow:
1. Let go of your ego.
The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people. Perhaps that is why Lawrence D. Bell remarked, "Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things, and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things."
2. Become a good follower first.
Rare is the effective leader who didn't learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United States Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first - and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.
3. Build positive relationships.
Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. That means it is by nature relational. Today's generation of leaders seem particularly aware of this because title and position mean so little to them. They know intuitively that people go along with people they get along with.
4. Work with excellence.
No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.
5. Rely on discipline, not emotion.
Leadership is often easy during the good times. It's when everything seems to be against you - when you're out of energy, and you don't want to lead - that you earn your place as a leader. During every season of life, leaders face crucial moments when they must choose between gearing up or giving up. To make it through those times, rely on the rock of discipline, not the shifting sand of emotion.
6. Make adding value your goal.
When you look at the leaders whose names are revered long after they have finished leading, you find that they were men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential. That is the highest calling of leadership - and its highest value.
7. Give your power away.
One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. You're meant to be a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.
In The Right to Lead, you will hear from and read about people who have done these same things and earned the right to lead others. Because of the courage they found and the character they displayed, other people recognized their admirable qualities and felt compelled to follow them.
The followers who looked to these leaders learned from them, and so can we. As you explore their worlds and words, remember that it takes time to become worthy of followers. Leadership isn't learned or earned in a moment.
~John Maxwell
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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?
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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they're supposed to help you discover who you are."
~Bernice Johnson Reagon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~Paul Boese
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
-- William Hutchinson Murray
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Introduction from
The Right to Lead
by John Maxwell
WHAT GIVES A MAN OR WOMAN THE RIGHT TO LEAD?
It certainly isn't gained by election or appointment. Having position, title, rank, or degrees doesn't qualify anyone to lead other people. And the ability doesn't come automatically from age or experience, either. No, it would be accurate to say that no one can be given the right to lead. The right to lead can only be earned. And that takes time.
The Kind of Leader Others Want to Follow
The key to becoming an effective leader is not to focus on making other people follow, but on making yourself the kind of person they want to follow. You must become someone others can trust to take them where they want to go. As you prepare yourself to become a better leader, use the following guidelines to help you grow:
1. Let go of your ego.
The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people. Perhaps that is why Lawrence D. Bell remarked, "Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things, and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things."
2. Become a good follower first.
Rare is the effective leader who didn't learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United States Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first - and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.
3. Build positive relationships.
Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. That means it is by nature relational. Today's generation of leaders seem particularly aware of this because title and position mean so little to them. They know intuitively that people go along with people they get along with.
4. Work with excellence.
No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.
5. Rely on discipline, not emotion.
Leadership is often easy during the good times. It's when everything seems to be against you - when you're out of energy, and you don't want to lead - that you earn your place as a leader. During every season of life, leaders face crucial moments when they must choose between gearing up or giving up. To make it through those times, rely on the rock of discipline, not the shifting sand of emotion.
6. Make adding value your goal.
When you look at the leaders whose names are revered long after they have finished leading, you find that they were men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential. That is the highest calling of leadership - and its highest value.
7. Give your power away.
One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. You're meant to be a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.
In The Right to Lead, you will hear from and read about people who have done these same things and earned the right to lead others. Because of the courage they found and the character they displayed, other people recognized their admirable qualities and felt compelled to follow them.
The followers who looked to these leaders learned from them, and so can we. As you explore their worlds and words, remember that it takes time to become worthy of followers. Leadership isn't learned or earned in a moment.
~John Maxwell
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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?
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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they're supposed to help you discover who you are."
~Bernice Johnson Reagon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, August 05, 2010
An Excerpt from The 100/0 Principle by Al Ritter
An Excerpt from
The 100/0 Principle
by Al Ritter
What is the most effective way to create and sustain great relationships with others? It's The 100/0 Principle: You take full responsibility (the 100) for the relationship, expecting nothing (the 0) in return.
Implementing The 100/0 Principle is not natural for most of us. It takes real commitment to the relationship and a good dose of self-discipline to think, act and give 100 percent.
The 100/0 Principle applies to those people in your life where the relationships are too important to react automatically or judgmentally. Each of us must determine the relationships to which this principle should apply. For most of us, it applies to work associates, customers, suppliers, family and friends.
STEP 1 - Determine what you can do to make the relationship work...then do it. Demonstrate respect and kindness to the other person, whether he/she deserves it or not.
STEP 2 - Do not expect anything in return. Zero, zip, nada.
STEP 3 - Do not allow anything the other person says or does (no matter how annoying!) to affect you. In other words, don't take the bait.
STEP 4 - Be persistent with your graciousness and kindness. Often we give up too soon, especially when others don't respond in kind. Remember to expect nothing in return.
At times (usually few), the relationship can remain challenging, even toxic, despite your 100 percent commitment and self-discipline. When this occurs, you need to avoid being the "Knower" and shift to being the "Learner." Avoid Knower statements/ thoughts like "that won't work," "I'm right, you are wrong," "I know it and you don't," "I'll teach you," "that's just the way it is," "I need to tell you what I know," etc.
Instead use Learner statements/thoughts like "Let me find out what is going on and try to understand the situation," "I could be wrong," "I wonder if there is anything of value here," "I wonder if..." etc. In other words, as a Learner, be curious!
Principle Paradox
This may strike you as strange, but here's the paradox: When you take authentic responsibility for a relationship, more often than not the other person quickly chooses to take responsibility as well. Consequently, the 100/0 relationship quickly transforms into something approaching 100/100. When that occurs, true breakthroughs happen for the individuals involved, their teams, their organizations and their families.
The 100/0 Principle
by Al Ritter
What is the most effective way to create and sustain great relationships with others? It's The 100/0 Principle: You take full responsibility (the 100) for the relationship, expecting nothing (the 0) in return.
Implementing The 100/0 Principle is not natural for most of us. It takes real commitment to the relationship and a good dose of self-discipline to think, act and give 100 percent.
The 100/0 Principle applies to those people in your life where the relationships are too important to react automatically or judgmentally. Each of us must determine the relationships to which this principle should apply. For most of us, it applies to work associates, customers, suppliers, family and friends.
STEP 1 - Determine what you can do to make the relationship work...then do it. Demonstrate respect and kindness to the other person, whether he/she deserves it or not.
STEP 2 - Do not expect anything in return. Zero, zip, nada.
STEP 3 - Do not allow anything the other person says or does (no matter how annoying!) to affect you. In other words, don't take the bait.
STEP 4 - Be persistent with your graciousness and kindness. Often we give up too soon, especially when others don't respond in kind. Remember to expect nothing in return.
At times (usually few), the relationship can remain challenging, even toxic, despite your 100 percent commitment and self-discipline. When this occurs, you need to avoid being the "Knower" and shift to being the "Learner." Avoid Knower statements/ thoughts like "that won't work," "I'm right, you are wrong," "I know it and you don't," "I'll teach you," "that's just the way it is," "I need to tell you what I know," etc.
Instead use Learner statements/thoughts like "Let me find out what is going on and try to understand the situation," "I could be wrong," "I wonder if there is anything of value here," "I wonder if..." etc. In other words, as a Learner, be curious!
Principle Paradox
This may strike you as strange, but here's the paradox: When you take authentic responsibility for a relationship, more often than not the other person quickly chooses to take responsibility as well. Consequently, the 100/0 relationship quickly transforms into something approaching 100/100. When that occurs, true breakthroughs happen for the individuals involved, their teams, their organizations and their families.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
wrong place rite time
Wrong Place, Right Time
By Adam Hunter, July 21, 2010
One thing I’ve realized these past few years editing Mysterious Ways is how often people believe they’re in the wrong place—until God shows them they’re actually in the right one.
Take, for instance, the news story I read today, about Christopher Wuebben, a 22-year-old delivering pizza in Colorado.
At least that’s where Chris found himself. Until recently, Chris was a paramedic, even serving a tour as an EMT in Iraq. But when he got back home to Illinois, he found he’d been laid off from his paramedic job. He couldn’t find work. He soon moved to Colorado to better his prospects, but the only job he could get was at Johnny’s New York Pizza.
According to Denver’s Channel 7 News, Chris was delivering a pizza late last week to a home in Lakewood, Colorado when he heard a woman screaming for help.
Chris knocked on the door, and a panicked woman, Kami Linn, answered. Her husband, George, had recently come home from a stay in the hospital for a heart condition. She and her two boys were with him, waiting for the pizza when George suddenly collapsed. A heart attack.
Kami had dialed 911, but there was no time to waste. "I am a paramedic,” Chris told her.
He performed CPR on George and brought him back to life before the fire department showed up.
"The pizza guy saved his life," Kami told Channel 7. "Every doctor and nurse has told me that."
Now Chris isn’t having any problems finding a paramedic job. A local hospital and a fire department have called him after hearing about his heroics.
What may have seemed like the wrong place, wrong job, turned out to be just where Chris needed to be.
By Adam Hunter, July 21, 2010
One thing I’ve realized these past few years editing Mysterious Ways is how often people believe they’re in the wrong place—until God shows them they’re actually in the right one.
Take, for instance, the news story I read today, about Christopher Wuebben, a 22-year-old delivering pizza in Colorado.
At least that’s where Chris found himself. Until recently, Chris was a paramedic, even serving a tour as an EMT in Iraq. But when he got back home to Illinois, he found he’d been laid off from his paramedic job. He couldn’t find work. He soon moved to Colorado to better his prospects, but the only job he could get was at Johnny’s New York Pizza.
According to Denver’s Channel 7 News, Chris was delivering a pizza late last week to a home in Lakewood, Colorado when he heard a woman screaming for help.
Chris knocked on the door, and a panicked woman, Kami Linn, answered. Her husband, George, had recently come home from a stay in the hospital for a heart condition. She and her two boys were with him, waiting for the pizza when George suddenly collapsed. A heart attack.
Kami had dialed 911, but there was no time to waste. "I am a paramedic,” Chris told her.
He performed CPR on George and brought him back to life before the fire department showed up.
"The pizza guy saved his life," Kami told Channel 7. "Every doctor and nurse has told me that."
Now Chris isn’t having any problems finding a paramedic job. A local hospital and a fire department have called him after hearing about his heroics.
What may have seemed like the wrong place, wrong job, turned out to be just where Chris needed to be.
good thots
"Our world will never be perfect. The rain will come, despite my best efforts to prevent it. Life is what you choose to make of it. State of mind is everything. If you cannot change what happens, then for your happiness, you must change your mindset."
~Michelle Sedas
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A STORY FOR U
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that you’re doing fine? I want to share something that is quite remarkable (at least to me), I know it may not inspire you (maybe it will) but I thought it’d be cool to share it anyway.
Last Thursday, I went to my favorite bagel shop by my house, a little place called Noah’s Bagels for breakfast. While waiting for my order I noticed a flyer on the community bulletin board for piano lessons (and one of my dreams is to play the piano) my grandmother played, my aunt, my cousin play. I absolutely love and admire the music that can be created on a piano.
I thought oh that would be so great but then I would need a piano to practice on and I left it there, figuring I would have to wait until I could afford to invest in a piano…
Fast forward to Saturday night, I’m speaking with a friend who unexpectedly announces that he’s moving out of the country and he has to sell his stuff including a studio quality keyboard (which is really an electric piano).
Figuring it was a studio quality instrument, I thought it must be way more expensive than I can afford so I don’t even bring it up, we simply make our plans to meet the next day and hang up.
Sunday, we enjoy a lovely brunch discussing his upcoming move and adventure. The inspiration comes for me to ask about his keyboard and how much he wanted for it (I thought it would be a bit out of my reach at the moment but I asked anyway) well I am happy to report that because I asked this very simple question, I am now the proud owner of a Yamaha Portable Grand Piano (I’m very excited)!
The reason, I wanted to share this is that most of us have things we’d like to try, experiences we’d like to have, goals and dreams we’d like to accomplish and sometimes we block ourselves from having what we want because of a thought.
Had I just stopped at the thought that it must be more money than I can afford right now, I would still be waiting for this dream to happen.
The lessons for me 1) Don’t let one thought (that may or may not be true) ever stop you from going for your dreams and visions. 2) Always be willing to ask questions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heaven is gained or lost not by dramatic deeds, but by the simple of acts of daily living.
-- Alan Cohen
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from:
Goals...The 10 Rules for Achieving Success,
by Gary Ryan Blair
On everyone's short list of things to do during their lifetime are the accomplishment of worthy goals and the fulfillment of one's purpose.
Achieving a goal is like opening a combination lock. You need the correct numbers in the correct right, left, right sequence. There are thousands of possible combinations; and if you are aware of the settings but not the sequence, your efforts will prove futile.
The Ten Rules of Goal Setting is the combination that opens the lock of success. Each rule is one piece of the combination; each seamlessly integrates with the other nine; each one counts!
This book provides the goal setting information you need in a straightforward and systematic manner. You will be hard pressed to find a goal that does not require each of these ten rules.
Not all goals are equal, but all goals contain the same foundational elements. When it comes to setting goals, we often don't know what we don't know. And, what you don't know can - and most likely will - hurt you by limiting or compromising your success. Each rule calls for and requires know-how of multiple disciplines. No one is born with all the talents to achieve a goal - you learn as you go on the fly!
If I could carve ten rules for achieving a goal into the walls of your mind, they would be the ones contained in this book. The ten rules work because they are simple, and they are simple because they work.
Success, of course, is individual. Your definition of "the good life" may be very different from mine. Yet the underlying steps toward that end are the same. That similarity helps you to understand what success really is.
Success is the ability, first, to recognize opportunity; second, to form plans and strategies that leverage opportunity; and, third, to develop the necessary skills needed to execute those strategies. The ten rules, like anything else in life, operate best if they are self-enforced!
Success is beautiful because of how it looks to you, how it works, how it feels and how it represents the fulfillment of goals pursued. Grow accustomed to prosperity and confident in the process of achieving a goal. Embrace these ten rules of goal setting and give witness to a powerful transition in your life.
And finally, my goal for this book is to simply...help you reach yours.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier."
~Mother Teresa
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have a duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word."
~William Barclay
~Michelle Sedas
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A STORY FOR U
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that you’re doing fine? I want to share something that is quite remarkable (at least to me), I know it may not inspire you (maybe it will) but I thought it’d be cool to share it anyway.
Last Thursday, I went to my favorite bagel shop by my house, a little place called Noah’s Bagels for breakfast. While waiting for my order I noticed a flyer on the community bulletin board for piano lessons (and one of my dreams is to play the piano) my grandmother played, my aunt, my cousin play. I absolutely love and admire the music that can be created on a piano.
I thought oh that would be so great but then I would need a piano to practice on and I left it there, figuring I would have to wait until I could afford to invest in a piano…
Fast forward to Saturday night, I’m speaking with a friend who unexpectedly announces that he’s moving out of the country and he has to sell his stuff including a studio quality keyboard (which is really an electric piano).
Figuring it was a studio quality instrument, I thought it must be way more expensive than I can afford so I don’t even bring it up, we simply make our plans to meet the next day and hang up.
Sunday, we enjoy a lovely brunch discussing his upcoming move and adventure. The inspiration comes for me to ask about his keyboard and how much he wanted for it (I thought it would be a bit out of my reach at the moment but I asked anyway) well I am happy to report that because I asked this very simple question, I am now the proud owner of a Yamaha Portable Grand Piano (I’m very excited)!
The reason, I wanted to share this is that most of us have things we’d like to try, experiences we’d like to have, goals and dreams we’d like to accomplish and sometimes we block ourselves from having what we want because of a thought.
Had I just stopped at the thought that it must be more money than I can afford right now, I would still be waiting for this dream to happen.
The lessons for me 1) Don’t let one thought (that may or may not be true) ever stop you from going for your dreams and visions. 2) Always be willing to ask questions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heaven is gained or lost not by dramatic deeds, but by the simple of acts of daily living.
-- Alan Cohen
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from:
Goals...The 10 Rules for Achieving Success,
by Gary Ryan Blair
On everyone's short list of things to do during their lifetime are the accomplishment of worthy goals and the fulfillment of one's purpose.
Achieving a goal is like opening a combination lock. You need the correct numbers in the correct right, left, right sequence. There are thousands of possible combinations; and if you are aware of the settings but not the sequence, your efforts will prove futile.
The Ten Rules of Goal Setting is the combination that opens the lock of success. Each rule is one piece of the combination; each seamlessly integrates with the other nine; each one counts!
This book provides the goal setting information you need in a straightforward and systematic manner. You will be hard pressed to find a goal that does not require each of these ten rules.
Not all goals are equal, but all goals contain the same foundational elements. When it comes to setting goals, we often don't know what we don't know. And, what you don't know can - and most likely will - hurt you by limiting or compromising your success. Each rule calls for and requires know-how of multiple disciplines. No one is born with all the talents to achieve a goal - you learn as you go on the fly!
If I could carve ten rules for achieving a goal into the walls of your mind, they would be the ones contained in this book. The ten rules work because they are simple, and they are simple because they work.
Success, of course, is individual. Your definition of "the good life" may be very different from mine. Yet the underlying steps toward that end are the same. That similarity helps you to understand what success really is.
Success is the ability, first, to recognize opportunity; second, to form plans and strategies that leverage opportunity; and, third, to develop the necessary skills needed to execute those strategies. The ten rules, like anything else in life, operate best if they are self-enforced!
Success is beautiful because of how it looks to you, how it works, how it feels and how it represents the fulfillment of goals pursued. Grow accustomed to prosperity and confident in the process of achieving a goal. Embrace these ten rules of goal setting and give witness to a powerful transition in your life.
And finally, my goal for this book is to simply...help you reach yours.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier."
~Mother Teresa
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have a duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word."
~William Barclay
Monday, August 02, 2010
good thots
"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile."
~Vince Lombardi
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there."
~Vince Lombard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~Vince Lombardi
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there."
~Vince Lombard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
The date was July 16, 2008. It was late in the afternoon and I was sitting in my hotel room in Louisville, Kentucky. I was scheduled to speak that evening for the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA).
I was a little "down in the dumps." I hadn't gotten to exercise lately because of my traveling schedule and recently I'd experienced some mild bouts of vertigo (that inner ear condition that can cause the room to start spinning.) You got it...speaking and "spinning" are not good partners!
My keynote presentation was scheduled for 7:00 PM, but I had been invited to show up at 6:00 to see a performance they said I'd enjoy. Little did I know that I was about to see something I would never forget.
They introduced the young musician. Welcome...Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes. He was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair, and began to play the piano. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful music.
He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more beautiful. For some reason, however, I knew that I was seeing something special. There was this aura about him that I really can't explain and the smile...his smile was magic!
About ten minutes into Patrick's performance, someone came on the stage and said..."I'd like to share a 7-minute video titled, The Patrick Henry Hughes story." And the lights went dim.
Patrick Henry Hughes was born with no eyes, and a tightening of the joints which left him crippled for life. However, as a child, he was fitted with artificial eyes and placed in a wheelchair. Before his first birthday, he discovered the piano. His mom said, "I could hit any note on the piano, and within one or two tries, he'd get it." By his second birthday, he was playing requests (You Are My Sunshine, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). His father was ecstatic. "We might not play baseball, but we can play music together."
Today, Patrick is a junior at the University of Louisville. His father attends classes with him and he's made nearly all A's, with the exception of 3 B's He's also a part of the 214 member marching band. You read it right...the marching band! He's a blind, wheelchair-bound trumpet player; and he and his father do it together. They attend all the band practices and the half-time performance in front of thousands. His father rolls and rotates his son around the field to the cheers of Patrick's fans. In order to attend Patrick's classes and every band practice, his father works the graveyard shift at UPS. Patrick said..."My dad's my hero."
But even more than his unbelievable musical talent, it was Patrick's "attitude of gratitude" that touched my soul. On stage, between songs, he would talk to the audience about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, "God made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability...the musical gifts I have...the great opportunity to meet new people."
When his performance was over, Patrick and his father were on the stage together. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered for over five minutes. It gave me giant goose bumps!
My life was ready to meet Patrick Henry Hughes. I needed a hero, and I found one for the ages. If I live to be a hundred, I'll never forget that night, that smile, that music, but most importantly, that wonderful "attitude of gratitude."
I returned to Chicago and shared Patrick's story with my wife, my friends, and our team at Simple Truths. About two weeks later, I received a letter from a friend. He said, "Mac, I don't know who said it, but I think you'll love this quote."
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
it's about learning how to dance in the rain!"
I thought...that's it! We all face adversity in our life. However, it's not the adversity, but how we react to it that will determine the joy and happiness in our life. During tough times, do we spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves, or, can we, with gratitude...learn how to dance in the rain?
It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but one word...gratitude, can change your attitude, thus, your life, forever. Sarah Breathnack said it best...
"When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present....we experience heaven on earth."
I was a little "down in the dumps." I hadn't gotten to exercise lately because of my traveling schedule and recently I'd experienced some mild bouts of vertigo (that inner ear condition that can cause the room to start spinning.) You got it...speaking and "spinning" are not good partners!
My keynote presentation was scheduled for 7:00 PM, but I had been invited to show up at 6:00 to see a performance they said I'd enjoy. Little did I know that I was about to see something I would never forget.
They introduced the young musician. Welcome...Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes. He was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair, and began to play the piano. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful music.
He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more beautiful. For some reason, however, I knew that I was seeing something special. There was this aura about him that I really can't explain and the smile...his smile was magic!
About ten minutes into Patrick's performance, someone came on the stage and said..."I'd like to share a 7-minute video titled, The Patrick Henry Hughes story." And the lights went dim.
Patrick Henry Hughes was born with no eyes, and a tightening of the joints which left him crippled for life. However, as a child, he was fitted with artificial eyes and placed in a wheelchair. Before his first birthday, he discovered the piano. His mom said, "I could hit any note on the piano, and within one or two tries, he'd get it." By his second birthday, he was playing requests (You Are My Sunshine, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). His father was ecstatic. "We might not play baseball, but we can play music together."
Today, Patrick is a junior at the University of Louisville. His father attends classes with him and he's made nearly all A's, with the exception of 3 B's He's also a part of the 214 member marching band. You read it right...the marching band! He's a blind, wheelchair-bound trumpet player; and he and his father do it together. They attend all the band practices and the half-time performance in front of thousands. His father rolls and rotates his son around the field to the cheers of Patrick's fans. In order to attend Patrick's classes and every band practice, his father works the graveyard shift at UPS. Patrick said..."My dad's my hero."
But even more than his unbelievable musical talent, it was Patrick's "attitude of gratitude" that touched my soul. On stage, between songs, he would talk to the audience about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, "God made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability...the musical gifts I have...the great opportunity to meet new people."
When his performance was over, Patrick and his father were on the stage together. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered for over five minutes. It gave me giant goose bumps!
My life was ready to meet Patrick Henry Hughes. I needed a hero, and I found one for the ages. If I live to be a hundred, I'll never forget that night, that smile, that music, but most importantly, that wonderful "attitude of gratitude."
I returned to Chicago and shared Patrick's story with my wife, my friends, and our team at Simple Truths. About two weeks later, I received a letter from a friend. He said, "Mac, I don't know who said it, but I think you'll love this quote."
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
it's about learning how to dance in the rain!"
I thought...that's it! We all face adversity in our life. However, it's not the adversity, but how we react to it that will determine the joy and happiness in our life. During tough times, do we spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves, or, can we, with gratitude...learn how to dance in the rain?
It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but one word...gratitude, can change your attitude, thus, your life, forever. Sarah Breathnack said it best...
"When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present....we experience heaven on earth."
GOOD TP THE CORE -
An Excerpt from
Good to the Core
by John Blumberg
I was in Honolulu to speak at a large national conference. I scheduled an extra day onto the trip since I had never been to Honolulu and because a few great friends were also at the conference.
The day after the conference, we awoke at the crack of dawn to visit Pearl Harbor. As we stood above and looked down upon the sunken USS Arizona, the depth of our experience came to life. It was moving and humbling.
Upon our return to the hotel, I had some time to spare before departing to the airport. A couple of my friends and I decided to rent a raft large enough to hold three adults. We targeted the white-capped waves, out in the distance, as our destination.
With the incoming waves, we had a hard time getting away from the shore. At first, there seemed to be enormous momentum keeping us "grounded." Slowly, but surely, we began to make progress. It seemed to get easier. We eventually got within a few feet of the whitecaps and decided to board our raft and relax as a celebration of our efforts.
It was in our moment of pause that we felt the reality of our situation. Drifting two feet out and one foot in. Again, two feet out and one foot in. We all felt the unsettling formula of our ever-so-gentle drift out to sea.
We immediately abandoned the raft and grasped for safety, with one arm holding the raft and the other arm aggressively swimming. I have never scissor-kicked so hard in my life.
Twenty minutes later we had made minimal progress.
Out of nowhere, a lifeguard on a kayak appeared on the scene asking why we were so far out. Feeling the comfort of his presence, we laughed for a moment, lightly commenting about our distance from the shore. He wasn't laughing.
"You see those big orange balls on top of the water?" the lifeguard inquired. We could see them, but they didn't look very big from where we were still struggling in the water. They did, however, give us the insight that we were basically five times farther out than we should be.
I think the lifeguard was trying to teach us a lesson. He didn't leave us, but he didn't assist us either. Forty-five minutes later we walked up on the shore. I was shaking from exhaustion. I began, for the first time, to feel the numerous cuts on my legs and feet from the sharp coral rocks lining the ocean floor.
We had briefly noticed the orange balls on our way out. We had paid little attention to them and certainly had not given any thought to their significance. We had been too focused on our mission to get to the white-capped waves in the distance!
The orange balls had warned us, and we unknowingly ignored them. Infrequently placed across the ocean's surface, they created an invisible line on the ocean's floor. They silently warned us not to drift beyond them regardless of our vision or mission.
We don't go running away from our values. We go drifting away, and one day wake up in a place we never meant to be, drifting in a direction we would have never chosen.
Good to the Core
by John Blumberg
I was in Honolulu to speak at a large national conference. I scheduled an extra day onto the trip since I had never been to Honolulu and because a few great friends were also at the conference.
The day after the conference, we awoke at the crack of dawn to visit Pearl Harbor. As we stood above and looked down upon the sunken USS Arizona, the depth of our experience came to life. It was moving and humbling.
Upon our return to the hotel, I had some time to spare before departing to the airport. A couple of my friends and I decided to rent a raft large enough to hold three adults. We targeted the white-capped waves, out in the distance, as our destination.
With the incoming waves, we had a hard time getting away from the shore. At first, there seemed to be enormous momentum keeping us "grounded." Slowly, but surely, we began to make progress. It seemed to get easier. We eventually got within a few feet of the whitecaps and decided to board our raft and relax as a celebration of our efforts.
It was in our moment of pause that we felt the reality of our situation. Drifting two feet out and one foot in. Again, two feet out and one foot in. We all felt the unsettling formula of our ever-so-gentle drift out to sea.
We immediately abandoned the raft and grasped for safety, with one arm holding the raft and the other arm aggressively swimming. I have never scissor-kicked so hard in my life.
Twenty minutes later we had made minimal progress.
Out of nowhere, a lifeguard on a kayak appeared on the scene asking why we were so far out. Feeling the comfort of his presence, we laughed for a moment, lightly commenting about our distance from the shore. He wasn't laughing.
"You see those big orange balls on top of the water?" the lifeguard inquired. We could see them, but they didn't look very big from where we were still struggling in the water. They did, however, give us the insight that we were basically five times farther out than we should be.
I think the lifeguard was trying to teach us a lesson. He didn't leave us, but he didn't assist us either. Forty-five minutes later we walked up on the shore. I was shaking from exhaustion. I began, for the first time, to feel the numerous cuts on my legs and feet from the sharp coral rocks lining the ocean floor.
We had briefly noticed the orange balls on our way out. We had paid little attention to them and certainly had not given any thought to their significance. We had been too focused on our mission to get to the white-capped waves in the distance!
The orange balls had warned us, and we unknowingly ignored them. Infrequently placed across the ocean's surface, they created an invisible line on the ocean's floor. They silently warned us not to drift beyond them regardless of our vision or mission.
We don't go running away from our values. We go drifting away, and one day wake up in a place we never meant to be, drifting in a direction we would have never chosen.
MARTHA STEWARD...........NOT
'MARTHA STEWART ... NOT!'
by 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!
Reading this book is like sitting down with Lisa and BJ over a cup of coffee - or a dish of ice cream - and connecting with the heart and soul of what it means to be a woman. Women of all ages will love the wonderful stories, amusing anecdotes, and heart-felt poems, as well as the fabulous photos.
by 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!
Reading this book is like sitting down with Lisa and BJ over a cup of coffee - or a dish of ice cream - and connecting with the heart and soul of what it means to be a woman. Women of all ages will love the wonderful stories, amusing anecdotes, and heart-felt poems, as well as the fabulous photos.
HEART OF A TEACHER
Excerpt from: Heart of a Teacher,
by Paula Fox
He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary's School in Morris, Minnesota. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, he had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.
Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving. "Thank you for correcting me, Sister!" I didn't know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day.
One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice teacher's mistake. I looked at Mark and said, "If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!" It wasn't ten seconds later when Chuck blurted out, "Mark is talking again." I hadn't asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it. I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark's desk, tore off two pieces of tape and made a big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me. That did it! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to Mark's desk, removed the tape, and shrugged my shoulders. His first words were, "Thank you for correcting me, Sister."
At the end of the year, I was asked to teach junior-high math. The years flew by, and before I knew it Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my instruction in the "new math," he did not talk as much in ninth grade as he had in third. One Friday, things just didn't feel right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that the students were frowning, frustrated with themselves and edgy with one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the papers. Charlie smiled. Mark said, "Thank you for teaching me, Sister. Have a good weekend." That Saturday, I wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and I listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday I gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" I heard whispered. "I never knew that meant anything to anyone! I didn't know others liked me so much." No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another again.
That group of students moved on. Several years later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions about the trip, the weather, my experiences in general. There was a lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a sideways glance and simply said, "Dad?" My father cleared his throat as he usually did before something important. "The Eklunds called last night," he began. "Really?" I said. "I haven't heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark is." Dad responded quietly. "Mark was killed in Vietnam," he said. "The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you could attend." To this day I can still point to the exact spot on I-494 where Dad told me about Mark.
I had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could think at that moment was, "Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the world if only you would talk to me." The church was packed with Mark's friends. Chuck's sister sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Why did it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played taps. One by one those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water. I was the last one to bless the coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to me. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. I nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. "Mark talked about you a lot," he said.
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates headed to Chuck's farmhouse for lunch. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting for me. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it." Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which I had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. "Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it." Mark's classmates started to gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. I keep it in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said without batting an eyelash. "I think we all saved our lists." That's when I finally sat down and cried. I cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
by Paula Fox
He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary's School in Morris, Minnesota. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, he had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.
Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving. "Thank you for correcting me, Sister!" I didn't know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day.
One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice teacher's mistake. I looked at Mark and said, "If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!" It wasn't ten seconds later when Chuck blurted out, "Mark is talking again." I hadn't asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it. I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark's desk, tore off two pieces of tape and made a big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me. That did it! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to Mark's desk, removed the tape, and shrugged my shoulders. His first words were, "Thank you for correcting me, Sister."
At the end of the year, I was asked to teach junior-high math. The years flew by, and before I knew it Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my instruction in the "new math," he did not talk as much in ninth grade as he had in third. One Friday, things just didn't feel right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that the students were frowning, frustrated with themselves and edgy with one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the papers. Charlie smiled. Mark said, "Thank you for teaching me, Sister. Have a good weekend." That Saturday, I wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and I listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday I gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" I heard whispered. "I never knew that meant anything to anyone! I didn't know others liked me so much." No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another again.
That group of students moved on. Several years later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions about the trip, the weather, my experiences in general. There was a lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a sideways glance and simply said, "Dad?" My father cleared his throat as he usually did before something important. "The Eklunds called last night," he began. "Really?" I said. "I haven't heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark is." Dad responded quietly. "Mark was killed in Vietnam," he said. "The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you could attend." To this day I can still point to the exact spot on I-494 where Dad told me about Mark.
I had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could think at that moment was, "Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the world if only you would talk to me." The church was packed with Mark's friends. Chuck's sister sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Why did it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played taps. One by one those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water. I was the last one to bless the coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to me. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. I nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. "Mark talked about you a lot," he said.
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates headed to Chuck's farmhouse for lunch. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting for me. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it." Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which I had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. "Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it." Mark's classmates started to gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. I keep it in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said without batting an eyelash. "I think we all saved our lists." That's when I finally sat down and cried. I cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
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