"As you begin to embrace the idea that life is here for your joy, that every moment is a gift, showing you the path to fulfillment, you will discover magic happening in your life."
- From The Passion Test
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"Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

~Thomas Edison
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"You may not always be able to turn up the heat and hit the boiling point, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make the attempt. It's what you'd advice others to do and it's what we should teach our children."

~Mac Anderson
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At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
--Albert Schweitzer
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An Excerpt From The Slight Edge
by Jeff Olson

Use The Moment. Using the moment means taking control of your life in the moment-right now, today. It means not blaming the past or worrying about the future. The only time you have is the present, because the past is gone and the future hasn't happened yet.

Always remember this: Even with all your problems, there is still an invisible you. The invisible you is who you will be someday. It may not be tomorrow or next week, but some day. And the little choices you make every day are what will put you on the path that takes you there.

The little things you do every day-or don't do-are creating that invisible you of the future.

Most of the bad things that happen to us are completely out of our control. The reality is, you can't control the weather, and you can't control your circumstances.

What you can control is how you feel about your circumstances. You can control how you feel about yourself. And you can control what you do about your circumstances.

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We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
-Abigail Adams
(1744 - 1818)

The surest test of discipline is its absence.
-Clara Barton
(1821 - 1912)

If I can stop one heart from breaking I shall not live in vain.
-Emily Dickinson
(1830 - 1886)

The triumph can't be had without the struggle.
-Wilma Rudolph
(1940 - 1994)

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
-Maya Angelou
(1928 - )

I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse.
-Florence Nightingale
(1820 - 1910)

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.
-Amelia Earhart
(1898 - 1937)

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"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."

~Winston Churchill
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"There are those days when it's hard to put one foot in front of the other, but those are the days when champions are created. It's about making the most of the minutes you are given."

~David McNally
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You cannot borrow greatness from another. You can only claim it from within yourself.

-- Alan Cohen
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"Understanding that we control our own destiny is key to our success in life. Simply put, when we decide how we want our life to be we must take responsibility and move forward."

~Mac Anderson

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Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.

-- Cicero

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Love After Love

The time will come
when with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile to the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
Peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.


~Derick Walcott
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Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to God alone; Laughs at impossibilities, And cries it shall be done.

-- Charles Wesley
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"Effective communication is an art. While it comes easier for some more than others, it can be developed and improved by all of us."

~Twyman Towery
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An Excerpt from Oil for Your Lamp
by Lisa Hammond & BJ Gallagher

Virtually every woman we know has the same problem - she knows what's good for her, but she often doesn't do it. She knows she should eat less and exercise more, but still she doesn't make healthy choices. She knows she needs to spend her time and money more effectively, but good time and money management elude her. She finds herself always putting others first, while neglecting her own needs and wants. She doesn't get enough rest or sleep and her endless to-do list hangs overhead like the sword of Damocles. As our friend Brenda Knight laments frequently, "Why am I always riding in the back of my own bus?"

We don't do the things we know are good for us because we are so busy taking care of others that we neglect ourselves. The problem isn't lack of information - we have plenty of information about the importance of sleep, healthy foods, and exercise. The problem is how we prioritize our lives.

Psychologists tell us that some people are inner-directed and some are other-directed. That is, some people focus on their own internal guidance system for making choices about how to spend their time and energy. Their own self-interest ranks very high on their list of priorities. "What's best for me?" is a key guiding principle in determining where they focus their attention and how they make day-to-day decisions.

And some people are other-directed, which means that their primary focus is external, not internal. They are primarily concerned with relationships, especially people they care about. "How can I help others?" is a key question in how they spend their time and energy. Building and nurturing relationships with loved ones, family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers is the guiding principle in their lives.

Research indicates that, in general, men tend to be more inner-directed, while women tend to be more other-directed. There are exceptions, of course, but as a group, men are focused on themselves while women are focused on other people. Men like to build things while women like to build relationships.

This difference in psychological orientation goes a long way toward helping us understand why we women often do such a poor job of taking care of ourselves. We run around filling others' lamps with oil, but forget to fill our own lamps first. Then we wonder why we're often exhausted, frazzled, stressed-out, anxious and/or depressed!

Awareness is the first step toward solving a problem. So the first section of this book is devoted to helping us acknowledge the problem and understand the reasons for it.

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"Great service is not an accident. It starts by deciding what kind of experience you want your customers to have—a clear vision."

~Ken Blanchard
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"Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world."

~Lawrence G. Lovasi

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Changing the world is a natural result of inner peace, not a substitute for it.

-- Alan Cohen
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"People often ask me...what is the most effective technique for transforming their lives?" ALDOUS HUXLEY

He then said, "It's a little embarrassing that after years and years of research, my best answer is just be a little kinder."

This is the paradox of the power of kindness. It doesn't feel powerful at all. In fact, it almost feels too simple to be important. But as Huxley said, it is the #1 thing that can transform your life.
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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."

~Paula Fox
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"Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything"
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.
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"It's not the things we get but the hearts we touch that will determine our success in life."

~Mac Anderson
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When you are clear on "want to," "how to" shows up.

-- Michael Neill
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"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself and be lenient to everybody else."

~Henry Ward Beecher
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Life is worthwhile if you TRY.

Try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference. Try to make some progress. Try to learn a new skill. Try your best. Give it every effort.

Life is worthwhile if you STAY.

You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or the game or the project, see it through. Don't end in the middle.

Life is worthwhile if you CARE.

If you care at all, you will get results. If you care enough, you will get incredible results.

Care enough to make a difference.
Care enough to turn somebody around.
Care enough to change.
Care enough to win.

Life is worthwhile if you PLAN.

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan.

Life is worthwhile if you GIVE.

Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.

Life is worthwhile if you BE.

Wherever you are, be there. Develop a unique focus on the current moment.

Let others lead small lives, but not you.

Let others argue over small things, but not you.

Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.

Let others leave their futures in someone else's hands, but not you.
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Your attention is the strongest currency at your disposal. Whatever you invest it in will yield more of the same.

-- Alan Cohen
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Think Like a Golfer

The amazing thing about golf is that at the end of the day golfers don't remember the multitude of horrible shots they made. Find out how I learned some positive thinking tips from an addicting sport.
By Jon Gordon
In this article: Positive Thinking Positive Thinking Tips
WEB EXCLUSIVE

I found one of the keys to life on a golf course. Golf course, you might wonder? How could a game that makes grown men cry like babies and throw their clubs like toddlers hold the key to anything but frustration and pain?

It’s simple really. The amazing thing about golf is that at the end of the day golfers don't remember the multitude of horrible shots they made. All they remember is their one great shot and this memory inspires them to come back again and again in an attempt to make another great shot. It’s no wonder that golf is so addicting.

I couldn't help but compare this thought process to how many of us approach work and life. Instead of focusing on the one good thing that happened to us each day we often think about the 100 things that went wrong. Instead of thinking about our successes we replay our failures over and over again in our mind. No wonder why so many of us retreat from life and work instead of getting addicted to it.

Daily Guideposts 2011 Portable Edition
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The key is to think like a golfer and remember the one great conversation, the one energizing meeting, the one act of kindness, the one meaningful accomplishment or the one special moment that made you smile, laugh and cheer.

No matter how difficult our days are, there’s always a positive moment we can choose to focus on. The key is to remember them, focus on them and get addicted to them. Let them inspire you to wake up and take on each day just as you would a golf course. You'll go through life learning from your mistakes but remembering and focusing on your successes.

Sure, there will be days that make you want to give up but the memory of your successes and positive experiences will motivate you to come back again and again. You'll forget the 100 things that went wrong and you'll remember the one thing that went right. You’ll get addicted to the moments that make life the greatest game in the universe and you’ll intoxicate yourself with positive energy, happiness, joy and success!
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There is much in the world to make us afraid. There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid.

-- Cropp

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"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

~Herman Cain
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"Identify with excellence, put your name on your work, and both your work and your name will stand the test of time."

~Dr. Denis Waitley

If you want to soar with the eagles, you need to associate with eagles!"

~Barry Gottlieb

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Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."

~Lou Holtz
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"To live a great life is to discover the life you have right now, instead of trying to invent a whole new life."

~Betty Mahalik
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Some people have so much respect for their superiors they have none left for themselves.

-- Peter McArthur
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Leadership is about taking charge and influencing others to follow your vision. It's about going against the odds and accepting responsibility for the outcomes along the way."

~Robin Crow

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You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you're down there."

~George Burns------------------------------------------------------------------------