Mot.. Quotes

THE BRAVEST are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet not withstanding go out to meet it.

THUCYDIDES

TO GET PROFIT without risk, experience without danger, and reward without work is as impossible as it is to live without being born.

A.P. GOUTHEY

IT IS CLEAR that there are moral people among us, and—perhaps more important—it's clear that moral people inspire us. That is reassuring. Eventually, that inspiration leads more of us into action.

Somehow the world is hungry for goodness and recognizes it when it sees it—and has an incredible response to the good. There's something in all of us that hungers after the good and true, and when we glimpse it in people, we applaud them for it. We long to be just a little like them. Through them we let the world's pain into our hearts, and we find compassion. When things go wrong or have been terribly wrong for some time, their inspiration reminds us of the tenderness for life that we can all feel.

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1984

• TO REALIZE THE VALUE of one year: Ask the student who has failed his final exam.
   • To realize the value of one month: Ask the mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
   • To realize the value of one week: Ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
   • To realize the value of one day: Ask the daily wage laborer who has 10 kids to feed.
   • To realize the value of an hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
   • To realize the value of a minute: Ask the person who has missed the train, the bus, or the plane.
   • To realize the value of a second: Ask the person who has survived an accident.
   • To realize the value of a millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

Posted on the bulletin board of a California company

A MAN AND A LION traveled together through the forest. They soon began to boast of their respective superiority to each other in strength and prowess. As they were disputing, they passed a statue carved in stone, which represented “a lion strangled by a man.”
   The traveler pointed to it and said: “See there! How strong we are, and how we prevail over even the king of beasts.”
   The lion replied: “This statue was made by one of you men. If we lions knew how to erect statues, you would see the man placed under the paw of the lion.”
   Moral: One story is good, till another is told.

Aesop’s Fables
as translated by
GEORGE FLYER TOWNSEND

TELL PEOPLE they are brave and you will help them become so.

BACK IN THE 17TH CENTURY, Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, issued an edict calling for a new procedure to curtail the savage practices of some of his troops. These practices ranged from pillage to rape and murder.
Under the new edict, the offending soldier or soldiers and their entire company were required to assemble beneath the local gallows and hold a meeting. The principal business of the meeting was the rolling of dice.
Everyone had to participate. The man who lost would be hanged—not necessarily the instigator of the crime, but simply the man who lost. The results were fewer crimes, fewer troops, and fewer meetings.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN the great prizes of life without running risks, and the greatest of all prizes are those connected with the home. No father and mother can hope to escape sorrow and anxiety, and there are dreadful moments when death comes very near to those we love, even if for the time being it passes by. But life is a great adventure, and the worst of all fears is the fear of living.
There are many forms of success, many forms of triumph. But there is no other success that in any shape or way approaches that which is open to most of the many men and women who have the right ideals. These are the men and women who see that it is the intimate and homely things that count most. They are the men and women who have the courage to strive for the happiness which comes only with labor and effort and self-sacrifice, and those whose joy in life springs in part from power of work and sense of duty.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919)
26th U.S. President

ONETIME NOTRE DAME star center Frankie Szymanski once had to appear in court as a witness. Notre Dame Coach Frank Leahy was also in the courtroom. As Leahy listened, the following exchange took place.
   “Are you on the Notre Dame football team this year?”
   “Yes, Your Honor.”
   “What position do you play?”
   “Center, Your Honor.”
   “How good a center are you?”
   Szymanski hesitated. Then he said, “Sir, I’m the best center Notre Dame ever had.”
   Coach Leahy couldn’t believe that last sentence had come out of the mouth of one of his most modest players. Afterward, the coach asked his center what had possessed him.
   “I hated to do it, Coach,” Szymanski said. “But I was under oath.”

The Random House Book of Jokes and Anecdotes
Editor, JOSEPH CLARO
Random House, Inc

BEING UNWANTED, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody—I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat . . . . We must find each other.

MOTHER TERESA (1910-1997)
Catholic missionary

IT IS BETTER to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.

JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE
Olympic track and field champion

THE ANIMATED CARTOON characters created by Chuck Jones have been making children—and adults—laugh for the past 60 years. Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck are among his popular characters.

Where does Jones get his ideas? When he was asked about his creativity, he said, “You can’t force inspiration. It’s like trying to catch a butterfly with a hoop but no net. If you keep your mind open and receptive, though, one day a butterfly will land on your finger.”

FATHER JOHN CATOIR
Three Minutes a Day
Christopher Books

TEST YOUR strength by lifting a burden from another’s shoulders

THE IMPORTANT thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.

ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879-1955)
Physicist

WHEN VICTORY IS ACHIEVED, that feeling can be overwhelming. Keep your common sense about you, and be gracious. Silence is often the best tactic after a win. If you must talk, praise your opponent, and praise your teammates. Never praise yourself.

JOHN MADDEN
Sports announcer

THERE ARE TWO kinds of men who never amount to very much: Those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.

CYRUS H.K. CURTIS (1850-1933)
Publisher

DO NOT SPOIL what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

EPICURUS (C. 341-270 B.C.)
Philosopher

ON MAKING IT to the summit, your first move should be to turn around and offer a hand up to the person behind you.

BECOME a “possibilitarian.” No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities—always see them, for they are always there.

NORMAN VINCENT PEALE (1898-1993)
Religious leader

THE PROBLEM with doing nothing is not knowing when you’re finished.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790)
Statesman, writer, and scientist

THE MOMENT one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world unto itself.

HENRY MILLER (1891-1980)
Writer

AFTER A 23-year career, Anne Scheiber retired from her job with the IRS in 1944. During all those years, she never earned more than $4,000 a year and never received a promotion, despite having a law degree and leading her office in turning up underpayments and underreporting. Upon her retirement, she took her $5,000 in savings and invested it in the stock market. Some 50 years later, in January 1995, Anne died at age 101. By that time, her $5,000 investment had grown to $22 million in stocks. She made all of her own investment decisions, scouring The Wall Street Journal every day, and her portfolio included such companies as Paramount and Coca-Cola. She willed all of her stock holdings to Yeshiva University in New York—a university that had never even heard of her. Here was a lady who invested for the future—big time.

                                                  PAT WILLIAMS
                                       The Magic of Teamwork
                                       Thomas Nelson Publishers

WHATEVER you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrow's.

MICHAEL LANDON (1936-1991)
Actor

The Success Formula

SO HOW CAN you think success? Here are a few quick suggestions equally applicable if you're running your own business or trying to build your career.
            1. Have a five-year plan for success.
            2. Realize that you, not others, ultimately control your success.
            3. Brainstorm alternatives to tough decisions.
            4. Celebrate your achievements.
            5. Shrug off your setbacks.
            6. Develop a support network.
            7. Always stand for integrity.
            8. Remind yourself that every day is a new opportunity.
            9. Always be open to learning new ideas.

                                           BOB ADAMS
                                           Streetwise Business Tips
                                           Adams Media Corp.

IN MY STUDY of achievers, I found that the difference between the great and the mediocre is one thing: the willingness to make a decision. If you think you've made a decision to build a great business and nothing is happening, then you did not make a decision. You indulged in a fantasy—because action is inherent in any real decision.

                                                 DANNY COX
                               In Dynamic People Skills
                     Internet Services Corporation

JUST DON'T give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there's love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.

ELLA FITZGERALD (1918-1996)
Singer

DO WHAT YOU CAN, with what you have, where you are.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919)
26th President of the U.S.

FIND SOMETHING you love to do, and you'll never have to work a day in your life.

HARVEY MACKAY
Entrepreneur and writer

YOU'LL break the worry habit the day you decide you can meet and master the worst that can happen to you.

ARNOLD GLASGOW

TO BE what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON (1850-1894)
Author

WE CAN DO anything we want if we stick to it long enough.

HELEN KELLER (1880-1968)
Educator and writer

I BELIEVE that if you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.

EDWARD V. RICKENBACKER (1890-1973)
Aviator and industrialist

SOME PEOPLE are always grateful for the roses, while others always grumble at the thorns.

MAY WE NEVER let the things we can’t have, or don’t have, or shouldn’t have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have. As we value our happiness let us not forget it, for one of the greatest lessons in life is learning to be happy without the things we cannot or should not have.

RICHARD EVANS

LIFE IS NOT EASY for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.

MARIE CURIE (1867-1934)
Physicist

THINK EXCITEMENT, talk excitement, act out excitement and you are bound to become an excited person. Life will take on a new zest, deeper interest, and greater meaning.

NORMAN VINCENT PEALE (1898-1993)
Religious leader

THERE IS no such thing as can’t and won’t. If you’re qualified, all it takes is a burning desire to accomplish, to make a change. Go forward, go backward. Whatever it takes! But you can’t blame other people or society in general. It all comes from your mind. When we do the impossible we realize we are special people.

IAN ASHFORD

THE GREATEST TEST

DO YOU know what the greatest test is? Do you still get excited about what you do when you get up in the morning?

DAVID HALBERSTAM
Writer

YOU DO NOT merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.

JERRY GARCIA (1942-1995)
Musician

MANY OF US do not realize what we believe when we look in the mirror. Many of us do not see our own image but someone else’s image that we feel we must please, thinking it might be of value. But there is no value or glory playing second fiddle to someone else. You cannot live your life with someone else’s image. It means self-destruction; you become your worst enemy.

You are your worst enemy when you want to be perfect. You become fearful of making a mistake, so you don’t assert yourself; therefore you cannot achieve happiness in life. You cannot gain friendship that way or in any negative way where you symbolically walk around on your knees trying to get attention by trying to please everybody.

Friendship begins with you; you can’t be a friend to others unless you are a friend to yourself. What is equally important is that you can’t be a friend to everybody. We all see things differently. That is the way it should be; and because of that, it is inevitable that we will make enemies with people who violently disagree with us. If we firmly and honestly feel that our cause is right, we should not be afraid of making enemies but should try to maintain harmony.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "Just as tall trees are known by their shadows, so are good men known by their enemies." By far you are your worst enemy either when through fear and indecision you live to please someone else, or when you refuse to live at all because you are fearful of making a mistake.

MAXWELL MALTZ
Surgeon/psychologist

YOU CAN'T hit a home run unless you step up to the plate. You can’t catch fish unless you put your line in the water. You can’t reach goals if you don’t try.

KATHY SELIGMAN

LIFE'S under no obligation to give us what we expect.

MARGARET MITCHELL
Novelist

1. Be sure of your final destination, in case you are going the wrong way.
2. Be loving to those who love you.
3. Be loving to those who do not love you, and they may change.
4. Above all, be yourself.

ANN LANDERS
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

THE LONG SPAN of the bridge of your life is supported by countless cables called habits, attitudes, and desires. What you do in your life depends upon what you are and what you want. What you get from life depends upon how much you want it—how much you are willing to work and plan and cooperate and use your resources. The long span of the bridge of your life is supported by countless cables that are spinning now, and that is why today is such an important day. Make the cables strong.

L.G. ELLIOT

MANY OF life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

THOMAS EDISON (1847-1931)
Inventor

THE ULTIMATE DEFENSE against growing old is your dream. Nothing is as real as a dream. Your dream is the path between the person you are and the person you hope to become. Success isn’t money. Success isn’t power. The criteria for your success are to be found in your dream, in your self. Your dream is something to hold on to. It will always be your link with the person you are today, young and full of hope. If you hold on to it, you may grow old, but you will never be old, and that is the ultimate success.

TOM CLANCY
cited in The Most Important Thing I’ve Learned in Life
Simon & Schuster.

WE ALL sometimes get too serious about our workloads and our business problems. Rather than worry and analyze too much, I prefer to remember that line from Thornton Wilder’s Skin of Our Teeth—"My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate."

FRED STEINGRABER, CEO

NOTHING IS OURS outright, as a gift; we have to perform for ourselves even those of our actions which seem most passive. The humble Sancho Panza kept suggesting this proverb: "If they give you a cow, you have to carry the rope." All we are given is possibilities— to make ourselves one thing or another.

JOSE ORTEGA Y GASSET

We’ve all used the phrase, one of these days.

One of these days we’re going write a book.

One of these days we’re going to act on that great idea.

One of these days we’re going to look up that old friend.

It’s a familiar phrase, but invariably, one of these days means none of these days.

We’re talking about a malady called procrastination. It’s a sickness that’s the same all over the world.

We keep telling ourselves that we’re going to do something and instead of doing it we spend a lot of time thinking about reasons why we can’t.

We wait for conditions to be ideal. We have to catch up on all our regular work. The decks have to be cleared for action.

We put off starting a task because it’s difficult. Take writing, for instance. It’s not easy to fill a blank page with good writing. The late, great sports writer, Red Smith, said, "You just put a blank piece of paper in the typewriter and stare at it until drops of blood appear on your forehead."

If we do make a start at something, we decide the task is too big or too time-consuming.

We convince ourselves that time is not important. We can push back our deadline without creating any problems. There’s always tomorrow.

The ironic thing about all this is that the amount of energy we use to dodge a job is sometimes greater than the energy required to complete it. As we continue to procrastinate, a sense of guilt is created and it hangs like a cloud overhead, taking the joy out of our everyday tasks.

One way to get off this merry-go-round that’s going nowhere is to sit down and make two lists. On one side of a piece of paper, list all the reasons why you are procrastinating about a particular task. Then on the other side list the benefits that could be gained by getting the task done.

You’ll find that your reasons for postponing action are weak and that the list of benefits is longer and stronger. The effect can be dramatic. You’ll get off this slow-motion merry-go-round you’ve been on and strike out in a direction that will bring you the benefits you’ve listed. Even if you only spend five minutes the first day taking that first step toward getting the task done and achieving your benefits, do it. Begin. Otherwise, you’ll spend the first half of your life postponing things and the second half regretting that you did.

From Leadership, Issue No. 257, (February 10, 1998) Copyright © 1998, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, NJ 07004 USA. All rights reserved.

From Bits & Pieces . . . March 26, 1998

STILL I am learning.

MICHELANGELO (1475-1564)
Sculptor, painter, and poet.

WE MUST take care to live not merely a long life, but a full one; for living a long life requires only good fortune, but living a full life requires character. Long is the life that is fully lived; it is fulfilled only when the mind supplies its own good qualities and empowers itself from within.

SENECA (4 B.C.-65 A.D.)
Philosopher and statesman

I BELIEVE most people place an undue emphasis on talent. I don’t doubt that it exists, but talent is essentially a potential for something. The issue really is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without those things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows.

MILTON GLASER
Graphic artist

FOR ONCE you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519)
Artist, architect, and engineer

THE ROAD TO happiness lies in two simple principles: find what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and when you find it, put your whole soul into it—every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have.

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER III (1906-1978)
Philanthropist

YOU'LL NEVER leave where you are, until you decide where you’d rather be.

A LITTLE BOY AND GIRL wanted to meet the wisest man in the world. When they found him, they said, “Sir, we understand you are one of the wisest men in the world. We want to be like you when we grow up. How can we do that?”

The man responded with these words of wisdom: “Children, there are four words I would like to say to you. When you grow up, you will be very wise if you remember these words and live by them.

“The first word is Think. Think about the values and principles that are important to you.

“The second word is Believe. Believe in yourself based on the thinking you have done.

“The third word is Dream. Dream about what you want to become, based on your belief in yourself.

“And the last word is Dare. Dare to make your dream a reality.”

Then, in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle by Snow White’s wishing well, Walt Disney said to the boy and girl, “Let me say those four words again, so you can remember them: Think, Believe, Dream, and Dare.”

Choosing the Winning Way

THERE SHOULD BE less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point. What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone’s house. That says enough.

MOTHER TERESA (1910-1997)
Catholic missionary

NOVELIST SINCLAIR LEWIS was supposed to deliver an hour-long lecture to a group of college students who planned to be writers. Lewis opened his talk with a question:
"How many of you really intend to be writers?"
All hands went up.
"In that case," said Lewis, "my advice to you is to go home and write."
With that, he left.

From Bits & Pieces for Salespeople, Issue No. 359, (January 1, 1998) Copyright © 1998, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, NJ 07004 USA. All rights reserved.

DOING WHAT YOU LOVE, whether it is having children, working in a profession, being a nun, being a journalist, is all-encompassing, all-engrossing, it is like a great love affair occurring every day. It is not fun, no games, not winning or losing, not making money or having your 15 minutes on television. It is what no one can take away from you. It is pure joy.

GEORGIA ANNE GEYER
Journalist

THERE IS A little island off the coast of British Columbia whose stony crags are inhabited by a species of bird called the "puffin." It is a tufted small bird, a tufted puffin. The most amazing characteristic of this bird is its habit of living in that spot only. Take it away from that area and it cannot survive. It has no resistance. This tufted puffin is so fragile that is cannot endure or overcome stress. It dies if you take it away from its normal habitat.

What kind of bird are you? Are you a tufted puffin with sawdust stuffin’? Or are you a goal-striver, a stress-survivor? That is what success is all about¾ rising above a problem, a stress.

There is a poem by Victor Hugo called "Wings":

Be like the bird that,
Pausing in its flight awhile
On boughs too light,
Feels them give way,
Yet sings!
Knowing she hath wings.

Do you have wings? Of course you have. Your wings are your faith and belief in yourself. And you can soar to your destination if you’ll only give yourself a chance. Through frustration and despair you tie your wings, and you cannot get off the ground.

What kind of bird are you? A tufted puffin? Or can you, with wings of faith and belief, reach your destination? I believe you can; you have to believe it too. You have to believe that you came into this world to succeed; to rise above fear, to rise above a stress, turning your life into a continuous creative opportunity.

DR. MAXWELL MALTZ
Surgeon/author

OH, THE COMFORT, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

GEORGE ELIOT

WHEN IN DOUBT, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on the earth. So what the hell, leap.

CYNTHIA HEIMEL
"Lower Manhattan Survival Tactics,"
Village Voice

HAVE PATIENCE with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.

ST. FRANCIS OF SALES (1567-1622)

LIFE IS LIKE A BOOK with many different chapters. Some tell of tragedy, others of triumph. Some chapters are dull and ordinary, others intense and exciting.

The key to being a success in life is to never stop on a difficult page, to never quit on a tough chapter.

Champions have the courage to keep turning the pages because they know a better chapter lies ahead.

RICH RUFFALO
P.E.P.: The Seven P's to Positively Enhance Performance
Hara Publishing

PEOPLE WHO make the worst use of time may be the same ones who complain that there is never enough time.

WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, DO IT SLOWLY

TIMES CHANGE, jobs change, rules change. So what do you do? Throw up your hands? Quit? No. If you don't know what to do next, if the next step is unclear, go to the things you know. Rebuild the scenario. Look for things you might have missed. Move ahead slowly. Take small steps, and complete them one at a time. The fastest way to do it is to do it slowly.

JIM HAYHURST, SR.
The Right Mountain
John Wiley & Sons

IF I WERE ASKED to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice of all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye, and say, "I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me."

ANN LANDERS
Syndicated columnist

THERE'S ONLY two rules for being successful. One, figure out exactly what you want to do, and two, do it.

MARIO CUOMO
Former governor of New York

I CAN SAY, "I am terribly frightened, and fear is terrible and awful, and it makes me uncomfortable, so I won't do that because it's uncomfortable." Or I could say, "Get used to being uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable doing something that's risky." But so what? Do you want to stagnate and just be comfortable?

BARBARA STREISAND
Entertainer

KNOW THAT IT IS good to work. Work with love and think of liking it when you do it. It is easy and interesting. It is a privilege. There is nothing hard about it but your anxious vanity and fear of failure.

BRENDA UELAND

TO GET UP, go to work, and be happy with what you’re doing is being successful. I try to be untouched by triumph and untroubled by failure—you try to keep a center in yourself.

CAROL BURNETT
Actress/comedian

IF YOU WANT to manage your time better, the first thing you should do is determine what your goals are, Edwin C. Bliss says in his book, Getting Things Done (Bantam Books, NYC).

Take a blank sheet of paper. List your personal lifetime goals, the things you would like to be able to look back on when you’re 80. Not general things, such as to be happy, but specific goals—a trip to Europe, a master’s degree, a vacation home, a specific weight loss, a working knowledge of Spanish, and so on.

Now list your professional goals. Not such generalities as a higher salary or a promotion or greater prestige, but specific things like a salary of certain amount, promotion to a particular job, or election to a specific office in a professional society.

Then make a list of short-term goals, the things you would like to accomplish in the next six months.

Beside being specific, goals should be authentic and attainable—in other words, things you really want and are willing to work for. Keep in mind that they are subject to change at any time; indeed, one of your priority tasks should be to look over your list of goals and update it. But the list should represent your best judgment of what you’d like to accomplish as of this moment.

Now, analyze your lists. They probably include more things than you can reasonably expect to do, so assign priorities. Select the three or four goals in each category that you consider most important and write them down some place where you will see them every day. Memorize them. And keep asking yourself each day, "Is what I am doing now moving me closer to one of my goals?" If the answer is no, figure out some way the activity can be eliminated, delegated to someone else, or downgraded in priority so that it can be accomplished in your least productive time.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING as luck. We make our own, good or bad. We make it by our attitudes and actions. We make it by keeping our eyes open for opportunities, then following them up with our God-given intelligence. Life it too important to trust to luck. Believe me, luck is what you make it.

LILY DACHE
Fashion designer

IF YOU CANNOT do great things, do small things in a great way.

From Leadership, Issue No. 255 (December 16, 1997), Copyright © 1997, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, NJ 07004 USA. All rights reserved.

SET GOALS THAT MOVE AND INSPIRE YOU
by Eric Jensen

What do you believe about yourself and your chances of reaching your goals? Do you believe that you can reach them? Will it be easy or hard? Can you do it alone or will you need help? Will reaching your goal be good for you or not? Beliefs are a key part of your ability to reach your goals.

Here are a few things you can do to get from goal setting (the easy part) to goal achieving (the hard part):

Program your brain to succeed. Every time you get a break or pause in your workday, think about your goal. Right before falling asleep, say it to yourself several times. Think about it, picture it, talk about it in your mind, make it real in your imagination. This encourages your brain to turn your goal into a fruitful obsession. Make your goals so much a part of you that they're in your subconscious, and you'll start working, however subtly, toward them.

Embrace every success along the path. At every step of the way, attribute any success to yourself. And by the way, accept blame for the failures, too. (Consider the failures the feedback you needed to make adjustments in your strategy.)

Acknowledge your successes. Make a list, on paper or mentally, of everything you accomplished, big or small, in the last day. Then for the last week. You'll come to realize you're a very motivated person who does hundreds of small things every day; you simply take them for granted. Realizing what a motivated person you already are will encourage you to take on bigger and bigger tasks.

Read motivating biographies and autobiographies of leaders and others who have "made it." Read about the successes of Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Golda Meir, "Famous Amos," Debbie Fields, Walt Disney, Sir Edmund Hillary, Steven Spielberg, and hundreds of other inspiring humans.

Expect yourself to succeed. You have a lifetime of experiences from which you can grow and learn. Many others have accomplished great things in this life with minimal talents simply because they had a positive attitude, a willingness to learn from mistakes, and because they worked hard. You can do the same or better—especially with your talent. Your own expectations make a big difference, so think big, keep your feet on the ground, and plan to succeed.

WE ARE WHAT we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

ARISTOTLE
ancient Greek philosopher

A GOOD IDEA will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night.

MARILYN VOS SAVANT

Search This Blog

Andhra Maverick

Mot.. Quotes

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pearls... Love Affordable Elegance...

jokes

తెలుగువాళ్ళ కారం