May 2012
4 posts
A Constant Battle with Yourself
“The resistance is the voice in the back of our head telling us to back off, be careful, go slow, compromise.” -Seth Godin
There is something or someone always telling you not to go on. You could look to external sources to blame but my guess it is that voice in your head telling you not to.
Don’t succumb to it. You know taking that action you want to is the choice that will...
Look in the Mirror
“Richard Branson mentioned that when he was a kid, if he criticized someone, his mother would make him stand in front of the mirror at home and say, “what you’re seeing in others is really what you’re seeing in yourself. So look in the mirror.” -Robin Sharma
I got this from Robin Sharma’s blog today and I thought it was great. I think many people, myself included, are quick to say...
Little by Little
“You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By becoming a little better each and every day, over a period of time, you will become a lot better.” John Wooden
You can do it. You know you can becuase others around you are doing it.
Check yourself at the end of the day on what you accomplished. I like this quote from Carol Dweck on the growth mindset, “What...
Perseverance
Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. Samuel Johnson
Just because things aren’t going your away doesn’t mean you should give up. These are definitely tough times and unlikely to get better overnight. Don’t let that stop you though. You are you and you will take yourself to the places you think and work for. If you let that outside negativity eat at you...
April 2012
2 posts
When to settle?
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart,…you’ll know when you find it.” -Steve Jobs
Two people are at the office. Both are do their job day in and day...
Accelerate
“You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself.” -Seth Godin
People wallow in their sorrows blaming others rather than looking to themselves for the source of the problem. It is easier after all not to take responsibility. Is this really a good thing? Not really.
But! Here is the thing, you can improve yourself if you do look to yourself by questioning your...
March 2012
5 posts
7 tags
Wonder
“Wisdom begins in wonder.” -Socrates
Do you ever just wonder about something? Once you start thinking of it you begin to drift off from one idea to another idea and it just seems to go on endlessly.These are the moments when new ideas and breakthrough are made.
You must make time for these moments and have a paper handy to jot down what crosses your mind (without distracting your...
6 tags
Your Aim
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” -Lao Tzu
Do you like what you are doing? Are you achieving what you want? Are you moving towards your dreams? Are you succeeding?
If not, you may want to review what you are doing then because if you don’t, you will continue to drift away.You don’t necessarily need to make giant leaps but at least take small...
6 tags
The Pursuit
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” -Dale Carnegie
Times get tough. Real tough. You are thinking to yourself WTF. You start to compare yourself to others and try to figure out what you are doing wrong or what you aren’t doing enough. You may think about your past, where you F-ed up. The...
Decisions
“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” -Tom Robbins
Lately I have been finding myself floundering around. Each time I side with one choice, I find myself moving towards another one. In this variating state, it is unlikely I will find success. Making a choice that can impact your future and your family’s is never an easy one but never making a choice has an...
5 tags
Frustration! ARGH!
“Speak when you are angry - and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” -Dr. Laurence J. Peter
There are always problem. It never ends. Just when you think you can get some piece of mind, wham! another issue comes about.
Take it all in good stride. Be thankful for the problems. With problems, there are opportunities and then solutions. Remind yourself. There is a gem in...
February 2012
16 posts
- BE -
“All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.” -Mark Twain
Be curious.
Be eager.
Be ambitious.
Be determined.
Be confident.
Be disciplined.
Be consistent.
Be open.
Be honest.
Be clear.
Be
7 tags
Misery turned to Power
“Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.” -Bertrand Russell
Tony Robbins talks about pain and joy as drivers in our lives. For some, our situation is so awful that it pushes us to do something about it. You take those awful or extremely joyful moments and turn them into fire to push you a long.
If you are finding yourself too relaxed but wanting more, then find that fiery moment to push you...
8 tags
The Power of Reading
“You’re the same today as you’ll be in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read.” -Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
Reading is absolutely essential to your daily living. A book can stimulate your imagination so much and also give you insight into so many new ideas or concepts. Then you have a choice to apply these ideas into your daily life to open new...
You Know Nothing
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” -Socrates
What if your attitude was that you didn’t know anything, like a new born baby who was experiencing the world for the first time, what would your take on life become like?
Curiosity is the key to fighting boredom and learning is the key to growing. If you were always open to ideas, perhaps you would be more willing to...
Concentration
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” -Bruce Lee
This has become one of the most precious quotes to me. In a HBR research study, they found that a person who studies/focuses on a subject for 10,000 hours tends to master that. Some people may disagree but I think there is some truth to it.
If I put effort towards,...
The Fallacyof Being Consistent
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
I encountered a situation this morning where my opinion rivaled with my colleagues. We were at both ends of the spectrum. To make matters worse, we were both unwilling to give up or compromise. What we created was unnecessary tension between us.
Is that tension...
7 tags
Who and Where Make You
“Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.” -W. Clement Stone
When Einstein was a child, he read science magazines, his family was the electrical engineering business, the people he choose to spend time with were in the science or academic world, his wife was a physicist like him, he worked in a patent office...
10 tags
Turn Failure into Motivation
“Through my illness I learned rejection. I was written off. That was the moment I thought, Okay, game on. No prisoners. Everybody’s going down.” -Lance Armstrong
Someone tell you are a failure? Prove’em wrong. Someone thinks you can’t do it (and it doesn’t hurt you or the people around you)? Prove’em wrong. Someone laughs out you becuase of your idea?...
Do, not Watch
Life is not a spectator sport. If you’re going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you’re wasting your life. -Jackie Robinson
Reading, watching, seeing, looking, and so on put you in the position to be a spectator in life. It may stir your feelings for a desire or even dislike. There is a lot you can gain from these actions but like...
Keep Moving
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” -Albert Einstein
Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object in motion stays in motion until acted upon by an outside force. Keep moving then. If you expect things to just happen, they certainly aren’t going to. And when you are achieving something, that momentum will be pulled down so you best figure...
Stick with the Problem
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” -Albert Einstein
My baby girl was trying to open a box and was getting fraustrated. She knows how it opens as she saw me do it many times before and also she was working in the right places to open it. She quit though and wouldn’t go on. Her mommy said she had done it before so we know...
Listen to your Heart
“The wise understand by themselves; fools follow the reports of others” -Tibetan Proverb
It is good to listen and to listen carefully. However, you must look to yourself to see how this information will benefit you. Trust your heart. Ask yourself, does this bring me closer to my dream?
Blindly following someones advice may lead you to trouble. It may have worked for them but it may not work for...
7 tags
Challenge your Fear!
“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” — Vincent van Gogh
When you want to do something, do you begin to then challenge that thought, question it to see if it is possible or even worth doing? This is the moment to stop talking to yourself and start taking action even if your second thought says it is stupid.
Challenge...
Trial and Error
“I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work” -Thomas Alva Edison
Keep trying over and over, that’s the mission. Persistence towards your goal compounded over time will result in achieving your dream. You have good days and you have bad days. When you still pursue the dream on either day, you are more likely to succeed than if you just sat there with a bag of...
Get it Done
“After all is said and done, more is said than done.” -Aesop
Sometimes we get in the habit of talking about what we want more than actually doing what we want. They say you should make your goals public and I can see the value and pressure from doing so but really, the person who is going to judge you the most, is you. Follow through on your words with action.
Small Steps to Success
“A little by little does the trick” - Aesop
I look around me and notice that people are rambling about this and that, talking about world issues, economic situations, their boss or the business and so on. The amount of time spent on these topics is probably more than the time they spend working on their dreams or own success.
What if you spent a little more time working on your...
January 2012
8 posts
5 tags
Sailing a Ship
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” -Bertha Calloway
Your life is like a ship. You are in control of where you go and when you go. You can’t stop clouds from creating rain and you can’t stop storms from occurring. However, you can continue to navigate yourself through these with courage, discipline, and determination. A ship sails from port to port....
Only You will Take Care of You
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”
No one cares about you as much as you do. I like the saying, “God helps those who help themselves” because really, you are the one who produces the results in your life. When things go to shit, it is up to you to pick up the pieces and pull yourself together to find a solution. People around you may say...
Kick Ass
“Never mind your happiness; do your duty.” -Peter Drucker
Sometimes your emotions get in your way of success. If you focused more on delivering rather than on how you are or how you want to feel, I am sure you would produce so much more. I know it cause I am victim myself! When I let my feelings get the best of me, I lose sight of what really needs to be done.
Set your agenda and stick to it....
Do your Best
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Some people go through their daily days with a great attitude. They go...
5 tags
Being a Visionary doesn't need to be...
Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.” -Jonathan Swift
To be a visionary you don’t necessarily have to create something out of thin air that is a breakthrough or completely new to the world. Rather it can be something where you connect two or more ideas to gather.
Take Guy Kawasaki’s book Enchantment. It is a wonderful book with lots of ideas. As you go through it, you...
7 tags
Self-Pity
“Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.” -Helen Keller
Wallowing in your suffering can be fruitless. I think most of the time one dwells on how miserable they feel about the situation and just wish that it never happened or that they simply can’t get out of it.
In my opinion, just find the learning lesson and push forward. Reframe...
What are your Values
“What you are comes to you” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
I learned from Darren Hardy and Jim Rohn that your ‘being’ is very important. What does that mean though? Well, if you want to BE a CEO then ask yourself what values and characteristics do they have? There are lots of books and articles that list these values and attributes.
Think about what makes a great parent or friend or even a...
Tracking my Values
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else” -Benjamin Franklin
For my new years resolution this year I have taken Darren Hardy’s rhythm meter and wrote down my goals to track them on a weekly basis.
One of my goals is to work on my values. One of them is being RESPONSIBLE. I have defined this as being 100% responsible for whatever occurs in my life and not to make...
December 2011
6 posts
The Power of Why
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
Darren Hardy presented a great lesson on this in his book called the “Compound Effect”, which I would like to share.
“If I were to put a ten-inch-wide, thirty-foot long wooden plank on the ground and say, “If you walk the length of the plank, I’ll give you twenty dollars,” would you do it? Of course,...
5 tags
The State of Happiness
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence” -Aristotle
To be happy I think is just a choice you make at any point in the day and everyday. There are definitely situations that may cause you to be unhappy but these are the exact times when you need to keep yourself in check, step back, breath 1-10, and refrain your thinking to get you back.
It is...
4 tags
Intergrity
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” -W. Clement Stone
Do you follow through on your promises? Really? Do you make justifications for your failures? Do you Tell yourself you will do this but then seem to forget about it? Do you just say ‘Yes’ because the...
5 tags
Action Speaks Louder than Words
“Turn every obstacle into an opportunity and every negative into a positive” -Linda Armstrong Kelly
We all do lots of thinking. I bury myself behind books and more books. I have some ideas of what I want to do but then I go ahead and bury myself behind some more books to see if I can get some more insight or inspiration.
What good is it too spend all that time reading about...
7 tags
Go For It!
“If you worried about falling off the bike, you’d never get on.” -Lance Armstrong
How many things are out there that you want to do but for some reason or another, you are holding back? I just finished the Steve Jobs book by Walter Isaacson, which was fantastic. Steve Jobs moved forward with his desires. He ended up doing a lot of things in his life. Now he is gone. That’s it. Just like...
6 tags
Your Sense of Knowledge
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” -Socrates
I have been reading more books than ever this past year. I think it may because I picked up a Kindle from Amazon. In any case, whether you have one or not, I think reading is just wonderful and it can have an amazing impact on you.
Reading the ideas of others gets you thinking and makes you creative. I have had a lot to think about...
October 2011
1 post
Look to Yourself
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” -Frederick Keonig
There are a lot of angry people out there lately blaming greed for the problems of the world. I wonder if folks take the time to look to themselves though and ask ‘Am I being too greedy myself”?...
September 2011
6 posts
Start with the Challenge First
“The contrast principle - If we lift a light object first and then life a heavy object, we will estimate the second object to be heavier than if we had lifted it without first trying the light one” -Robert Caldini
The above principle works for everything. It is so simple but it is easily overlooked or forgotten. If you push yourself to get through the biggest challenges in front of...
5 tags
Your Takeaways
“Flowers usually grow from manure” -Paul Harvey
You have good times and bad times. Like a roller-coaster, that is how life works. From our experiences, we can learn great things. The choice is up to you though on whether you reflect on the experience or not.
If you look back on the experience and ask ourself, “What did I learn?” in a positive responsible way, you may just...
5 tags
Continued Growth
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” -Benjamin Franklin
You know you are hungry so stop your laziness. Get up and do something. You know that thing that is running around in your mind that makes you excited. I understand when you come up with an idea you are excitied and it is likely to drive you for a little while. BUT the...
6 tags
Your Thoughts Set You
“Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” -Henry Ford
This has been my mantra of late and it is one that will likely stick with me for the rest of my life. Your thoughts set you. If you think you can, then you can. It is straight forward and there isn’t an ounce of falseness about it. You drive your actions and the results in your life. As Jim Rohn...
Resistance
“Take the Path of MOST Resistance” - Darren Hardy
People like to find the easy way to everything. Gambling is easy to do but it does not turn great results, well maybe if your lucky… but building a business is not easy yet if you keep the course, it may eventually lead to great success. Challenge yourself, just maybe it will lead to some great learning that will then drive...
5 tags
You are What you Say
“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people” -Eleanor Roosevelt
What do you talk about all day? Is what you say even worth saying? Is it absolute rubbish? Listen to yourself sometime. It is definitely difficult to speak with candor and of pure positivity.
Some will say “How can you do that and/or why would you do that?” Well I throw it back to...
August 2011
8 posts
What are you Doing?
“Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do” -Thomas Jefferson
I was digging through my quote book, which I read to my baby daily, and stumbled on a page of quotes by Thomas Jefferson I jotted down sometime ago and thought this was golden.
I love this quote becuase people are always fantasizing about what they want to do or reveling in their past works. Well...
5 tags
Stay Clear and Focused!
“When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny.” - Bertice Berry
Have a clear vision is what I always tell myself. If you know what you want, then you will be able to grasp it. If you keep flipping between thoughts of this and then that, well it is hard to reach a moving target. It is sort of like the donkey and the carrot.
Get a clear vision, stick with it no matter what,...