Celebrating Accomplishments

June 15, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

What do you have to celebrate? Probably more than you realize.

There is an old Christian hymn that says “count your many blessings, name them one by one.” Like the blessings we receive, it is good to acknowledge the things we achieve. In a recent article David Riklan and Samantha Etkin shared the following questions to help you acknowledge and celebrate some positive things in your life.

To figure out and pay tribute to the positive things you’ve already accomplished, take a few minutes to look back on the past 12 months and ask:

What have you done in the past year that has improved who you are as a person?
1) Have you taken steps to try and see the positive in situations more frequently?
2) Have you broken off any toxic relationships?
3) Have you become more assertive?
4) Have you worked on effectively communicating with others?

What have you done in the past year that has helped improve someone else’s life?
1) Have you given your money or time to a charity?
2) Did you donate blood?
3) Have you provided someone with a shoulder to cry on?
4) Did you give up your seat on the bus or train to someone else or help someone carry their groceries to their car?
5) Did you teach a child how to ride a bike, tie a shoelace, or play a sport?

What have you accomplished off of your day-to-day to-do list?
1) Did you finally get around to cleaning out the garage?
2) Did you pay off a debt?
3) Did you get rid of your old clothes to free up more closet space?
4) Did you organize your files or your desk at work?
5) Did you plant that garden, fix that car, or paint that room?

What have you accomplished off your “bucket list?”
1) Did you finally take a trip you’ve always wanted to take?
2) Did you write that book you’ve always wanted to write?
3) Did you learn a new language?
4) Did you land your dream job?
5) Did you graduate from college, buy a home, get married, or have a baby?

Did you do anything to improve yourself or your life?

What questions would you add to their list?

Filed Under: Personal Growth Tagged With: , ,

Think About It …

February 12, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

“Choice, not chance, determines human destiny.”
– Robert W. Ellis

“A man can get discouraged many times, but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying.”
– John Burroughs, Writer

“I am grateful for all of my problems. After each one was overcome, I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come. I grew in all my difficulties.”
– J.C. Penney, businessman

“I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.”
– Jonathan Winters, Comedian

“True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done.”
– John Wayne

“No matter how bad someone has it, there are others who have it worse. Remembering that makes life a lot easier and allows you to take pleasure in the blessings you have been given.”
– Lou Holtz

“Common sense is genius dressed up in work clothes.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.”
– Denis Waitley

“The biggest tragedy in America is not the great waste of natural resources – though this is tragic; the biggest tragedy is the waste of human resources because the average person goes to his grave with his music still in him.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.”
– Robert Orben

“You can’t talk yourself out of a problem you behave yourself into.”
– Stephen Covey, Author and Speaker

“Determine never to be idle. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”
– Thomas Jefferson, Third U.S. President

“Do a little more than you’re paid to. Give a little more than you have to. Try a little harder than you want to. Aim a little higher than you think possible, and give a lot of thanks to God for health, family, and friends.”
– Art Linkletter

“Your greatness is measured by your horizons.”
– Michelangelo

“A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.”
– Ken Keyes

“Ninety percent of all those who fail are not actually defeated. They simply quit.”
– Paul J. Meyer

“Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a simple word of encouragement and recognition.”
– Cavett Robert

“It’s not where you start – it’s where you finish that counts.”
– Zig Ziglar, Author

“People spend their lives in the service of their passions instead of employing their passions in the service of their lives.”
– Sir Richard Steele

“We must become the change we wish to see in the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi, Statesman

“When you believe and think “I can,” you activate your motivation, commitment, confidence, concentration and excitement – all of which relate directly to achievement.”
– Dr. Jerry Lynch

“Eighty-five percent of the reason you get a job, keep that job, and move ahead in that job has to do with your people skills and people knowledge.”
– Cavett Robert

“The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example.”
– Thomas Morell, Librettist

“Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.”
– Publilius Syrus

“Any person who selects a goal in life which can be fully achieved, has already defined his own limitations.”
– Cavett Robert

“In the middle of every difficulty comes opportunity.”
– Albert Einstein

“The nose of the bulldog is slanted backwards so he can continue to breathe without letting go.”
– Winston Churchill, British prime minister

“Evidence is conclusive that your self-talk has a direct bearing on your performance.”
– Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker

“The happiness of most people we know is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things.”
– Ernest Dimnet

“You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.”
– James Allen

“When you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.”
– Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker

“The only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is extraordinary determination.”
– Mary Kay Ash, Entrepreneur

“Skill to do comes of doing.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet

“Until you commit your goals to paper, you have intentions that are seeds without soil.”
– Anonymous

“Only those who constantly retool themselves stand a chance of staying employed in the years ahead.”
– Tom Peters, Author

“Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly – until you learn to do it well.”
– Steve Brown

“It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class.”
– J. Willard Marriot

“If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”
– Vince Lombardi, American Football Coach

“Sometimes the best helping hand you can get is a good, firm push.”
– Joann Thomas

“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.”
– James Allen

“A vision is a clearly-articulated, results-oriented picture of a future you intend to create. It is a dream with direction.”
– Jesse Stoner Zemel

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”
– Ferdinand Foch, military strategist

“A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
– Grace Hopper, American Computer Scientist

“A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.”
– Benjamin Franklin, Inventor

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson, Author

“The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.”
– Bobby Knight, Basketball Head Coach

“A work well begun is half-ended.”
– Plato, Philosopher

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”
– Booker T. Washington, Educator

“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered. ”
– Michael J. Fox, Actor

“Some of us learn from other people’s mistakes and the rest of us have to be other people.”
– Zig Ziglar, Author

“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.”
– Denis Diderot, French Philosopher and Writer

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill, British prime minister

“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”
– Peter Drucker, Businessman

“What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet

“Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.”
– Frederick Wilcox, writer

“Dig the well before you are thirsty.”
– Chinese Proverb

“Courage is not limited to the battlefield. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like enduring pain when the room is empty or standing alone when you’re misunderstood.”
– Charles Swindoll

“Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement them are priceless.”
– Mary Kay Ash, Entrepreneur

“If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that files feels the attraction of earth.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author

“Worry often gives a small thing a great shadow.”
– Swedish Proverb

“Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; and the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say not to oneself.”
– Abraham Joshua Heschel, Leading Jewish theologian of the 20th century

“Envisioning the end is enough to put the means in motion.”
– Dorothea Brande, Writer

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do.”
– Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Author

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
– Hans Hoffmann

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
– Japanese Proverb

“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
– Henry Ford, Founder of the Ford Motor Company

“The miracle is this – the more we share, the more we have.”
– Leonard Nimoy, Actor

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the staircase.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader

“Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect.”
– Leonardo da Vinci, Artist

“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet

“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”
– Andrew Carnegie, Industrialist

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
– Darrell Royal

“The key is not to prioritize what is on the schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
– Stephen Covey, Author and Speaker

“You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
– Wayne Gretzky, Hockey Player

“Life begins when you do.”
– Hugh Downs, American Broadcaster

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
– Chinese Proverb

“Asking questions will get you the performance you are after far better than dictating demands.”
– Dan James

“Great minds have purpose, others have wishes.”
– Washington Irving, American Author

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
– Chuck Palahniuk, Author

“I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
– Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States of America

“If you want to achieve a high goal, you’re going to have to take some chances.”
– Alberto Salazar, American Marathon Runner

“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
– Peter F. Drucker, Author and Management Expert

“Man was created as a being who should constantly keep improving, a being who on reaching one goal sets a higher one.”
– Ralph Ransom

“Chance favors those in motion.”
– James H. Austin, Professor of Neurology and Author

“In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

“Samson killed a thousand men with the jaw bone of an ass. That many sales are killed every day with the same weapon.”
– Anonymous

“Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.”
– Peter F. Drucker, Author and Management Expert

“Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.”
– Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States

“Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene.”
– Arthur Christopher Benson, British Author

“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before.”
– Jacob Riis, Photographer and Journalist

“Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it. ”
– Irving Berlin, American Composer and Lyricist

“Purpose and laughter are the twins that must not separate. Each is empty without the other.”
– Robert K. Greenleaf, Founder of the modern Servant leadership movement

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”
– Michael Altshuler

“Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, “Make me feel important.” Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.”
– Mary Kay Ash, Entrepreneur

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.”
– Henry David Thoreau, Author, Philosopher

“People die of fright and live of confidence.”
– Henry David Thoreau, Author, Philosopher

“Thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and of all achievement.”
– Claude M. Bristol, Author

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
– Benjamin Franklin, Inventor

“Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.”
– Jim Rohn, Author

“Confidence and enthusiasm are the greatest sales producers in any kind of economy.”
– O. B. Smith

“If you can give your son or daughter only one gift, let it be enthusiasm.”
– Bruce Barton, Executive

“The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.”
– William James, Psychologist

“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”
– Thomas Jefferson, Third U.S. President

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
– William Faulkner, Author

Filed Under: Blog, Leadership, Success Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Ratiocination

July 14, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

“I learned that good judgment comes from experience and that experience grows out of mistakes.”
– Omar Bradley, general

“Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.”
– Henry Kaiser, industrialist

“Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”
– Phillips Brooks, clergyman

“Courage is rarely reckless or foolish. Courage usually involves a highly realistic estimate of the odds that must be faced.”
– Margaret Truman, author

“You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.”
– George Lucas, director

“You are not beaten until you admit it.”
– George Patton, general

“Wisdom is knowing what to do; virtue is doing it.”
– David Jordan, scientist

“Dreams never hurt anybody if he keeps working right behind the dream to make as much of it become real as he can.”
– Frank Woolworth, Entrepreneur

“Knowledge has to be improved, challenged and increased constantly, or it vanishes.”
– Peter Drucker, management expert

“Problems should be solved on the spot, as soon as they arise. No frontline employee should have to wait for a supervisor’s permission.”
– Jan Carlzon, airline executive

“Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.”
– Helen Keller, lecturer

“All men who deliberate on controversial matters should do it free of hate, friendship, anger and pity.”
– Sallust, historian

“We can learn from past failures and mistakes, but we shouldn’t get stuck there. We can keep future goals in mind, but we shouldn’t get stuck there, either. The only way to reach our potential is to focus on what we must do now – this moment, this day – to perform effectively and win.”
– Joe Torre

“The successful man is the one who had the chance and took it.”
– Roger Babson, executive

“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.”
– Demosthenes, statesman

“The virtue you would like to have, assume it is already yours, appropriate it, enter into the part and live the character just as the great actor is absorbed in… the part he plays.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
– Mother Teresa, charity worker

“All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.”
– Napolean Hill, author

“Our minds can shape the way a thing will be because we act according to our expectations.”
– Federico Fellini, director

“A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot answer and attempting a task he cannot achieve.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., physician

“No matter what it is, pick yourself up and go on to the next project.”
– Shelley Duvall, actress

“Deal first with whatever is causing you the greatest emotional distress. Often this will break the logjam in your work and free you up mentally to complete (the) other tasks.”
– Brian Tracy, motivational coach

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
– John Wooden, basketball coach

“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy. ”
– Dale Carnegie, motivational expert

“I am willing to put myself through anything; temporary pain or discomfort means nothing to me as long as I can see that the experience will take me to a new level.”
– Diana Nyad, swimmer

“Don’t ever be afraid to admit you were wrong. It’s like saying you’re wiser today than you were yesterday.”
– Robert Newell, humorist

“Character is built daily by the way one thinks and acts – thought by thought, action by action.”
– Helen Douglas, legislator

“I don’t think that once you get to one level, you can relax. You’ve got to keep pushing. ”
– Larry Bird, basketball player

“Life is the sum of all your choices.”
– Albert Camus, Author

“All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.”
– Orison Swett Marden, writer

“You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.”
– Malcolm Forbes, publisher

“The real winners in life are the people who look at every situation with an expectation that they can make it work or make it better.”
– Barbara Pletcher, author

“If life was so easy that you could just go buy success, there would be a lot more successful companies in the world. Successful enterprises are built from the ground up.”
– Lou Gerstner, IBM CEO

“If you want to get the best out of a person you must look for the best that is in him.”
– Bernard Haldane

“Deliberation is the work of many men. Action, of one alone.”
– Charles de Gaulle, statesman

“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.”
– Cavett Robert

“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
– Samuel Johnson, Lexicographer

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”
– Tom Peters, Author

“No great performance ever came from holding back.”
– Don Greene, performance coach

“It is dangerous to go into eternity with possibilities that oneself has prevented from becoming realities. A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it. ”
– Soren Kierkegaard, Philosopher

“It’s not what you do once in a while; it’s what you do day in and day out that makes the difference.”
– Jenny Craig, diet guru

“A strong imagination begetteth opportunity.”
– Michel de Montaigne, writer

“I love the man who can smile in trouble, gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection.”
– Thomas Paine, Statesman

“I have never known a really successful man who deep in his heart did not understand the grind, the discipline it takes to win.”
– Vince Lombardi, American Football Coach

“What will your children remember? Moments spent listening, talking, playing and sharing together may be the most important times of all.”
– Gloria Gaither

“The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose.”
– John McEnroe, tennis champion

“Life without risk is not worth living.”
– Chuck Lindbergh, aviator

“Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits.”
– Casey Stengel, baseball manager

“The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.”
– Napoleon Hill, author

“You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere.”
– Helen Adams Keller, American Author and Lecturer

“Lost time is never found again.”
– Benjamin Franklin, inventor

“Until you make peace with who you are you will never be content with what you have.”
– Doris Mortman

“Experience is valuable only if it’s imbued with meaning from which one can draw salient conclusions. Otherwise, experience becomes imprisoning.”
– Barry McCaffrey, general

“Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.”
– Kenichi Ohmae, business coach

“Every man, however wise, needs the advice of some sagacious friend in the affairs of life.”
– Plautus, Playwright

“Each man (is) the architect of his own fortune.”
– Appius Caecus, builder

“For every disadvantage there is a corresponding advantage.”
– Clement Stone, executive

“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
– Carlos Castaneda, author

“Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead… You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.”
– Kathleen Norris, Writer

“Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you’re ready or not, to put it into action.”
– Napoleon Hill, motivational expert

“I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint–and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing ”
– Oprah Winfrey, Talk Show Host

“Leaders get out front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves – and by which they are willing to be judged.”
– Frederick Smith, Federal Express founder

“Success is waking up in the morning and bounding out of bed because there’s something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that you’re good at – something that’s bigger than you are, and you can hardly wait to get at it again.”
– Whit Hobbs

“Before a person can achieve the kind of life he wants, he must think, act, walk, talk and conduct himself in all of his affairs as would the person he wishes to become.”
– Zig Ziglar, Author

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.”
– Josh Billings, humorist

“In real estate, it’s location, location, location. In business, it’s differentiate, differentiate, differentiate.”
– Robert Goizueta, executive

“To be prepared is half the victory.”
– Miguel de Cervantes

“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. It’s the end you’re after.”
– Anthony Robbins, Motivational Speaker

“The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.”
– David Ogilvy, Advertising Executive

“The person who pays an ounce of principle for a pound of popularity gets badly cheated.”
– Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. president

“If you don’t fail now and again, it’s a sign you’re playing it safe.”
– Woody Allen, Director

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”
– Tom Landry, football coach

“Giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”
– Robert Donovan, writer

“Keep your sense of humor. There’s enough stress in the rest of your life to let bad shots ruin a game you’re supposed to enjoy.”
– Amy Alcott, golfer

“If you want to leave your footprints on the sands of time, be sure you’re wearing work shoes.”
– Author Unknown

“Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”
– Alan Alda, Actor

“It is the studying that you do after your school days that really counts. Otherwise, you know only that which everyone else knows.”
– Henry Doherty

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are an excellent leader.”
– Dolly Parton, Singer

“In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.”
– Paul Harvey, broadcaster

“Not only strike when the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.”
– Oliver Cromwell, military leader

“Never say no when a client asks for something, even if it is the moon. You can always try, and anyhow there is plenty of time afterward to explain that it was not possible.”
– Cesar Ritz, hotelier

“The entrepreneur is… the most important player in the building of the global economy. So much so that big companies are reconstituting themselves as networks of entrepreneurs.”
– John Naisbitt, writer

“It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class.”
– J. Willard Marriott Sr., hotel executive

Filed Under: Blog, Personal Growth Tagged With: , , ,

Wisdom, Life & Humor

November 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

quotesThe greatest conflicts are not between two people, but between one person and himself.
– Garth Brooks

Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.
– Julia Child

A person can succeed at almost anything for which they have unlimited enthusiasm.
– Charles M. Schwab

Happiness is mostly a byproduct of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.
– Benjamin Spock

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
– Harriet Tubman

Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it’s because you’ve started to think of failure.
– Tommy Lasorda

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.
– Harriet Beecher Stowe

Who has not served cannot command.
– John Florio

Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.
– Charles de Gaulle

Strategic advantage lies in the leverage of knowledge.
– Robert Buckman

It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you’ll drift in that direction.
– Warren Buffett

There is only one way to make a great deal of money, and that is in a business of your own.
– J. Paul Getty

Freedom lies in being bold.
– Robert Frost

People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds. It is something one creates.
– Thomas Szasz

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.
– Leon Suenens

No great performance ever came from holding back.
– Don Greene

A bold, vigorous assault has won many a faltering cause.
– Ira Eaker

Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances.
– Bruce Barton

In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.
– John Churton Collins

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

If anything terrifies me, I must try to conquer it.
– Francis Chichester

One should count each day a separate life.
– Seneca

Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others.
– Oscar Wilde

If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking.
– Lyndon B. Johnson

Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.
– Thomas Jones

What we call ‘Progress’ is the exchange of one nuisance for another nuisance.
– Havelock Ellis

Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.
– Jane Austen

Love is not blind — it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.
– Rabbi Julius Gordon

One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.
– Rita Mae Brown

Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.
– Ben Hecht

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
– Albert Einstein

Silence is the virtue of fools.
– Sir Francis Bacon

Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.
– Phyllis Diller

Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
– Jules Renard

The prospect of a long day at the beach makes me panic. There is no harder work I can think of than taking myself off to somewhere pleasant, where I am forced to stay for hours and ‘have fun.’
– Phillip Lopate

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
– G.K. Chesterton

That all men are equal is a proposition which, at ordinary times, no sane individual has ever given his assent.
– Aldous Huxley

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Filed Under: Blog, Personal Growth Tagged With: , , ,

More Quotes To Think About

October 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment
quotations

Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you ready or not, to put this plan into action.
– Napolean Hill

The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.”
– Amelia Earhart

An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions.
–Robert A. Humphrey

To try and fail is at least to learn. To fail to try is to suffer the loss of what might have been.
– Benjamin Franklin

Success comes to the man who grits his teeth, squares his jaw and says, “There is a way for me and, by jingo, I’ll find it.”
– Clifford Sloan

Every artist was first an amateur.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.
– George Patton

Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.
– Alexander Graham Bell

It isn’t where you came from; it’s where you’re going that counts.
– Ella Fitzgerald

Small differences in your performance can lead to large differences in your results.
– Brian Tracy

I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.
– Marie Curie

Silence is one of the great arts of conversation, as allowed by Cicero himself, who says, ‘there is not only an art, but an eloquence in it.’ A well bred woman may easily and effectually promote the most useful and elegant conversation without speaking a word. The modes of speech are scarcely more variable than the modes of silence.
– Tom Blair

I love acting. It is so much more real than life.
– Oscar Wilde

One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be.
– Oscar Wilde

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
– John Kenneth Galbraith

A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
– Terry Pratchett

Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.
– Mark Twain

Truth is more of a stranger than fiction.
– Mark Twain

After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood.
– Fred Thompson

You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men.
– Max Beerbohm

People seem to enjoy things more when they know a lot of other people have been left out of the pleasure.
– Russell Baker

Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.
– Albert Camus

The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
– Edward Roscoe Murrow

Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.”
– Hubert Horathio Humphrey

When things go wrong they like to blame the President, and that’s one of the things that Presidents are paid for.”
– John F. Kennedy

Humor is just another defense against the universe.
– Mel Brooks

If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.
– Bill Lyon

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
– Bill Cosby

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
– Abba Eban

The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it.
– Dudley Moore

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Nelson Mandela On Having The Courage To Excel

October 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment
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picture by permission of KennethKelsoe.com

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some o fus, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

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Words For Success In Life

October 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment
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“People will not bear it when advice is violently given, even if it is well founded. Hearts are flowers; they remain open to the softly falling dew, but shut up in the violent downpour of rain.”
– John Paul Richter

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heav’n of hell and a hell of a heav’n.”
– John Milton, poet

“It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class.”
– J. Willard Marriot

“Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.”
– Mary Bethune, educator

“The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.”
– Henry Ford, carmaker

“It is not enough to fight. It is the spirit that we bring to the fight that decides the issue. It is morale that wins the victory.”
– George Marshall, general

“The most important thing about goals is… having one.”
– Geoffry F. Abert

“Without ambition, one starts nothing. Without work, one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet

“The majority of men meet with failure because (they don’t create) new plans to take the place of those that fail.”
– Napoleon Hill, motivational expert

“The barrier (to) success is not something which exists in the real world; it is composed purely and simply of doubts about ability.”
– Franklin Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President

“As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.”
– Donald Trump, Real Estate Magnate

“When you find yourself stressed, ask yourself one question: Will this matter five years from now? If yes, then do something about the situation. If no, then let it go.”
– Catherine Pulsifer, writer

“Once men are caught up in an event, they cease to be afraid. Only the unknown frightens men.”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery, aviator

“The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune.”
– Plutarch, historian

“Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use.”
– Ruth Gordon, actress

“To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.”
– Benjamin Disraeli, British prime minister

“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”
– Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, CEO

“When a man dies, if he can pass enthusiasm along to his children, he has left them an estate of incalculable value.”
– Thomas Edison, inventor

“It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class.”
– J. Willard Marriot

“If you don’t like the situation you’re in, you don’t have to settle for it. ”
– Macy Gray, Singer

“The ability to summon positive emotions during periods of intense stress lies at the heart of effective leadership.”
– Jim Loehr, psychologist

“Being miserable is a habit. Being happy is a habit. The choice is yours.”
– Tom Hopkins, sales trainer

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president

“All glory comes from daring to begin.”
– Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor

“Believe you will be successful and you will.”
– Dale Carnegie, motivational speaker

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”
– Malcolm Forbes, Publisher

“I’ve felt that dissatisfaction is the basis of progress. When we become satisfied in business, we become obsolete.”
– J. Willard Marriott Sr., hotel executive

“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.”
– Erica Jong, Author

“The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet

“Seek to do good and you will find that happiness will run after you.”
– James Freeman Clarke

“Long-range goals keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures.”
– J.C. Penney, Retailer

“Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.”
– Douglas MacArthur, General

“The making of friends who are real friends is the best token we have of a man’s success in life.”
– Edward Hale, theologian

“In playing ball, and in life, a person occasionally gets the opportunity to do something great. When that time comes, only two things matter: being prepared to seize the moment and having the courage to take your best swing.”
– Hank Aaron, Baseball Player

“I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond where they’ve been.”
– Sam Walton, Wal-Mart founder

“The majority of men meet with failure because (they don’t create) new plans to take the place of those that fail.”
– Napoleon Hill, motivational expert

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
– William Faulkner, Author

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What’d He Say?

August 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ideas pull the trigger, but instinct loads the gun.
~ Don Marquis

Choice, not chance, determines human destiny.
~ Robert W. Ellis

True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done.
~ John Wayne

No matter how bad someone has it, there are others who have it worse. Remembering that makes life a lot easier and allows you to take pleasure in the blessings you have been given.
~ Lou Holtz

God gives everyone certain attributes, characteristics, talents, and then He says, “If you use what you have I’ll increase it, but if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” Use it or lose it; it’s a law.
~ Charlie “Tremendous” Jones

Insanity is big business. And vice versa.
~ Robyn Hitchcock

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.
~ Anonymous

I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally.
~ W. C. Fields

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Be A Negative Optimist, by Brian Tracy

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment
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The most important quality for success in entrepreneurship and in life is the quality of optimism. Optimists have an unrealistic expectation of success. As a result, they are willing to try far more things without becoming discouraged. In addition, because of their unrealistically positive attitude, they are willing to persist much longer than the average person. Optimism is a wonderful quality as long as you have it under control.

Temper Your Optimism
In order to be successful in business, and in any activity where your money is involved, you must temper your optimism with negativism. You must be enthusiastic about the possible upside of the investment but you must be skeptical, critical, suspicious and demanding about all the different ways that your money can be lost.

Listen to Negative Viewpoints
Seek out and listen carefully to people who are negative toward your idea. Look for negative thinkers, because their viewpoints can be invaluable and save you a fortune in time and money. I have a friend who is a lawyer. And he recommends and gives advice to many people on investments. And what he does is this. When someone comes and they want to make an investment that he’s unsure about, he says, all right, I want you to come to my office and I want you to sit behind my desk. And then I’m going to come in and I’m going to present this investment to you and I want you to critique this investment as if you were me.

Help Others to Evaluate Honestly
And he says that when his clients begin critiquing the investments they’re thinking about going into, when they begin becoming negative thinkers about the investments, he says they are astonished at how bad the investments really are. He said he has saved his clients millions of dollars by forcing them to be negative thinkers about their own ideas, simply by switching roles and sitting in front of the desk while they sit behind the desk.

Keep Your Mind Open
But don’t be overly influenced by negative thinkers. Just take their viewpoints into consideration. There’s a famous story of Mary Hudson, who started off with 200 dollars in the middle of the Depression and leased a gas station that two men had gone broke running at two different occasions. And from that she built a company called Hudson Oil, which is now the biggest independent distributor of gas and oil in the United States. From a 200 dollar investment, even though everybody told her she would fail. So remember, listen to negative thinkers, but don’t necessarily accept their advice.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to get these ideas into action.

First, view your idea as if you were an outside consultant. Ask, “What are all of the possible risks or flaws in this cause of action?”

Second, seek out the opinions of others. Listen without responding or defending. Thank them for their input. They may save you a lot of money.

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Quotes For A Whale Balanced Life

March 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen.
~ Hugh Prather

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.
~ Frank A. Clark

All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think.
~ Thomas J. Watson, Former President of IBM

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.
~ Chinese Proverb

Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.
~ Jerry Rice

Going into business for yourself, becoming an entrepreneur, is the modern-day equivalent of pioneering on the old frontier.
~ Paula Nelson

A good manager is a man who isn’t worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him.
~ H.S.M. Burnes

Bottom line: if you show a genuine interest in learning about how others became successful, you can open up a world of opportunities. ~ Armstrong Williams, Political Commentator

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
~ Maria Robinson

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~ Howard Thurman

The happiest excitement in life is to be convinced that one is fighting for all one is worth on behalf of some clearly seen and deeply felt good.
~ Ruth Benedict

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.
~ Ashley Smith

I always read the last page of a book first so that if I die before I finish I’ll know how it turned out.
~ Nora Ephron

People, when they first come to America, whether as travelers or settlers, become aware of a new and agreeable feeling: that the whole country is their oyster.
~ Alistair Cooke

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