Tag: Personalgrowth

Someday I Will…

Never give up; for even rivers someday wash dams away. ~Arthur Golden

Someday I will do this. Someday I will do that.

How many of us often sit or live at the ‘wishing well’ that someday I’ll do this, or that. Someday I’ll get that perfect body. I’ll have that perfect house, job, spouse, marriage with the perfect kids; go on that dream vacation, and much more! Oh if wishes were horses so many would ride.

Someday is Today

Why not let someday be today? I reflect on the movie Hidden Figures where each of the three women at NASA — Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into space.

The inaugural team at NASA decided to step out and do something that was never done before. From the astronaut, NASA’s president, the judge, and naturally the women. They all stepped out and did something different. And guess what? It worked! Their efforts changed the world (well outer space– orbit)!

Start Here. Start Now

Why not let your someday be today? Start here, start now. Step out. Go do that thing that you’ve always dreamed of. Become an entrepreneur! Write that book! Enrol in that course! Start that blog! Take that vacation! Leave that stressful job! You are capable. You never know what’s out there unless you try.

May your someday be today.

Cheers!

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Books. The Gift Of Motivation…

So many books. So little time.

 

Steal away for a few and join us at the local BookSigning. Plan to get stocking stuffers for the readers in your life at work, school and more. Not in the area and Can’t make it? Get your copies here.

The Habit To Create A Habit. 21 Ways…

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Good habits formed at youth make all the difference. ~Aristotle

The will to create a habit. Is it worth it? Away from home at college, I often reflect on the activities of my youngest. I was in a reflective mood and sent her a few things about creating the right habits to realize our goals. Here I share. Make it a habit to:

1. Eat right and on time.
2. Study well as you always do
3. Keep good company … avoid the bad who can negatively impact
4. Pray often
5. Spend Wisely
6. Save more
7. Keep your eye on your goals
8. Pray for God’s help when you feel weak, sad, down
9. Hydrate. Drink water.
10. Breathe. Engage in regular breathing exercises
11. Avoid anything that distracts and steals your joy (drugs, drinks, anger)
12. Exercise patience
13. Remain Humble
14. Play ignorance…let others be caught off-guard when they realize you’re wise
15. Listen to the Lord’s direction
16. Laugh often
17. Meditate. Do your devotion everyday (morn, noon or night… whenever it’s convenient for you)
18. Enjoy life quietly and responsibly
19. Love your family
20. Love yourself
21. Stay Alive to enjoy the fruit of your studies

Read this over and over until it sticks

Just sharing with y’all! Hope it helps!

Cheers!

Little Leaders…

“Become the kind of leader that other people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.” — Brian Tracy

 

We were waiting to have a required group photo taken for a while. After a few emails it was finally arranged. Whew! Today was the day. Personally, I didn’t know beforehand so did the best I could to ‘right’ the face, the hair, the clothes.

Then they arrived. The photographers. Three little ones. Three little leaders! Yup! They took the pics and did an amazing job too!

Leadership: Age Doesn’t Matter

Caused me to ponder about Leadership. Age doesn’t matter. It’s the qualities that count. Those developing and those seasoned. I fall in the latter and was intrigued by the little leaders. That’s how the journey begins.

How about you? Are you giving your young ones the opportunity to develop their leadership skills? It’s an opportunity that should not be missed.

Cheers!

Travel. The Journey Changes You…

Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

To Fail Or Not To Fail? Entrepreneurs Speak…

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. ~Og Madino

To fail or not to fail? That is the question. Fail Fast. How about don’t fail at all?  That was the statement James Altucher posed in a public forum. Entrepreneurs jumped in sharing their beliefs, values and thoughts on the concept of failure.  Names have been omitted as I share excerpts:

What It Means To Fail

  • A person who hasn’t failed is more likely to have never been successful
  • The message of “fail fast” is not to encourage failure. What it speaks to is moving action with ideas instead of analysis paralysis and never-ending planning. No amount of analysis and planning can prepare you for the reality of launching something. This is what “fail fast” means. It does not mean to emphasize failure. Build it (now). Measure it. Learn from it.
  • The wisdom in “failing fast” is that you should test your ideas hard and fast. If it’s going to fail, better know sooner rather than later. But, yes, failing is not fun at all and shouldn’t be a badge f honor unless you can speak to what you have learned from it.
  • Fail fast is not supposed to be taken as a literal plan. It is a frame of mind entrepreneurs are suggested to take when there is a large unknown. The fact that it’s unknown means you have no guarantee that you won’t fail. So it makes more sense to operate in a way where you have affordable failures instead of large ones you can’t rebound from.
  • Failures are shameful, painful, and not shared. Experiment, test for the good and bad. Do something you don’t like to confirm. Get in touched with yourself. Be clear with your goals etc. You will feel more success and fewer setbacks with how you learn and experience the world.
  • We ought to believe in our ideas and craft them in a way we believe failure is not possible. The idea of “fail fast” sometimes naively lures us into playing the game to fail rather than to win
  • Is it possible to never fail and be trying new things? Pushing things to its edge or standing for things? The opposite of failure is not trying anything because its risk-free in our world. So being willing to fail and even fail big speaks to a conviction to do something maybe extraordinarily new. Failure stings …but so does living with little drive and not learning from past experiences/experiments.
  • Edison’s approach of saying he didn’t fail 100 times; he learned 100 things. I prefer to teach people and make them better not punish failure. Of course I believe in study, preparation, and teamwork to minimise the chance of failure. If our approach is “failure is not an option”, then you are like that ex-CEO of Yahoo who infamously posted how she didn’t have Plan B or Plan C, because she didn’t plan to fail. I have never met people who have used failure as a badge of honor but have met people who told me how they used an instance of failure to learn and get better.
  • If you have never failed, you haven’t pushed yourself or taken challenges and put yourself out there.

So there you have it. Entrepreneurs and leaders sharing their thoughts on failing fast. What’s your take? Do you agree?

Personally, I believe never trying is a certain path to boredom, apathy, and remaining stuck. Try something new today.

Cheers!

The Most Important Step You Can Take…

The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step. ― Brandon Sanderson

How Much Do You Value Your Life?

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One day a young boy asked his father, “what is the value of my life?”. Instead of answering, the father told his son, “take this rock and go sell it at the market. If anybody asks the price, raise two fingers and don’t say anything”, instructed the father. The boy then went to the market and a woman asked, “How much is this rock? I want to put it in my garden”. The boy didn’t say anything but raised up his two fingers, and the woman said “2 dollars? I will take it”. The boy went home and told his father, “a woman wants to buy this rock for 2 dollars”. The father then said, “Son, I want you to take this rock to a museum, if anybody wants to buy it, don’t say a word, just put up your two fingers”. The boy then went to the museum and a man showed up wanting to buy the rock, the boy didn’t say a word but put up 2 fingers and the man said “$200? I will take it”. The boy was shocked, went running home and told his father, “A man wants to buy this rock for $200”. His father then said, “Son, the last place I want you to take this rock is to a precious stone store, show it to the owner and don’t say a word, and if he asks the price, just raise up your two fingers”. The son then ran to a precious stone store, he shored the rock to the owner, “Where did you find this stone? it is one of the rarest stones in the world, I must have it! How much would you sell it for?”. The boy put up his two fingers and the man said “I will take it for $200,000”. The boy not knowing what to say, ran home to his father and told him that there’s a man that wants to buy the stone for $200,000, his father then asked, “Son, do you know the value of your life now?”

“It matters where you decide to place yourself”

You see it doesn’t matter where you come from, where you were born, the colour of your skin, or how much money you were born into. It matters where you decide to place yourself, the people you surround yourself with, and how you choose to carry yourself. You may have lived your whole life thinking that you were a $2 stone. You may have lived your whole life surrounded by people that saw your worth for only $2, but everybody has a diamond inside them, and we can choose to surround ourselves with people that see our value and see the diamond inside of us. We can choose to put ourselves in a market or put ourselves in a precious stone store. You can also choose to see the value in other people. You can help other people see the diamond inside of them.

Choose the people you surround yourself with wisely. That can make all the difference in your life.

Something To Think About…
Beautiful Extract from Sean Buranahiran

Life’s Interesting Interests…

People with many interests live, not only the longest but the happiest. ~George Matthew Allen

If you could pursue any new hobby, what would it be? That was the question Brian Tracey asked in a public forum. Hobby Dreamers chimed in telling all.  Here I share excerpts:

  • Ride a motorcycle
  • Reading more books
  • Learn to swim, study chinese and french
  • Skydiving
  • Playing the piano
  • Play an instrument
  • Cooking
  • Flying
  • Photography
  • Horse riding
  • Kickboxing
  • Surfing
  • Music and learning languages
  • Traveling the world
  • Drawing
  • Dance
  • Fix cars
  • Interior designing
  • Bull riding
  • Song writing
  • Martial arts
  • Pottery
  • Kite surfing
  • Implementing good habits
  • Have a dog rescue kennel
  • Writing blogs
  • Making dolls
  • Art, oil paint and travel
  • Fashion and art
  • Woodworking
  • Collecting coins
  • Golf
  • Hand-lettering
  • Hiking
  • Boxing
  • Gardening
  • Sewing
  • Cake decorating
  • Public speaking
  • Book binding
  • Stained glass
  • Making shoes
  • Acting

Does any resonate? Any missing? Do share. We would love to hear.

Cheers!

What’s It Gonna Be?

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Even if you cannot change all the people around you, you can change the people you choose to be around. ~R.T. Bennett

What do you feel is important to deal with your professional and personal life? Some often focus on too many values. Others seem not to give it a second thought. But when someone crosses that line, some hurt and even become bitter, and suddenly values are exposed.

What Are Your 4 Core Values?

Damon Johns asked the question “what would you say are your four (4) core values?” Responses were similar yet varied:

  • Honesty
  • Empathy
  • Concern for the world
  • Family
  • God
  • Integrity
  • Character
  • Passion Results
  • Loyalty
  • Honor
  • Work ethic
  • Love
  • Confidence
  • Consistency
  • Quality Assurance
  • Reliability

21 Core Values from Leadership 

Here is a list of values shared from leadership studies. Select your top 4 values to focus on. As James Clear reminded, if everything is a core value then nothing gets priority.

  1. Authenticity
  2. Achievement
  3. Autonomy
  4. Balance
  5. Challenge
  6. Creativity
  7. curiosity
  8. Determination
  9. Faith
  10. Humor
  11. Leadership
  12. Learning
  13. Optimism
  14. Openness
  15. Peace
  16. Recognition
  17. Reputation
  18. Service
  19. Success
  20. Trustworthy
  21. Wisdom

Missing any? Don’t hesitate… add yours!

Cheers!