For those who persevere

Thursday October 27, 2011 #363

“Perseverance allows you to get back on track when you hit a detour.” 

~Catherine Pulsifer

Study any person with a consistent record of success in life and you will find this common quality: perseverance.  Despite failures, challenges, and obstacles, these people use their perseverance to continue despite the odds and take the final step to success that others who give up never take.  The great news is that the habit of perseverance can be learned.  How?  The next time you fail in achieving a worth goal, try again.  The next time?  Try again.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  Each time it is just one more try. Anyone can try one more time – so can you.  Do it enough and this perseverance will become a habit.  And when perseverance becomes a habit, nothing will stand in the way of your success.  Health, money, love?  It is all there waiting for those who persevere.

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Leading with good questions

Tuesday October 25, 2011 #362

“The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” 

~Peter Drucker

Listen to most managers and you will hear them telling others what to do and how to do it.  It is only the effective manager who actually leads – by asking questions of his followers and peers.  “How can we do this better?”  “Why do you think we got this result?”  And my favorite, “How can I help you?”  Are you asking questions or are you telling?

Making things happen

Thursday October 20, 2011 #361

“I like things to happen; and if they don’t happen, I like to make them happen.” 

~Winston Churchill

If you really want to reach that goal, achieve that desire, what are you waiting for?  Put in the time to learn if necessary, practice if necessary, and then definitely act.   Taking action, my friend, is truly necessary.

The search is over. It was you all along.

Tuesday October 18, 2011 #360

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.”

~Carl Gustav Jung

What you need to live the life you want, to achieve your goals, to find success, will not be found “out there”.  It will come from looking within yourself, discovering your unique strengths and talents and using them intentionally.  The search is over.  It was you all along.

Persistence

Thursday October 13, 2011 #359

“Failure is not in falling down but in refusing to get up.”

~Chinese proverb

Like the toddler who falls 1,000 times as he tries to walk for the first time, and yet always finds the ability to try once more until miraculously walking into his mother’s outstretched arms, so must you pick yourself up from every failure large and small until you embrace success.

You have enough. You are enough.

Tuesday October 11, 2011 #358

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

~Arthur Ashe

There will always be something more you’d like to have before you act on your dreams.  Knowledge, time, money, confidence, and more.  Don’t wait.  Begin today with what you have, from where you stand.  You have enough. You are enough.  Begin.

The virtue is in the doing

Thursday October 6, 2011 #357

 “Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing.”

 ~David Starr Jordan

The successful life comes from a strategy with equal intention around three activities:  Learning what to do, learning and practicing the skills necessary to do it, and finally the will and the courage to actually put into practice these skills.  Failures or mediocrity stem from either acting without the necessary or correct knowledge and skills for what you are attempting, or more often from a lack of using the knowledge and skills you have.  Decide what you want to achieve and then honor that goal by learning, practicing the needed skills, and then act!

Give to give, or give to get. Either way, give.

Tuesday October 4, 2011 #356

 “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”

 ~William Shakespeare

It does not surprise me that most people act upon their tendencies of greed and selfishness.  These are natural human traits that we must intentionally avoid if we want to be virtuous.  What does surprise me is how few recognize the benefit to self that follows helping others.  Even if you struggle with focusing on others’ vs. your own needs, I ask you to consider the overwhelming evidence that supports the notion that he who helps others, helps himself.  Whether out of selfishness or out of virtue, it is always more desirable to actively seek ways to help others.  Who will you help today?

Achievement from failure

Thursday September 29, 2011 #35

“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”

 ~Robert F. Kennedy

Every day is filled with decisions on taking a risk and moving forward toward your most cherished goals, or playing it safe and only dreaming of the “what if’s” and “if only’s”.  Yes it is scary and yes, you may fail – even miserably.  But by taking that leap, all the possibilities of the universe begin to manifest.  After each leap, whether it moves you forward or you stumble, take the time to reflect, learn, change as necessary, and leap again!

How the loser wins

Tuesday September 27, 2011 #354

“How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.”

~Gilbert K. Chesterton

If you are striving for things that are worthwhile, you will likely stumble and lose along the way.  Repeatedly.  It is the nature of striving.  The question is not will you struggle.  It is whether you will have the courage and character to reflect, learn and then continue on your path.