"Aim for a 1% improvement every single day"
Unknown
Whenever we really desire something, especially when it involves being a happier person, we want it yesterday. We want a 100% improvement right now. We all get impatient at times. We want to be like our hero but getting that way seems like it would take forever. More and more in our society we are just not willing to wait for anything. We don't even want to wait a few minutes at McDonalds for our food to be cooked.
But nothing happens overnight. The successes of the people we admire took years of preparation, and probably many failures. There is simply no quick fix when major changes are involved, especially when it comes to a person's character or wisdom or beliefs. We just have to be patient.
The best way to move forward is to aim for a 1% improvement every day instead of a 100% improvement in day. We all can manage a 1% improvement in a day. We might just have to do one small thing, take one small baby step, towards our goals. And if we continue to improve every day, it won't be long before we see enough improvement to keep us motivated and encouraged. It's only when we start forgetting a day, and then it becomes two, and then more, that we get discouraged and quit. What really is important to us is whether we are making progress or not. If we know we are making progress, then it's much easier to be patient.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sow
"Sow an act...reap a habit; Sow a habit...reap a character; Sow a character...reap a destiny."
George Dana Boardman
We often wonder what our destiny is. We often think that a destiny is something that God gives us along with our brown eyes and small bones. We often think that our future is pre-destined, and that there is not much we can do to change anything. We just go along for the ride and wonder what will happen in the future. We even gaze into crystal balls trying to figure out what lies ahead in our future.
The truth is that it is we who determine what our destiny is. Our destiny is ultimately whatever we want it to be. It is we who have the power to shape our lives, although most of us don't exersise it. Our destiny depends on what we do every day. It depends on the acts and beleifs that we repeat so often that they become habits. We barely notice our habits but they creep into our very self-definition. "I" am the person who does ... all the time"
Our habits shape our character. It is through our habits that we build up the virtues of thoughtfulness, kindness, courage, growth. It is also through our habits that we become known as a person of carelessness, meanness, cowardice, laziness. Our habits are what makes or breaks our reputation. It is our habits that make other people decide whether to work with us and help us or not.
And ultimately our habits create our destiny. If we are destined to meet a tall, dark, handsome stranger, it will be our habits that lead us to him. It will be our habits that determine, to a large extent, how long we live and what the quality of our life will be. Do great things so you develop great habits, which leads to great character. Then you will be destined for great things.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
George Dana Boardman
We often wonder what our destiny is. We often think that a destiny is something that God gives us along with our brown eyes and small bones. We often think that our future is pre-destined, and that there is not much we can do to change anything. We just go along for the ride and wonder what will happen in the future. We even gaze into crystal balls trying to figure out what lies ahead in our future.
The truth is that it is we who determine what our destiny is. Our destiny is ultimately whatever we want it to be. It is we who have the power to shape our lives, although most of us don't exersise it. Our destiny depends on what we do every day. It depends on the acts and beleifs that we repeat so often that they become habits. We barely notice our habits but they creep into our very self-definition. "I" am the person who does ... all the time"
Our habits shape our character. It is through our habits that we build up the virtues of thoughtfulness, kindness, courage, growth. It is also through our habits that we become known as a person of carelessness, meanness, cowardice, laziness. Our habits are what makes or breaks our reputation. It is our habits that make other people decide whether to work with us and help us or not.
And ultimately our habits create our destiny. If we are destined to meet a tall, dark, handsome stranger, it will be our habits that lead us to him. It will be our habits that determine, to a large extent, how long we live and what the quality of our life will be. Do great things so you develop great habits, which leads to great character. Then you will be destined for great things.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A Good Day
"You're not going to make me have a bad day. If there's oxygen on earth and I'm breathing, it's going to be a good day."
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Most of us do let other people ruin our day. We figure that if we didn't get done what we wanted to get done then our day was ruined. We think that if things didn't go the way we wanted them to go then our day was ruined. One small thing can ruin our whole day because we have this idea that things should go the way we want (and whenever we say "should" we get into trouble- should is a dirty word).
But why let other people ruin your day? You are giving them control over your life, that you need to take back. You can't have control over what anyone does or over what happens, but you always have control over how you react to it. And that is what makes the difference between having a good day or a bad day. You just need to change your perceptions.
Whatever happened to you, chances are there are many people experiencing much worse things, and you can be grateful you aren't one of them. Be grateful that you're alive and well. Don't take anything good for granted; there are so many blessings around us that we tend to ignore because we're concerned about the bad things. As long as you're alive, it's going to be a good day.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Most of us do let other people ruin our day. We figure that if we didn't get done what we wanted to get done then our day was ruined. We think that if things didn't go the way we wanted them to go then our day was ruined. One small thing can ruin our whole day because we have this idea that things should go the way we want (and whenever we say "should" we get into trouble- should is a dirty word).
But why let other people ruin your day? You are giving them control over your life, that you need to take back. You can't have control over what anyone does or over what happens, but you always have control over how you react to it. And that is what makes the difference between having a good day or a bad day. You just need to change your perceptions.
Whatever happened to you, chances are there are many people experiencing much worse things, and you can be grateful you aren't one of them. Be grateful that you're alive and well. Don't take anything good for granted; there are so many blessings around us that we tend to ignore because we're concerned about the bad things. As long as you're alive, it's going to be a good day.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Monday, September 7, 2009
Life
Tragedy, sadness, loneliness and despair taught me that life is really a beautiful thing; if it wasn't I wouldn't be able to recognize that anything was wrong
Greg Evans
Here's a different way to look at life. We all tend to have some hope or expectation that life should go just the way we want it to. It seems that if one little thing goes wrong, then we feel like our lives are ruined. It's just like when we make one little mistake, and it causes us feel like we are a failure. We overexaggerate the bad because we want so much for everything to be perfect. We become overly focused on what is wrong with life.
Life is really very good. There are blessings all around us, which most of us don't even see. Everywhere inspiring things are going on, if we would just seek them out. But instead we seem to seek out the bad. The media brings us endless stories of killings, and crashes and genocides and fires etc and very few stories of the good things that people are doing everywhere. Imagine a newscast that actually focused on inspiring and motivating events. There's enough good things going on out there for them to do that, if they wanted to.
If our lives were really bad, then we wouldn't recognize tragedy, sadness, loneliness and despair. We would just see them as more of the same; they would just blend in. It is only because life is so good most of the time, that we can have the perception that it should be that way. The bad things actually stand out in our minds so much because they are so relatively unusual.
It is essential for us to learn to appreciate what a wonderful life we really have, instead of obscessing about all the bad things in the world. Maybe the bad things are really meant to show us how lucky we are the rest of the time. So that they too become good things. Everything, whether it seems good or bad, is meant to benefit us by helping us learn and grow
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Greg Evans
Here's a different way to look at life. We all tend to have some hope or expectation that life should go just the way we want it to. It seems that if one little thing goes wrong, then we feel like our lives are ruined. It's just like when we make one little mistake, and it causes us feel like we are a failure. We overexaggerate the bad because we want so much for everything to be perfect. We become overly focused on what is wrong with life.
Life is really very good. There are blessings all around us, which most of us don't even see. Everywhere inspiring things are going on, if we would just seek them out. But instead we seem to seek out the bad. The media brings us endless stories of killings, and crashes and genocides and fires etc and very few stories of the good things that people are doing everywhere. Imagine a newscast that actually focused on inspiring and motivating events. There's enough good things going on out there for them to do that, if they wanted to.
If our lives were really bad, then we wouldn't recognize tragedy, sadness, loneliness and despair. We would just see them as more of the same; they would just blend in. It is only because life is so good most of the time, that we can have the perception that it should be that way. The bad things actually stand out in our minds so much because they are so relatively unusual.
It is essential for us to learn to appreciate what a wonderful life we really have, instead of obscessing about all the bad things in the world. Maybe the bad things are really meant to show us how lucky we are the rest of the time. So that they too become good things. Everything, whether it seems good or bad, is meant to benefit us by helping us learn and grow
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Accomplishment
There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
Henry Ford
Human beings are meant to grow and develop, and accomplishing things is a very important part of that growth. Sometimes we forget that doing isn't necessarily the only way to accomplish something. If we are having trouble with a problem and we train ourselves to see it differently, we have made a significant accomplishment even before we try to do something about that problem. A shift in the way that we are may be even of an accomplishment than any actions we take, and will usually make those actions much more effective and satisfying.
Somewhere in our minds we have got doing mixed up with having. When we talk about being happy, we talk about being happy when we have something. Doing work certainly allows you to have things, but you can also have things without doing anything. We are all blessed with sunshine and rain yet we don't have to do anything in order to receive it. And the other side of the coin is that when we have what we thought we wanted, we often are still not happy. It is not the having that makes us happy.
We all know that we appreciate things much more, and are much more happy with them, when we did the work necessary to have them. It is only then that what we have is our own accomplishment, and that is what really matters to us. It is only then that we find satisfaction with ourselves. And soon we are motivated to move on to bigger accomplishments. It is in the realization that we can accomplish what I wanted to, the satisfaction that comes from being a better person because of that accomplishment, that we find our real happiness.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Henry Ford
Human beings are meant to grow and develop, and accomplishing things is a very important part of that growth. Sometimes we forget that doing isn't necessarily the only way to accomplish something. If we are having trouble with a problem and we train ourselves to see it differently, we have made a significant accomplishment even before we try to do something about that problem. A shift in the way that we are may be even of an accomplishment than any actions we take, and will usually make those actions much more effective and satisfying.
Somewhere in our minds we have got doing mixed up with having. When we talk about being happy, we talk about being happy when we have something. Doing work certainly allows you to have things, but you can also have things without doing anything. We are all blessed with sunshine and rain yet we don't have to do anything in order to receive it. And the other side of the coin is that when we have what we thought we wanted, we often are still not happy. It is not the having that makes us happy.
We all know that we appreciate things much more, and are much more happy with them, when we did the work necessary to have them. It is only then that what we have is our own accomplishment, and that is what really matters to us. It is only then that we find satisfaction with ourselves. And soon we are motivated to move on to bigger accomplishments. It is in the realization that we can accomplish what I wanted to, the satisfaction that comes from being a better person because of that accomplishment, that we find our real happiness.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Start
"It's not where you start - it's where you finish that counts."
Zig Ziglar
We all have great ideas about what we want, even if we just know that what we want is something that is not what we already have. If we are poor, we know that we want wealth, even if we don't really know what being wealthy involves, just to get away from our feeling of lack. Some of us have modest ambitions, while others have much greater ambitions than is practical for any one person to do. But we are all so focused on the finish line that we fail to consider where we are starting from.
We forget that the wealthy, successful, beautiful people weren't always like that. They all started out being people much like ourselves. We forget that the only difference between them and us is that they knew exactly what they wanted, and went after it without giving up when they reached an obstacle. But we can learn to do that too. It doesn't matter where we start, as long as we keep moving towards our goal, we will eventually get there too.
Perhaps the most important component of success, is self-confidence, the beleif that you can eventually acheive whatever you want, no matter how many obstacles there appear to be between you and it. All of us have obstacles between us and what we want; what counts is where we finish, whether we give up at the first obstacle or whether we are able to conquer all those obstacles and reach our goal. It's not where you start - it's where you finish that counts.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Zig Ziglar
We all have great ideas about what we want, even if we just know that what we want is something that is not what we already have. If we are poor, we know that we want wealth, even if we don't really know what being wealthy involves, just to get away from our feeling of lack. Some of us have modest ambitions, while others have much greater ambitions than is practical for any one person to do. But we are all so focused on the finish line that we fail to consider where we are starting from.
We forget that the wealthy, successful, beautiful people weren't always like that. They all started out being people much like ourselves. We forget that the only difference between them and us is that they knew exactly what they wanted, and went after it without giving up when they reached an obstacle. But we can learn to do that too. It doesn't matter where we start, as long as we keep moving towards our goal, we will eventually get there too.
Perhaps the most important component of success, is self-confidence, the beleif that you can eventually acheive whatever you want, no matter how many obstacles there appear to be between you and it. All of us have obstacles between us and what we want; what counts is where we finish, whether we give up at the first obstacle or whether we are able to conquer all those obstacles and reach our goal. It's not where you start - it's where you finish that counts.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Required
"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction."
Charles Kendall Adams
Do you do what is required of you? In order to accomplish that, you do, of course, have to know what it is that is required of you. You need to thoroughly understand your job description, which is not spelt out for most of the things you will do. You need to be well aware of what other people expect from you, what they would define as a adequate or satisfactory job. And then you need to be good enough to fulfill those expectations.
But being adequate is not enough. Almost by definition, many people can do your job adequately, whatever your job might be. You must stand out in order to be really successful. You need to go above and beyond the call of duty. You must impress people enough that they remember you, and call upon you again. In order to do that, you must be better than all those other people who just perform adequately.
How does one go above and beyond the call of duty? It is a case of knowing what people really want, and being motivated to give it to them even though the job description doesn't include those things. It is a case of continually asking yourself "How can I do more? How can I do the job better?" It is a case of continually learning everything you can about your field of endeavor.
This doesn't just apply to work but to anything you want to be successful at. Whether you want to start a new business, raise a child, or bake a cake, it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Charles Kendall Adams
Do you do what is required of you? In order to accomplish that, you do, of course, have to know what it is that is required of you. You need to thoroughly understand your job description, which is not spelt out for most of the things you will do. You need to be well aware of what other people expect from you, what they would define as a adequate or satisfactory job. And then you need to be good enough to fulfill those expectations.
But being adequate is not enough. Almost by definition, many people can do your job adequately, whatever your job might be. You must stand out in order to be really successful. You need to go above and beyond the call of duty. You must impress people enough that they remember you, and call upon you again. In order to do that, you must be better than all those other people who just perform adequately.
How does one go above and beyond the call of duty? It is a case of knowing what people really want, and being motivated to give it to them even though the job description doesn't include those things. It is a case of continually asking yourself "How can I do more? How can I do the job better?" It is a case of continually learning everything you can about your field of endeavor.
This doesn't just apply to work but to anything you want to be successful at. Whether you want to start a new business, raise a child, or bake a cake, it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
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