"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals of American society."
Robert Francis Kennedy
People who are content with today are happy living in the gilded cage of their comfort zone. People who are apathetic towards their fellow man and the problems they share, are not motivated to accomplish anything significant. People who are timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas are not going to take any risks; they aren't going to try anything new. All those characteristics add up to people who will not change the world. They will live in the past.
A person who is going to change the world must be committed to it. They must be passionate enough to step out of their comfort zone. They must be courageous enough to risk doing something new and different. And they must have the intelligence and wisdom to know that to do, and come up with a plan of how they are going to do it.
These are the people who will change the world. These are the people who the future belongs to. Will you be one of them?
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Forgiveness
"When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free."
Catherine Ponder
How many people do you resent? How often have you resented some situation that happened to you? So many of us do it all the time. When you feel any strong emotion about another person, you have bonded to them. When you feel good about them, then you will want that bondage. But when you feel bad about them, you want to be as far away from them as possible.
When we resent having to do something for someone, for example, we complain about it to whoever will listen long after it's already happened. We keep reminding ourselves of it over and over. We can't forget that person. We can't let go. We can't let bygones be bygones. Our emotions have bound us to them. This happens so often in so many ways that we don't even realize that we are doing it. We don't know that we can just let go. And we do that by forgiving.
In the case of us resenting having to do something for someone, the first person to forgive is ourselves for not excersising our right to say "no". Then we need to forgive the person for making the request of us in the first place. Forgiving is hard. It is just as hard to forgive ourselves as it is to forgive them. But the rewards are enormous.
Start practising foregiveness now. It does not mean that you condone what the person did or that you will tolerate it in the future. It just means letting go. You don't do it for them. You do it for yourself, to be free of the negative emotions that they are invoking in you.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Catherine Ponder
How many people do you resent? How often have you resented some situation that happened to you? So many of us do it all the time. When you feel any strong emotion about another person, you have bonded to them. When you feel good about them, then you will want that bondage. But when you feel bad about them, you want to be as far away from them as possible.
When we resent having to do something for someone, for example, we complain about it to whoever will listen long after it's already happened. We keep reminding ourselves of it over and over. We can't forget that person. We can't let go. We can't let bygones be bygones. Our emotions have bound us to them. This happens so often in so many ways that we don't even realize that we are doing it. We don't know that we can just let go. And we do that by forgiving.
In the case of us resenting having to do something for someone, the first person to forgive is ourselves for not excersising our right to say "no". Then we need to forgive the person for making the request of us in the first place. Forgiving is hard. It is just as hard to forgive ourselves as it is to forgive them. But the rewards are enormous.
Start practising foregiveness now. It does not mean that you condone what the person did or that you will tolerate it in the future. It just means letting go. You don't do it for them. You do it for yourself, to be free of the negative emotions that they are invoking in you.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Goals
"The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams."
Og Mandino
Do you feel that you are obligated to do things even though they are boring or tedious and you just don't like doing them? Perhaps the most prevalent example of that is going to work. "Thank God it's Friday! Now I can have some fun". How many of us can honestly say we look forward to going to work every morning? Probably not many. But the reason for this is because the work you are doing has little or nothing to do with your own values and your own goals in life, or because you haven't made that connection yet. Perhaps you don't even know what your own values and your own goals in life are.
We all know that the most financially successful people are the ones who have found a way to make money doing the things they enjoy most, the ones that support their values and their goals. If you really can't imagine how to do this, then the next best thing is to figure out how you can use your present job to support at least one of your values or goals. Look at your job differently. Maybe you can do things in a slightly different way, one that is more meaningful for you.
Consider the story of the mentally handicapped person who had a job bagging groceries at a grocery store. He decided to find inspirational quotes and slip them into people's bags. Between that, and his ever-present smile, he soon became by far the most popular bagger there. Even the most menial of jobs can be made better by the way you approach it.
Practise setting goals and acheiving them by making everything you do move you closer to your goal. Life is a lot more fun that way.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Og Mandino
Do you feel that you are obligated to do things even though they are boring or tedious and you just don't like doing them? Perhaps the most prevalent example of that is going to work. "Thank God it's Friday! Now I can have some fun". How many of us can honestly say we look forward to going to work every morning? Probably not many. But the reason for this is because the work you are doing has little or nothing to do with your own values and your own goals in life, or because you haven't made that connection yet. Perhaps you don't even know what your own values and your own goals in life are.
We all know that the most financially successful people are the ones who have found a way to make money doing the things they enjoy most, the ones that support their values and their goals. If you really can't imagine how to do this, then the next best thing is to figure out how you can use your present job to support at least one of your values or goals. Look at your job differently. Maybe you can do things in a slightly different way, one that is more meaningful for you.
Consider the story of the mentally handicapped person who had a job bagging groceries at a grocery store. He decided to find inspirational quotes and slip them into people's bags. Between that, and his ever-present smile, he soon became by far the most popular bagger there. Even the most menial of jobs can be made better by the way you approach it.
Practise setting goals and acheiving them by making everything you do move you closer to your goal. Life is a lot more fun that way.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Continuing
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
Sir Winston Churchill
This is one reason why it is not satisfying to treat success as the destination we want to finally arrive at. We might say to ourselves I'll be successful when I have a waterfront condo in a resort area". But even if we do get to that point, first of all our success could be taken away (we might lose money in our investments for ex) or more likely we will find something else that we want even more and lose interest in our waterfront condo as we concentrate on acquiring the new thing. Success is a journey, not a destination. You never arrive. You are always moving.
Fortunately for us, failures are not final either. You can always get back up from your failures and try something new. If you have learned from your failures, you will have a better idea of what might work next time. There always is a next time. It just takes motivation, the intense desire to reach your goal, for us to have the courage to continue. We must expect failures and realize that they are not the end of the world. Life goes on. The pursuit of your goal must go on too. Never give up just because you've failed. Learn as much as possible about what went wrong, dust yourself off, get back on your horse and keep riding.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Sir Winston Churchill
This is one reason why it is not satisfying to treat success as the destination we want to finally arrive at. We might say to ourselves I'll be successful when I have a waterfront condo in a resort area". But even if we do get to that point, first of all our success could be taken away (we might lose money in our investments for ex) or more likely we will find something else that we want even more and lose interest in our waterfront condo as we concentrate on acquiring the new thing. Success is a journey, not a destination. You never arrive. You are always moving.
Fortunately for us, failures are not final either. You can always get back up from your failures and try something new. If you have learned from your failures, you will have a better idea of what might work next time. There always is a next time. It just takes motivation, the intense desire to reach your goal, for us to have the courage to continue. We must expect failures and realize that they are not the end of the world. Life goes on. The pursuit of your goal must go on too. Never give up just because you've failed. Learn as much as possible about what went wrong, dust yourself off, get back on your horse and keep riding.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Monday, October 27, 2008
Perfection
Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make yourself a happier and more productive person."
Dr. David M. Burns
Are you a perfectionist? So many people want to get everything right before they even start. Fear does lurk behind perfectionism. People think that if they don't get something perfect the first time, then other people will laugh at them and think they can't do anything properly. They are afraid of making a mistake or falling on their face. They are afraid of public embarrassment.
The truth is that making mistakes is part of being human. Everyone makes mistakes. If they didn't, they would have no way of learning what to do better next time. They would never improve. They would never grow. Mistakes are actually your friend. They are an important and necessary part of success. It is wise to expect them and plan for learning from them. Other people, if they notice your mistakes, will probably be just glad that it wasn't them who made them. They're not thinking about critisising you.
You don't have to get everything perfect. Nobody does. The important thing is to just get started, and learn from your mistakes along the way. The more you learn from your mistakes the better you will do next time. And you will be well on the way towards success.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Dr. David M. Burns
Are you a perfectionist? So many people want to get everything right before they even start. Fear does lurk behind perfectionism. People think that if they don't get something perfect the first time, then other people will laugh at them and think they can't do anything properly. They are afraid of making a mistake or falling on their face. They are afraid of public embarrassment.
The truth is that making mistakes is part of being human. Everyone makes mistakes. If they didn't, they would have no way of learning what to do better next time. They would never improve. They would never grow. Mistakes are actually your friend. They are an important and necessary part of success. It is wise to expect them and plan for learning from them. Other people, if they notice your mistakes, will probably be just glad that it wasn't them who made them. They're not thinking about critisising you.
You don't have to get everything perfect. Nobody does. The important thing is to just get started, and learn from your mistakes along the way. The more you learn from your mistakes the better you will do next time. And you will be well on the way towards success.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Sunday, October 26, 2008
What do We Live For?
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other"
George Eliot
What do you live for? I think most of us struggle between our own selfish needs and a real urge to help others. It is a struggle because we can't be really happy unless we look after our own needs and desires, which frequently conflict with what other people want, or expect, of us. We want what we want, not what other people want. We know how unsatisfying it feels to do what someone else wants that goes against what we want. That's the thing. We end up feeling resentful of others who "make" us do things we don't want to do. And chances are, we're not going to do a very good job of it anyway. They aren't going to be happy with it.
Yet we do want to help other people. Perhaps what we need is to find a way to do that without sacrificing our own needs and desires in the process. It turns out that the only time you can help other people is when you can think about the person and feel good at the same time. It is when you can expect the other person to succeed at whatever it is that they want to acheive because you beleive that they can do it. The truth is that helping other people helps ourselves too. We live to make life less difficult for each other. Helping others makes us feel good about ourself. But only when we aren't sacrificing what we want in order to give them what they want.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit
http://www.reachingmypotential.com
George Eliot
What do you live for? I think most of us struggle between our own selfish needs and a real urge to help others. It is a struggle because we can't be really happy unless we look after our own needs and desires, which frequently conflict with what other people want, or expect, of us. We want what we want, not what other people want. We know how unsatisfying it feels to do what someone else wants that goes against what we want. That's the thing. We end up feeling resentful of others who "make" us do things we don't want to do. And chances are, we're not going to do a very good job of it anyway. They aren't going to be happy with it.
Yet we do want to help other people. Perhaps what we need is to find a way to do that without sacrificing our own needs and desires in the process. It turns out that the only time you can help other people is when you can think about the person and feel good at the same time. It is when you can expect the other person to succeed at whatever it is that they want to acheive because you beleive that they can do it. The truth is that helping other people helps ourselves too. We live to make life less difficult for each other. Helping others makes us feel good about ourself. But only when we aren't sacrificing what we want in order to give them what they want.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit
http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sacrifice
"The important thing is to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."
Charles Dubois
Do you think that you could sacrifice what you are? Most of us have a lot of difficulty imagining ourselves as different from what we already are. Our ego does everything it can to keep us the same, because it knows that if we sacrifice what we are it means sacrificing the ego. Our ego is terrified of death. That is why we argue with people over stupid little things even if it means that we will be miserable afterwards. We would rather be right than be happy. That is also why we get jealous of people who have more than us. Our ego can't stand the idea of anyone else being better than us.
So what could you become? What would you like to become? If we could sacrifice what we are, that opens the door to change. And there are no restrictions on who we could change into, just as long as we beleive that it is possible. We can be anyone we want, as long as we have faith that we can be that way. Think of the possibilities. What character traits have you always admired in others and wished you could be like that too. You can be like that too; just as long as you beleive that you can change, just as long as you can sacrifice what you are for what you could become.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Charles Dubois
Do you think that you could sacrifice what you are? Most of us have a lot of difficulty imagining ourselves as different from what we already are. Our ego does everything it can to keep us the same, because it knows that if we sacrifice what we are it means sacrificing the ego. Our ego is terrified of death. That is why we argue with people over stupid little things even if it means that we will be miserable afterwards. We would rather be right than be happy. That is also why we get jealous of people who have more than us. Our ego can't stand the idea of anyone else being better than us.
So what could you become? What would you like to become? If we could sacrifice what we are, that opens the door to change. And there are no restrictions on who we could change into, just as long as we beleive that it is possible. We can be anyone we want, as long as we have faith that we can be that way. Think of the possibilities. What character traits have you always admired in others and wished you could be like that too. You can be like that too; just as long as you beleive that you can change, just as long as you can sacrifice what you are for what you could become.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
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