Quiz Question:
When was the last time you appreciated yourself?!
That's right: YOU. Not your spouse, not your children, or not your boss, co-workers or friends. Just YOU! Seriously, think about it.
Ask yourself: How many times have you succeeded in the past month? The past year? The past 10 years? Are you able to recall your successes as easily as your failures and missteps?
This is not a selfish and egotistical act in the least. By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you've achieved--and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses--you actually can enhance everything about you. Self-acknowledgment and -appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments.
It's been a bit of time huh? Don't forget to think about big and little accomplishments. Many people under-appreciate the minor things they do successfully every day. And yet they can recall in detail all the times they have failed or made mistakes. That's because the brain remembers events more easily when they are accompanied by strong emotions.
For example, you might vividly recall a graduation, losing 10 pounds, having a child, winning an award, or landing a highly sought after position. But see if you can identify just as many minor, more subtle successes, such as your intimate conversation with your spouse or friend last night, the re-connection you established with an estranged love one last month, the quality time you were able to spend with your children today, how you checked off all your list of To Dos for the weekend, how you learned a new task at work, or got your kid to school on time. These may seem like minor acts in the grand scheme of life, but they are what make us feel whole, happy, and accomplished along the journey toward those larger, and much more deeply satisfying moments.
Acknowledging your mistakes also has it pluses, but we often don't have trouble recalling or mulling (SP read ruminate) over those. The point is, if you don't acknowledge your successes the same way you acknowledge your mistakes, you're sure to have a memory full of blunders. And a mind stuffed with negative chatter about the gaffes of life won't fuel your energy, nor your confidence, creativity, and motivation to keep going.
Consider this, too: if you only remember the mistakes and failures, you won't be as ready to take risks that will lead to your successes. Build your self-esteem by recalling all the ways you have succeeded and your brain will be filled with images of you making your achievements happen again and again.
It's OK to give yourself permission to toot your own horn and don't wait for anyone to praise you.
I know it seems so self centered but just try these two suggestions and see what happens over the next week.
First, record your personal history. Take time to write your achievements down - NOT your failures. Start when you were very young and think of all your achievements since then. Don't just pick the major milestones; write down all the things you take for granted. For example, if you list your college degree, write your appreciation for having the opportunity to go to college and forge friendships that will last a lifetime.
You can also create a log of success every day and review it when you are faced with a new challenge. By writing it all down daily, you're securing it in your long-term memory and it will become a part of what makes you tick. It can even become a source of positive reminders and affirmations for when you're feeling down, as well as a personal record of you that becomes your legacy.
Two, celebrate yourself with mementos. Surround yourself with reminders of your successes. Put up pictures, articles, trophies, awards and other pieces that bring your attention to your success. Make your environment speak to you about your achievements. Be proud of them!
By the way, showing appreciation for yourself and accomplishments has many rewards that go far beyond boosting your own self-confidence.
Appreciating yourself is creates a cascading affect--your heightened confidence will spill over into other aspects of your life. Watch what happens when you gain that special trust in yourself. You'll attract opportunities, experience more fulfilling relationships, and have no trouble reaching loftier goals.
Remember, people like to be around those who have a healthy self-esteem and who are achieving their goals. Commit to acknowledging your achievements and your brain will begin to tell you the truth: that you can do anything!
Til next time....
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
stewing and doing....
In a way, human beings behave like bees.
If you place several bees in an open-ended bottle and lay the bottle on its side with the base toward a light source, the bees will repeatedly fly to the bottle bottom toward the light. It never occurs to them to reverse gears and try another direction. This is a combination of genetic programming and learned behavior.
Put a bunch of flies in that bottle and turn the base toward a bright light. Within a few minutes, all the flies will have found their way out. They try all directions – up, down, toward the light, away from the light, often bumping into the glass – but sooner or later they flutter forth into the neck of the bottle and out the opening.
We often allow ourselves to become locked in our present circumstances – even if we are unhappy and really want to be reaching in a new direction. What we're doing may make us miserable, but at least it's familiar.
One of the most important factors in achieving success is the willingness to try things out, to experiment, to test new grounds. In fact, this is the only way to learn and progress: trial, error, feedback, knowledge, trial and success. It is a far better thing to try to succeed and fail, than to do nothing and succeed.
So for this week.... Try it if you don't like the results Change it either way you have to start Doing it. Stop stewing and start doing!
Til next time...
If you place several bees in an open-ended bottle and lay the bottle on its side with the base toward a light source, the bees will repeatedly fly to the bottle bottom toward the light. It never occurs to them to reverse gears and try another direction. This is a combination of genetic programming and learned behavior.
Put a bunch of flies in that bottle and turn the base toward a bright light. Within a few minutes, all the flies will have found their way out. They try all directions – up, down, toward the light, away from the light, often bumping into the glass – but sooner or later they flutter forth into the neck of the bottle and out the opening.
We often allow ourselves to become locked in our present circumstances – even if we are unhappy and really want to be reaching in a new direction. What we're doing may make us miserable, but at least it's familiar.
One of the most important factors in achieving success is the willingness to try things out, to experiment, to test new grounds. In fact, this is the only way to learn and progress: trial, error, feedback, knowledge, trial and success. It is a far better thing to try to succeed and fail, than to do nothing and succeed.
So for this week.... Try it if you don't like the results Change it either way you have to start Doing it. Stop stewing and start doing!
Til next time...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Life is like a road...
After a week off of work watching olympic performances, resting and just putting things into perspective I feel like life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths.
In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment. Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad.
With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are -- in front of a crossroad?
There are no guarantees.
You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it.
There are no guarantees.
This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life.
Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned.
Nor does gaining fame and fortune guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. The point is that there are too many possible outcomes, which you really cannot control, or so it would seem. Know this to be true: the only things you have power over are the decisions that you make, and how you act and react to different situations.
That is a huge relief, actually. It takes the pressure off a bit, yes? So let's take a look at this decision-making thing, and the fears that come up around it. Starting with the fear of making a wrong decision, or a mistake.
Here's what you need to know:There are no mistakes: Wrong decisions are always at hindsight. Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it?
Perhaps not.
Why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost?
Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one?
It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong. Or was it? Moreover, what if there was a way you could let go of all of your fear about making decisions? Take that risk: decide!
Often, it is not the end action that creates the most fear; it is the decision to act or not act. Since life offers no guarantees and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well let go of all of your fear, take the risk, and decide.
It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you seemingly lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, and even open more fantastic roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveler or an accidental tourist of life. You have the choice to let go of your fear of deciding.
One of my mentors in College used to harass us during tennis trips and get on our backsides about becoming and adult. He would usalways say, too much analysis generally ends in paralysis. So are hear are some pointers that he used with us when it came to making life decisions.
5. Get as much information as you can about your situation.You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W's: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation.
Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation. Now, after all of this exhausting information gathering, ask your mind if it knows these answers. Does it have any? When you discover it doesn't, skip to the Number One Way below.
4. Identify and create options.What options does the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, and sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end.
You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end. Have you been able to "figure it out yet"? No? When you discover you haven't, simply check out the Number One way below.
3. Weigh the pros and cons of every option. Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option. Now you are getting closer! Skip down to the Number One way below, to discover an incredibly simple technique for doing just this very thing, and then letting it go for good.
2. Trust yourself and make that decision.Or, you could just skip everything and move to the Number One way of overcoming the fear of making any decision, no matter how small:
1. LET GO, LET GO, LET GO. Let go of all of your many complex layers of fear with one simple, all natural way to eliminate and dissolve all negative feelings right on the spot.
You can do it! Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees, and wrong decisions are always at hindsight. So decide to believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.
Decide that you are doing the best you can. Be easy on yourself. Do it the easy way, by letting go of your fear of deciding. Whatever you do, remember the most important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life.
Choose to let of all regrets, whatever the outcome of your decisions. Instead, learn from those experiences, see them as perfect, and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future. You also have the chance to make the best decision of your life right NOW.
Til next time....
In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment. Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad.
With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are -- in front of a crossroad?
There are no guarantees.
You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it.
There are no guarantees.
This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life.
Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned.
Nor does gaining fame and fortune guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. The point is that there are too many possible outcomes, which you really cannot control, or so it would seem. Know this to be true: the only things you have power over are the decisions that you make, and how you act and react to different situations.
That is a huge relief, actually. It takes the pressure off a bit, yes? So let's take a look at this decision-making thing, and the fears that come up around it. Starting with the fear of making a wrong decision, or a mistake.
Here's what you need to know:There are no mistakes: Wrong decisions are always at hindsight. Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it?
Perhaps not.
Why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost?
Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one?
It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong. Or was it? Moreover, what if there was a way you could let go of all of your fear about making decisions? Take that risk: decide!
Often, it is not the end action that creates the most fear; it is the decision to act or not act. Since life offers no guarantees and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well let go of all of your fear, take the risk, and decide.
It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you seemingly lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, and even open more fantastic roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveler or an accidental tourist of life. You have the choice to let go of your fear of deciding.
One of my mentors in College used to harass us during tennis trips and get on our backsides about becoming and adult. He would usalways say, too much analysis generally ends in paralysis. So are hear are some pointers that he used with us when it came to making life decisions.
5. Get as much information as you can about your situation.You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W's: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation.
Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation. Now, after all of this exhausting information gathering, ask your mind if it knows these answers. Does it have any? When you discover it doesn't, skip to the Number One Way below.
4. Identify and create options.What options does the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, and sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end.
You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end. Have you been able to "figure it out yet"? No? When you discover you haven't, simply check out the Number One way below.
3. Weigh the pros and cons of every option. Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option. Now you are getting closer! Skip down to the Number One way below, to discover an incredibly simple technique for doing just this very thing, and then letting it go for good.
2. Trust yourself and make that decision.Or, you could just skip everything and move to the Number One way of overcoming the fear of making any decision, no matter how small:
1. LET GO, LET GO, LET GO. Let go of all of your many complex layers of fear with one simple, all natural way to eliminate and dissolve all negative feelings right on the spot.
You can do it! Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees, and wrong decisions are always at hindsight. So decide to believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.
Decide that you are doing the best you can. Be easy on yourself. Do it the easy way, by letting go of your fear of deciding. Whatever you do, remember the most important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life.
Choose to let of all regrets, whatever the outcome of your decisions. Instead, learn from those experiences, see them as perfect, and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future. You also have the chance to make the best decision of your life right NOW.
Til next time....
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A perspective on the Milky Way...
Every once in a while I get these weird thoughts that I like to share with anyone who will read them....So try this one on for size.
The Milky Way, our galaxy, the place that our planet Earth calls home, is but the size of a period, in a book, at a library with shelves five stories high in a building as long as a football field (in comparison to the known universe).
(I know a strange analogy, but stay with me for just a little more.)
That notion actually excites me. Really... I mean it! You know why?
Because it brings perspective to a world that has gotten way – and I say way – out of focus.
We sweat the small stuff. We allow it to become our world, our universe and our galaxy, when really, it is just small stuff. But we allow it to become so big that is clouds the very air we breathe, it smothers our vision and – worst of all – it ruins our bodies and stops us from enjoying the world in which we reside for such a short time.
If (comparatively) the Milky Way is the size of a period in a five-hundred-page book in a gargantuan library, how small is the earth? How small is our continent? How tiny is our country, city, town and street?.... And how small is the problem that you are currently facing, the one that has set up camp in your mind, the one that is threatening to ‘do you in’?
How small is it in comparison to what is really out there?
Perhaps you want to make a big change in your life, or you want to grow your business ten fold. The next step seems too big, too grand - perhaps even insurmountable! But how big is it really when compared to the size of the universe. Even loosing fifty pounds or taking your business to the Forbes list (in perspective) would disappear inside a grain of sand on Oak street beach.
What seems hopelessly large, and impossibly difficult, is often tiny. It is just that we allow it to become (in our mind’s eye) much bigger than it actually is. (It is very hard, after all, for the eyes to see clearly what the mind has gotten so out of focus.) If we think it is bigger than it actually is, then it is bigger than it actually is. Real or not, we have made it real with our minds. So a good way to break this cycle is to look at the problem that you are now facing (health, relationship, business) and place it into a true perspective within the bigger picture.
If it is your health that is an issue, and you think your problems are insurmountable, and healing seems a possibility too large to grasp, find an example that is far bigger than yours (universes bigger), one that has already been solved, and use it to spur you on. Be inspired by the likes of Stephen Hawking, who (over four decades ago) was given two years to live by some of the best doctors in the world. Not only did he prove them wrong and survive, but he also went on to shake the very foundations of science with his brilliant insights and discoveries. Read about folk who thought bigger than their depression, bigger than their illness and bigger than their disability - and then went on to complete the most amazing feats of endurance and strength.
If you think that turning over half a million in your business is too big to contemplate, then read about, talk to and visit businesses that are turning over ten million. And if you are already at ten million and want to expand more, then be inspired by a billion. Be inspired by people who grew their conglomerates from a tiny, nurtured seed. Be inspired by people like Richard Branson who started his billion dollar empire with no capital and a phone box for an office.
It works on a global level or on a local level. I used to write an article a month for a magazine. I secretly wanted to write one a week for several magazines but I always felt that writing one really good article a week was a bit too much of a challenge (what with all the other plates I was spinning), until my friend John Thomas told me that he intended to write one article a day for the several blogs and magazines that he regularly contributes content to.
One a day!... Suddenly, one a month seemed lazy and one a week seemed positively achievable.
There are examples out there ready for you to find that will put your problems (or what the Chinese would call ‘opportunities’) into perspective. And when the perspective changes, the world will change with it. What seems massive today will be very manageable tomorrow, and tomorrow’s goals will seem positively minute – perhaps the size of a period in a book of five-hundred pages – compared to what you could be achieving in a year’s time.
Think about it.... Til next time.
The Milky Way, our galaxy, the place that our planet Earth calls home, is but the size of a period, in a book, at a library with shelves five stories high in a building as long as a football field (in comparison to the known universe).
(I know a strange analogy, but stay with me for just a little more.)
That notion actually excites me. Really... I mean it! You know why?
Because it brings perspective to a world that has gotten way – and I say way – out of focus.
We sweat the small stuff. We allow it to become our world, our universe and our galaxy, when really, it is just small stuff. But we allow it to become so big that is clouds the very air we breathe, it smothers our vision and – worst of all – it ruins our bodies and stops us from enjoying the world in which we reside for such a short time.
If (comparatively) the Milky Way is the size of a period in a five-hundred-page book in a gargantuan library, how small is the earth? How small is our continent? How tiny is our country, city, town and street?.... And how small is the problem that you are currently facing, the one that has set up camp in your mind, the one that is threatening to ‘do you in’?
How small is it in comparison to what is really out there?
Perhaps you want to make a big change in your life, or you want to grow your business ten fold. The next step seems too big, too grand - perhaps even insurmountable! But how big is it really when compared to the size of the universe. Even loosing fifty pounds or taking your business to the Forbes list (in perspective) would disappear inside a grain of sand on Oak street beach.
What seems hopelessly large, and impossibly difficult, is often tiny. It is just that we allow it to become (in our mind’s eye) much bigger than it actually is. (It is very hard, after all, for the eyes to see clearly what the mind has gotten so out of focus.) If we think it is bigger than it actually is, then it is bigger than it actually is. Real or not, we have made it real with our minds. So a good way to break this cycle is to look at the problem that you are now facing (health, relationship, business) and place it into a true perspective within the bigger picture.
If it is your health that is an issue, and you think your problems are insurmountable, and healing seems a possibility too large to grasp, find an example that is far bigger than yours (universes bigger), one that has already been solved, and use it to spur you on. Be inspired by the likes of Stephen Hawking, who (over four decades ago) was given two years to live by some of the best doctors in the world. Not only did he prove them wrong and survive, but he also went on to shake the very foundations of science with his brilliant insights and discoveries. Read about folk who thought bigger than their depression, bigger than their illness and bigger than their disability - and then went on to complete the most amazing feats of endurance and strength.
If you think that turning over half a million in your business is too big to contemplate, then read about, talk to and visit businesses that are turning over ten million. And if you are already at ten million and want to expand more, then be inspired by a billion. Be inspired by people who grew their conglomerates from a tiny, nurtured seed. Be inspired by people like Richard Branson who started his billion dollar empire with no capital and a phone box for an office.
It works on a global level or on a local level. I used to write an article a month for a magazine. I secretly wanted to write one a week for several magazines but I always felt that writing one really good article a week was a bit too much of a challenge (what with all the other plates I was spinning), until my friend John Thomas told me that he intended to write one article a day for the several blogs and magazines that he regularly contributes content to.
One a day!... Suddenly, one a month seemed lazy and one a week seemed positively achievable.
There are examples out there ready for you to find that will put your problems (or what the Chinese would call ‘opportunities’) into perspective. And when the perspective changes, the world will change with it. What seems massive today will be very manageable tomorrow, and tomorrow’s goals will seem positively minute – perhaps the size of a period in a book of five-hundred pages – compared to what you could be achieving in a year’s time.
Think about it.... Til next time.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Two thoughts.....
I've got two thoughts tonight for you to ponder.
The first...
Try NOT to take for granted the time you have with family and friends.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with family and friends that I hadn't seen in many a moon - actually some of the folks I hadn't seen in more than 10 years.
When I returned home I had a voice mail informing me a friend of mine had been in a car accident and may not make it. We usually don't think about those things as we muddle through life, but so much can happen in the blink of an eye. We tend to take the time we have with family and friends for granted - especially if they are not sick - and think that those we love and enjoy being around will be there all the time.
I think it is our nature to assume will be able to complete those conversations we started next time. That down the road, in the future I'll make sure that I say this or that... Truth is that the things you forgot to say could suddenly be lost and never said. This weekend I was blessed and had the chance to say those things with family - I had a second chance, next time I may not be so lucky.
So - let me step up on my soap box here - make sure you tell the people you love that you love them, hug those who need hugs and don't hold back. You'll never know if you'll have that second chance to say what needs to be said..... OK, I'm stepping down now.
The second thought.
If you've been tuning into the Olympics, you probably saw Michael Phelps win his third gold medal in the 200 meter freestyle this evening. And WOW he won by nearly TWO seconds - Two seconds is huge and what a a statement he made to the world! The other competitors looked like they were in a coma just after the race not wanting to believe they just got smoked.
I know the feeling - and yes, it does hurt.
As a result, Michael Phelps dream for EIGHT Gold medals in one Olympiad is still alive. I just saw a quote from Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame: "Who wants a dream that's near-fetched?" How true...
Yet, in Phelps case, his dream isn't looking as far-fetched as others once thought. One thing is for certain, the man is focused like a laser beam. And this level of focus does not come from lack of practice.
In fact, from age 12-17, Phelps didn't miss a day of practice. Not one. Regardless of the occasion. How many people can say that - about anything. When you look at Phelps you don't just see a physical being who is in peak condition - you see the mind set of a man who refuses to let anyone else talk him out of his dreams.
After he reads negative publicity saying "he can't do it" - Phelps clips out the article and puts it in his locker for inspiration. This is far better than listening to and believing your critics. Why not take their negativity and turn it into rocket fuel.
I think it is a better use of your time and energy.... Til next time.
The first...
Try NOT to take for granted the time you have with family and friends.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with family and friends that I hadn't seen in many a moon - actually some of the folks I hadn't seen in more than 10 years.
When I returned home I had a voice mail informing me a friend of mine had been in a car accident and may not make it. We usually don't think about those things as we muddle through life, but so much can happen in the blink of an eye. We tend to take the time we have with family and friends for granted - especially if they are not sick - and think that those we love and enjoy being around will be there all the time.
I think it is our nature to assume will be able to complete those conversations we started next time. That down the road, in the future I'll make sure that I say this or that... Truth is that the things you forgot to say could suddenly be lost and never said. This weekend I was blessed and had the chance to say those things with family - I had a second chance, next time I may not be so lucky.
So - let me step up on my soap box here - make sure you tell the people you love that you love them, hug those who need hugs and don't hold back. You'll never know if you'll have that second chance to say what needs to be said..... OK, I'm stepping down now.
The second thought.
If you've been tuning into the Olympics, you probably saw Michael Phelps win his third gold medal in the 200 meter freestyle this evening. And WOW he won by nearly TWO seconds - Two seconds is huge and what a a statement he made to the world! The other competitors looked like they were in a coma just after the race not wanting to believe they just got smoked.
I know the feeling - and yes, it does hurt.
As a result, Michael Phelps dream for EIGHT Gold medals in one Olympiad is still alive. I just saw a quote from Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame: "Who wants a dream that's near-fetched?" How true...
Yet, in Phelps case, his dream isn't looking as far-fetched as others once thought. One thing is for certain, the man is focused like a laser beam. And this level of focus does not come from lack of practice.
In fact, from age 12-17, Phelps didn't miss a day of practice. Not one. Regardless of the occasion. How many people can say that - about anything. When you look at Phelps you don't just see a physical being who is in peak condition - you see the mind set of a man who refuses to let anyone else talk him out of his dreams.
After he reads negative publicity saying "he can't do it" - Phelps clips out the article and puts it in his locker for inspiration. This is far better than listening to and believing your critics. Why not take their negativity and turn it into rocket fuel.
I think it is a better use of your time and energy.... Til next time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
