Adult Bulletin Category
Motivational Thoughts
Adult Bulletin Category
Motivational Thoughts
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You are just as good, just as worthy, just as valuable as anyone. No one can intimidate you, no matter what kind of car they drive, or what their business card says, or how big their house is, or how big their factory is. No one is better than you.
You are the best there is. Inside you is the potential to do, or be, or have anything you desire. No one has more than that. Some may have progressed farther down the path at this moment, but that doesn't make them any better than you.
There is no need for you ever to be envious or to feel unworthy. Your life is filled with possibility. Where you are right now is insignificant, when compared to where you're going. Point yourself in the direction of your dreams, and every step along the way is golden.
No matter what anyone says, or does, no matter what your situation -- personal, financial, social or otherwise -- you can choose to live your life your own way. And there is no greater success than that.
--Ralph Marston
A WINNER IS A DREAMER WHO JUST WON'T QUIT.
--Author Unknown
Avoid the unhappy & unlucky...
You can die from someone elses misery
Emotional states are infectious
Judge people on the effect they have on the world and not for the reason they give for their problems !
--Author Unknown
When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving advice, you have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem, you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
Listen! All I ask is that you listen, not talk to or do, just hear me.
Advice is cheap; 25 cents will get you both Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same paper.
I can do for myself; I'm not helpless--maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.
When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
But when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince you and can get about this business of understanding what's behind this irrational feeling. When that's clear, the answers are obvious and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make more sense when we understand what's behind them. Perhaps that's why prayer works, sometimes, for some people--because God is mute, and he doesn't give advice or try to fix things. he just listens and let you work it out for yourself.
So please listen and just hear me.
And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn--and I'll listen to you.
--Anonymous
I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of his friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning...to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the second with tears, but he said that what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth, and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own; the cars, the house, the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard, are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left. (You could be at "dash mid-range.")
If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and what is real, and always try to understand the way other people feel.
And...be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile, remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash... would you be pleased with the things they have to say about how you spent your dash?
--Linda Ellis (http://www.lindaslyrics.com)
There are some fine distinctions to be found in the now immortal phrase, ",Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.", Life is an eternal fact; liberty, an inalienable right, But with happiness -- we are offered only the right to pursue it! We can give a man his liberty. He may not use it well or keep it long, but we can give it to him. But not so his happiness. We can help, but ultimately he has to help himself to happiness. But this all men have in common: we are all looking for it. No one wants to be unhappy; no one deliberately sets out to try to make a muddle of his life. But some of us may be so hotly in pursuit of some counterfeit kind that the real thing isn't recognized. Some of us may be looking for the right thing in the wrong way.
Among the many misconceptions concerning this thing so much pursued are these: (One) That money makes happiness. False. It may help or it may hinder. Some men have sold their happiness, but no one was ever able to buy it. (Two) That pleasure is the same as happiness. False. You can wear yourself ragged in pursuit of pleasure -- and still wake up in dull despair. (Three) That fame brings happiness. False. The record eloquently indicates otherwise. (Four) That happiness must be found in far places. False again. We carry it with us -- or we don't have it. And sometimes after we have pursued it in far places we find that we have left our happiness behind.
There is a long list of things that have helped to make men happy, from which we mention these: A quiet conscience; useful work well and willingly done; an awareness of being needed and wanted; an earnest appreciation of other people; conformity to the laws of honor and honesty, to the laws of the land and the laws of God. If there were no reasonable chance of finding happiness, we had just as well ring down the curtain on time and eternity, for happiness is properly the chief business and ultimate aim of life. ",Men are, that they might have joy.",3 But there is no point in pursuing it where it never was and never will be found. No one ever overtook anything -- including happiness -- by pursuing it on the wrong road. If we want it, we had better look for it where it is.
--- Richard L. Evans (From: The Philosopher's Stone)
Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400.00, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today..
To realize the value of ONE YEAR Ask a student who has failed his exam.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH Ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY Ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet or ..
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE Ask a person who has missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND Ask the person who has won a silver medal in Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have!
And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special..special enough to have your time... and remember time waits for no one...
--Author Unknown
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We are traveling by train - out the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of children waving at a crossing, cattle grazing on a distant hillside, row upon row of corn and wheat, flatlands and valleys, mountains and rolling hillsides and city skylines. But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, our dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. Restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes - waiting, waiting, waiting for the station. "When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry. "When I'm 18." "When I buy a new 450sl Mercedes Benz!" "When I put the last kid through college." "When I have paid off the mortgage!" "When I get a promotion." "When I reach retirement, I shall live happily ever after!" Sooner or later, we realize there is no station, no one place to arrive. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118.34: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today. So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.
--Robert J. Hastings from Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul Copyright
1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Patty Hansen
When people pull you down, as they often will When the battle you're fighting is all uphill When the funds are low and the debts are high When you're laughing, although you'd rather cry When you discover yourself slowing down a bit Stop and take a deep breath, but don't you quit
Although you've worked so hard just to get this far You must steady your pace, just to stay where you are You'll need twice the effort to make your way Tomorrow won't come until you've conquered today And if you discover yourself slowing down a bit Stop and rest if you must, but don't you quit
Always do the best that you can possibly do Treasure true friends who are far and few Never give up, whatever the burden you bear Just one more step might get you there Often the battle that is proceeding slow Will conclude abruptly, when dealt another blow
Succeed in believing that you will not fail With diligence and determination your ship will sail When the weather is stormy and the waters are rough In the moment of peril the strong get tough Whenever life presses you down a bit Stand up and shout, "I will not quit"
--Author Unknown
When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother used to talk to it.
Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person - her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. "Information Please" could supply anybody's number and the correct time.
My first personal experience with this genie-in-the-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer.
The pain was terrible, but there didn't seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway.
The telephone!
Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information Please, " I said into the mouthpiece just above my head.
A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. "Information. "
"I hurt my finger. . ." " I wailed into the phone. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.
"Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me." I blubbered. "Are you bleeding?" "
"No, " I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts. "
"Can you open your icebox? " she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger, " said the voice.
After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before would eat fruits and nuts.
Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary died. I called "Information Please" and told her the sad story. She listened, then said the usual things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was unconsoled. I asked her, " Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage? "
She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in. " Somehow I felt better.
Another day I was on the telephone. "Information Please."
"Information," said the now familiar voice. "How do you spell fix?" I asked.
All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was 9 years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home, and I somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall.
As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.
A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information , Please".
Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well, "Information." I hadn't planned this but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"
There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."
I laughed. "So it's really still you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time."
"I wonder", she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me." "I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls."
I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.
"Please do," she said. "Just ask for Sally."
Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered "Information." I asked for Sally.
"Are you a friend?" She said.
"Yes, a very old friend," I answered.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, "she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago."
Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?"
"Yes."
"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."
I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.
--- Anonymous
When my wife Maryanne and I were building our Greenspoint Mall hair salon 13 years ago, a Vietnamese fellow would stop by each day to sell us doughnuts. He spoke hardly any English, but he was always friendly and through smiles and sign language we got to know each other. His name was Le Van Vu.
During the day Le worked in a bakery and at night he and his wife listened to audio tapes to learn English. I later learned that they slept on sacks full of sawdust on the floor of the back room of the bakery.
In Vietnam the Van Vu family was one of the wealthiest in Southeast Asia. They owned almost one-third of North Vietnam, including huge holdings in industry and real estate. However, after his father was brutally murdered, Le moved to South Vietnam with his mother, where he went to school and eventually became a lawyer.
Like his father before him, Le prospered. He saw an opportunity to construct buildings to accommodate the ever- expanding American presence in South Vietnam and soon became one of the most successful builders in the country.
On a trip to the North, however, Le was captured by the North Vietnamese and thrown into prison for three years. He escaped by killing five soldiers and made his way back to South Vietnam where he was arrested again. The South Vietnamese government had assumed he was a "plant" from the North.
After serving time in prison, Le got out and started a fishing company, eventually becoming the largest canner in South Vietnam.
When Le learned that the U.S. troops and embassy personnel were about to pull out of his country, he made a life-changing decision.
He took all of the gold he had hoarded, loaded it aboard one of his fishing vessels and sailed with his wife out to the American ships in the harbor. He then exchanged all his riches for safe passage out of Vietnam to the Philippines, where he and his wife were taken into a refugee camp.
After gaining access to the president of the Philippines, Le convinced him to make one of his boats available for fishing and Le was back in business again. Before he left the Philippines two years later en route for America (his ultimate dream), Le had successfully developed the entire fishing industry in the Philippines.
But en route to America, Le became distraught and depressed about having to start over again with nothing. His wife tells of how she found him near the railing of the ship, about to jump overboard.
"Le," she told him, "If you do jump, whatever will become of me? We’ve been together for so long and through so much. We can do this together." It was all the encouragement that Le Van Vu needed.
When he and his wife arrived in Houston in 1972, they were flat broke and spoke no English. In Vietnam, family takes care of family, and Le and his wife found themselves ensconced in the back room of his cousin’s bakery in the Greenspoint Mall. We were building our salon just a couple of hundred feet away.
Now, as they say, here comes the "message" part of this story:
Le’s cousin offered both Le and his wife jobs in the bakery. After taxes, Le would take home $175 per week, his wife $125. Their total annual income, in other words, was $15,600. Further, his cousin offered to sell them the bakery whenever they could come up with a $30,000 down payment. The cousin would finance the remainder with a note for $90,000.
Here’s what Le and his wife did:
Even with a weekly income of $300, they decided to continue to live in the back room. They kept clean by taking sponge baths for two years in the mall’s restrooms. For two years their diet consisted almost entirely of bakery goods. Each year, for two years, they lived on a total, that’s right, a total of $600, saving $30,000 for the down payment.
Le later explained his reasoning, "If we got ourselves an apartment, which we could afford on $300 per week, we’d have to pay the rent. Then, of course, we’d have to buy furniture. Then we’d have to have transportation to and from work, so that meant we’d have to buy a car. Then we’d have to buy gasoline for the car as well as insurance. Then we’d probably want to go places in the car, so that meant we’d need to buy clothes and toiletries. So I knew that if we got that apartment, we’d never get our $30,000 together."
Now, if you think you’ve heard everything about Le, let me tell you, there’s more: After he and his wife had saved the $30,000 and bought the bakery, Le once again sat down with his wife for a serious chat. They still owed $90,000 to his cousin, he said, and as difficult as the past two years had been, they had to remain living in that back room for one more year.
I’m proud to tell you that in one year, my friend and mentor Le Van Vu and his wife, saving virtually every nickel of profit from the business, paid off the $90,000 note, and in just three years, owned an extremely profitable business free and clear.
Then, and only then, the Van Vus went out and got their first apartment. To this day, they continue to save on a regular basis, live on an extremely small percentage of their income, and, of course, always pay cash for any of their purchases.
Do you think that Le Van Vu is a millionaire today? I am happy to tell you, many times over.
--John McCormack from Chicken Soup for the Soul Copyright 1993 by Jack
Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
At this gift-giving time of year, the perfect gift cannot be bought at the shopping mall or the discount warehouse. It is found in your heart.
The best gift you can give is yourself. Your time. Your attention. Your companionship, your patience, your thoughtfulness, your compassion, your understanding, your encouragement, your guidance, your love.
The things wrapped in bright boxes are nice tokens, and much appreciated, but are not a substitute for the gift of yourself. You are the very best thing you have to give. All else pales in insignificance.
In all the rush to give just the right item, add value by adding the gift of yourself. It will make a major difference in the worth of the gift that is received. Give the best you have to give -- you!
-- Ralph Marston
-somebody is very proud of you.. -somebody is thinking of you.. -somebody is caring about you.. -somebody misses you.. -somebody wants to talk to you.. -somebody wants to be with you.. -somebody hopes you aren't in trouble.. -somebody is thankful for the support you have provided.. -somebody wants to hold your hand.. -somebody hopes everything turns out all right.. -somebody wants you to be happy.. -somebody wants you to find him/her.. -somebody is celebrating your successes.. -somebody wants to give you a gift.. -somebody thinks that you ARE a gift.. -somebody hopes you're not too cold, or too hot.. -somebody wants to hug you.. -somebody loves you.. -somebody admires your strength.. -somebody is thinking of you and smiling.. -somebody wants to be your shoulder to cry on.. -somebody wants to go out with you and have a lot of fun.. -somebody thinks the world of you.. -somebody wants to protect you.. -somebody would do anything for you.. -somebody wants to be forgiven.. -somebody is grateful for your forgiveness.. -somebody wants to laugh with you.. -somebody remembers you and wishes that you were there.. -somebody is praising God for you.. -somebody needs to know that your love is unconditional.. -somebody values your advice.. -somebody wants to tell you how much they care.. -somebody wants to share their dreams with you.. -somebody wants to hold you in their arms.. -somebody wants YOU to hold them in your arms.. -somebody treasures your spirit.. -somebody wishes they could STOP time because of you.. -somebody praises God for your friendship and love.. -somebody can't wait to see you.. -somebody loves you for who you are.. -somebody loves the way you make them feel.. -somebody wants you to know they are there for you.. -somebody's glad that you're his/her friend.. -somebody wants to be your friend.. -somebody stayed up all night thinking about you.. -somebody is alive because of you.. -somebody is wishing that you noticed him/her.. -somebody wants to get to know you better.. -somebody wants to be near you.. -somebody misses your advice/guidance.. -somebody has faith in you.. -somebody trusts you.. -somebody needs you to send them this letter.. -somebody needs your support.. -somebody needs you to have faith in them.. -somebody will cry when they read this.. -somebody needs you to let them be your friend.. -somebody hears a song that reminds them of you..
--Author Unknown
1. In kindergarten your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly orange one.
2. In first grade your idea of a good friend was the person who went to the bathroom with you and held your hand as you walked through the scary halls.
3. In second grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you stand up to the class bully.
4. In third grade your idea of a good friend was the person who shared their lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus.
5. In fourth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who was willing to switch square dancing partners in gym so you wouldn't have to be stuck do-si-do-ing with Nasty Nicky or Smelly Susan.
6. In fifth grade your idea of a friend was the person who saved a seat on the back of the bus for you.
7. In sixth grade your idea of a friend was the person who went up to Nick or Susan, your new crush, and asked them to dance with you, so that if they said no you wouldn't have to be embarrassed.
8. In seventh grade your idea of a friend was the person who let you copy the social studies homework from the night before that you had.
9. In eighth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you pack up your stuffed animals and old baseball cards so that your room would be a "high schooler's" room, but didn't laugh at you when you finished and broke out into tears.
0. In ninth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who went with you to that "cool" party thrown by a senior so you wouldn't wind up being the only freshman there.
11. In tenth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who changed their schedule so you would have someone to sit with at lunch.
12. In eleventh grade your idea of a good friend was the person who gave you rides in their new car, convinced your parents that you shouldn't be grounded, consoled you when you broke up with Nick or Susan, and found you a date to the prom.
13. In twelfth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you pick out a college, assured you that you would get into that college, helped you deal with your parents who were having a hard time adjusting to the idea of letting you go...
14. At graduation your idea of a good friend was the person who was crying on the inside but managed the biggest smile one could give as they congratulated you.
15. The summer after twelfth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you clean up the bottles from that party, helped you sneak out of the house when you just couldn't deal with your parents, assured you that now that you and Nick or you and Susan were back together, you could make it through anything, helped you pack up for college and just silently hugged you as you looked through blurry eyes at 18 years of memories you were leaving behind, and finally on those last days of childhood, went out of their way to come over and send you off with a hug, a lot of memories, reassurance that you would make it in college as well as you had these past 18 years, and most importantly sent you off to college knowing you were loved.
16. Now, your idea of a good friend is still the person who gives you the better of the two choices, holds your hand when you're scared, helps you fight off those who try to take advantage of you, thinks of you at times when you are not there, reminds you of what you have forgotten, helps you put the past behind you but understands when you need to hold on to it a little longer, stays with you so that you have confidence, goes out of their way to make time for you, helps you clear up your mistakes, helps you deal with pressure from others, smiles for you when they are sad, helps you become a better person, and most importantly loves you!
Author Unknown
Did you know that you can be as wealthy as the richest person alive? Right now, if you choose. Wealth is more than money and property. Wealth is what you don't need.
The less you need, the wealthier you are. The opposite of wealthy is what? Needy! So there are two ways to be wealthy. One is to accumulate more and more, to meet your ever increasing needs. This can be tricky, because usually as the means increase, so do the needs, even faster. The other way is to simply let go of your needs. And you can do that anytime you choose.
Ask yourself, what do you really NEED? Do you NEED 150 channels on your TV? Do you NEED a new car every two years? Do you NEED another drink or cigarette?
We're not really talking about money and material things here. We're talking about attitude. Money is a fine tool, one of the best. And material things can add beauty and richness to life. Work for them, treasure them, enjoy them, use them to enrich your life, without needing them.
Let go of your need to possess and you are free to enjoy the limitless abundance of life.
Ralph Marston
When you give your kindness to someone, it's not gone -- it's invested. We all need each other. No one can be successful by himself or herself. Sincere kindness builds relationships that enrich your life. Kindness and success go hand in hand. We've all heard about the tough, no-nonsense business person who is highly successful in spite of their blatant disregard for everyone. Yes, that happens, but it is a rare exception. And though that person may have a degree of success in business, there's much more to life than that.
Trying to succeed in life without kindness is like running a race with your feet tied together. It can be done, but it puts you at a major disadvantage right from the start, and who would want to do it anyway?
Kindness doesn't mean that you should let people take advantage of you. Kindness doesn't mean that you should be indulgent or permissive. In fact, many times the kindest thing you can do is to be firm with someone, out of concern for their well being. As in "Friends don't let friends drive drunk." Kindness is strength and confidence.
The kindness and respect you give will come back to you, greatly multiplied. The best thing you can do for yourself, is to show true, sincere kindness toward others.
Ralph Marston
How many things do you do, and how many things do you not do, just because you're worried about what other people would think? Other people's opinions of you, and your opinions of them, cause a great amount of completely unnecessary negative thinking. Not to mention a lot of silly activity. Of course you would like to make a good impression on people. So you do your best to be polite, honest and respectful. Beyond that it's useless to concern yourself with what others think of you, because they will probably think it in spite of anything you do. And what does it matter anyway?
Refuse to be imprisoned by the opinions of others. After all, what harm can someone's opinion do to you? What power does it have over you? Only the power that you give to it. Decide to live with the freedom of your own thoughts. Be confident of your own value and worth, and that you're doing the right thing. When you believe in yourself and in what you're doing, it won't matter what other people think. And while you're at it, remember not to waste your own time by placing judgments on others.
We're all different, thankfully. What a drab world it would be if we weren't. And we all think differently. Do what you will, with the best of intentions, a steadfastness of purpose, and let others think what they may.
Ralph Marston
We've all made mistakes. We've all done things that we've been ashamed of. Life is a learning experience, and mistakes are the most effective teachers. Living successfully is not about avoiding mistakes, it is about learning from them. Making a mistake once is, in the long run, a blessing for what it teaches. Making the same mistake again and again -- now that's what you want to avoid.
To not learn from your mistakes is usually worse than to make them in the first place. And the learning starts with accepting responsibility for your errors. Laying the blame on others will serve no useful purpose.
From the moment you're born, life is a learning and growing experience. Today you are more intelligent than you were yesterday. Today you are more mature than yesterday. Today you are more caring, more loving, more effective than ever before. You have grown and you continue to grow every day. The poor judgment you exercised yesterday is in the past, and you are the wiser for it.
Take comfort and delight in the new person you are always becoming. Go forward knowing that you are worthy and capable of every success.
Ralph Marston
Rarely in today's world do we ever take time to enjoy a few peaceful moments. In the interconnected, Internet-driven business world, it is always "business hours" somewhere. And even when we're not doing business, we're busy entertaining or being entertained, socializing, exercising, eating, playing, sleeping, shopping, cleaning, gardening or keeping all of our stuff maintained. When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing -- just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park? When was the last time you didn't have something scheduled, that you could just relax and sit until you were ready to move on?
Sometimes we need time to sort things out. Especially in the hurry-up world where information comes at us with blazing speed. A few peaceful moments now and then can help us to see more clearly, to put things in perspective. There is so much beauty around us, in the things we hurry past every day. Beauty that can, if we let it, spark our creativity, provide balance, give us strength and inspire us. It is important to have a time when we let down our defenses, just accepting and enjoying the beauty around us.
Stop every now and then. Just stop and enjoy. Take a deep breath. Relax and take in the abundance of life.
Ralph Marston
Be like a postage stamp -- stick to one thing until you get there. -- Margaret Carty I wonder how many people give up on their dream when they are just a week or two away from the big breakthrough that would bring it about?
One of the most challenging aspects of attaining success is to maintain a sense of urgency about your work, while at the same being patient enough to stick with it for as long as necessary.
It takes belief, faith and confidence.
Belief in what you are doing. Faith that the value you are creating will eventually come back to you, multiplied many times over. Confidence that comes from knowing that you are putting forth your very best effort.
If you work on something long enough, sincerely giving your best effort every day, constantly looking for ways to improve your performance and the value that you bring to the work, and it will succeed.
The most worthwhile accomplishments take time. That doesn't mean you can sit back and wait for them. Because they also require aggressive pursuit on a daily basis. Know where you're going, do your best work, give it everything you possibly can, provide as much value to as many people as possible, every opportunity you get, and then know with confidence that your efforts will be richly rewarded.
Ralph Marston
Pleasure is a matter of conditioning. A teenager smoking her first cigarette doesn't enjoy it at all. She's almost certainly doing it to "fit in" and it probably even makes her a little sick. After a while, though, she likes it so much she finds it hard to quit. "If it feels good, do it" was a popular rallying cry during the sex/drug revolution of the 60s and 70s. But what feels good? It depends. Certain people who consider themselves to have refined taste enjoy eating snails and fish eggs, while others are disgusted by the thought of eating such food.
By nature, we want to do what is pleasurable to us. And so pleasure is a powerful motivator. Add this to the fact that pleasures can be learned, and you have a potent strategy for achieving your success: Choose the pleasures that move you toward your goals.
For example, there is just as much potential for pleasure in jogging 2 miles as there is in eating a bag of potato chips. The person who is trying to get in top physical shape would be well advised to find his pleasure in the jogging rather than the chips.
Rather than finding ways to serve your pleasures, find pleasures that will serve you. Instead of taking pleasure in getting drunk, sitting in front of the TV, and complaining about other people, learn to find pleasure in walking around the neighborhood, discovering new ideas, finding new and better ways to do your job.
Just like everything else in your world, your pleasures are under your control. Use them to your advantage.
Ralph Marston
Before this day is over, you can make your world a better place. Rather than spending the whole day pursuing comfort and avoiding inconvenience, get up and do something meaningful. Rather than just reacting to the random events that come along, focus on a particular goal and get it done. Instead of continuing to worry about something that needs to be done, just go ahead and get it over with.
Use your creativity. Exercise your mind and your body. Whatever you do today, you'll be tired when it is all over. Will you be tired from enduring the same old thing as every other day? Or will you be exhausted after a day of creative effort and accomplishment? Think of how refreshing that would be!
Today is already underway, and it will end all too soon. Decide to fill it with life. Decide to make it great. See for yourself how far you can go, when you make the most of today.
-- Ralph Marston
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper. -- Francis Bacon We must live WITH hope, yet we cannot live BY hope. It is fine to hope for the best. That, however, is not enough. We cannot merely hope, we must take action.
It is sad how many things are tolerated in the hope that they will improve. Hoping for the best won't do anything. Working and taking action, with hope in your heart, will bring about results. That's a powerful combination. Hope works in your favor only as long as it is accompanied by action and commitment.
Hope cannot replace action. Do what needs to be done, hope or no hope. Hope for the best, and do everything in your power to make it happen. Yes, there is hope. Things will get better -- when you make them better.
Start each day with hope, and then get busy working. Let your hope inspire you, rather than console you. Hope for the best, and then do whatever it takes. Hope depends on you.
Ralph Marston
Children quickly take in an enormous amount of information about the world. In a short amount of time, they learn to speak and understand language, to eat, to walk, and a host of other difficult skills. During this period of intense learning, children spend most of their time playing. Consider the value of playing.
Play has small consequences. Playing is a low risk activity that enables you to let your defenses down. It doesn't really matter if you lose at a game -- it won't cause your house to be repossessed. In a low-risk undertaking such as play, you are more open to new ideas and new ways of thinking.
Play is relaxing. It is an opportunity to meet people and share a positive experience. It can be challenging and instructive. It can build confidence. And of course it is fun. If it's not fun, it's not play.
Take some time to play on a regular basis. Do something just for the fun of doing it. You just might learn something new.
-- Ralph Marston
The surest recipe for failure, is to avoid failure. If you cannot accept the prospect that you might fail, then you will most certainly fail. To avoid failure, is to avoid even the possibility of success. Accomplishment requires effort and commitment. And it requires risk. Accomplishment requires that you make decisions, set priorities, make choices, and take action. Those things are all very risky. They can lead to failure just as surely as to success.
Yet what is failure? It is merely another step toward success. When you don't get the results you want, at least you've learned how not to act. So, is failure really so bad?
Without failure there would be no success. Make the effort. Expect the best, and accept that it may be necessary to adjust your approach to improve your results.
Be willing to fail as you take action, and you're on the road to success.
-- Ralph Marston
Life will pay any price you ask of it. -- Anthony Robbins What do you expect to be doing next week? Six months from now? Five years from now? I'm not really talking about goals, or new year's resolutions. Rather, what do you really expect you'll be doing?
If you want the best out of life, you must expect the best. Because whatever you expect of yourself, whatever you expect for yourself, is what you will get.
Expectation is not the same as wishing. You can wish for a million dollars, you can even convince yourself that it will somehow fall into your hands. Yet if wishing is all you do, it won't happen. On the other hand, if you truly expect to be a millionaire, and if that expectation pervades all of your actions on a daily basis, then you'll find yourself doing whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to make your expectation a reality.
True expectations influence every area of your life, and that is how they work their magic. You can work hard for 10 hours every day, and if you just expect to barely get by, that's what will happen. Work those same 10 hours with the expectation of getting wealthy, and suddenly you'll find all sorts of opportunities and possibilities that you never would have seen before.
What you expect, makes all the difference.
Ralph Marston Jr.
When you can envision it, it can be done. When you can see yourself doing it, it can be done. When you are committed, it can be done. When all the world says you can't, and yet you still believe, it can be done. When you keep your eye on the goal, it can be done. When you find a reason, deep within yourself, it can be done. When you truly want it, it can be done. When you develop a step-by-step plan, it can be done. Follow your vision, and it can be done. Stay focused, and it can be done. When you know you can, it can be done. Even when obstacles stand in your way, it can be done.
It can be done. But will it be done? That's entirely up to you.
When you step forward, and do whatever it takes, it WILL be done.
-- Ralph Marston
You may be perfectly justified in blaming others for your troubles; yet when you do so, you give them control over your life. When you focus on blaming others, you erode your own power, your own ability, your own commitment to do anything about the situation. Assigning blame gets you mired ever deeper in the problem. Determining who is to blame will not solve the problem. Focus instead on what needs to be done now, on the positive steps you can take.
If you wake up during the night in a house filled with smoke, do you argue with your spouse about who forgot to change the batteries in the smoke detector? No, of course not. You immediately get everyone out of the house and call the fire department.
Problems just get worse, if you waste time with blame.
-- Ralph Marston
What is work? For some, it is sitting in a cubicle, answering the phone. For others, it's caring for a young child. Or hammering boards together, or cooking, or flying an airplane. Work is the business of life. We all do it, whether we collect a paycheck or not. It is what keeps us alive, and what moves us forward. There is no menial work. It is all important.
In all work, there is the potential for fulfillment, because there is the opportunity to make a difference. The more of yourself you put into your work, the more your work will accomplish. Put your hands into your work, and it will keep you alive. Put your mind into it, and it will provide a life. Put your essence into it, and it will bring enormous rewards.
You affect the value of your work, not so much by what you do, but by what you give to the effort.
-- Ralph Marston
The more you look up, the more things will be looking up. The more positive you are in a physical sense, the more positive your whole life is. Your mind and your body work together. It is difficult to be mentally and spiritually joyful and positive when you have a negative, lifeless physiology.
Conversely, when you are smiling, standing or sitting up straight, looking upward, and breathing deeply, it is almost impossible to sustain negative attitude. Act positive physically and you will be positive. You'll see the good things around you. You'll interact better with other people.
Think about it, who would you rather deal with, someone who is slumped over and looking down at the ground, or someone who is sincerely cheerful, smiling, bright eyed, looking up, and full of positive energy.
Have you ever looked at someone and known immediately that they were depressed? Of course. It is easy to spot. So, if you don't want to be depressed, don't act depressed. It works every time. If you want to be joyful, act joyfully.
Try it right now. Experience the contrast for yourself. First, look down, slump over, put a scowl on your face, and say "things are terrible." That feels awful, doesn't it? Now, sit up, look upward, put a big smile on your face and say with excitement and passion "this is a great day and I feel fantastic." Notice how much better you feel? It really works.
Sit up straight, throw your shoulders back, take a deep breath, look up -- live your life
Get positive by being negative Do you know what you want out of life? Sometimes the things we DON'T want are more clear than the things we DO want. Yet if we dwell on what we DON'T want, even with the conscious intention to avoid it, we tend to get it. So the trick is to understand what we don't want, and then use that to formulate strong, appropriate positive goals, for the things we do want. For example, let's say that one of your co-workers loses his job, and after more than 6 months is unable to find employment. His house is foreclosed and his family must move into a small apartment. You look at his unfortunate experience and realize that you don't want that scenario for yourself. Now, instead of worrying about losing your job, and your house, and dwelling on the negative, you must determine what goals you can set, and what actions you can take, so that you never end up in that situation.
Turn the fear into desire. It will be just as strong and will lead you in a more positive direction. Compare these two statements:
"Joe lost his job, and then lost his house. I sure don't want that to happen to me."
"Joe lost his job, and then lost his house. I've started a part-time business, and am building a second income that will give me financial independence."
Do you see the difference. Knowing what you DON'T want can be vastly more useful when you turn it into something you DO want. That's because it gives you a way to take positive action. It's hard to get very far just by avoidance. The best way to move away from one thing is to move toward another.
Ralph Marston
Your life right now is the result of the things you have done up until this point in time. If you want your life to be different, you will need to make changes. Wishing for a better life won't make it so. In order for "things" to change, you must be willing to change. That means getting out of your comfort zone. It means facing your fears. It means you may need to change your career, your friends, the food you eat, the clothes you wear, where you live, your daily schedule.
You are remarkably adaptable. If you've made it this far, you have already gone through many major changes in all aspects of your life. From being an infant to a toddler to a child to a teen to an adult, the first few years of your life were filled with constant change. You are certainly up to the task.
Almost always, the fear of change, the fear of the unknown, is worse than the change itself. Once you understand this, then you realize that it is easier to change than to resist change.
There are things you need to do, changes you need to make. Go ahead with them. Don't waste your energy fearing them or resisting them. Dive right in and do what needs to be done. Change is a constant part of life. When you fear it, it will happen anyway, out of your control. When you embrace change, it will enable you to reach your goals.
Ralph Marston
What if everyone knew your secrets? Would that change the way you live your life, the way you conduct business, the way you act when no one is looking? You may not live and work under the close scrutiny of others, yet it pays to act as though you do.
Scrutiny imposes discipline. If we're certain that no one will ever know, we're more likely to take shortcuts. Yet when we know that others are watching, we're more scrupulous about everything. That is almost always a good thing.
Though the world is not always watching you, the fact is that every action you take has consequences, whether you act publicly or in secret. If what you do today could not stand up to the scrutiny of others, then someday it will catch up with you.
Live as though the world is watching, and reap the many rewards that discipline and integrity will bring.
-- Ralph Marston
The word "but" is a killer. It kills your dreams. It gives you an endless supply of reasons to live a life of desperation and mediocrity. "Yes, I'd like to go back to school, but I just can't find the time."
In life, there are either results or there are excuses. Unfortunately, most of us have too many excuses and not enough results. Excuses are worthless. Why do we even bother with them? They make us "feel" better, they allow us to deceive ourselves, they help us to forsake responsibility for our own lives.
"I want to, but... I need to, but... I could be, but..." But what?
To make something of your life, you need to bust some "buts". Get rid of them. For starters, replace "but" with "and". That just naturally makes things more open ended.
"Yes, I'd like to go back to school, and...
..and here's how I'm going to do it."
"But" may make you feel better in the short run by providing justification for your lack of action. Eventually, though, your "buts" become a crutch. "But" is an escape, that too soon becomes a trap.
Go for the results. Forget the excuses.
Ralph Marston
The phone rings. The voice on the other end asks "Do you have that report yet?" You answer, "No, but I'm trying to get it done." Stop. Rewind. Run the scene again.
The phone rings. The voice on the other end asks "Do you have that report yet?" You answer, "I'm working on it right now. You'll have it in the morning."
Notice any difference? In the first example, you're trying. In the second example, you're doing. Which one seems more likely to result in a completed report?
Trying... Have you ever thought about that word and its implications? When you tell yourself, or anyone else, that you're "trying", that strongly presumes the negative -- that you're not actually doing. Even worse is when you are "trying hard". Think about those two words, "trying" and "hard." Not exactly confidence builders, not exactly full of action. We refer to people in dire circumstances as leading a "trying" life, or as going through "hard" times. So what does trying hard get you?
Stop trying. Start doing. When you think of yourself, or refer to yourself, as trying, the lack of commitment is glaring. So stop trying. Go beyond "giving it your best shot" and make the commitment to get it done.
Replace "trying hard" with "doing whatever it takes" and see how much more effective you become.
Ralph Marston
We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Time does not cure all ills, time does not make things better. It is only through living, and striving, and struggling against the challenges, that things are made better.
Time is not our servant. Neither is it our oppressor. Time is our workplace, and our raw material. We can fashion it in any way we choose, through focus and effort.
And time comes to us in doses of now. Now is the only time we have, to do what we must do. If we wait until the "right" time, it never comes. Things will only be "right" when we act to make them so. Now is the only time we have, and now is when we must act.
We must expect the best -- of ourselves, and of others. And then we must work to make it so.
Ralph Marston
If you're not a little bit nervous before a match, you probably don't have the expectations of yourself that you should have. -- Hale Irwin If you want to know the satisfaction of accomplishment, then you must also feel the apprehension that comes from pushing yourself to the edge of your abilities. In order to grow, we must venture out into unknown territory. We must take on challenges that make us uncomfortable.
It can be frightening, taking on new challenges. And we are so fearful of fear, eager to avoid fearful situations.
Have you ever considered, though, the benefits of fear? Fear gives us a heightened sense of alertness and razor sharp focus. We breathe a little deeper to take in more oxygen, and the heart beats a little faster. Fear blocks out all the trivial stuff, and gives us increased energy. Isn't that exactly what we need to take on a difficult challenge? Is fear really so bad?
Venture out. Reach higher than what you're comfortable with. Push yourself to the point where you feel the exciting apprehension that gives you the motivation and the energy to win.
Ralph Marston
James Russell Lowell
There's no such thing as natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls. -- Lee Trevino
Have you ever wondered why we have to practice in order to become good at something? After all, we already know how to do it. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to practice in the first place. Why do we need to practice over and over again?
The reason we practice is primarily to convince ourselves that we can do it.
This struck me the other day while learning to play a piano piece by Beethoven. There was one passage that I just could not get right. My eyes could see the notes on the score. My fingers could reach all the keys in the right sequence. But I just could not put it all together. Then it hit me -- the reason I couldn't play it was because I didn't think I could. So I took my fingers off the keyboard, closed my eyes, and played the passage perfectly -- in my mind. Slowly at first, mentally hitting every key in perfect sequence, then faster and faster until I could visualize myself playing it perfectly at the correct tempo. Then I opened my eyes and tried it on the real keyboard and found that I was able to play it without a problem. Now I can roll right through that part without even thinking about it.
My eyes didn't need the practice. My fingers didn't need the practice. Only my mind needed practice. There are many things that we know how to do, but we don't know we know how to do them. Practice is our way of convincing ourselves. There's a big difference between believing we can do it, and knowing we can do it. Belief is relatively easy. Knowing takes practice. When we've practiced enough to convince ourselves, then we have it.
Ralph Marston
The sincerest form of gratitude, is to make full use of those things with which we have been blessed. How can we be thankful that there is food on our table, when others are starving? Isn't that smug and selfish? How can we be thankful for a good job, when others are desperately seeking work? We can be fully and sincerely thankful, by making the best of the opportunities that the food, and the job, and all our other blessings, give us.
Of all our life's treasures, one of the most precious is the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. The more we are blessed with, the more we're able to make a difference.
True abundance compels us to be the best that we can be. Enthusiastically embrace the wonderful possibilities that come from your life's blessings.
¨ Ralph Marston
The greatest accomplishments happen when you get just a little way beyond the point where others would have quit. The difference between someone who enjoys magnificent success, and someone who just managed to get by, is the willingness to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to reach the goal. How far away are you, from reaching your destination? If you quit before you get there you are infinitely far away. Make the commitment to keep going, and suddenly you are almost there.
Go beyond where others are willing to go. Put in the extra effort. The time will pass anyway, whether you use it or now. It just makes sense to make the most out of every moment. Give a little more than others are willing to give, be a little more patient, have a little more curiosity, take a little more responsibility, learn a few more things, and it will make all the difference in the world.
-- Ralph Marston
What will you do today, that will matter tomorrow? Excitement and thrills fade, and become fond memories. Pleasure and comfort become monotonous. What endures? Accomplishment. Get something done today, something that makes a difference, and you'll reap the benefits for a long time to come. Accomplishment brings many things: money, satisfaction, confidence, skills, respect, influence, knowledge, and more. These are things that last long after you're finished. And they'll help you to build one accomplishment on top of another, on top of another, and so on.
As you go about your day, there will be things you need to do, things you want to do, things you absolutely must do. Remember, in all your doing, the value of accomplishment. Shift your focus from what you're doing, to what you're getting done. What comes from all your activity? What are you accomplishing? What are you building, collecting, creating, selling, distributing, managing, or improving? What are you accomplishing?
What will you have at the end of today, that you didn't have this morning? What actions will make that happen? When you just "get through" the day, and spend it in idleness, it will soon be gone. When you invest the day in accomplishment, it will always be with you.
Ralph Marston
Sometimes we get so close to a situation, that we are unable to see the value in it. A job, a relationship, a business, a product, a lifestyle -- whatever it is, familiarity, as the saying goes, can breed contempt. Or, more accurately, familiarity can breed complacence and ignorance.
For example, if you've been married for a while, you think in your own mind that you know your spouse very well. And so you rarely make the effort to get to know him or her any better.
If something is troubling you, you're often inclined to get rid of it. Yet if you back away from it, and look objectively at all the various components of the situation, you may find just one small aspect that is the source of all the trouble. It would be senseless to discard the ninety-five percent that's valuable, in order to get rid of the five percent that's causing the problem.
Your life is full of value. Yet it's often so much a part of you, that you don't even see it. Stand back and take a good look. Sure, there are parts that need repair, but you'll be amazed at all the good things you see.
-- Ralph Marston
When you fight against something negative, you use most of your energy just to stay even. There is little, if any, remaining to help you get ahead. Even if you win, you lose. Instead, work to re-direct negative energy and influences into a positive direction. It is not as difficult as it sounds. Love and hate are just across the border from each other. Anger and inspiration are separated by a thin line.
The same raw energy creates sadness as well as joyful bliss. Just as electricity can be used to make a room very warm or very cold, so too can the energy of life be used to manifest seemingly "opposite" results.
The energy is there. And it is up to you to decide what it will become. Don't fight it. Accept it, and find a way to use it.
-- Ralph Marston
Author Unknown
You'll get it done, if you start right now. Yes, there's so much to do. The task at the moment seems insurmountable. But there's no time to worry or fret. Get on with it. Get started right now.
Your actions can take you where your thoughts dare not even dream you'll go, if you'll get started now. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be done. If you wait and worry, nothing will come. Look up, speak up, stand up, and make it happen.
Achievement is in the doing. Don't wait idly for it to be delivered -- that delivery will never come. Do what you can right now, no matter how little it may seem to be. There is something you can do. Though you can think of a thousand reasons not to, start now, and you're on your way.
¨ Ralph Marston
Today is a precious gift. Enjoy it to the fullest. Look for challenges that will help you grow. Delight in the beauty that is around you. Give your love to others. Create something that has never existed before. Express your uniqueness in everything you do. Appreciate your many blessings. Listen with understanding and act with kindness.
Have respect for those around you. Enjoy the company of another. Open your mind to possibilities. Go confidently forward in the direction of your dreams. Take pleasure in the disciplined effort of successful living. Delight in being yourself.
And when the day is over, enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from giving and being the best you can be. Look at how far you've come, and just think of how great it will be tomorrow.
-- Ralph Marston
You cannot be strong in the big, important things if you are weak in the little things. So really, there are no little things when it comes to character and strength of will.
How can you have the will to control a successful business if you can't even control your diet? How can you make your mark on the world, when you can't even get out of bed on time? How can you be free to pursue your vision, when you are a slave to your petty indulgences?
Success and achievement require strength. That strength comes, not in an instant jackpot, but from a moment to moment cultivation of the will. You must first lift smaller weights if you're to build big muscles. Likewise, strength of character comes from first winning the smaller battles, the ones which challenge you every moment.
Be diligent in the little things, because they work together to make the big things.
-- Ralph Marston
You never know when that little something extra might make a big difference in the end. Races are won by hundredths of a second, and there are countless opportunities along the way to gain the slight edge that will make all the difference.
Everyone puts out maximum effort when the finish line is in sight. Only the true winner knows, however, that the race is not won at the end, but rather along the way. In fact, the true winner starts to win long before the race is even begun, by putting a little something extra into each training session.
A slight edge, every step of the way, will add up to a big advantage in the end. What can you do today, to improve your performance just a little bit over what you did yesterday? What little bit extra can you do for your boss, your spouse, your children, your customers, your friends, yourself? It adds up, until it is unstoppable. Just a little something extra, every day. Think about the power of that.
-- Ralph Marston
The natural reaction to hostility is... hostility. Yet much of the hostility we encounter is due to ignorance and misunderstanding. Often times, when each side develops a better understanding of the other, there is no more cause for anger. The next time you're confronted with hostility, take the time to explain yourself -- clearly, patiently, sincerely, and without bitterness or sarcasm. And put yourself in the other person's shoes. Endeavor to understand their perspective.
How you react to hostility is up to you. You can escalate the fight to the point where nobody wins. Or, you can seek to give, and to gain, understanding. Understanding serves to cool the anger. It can reveal common grounds for agreement and cooperation.
Yes, there are some people who just want to be angry, no matter what. But there are many others who just want to be understood.
¨ Ralph Marston
There are plenty of very good reasons not to do what needs to be done. You've had a hard day, and you've got a headache -- that's a good reason not to make that one more call.
But what do you want more -- excuses or success? Excuses may make you feel good right now. However, they will lead to pain in the future. A year from now, when it's too late to do anything, the excuse you feel so good about today won't do much to ease the pain of regret you'll feel for not having taken action.
You have two choices. You can resort to excuses, and thereby let circumstances control your life. Or, you can take action in spite of the reasons not to. Just do it anyway. Take control of your life. Live with purpose, passion and direction.
-- Ralph Marston
What can you do better today than you did yesterday? Whatever you focus on improving, will improve. When you focus on building something, it will increase.
What can you do, what can you learn, who can you talk to, what can you create, what problem can you solve, what new perspective can you gain today? Every moment is an opportunity to move forward.
If you are not constantly growing, you're losing ground. Momentum only has two directions -- forward or backward. Standing still is not an option. Learn, grow and create. You're getting better and better every day. Your power and effectiveness are growing as you make the commitment to use each day to the fullest.
You have the very best of everything, within yourself. Give it a chance to get out and grow. Make your light shine brightly.
Invest yourself in excellence. A life fully lived is a life full of giving, of creative effort, of making a difference.
-- Ralph Marston
Those who achieve success are those who can see success, and who act on what they see. There is success in a cold, dreary day, for the person who can see the need for overcoats and firewood, and then supply them to people who want to stay warm. There is success in the irate customer, for the person who can see the cause of the problem and solve it. There is success in disaster, for the person who can see the way to rebuild and to learn from past mistakes.
Success is everywhere for the making, if only you can see it. In every situation is the seed for success. Successful people don't wait for the situation to improve. And they don't complain about it. They simply take action to improve the situation.
Success, achievement and greatness come from the belief in, and the commitment to, improving the world around you. When you set out looking for ways to make the world a better place, what you find... is success.
¨ Ralph Marston
Once you make a decision to do something, get started right away. Making the commitment is important, but it is not a substitute for action. Do something immediately to seal the commitment.
The more time and effort you invest, the more you'll be motivated to go the distance. Find something you can do right now to get started. And then keep on going until your goal is accomplished.
It won't be perfect, but it doesn't have to be. What matters is that you take action, with steady perseverence.
What are you waiting for? The time to get started is now. The minutes are ticking away -- don't waste them. You can be that much closer to your goal if you'll just go ahead and get started now.
¨ Ralph Marston
Everything you do is intentional. The actions you take, you take because you choose to do so. The stimulus can come from anywhere, but the response comes from you.
Every action, every moment, determines the direction of your life. You have made the choices, and taken the actions that have led you to this point. More importantly, you will make the choices and take the actions that determine your future.
You can learn from the past, but the past does not control you. Just because you have used poor judgment in the past, doesn't mean you have to continue doing so. You can change your life the moment you decide to change.
You are more than your past. You are more than your mistakes. Your life is whatever you decide to make it.
¨ Ralph Marston
How much time and energy do you spend carrying a grudge? What does it get you? Does it improve your life, or the lives of others?
Forgiveness is very liberating. When you blame others for your troubles, you give them control over your life. Being able to forgive, to let it go, puts you back in control.
Of course you don't want to let people take advantage of you. But if someone has already harmed you or slighted you, there's no need to continue making it worse for yourself by fretting and worrying about it. When someone cuts you off on the freeway, it's a bad experience. Should you make it worse by fuming and complaining about it for the rest of the day? Take what you can from it, learn from it, and then let it go.
Let it go, and get on with your life. Turning the other cheek benefits you more than anyone else.
¨ Ralph Marston
Do something for someone else, something unexpected, out of a sincere desire to help, with no expectation of anything in return. Tackle a challenge that has been hanging over your head for a long time.
Try something new -- a new food, a new route home, a new book, a new store.
Enjoy a few moments of quiet solitude. Think about the things in your life that are most important to you.
Call or visit a friend, just to say hello.
Learn something new, perhaps related to your job, perhaps not.
Smile for no reason at all, as often as you remember.
Say hello to a stranger.
Do something for the future, that won't "pay off" until several weeks, or months, or years from now.
When problems arise, smile and say "that's great, because..." Then find a way to finish the sentence.
Ralph Marston
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof." -- John Kenneth Galbraith
Do you ever consider that you might be wrong? Do you ever question your assumptions? What's so great about being right, anyway? And what's so terrible about being wrong?
There are many valuable ideas and approaches that are not yours. Unfortunately, to perpetuate your own sense of "being right", you sometimes ignore the perfectly useful perspectives of others. Always "being right" will earn you little more than resentment. It creates barriers and inhibits communication.
Discard the attachment to being right and you'll open up enormous new vistas in your thinking and perception. What if you actually listened to people without trying to figure out how to prove them wrong? Think of what you could learn, of how you could benefit from the experience and perspective of others.
Paradoxically, you'll come closer to the truth when you let go of the need to be right.
Ralph Marston
As you think, so you are. Whatever you think you can do, whatever you think you can become, whatever you think you can have, is yours. Unless you doubt it. Your thoughts have the power to become reality, only to the degree they are free from doubt. Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.
It's a very simple equation. When your goals are strong and highly focused, and your doubts small by comparison, that leads to success. If your doubts are bigger than your goals, watch out!
To conquer doubt, we must act as if there is no doubt. Of what use is it to repeat your goals every morning, then spend the rest of the day living as if they will never be a reality? Doubts are stong and persistent. You can't simply THINK them away -- you must ACT them away.
Follow your goals with action. Act as if you have no doubts. That action will eliminate the doubt, and, as it happens, lead to the fulfillment of your goals. Action is the key that conquers doubt, and turns dreams into reality. Start walking, and you'll know, without a doubt, that the journey is possible. Because it has just become so.
Ralph Marston
How many of the obstacles standing in your way are the product of your own imagination? What have you convinced yourself that you can't do? What limitations have you come to believe in? Your mind is very powerful and effective. Is it working for you, or against you?
There are very real obstacles and challenges to any course of action. And there's no need to add to them, by making up obstacles of your own. Unchain yourself from the bondage of your own thinking.
There is no limit to what you can imagine. And with commitment, with effort, what you can imagine you can become. Put your mind to work for you. Believe that you can do it. The world will tell you that you can't. Yet, in your belief you'll find the strength, you'll find the ability, to do it anyway.
Imagine the possibilities!
¨ Ralph Marston
The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion. -- Jean-Claude Killy
Do you want to be successful in any particular undertaking? Then find someone else who has done it, and do exactly what they did. Model your actions on successful experience.
Successful people are not simply lucky. Luck has nothing to do with it. Success comes from specific actions, taken in a specific way. Winners make it look easy, and effortless, but it is not. Behind every successful person is a long line of effort, a specific sequence of actions.
Discover what those actions are, repeat them, and you too can have the same result. Don't waste your time directing envy or resentment toward successful people. Instead, be curious. Find out all you can. Ask questions. Read books and articles. Listen. Observe. Learn from the experience of those who have reached the top, and you'll be on your way there.
Ralph Marston
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. -- Adam Smith
Take care of yourself first. No matter how much you may want to give to others, if you don't have anything yourself, then you have nothing to give.
Self interest is not selfish. It is highly responsible. Taking care of yourself means being responsible for yourself, and there is nothing selfish about that.
Self interest is a powerful creative force. Because she knows she will be rewarded, the scientist works diligently to develop a new medicine. Because he knows he will be rewarded, the investor finances a new venture.
The more you take care of your self, of your own needs and desires, the more you have to contribute to life. And the more you have to contribute, the more you become. It is an upward spiral that begins when you take responsibility for your own life, and begin to look out for your own interest. Everyone benefits when you take care of yourself.
Ralph Marston
One morning Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist who made a fortune from his invention of dynamite, awoke to find his own obituary printed in the newspaper. The newspaper story had been a mistake, of course. But after reading it, Nobel realized that he didn't want to be known for giving society the ability to blow things up.
Instead, he wanted to leave a legacy that promoted peace, culture and science. So he set aside the majority of his multi-million dollar fortune to fund annual prizes for exceptional achievement in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and world peace. Today, a hundred years after his death, few people realize that Alfred Nobel was the inventor of dynamite, yet almost everyone has heard of the Nobel Prizes.
Alfred Nobel was fortunate enough to read his own obituary while he still had the opportunity to change the focus of his life. And as a result, his efforts continue to benefit mankind to this day.
We often get so caught up in the day-to-day, urgent details of life. Yet in all our getting and doing, we need to regularly step back and look at the big picture. It can often make a significant difference.
Ralph Marston
There's almost no visible difference between the winning athlete, and one who finishes last.
They both have the same number of muscles to work with. They both play the game by the same rules, using the same kind of equipment. Yet the winner, is the one who makes the commitment to win. The winner is the athlete who does what it takes, who trains day after day, who adds a little extra to each workout, who can visualize crossing the finish line ahead of the rest.
The highest paid salesperson, and the one who rarely makes a sale, both have the same basic skills and resources. The difference is in what they do with what they have. The best selling novelist, and the unpublished writer, both have the same dictionary full of words to work with. The difference is in what they do with what they have.
You already have the raw material for success and achievement. You have what it takes to achieve greatness in anything you desire. Within you, is the potential for extraordinary accomplishment. No one is better suited for success than you. Yet, you are the one who must make it happen. You are the one who must make the commitment, and do whatever it takes, to achieve the greatness of which you're capable.
You have what it takes. Make it happen.
¨ Ralph Marston
Take time to plan for tomorrow. Take time to make a difference. Take time to say thank you. Take time to really care. Take time to do it right. Take time to reach a little higher, and time to lift another. Take time to learn, and grow.
Take time to know your passion. Take time to speak your mind. Take time to really listen. Take time to praise a child. Take time to lend a hand. Take time to know life's pleasures. Take time to be your best.
The time you take to really live, is time you'll never lose. You won't regret the time you take, to make a difference.
Though you'll never be able to hide it away, time is always yours to take. The next moment is ever ready and waiting. Take from it all you can.
-- Ralph Marston
Who do you trust? How many people trust you? If someone promises to do something, they might do it and they might not. There are a lot of promises flying around these days, promises which are only kept if it continues to serve the interest of the person making the promise. A conditional promise is worth only a little bit more than nothing at all.
Trust is much more meaningful. Trust is not created overnight. It does not come out of thin air. It is built over years of dependable experience.
A person who can be trusted, a person who is dependable, is valuable in any endeavor. Customers will willingly pay more to do business with someone they trust. Employers will pay higher salaries to keep people they trust.
Being trustworthy and dependable, besides being an honorable way to live, has measurable material advantages in business and in life. When people trust you, doors open to you, opportunities come to you.
Can you be trusted? Would you trust yourself? Be trustworthy and dependable, and the best people, with the best connections, the best resources, the best opportunities, the best jobs, and the best business contracts, will seek you out. It is well worth it, to be worthy of trust.
-- Ralph Marston
The best book has yet to be written. The best song has yet to be sung. The most beautiful picture has not yet been painted. The best day has yet to be lived.
The best food has not yet been served. The most exciting discovery is waiting to be made. The greatest building has yet to be built. The most useful machine is not yet designed.
The biggest sale has yet to be sold. The most successful business has not even been started.
All the great achievements the world has known to date, are but a prelude of what is to come. In every field of endeavor, in every walk of life, there's ample opportunity to be the best. In every person is the seed of greatness, in every day is a dream to fulfill.
The best is always inside of you, waiting for you to bring it to life.
¨ Ralph Marston
In every life there is some sadness. The loss of a loved one, the disappointment of a shattered dream. Things don't always go the way we want.
Sadness hurts. It is difficult. And ultimately, it is good. Because sadness can come only when you care. As painful as it is, consider the alternative. What if you did not even care? Paradoxically, the absence of pain is the ultimate pain.
We must learn to experience and appreciate our sadness, without being overwhelmed by it. And the first step is to admit it and feel it for what it is. It is a powerful form of caring. About ourselves, about others, about truth, about love, about life. Sadness shows us how very much we care, and defines for us the truly important things in life.
Even in the pain of sadness, there is meaning and hope. Out of sadness, comes a deeper sense of appreciation. The sunshine is more precious after a week of rainy days. In sadness is the strength to go forward and the opportunity to triumph over every obstacle.
--Ralph Marston
On some level, life is always a struggle, no matter who you are, or how powerful you are, or how much money you have. Nothing can shield you or protect you from the fact that life is always a challenge. Even if you spent your days swimming in the crystal clear waters around your own tropical island, being attended to by a staff of faithful servants, life would be a challenge.
So accept it. Much misery comes from the futile longing for a life without challenge or strife. In our attempts to avoid struggle, to avoid effort, to avoid challenge, we end up throwing away the precious moments that could be spent fulfilling our incredible possibilities.
You cannot avoid challenge. It is what makes life happen. Welcome the challenges. Find fulfillment in living through them, and in using their energy to propel you forward. Each day is full of them. Each one offers its own opportunity for growth and accomplishment.
Delight in your own effectiveness at making the most of the challenges which face you. Happiness, confidence, fulfillment and joy come not from an absence of challenge, but from the ability to welcome the challenges of a meaningful, passionate life.
--Ralph Marston
What things are holding you back, preventing you from reaching your full potential? We tend to avoid thinking about such things, because they can be painful. Or we blame our troubles and lack of progress on someone else. Avoiding the real issue may "feel" better at the moment. Yet it does nothing to move us forward.
The moment you honestly and clearly face your limitations, you begin to transcend them. Yes, it involves effort to work on your shortcomings. In the end, though it will be less effort than you would spend continually working against them.
Discovering your limitations gives you a powerful opportunity to be more effective. Once you remove something that's holding you back, you're finished fighting it. That gives you more energy to put into achieving your goals.
Take a good, hard look at your fears, your assumptions, your weaknesses. Admit them, and put your effort into overcoming them. It will pay a lifetime of dividends.
-- Ralph Marston
There is always room for improvement.
No matter who you are, or where you are, life can always be better. Every day that dawns, brings with it the opportunity for growth and improvement. What doesn't work, can be repaired. What does work, can be made better. What is good, can be made great.
Imagine that you are just a few improvements short of greatness. Then go out and make those improvements! Where you are right now, doesn't matter nearly as much as where you are going.
In every situation there is opportunity for growth. In every situation, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, there is the possibility for improvement. Add value to any circumstance, and you can turn a negative into a positive, or make a positive even better.
The best thing about reaching a goal, is the opportunity it provides to reach even higher. Attain small goals, build on them, and soon anything is possible.
-- Ralph Marston
You have within you everything necessary to achieve whatever you want. All you need to do is use it. Most people only use a small fraction of the power, energy and intelligence that is available to them.
All the things you've learned, all the things you've done, the things that interest you, all the people you know, and even the disappointments you've experienced -- these are hidden assets, just waiting for you to use.
We spend so much time and effort looking for ways to get, that we don't realize all the things we have to give. Yet it is what you give, the contributions you make to the world, that will add true value and fulfillment to your life.
The way to realize the most value from your own life, to get the best "rate of return" on your own hidden assets, is to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
--Ralph Marston
Have you ever seen a car stuck in the grassy median of the freeway? Usually this was someone who wanted to turn around, but was in too much of a hurry to go all the way to the next exit. So he decided to take a "shortcut" through the middle, and got stuck in the mud or the ditch. Then, instead of spending an extra 5 minutes to go to the next exit and turn around, he must spend a few hours getting a tow truck to pull the car out.
Think about that the next time you're tempted to take a shortcut in your work, your relationships, your health, or anywhere else. The quick and easy way out often has a tremendous downside.
The value you get from life is equal to the effort you put in. In the end, searching for shortcuts usually takes more time and energy than just doing the work in the first place.
You simply cannot get something for nothing. Because whatever you get for nothing, regardless of its "market value", means nothing to you.
--Ralph Marston
It's easier to be sincere, than to pretend. It's easier to be truthful, than to maintain deception. It's easier to take action, than to live with regret. It's easier to do it right, than to go back and fix it.
It's easier to plan ahead, than to play catch up. It's easier to achieve excellence, than to endure mediocrity. It is easier to live with purpose and direction, than it is to have others control your life.
It is easier to get the job finished now, than to come back to it later. It's easier to work with cooperation and respect, than to scheme and fight.
It is easier to speak up, than to live with injustice. It is easier to ask and learn, than to live in ignorance.
After all is said and done, life is easier when we live it as it was meant to be lived -- with purpose, honesty, effort, respect and focus.
--Ralph Marston
The next time you're tempted to blame, condemn, take revenge, or act out of anger, ask yourself -- what will it accomplish? The next time you start to worry or fret, or feel sorry for yourself, ask yourself -- what good will it do?
Every one of your thoughts and actions, brings a result. So whatever you do, know why you're doing it. Because whatever you're working toward, will happen. The quality and substance of your life, are determined by where you focus your energy and attention.
If you focus on anger, you'll have plenty of reason for anger. When you focus on worry, you will have much to worry about.
Instead, focus on gratitude, and you will have many things to be thankful for. Focus on positive action, and you'll make good things come about. Direct your energy and your attention to the abundant side of life. Expect the best, and you'll make it happen.
--Ralph Marston
There's something that you really want to do. There is a person that you really want to be, deep inside. There is a life that you really want to live.
Go for it! Start today, taking action that will bring you to where you want to be. Are there any good reasons not to? Of course there are, but does that really matter?
If you're hesitant to take action, ask yourself this: What's the worst thing that can happen? Is failure the worst thing that can happen? No. Absolutely not. Each undesired result is just one more step toward your goal. Is success the worst that can happen? No. Of course not. Success is what you're after. So what is the worst thing that can happen?
Nothing. Doing nothing is the worst thing that can happen. When you take action, you are sure to get results, and eventually you will get the results you desire. When you take no action, you are assured of getting nowhere -- a wasted life.
The only way to avoid the worst thing that can happen, is to take action. Do it now. Live the life you want to live by doing what needs to be done.
--Ralph Marston
It is unrealistic to expect that you'll continually achieve one victory after another.
There will be disappointments along the way. Success is based on your ability to quickly recover from the losses and move on to the next task.
In anything you attempt, there will be setbacks. Does it make sense to compound the loss by dwelling on it? Of course not. Learn from it, yes -- you can almost always learn more from a loss than you can from a victory. And then put it behind you. Move forward with confidence.
When someone says no to you, that's one more step on your path to success. Politely thank them an move on to the next person. When a deal falls through, move on to the next one with increased determination. Even the highest paid professional golfers only win a few of the many tournaments they enter.
No one can win every game. Anyone can be a winner, though, by refusing to be stopped by defeat.
--Ralph Marston
Once upon a time, there was a man with a big family who
desperately needed a big house. He didn't have enough money to buy a big house, though. So his family lived wherever they could. They were always cold, and crowded and uncomfortable, and they longed for a big house.
The man heard one day that gold had been discovered, high up on a mountain. So he set off up the mountain with his pick axe, hoping to find enough gold to buy a big, warm house for his family.
On the first day, right in the middle of the narrow mountain trail stood a tree -- not a huge tree, yet big enough to block the path. So the man used his pick axe to cut down the tree. It rolled down the side of the mountain into a meadow far below. The man continued along the path to the area where gold had been discovered. All day long he chipped into the side of the mountain with his pick axe, yet he found no gold.
The next day, he was surprised to see that the tree had grown back, and was again blocking his path. So again he cut it down, and it rolled down the side of the mountain to the meadow far below. Again the man searched all day for gold, only to come back empty handed.
For six months this went on. Day after day, the tree would grow back. Day after day, the man would cut it down. And day after day, the man would return to his family empty handed.
Then one day, the man happened to glance down, and was astonished to see a big, beautiful new house in the middle of the meadow below. Surely this must be the new home of someone who has found the gold, he thought. Perhaps they'll tell me where they found it. He ran excitedly down the mountain and knocked on the door of the house.
"What a beautiful house you have," he said to the woman who answered the door. "Did you pay for it with the gold you found on the mountain?" "Heavens no," said the woman. "I am just a poor widow. I have no gold. But each day for the last six months, a freshly cut log has rolled down the mountain. My children and I simply gathered the logs together to build this big, beautiful house."
--Ralph Marston
Many things we can change, and some things we must endure. We grow by our endurance. Strength comes from adversity.
Often, the things we want to have in life, lie on the other side of hardship. We must pass through times of difficulty and extreme effort in order to reach our goals. Almost anything worth having is not easily obtained, and the effort involved is what gives it value.
Endurance allows us to get where we're going. The higher the goal, the longer and more arduous the path. The more endurance we can muster, the more we can achieve.
Clearly seeing the end of the path, and keeping the goal in sight, makes endurance possible. We can hold up under amazing difficulty, when we know there's a purpose. Keep your chin up, look forward, and endure what you must. It will make you what you want to be.
-- Ralph Marston
Your weaknesses represent your greatest potential for improvement. Is there something that keeps holding you back? Improving that one thing, could make everything else you do, vastly more effective. Remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If one or two things are holding you back, it doesn't matter how well developed you are in other areas -- you're still held back. One of the best uses of your strengths, is to work on overcoming your weaknesses.
All too often we use our strengths to compensate for our weaknesses. Most people manage to get by, by doing this. Just think, though, what would happen if instead, you were able to completely overcome the weaknesses, once and for all. Then, instead of fighting against your own weakness, you could fully apply your strengths toward success and accomplishment.
Don't be your own worst enemy. Acknowledge your weaknesses, and get over them.
--Ralph Marston
The time is never perfect, yet the time is always right. If you're waiting for the perfect time to take action, a time when all conditions will be ideal, a time when your prospects for success are guaranteed, that time will never come. Circumstances are never perfect. There are always plenty of reasons not to act. Yet, if anything is going to get done, it must be undertaken in less than perfect circumstances. When you accept that there will never be a perfect time, then the time is always right. Circumstances, whatever they are, will work for you, when you go to work in spite of them. The unfavorable conditions, such as they are, are things that can be overcome. Right now is not perfect, but it's what you have to work with. You either use it, or you lose it forever. Now is not the perfect time, but it is the right time to begin reaching for your goals. Do it now, or regret it later.
--Ralph Marston
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.
--Author Unknown
I recently heard an estimate that the average person has about 60,000 thoughts in the course of a normal day. That's about one thought every waking second. And for most people, about 95% of those thoughts are the same thoughts they had yesterday.
Of those 60,000 thoughts you're having today, how many will be negative, self-limiting thoughts, and how many will be positive, challenging, uplifting thoughts?
Maybe you should keep an eye on your thoughts. Try this -- for the next hour, pay attention to the thoughts you have, and take note of how many negative ones there are, compared to the positive. Every day, you have thousands of opportunities to change the direction of your life, simply by changing the direction of your thoughts.
Are you thinking the same tired, old limiting thoughts you've thought every day for years, or are you constantly challenging yourself with new, positively focused thinking?
Watch yourself think, and you'll discover untold opportunities for growth.
--Ralph Marston
It is through desire, and attainment of our desires, that we grow -- not through the objects of our desire. That is an important distinction.
Our nature is to continually have greater and greater desires. Once a particular desire is satisfied, we develop an even more challenging one to take its place. This progression leads us to higher and higher levels of fulfillment, because of the person we must become in order to successfully follow our desires.
You work and work to build yourself a nice, big house. You move in, and then suddenly it's not enough. There is an emptiness. The object is there, but the desire is gone. It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with the house. It means that you're longing for another challenge.
But don't start wishing for an even bigger house. That's the mistake that many people make. Instead, start looking for a bigger challenge. Do you see the difference? It is the challenge that satisfies your need for desire, not the goal.
The objects won't ever satisfy you. The challenges will.
--Ralph Marston
Do the best that you're capable of. Any less is cheating yourself. Those who get the most from life are those who give the most.
Give your best, and you bring out the best in others -- your customers, your employer, your family, your friends. Because you are committed to being the best that you can be, you tap into your full potential as a person. Your power and effectiveness in any endeavor, come from your own commitment to excellence.
There are countless opportunities each day to do your best. It doesn't need to take more time, or more resources -- just a change in attitude. To make your life the best it can possibly be, you just need to do the best you can possibly do.
Unleash your own incredible potential -- always do your best.
--Ralph Marston
It is natural to fear the unknown. For thousands of years, a healthy fear of the unknown has kept people alert enough to survive. Yet the fear must not keep us from marching ahead. We must have the courage to live and grow.
Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather, courage is the ability to act in the face of fear. Fear helps us by making us alert to danger. And with courage we use that heightened state of energy to meet our greatest challenges.
There is risk in everything we do. And often, there is even greater risk in doing nothing. Fear rightly keeps us from acting foolishly on some occasions. Other times, we must feel the fear, and do it anyway. We must have the courage and the confidence to turn a risk into an opportunity.
Your greatest achievements are waiting, just on the other side of your greatest fears.
--Ralph Marston
Whatever you do not attempt, you will most certainly not achieve. The more you just sit and watch life go by, the less it will be to your liking.
Jump in and make a difference. Your complaints and excuses may be elaborate and well reasoned, yet they give you no fulfillment. If you're not satisfied with the way things are, take action. Only you can fulfill the promise of your own life.
Get in the game, and play it like your life depends on it, because it does. Don't expect it to be easy. The beauty of success and accomplishment are that they're NOT easy. A body builder does not build large muscles by lifting small weights. The challenges are what will make you grow.
Achievement is not what you get. It is what you become. Stand up, step forward, and meet life head on.
--Ralph Marston
The secret to getting things done, is doing them. That may sound obvious, yet too few people take it to heart.
All too often we avoid taking action because we feel we're not qualified, or not worthy, or the timing isn't right, or the market conditions are not ideal, or it might not work out, or "what would people think?", or "what would I be missing?" The list of reasons for not taking action, is endless.
What are YOU waiting for? Whatever it is, it won't come unless you do something about it. There are many obstacles to every course of action. The biggest obstacle, however, comes from not doing anything. Fortunately, that's an obstacle that you can overcome instantly, as soon as you start to take action.
Waiting for things to get better? They'll be better when you make them better. Get busy and make it happen.
--Ralph Marston
Today is a turning point in your life. The things you accomplish, the people you meet, the direction you set today, will have consequences far into the future.
One little bit of extra effort, made today, might change the rest of your life for the better. It would be a shame to miss the opportunity. So do all you can do today, and just a little bit more. Make that extra phone call. Look at that one additional report. Investigate that one additional possibility. Think of the difference it could make.
Each day affects all the ones that come after it. In your actions, in your thoughts, in your decisions, proceed as if today is the most critical day of your life. Because it is.
-- Ralph Marston
The best players enjoy the game. The best musicians have a love for music. The highest achievers enjoy the achievement. Do you detect a pattern here?
Whatever you must do to achieve success, find a way to enjoy it.
You can either do what you love, or love what you do. It doesn't matter which. What matters is the "do" part. Taking the action is what brings success. Yes, you can struggle against your own desires, be miserable, and eventually accomplish your goal. But why? You'll be far more effective and consistently successful when you enjoy doing the things that bring you success.
Healthy, physically fit people enjoy fruits, vegetables, and regular exercise just as much as overweight, out of shape people enjoy eating pizza in front of the TV. The difference is not in the food or the activity -- the difference is attitude.
You're in complete control of what you enjoy, and what you dislike. The things you like, are the things you've conditioned yourself to like.
And you have the power to change them.
-- Ralph Marston
Is there anything you need to do, but don't really want to do? Is there something that could bring success and accomplishment, but you just can't bring yourself to do it?
Why not? Is it really so bad? Or have you just become so accustomed to avoiding it, that you've created a block against it? Habits and attitudes perpetuate themselves. And often we find it necessary to break free.
Chances are, whatever you're avoiding, you've probably done many other things that are just as risky or unpleasant or difficult. It's not the thing itself that's stopping you -- it's you. In fact, some of the actions you take to avoid it, are probably just as uncomfortable as doing it in the first place.
Whatever needs to be done -- do it! Break free of your own limiting attitude. You can handle whatever challenges come your way. Stop holding yourself back, and learn to enjoy the actions that lead to success.
--Ralph Marston
Successful people care. To achieve any kind of fulfillment you must care.
Care enough to expect the best of yourself, and to expect the best of others. Care enough to challenge and to love, to give and to create. When you care enough to take action, you make a difference -- in your own life, in the lives of others, in the world.
Caring is not easy. It takes effort, and it often hurts. Because caring is more than just a thought or a feeling. True caring is doing. It is vital to those you care about, and to you. The more you care, the more real joy your life will have.
When you truly care, giving up is not an option. When you care, you won't allow yourself to become distracted. When you care, you are powerful and effective. When you care, life matters.
Look around you at the beauty and abundance of life. Every day, remember to care.
--Ralph Marston
Time is an interesting concept. We can't see it. We can't hear it, or touch it. Yet it rules our lives. The clock tells us when to wake up, when to eat, when to work, when to go to bed.
Time is our way of keeping life's experiences separated. It is not a material thing -- it is an idea. Time can work for you, or against you, depending on how you use it.
Used wisely, time can magnify your efforts. Spend 30 minutes walking briskly, and you'll feel good, though perhaps a little tired. Do it every day for 6 months and you'll be in top physical shape. Make 2 or 3 sales calls today, and chances are you won't get a sale. Do it every day for a year, and you'll have more business than you can handle.
The most effective use of time comes when you have a clear, consistent direction. When your efforts are focused, time is your ally.
Where will you be six months from now? It depends completely on how you spend your time today, and tommorow, and all the days in between. When your efforts each day build on your previous efforts, the combined result is powerful indeed.
Take step after step in the same direction, and time will bring spectacular results.
-- Ralph Marston