Daily Motivation

"I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty
to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The
world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but
also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

-- Helen Keller

"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is
a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because
philosophy is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor
good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."

-- John W. Gardner

Success comes from performing your tasks excellently. Be excellent
not just in the big things, but in everything you do. Think of you
life as a ship at sea. Carelessness in any area of upkeep runs the
risk of sinking the whole ship. Each plank, each nail, each joint is
equally important in keeping the ship afloat.

Be Excellent

Daily Motivation

"Know yourself and you will win all battles."

--Sun Tzu

"One of the greatest moments in anybody's developing experience is
when he no longer tries to hide from himself but determines to get
acquainted with himself as he really is."

--Norman Vincent Peale

There are two things you must know in order to get anywhere. The
second thing you must know is where you want to go, and this is called
goal setting. The first thing you must know is where you are starting
from, and this is called self knowledge. Knowing your goals or where
you want to go is only half of the equation, knowing yourself is the
other. If you know both hwhere you are and where you want to go, it is
then that the path becomes clear and life flows naturally.

Know Yourself

Daily Motivation

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your
smile can be the source of your joy."

--Thich Nhat Hanh

"Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic."

--Dale Carnegie

Nearly everyone recognizes the effect our emotions have on our
physical appearance. Anger forms a frown on your face, pain a grimace.
What we often miss is that this works in reverse as well. Choosing to
smile even when it is unnatural, can in turn create a happier mood in
you. Acting joyful and enthusiastic can bring about joy and enthusiasm
in you. Knowing this, it is completely in your control to bring about
the emotions in yourself that you desire. You are in control.

Be Joyful

Daily Motivation

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have
within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for
the stars to change the world."

--Harriet Tubman

"All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine
what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work
every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose."

--Brian Tracy

Your dreams are one of your most precious possessions. Share them
with those that support you, but guard them from people who might try
to rob you of them. Write them down, and read them each morning to
keep them in the forefront of your thoughts. Do one thing each day to
move your dreams forward. Do this and success and happiness are
inevitable.

Dream

Daily Motivation

"To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back
shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and
scramble as well as we can."

--Sydney Smith

Forward momentum, as stuttered and clumsy as it may be, has a way of
carrying you towards your goals. At the same time our fears can keep
us paralyzed, preventing us from taking that first step, and beginning
that forward motion that is so critical. What we need to realize, as
is pointed out so well by Sydney Smith, is that in entertaining our
fears we are already subjecting ourselves in our imaginations to the
worst possible outcome. "We must not stand back shivering and thinking
of the cold", paralyzing fears can become so vivid that you can feel
physically the thing you fear. So you really have anything to lose at
this point? It is at this point that you must realize, that the fear
is really much worse than the thing being feared. Stumbling forward is
always better than being frozen in fear. So the next time you start to
feel stuck, take a step in whatever direction feels like forward.

Move

Daily Motivation

"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough
enough to follow through."

--Rosalynn Carter

"I've always had adversity, and I've always had detractors. They said
I talked too much, that I shouldn't be a Muslim, should join the Army,
couldn't beat Sonny Liston. But I've never let anyone talk me into not
believing in myself."

--Muhammad Ali

What you believe about yourself can help propel you to greatness, or
keep you trapped where you are. Treat your beliefs about yourself like
a precious plant. Nurture them with positive self talk, and prune the
dead or negative beliefs regularly. Do not cede this task to others.
Whether others mean well or mean ill, you must always tend to your own
garden of beliefs.

Believe In Yourself

Daily Motivation

"I teach something called The Law of Probabilities, which says the
more things you try, the more likely one of them will work. The more
books you read, the more likely one of them will have an answer to a
question that could solve the major problems of your life.. make you
wealthier, solve a health problem, whatever it might be."

--Jack Canfield

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things
that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the
bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in
your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

--Mark Twain

We can be conditioned from the time we are children to see every
choice and every question as having a right and wrong answer. For most
things however, and especially for the most important things, this is
not true. Combine this with most people's tendency to put more effort
into avoiding the negative than seek the positive, and you have a
recipe for stifled creativity and opportunity. Life does not have a
right answer, only a an answer of what is right for you right now.
This is just a habit though, and one that can be broken. Start making
a new habit of experimenting, or trying new things. For one day, make
a commitment to only eat foods you have never tried before. The more
you get in the habit of experimenting, the less you will be handcuffed
by a right-wrong mindset.

Explore

Daily Motivation

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is
inevitable"
--Coco Chanel

"Dare to be naive"
--Buckminster Fuller

How often do we let our limiting beliefs, masquerading as knowledge,
stop us from achieving greatness. There are countless stories of
people homeless and broke, who have become multi-millionaires because
they did not know it was "impossible". So for today, "dare to be
naive". Dare to forget your awareness of any limitations, and let your
imagination soar into the realm of greatness.

Be Limitless

Daily Motivation

"Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe
what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But
whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind,
conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that
doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide."

--Buddha quotes

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age
eighteen."

--Albert Einstein

"A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should
be."

--Albert Einstein

In order to thrive in a changing world, you must see the world in new
ways. The set of preconceptions and rules that you used to operate in
the old world may not be suited to the new one. Each day you must be
willing to set aside the perception of yesterday in order to acquire a
more suitable one for today. It does not mean that you will set aside
every belief or perception, however in order to keep an open mind you
must be willing to set them aside.

Embrace Change

DAILY MOTIVATION

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new
dream.”

-- C.S. Lewis

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

-- Jesus

Children are full of dreams and curiosity. They are always learning,
discovering new things, and expanding their view of the world. The
amazing thing is that acting like a child by dreaming and learning can
actually keep you young. Aging is inevitable, but getting old is a
choice. My uncle John knew this intuitively. He learned to surf when
he was in his seventies, and never passed a chance to ride a roller
coaster through his eighties. He was in fact "younger" than most
people in their thirties. Science is just now catching up to what
Jesus, CS Lewis, and my uncle John already knew. Brain scans and
health studies have shown that continued learning, goal setting, and a
sense of purpose can act as a firewall against many age related
illnesses. So the saying "you are never too old", should really be
"you don't have to be old".

Be Childlike

Daily Motivation

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Enthusiasm is that secret and harmonious spirit which hovers over
the production of genius.”

--Isaac Disraeli

Enthusiasm is the fuel which drives our dreams from the imagined into
the realized. Without it, nothing imagined can ever be realized. One
of the greatest gifts we can give one another is the encouragement of
enthusiasm. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is an
enthusiastic demeanor, which will act as fertile soil for your dreams
to take root and grow in.

Be Enthusiastic

Daily Motivation

"You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of lifefully when we allow the unexpected to happen."
--Paulo Coelho

"Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use."
--Carlos Castaneda

All life is risk. Doing nothing and doing something both carry risks.It is like being at sea in a boat. There is no choice not to be in theboat, only whether you steer it or leave it to the mercy of the waves.Choose to steer your boat, and be deliberate about your decisions, therisks you take, and how you take them.
Take Risks

Daily Motivation #4

"Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain"

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When thinking won't cure fear, action will"

--W Clement Stone

Fear, and it's manifestations in the form of guilt and worry, is one
of the greatest destroyers of joy in the present moment. Yet for all
it's destructive power, the steps to disarm it and rob it of it's
power are startling simple. Positive action is the antidote for fear.
Positive action is to mental and spiritual health, what a balanced
diet and exercise are to physical health.

Be Fearless

Daily Motivation #3

"Every decision you make—every decision—is not a decision about
what to do. It’s a decision about Who You Are. When you see this,
when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a
new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into
opportunities to do what you came here to do."

--Neale Donald Walsch

"More than anything else, I believe it's our decisions, not the
conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny."

--Anthony Robbins

Your decisions define you. They show how you really view yourself on
a subconscious level. The first step towards making better decisions
is understanding this fundamental fact. Shortcuts or questionable
decisions are a lot less appealing when you view them in this light.
Think about each decision you make as a piece of your wardrobe, as a
way to express who you are to the world. When you start dressing
yourself in excellent decisions, you will see yourself as a more
excellent person, and so will the world.

Be Excellent

Daily Motivation #2

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts,
liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes."

— Andrew Carnegie

How often are we afraid to set a goal high out of fear of failure,
when in reality it is the high goal which will command our attention
and inspire us to achieve it. Big audacious goals motivate, inspire
and bring joy. In this way we are more likely to achieve our
outrageous goals, than the smaller more mundane ones which are easy to
forget. So on this day, pick a big goal and impress it on your
subconscious.

Believe it.

Daily Motivation #1

February 16, 2009
"I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person."
-Napoleon Hill