A Thought For Your Day

Quote

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Yesterday has gone forever leaving behind only memories. Tomorrow is the future and is yet unknown to us. It’s impossible to change the past but tomorrow all the tomorrows to come are a clean slate just waiting to be written on. What will you write on the slate of your future? Will it be the same as the past? Will it be a beautiful success story?

What you do with your future is up to you. Who and what you were yesterday has nothing to do with your present or future. At any given moment in time you can make the decision to create the life of which you’ve always dreamed.

Your future is entirely in your hands; it always has been and always will be. What you do with it depends on what lies within you. You don’t have to feel ready in this moment, remember… you can change your entire world… your entire future by just changing your mind.

Whatever you believe is what is. Some see possibility in everything while others see nothing. Make the decision now to become possibility oriented, decide to use the hope that is in you to create for yourself the joyful life you’ve always wanted.

A Thought For Your Day

Quote

“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with their song still in them.”

-Henry David Thoreau

We each have a unique gift to share with the world. Your gift is one that only you can give. Whatever your talent, it’s uniquely yours. While many others may be able to sing, dance, paint, sculpt, cook, sew, teach or coach or whatever it is you do or want to do…no one else can bring your unique style to what they do. If you don’t share your talent with the world it will go unshared.

Many hold back, feeling that their talent isn’t good enough to share. That thinking is a throwback to faulty programming. It should be clear to us that as adults we can’t continue to function effectively with the same programming that got us through childhood.

It’s reported that Elvis Presley was told by fifty some record companies and promoters that he lacked talent and that his style wasn’t current with the times. He was assured that no one would buy his records. Fortunately Elvis kept going. He knew he had a unique sound and style and he was determined to share it with the world. The rest is history.

As a coach I meet and talk with many people with varying degrees of talent. Some know they have talent and some don’t. The least talented among them can become a great success if only they are able to admit to themselves that they have something to offer the world. Unfortunately many never come to that realization and it’s truly sad. Don’t you be one of them… share your talent…whatever it is.

A Thought For Your Day

Quote

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.”

- William James

William James (1842 – 1910) was an American psychologist, philosopher, medical doctor and author. It’s important that you know a bit about the man to which Today’s Thought is attributed. Why is it so important? Look at the years during which he lived. It’s significant to point out that this is the 21st century and he was born in the 19th century.

The significance of the dates is to make the point that there are laws of the Universe that remain constant. Time goes by but truths prevail. “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes” has been echoed throughout centuries. All religions subscribe to some form of that same theme.

In this, the 21st century, the human mind is still one of the least explored frontiers. Don’t get me wrong; there is much clinical study going on. The shortcoming is in our failing to know our own minds…to explore our inner selves. Until we do that we can never be true masters of our destiny.

If you look at these  THOUGHTS  you’ll find that the prevailing theme is “change your mind to change your world” and that is the truth. How you think about things determines your outcomes in everything you do.

Our common problem is our original programming. This is not an excuse to play the “blame game” or any other game. The fact is that it’s not possible to bring to adulthood the same programming that served you as a child.

ARE YOU UNREASONABLE ENOUGH TO BE SUCCESSFUL?

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.”

 - Robert Fritz

 While compromise can be a good thing in some instances, to compromise one’s ideals, goals, dreams and future is never good. As for being reasonable, nothing of value is ever accomplished by a reasonable person. Some of you will no doubt be inclined to argue that point, however, argue though you may, it is a fact.

If it were possible to accomplish all our goals and fulfill all our dreams without being uncompromising and unreasonable (in those things) almost everyone would be successful. I say “almost” because believe it or not…not everyone has a dream and/or a goal for their future.

I have a client who is in advertising. She had the publishers hold the back page of a magazine for a company that was not one of her clients. It’s a large, multi-national company and just finding the person who would make such an advertising decision was a huge undertaking. Finally reaching the gentleman who would make that decision, she made her presentation. The guy said, “NO!”

A reasonable person would have accepted that answer, but not this young lady. With but two months to go until the publication went to press, she continued calling this decision maker twice a week, each time with a new and different approach. Three times he asked angrily, “What part of no don’t you understand?” Did that keep her from calling him a few days later with yet another approach? Of course not – and her colleagues in the office couldn’t believe what she was doing. They just knew that this decision maker would call the boss and get her in really big trouble.

Finally, one day when she called, he was really mean. He hollered into the phone at her, told her he was too busy to be bothered with her. He stated emphatically that he had no intention of buying the back page or of ever taking another of her calls.

Even someone as unreasonable as this young lady would surely, finally be willing to hear NO! Surely after being told that her calls would no longer be accepted, she would give up, but did she? Of course not, she called again and discovered that he had not been bluffing. They would not put her call through to him and make it clear to her that he didn’t want to speak with her…EVER!

That surely did it! That was the proverbial final straw and she had no choice but to give up, right? Wrong, she sat down and wrote a poem which she proposed would be the essence of the ad she intended to sell him. She sent the poem to him via FedEx overnight and just after 1:00PM on the day he would have received it, she received a call, not from him, but from his ad agency. They, at his request, placed an ad for the entire back page.

Had she accepted the first 10 or 15 NOs she would not have sold that back page. By being unreasonable she sold the ad and gained a client for life. Not only did she gain this disgruntled fellow as a client but his ad agency, having become aware of her, began to place ads with her for many of their other clients.

While not everyone would have the confidence and expectation this young lady had, when  it comes to your life dreams and goals, you must- – -

 BECOME COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE!