Sunday, June 18, 2006

Acheiving Excellence

Those who attain to any excellence commonly spend life in some single
pursuit, for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.
-- Samuel Johnson

Greatest Mistake

The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.
-- John Maxwell

Friday, June 16, 2006

Small Change

Small change
Somewhere in your life right now there is a small, positive change you can make in the way you live each day. When you make that small change, and stick with it, the results can profoundly influence your entire world.

Perhaps it's a destructive habit that you can choose to leave behind forever. Or maybe it's a useful action that you can add to your daily routine. It could be something as simple as choosing to start each day with a smile instead of with a complaint. Or you could identify something that has always made you angry and just decide that you're not going to let it get to you anymore.

Your life is filled with opportunities for making small, positive changes. When you look for them, you'll see those opportunities in every direction.

Even one small change can have a large positive impact on your life because the benefits of that small change are repeated day after day. Keep adding more small, positive changes from time to time, and the results can be truly incredible.

Give yourself the gift today of a small positive change in your life. And continue to enjoy the rewards you receive far into the future.

-- Ralph Marston

Friday, June 09, 2006

Give it meaning

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
-Hugh Downs


A life of meaning is built out of days that have meaning. Before each day arrives, give it meaning.

Give each day meaning by deciding in advance what you will do with it. Then, when each day arrives you'll be anxious to get going and enthusiastic as you move through it, for it will have a positive purpose.

Don't waste your time looking back with regret at what you have failed to accomplish. Instead, look forward and fill each upcoming day with the challenge, the effort, the commitment, the growth and achievement that will give it real meaning.

Life is as full as you wish to make it. Each day is your opportunity to fill your life with precisely the things that mean the most to you.

By doing so, you will not only be creating fulfillment in your own life. You'll also be giving your own special gifts to the world around you.

Choose to fill each upcoming day with beauty, with love, with effort, effectiveness, discipline, commitment, focus, passion, and meaning. And truly enjoy the fact that life is what you make it.

-- Ralph Marston

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Keep balance

Sometimes the best way to get something done is to stop working on it for a while. Focused effort is essential to success, and balance is just as important.

If all your time, energy, thoughts, efforts and actions are focused in just one direction, you can soon become utterly burned out. You will get much more accomplished by balancing that intense effort with some time completely away from it.

There is a reason why night follows day in a never-ending cycle. There is a reason why one season ends and the next one begins, over and over again.

The best night's sleep comes after a day of focused effort. And the best day's effort comes after a night of deep and restful sleep.

Balance allows the energy that has been flowing out to flow back in. Balance allows the frustrations and aggravations that have been flowing in to be released and disposed.

Sadness and joy, peacefulness and excitement, effort and relaxation, discipline and playfulness all benefit from each other. Keep balance in your life, and you'll keep your life full.

-- Ralph Marston

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Enjoy what you have

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.
-Epicurus

The little opportunities

Each day is filled with opportunities to make a difference. Many of those opportunities may seem small and insignificant, yet you have no way of knowing where they can lead.

Life's big opportunities rarely come to you as such. The vast majority of the big opportunities start out very small and must be lovingly nurtured.

Be willing to take care of the little things, and your effectiveness at doing so will put you in a position to influence the big things. Figure out how to make just a little, ordinary, positive contribution and you'll be well on your way to big, extraordinary achievements.

There is never any need to beg anyone for the chance to prove yourself. Life gives you ample opportunities for doing so in every moment.

Let go of the assumption that your time is too valuable for you to be bothered with the little things. Remember that the little things can make the difference between success and failure.

Hold on to the biggest, most ambitious vision you can imagine. And be willing to get your hands dirty doing the little things that will make that it happen.

-- Ralph Marston