Living The Life You Want

Change: The Essence of Life

"Change is the essence of life.  Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become."

-Tony Robbins

Living The Life You Want

The Most Powerful Weapon

"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."

-Ferdinand Foch, commander of the allied armies during World War I

Living The Life You Want

To Thine Own Self Be True

Talk about a meaningful life: it boggles the mind to think of how many things written by Shakespeare are part of our language.  Whether the platitudes are Will's own views or simply expressions of his characters (I embrace that the best have a voice all their own, separate and apart from the writer structuring thoughts on the page), many have stood the test of time.

Among the more notorious is Polonius' counsel to Laertes in Hamlet:

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

People pay plenty of money for self-help books and seminars and don't get advice that good.

Living The Life You Want

Creating Quality: An Act of Will

Ira Glass, who launched the popular This American Life on NPR in 1995, talked about making the show in a recent interview.  He was talking about the challenge of producing quality for the show, but he might have been talking about life in general:

"It's hard to make  something that's interesting. It's really, really hard. ... Basically, anything  that anyone makes. ... It's like a law of nature, a law of aerodynamics, that  anything that's written or anything that's created wants to be mediocre. The  natural state of all writing is mediocrity. It's all tending toward mediocrity  in the same way that all atoms are sort of dissipating out toward the expanse  of the universe. ... So what it takes to make anything more than mediocre is such an act of will ... ."

Living The Life You Want

Wait and See

Dr. Steven Marmer, a psychiatrist in the Los Angeles area, recently shared an ancient story that nicely illustrates the importance of keeping perspective on everything that happens:

"A Chinese peasant has just one possession, his horse, and it runs away.  His neighbor says 'Oh, this is the most terrible thing that could ever happen!'  The peasant simply says, 'Wait and see.'

"The next day the horse comes back with a whole flock of wild horses.  The neighbor says, 'This is the greatest thing ever!'  The peasant simply says, 'Wait and see.'

"The next day the son of the peasant gets on a horse and is thrown and breaks a leg.  The neighbor says, 'This is the worst thing ever!'  The peasant says, 'Wait and see.'

"The next day the army comes through recruiting young men, and because the peasant's son has a broken leg he's allowed to remain at home.  The neighbor says, 'This is the greatest!'  And the peasant simply reminds him again: 'Wait and see, wait and see.'"

Friends Always Get The Benefit of the Doubt

During a recent "Happiness Hour", talk show host Dennis Prager explored the importance of not regularly being offended or hurt by others.  He recounted how he and his lifelong friend are able to easily accept each other's needs in the moment.  And then he summed up an important concept:

"Always give your friends the benefit of the doubt.  Always.  And once you can't any longer give your friend the benefit of the doubt, the person is no longer your friend.

"If you are going to walk around being hurt by a friend, either you are too easily hurt, or the person shouldn't be your friend."

Pretty simple concept.  Ane one that might be a guide to more meaningful relationships.

Living The Life You Want

Planning and Organizing Your Day

I recently participated in a webinar sponsored by Day-Timer to remind myself of better techniques for organizing and planning my days.  Time management consultant Trapper Woods pointed out that very few people take even a few minutes of uninterrupted time each day to prioritize their activities.

"If you do the initial planning, then sorting out priorities during the day won't have to be done under pressure."

-Trapper Woods

The 3-Step Planning Process

Make a daily action list.

Select activities you need to pursue from:

• Yesterday's action list
• Your monthly calendar
• Your catch-all list
• Your goals
• Your voice mail
• Your email

Prioritize your action list.

Arrange the order for accomplishing the activities.

• Always do the highest priorities first, when possible
• Select the best time of day to do the work required
• Choose the most appropriate place to do the work
• Make realistic time estimates
• Group like projects
• Allow time for interruptions
• Decide when you will do the activity

The key is to take 15 to 20 uninterrupted minutes each day to quietly contemplate and plan.  I am not as consistent with this as I want to be, especially on weekends.  But when I do, I go through the day more productive, more mindful and more relaxed.  And I lay my head on my pillow more fulfilled.

Living The Life You Want

 

Creativity and Art

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep."

-Scott Adams, author and creator of the Dilbert cartoon

I came across a few more Adams quotes worth sharing:

"One 'oh shit' can erase a thousand 'attaboys.'"

"Normal people ... believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet."

"A good metaphor can make any bad idea sound good."

http://petroskey.typepad.com

 

Collier's Timeless Wisdom

I came across some timeless wisdom from publisher and businessman Robert Collier:

"A hundred years ago, people probably felt that everything had been discovered that could be discovered, that everything was known that was likely ever to be known.  One man quit the Patent Office in Washington back in the 1880's because as he put it -- 'everything had been invented that could be invented.'  Perhaps you feel that way about things now.  Yet look at the tremendous strides mankind has taken in the past 50 years.  And they are as nothing to what the future holds for us, once man has learned to harness the truly unlimited powers of the subconscious mind.

"There are millions of dollars worth of treasure under every square mile of the earth's surface.  There are millions of ways in which this old world of ours can be made a better place to live.  Set your mind to work locating some of this treasure, finding some of those ways.  Don't wait for someone else to blaze the trail."

Collier's observation was included in his book The Secret of the Ages, originally published as The Book of Life -- in 1925.  Highly recommended reading.

http://petroskey.typepad.com

We Bring Our Own Perspective

Two men look out through the same bars:
One sees the mud, and one the stars.

Rev. Frederick Langbridge
English poet and religious writer
(1849 - 1923)