Do Something Today

"If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven't done anything today." -Lou Holtz

We should always be striving to do our best. If we can, we should at least try to do better than we did previously. We should always be better than we were. That will only bring more value to our lives and the lives of those we touch.

I see a lot of people just moving through life. Some want to do better with what they have but they don't seem to have the drive. They can't find the will within themselves to do what they want to accomplish. They need something else. Usually that something else is the approval of others. They want to hear someone else say what they are doing is the right thing to do. What they are doing is an amazing thing.

What I have come to realize is if you want to accomplish something, you can only rely on yourself for the support. People are not always going to come behind you and tell you are doing a good job. In fact, a number of them are going to look at what you are doing and ask you why you are doing such a thing.

Take a moment to appreciate what you are doing. Tell yourself you are doing a good job and smile because you are doing something you love, something you want to do. Then keep doing what it is that you are doing and keep working hard to get it complete.

I like the checks and balances Holtz' quote suggests. You should look at what you what you are doing today and compare it to what you did yesterday. Strive to make something bigger and better today than what you did yesterday. If you can do that, then you will always accomplish your goals.

Let's Make a Point

"Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy" ~Sir Isaac Newton

How many times do we speak before we think, then in turn lose a good friend or at least lose their respect. This is something that happens on a regular basis. All you have to do is look around and watch the relationships between the people around you.

That Old Wife's Saying, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." is a good lesson to live by. I find that if I hold my tongue instead of  speaking what is on my mind at the time I was thinking it, I am better off. If I give my mind some time to think about what I want to say and how to say it with more than just my emotions running the thought, then what I have to say will be more constructive than destructive.

Usually when you want to say something negative, you are more interested in putting the other person down or causing them the same kind of pain you are feeling when you want to make the comment. If you can keep your mouth shut, you will be able to allow the emotions of the moment subside. You will be able to think about the comment you want to make. I think more often than not, you will find the comment unnecessary.

If you feel the point still needs to be made. If someone has wronged you in some sort of way, giving the moment the time it needs to calm itself may be what you need to keep it from turning into something that will tear the relationship apart.

Think about what you want to say. Try to find a way to make the solution benefit both yourself and the person you are angry with. If you can make them an active participant instead of an enemy, then you will be more likely to keep them as a friendly relationship.

Explain it to a Six Year Old

"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself" ~Albert Einstein

This makes perfect sense. Have you ever sat down with a child and tried to explain something to them. You think you can explain it to anyone, but then you find that you can't find the words to make it understandable to someone who doesn't have an extended vocabulary.

I think this is how most self help gurus write their books. You should try this with something you know a lot about. Sit down and start writing. Split what you are trying to teach into sections. You want something that is separated into bite sized chunks. You want your six year old to be able to go away everyday with a small part of what you are teaching.

Now start writing each section as if you are trying to explain it to a child. Use small words. Don't try to expand on anything in exhaustive detail. Try to remember that the people you are trying to teach probably don't have any experience in what you know about. That means the parts you take for granted, they know nothing about.

When you are done, try your teaching on someone else. They don't have to be six years old. They just have to know very little about what you are teaching. When you do this, you will find out some of the things you left out. You will notice their face when you say something that does not make sense to them. Those are you ques to make changes to your teaching.

The interesting thing about putting together this teaching, you will learn so much more about what you are trying to teach. You will be surprised at what you have learned yourself.

Ignore Your Limits

"Know your limits, then ignore them" ~John Mason

Sometimes it is good to not know how far you can go. Then you will surprise yourself by how far you can go. Lets say that you are invited to run a marathon. You say yes knowing you have never run that kind of distance before. You get on the starting line and start running when you hear the signal. You will be pleasantly surprised how far you can run without stopping. Then you will be surprised that you are able to walk the rest without stopping. Then you will be able to tell everyone that you have completed a marathon. It may take you 6-8 hours to complete the marathon but that is OK. You did it, and that is all that matters.

Now that you have an idea of what it is like to run a marathon, you know what your limits are. You will know what it takes to get yourself to the next level. Now all you have to do is train yourself to get past those limits. You start running everyday. You start to rat better, making sure you eat things that will give your muscles the nutrients they need to take the punishment you intend to put on them.

Instead of waiting for someone to invite you to run that next marathon, you start searching for the next one you want to run. You make plans to be at that marathon, and you set goals to get you to the point to run that race. When the day comes you start running, and are amazed when you pass the 5 mile mark without feeling too much strain. You keep running till you can't run anymore. Then you walk the rest of the way. When you finish, you find you have shaved off two hours off you last marathon. Now you know what your new limits are and you can plan for the next one.

How Your Destiny is Shaped

"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped." ~ Tony Robbins

Do you know how to make a decision?  Are you someone who continuously has to think about something over and over and over pounding his own brain trying to figure out what the outcome of each decision might be? Well I don't think that is any way to live.

I have found that if I sit there and think about a problem for hours before I make a decision, then not only do I become a tortured soul, but so does everyone else around me.

Have you ever sat at home with your loved one and tried to decide what you want to do for dinner. You all know you want to go out for dinner, but you can't decide where. You bounce ideas back and forth but neither of you want to make the final decision, sometime because you want the other person to be happy with the choice; sometime because you don't really have a preference. Whatever the case, you spend more time trying to figure out where you want to go than the actual time it takes to get there and eat.

I think the best thing to do it to lay out the best things about each decision down on the table, then make a gut choice. Just choose the one that feels right. If they both feel good, then it doesn't really matter which one you choose, just pick one randomly.

After you have made that choice, stay with it. Once you make the choice, it is too late to go back and change your mind. See that choice through. Whatever the case (unless you foresee something horrible happening) do not change you mind. Just move forward and enjoy the choice you made.

Look For Stars, Not Mud

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

This could be said in so many ways. You hand someone a glass with a bit of water in it. One person sees the glass as half empty. The other sees the glass as half full. We have all heard that one. I don't know who said it, but it is a good way to see the nature of a person.

Take a look at yourself first. How do you look at things? Do you think about what is happening to you? Are you seeing all the things people are doing to hurt you? Are you thing about all the negatives in you life? From my experience, thinking about the bad things in life just brings on more things that are bad.

What you want to do is try to turn your thinking around; take a complete 180 turn and start thinking about what is good in your life, or better yet, make the negative things in your life a positive. If your car had a flat tire, take a moment to breathe and realize that the universe is just trying to slow you down. If you move too fast, you might not be able to stop when you see the brick wall.

Look for the positive things in life so you can attract more positive things. Change your way of thinking. Happiness is a choice. You can choose to feel happy. It is easy. Just think to yourself, I refuse to feel negative and I think I am going to feel happy. Want to concrete that feeling. Then start laughing. Start laughing for no reason. Just laugh. You will find it makes you feel better. You will also find that people around you will wonder why you are laughing.

Want another way to feel good. Take a deep breath. Hold it.... Then let it out slowly. It feels good.