Have a Perfect Day!

A story told by Benjamin Zander in his book “The Art of Possibility”.

“Waiter,” said Ben, in an exuberant mood, “I have a perfect life, but I don’t have a knife.”

I was having breakfast with a friend on one of my periodic visits to London to conduct the Philharmonic Orchestra. I heard giggles behind me and, turning around, caught the eye of a girl of about twelve with a typically English pudding-bowl haircut. We exchanged smiles, and then I went back to my conversation and to my breakfast.

The next day, I passed the young lady again in the breakfast room and stopped to speak with her.

“Good morning. How are you today?”

She drew herself up ever so slightly and, with a tilt to her chin and a sparkle in her eye, answered me.

“Perfect,” she said.

Later, when she was leaving with her parents, I called out mischievously, “Have a perfect day!”

“I will!” she responded, as though it were the easiest, most obvious choice in the world.

And with that she said out into a universe of possibility.

What is to say that life couldn’t be perfect for each of us every day? I honestly believe it could be if we really set our target by designing our life to be the life that inspires us and those around us.

You Can Be Whatever You Want To Be!

There is inside you

all of the potential
to be whatever you want to be,
all of the energy
to do whatever you want to do.

Imagine yourself as you would like to be,
doing what you want to do,
and each day, take one step
towards your dream.

And though at times it may seem too
difficult to continue,
hold on to your dream.

One morning you will awake to find
that you are the person you dreamed of,
doing what you wanted to do,
simply because you had the courage
to believe in your potential
and to hold on to your dream.

~ Donna Levine ~

Gratitude

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity:

It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.

William Faulkner

Gratitude (also known as thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation). It’s a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgement of a benefit that one has received or will receive. Wikipedia.com

Do you show gratitude? Do you show enough gratitude? Studies show that people who are more grateful are happier, less depressed and enjoy life more. They’re more adapt at dealing with difficulties that we all experience in life and they are more likely to seek support from others.  Grateful people also sleep better because they think more positive thoughts before they go to sleep. From now on, catch yourself throughout the day and take a moment to just be grateful. Grateful for the air-conditioned car, grateful that you have a car, grateful for your job, grateful for your colleagues, grateful for your family.

Every time you think thoughts of gratitude, you are releasing positive energy. This is good for your body and soul.

Why Set Goals?

Goals Help You Establish Priorities and Decide What is Truly Important

It is important for us to choose what we are going to spend our valuable time on and be clear on what we are NOT going to spend our time on. It is important to understand that we can’t do everything and being clear on our goals allows us to prioritise and plan how we are going to spend our time.

When we identify and write down our top goals, that allows us to be clear on what is most important to us. It allows us to focus on what really matters most.

Achieving Goals is a Great Way to Spend Your Time

We are all busy. It is almost a competition. Some of us are busy being busy and some of us are busy working towards achieving our goals. It may take weeks, it may take months and it may take years. When you spend your time working towards your goals, you are spending your time on something worthwhile – that is YOU.

A great question to ask yourself regularly is, “Are my actions moving me closer to my goals?”

Goals Give You Direction and a Target

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of the classic Psycho-Cybernetics, said that human beings have a built-in goal seeking “success mechanism” that is part of the subconscious mind. This success mechanism is constantly searching for ways to help us reach our targets and find answers to our problems.

According to Dr Maltz, we work and feel better when our success mechanism is fully engaged and going after clear targets.

More Happiness

You have two chances at happiness all the time. One is how happy you are in the moment. The other is how happy are you with your life. The second is about fulfilment. By spending time achieving your dreams, investing in your life, designing your life, the more you will experience happiness in the moment. The more you drive your purpose and give your best, the more fulfilment you will have.

Goals Propel You Forward

A pattern that comes with working towards goals is that when you set your mind to something, you get excited and work like mad, and then motivation starts to wane. Having goals that you can focus on and visualise helps you better connect yourself with your inner desires and gives you the motivational energy you need to work through periods where your focus inevitably starts to wane.

Goals Help Us Believe In Ourselves

Setting goals for yourself is a way to fuel your ambition. Goal setting isn’t just about creating a plan for your life and holding yourself accountable; it’s also about giving us the inspiration necessary to aim for things we never thought possible.

You may wish to accomplish something that many people dream about, but few people ever actually accomplish. Unless you make it a goal for yourself and work towards achieving it, why would you ever believe that you could accomplish it? Unless you see yourself slowly making progress, your dreams and aspirations are nothing more than vague notions floating around in your imagination.

Goals Tell You What You Truly Want

By asking ourselves what we really want and constantly re-assessing our goals, we gain the benefit of introspection and self-reflection. We can figure out what it is we really want in life -  and then we can go out and do it.

Goals Help Us Live Life To The Fullest

When you take the time to set goals, you ensure that your life is geared towards getting the most out of every moment. There’s so much to do and experience in life, but many of the things we want to achieve and experience won’t be handed to us - we need to work for it.

Setting Goals is a Fundamental Component to Long-Term Success

The basic reason for this is that you can’t get where you are trying to go until you clearly define where that is. Research studies show a direct link between goals and enhanced performance. Goals help you focus and allocate your time and resources efficiently, and they can keep you motivated when you feel like giving up. Setting and achieving goals translates to feelings of success which in turn spurs greater productivity and confidence.

Live Your Best Life

Goals ensure you get the best out of life. Firstly, by becoming a better person, your new-found knowledge and abilities let you experience more out of the same life events compared to the previous you. Think about how your worldview is different now vs. the you 10 years ago. Do you see life with much more clarity, depth and perspective today than you were in the past? What may be a simple daily occurrence in the past holds a lot more meaning to the more highly-evolved you today.

Secondly, time passes in our life, whether we want to or not. Goals with specific measures and deadlines ensure we are maximising our output and experiences during our time here. Goals ensure you are maximising your life for all that it can offer you.

The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field  and never score.

Bill Copeland

There is Always an Answer

In this learning experience called life, there are things that happen that are difficult.  It helps a lot to remember that there is always an answer greater than the problem we are experiencing.

Just as when we are learning the rules in mathematics, the problem may seem daunting or overwhelming - but only until we apply the right thinking, and then the answer reveals itself.

In life, we sometimes feel that we have made a mistake and we don’t like the results.  Nevertheless, the power of the Universe is always available in our life.  Through proper thinking about the "problem", we have access to the power to receive a useful answer.

Wherever you are right now, take a deep breath and know your greatest answer is seeking to emerge through you.

Today's Dreams are Tomorrow's Successes

Don't be afraid of high hopes

or plans that seem to be out of reach.

Life is meant to be experienced,

and every situation allows for

learning and growth.

Motivation is a positive starting point,

and action places you on a forward path.

A dream is a blueprint

of a goal not yet achieved;

the only difference between the two

is the effort involved in attaining

what you hope to accomplish.

Let your mind and heart urge you on;

allow the power of your will

to lead you to your destination.

Don't count the steps ahead;

just add up the total

of steps already covered,

and multiply it by

faith, confidence, and endurance.

Always remember that

for those who persist,

today's dreams are transformed

into tomorrow's successes.

 ~ Kelly D. Caron ~

Your Dimension of Greatness

No one can know the potential, 

Of a life that is committed to win;
With courage - the challenge it faces,
To achieve great success in the end!

So, explore the Dimension of Greatness,
And believe that the world CAN be won;
By a mind that is fully committed,
KNOWING the task can be done!

Your world has no place for the sceptic,
No room for the DOUBTER to stand;
To weaken your firm resolution
That you CAN EXCEL in this land!

We must have VISION TO SEE our potential,
And FAITH TO BELIEVE that we can;
Then COURAGE TO ACT with conviction,
To become what GOD MEANT us to be!

So, possess the strength and the courage,
To conquer WHATEVER you choose;
It's the person WHO NEVER GETS STARTED,
That is destined FOREVER to lose!

~ Author Unknown ~

Words To Live By

 It's not how much you accomplish in life that really counts,

but how much you give to others.

It's not how high you build your dreams that makes a difference,

but how high your faith can climb.

It's not how many goals you reach, but how many lives you touch.

It's not who you know that matters, but who you are inside.

Believe in the impossible,

hold tight to the incredible,

and live each day to its fullest potential.

You can make a difference in your world.

- Rebecca Barlow Jordan -

Character / Reputation

Character is like the tree; 

Reputation its shadow.

- Abraham Lincoln

Many of us have chased after reputation, or while concerned about reputation, have forgotten to grow a really strong, beautiful, powerful, deeply-rooted tree.

Send your roots down deep. Let the green growing edges of you come forth; everything else will take care of itself.

Investing In What We Value

We must learn to invest our time and energy into what we truly value, not just what we have been taught to value.

There are two indicators which can determine what you value the most - where you are investing your money and time.

The question then is ... do these two indicators reflect your highest values?

Invest in what matters most today and you’ll feel amazing, on-purpose and satisfied.

What Are You Afraid to Do?

"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do." - Henry Ford

Have you realised that most of the barriers that are challenging us have been put there by us in the first place? Logic would tell us then that if we put them there, then we can take them down.

One of the great discoveries you and I can make is to find that we really can do something we were afraid we couldn't do.

The barrier is something we have put up inside ourselves and we really can take it down.

What barrier will you take down this week? Have a go, what have you got to lose? If you are successful, much is to be gained. If you aren’t successful, you haven’t gone backwards at all.