Tag Archives: motivation

George Addair on Fear

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear – George Addair

If you are longing for something, whether it’s a different career, a new relationship, improved fitness, more money…there is fear standing in your way, otherwise you would have achieved it.

Maybe you’re working towards it, which is great, but you need to make a push or try a different strategy. Extending yourself might trigger fear. Trying something new might trigger fear. Or you might fear admitting that your efforts aren’t working.

Where are you stuck in achieving a goal?

How might fear be holding you back?

Take a quiet moment and visualize yourself making a push or trying something new. Don’t even try to change your behavior yet – just visualize. Picture yourself in your new behavior or strategy till it seems more familiar and less scary. Then give it a try.

Thea Alexander On Outrageous Requests

Great things are only possible with outrageous requests – Thea Alexander

A VP in a big bureaucratic corporate job lands the top job at a start-up. Oh, and he chose among 3 offers in 2 months.

A financial services executive plotting spinning her wheels for 2 years finally identifies and makes her career change (to K-12 education) in a few months.

A small business owner uproots her year-old firm to move thousands of miles away and manages to grow her business and land a magazine feature in her first year away.

Outrageous, yet, true. These are all real-life examples of clients I’ve worked with who made outrageous requests of themselves and their dreams and reaped the benefits.

What outrageous request will you make?

Chris Rock on Being Rich

Having money doesn’t make you rich. Having options makes you rich – Chris Rock

I love this reminder about the importance of options, especially in today’s economy. For many people, salary from a career or business is the largest asset, and the market volatility indicates a steady paycheck is not at all guaranteed. Therefore the asset isn’t the paycheck; it’s in your ability to work, your valuable skills and expertise, your supportive network. To get rich, nurture your employability — your options.

What one thing have you done towards your overall career, not the current job you have now?

When was the last time you connected with a colleague outside of your day-to-day work or regular circle of friends?

Do you know what is trending in your line of work and your industry?

Tennessee Williams On Going For Your Dream

Make voyages. Attempt them. There’s nothing else – Tennessee Williams

In 2012, I produced my first short film and I saw it on the big screen earlier this year. Who knew?

What voyage will you begin (or continue)?

If you’re afraid it’s too big, too hard, or too risky, how can you make it more manageable?

If you don’t know your next step, who is that one person you admire for getting things done? Can you coopt him or her to help you get started?

Sir James Barrie On The Real Definition Of Work

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else – Sir James Barrie

We all can’t run away to Fiji, but we can enjoy more of what we do.

Are you spending more time on what you think you should be doing, rather than what you want?

Can you delegate more or aim for good enough instead of perfect, and turn your attention to the activities that bring you joy?

Do you keep a running list of things you enjoy and actually build these into your schedule so your time isn’t frittered away by busy work?

What is the “something else” you can bring more of into your everyday work?

Dr. Denis Waitley On Circumstance And Responsibility

There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them — Dr. Denis Waitley

Wow, I think this quote was written for Cynical Me.

Do you fixate on how stuck things are, or do you try to find solutions?

Are you complaining more than doing?

Which choice will you make today: to remain where you are; or to pour everything you’ve got into making your dreams com true?

Helen Keller on Playing Big

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar — Helen Keller

After a particularly cold winter, I am even more excited for spring, already my favorite season. I just want to get outside more, enjoy the longer, brighter days, and escape the constriction of coats, hats and gloves. Spring is a time I feel like I’m physically soaring. There is a release after creeping along all winter — even when I’m just standing still, on a nice spring day, my body feels like it’s throwing my arms wide open and I’m jumping for joy.

Sometimes when I have a business idea or even just an idea for an article, I feel that same excited soaring, mentally and creatively. I need to tell someone. I need to type quickly to get it all down. There is an urgency, but not the stressful urgency that comes with deadlines. It’s a positive urgency, that impulse to soar.

Where are you creeping when you need to soar?

Peter Block on Living

The goal is to balance a life that works with a life that counts. — Peter Block

Is your life working for you?

Do you feel joy enough times during the day?

Are you getting enough rest?

Do you spend time with people you love?

Does your life count?

Are you fulfilling your commitments?

Are you sharing your potential?

Are you working towards something that yields benefits outside of yourself?

Barry Beck on Blame

We have only one person to blame, and that’s each other. — Barry Beck, NY Ranger

I love quotes that make me laugh. Seriously, though, I love the nudge towards blaming other people. Yes, some people point fingers too often. But many people I know do the opposite and don’t blame enough. Yes, I just said that: sometimes it’s ok to point fingers and blame.

I live in a Type A, frenetic city where many people are so self-starting and so determined that they internalize every tough outcome and assume they can turn anything around given enough effort. That’s a great mindset to have when it causes you to work hard, push past failure, and persist. But sometimes it helps to not assume you can fix things and look for reasons to blame so you can avoid these situations altogether – the toxic colleague who should never be trusted, the credit-hungry boss who should never get your best ideas, the energy-draining friend whose calls you should screen out.

Sometimes it’s not your fault and you don’t have to improve yourself or change what you’re doing.

Let It Ride on Luck

You’ve got to place a bet every day, otherwise you might be walking around lucky and not know it. — Character played by Richard Dreyfuss in the movie Let It Ride

I don’t feel like I’m a lucky person. I don’t win at raffles or the casino. But if I really itemize over my lifetime the chance opportunities that have led to something great, then I realize how lucky I really am. For example, I met my now business partner when I was a teenager, when I interned for her over 20 years ago. A chance meeting begets a business? That’s lucky. Apparently, even someone like me who doesn’t “win” in the traditional gaming sense wins other things.

Do you feel lucky? If not, how can you be sure? When was the last time you took an accounting of all the times luck played a part in your success, big and small?

Knowing that chance presents itself outside of lottery tickets and contests, be on the lookout for other forms of luck. What types of bets can you place – an email to someone you want to meet, a sharing of an idea that you have been chewing on?

For more on placing bets, I recommend the book, Little Bets by Peter Sims. Written for the business set to encourage experimental innovation, the subtitle is “How Breaktrhough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries” and this applies to personal discovery as well.