Most Borrowed, Some Original
The Past is Just the Past
"Most human beings feel justified in thinking that what was in the past shouldn't have been, it shouldn't have happened. What is in the past is neither good nor bad, it just was. So, when we argue with what was and say 'It shouldn't have happened' we suffer. It's that simple." -Michael Singer
The Power of Now
"One day you may catch yourself smiling at the voice in your head, as you would smile at the antics of a child. This means that you no longer take the content of your mind all that seriously, as your sense of self no longer depends on it." -Elkart Tolle
Since I've had some time to stop and listen to the "voice in my head," I've been not just smiling, but literally laughing out loud at what it has to say sometimes.
The Tragedy of Silence
"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the APPALLING SILENCE of the good people." -Dr. Martin Luther King
Hate is Never the Answer
Many people on both sides of the political aisle are angry, frustrated and caught up in the vicious cycle of hate. We will get nowhere if everyone is caught up in hate.
"Anger is initiative, not transformative... how do we come to a larger place of understanding?" -Tara Brach
Eat the Frog
Put the first things first. Get the hard, most important things done early and life is much more fun and less stressful.
Personal Accountability - The most powerful form of Accountability!
If we are not accountable to ourselves for what we have committed, how do we expect others to be accountable? Alex Sheen, the founder of "because I said I would" opened my eyes to personal accountability and I've never been the same since.
Mentality
"Your mentality becomes your reality - your thinking determines your behaviors and your behaviors determine your results. In this way, your mindset has a lot to do with you living the game-changer life and reaching your potential." -Dave Anderson
Making Your Dreams a Reality
"Most people fail not because of a lack of desire but because of a lack of commitment. So, without commitment, nothing happens." -Denzel Washington
Gratitude
It is literally impossible to complain and have gratitude at the same time. When you think things are tough or you aren't getting a fair shot, sit down and write a list of 5-10 things you are grateful for and watch your mindset shift to positive. From there, you can move forward, not backward.
An Openness To Learning
"All that we learn brings us right to the edge of our knowledge, pushes it out a little bit more, and allows us to see that there is so much more that we don't know and that is available for us to learn. We must be open to the fact that we don't know what we don't know."
Inspiring Others
"The culmination of one love, one dream, one self, is the anonymous seed of the next." -Mark Nepo
Stay Humble
"As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance." -John Wheeler
Ego is the Enemy
"Each thing we learn and each advancement we make also bumps us up against situations we've never encountered before. It takes a special kind of humility to grasp that we know less, even as we learn and grow." -Ryan Holiday
Shake It Off
"Each day is like a training exercise, it's like sparring with my partner, in business or in life. If you catch an elbow or an unfair blow, shake it off. Our partner is learning, too." -Ryan Holiday
Beware of Pride
"Pride leads to arrogance and then away from humility and connection with others."
-One of the Stoics
Active Listening
If you want to really communicate with someone, listen and look for what they truly need to express. The surface conversation is just that: a conversation that leads, if listened to carefully, to what the person you are communicating with needs to say; to what needs attention. Listen and look for that and respond directly to it and the communication starts to have real meaning.
Enjoy the Journey
"The only thing to get from life is the growth that comes from experiencing it." -Michael Singer
Appreciate the Little Things
"Missing life one moment at a time. We are rushing through life - one thing to another - trying to get to the end... which is death." -Tara Brach
Speak Up
"Many of our biggest resentments are the requests we never made."
You Get What You Put In
"We cannot expect more from a relationship than the time and effort we have invested in it." -Werner Erhard
Shared Vision
"An organization succeeds, not because it is big or because it is long-established, but because there are people in it who live it, sleep it, dream if and build future plans for it."
Busy = Lazy
"Busy is a form of laziness, lazy thinking, and indiscriminate actions. Being busy is most often used as a guide for avoiding the few critically important, but uncomfortable, actions." -Tim Ferriss
Succeed as a Team
"If you want to succeed, build a team of people who know how to do what you want to do better than you do." -Tommy Dorfman
Don't Dwell on the Past
"As long as we see what has come to pass as being unfair, we'll be a prisoner to 'what might have been'." -Mark Nepo
You Don't Know it All
"Humility engenders learning because it beats back the arrogance that puts blinders on. It leaves you open for truths to reveal themselves. You don't stand in your own way... Do you know how you can tell when someone is truly humble? I believe there's one simple test: because they consistently observe and listen, the humble improve. They don't assume, 'I know the way'." -Wynton Marsalis, 9 Time Grammy winner and Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz musician
Be a Life-Long Student
"No matter what you've done up to this point, you better still be a student. If you are not still learning, you are already dying." -Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy