How many times have you done something that you wish you hadn’t? Did someone warn you, but you chose to ignore it? We don’t always know the outcome and sometimes we have to learn a hard lesson. This makes our decision on whether or not to take other people’s advice difficult, but we’re happy it was offered.

The next time you see a friend in need of some advisement, without being high-handed and imperious, offer them the recommendation. It may cause your friend to become irritated or annoyed, but at the end of the day they will appreciate the thought.

Take it easy — but take it.
~Woody Guthrie

Yesterday I went to the post office to ship a D-CoT t-shirt for one of my members. I approached the desk to make the purchase. I reached into my shorts for my wallet and my wallet was not there. I left it at home!

I told the lady behind the counter I don’t have my wallet and that I would have to drive home to get it. She said “OK” and was going to hold onto the package. Right before I left, a woman waiting in line behind me walked up and said “I’ll pay for this”. I was SHOCKED. She said, “Just remember to do this for someone else when they are in this situation. Someone helped me, and so I know how it can be.”

I told her I definitely will. I will always remember to “pay it forward”.

The shipping was $3 and change, but the random act of kindness was priceless.

Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the and the blind can see.
~Mark Twain

Have you ever wanted to spend a year in another country and see the world from a different perspective? I hear complaints from people along the lines of “Man, I really want to move out of this state,” or “I need to get out this town”. And guess what? They never do. Why not? If you believe in yourself and have the self-discipline you can do anything.

The next time something comes up that’s out of your comfort zone, embrace it.

Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.
~ Brian Tracey

Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you , say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.
~ D.H. Lawrence

8%! That’s a very low percentage. Go back to a recent situation that you worried about that never happened. How much energy did you drain? How much anxiety did you cause yourself? Unhealthy? Indeed it is. The next time you feel the need to worry, just step back and wait a minute. Ask yourself, “Is this really something I need to focus my efforts and energy on?”.

Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen.  Keep in the sunlight.  ~Benjamin Franklin

Did you ever give a friend a ride who needed one without question? Did you ever lend a helping hand to anyone without expecting something in return? If so, I guarantee you that person will not forget your good will. Here is an example.

I just moved to the Orlando area and met a few of my neighbors within the first 2 weeks I was here. A week later I received a call from one of them who asked me to do a “solid” and give him a ride to get his car from the shop. His wife had to stay home with their two kids so he had no way of getting there. I was eating lunch with my fiance so I told him I wouldn’t mind just as long as I could finish my lunch. I only spoke with this man twice in my life and here I am doing him a “solid”. I didn’t mind it and expected nothing in return except for maybe a handshake and a thank you.

Even a small favor can really mean a lot and in this case, it turned out I did not do a favor for just one person but I did one for their family of four.

Your life’s tasks determine your place in it. You can make a difference.

The bottom line is time doesn’t change anything. The work we do while the time passes is what makes the change. If you know you’ll feel better about something a few months down the road, what can you do today to make that feeling become immediate?

They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
~ Andy Warhol

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
~ Henry Ford

Teamwork is an important part of life. My team consists of my family, my girlfriend, my friends and my colleagues. Each person on my team has an important role and without them, I would not be where I am today. When life seems to be bothering me or if things just are not going so well, I can count on them to be there to lift up my spirits. If I’m happy, they are there to celebrate with me.

I love to set goals. How I meet those goals can sometimes only be met with teamwork.

If I could solve all the problems myself, I would.
~Thomas Edison, when asked why he had a team of twenty-one assistants

I would like to share a story from the book “Change is Good…  You Go First” about the power of teamwork.

A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn’t injured, his car was stuck deep into the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.

“Warwick can get you out of that ditch,” said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the decrepit old mule and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating, “Yep, old Warwick can do the job.” the man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the mule made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins, he shouted,

“Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull Warwick!”

And the mule pulled that car right out of the ditch. The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, “Why did you call all of those names before you called Warwick?”

The farmer grinned and said, “Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he’s part of a team, he doesn’t mind pulling.”

Think of the people on your team who help you out the most; the ones that when you work together, you accomplish more than you would have if both of you had worked alone.

Who’s on your team?

• You can’t spend a day without her/him
• You need to talk at least 5 times a day
• She/he pops into your thoughts multiple times throughout the day… and you smile
• You miss each other even though it’s only been an hour
• Staying in on a Friday night to watch a movie together makes you the happiest person on Earth
• You are out with your friends and you want to text your significant other that you love her/him
• You send a random e-mail to her/him knowing she/he will read it in the morning and it will make her/him smile
• Send flowers for no significant reason… you do it just because
• You miss each other even though it’s only been a few minutes and she/he is in the other room
• When your phone goes off and you see it’s her/him, you smile and can’t wait to pick it up or answer that text message

09/26/09 – Happy Birthday my love

Setting your mind to something starts with self-discipline and self-motivation. Without that, you have no fuel to energize yourself to meet the goals you set. Without any action there will be no reaction. I know, Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Let’s think about this for a moment; if you don’t take that first step in reaching your goal, nothing will happen. When you practice self-discipline you feel like you are in control of your life. You feel content and motivated because you’re moving toward your goals.

You may ask yourself “Why are some people more successful than others?”.  The answer is success is tons of discipline. Self-discipline is the key to personal greatness.

With self-discipline, any person can rise above and beyond and achieve anything they want. But without it, regardless of a person’s background, education and opportunity, they will seldom rise above mediocrity.

No stream or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined.
~ Harry E. Fosdick