I love poetry, and recently I re-read the simple and yet profound poem by William Wordsworth ~ With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things. Do you see into the life of things? Or do you allow your mind to stop any exploration into things you know little to nothing about? The reason I ask is because I am curious to know if you are stuck in the pluff mud of life or if you are open to simply suspending your disbelief about the way […]
If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way.
I often hear people say to me, “Well, I am not in a position to do (fill in the blank)…,” and I always find it interesting that many people place limits on themselves when, really, no one else on the outside does. It’s all in your mind. You’re choosing not to be your big self, you’re choosing not to live to your full potential and you’re choosing not to be who you were born to be. Because YOU are choosing to do little to nothing, when in reality if you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t do great things, would you […]
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Recently I was flying to a speaking job, and as I left for the airport that morning it was raining. I looked out the window while we were waiting to take off, and I could tell it was going to be a cold wet and rainy ride, in fact, that was the outlook for the entire week where I was heading to speak. Sitting on the plane determining what I was not going to be doing on this trip (since I don’t like to be out in rainy cold weather), within a few minutes after we took off and went […]
Be sure you put your feet in the right place
You know, it is a fact of life that sometimes you fall–you just hope that you don’t fall in water on a leadership training excursion. A few years ago I was with some friends, and we were doing the typical leadership adventures of bonding with the other team members. Now, something you need to know about me is, although I enjoy the outdoors, I have never liked the said “team-building programs.” It’s never been my ambition to fall backwards in trust and hope (and prayer) that my teammates will catch me. I don’t have faith or fun on a zip […]
You’ve Got A (Toxic) Friend
Recently, a client of mine who wants to the change the world was taken aback when I told him that he would do well to walk away from his “loser” friends. “How do you know my friends are losers?” he asked. I told him that with all of his community service, non-profit ventures and summer trips helping others that he had been telling me about, he’d also said that he’d been doing all of this on his own. To me, this was a sign that he needs different friends. “Out of your massive buddy group,” I said, it’s obvious that […]
The one thing that you have
“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live only as you can.”–Neil Gaiman I meet a lot of people in my work and travels and, as I have grown in my own life through so many life experiences, I have over time developed a 6th sense (as it were) to see past the façade of who many people want you to think they are, to the underneath of that person and their inside. Not the outside […]
It is not the critic who counts.
“It is not the critic who counts…” You know this phrase as well as you know your name but have you really thought about the truth contained in those seven words that have gone down in history? The fact is that the world is full of critics whose words don’t count because they don’t know you, your story or your future. And the sad part is that they really don’t care to know you; they find great delight in tearing you down because they need a stepping stone in their quest for significance. Never be misled by the critics who […]
Running away from your problems is a race you’ll never win
As I’ve gotten older I’ve really tried to keep myself out of trouble and I’m doing pretty well, thank goodness! It’s not that I go looking for trouble but sometimes it just seemed to find me – usually because of something I said OR it was something someone said I said. So I have had to be more careful because I don’t want to hurt anyone and I don’t want to cause harm. I want to be thought of as kind person. But often I look around and see that some of my peers, friends and colleagues seem to look […]
Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction
“Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction.” Francis Picabia Rule number one. You have the right to change your mind. Rule number two. Read and act on rule number one…always. If you were to ask me what I find interesting at this age in my life it is this. When someone sees the other side of an issue or learns something new or over time decides that certain things don’t matter as much as they thought, and then, through careful consideration and reflection, they make a decision to change their mind about an issue, theory or thought […]