Thoughts on Success
Every time I am asked about “secrets of success” I notice there is an underlying theme. Each formula I have shared has contained, in essence, intent-action-belief - faith-and then letting life happen. Reread today’s quote several times and really absorb what the words mean. Remove “success” and try “peace” or “happiness” or “contentment” or “joy” in its place.
When I seek success in something, I first focus on what I want and why I want it. When I know that it matches my mission of helping women create more positive lives, I then make an action plan. After all that homework is done, I believe with my heart and soul that nothing will stand in my way from realizing the vision. And then I do something else that many people forget to do when chasing a dream: I let it go.
It might seem odd to let a dream or vision go, especially right after we take our first action steps. And, I don’t mean that I literally let it go and never think of it again. It means that I have faith and trust in the mystery of miracles and life. When we hold onto what we want very tightly, we don’t give it room to grow into what it might be. Instead, we mold it and twist it to match only what we can see and believe. Yet life often has wonderful things in store for us that we may not yet be able to envision or believe. We have to let go of our limited scope of seeing a result in order to let life meet us halfway-to transform a goal into a vision.
Your Turn: Where in your life is letting go the next step to moving forward?
The Golden Rule
“Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.”-Mark Twain
Good morning! When my daughter was in the difficult school years featured in movies like Mean Girls she lashed out at a bully who had been picking on her. When I asked her why, she explained she was following the golden rule “treating others like they were treating her.” I explained that although that is how much of society lives, she had the golden rule backward. I explained that she was half-right. If the bully was practicing the golden rule, then she wouldn’t pick on Sammy in the first place-but just because the bully picked on her, that didn’t make it right to lash back.
Then I uttered all those wise statements that we get to say as moms like, “If a friend told you to jump off a bridge, would you?” and, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” My daughter, being the inquisitive child she is, wanted to know how far the bridge was from the water (in case it would be fun, like a diving board.) She also wanted to know if two wrongs don’t equal a right, what they do equal, because in algebra two negatives make a positive.
Tags: ParentingThe Golden Rule
”Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.”-Mark Twain
Good morning! When my daughter was in the difficult school years featured in movies like Mean Girls she lashed out at a bully who had been picking on her. When I asked her why, she explained she was following the golden rule “treating others like they were treating her.” I explained that although that is how much of society lives, she had the golden rule backward. I explained that she was half-right. If the bully was practicing the golden rule, then she wouldn’t pick on Sammy in the first place-but just because the bully picked on her, that didn’t make it right to lash back.
Then I uttered all those wise statements that we get to say as moms like, “If a friend told you to jump off a bridge, would you?” and, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” My daughter, being the inquisitive child she is, wanted to know how far the bridge was from the water (in case it would be fun, like a diving board.) She also wanted to know if two wrongs don’t equal a right, what they do equal, because in algebra two negatives make a positive.
I felt myself quickly losing ground in the conversation. I switched paths completely. I asked Sammy, “Do you want to be like this other girl? Is she a mentor?” My daughter rolled her eyes, appalled at the thought. I explained that one of the basic success principles is to identify what qualities you desire, find someone who has them, and emulate them. I didn’t have to go any further-she understood the outcome of emulating the actions of this girl. Yet she still seemed troubled. “But that isn’t fair. Why do I have to lead by example if other girls aren’t?”
I asked Sammy to imagine a world where we all treated each other like other people treated us, instead of treating others how we want to be treated. We quickly saw a war-filled world, with harsh words and hurt feelings. “Someone has to find a better way,” I told her. She seemed ready to end the conversation, although I could see her mind was spinning.
The next day she came home from school and told me she and another girl had encouraged the start of an anti-bully group in their school. The group has been ongoing for three years and has dramatically reduced the bullying challenges of the school.
When today’s quote came across my screen, I wished I would have had it handy during my conversation with my daughter. Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest. Often times we “do right” not by following the rules, but by forging new paths where they are desperately needed. We “do right” because we gratify and astonish others-and ourselves. A life filled with gratitude and astonishment is a much better life than one where we point fingers and live a backward golden rule.
Your Turn: How do you live the golden rule in your own life? Do you take the higher road and “do right” even when it is the most challenging choice?
Today’s Affirmation: Every day, I make the right choices at every juncture.
A Gift of Perserverance
When I was seventeen I was a sophomore in college at UW-Milwaukee. I worked full time five days per week at a Big Boy restaurant on Kilbourn street in Milwaukee. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s I had off from work and on those days I walked to campus where I fit in a full course load between 9AM and 9PM. The employee break room at the restaurant was like many diner break rooms-kind of dark and cluttered. Amidst the clutter was an old brown piece of wood with a fake-gold plaque mounted on it. The plaque read:
Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Calvin Coolidge
Tags: inspirational quotes, life lessons