Good Morning: Learn to re-Start Your Day...

“I can start my day over anytime I choose.” ~Brook Noel   Good morning!   While my mother and I were chatting recently, she reminded me of something I had done as a little girl. Every once in a while, she would see me stop for a moment and close my eyes as if intently concentrating on something. One day, when I was doing this after lunch, she asked me what I was doing. I informed her that, “My day isn’t going that good, so I am starting it over.” I don’t know where I learned the skill, but it has served me well.   A while ago, I...

Good Morning: Don’t Let Yesterday ...

“Time is amazingly forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire today. Success depends upon using it wisely-by planning and setting priorities.” ~ Denis Waitely   Good morning!   How wonderful to realize that today is “ours” – no matter what yesterday held. When we greet each morning with that willingness to use the day wisely, plan and set priorities, we can achieve our full potential. Make a list of three priorities for the day – three things you can do to make today matter. Then...

Good Morning: Live in the Moment...

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”  ~Chinese Proverb Submitted by Reader Rhonda Miga   Good morning!  Rhonda included this note in her email:   I think this applies to all of us. There are many things that we wanted to do 20 years (10 or even 5) ago but we never got around to it.  I think this proverb is great because it is saying “so what, do it today!”  You can’t go back and change what you did not do but there is nothing stopping us from doing it today.   I recently went back to school...

Good Morning: Live in the Moment...

“Life just is. You have to flow with it. Give yourself to the moment. Let it happen.”  ~Governor Jerry Brown   Good morning!  Today’s quote offers some great advice. One of my biggest challenges has been relinquishing control. As an entrepreneur, I am inherently someone who likes to control… EVERYTHING! Those who feel too much control, also often feel responsible for the feelings and/or actions of others. This is a difficult path to tread on. Several years ago, I finally came to the slow realization that the only person I could control was...

Good Morning: Give Every Day Your All...

“A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.”  ~Albert Schweitzer   Good morning!  Those of you who have taken the Change Your Life Challenge program or are Make Today Matter members know that I believe, “Just because our lives are complicated doesn’t mean our systems have to be!”   Today’s quote helps me to realize that our lives don’t need to be complicated either. Schweitzer has articulately stated what it means to have a “fulfilling day”...

Good Morning: Pick Your Battles...

 “Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.” ~Jonathan Kozol Submitted by Good Morning Reader Debbie Schwer   Good morning!  In the email that accompanied this quote, Debbie wrote: “I’ve always heard to pick your battles with your kids, but am looking at this from a new perspective now – picking my battles with my to-do list.  What really matters?  What is doable?” Debbie has hit a very valid point that is essential to living in balance. We need to challenge our routines instead of doing them on autopilot and...

Good Morning: The Four “Cs”...

"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." Walt Disney Good morning! How I would have loved to have known or met Walt Disney. Every time I visit Orlando, I walk through the exhibit on his life and the story of his parks. For those who don't know, Mickey Mouse was born on a notepad while Walt was on a train from Manhattan to Hollywood. It was at a time when his business ventures were at their lowest ebb ever. Mickey Mouse became the catalyst for many great things in the life of Disney. Yet time and time again, Walt Disney...

Good Morning: Climbing Over Worry...

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." Charles Schultz Good morning! Thanks, Rosemary, for this cute quote by "Snoopy Creator," Charles Schultz! As you wrote in your email to me, with challengers all over the world now, this is especially relevant. All we have to do is look across the ocean and someone is already in tomorrow! For me, this quote brings home two important points. (1) How quickly a day goes by and (2) How unhelpful it is to spend our time worrying. Worrying doesn't "feel good." It makes us anxious...

Good Morning: Shrink Your Worry List...

"Shrink your worry list. Examine areas in your life where anxiety rules. Does your worrying really make a positive difference in those situations? If not, dump the worry." ~from Checklists for Life Good morning! Today's quote is practical in nature, but one that we should no-doubt embrace. Worry has many similar characteristics to guilt. It hurts us much more than it helps. While a little worry or a little guilt keeps our conscious clean and our focus clear, incessant worry and guilt are destructive. How do you know if these emotions are constructive or...

Good Morning! Vibrant Living...

Every action in our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. Edwin Hubbel Chapin, American Clergyman (1814-1880) Good morning. Hubbel's words can be somewhat scary if we truly embrace them. For his words affirm we are important and what we do--no matter how small--matters. Each step, each word, each thought will "vibrate into eternity" in one way or another. Your Turn: As you go about your day, listen to your own "echo into eternity." What type of music are you leaving? Happy and joyous? Creative? Stress-filled? Anger? You hold the tuner in your...