1. I am doing better than good because I clearly understand that failure is an event, not a person; that yesterday ended last night, and today is my brand new day.
2. I am doing better than good because I have made friends with my past, am focused on the present, and optimistic about my future.
3. I am doing better than good because I know that success (a win) doesn't make me, and failure (a loss) doesn't break me.
4. I am doing better than good because I am filled with faith, hope and love; and live without anger, greed, guilt, envy or thoughts of revenge.
Why do we do the things we do? Human beings are strange. we need a jolt before we start to want to climb uphill on the ladder of self improvement.
Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Getting flunked grades make us realize that we need to study.
Debts remind us of our inability to look for a source of income.
Being humiliated gives us the 'push' to speak up and fight for ourselves to save our face from the next embarrassments.
It may be a bitter experience, a friend's tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help us get up and get just the right amount of motivation we need in order to improve ourselves.
With the countless negativities the world brings about, how do we keep motivated? Here are some tips on keeping yourself motivated from A to Z…
A - Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do.
C – Consider things on every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the sun from both sides.
D – Don't give up and don't give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, more than thrice before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation as your steering wheel.
E – Enjoy. Work as if you don't need money. Dance as if nobody's watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you'll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.
" You wake up in the morning suffused with an ineffable feeling of joy, a deep sense of well being. You go to work, to a job you love so much that you would pay for the privilege of doing it. You labor intently but are so focused that time flies by unnoticed. At the end of the day, you are invigorated, brimming with more energy than what you started. You have a penetrating awareness of the course you are charting, a clear knowledge of your place in the scheme of the universe. Your work feeds this, is congruent with it, and brings great contentment and peace.
True and lasting Happiness- real happiness - is elusive to many. The pursuit of happiness is the aim of all who live and breathe on this earth, but many find it only to be fleeting, superficial, short lived. James Allen in his book "The Path to Prosperity" describes this best. In the pursuit of true prosperity, true riches, this is at the heart of it all….
" The heart that has reached utter self-forgetfulness in its love for others has not only become possessed of the highest happiness but has entered into immortality, for it has realized the Divine.
Leaving a legacy is something everyone of us does. Each of us is a living presence. What we do with our lives right now has profound influence on everything and on everyone around us- especially those we are close to. Each of our stories will be different - but special and unique. Listen to that voice, that calling within you.. and leave your living presence, even after you are gone. That is a legacy that will last beyond wealth, fame, or perceived success…
This young mother's thoughts and life is an uplifting presence that is probably echoed in many lives around today…
"The young mother asked her guide about the path of life.
Here are some inspirational snippets from the timeless Og Mandino- Thoughts to live by for the new year- a new day, a new life, a new beginning…
"I will live this day as if it is my last.
First I will seal up its container of life so that not one drop spills itself …. I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday's misfortunes, yesterday's defeats, yesterday's aches of the heart, for why should I thro good after bad?
Can I take back the evil that was spoken, the blows that were struck, the pain that was caused? My yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more…"
Christmas is a reminder of love, of giving. It stems back to the ultimate love story - the love of the infinite for the finite. The Creator for his creatures. The pure for the unpure. Of ultimate and unconditional love for the unloved. Beauty for the non-beautiful. It is a reminder of the love of God towards his creatures. It is not a mere myth of baby in a manger, helpless, adored, swaddled. It is powerful, glorious, stunning in its glory. It is like a shot from heaven for the faltering creatures, faltering from lack of love, meaning and hope. The ultimate power fuel, love potion, energizer.
Clarity is power. Clarity in knowing yourself is more power.
Our unconscious actions often speak louder than words, and can be a blind spot. If you analyse your actions, you may find that pleasing others comes is more important than pleasing oneself. For what ever reason- gaining acceptance, living up to an image, or simply thinking the other person's opinion is more important than your own opinion. This often leads to unspoken frustration- that nagging feeling that something is not right, not complete, not fully done. Over time, it can accumulate and lead to anger and depression.
Other people are important, but your needs are too. You are special. You need to allow yourself some space. You could be considerate of others and at the same time you could be just yourself in order to maintain personal balance and sanity.
" Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence" Aristotle
The pursuit of happiness is yours for the taking. It is achievable, by being happy where you are right now, and not waiting for the right time, the right place, the right person. It is to be pursued now. A lot of people cannot be happy- because they do not know how. There are road blocks like low self esteem, and ghosts from the past that haunt them. Self limiting thoughts, beliefs, and erroneous messages tell them that they do not deserve to be happy. Guilt and messages from past prevail.
The reverse is true. A person who only seeks happiness and short term gratification without consideration for others, will only find that it eludes them.
Goal setting is important, but the fundamentals need to be settled first. Unexamined goals are dangerous, as was mentioned in the previous post.
"Why was I not told, that in my brain I hold, in one tiny ivory cell, both God's heaven and God's hell?" Oscar Wilde
Voices are crying, pulling in many directions. Almost magnetically, we are drawn toward those goals which seem attractive, and promise us things we think we want. That new car, that girlfriend, that promotion, that image of yourself that makes others think you are smart, cool, slick and popular, wanted.
Goal setting is powerful. It can get you to where you want to go. Most success formulas suggest that you formulate your goals in order to get where you want to be. They ask you to dream of that dream car, house, boat, lifestyle. They tell you to ask yourself what you want then set your goals in order to get what you want. But it seems there is something missing. All the goal setting software and plans will not work if the goals are unexamined, in the larger context.
"Everything you do, is triggered by the emotion of either desire or fear." Brian Tracy.
Stumble it!
" You wake up in the morning suffused with an ineffable feeling of joy, a deep sense of well being. You go to work, to a job you love so much that you would pay for the privilege of doing it. You labor intently but are so focused that time flies by unnoticed. At the end of the day, you are invigorated, brimming with more energy than what you started. You have a penetrating awareness of the course you are charting, a clear knowledge of your place in the scheme of the universe. Your work feeds this, is congruent with it, and brings great contentment and peace. 
Here are some inspirational snippets from the timeless Og Mandino- Thoughts to live by for the new year- a new day, a new life, a new beginning…
Keep believing in the here-and-now, 
Our unconscious actions often speak louder than words, and can be a blind spot. If you analyse your actions, you may find that pleasing others comes is more important than pleasing oneself. For what ever reason- gaining acceptance, living up to an image, or simply thinking the other person's opinion is more important than your own opinion. This often leads to unspoken frustration- that nagging feeling that something is not right, not complete, not fully done. Over time, it can accumulate and lead to anger and depression. 
Promise Yourself 
" Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence" Aristotle
Goal setting is important, but the fundamentals need to be settled first. Unexamined goals are dangerous, as was mentioned in the previous post.
Goal setting is powerful. It can get you to where you want to go. Most success formulas suggest that you formulate your goals in order to get where you want to be. They ask you to dream of that dream car, house, boat, lifestyle. They tell you to ask yourself what you want then set your goals in order to get what you want. But it seems there is something missing. All the goal setting software and plans will not work if the goals are unexamined, in the larger context.
