25 Simple Things to Give Up If You Want to Succeed . . .

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo

25 Simple Things to Give Up If You Want to Succeed

The best way to invite good new things into your life is to make room for them.
Just as you declutter your office and home, from time to time do a check and throw out anything that isn’t helping you make your success achievable.

Here are some good places to start.

1. Trying to be perfect. Perfectionism sets us up for failure. It’s not a quest for the best but a way of telling yourself you’ll never be good enough.
2. Playing small. Expand your horizons. Go big. Grow! Sometimes the process is painful, but it’s worth it.
3. Faking it. Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re always strong.
4. Waiting for luck. Luck builds its foundation on preparation. Coming across good opportunities may be partly a matter of luck, but it’s also a matter of knowing where to find them and being prepared to make the most of them.
5. Waiting for anything. We have been fooled into thinking that if we wait for the right time, right place, and right person we will be successful, but opportunity is where you find it, not where it finds you.
6. Needing approval. Don’t let the opinions of others consume you. What a waste of time!
7. Trying to do it alone. Even if you can pull it off, it’s twice as much work and half as much fun when you do it alone.
8. Making empty promises. Make your promises rare and 100 percent reliable.
9. Fixating on your weaknesses. We all have our weak points. Work on them, but focus on your strengths.
10. Blaming others. It’s cowardly and it costs you respect.
11. Overlooking your negative thoughts. You may believe that you are responsible for what you do but not for what you think. The truth is those things can’t be separated.
12. Living in the past. Your future starts now.
13. Trying to please everyone. The surest path to failure is trying to please everyone. Work to please only yourself and those who are important to you.
14. Small goals. Small goals yield small results; big goals, big (and sometimes huge) results.
15. Holding on to grudges. They’re a waste of time and a thief of contentment and happiness.
16. Avoiding change. Change will happen with your permission or not. Manage it when you can and always make the best of it.
17. Trying to never make a mistake. Avoiding risk and never daring is the biggest mistake you can make.
18. Saying “I can’t.” Don’t give up just because things are hard, and don’t talk to yourself in negative terms.
19. Minimizing yourself. Being a shrinking violet doesn’t help you, it doesn’t put anyone else at ease, and it’s a bore.
20. Gossiping. Small people indulge in gossip. Talk about ideas instead — and when you do talk about people, be compassionate and supportive always.
21. Staying down. Failure does not come from falling down. Failure comes from not getting up.
22. Complaining. If you spend time complaining about yesterday, you won’t have time to make tomorrow better.
23. Spending time with negative people. If those around you are trying to bring you down, maybe it’s time to lift yourself up.
24. Comparing yourself with others. Comparison is another thief of your happiness. Don’t worry about what others are doing.
25. Thinking you can’t make a difference. Each of us can make a difference — and together we make a change.

We all have traits and tendencies we need to give up so we can let something great come in. Everyone is entitled for success; we just have to make room for it. Learn to give up what is keeping you stuck and start moving closer to the things you want out of life.

Originally published on Inc.com

About the Author: Lolly Daskal is the founder of Lead from Within, a global leadership, executive coaching, and business consulting firm. You can connect with her on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and Google+

Consider this: Where will you start today?

When You Meet A Friend . . .

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo

When You Meet A Friend
Ted Hibbard

To meet a friend
is to open a book
there is no need to rush
take your time
read the pages
one by one
let the plot unfold
as it will

each page adds a nuance,
a gesture, a word, a scene
what will happen next
you need to know

your lips begin to move
you suddenly realize
you’ve become one of the characters
in an enthralling life story

you can not help yourself
the heroine’s dreams
have become your dreams
your lives have become
completely intertwined

then suddenly
you realize
with a deep sense of dread
you’re coming
to the end of that
wonderful volume

but wait
do not fear
see
over there —
stacked up on those shelves —
an infinite number of books
by the very same author
waiting, ready

more stories to be read

when you meet a friend

Consider this: Keep reading new stories.

Daring Greatly . . .

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while DARING GREATLY so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

Consider this: What will you dare greatly to do today?

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo

Cupcakes and Rootbeer
Julie A. Manhan

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with cupcakes, several cans of root beer and started on his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he saw an elderly woman. She was sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed the lady looked hungry so he offered her a cupcake. She gratefully accepted and smiled at him.

Her smile was so wonderful that he wanted to see it again, so he offered a root beer as well. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted!

They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling without saying a word.

As it began to grow dark, the boy realized how tired he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to the old woman, giving her a big hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy arrived home his Mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked, “What has made you so happy today?” He replied, “I had lunch with God.” Before his mother could respond he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile in the whole world!”

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face. He asked, “Mother, what has made you so happy today?” She replied, “I ate cupcakes in the park with God.” And before her son could reply, she added, “You know, he is much younger than I expected.”

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring; all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

Take no one for granted and embrace all equally with joy!

Consider this: Don’t underestimate your power to make a difference!

The true story of a grateful whale . . .

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo
If you read the front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 15, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.

The fifty-foot whale was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her – a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around – she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate in the New Year -to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.

And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

– As reported in The SF Chronicle

Consider this: Who will you help untangle today?

Change course, experiment with life . . .

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo
You have a right to experiment with your life. You will make mistakes. And they are right too. No, I think there was too rigid a pattern. You came out of an education and are supposed to know your vocation. Your vocation is fixed, and maybe ten years later you find you are not a teacher anymore or you’re not a painter anymore. It may happen. It has happened. I mean Gauguin decided at a certain point he wasn’t a banker anymore; he was a painter. And so he walked away from banking. I think we have a right to change course. But society is the one that keeps demanding that we fit in and not disturb things. They would like you to fit in right away so that things work now.

— Anaïs Nin

Consider this: Where do you need to change course today?

If You Bring Love . . .

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo

If You Bring Love
Joseph Campbell

At a certain moment in Nietzsche’s life, the idea came to him of what he called ‘the love of your fate.’ Whatever your fate is, whatever the heck happens, you say, “This is what I need.” It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge.

If you bring love to that moment – not discouragement – you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true.

Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not.

Consider this: It is a matter of perspective.

Two Questions . . .

Posted on by

MMWNA Logo

Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, ‘Did you bring joy?’ The second was, ‘Did you find joy?'”

Dr. Leo Buscaglia

Consider this: What is your answer today?

Be Present Today . . .

Posted on by

IMG_3339

No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness — or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it.

Author Unknown
But Greatly Appreciated!

Consider this: Be thankful today!

9/11 Remembered . . . 

Posted on by


Twenty years ago today on 9/11/01, I received a call from my friend, Nat Irvin, asking me if I heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I had not. I was sitting in my office on the 13th floor. He called again minutes later to say it had happened again. And then we all would find out about the terrible tragedy unfolding. That evening, I wrote this column, after attending a church service with my late sister, Gloria, that appeared in The W-S Chronicle on (9/13). 

I Cried Today
By Nigel Alston
‘The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.‘ — Joshua 1:9
I cried today.
I was overcome with the burden of loss. The loss of people, like you and me, who went to work, in New York and Washington, and didn’t make it home. People like you and me who boarded a plane for a destination they wouldn’t see at the end of the day.
I cried today.
I don’t know what you believe in or, for that matter, if you believe in a higher power or not. I do. That’s why I went to church tonight and knelt at the altar beside my sister and cried, as I prayed for those who died today, their family, relatives and friends, for me and for you.
My sister sent a package, Federal Express, to an employee in the World Trade Center Monday night, who worked on the 34th floor. It was delivered Tuesday morning at 8:15 am, shortly before a hijacked plane crashed into the building. We hope the person to receive the package was late for work or didn’t show up.
A package with my sister’s name on it, is in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Had she not been ill during the last few months, she too might have been in that building today instead of the package she mailed and I would still be crying.
My heart is heavy.
I kissed my wife this morning before she left for work. Someone else kissed their loved one too. I ate dinner with her this afternoon. Someone else thought they would, but didn’t know today was the last day for their loved one. I am sitting at home with my wife now. Someone else isn’t. They had planned to, but they didn’t know their plans would change so drastically.
I saw my sister tonight. I held her hand at the altar, as I prayed for you and me to get our act together, before it is too late.
Thousands of people will not get to do that tonight. It’s too late for them. I hope they kissed someone before they boarded the plane.
I hope they hugged someone before going to work and smiled at something that made them happy.
I was overcome at the altar trying not to lean on my own understanding.
A woman called her husband, on her cell phone, from one of the hijacked planes. It was their last conversation. Another man communicated with his wife by email moments before the building collapsed to the ground, disappearing from the skyline. I hope she printed off his last comments.
Jennifer was a witness today. I’ve known her since she was a little girl. I often tease her about going to Sunday School. She is married now and her mother and father cried today.
I sat beside Pat, Jennifer’s mother tonight. You see, Jennifer was supposed to be in that building today. Her feet hurt, so she missed the ferry, and while waiting for the second one, saw that first low flying plane as it crashed into the building.
That’s why we prayed at the altar tonight. We prayed for her and her husband, who works in the same building. He slept late today. Jennifer’s mother had tears in her eyes as she thanked God for her daughter and new son-in-law.
Another church member’s sister works in the Pentagon on the opposite side of the crash today. He is thankful too.
I am glad to know that I can go to the altar and cry and pray for you, me and the thousands of people who can’t pray tonight. And for their family and relatives.
I am OK now. I have nothing to complain about. Life is good. And, I will not take tomorrow for granted. I hope you don’t either.