MONDAY’S CUP OF MOTIVATION by Stuart Thomas:
We are all at a certain place in our lives right now. No matter if we are ahead of the game or behind the game, we are where we are. We all have a goal for where we would like to be. When we were thirty, we imagined where we wanted to be at forty. When we were forty, we envisioned life at fifty…Ten years goes fast. Before we know it, we will have added another ten years. We are always imagining what the future will be like. Today as we sit here, this is the end of our last ten year journey. This is it. We have made it ten years. Was it all we dreamed the past ten years would be? Most of us will say no to that question. Life has a way of happening while we are busy making other plans. What will happen to make the next ten years any different? Our lives don’t magically improve. Our lives will only improve when the choices we make improve. We all know what we need to change. We implement this change every January first hoping it will be better by June. If we want long term change, then we have to stick with it. A little change over time will make a profound impact on our lives. Imagine losing one pound every few months. If we simply cut out one soda per day or limited red meat to once or twice a week. That does not sound like a lot but imagine looking back at the change ten years later. What if we made five phone calls a day to people we want to work with. Sent five hand written notes. It does not seem like much but multiply this over time and extraordinary things can happen. The point is to stick with it. This week, let’s remember to be grateful for our health, our family and our friends. We are fortunate to have made it ten years with them. Let’s do a little better these next ten years and be grateful along the way. Every day and every year is a blessing. Have a phenomenal week.
ENCOURAGEMENT CORNER…
The “Seinfeld Strategy”
Brad Isaac was a young comedian starting out on the comedy circuit. One fateful night, he found himself in a club where Jerry Seinfeld was performing. In an interview on Lifehacker, Isaac shared what happened when he caught Seinfeld backstage and asked if he had “any tips for a young comic?”
Here’s how Isaac described the interaction with Seinfeld …
He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day.
He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day.
“After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”
You’ll notice that Seinfeld didn’t say a single thing about results.
It didn’t matter if he was motivated or not. It didn’t matter if he was writing great jokes or not. It didn’t matter if what he was working on would ever make it into a show. All that mattered was “not breaking the chain.”
WORDS TO LIVE BY…
Live, love, laugh and enjoy each moment of your life.
Author unknown
Don’t sit around waiting forever; it won’t happen unless you make it happen.
Author unknown
I was smiling yesterday, I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow. Simply because life is too short to cry for anything.
Santosh Kalwar
Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
Rumi
Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in the world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn’t buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure?
Author unknown
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. They listen with the intent to reply.
Author unknown
Don’t worry…The light at the end of the tunnel……may be…you!
Aerosmith Amazing
This week, create a chain!