Category: Motivational

“Most success springs from an obstacle or failure. I became a cartoonist largely because I failed in my goal of becoming a successful executive.” – Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert)

Now that I am reading lots of kids books again, it is interesting to look at what we teach children and what we end up doing with the information as we become older.  When growing up we tend to learn to forget what is possible, we better understand our capabilities, we doubt ourselves, we let others tell us what we can and cannot do.  When you ask a young child if they can do something, chances are they will answer yes.  Once older, that same child will likely learn to analyze his or her past experiences, as well as what others have advised in similar situations, and make an “informed decision.”

Don’t let others hold you back from your dreams, and don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t do.  If you look at all of the people who have become successful at something in life, chances are they failed when they first started doing it.  I’ll probably mess up a quote I heard, but it basically said “can’t never could until it tried.”  As long as you learn from your mistakes and continually remind yourself that “I think I can, I think I can”, chances are you can.

“A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself.”- Unknown

I had this link sent to me and really liked it because I love when those who appear to be up against all odds prevail and show the world what they can really do with a little help.  Phoebe has raised more than $30,000 to feed poor families in San Francisco last June.

Don’t let life pass you by, try and savor the special moments in life.  I am 11,588 days old and you may have had more or less days on Earth than myself.  When you look back at your life thus far, how many special moments come to mind?  If you are struggling to think of something you may want to alter how you are living your life.  My general rule is if you are pondering whether to do something, ask yourself if doing what you are pondering will likely be remembered in a positive way for the rest of your life.  If the answer to the question is yes, if it will benefit yourself, and others without harming anyone, I say it is something worth doing and chances are it will be a day worth living!

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes. I’m out of control and at times hard to handle, but if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” — Marilyn Monroe

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

Believe it or not, I’m behind on my blogging.  Last week I was watching Pitchmen on the Discovery Channel because they were playing every episode in the series, which allowed me a chance to watch all of them (filled up my DVR).  It is a great show and I really like Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan who constantly argue like school kids and even though Billy isn’t with us any longer due to his recent death it was obvious they cared for one another.

In one of the last shows of the season, Anthony Sullivan had a great quote which I wrote down: “If you want to be in front you have to act like you are behind”.  That quote from Anthony Sullivan really rung true to me because I think we need to constantly remind ourselves to keep loving, keep fighting, keep working, keep living, but at the end of the day be content with what we have.  Sometimes when we are financially secure, our jobs and relationships are going well, our bodies aren’t ailing us, we stop trying as hard as we should.

Mays was wildly successful being the #1 pitchmen in the world, which afforded him a Bentley and a mansion.  We all know money doesn’t buy happiness, but my point is God gave him a talent, and he wasn’t using that talent to its fullest extent.  In that episode, Anthony noticed Mays lost his focus or hunger for achieving as much as his talent allowed (selling the Zorbees) and allowed Vince (who famously pitched the Shamwow) to steal some significant sales away from their product.  As Tony Robbins said in another more famous quote: “It’s not what’s happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it’s your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you’re going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.”

Probably the most famous example of this is Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky movies.  Read the summary below from Rocky II from IMDB: “Rocky Balboa is enjoying life. He’s got a lovely wife, Adrian, had a successful fight with Apollo Creed and is able to enjoy the wealth coming off the draw. Unfortunately, Rocky becomes embarrassed when failing to complete and advert and ends up working in a meat packing company. He believes that he will no longer have a career as a boxer. Apollo wants to rematch with Rocky to prove all his critics wrong that he can beat Rocky. Can Rocky once again have a successful fight?”  In the video below, you see what happens when he once again rededicates himself to his passion and what talents he has been blessed with.

I could write about winning for a really long time, I love motivational books and quotes.  Below are some other quotes to wrap things up, but always remember to give life your all but be content with what life has afforded you.

• One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus, we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.” — Anthony Robbins

• “Winning is not a sometime thing, it’s an all-time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” — Vince Lombardi

• “A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits” — Napoleon Hill

• “Winning isn’t everything…it’s the only thing.” — Vincent van Gogh

• “Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything.” — Vince Lombardi quotes

• “Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” — Lilmmoe

• “There is no “i” in team, but there is in win” — Michael Jordan

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
— Oscar Wilde