Commit yourself to your potential

Double Time

Les Brown, a noted inspirational speaker, tells the story of one of his friends, a salesman, who was in financial trouble because sales were down. Les asked him, "How many phone calls are you making a day?" His friend answered, "Twenty five."

Les didn't hesitate with his advice. "Double them," he said. "Make fifty. Or seventy-five. Or one hundred."

The salesman answered, "Aw, man. that's too much."

"Too much!" replied Les. "You tell me that you are behind on your bills and then you say it's too much. You know, one way to get back on your feet real quick is to miss two car payments. How can you say anything is too much when you have everything at stake?"

The advice Les Brown gave his friend needs to be heard by people everywhere. It's amazing what we can do when we're "hungry" for success. Most people who say "I've tried," haven't scratched the surface of their potential.

Today, why not make a commitment to achieve your personal best?

By Neil Eskelin

Change Won't Happen Right Away

Five Short Chapters on Change

Chapter 1.

I walk down a street and there's a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. It takes forever to get out. It's my fault.

Chapter 2.

I walk down the same street. I fall in the hole again. It still takes a long time to get out. It's my fault.

Chapter 3.

I walk down the same street. I fall in the hole again. It's becoming a habit. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter 4.

I walk down the same street and see the deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

Chapter 5.

I walk down a different street.

Different books on change from Amazon...

Find the Things That Really Matter in Your Life and Take Care of Those Things First!

The Big Things In Your Life

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2" in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The students laughed. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.

"The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

"Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

Find The Opportunity In Life, It's All Around You

Helen Keller

(June 27, 1880 - June 1, 1968)

As the old saying goes, there's nothing certain in life except death and taxes. Our lives can change in a moment and the effects can be devastating - if we let them. Sometimes things happen, and we don't understand why they happened, or more importantly - why they happened to us.

When Helen Keller was born in June 1880, she was like any other normal baby. Her parents were very proud of her. In their eyes, she was absolutely perfect - and so intelligent! However, she contracted scarlet fever at 19 months old and after being rescued from the brink of death, little Helen could no longer hear or see. She was left blind and deaf in a world of vivid color and sound. And as she became further withdrawn into her own silent world, she began to lose her speech as well.

But is that the end of Helen's story? She got a bum deal, an illness taking so much from this bright, growing child. A world full of promise was seemingly snatched away from her, and for a time things were bad. She regressed, threw temper tantrums, stopped behaving, her manners went out the window. But eventually things began to change. 

Helen's parents found a private tutor for her. With the help of tutor Anne Sullivan, Helen learned to communicate again. Even more than that, she started behaving, she stopped grabbing food with her bare hands and sat nicely at the table eating with a fork and knife. With a little help, this child grew into a woman admired and respected for her work as an American author, political activist and lecturer. She even became the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Have you been there? Life is going along so well, so full of promise and possibility. The world is your oyster - then something happens, something out of your control, a setback. You feel defeated. Maybe you even started throwing some temper tantrums and breaking your toys in frustration. But this isn't the end of your story. Remember, every setback is the opportunity for a comeback. 

Take a deep breath, examine your situation, and realize that no temporary setback, whether physical or emotional, personal or business-related, can take away the whole world of opportunity that lies right at your fingertips every day. You aren't alone; there are others all around who are ready and willing to help you. It may take time and it will definitely take work, but you can turn any situation around. 

Like Helen, you too can be rescued from the brink of death, and when you feel blind to opportunity and deaf to life happening all around you, remember - sometimes all we need is a little help.

 

How To Find Your Purpose In Your life

94% do NOT have a purpose to their lives!

"Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment."

In her book, Unstoppable, Cynthia Kersey writes that a prominent psychologist asked 3,000 people, "What have you to live for?" An amazing 94% answered by saying they had no definite purpose for their lives - 94% percent!! With those kinds of results, is it any wonder that there are so many unhappy people in our world today?

James Allen also tells us on this subject that, "They who have no central purpose in their lives fall an easy prey to worries, fears, troubles, and self-pity." When I was part of the 94% without a purpose, my life was constantly dark with all types of worries, fears and troubles. I was a ship without a rudder floating aimlessly in a raging sea. Nothing in my life seemed to go right.

I believe we were created with a purpose in our heart, and part of our journey here is to discern that purpose and to act on that purpose.

Purpose puts power and excitement in our lives. It keeps us from looking at the little picture of "me" and causes us to look at the big picture of "we."

Ralph Marston, who writes The Daily Motivator, says "Your wishes, desires, hopes, dreams, opinions, likes and dislikes, at their very deepest level, revolve around a purpose. You can sense it. It is there. Pay attention to the times you really feel good about yourself. Ask yourself why this is so.

Keep asking until you touch a purpose so fundamental it cannot be explained in any other way.

Napoleon Hill, writing in the classic Think and Grow Rich, said that having a purpose was so important to success that people would have a different (and better) story to tell about their lives "if only they would adopt a DEFINITE PURPOSE, and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming obsession!"

I hope this helps you along your journey to find your purpose.

Here are some books I recommend you reading on finding your purpose:

Have Faith In Yourself and Your Dreams

No Talent

A young freelance artist tried to sell his sketches to a number of newspapers. They all turned him down. One Kansas City editor told him he had no talent.

But he had faith in his ability and kept trying to sell his work. Finally he got a job making drawings for church publicity material. He rented a mouse-infested garage to turn out his sketches, and he continued to produce freelance drawings in hope that someone would buy them.

One of the mice in the garage must have inspired him, for he created a cartoon character called Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney was on his way.

Author Unknown. Excerpt from "The Sower's Seeds" by Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R.

 

Planning, Organization, and To-Do Lists - 7 Things You Must Do To Improve Your Time Management

Planning and Organization

When you combine goal setting, prioritizing things, and planning and organizing you have a road map for your life that allows you to spend quality time with family and enjoy fun and recreation.

It's hard work structuring your day so that you can fit in all that you want and need to do. The saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is so true. Preparing yourself and the surrounding area helps tremendously. I have listed a few things below that help me with the basics, which leaves more time for the crucial.

1. Organize your space. My office is my car and the left side of the sofa. I try to have everything that I need at my fingertips. I have pens, paper, stapler, readers, calculator, etc. right there on the little table beside the sofa.

2. Get prepared the night before: Before you head to bed each night look at tomorrow's schedule and plan the entire day. What time you will walk out the door, what materials will you need.

3. Have a place for everything and everything in its place. We all spend too much time looking for things. If you have a place for your keys, a place for your cell phone and put them there every time you walk in the house you will not waste time searching for them. This also means putting things back where they belong.

4. Make a "to do" list. This gives you direction plus it is great fun scratching things off the list once completed.

5. Limit things that occupy too much time. Give yourself only 20 minutes on Facebook or 1 hour only of TV.

6. Multi task. The car should either be a rolling university or a good time to return phone calls. (NO texting while driving!) I have a list of calls to return and a stack of CDs just in case I get through all the calls or get stuck in traffic.

7. Last but not least have a filing system. Invest in the necessary items to have a good filing system. Stacks of important things are bad...very bad. Things will get lost. Things that make you stress out. When the mail comes in either pay it, trash it or file it. Don't be caught picking up the same letter over and over and trying to decide what to do with it. Touch the mail once.

These are just a few of the things that help me stay organized and improve my time management. And you may have heard...time is valuable - spend it wisely.

Here are some books on time management you might like...

Take This Test To See Who Is Truly Important In Your Life

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip.

Take This Test

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

The Power Of A Positive Touch

A Positive Touch

Oh, the power of a positive touch. Haven't you known it? The doctor who treated you, or the teacher who dried your tears? Was there a hand holding yours at a funeral? Another on your shoulder during a trial? A handshake of welcome at a new job?

Can't we offer the same? Many of you already do. Some of you have the master touch. If you aren't touching the less fortunate personally, your hands are writing letters, dialing phones, baking pies. You have learned the power of a touch.

But others of us tend to forget. Our hearts are good; it's just that our memories are bad. We forget how significant one touch can be. There's great power in a positive touch.

~Max Lucado, best-selling author

Life Struggles Are Necessary To Grow Strong

Life Struggles

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole.

The moth seemed to be stuck and appeared to have stopped making progress. It seemed as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth; so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But its body was swollen and small, its wings wrinkled and shriveled. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to and able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a small, swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. The man in his kindness and haste did not understand that the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was necessary to force fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight upon achieving its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don't forget the power in the struggle.

Check out these books from Amazon on life struggles and opportunity...

Attitude Is Everything! Positive Attitude Equals a Happy Life

>Attitude at Work

Back in the middle ages, a dispatcher went out to determine how laborers felt about their work. He went to a building site in France.

He approached the first worker and asked, "What are you doing?"

"What, are you blind?" the worker snapped back. "I'm cutting these impossible boulders with primitive tools and putting them back together the way the boss tells me. I'm sweating under this blazing sun. It's back-breaking work, and it's boring me to death."

The dispatcher quickly backed off and retreated to a second worker. He asked the same question, "What are you doing?"

The worker replied, "I'm shaping these boulders into usable forms, which are then assembled according to the architect's plans. It's hard work and sometimes it gets repetitive, but I earn five francs a week and that supports the wife and kids. It's a job. Could be worse, too."

Somewhat encouraged, the dispatcher went on to a third worker. "And what are you doing?" He asked.

"Why, can't you see?" said the worker as he lifted his arm to the sky. "I'm building a cathedral!"

Now that's the joy of working.

Author Unknown. Excerpt from "The Sower's Seeds" by Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R.

Some books to help improve your attitude I recommend from Amazon:

Your Richer Than You Think!

How Rich Are We?

One day a father and his rich family took their son on a trip to the country with the specific purpose of showing him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "Very good Dad!" "Did you see how poor people can be?," the father asked. "Yeah!" "And what did you learn?"

The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard; they have a whole horizon." When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how 'poor' we are!"

Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor, and a positive attitude towards life -- you've got everything! You can't buy any of these things. You may have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc.; but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing! 

Check out these books and a CD from Amazon on loving life and happiness:

Get Out There and Live Life!

The Voice of Adventure

There is a rawness and a wonder to life. Pursue it. Hunt for it. Sell out to get it. Don't listen to the whines of those who have settled for a second-rate life and want you to do the same so they won't feel guilty. Your goal is not to live long; it's to live.

The options are clear. On one side is the voice of safety. You can build a fire in the hearth, stay inside and stay warm and dry and safe.

Or you can hear the voice of adventure. Instead of building a fire in your hearth, build a fire in your heart. Follow your impulses. Adopt the child. Move overseas. Teach the class. Change careers. Run for office. Make a difference. Sure it isn't safe, but what is?

Max Lucado, best-selling author

Some books on living life and adventure from Amazon you may want to read:

Are You Lucky, Wealthy, Blessed, or Fortunate? Take This Test...

Shrinking the Earth's Population

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following. There would be:

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth;

1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education;

1 (yes, only 1) would own a computer.

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

And, therefore...

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

Thank Those Around You Who You Rely On To Get Through The Day

Who Packed Your Parachute?

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.

Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and

parachuted into enemy lands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "I packed your parachute," the man replied.

Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: A white hat, a bib in the back, and bell bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said good morning, how are you or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot, and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your

parachute?"

Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety. His experience reminds us all to prepare ourselves to weather whatever storms lie ahead. As you go through this week, this month, this year...recognize people who pack your parachute!

You may find these books helpful...

The Key To Success Is In Our Thoughts

Think on a Higher Plane

by Jim Davidson

Henry Ford (1863-1947) once said, "thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few people engage in it." Today I would like to share some thoughts with you on the important subject of "thinking" and I've titled this column "Thinking On A Higher Plane." The Roman Emperor Marcus Arelius once said, "A man becomes what he thinks about all day long." Back in 1957, the late Earl Nightingale wrote and recorded a motivational message titled "The Strangest Secret", which became the only one of its kind to ever sell a million copies. The Strangest Secret is that "We Become What We Think About." It was my good fortune to work personally with Mr. Nightingale for several years.

Yes, from King Solomon on down through the ages, the most successful writers, teachers and philosophers have all come to the same conclusion: It is the quality of our thinking that will ultimately determine the quality of our life. At this point, it might be in order to ask you some very pertinent questions. What do you think about most of the time? Is most of your thinking done on a higher plane? That is, do you reach for the stars in your thinking or is most of your thinking done in the gutter? The truth is we have only to look about us to see where we are and to see what we have to see the fruits of our thinking.

While it's an individual thing, you may ask, "how do I go about it?" While it's not easy, it's very simple. Station a guard at the entrance of your mind. You must be very careful when you select the television programs you watch, the books and magazines you read and the people with whom you associate. In short, if we are to improve the quality of our thinking, we must be very selective as to where we get our information.

It took several years for me to come to the realization that if I'm going to improve my life, when a filthy program comes on TV, or even the radio, I just turn it off. It's a choice I make because I now realize what it will do to my thinking. How about you? Have you ever given any serious thought to this before? Remember that "birds of a feather flock together" and you may have people tell you that it does not make any difference what you watch or read or who you spend your time with. But it does. We can trust the words of King Solomon here: "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he."

Here is some books and a cd from Amazon on this subject that might interest you:

Your Life Is Not a Coincidence, It Is a Reflection Of YOU!

Echo
 

A son and his father were walking in the mountains. Suddenly, the son falls, hurts himself and screams: "Aaahhhhhh!!! To his surprise, he hears a voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: Aaahhhhhh!!!

Curious, he yells: Who are you? He receives the answer: Who are you? Angered at the response, he screams: Coward! He receives the answer: Coward!

He looks to his father and asks: What's going on? The father smiles and says: My son, pay attention. And then he screams to the mountain: I admire you! The voice answers: I admire you! Again the man screams: You are a champion! The voice answers: You are a champion! The boy is surprised, but does not understand.

Then the father explains: People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.  If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.  This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life.  Life will give you back everything you have given to it.

YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU!"

Here are some Amazon books that you may like:

Speak Positively and Make Someone's Day Better

Business Is Great!

A landscape gardener ran a business that had been in the family for generations. The staff was happy, and customers loved to visit the store, or to have the staff work on their gardens or make deliveries - anything from bedding plants to ride-on mowers.

For as long as anyone could remember, the current owner and previous generations of owners were extremely positive happy people. Most folk assumed it was because they ran a successful business.

In fact it was the other way around... A tradition in the business was that the owner always wore a big lapel badge, saying Business Is Great!

The business was indeed generally great, although it went through tough times like any other. What never changed however was the owner's attitude, and the badge saying Business Is Great!

Everyone who saw the badge for the first time invariably asked, "What's so great about business?" Sometimes people would also comment that their own business was miserable, or even that they personally were miserable or stressed.

Anyhow, the Business Is Great! badge always tended to start a conversation, which typically involved the owner talking about lots of positive aspects of business and work, for example:
• the pleasure of meeting and talking with different people every day
• the reward that comes from helping staff take on new challenges and experiences
• the fun and laughter in a relaxed and healthy work environment
• the fascination in the work itself, and in the other people's work and businesses
• the great feeling when you finish a job and do it to the best of your capabilities
• the new things you learn every day - even without looking to do so
• and the thought that everyone in business is blessed - because there are many millions of people who would swap their own situation to have the same opportunities of doing a productive meaningful work.

And so the list went on. And no matter how miserable a person was, they'd usually end up feeling a lot happier after just a couple of minutes listening to all this infectious enthusiasm and positivity.

It is impossible to quantify or measure attitude like this, but to one extent or another it's probably a self-fulfilling prophecy, on which point, if asked about the badge in a quiet moment, the business owner would confide:

"The badge came first. The great business followed." 


You may find these Amazon books and CD helpful for increasing positive thinking:

Become More Relaxed and Watch The Fortunes Roll In

Let Go of the Idea that Gentle,
Relaxed People Can't Be Superachievers

One of the major reasons so many of us remain hurried, frightened, and competitive, and continue to live life as if it were one giant emergency, is our fear that if we were to become more peaceful and loving, we would suddenly stop achieving our goals. We would become lazy and apathetic.

You can put this fear to rest by realizing that the opposite is actually true. Fearful, frantic thinking takes an enormous amount of energy and drains the creativity and motivation from our lives. When you are fearful or frantic, you literally immobilize yourself from your greatest potential, not to mention enjoyment. Any success that you do have is despite your fear, not because of it.

I have had the good fortune to surround myself with some very relaxed, peaceful, and loving people. Some of these people are best-selling authors, loving parents, counselors, computer experts, and chief executive officers. All of them are fulfilled in what they do and are very proficient at their given skills.

I have learned the important lesson: When you have what you want (inner peace), you are less distracted by your wants, needs, desires, and concerns. It's thus easier to concentrate, focus, achieve your goals, and to give back to others.

By Richard Carlson, Ph.D 

Here are some Books and a CD from Amazon that will help you with relaxing: 

 

Each Of Us Has Our Own Unique Flaw

Nobody's Perfect

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. 'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.'

The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?'

'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.'

'For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.'

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

Sharpen Yourself to be Successful

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
BY STEPHEN R. COVEY
HABIT 7: SHARPEN THE SAW

Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have--you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. Here are some examples of activities:

Physical: Beneficial eating, exercising, and resting

Social/Emotional: Making social and meaningful connections with others

Mental: Learning, reading, writing, and teaching

Spiritual: Spending time in nature, expanding spiritual self through meditation, music, art, prayer, or service

As you renew yourself in each of the four areas, you create growth and change in your life. Sharpen the Saw keeps you fresh so you can continue to practice the other six habits. You increase your capacity to produce and handle the challenges around you. Without this renewal, the body becomes weak, the mind mechanical, the emotions raw, the spirit insensitive, and the person selfish. Not a pretty picture, is it?

Feeling good doesn't just happen. Living a life in balance means taking the necessary time to renew yourself. It's all up to you. You can renew yourself through relaxation. Or you can totally burn yourself out by overdoing everything. You can pamper yourself mentally and spiritually. Or you can go through life oblivious to your well-being. You can experience vibrant energy. Or you can procrastinate and miss out on the benefits of good health and exercise. You can revitalize yourself and face a new day in peace and harmony. Or you can wake up in the morning full of apathy because your get-up-and-go has got-up-and-gone.

Just remember that every day provides a new opportunity for renewal--a new opportunity to recharge yourself instead of hitting the wall. All it takes is the desire, knowledge, and skill. 


Here are some Amazon books to help you sharpen your saw: