1. "Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of." --Benjamin Franklin
Your time is your life. If you waste your time, you are wasting your life. I’ve never met a successful person who didn’t value their time, and I’ve never met an unsuccessful person who did. Don’t let other people waste your time either. Protect your time, it can never be replaced, it can never be replenished, your time is your life. 2. "Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn." --Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin also said, “He that won't be counseled can't be helped.” Always be open to learning. You can learn from anyone, and from any situation. You can learn from the fool as well as the genius. 3. "Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out." --Benjamin Franklin Make mistakes. Success comes from doing things “right,” and doing things right is usually the result of first doing things wrong. You are certain to make mistakes; the path to success is lined with mistakes and failures, just keep moving. Successful people make a lot of mistakes, but they don’t quit, they keep moving until they arrive to their goal. 4. "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." --Benjamin Franklin Prepare. It’s better to not have an opportunity and be prepared, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared. You need a plan to accomplish your goals. Have a realistic plan of attack and a systematic approach for getting where you need to be. 5. "Diligence is the mother of good luck." --Benjamin Franklin Be diligent. Solomon wrote, the diligent shall be made rich. If you want to be lucky, be diligent, the more diligent you are, the luckier you will be. Everyone has the ability to increase their luck seven fold by becoming more diligent. Create the habit of being diligent in all you do, and you will be surprised at how lucky you become. 6. “God helps those who help themselves.” – Benjamin Franklin This is an excellent way of saying that once you start taking action, the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place. You have to get your boat in motion to before things become clear and the little miracles start to happen. 7. "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." --Benjamin Franklin Make an impression. Benjamin Franklin also said, “Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five.” I hope you’re not dead, I hope you haven’t achieved all that you’re going to achieve; I hope your best days are in front of you. I think they are.
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Quote of the day:
You cannot live long enough to make all the mistakes. Learn from the mistakes of others. -- Author Unknown Think about it: Someone sent me these quotes in an email. There is no credit to who said them, I apologies for that. However, the wisdom in them is inspiring. In every mistake, there is learning, but not every mistake has to be your own. Just as society uses history to learn from the mistakes of earlier generations, so can you. Save yourself some time and frustration and look to those around you and learn from their experiences. By avoiding the mistakes made by others, you can create true success for yourself in a lot less time. Keep in mind that every person with whom you come in contact today has a perspective that is different than yours. Though you have much in common with others, there are many differences as well. Even those who agree with you have a different perspective than your own. No one else knows exactly what you know. No other person shares your unique set of experiences, just as you do not share the exact same experiences as anyone else. Your knowledge, your experiences, your opinions, your assumptions are not necessarily shared by others. Make the effort to sincerely understand, and to be understood. It will add value and effectiveness to every undertaking. It’s tempting to compromise and take a shortcut. It’s better to do it right. Life is too precious and too full of positive possibilities to cheat yourself out of even a moment of it. You owe it to yourself to do it right. Dream It, Believe It, Live It. The first step is to get a vision, a clear picture from God that you can see. The next step is to trust Him — to believe in faith that it will happen. And then finally, you take a step of faith and live out what God has promised no matter what your circumstances or people around you have to say.
1. “To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.” – Benjamin Franklin
Act quickly on opportunities. Opportunities are everywhere. The trick is being quick enough and smart enough to seize them when they arise. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that something won’t work or can’t be done, allow yourself the freedom to ask what if? 2 “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin Continue to grow. We all have vices of some description. The key is to keep them under control or preferably eradicate them entirely. Never accept that you have finished growing as a person. 3. “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” – Benjamin Franklin Keep going. Have you ever looked at a successful entrepreneur or business person and thought how lucky they are? Most of the time, luck has nothing to do with it. Hard work and sacrifice on the other hand have everything to do with it. Successful people deal with failure. They pick themselves up and keep going. 4. “There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.” – Benjamin Franklin Know yourself. Understanding ourselves is not easy. Sometimes we just don’t want to see ourselves for who we really are. It’s much easier to hold onto a romanticized version of ourselves or to simply view ourselves through other people’s eyes. Start by being brutally honest with yourself. Follow through with understanding, compassion and acceptance. 5. “Who had deceived thee so often as thyself?” – Benjamin Franklin Don’t self-sabotage. We spend so much time worrying about other people hurting us, yet fail to comprehend the damage we inflict on ourselves. If you are using negative self-talk, lying to yourself or indulging in addictive behavior you are self-sabotaging. Life can dish up enough challenges without us adding to the mix. Be kind to yourself. Treat yourself like you would a best friend. 6. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin Don’t give up. Achieving our goals can be downright exhausting. To have energy and persistence you must have passion, there must be an inner vision that drives you to achieve your goal. If you don’t have a clear picture of where you’re going, then you don’t have the energy or persistence to make any noteworthy progress. You must be driven by a picture that is bigger than your current reality. 7. “Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” – Benjamin Franklin Benjamin was definitely onto something with this one. Who hasn’t had the thought - I wish I could know then, what I know now? Unfortunately there is no time machine; there is no going back. The key is to wise up as early as you can to start forging a life of purpose, achievement and happiness. Quote of the day:
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” -- Anne Frank Think about it: It’s wonderful what a little encouragement can do for someone, and it’s even better when you’re the one doing the motivating. That reminds me of a story from the book Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnage. A store’s employee was always mixing up price tags, which resulted in customers complaining and added headaches for the manager. No matter how many warnings or reminders or even confrontations, she didn’t do any better. The manager finally tried one last solution. He called her into his office and told her he was promoting her to “supervisor of price tag posting” for the entire store, and that she was now in charge of keeping all the items properly tagged. The title and responsibility paid off, and she took pride in getting it right. Think about ways you can influence people in a way that brings out the best in them.
Benjamin Franklin was a man of action. Over his lifetime, his curiosity and passion fueled a diverse range of interests. He was a writer (often using a pseudonym), publisher, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, satirist, civic activist, statesman, diploma and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His inventions included the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove. Ben Franklin was responsible for establishing the first public library, organizing fire fighters in Philadelphia, was one of the early supporters of mutual insurance and crossed the Atlantic eight times. Self-development was a constant endeavor throughout his incredible life. Benjamin Franklin was clearly a man who knew how to get things done.
1. “Well done is better than well said.” —Benjamin Franklin Less talk, more action. Talking about a project won't get it completed. We all know people who constantly talk about the things they are going to do but rarely ever take that first step. Eventually people begin to question their credibility. Taking action and seeing the task through to completion is the only way to get the job done. 2. “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” —Benjamin Franklin Don’t procrastinate. With an impressive list of achievements to his credit, Benjamin Franklin was not a man hung up on procrastination. He was a man with clear measurable goals who worked hard to turn his vision into reality. What are you putting off till tomorrow that could make a difference in your life today? 3. “When you're finished changing, you're finished.” —Benjamin Franklin Don’t fight change. Whilst many of us don’t like change, others thrive on it. Either way change is inevitable. The stronger we fight against it, the more time and energy it consumes. Give up the fight. Focus on proactively making positive changes, instead of having change merely thrust upon you. Wherever possible, try to view change as a positive instead of a negative. 4. “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” —Benjamin Franklin Get moving. There’s a reason we use the expression, movers and shakers. Movers are the ones who take action, the people who get things done, while the immovable are sitting around scratching their heads wondering how others could possibly be so successful. Which group do you want to belong to? 5. “Never confuse motion with action.” —Benjamin Franklin Avoid busywork. We are always running around doing things. We rush from one meeting or event to the next, sometimes without achieving a great deal. Make your motion mean something. 6. “Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” —Benjamin Franklin Give yourself permission to make mistakes. If we fear making mistakes, we become scared to try new things. Fear leaves us nestled in our comfort zone. Staying in your comfort zone rarely leads to greatness. Taking risks and giving yourself permission to make mistakes, will ultimately lead you to whatever your version of success may be. 7. “Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste.” – Benjamin Franklin Remind yourself to be present with whatever you are doing. If you are in a hurry or multi-tasking you loss focus and then you end up doing things wrong and having to do them over or breaking something wasting time, energy and resources. Quote of the day:
To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.—Karen Sunde Think about it: In a few days it will be Valentine’s Day. What a wonderful holiday—a day to celebrate love. Even if you don’t have a special someone you can still celebrate love as there is a lot more to love than just a romantic relationship. Below are some quotes to think about on the true meaning of love.
In modern English, the word “love” conveys a range of emotions, but the classical Greeks were more precise. They had four words that have all been translated as “love” in English:
Storgē roughly fits our English word “affection,” especially the type of affection within families. It can also be used in a “put up with” type of way—and as most of us know, that is in fact the type of love many of us had for our siblings when growing up. Philíos was used for a general type of virtuous, dispassionate love—the type that inspires loyalty. Today, it’s an equivalent of “friendship.” Éros was a passionate love, the kind that exists in a healthy marriage or intimate relationship. Socrates had a famous debate about éros with his students, which was recorded in Plato’s Symposium. Plato refined the idea to be not so much love of a person, but love of the beauty in a person. This is where we get the idea of a platonic relationship, which is a love relationship devoid of sexual overtones. The Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament completed before the time of Jesus—used the verb agápao frequently to describe all sorts of love, from divine pity to erotic passion. And it was in that same work that the derivative noun agape, the fourth word for love, made its first appearance in Greek literature to describe the deepest kind of love, such as in the Song of Songs, which is attributed to Solomon and thought to be evocative of the relationship between God and believers. The New Testament writers used agape around 250 times to describe this highest ideal of love. In addition to the English word “love”—such as in Theos agápe estin, “God is love” (1 John 4:8)—the King James translators sometimes chose the English word “charity” (for instance in 1 Corinthians 13). This was meant to reinforce the idea that agape is a selfless, giving, and unconditional love. “Where do we get the word ‘honest’? If you will study the way this word developed, you will see that it is related to honor. Honor, honesty and truth are closely related concepts.”--Kenneth Copeland
“I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”--George Washington “Healthy relationships of all kinds are usually composed of honesty, trust, and respect.”--Ace McCloud “The frequent requiring and using of oaths is a poor reflection on Christians, who should be of such acknowledged fidelity as that their sober words should be as sacred as their solemn oaths.”--Matthew Henry “It helps people to become honest when they are treated as honest.”--Elijah Mcleon “Honesty, truth and decency all link together—by loving all of these, we can improve our families, communities and our society.”--Estella Eliot “Honesty is only an illusion to those who seek their own selfish needs.”--Theodore Higgingsworth “It is not the lie that passes through the mind, but the lie that sinks in and settles in it, that does the hurt.”--Francis Bacon “Sometimes it is more difficult to be honest with yourself than to try to please other people by saying what they want to hear.”--Gerard Strong “If you’re not honest with yourself, how can you be truly honest with anyone else?”--Paul Williams “Safety and happiness can only come from individuals, classes, and nations being honest and fair and kind to each other.”--C. S. Lewis “Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.”--Mary Kay Ash “The establishment of any relationship, both individual and expert, is honesty.”--Alexander Mejia |
AuthorThe goal of the blog is to provide interesting, motivational, soul feeding material. All to help remind us that God loves us all and wants a personal relationship with each of us and will take care of us in times of trouble. I aspire to be a force for good by providing you with positive input. I encourage you to share the blog with others. Archives
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