 409 thoughts, quotes, lessons, ideas, suggestions, reminders, words of advice and encouragement to lead a successful, rewarding, peaceful, happy, and fulfilling life.
BOOK CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Positive Attitude and Optimism
2. Responsibility and Inspiration
3. Goals and Motivation
4. Action, Persistence and Success
5. Self-Doubt, Fear and Criticism
6. Positive Thinking and Communication
7. Positive Self-Esteem and Good Manners
8. Learning and Understanding
9. Money
10. Planning, Past, Present and Future
11. Laughing and Taking it Easy
12. Love and Relationships
13. Children
14. Forgiveness and Acceptance
15. Happiness and Awareness
16. Gratitude and Getting Older
Final Thoughts
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
This book is a collection of 409 thoughts, quotes, lessons, ideas, suggestions, reminders, words of advice and encouragement about life in general that were passed on to me by my parents or that I learned at one time or another throughout my life. It includes lessons I have learned from my mistakes and from my share of problems and setbacks. It touches on attitude, goals, responsibility, persistence, success, relationships, planning, personal/spiritual growth, and fulfillment.
This book is about seeing and experiencing life in a different way, about growing and evolving as a person and human being. You may already know, or may have heard, some of the advice, ideas, and lessons you are about to read. I hope and wish you are already implementing them in your life, but if not, perhaps you just need a little reminding—we all do. You may be reading some of the lessons for the first time. You may not agree with some of them. That is fine—we do not always share the same opinions and ideas—but I hope this book inspires you to think and reflect about your own life, your dreams, your goals, your aspirations, your circumstances, and your relationships. I want you to build the courage to create your own ideas, and to live your life to the fullest, striving to reach all of your dreams and goals, whatever they may be, so you can become a better, and more fuflled, person than you were before. I want you to enjoy your family, your friends, and your time alone, to “slow down to smell the roses” and enjoy your life in general.
This book is about giving yourself choices without getting consumed with daily life. Do not ignore your daily responsibilities, but do not get consumed by them. Plan for tomorrow but live for today—live in the “now.” If you do what you need to do today, to the best of your ability, to accomplish your dreams and to live the life you want, tomorrow will take care of itself. Since all you have is today, squeeze every single minute of it and begin your change now.
I had been thinking about writing this book for a long time as I was hearing my parents’ voices in my mind and reliving some of the advice and life lessons I am about to share with you. But I just never got around to it. There was always some excuse, some interference—something more “important.” Time seemed to be moving faster and faster in front of my eyes, but I did not want to notice. I finally stopped giving myself excuses not to do it and set up a deadline—my fiftieth birthday.
Like most of us, I have had my share of successes and disappointments, but I must say that, overall, life has been wonderful to me. Unfortunately, for a while I was too busy within my own world to realize that and became complacent. Now, after doing some soul searching, thinking about my life experiences, my ups and downs, my joys and sorrows, my dreams and plans, my achievements and disappointments—my existence in general—I can say with all conviction that I am grateful for what I have learned from my parents, grateful for what I have experienced, grateful for what I have been taught by every one of life’s battles, especially the ones that I lost. I am grateful for my existence. This is how I choose to think, and now this is how I choose my life to be—wonderful! No excuses!
Unfortunately, most of us live by default. We all have dreams, ideas, and plans for our lives, for what we want to achieve, for what we want to become, yet a lot of us never accomplish what we dream. For one reason or another, we do not really seem to want what we say we want— although we say we want it—we lack the motivation, enthusiasm, and determination to get it. This may be because we do not see or have an idea as to how we are going to turn our dreams into reality, so we never give ourselves the opportunities to make them happen.
I always heard “dream until your dreams come true,” but I also learned that dreaming alone would not make those dreams come true; I had to take some action to realize and fulfill them.
Many of us see our lives pass in front of our eyes while we are worrying and waiting for all the pieces of the puzzle to be ready and perfect before we can move ahead. We are waiting for the right time to act, and the right time never seems to come; we make excuses to make ourselves feel better about our lack of motivation and determination, and perhaps to make peace with our egos and self-esteem.
We tell everybody why we did not do and accomplish what we wanted to do, why we are where we are. We are looking for validation from others. Perhaps, we want them to tell us that yes, indeed, it is not our fault, that is how life is; there is nothing we can do. But in truth, if you want things to change in your life, if you want to make your dreams come true, you are the only one who can do it no matter what your present circumstances are.
Do not wait any longer. Take charge of your life. Set your mind to start now. Forget about the past—it is gone. Do not worry about the future—it is not here yet. Create the desire to change your current situation and circumstances. Nobody is going to do it for you. The right time to begin is now; no more excuses! The sooner you act, the closer you will get to your dream, because time does not wait.
Stop being a victim, stop creating self-imposed limitations, and stop the excuses. Many world-class achievers have had problems or disadvantages in their lives. They were raised in poverty, have some physical disability, or were abandoned or abused when they were children. They have had many obstacles and setbacks that they overcame one way or another and they are where they are now because of their motivation and determination to triumph over their situations, without being victims, without giving up, and without surrendering to their circumstances.
You are the only one who can make the decision to change and live the life you dream. Life is about choices; every day, every single situation we face involves that we make a choice. We choose how we react to life’s challenges and opportunities. Some choices, of course, are easier than others, but, in essence, we choose how to live our lives.
Stop worrying about tomorrow and about things that may not happen. Most of our lives are filled with setbacks, disappointments, aches of the heart, “failures,” and tragedies in general, but the funny thing is that the majority of them never actually happened. They are all in our heads—we create all the stress and worry in our lives. If you want to change, create, or start something new, you have to apply yourself and begin now. Make the decision to change and to be a more fulfilled and better person, because if you are going to wait for something to take place or all the pieces of the puzzle to be ready and perfect, nothing is ever going to happen. You will keep on waiting and waiting and then blame everybody else or the circumstances for your setbacks, shortcomings, and lack of success.
Get up and start moving forward, do it little by little, and remember—progress is what counts—not perfection. A five hundred-page book is written one word at the time; you prepare for a marathon one step at a time. The longer you wait, the further you will be from your dream, from becoming the person you always wanted to be. Decide to change now.
------------------------
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind.
William James
To everyone is given the key to heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell.
Ancient Proverb
Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.
Charles Swindoll
-----------------------
POSITIVE ATTITUDE and OPTIMISM
1 Life is wonderful, life is horrible, life is fabulous, life is terrible, life is great, life is awful, life is challenging, life is “a piece of cake”, life is unfair, life is beautiful, life is ugly, life is tough, life is easy … In reality, life is whatever you make it.
2 The way you feel is a decision that you make every day. It is sometimes a conscious decision and sometimes an unconscious one. Be more in touch with your thoughts and feelings and make the decision to start every day, in a positive and optimistic way.
3 There is a choice in every situation you face. You can see it in either a positive or a negative way. You can feel happy or you can feel miserable—the choice is always yours.
4 Your attitude is everything. Always try to maintain a positive attitude about things. This will help you build the courage to change things, it will help you find the serenity to accept things you cannot change, and it will give you the wisdom to know the difference. Gain power over your attitude.
5 Work on your attitude. Learn to control it before it controls you.
6 A positive attitude is far more important than aptitude for a successful life.
7 You cannot change a lot of things that happen in your life, but you can always change how you react to what happens in your life.
8 Do not focus and waste your energy on the “little problems” of your daily life. Do not allow yourself to make them bigger than they are.
9 Be an optimist. Learn to see and appreciate what life offers you. Concentrate on the positive and the beautiful things in your life.
10 Try to look for the good and positive in bad situations.
11 Be alert and pay attention to what is going on around you. Opportunities come in many shapes and forms—many times your setbacks or problems are opportunities in “disguise.”
12 Be creative—use your imagination. Take those opportunities and turn them into successes.
13 Eliminate the word “failure” from your vocabulary and replace it with “learning experience.”
14 Remember the word “failure” is just a state of mind. Approach it with a positive attitude and you will notice that it will become a learning experience toward your success.
15 There are no failures in life, only results—positive or negative. If you do not get the result you want, look for options, make adjustments, and try a different approach until you get the result you want.
16 Always look for better ways to do things. Be proactive and be a part of a solution, not a part of a problem.
17 Use your wisdom and common sense to create positive changes in your life.
18 You are not finished when you do not get the result you want, you are finished when you give up. Never give up!
19 Trust your intuition. Have faith, confidence, and belief in yourself. You are capable of creating and achieving great and wonderful things in your life.
20 You are the one who creates your life, and you are the one who creates your future.
21 Be in charge of your destiny. If you do not control your future, somebody else will.
22 Allow yourself to see beyond what others think is possible, wise, or practical. You can create a different reality and make a different life for yourself. In the end, your success will be more rewarding.
23 Your purpose in life is whatever you choose and want it to be. It is up to you to decide.
24 There is no limit to what you can achieve. Determine how far you want to go and develop the necessary strength to help you get there.
25 Enlighten yourself and discover what you are capable of. Aim high—aim for the stars.
26 Cultivate an optimistic mind, use your imagination, always consider alternatives, and dare to believe that you can make possible what others think is impossible.
------------------------
No matter what you do, do it to your utmost. I always attribute my success to always requiring myself to do my level best, if only in driving a tack in straight.
Russel H. Conway
Every success is built on the ability to do better than just good enough.
Unknown
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence.
Helen Keller
Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.
Les Brown
Put all excuses aside and remember this: YOU are capable.
Zig Ziglar
(Continues...) |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment