You’re Not the Product of Chance

You’re not the product of chance, where you are right now is the direct result of a series of choices and decisions.

When you were young, most of these choices were made by others.

You could blame them, it wasn’t your responsibility.

But not now.

You’ve made decisions… good and bad.

And they, not chance, have led you to this point.

Moving That Donkey

Donkeys, like many people, are stubborn creatures.

If you try to push them, they won’t move.

If you try to pull them, they won’t move.

Even if you hit them with a stick, if they have put their mind to it, they still won’t move.

You can’t force them to move, but you can entice them.

If You Want To Move, You’ve Got To Move

If you want to go from point A to point B, you’ve got to get up and move to get there.

It won’t just happen through wishful thinking.

And no-one is going to come along to carry you.

If you want to become better at your craft, you have to take steps to deliberately learn new skills.

Only Half Awake

American psychologist, William James, once said,

“Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake.  We are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources.  Stating the thing broadly, the human individual thus lives far within his limits. He possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use.”

Kobe Bryant – Far From Normal

We lost a great one today, when basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, was tragically killed at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash.

It was heart-breaking news about an extraordinary and much-admired athlete who was renowned for his insatiable work ethic and focus on success.

Bryant once said,

We can always kind of be average and do what’s normal. I’m not in this to do what’s normal.

And he certainly wasn’t normal.

The Next One

That book you’re reading at the moment may not be the best, but that doesn’t mean you should give up reading altogether.

Just move on to the next one.

You may feel stiff and sore after your last run, but that doesn’t mean you should give up exercising.

Just stretch and go again.

In a Crisis

In a crisis, you have a choice.

You can throw your hands up in despair.

You can complain to everyone within earshot.

You can act like it’s the end of the world and be a victim.

You can wallow in misery and try to recruit others to join you.

Or you can lead.

The Sun and the Wind – A Story About How To Influence Others

In his timeless classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie tells the fable of the sun and the wind.

The quarreled about which was the stronger, and the wind said, “I’ll prove I am.  See the old man down there with a coat?  I bet I can get his coat off him quicker than you can.”

So the sun went behind a cloud, and the wind blew until it was almost a tornado, but the harder it blew, the tighter the old man clutched his coat to him.

The Interrelated Structure of Reality

Martin Luther King Jnr once said in a commencement speech,

“All I’m saying is simply this: that all life is interrelated, that somehow we’re caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

At this time, when we remember a great man, this is my prayer.

For the Price of a Cup of Coffee

For the price of a cup of coffee, you can have a great conversation with someone.

You can listen to them and they can listen to you.

You can provide mentoring, or be mentored.

You can encourage and be encouraged.