Re: Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Fri, Sep 24 2021 9:04 AM

  Friday, September 24, 2021

  Something beautiful

  Do something beautiful today. Create a little bit of beauty just for its own sake.

  Give your life an added measure of richness. Remind yourself how good it can be to be you, to be alive, to be aware, to be curious and thankful.

  Imagine what you could do to add new beauty to a place, an idea, a person, an experience. Then bring that particular beauty to life, and let it bring out the best in you.

  Beauty has no need for a reason. Yet as you undertake to create beauty, the reason emerges.

  Beauty resonates with your purpose. Beauty connects you to others on a deep and enduring level.

  Beauty leaves you with no doubt that you are real, that life has great value, that each experience is precious and unique. Give a little of yourself to beauty, and get much in return for your world.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Sat, Sep 25 2021 11:46 AM

  Saturday, September 25, 2021

  Choose it before you need it

  Transform your needs into choices. See your actions as being driven by your choices, not controlled by your needs.

  Instead of needing to wake up at six in the morning, choose to wake up ten minutes earlier. Instead of needing to keep your job, choose to build your career.

  Whether something is a need or a choice may not make much difference in your actual behavior. But it can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your energy level.

  When you need to do it you can tend to resent it and procrastinate. When you choose to do it you’ll be eager and enthusiastic about getting it done.

  Perception plays a major role in the way you feel about what you’re doing. So give yourself the benefit of a positive perception.

  Get out in front of what must be done. Choose it before you need it and make it a positive, effective, productive endeavor.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Mon, Sep 27 2021 9:02 AM

  Monday, September 27, 2021

  Away from the structure

  It’s foolish to waste all your time. Yet it is also foolish to avoid wasting any time at all.

  When you know exactly what you’ll be doing next, you can quickly move on to it. But if every slice of time is scheduled weeks in advance, you deny yourself the chance to process the experiences.

  Respect the value of your time by planning and using it wisely. Respect the value of your experience by giving yourself meaningful stretches of time with no plans or expectations.

  You’re clear about what must be done, yet you’re not at all clear about what you don’t know or have never thought about. Give yourself the opportunity to think thoughts you never knew you would have, to experience what you didn’t know was there.

  Often there’s a lot you can discover when you’re not looking for anything in particular. Some of the most interesting people spend significant amounts of time being bored.

  Have the confidence to regularly get away from the structure, from the plan. You’re likely to return with unique and valuable insights.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Tue, Sep 28 2021 8:52 AM

  Tuesday, September 28, 2021

  Why you can’t do it

  If there’s something ambitious you wish to do, come up with a list of all the reasons why you can’t do it. Then set about to prove yourself wrong.

  Acknowledge the problems, delineate the challenges, right off the bat. Give yourself a detailed and realistic picture of what you’re up against.

  By specifying the challenges you give yourself control over them. Suddenly you have a workable pathway to success.

  All that remains to be done is to solve those problems, one by one. You’ve already acknowledged them and embraced them, so you’re definitely well on your way.

  Not only do you have a meaningful and desirable goal. You also have a practical, well-formulated plan to get there.

  So when you want something, quickly tell yourself exactly why you can’t have it. Then, with a knowing smile, you’ll realize you’ve explained to yourself precisely how to make it happen.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Wed, Sep 29 2021 12:29 PM

  Wednesday, September 29, 2021

  Impossible to get stuck

  Why are you stuck? Because where you’re going is just not all that compelling.

  Oh, it might sound impressive and exciting and desirable. But if it was all that desirable, you would not have let yourself get stuck.

  So here’s what you must do. Give yourself something to look forward to.

  Don’t make it completely out of reach, but don’t make it just any old thing either. Make it something you know you can do, and something you would crawl across broken glass to accomplish.

  Then commit yourself to doing it. If at this point you still seem to be stuck, go back and raise the stakes until you can feel your goal pulling you forward.

  Aim higher in a way that’s meaningful to the core. And you’ll make it impossible to get stuck.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Thu, Sep 30 2021 8:59 AM

  Thursday, September 30, 2021

  Focus on the work

  Don’t make your efforts more difficult than they have to be. Just make them happen.

  Overthinking the task adds needless difficulty, complexity and delay. Under committing to the job makes it more difficult than it would otherwise be.

  Simply determine what must be done and do it. Rise above whatever resistance you might create or encounter, and focus on the work.

  Make it your intention to get yourself into a state of effectiveness. Embrace the opportunity to be useful, to do what’s meaningful, to create value.

  Let go of doubt, resentment, excuses, and perfectionism. Continue to remind yourself the work is the thing you’re focused on, and you’re entirely capable of doing just that.

  Expect to put forth effort and expect to do what’s necessary to make that effort count for something positive. Focus on the work and give rise to all the benefits of getting it done.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Fri, Oct 1 2021 8:26 AM

  Friday, October 1, 2021

  Ongoing care

  The best time to do the hard stuff is while it’s easy. Get far enough ahead of your deadlines and you won’t become squeezed up against them.

  Tend to the small problems early. That prevents them from becoming big problems.

  Get in the habit of using your spare time to make modest, incremental progress. Before long you’ll discover your persistent efforts have resulted in major gains.

  Routine maintenance and steady improvement are not as exciting as some of your other options. Yet they can save you from the trauma and expense of desperate emergency repair.

  Every meaningful part of your life benefits from regular, ongoing care and attention. A great way to express gratitude for the good things you have is to keep them in good shape and improve upon them.

  Rather than always wishing for more, put effort into making what you already have more valuable and durable. A little extra care today can improve the quality of all your tomorrows.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• craigswan 30,953 Posts

  Fri, Oct 1 2021 9:05 AM

  Highly readable and rewarding posting marion .

  I like it .

  

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Sat, Oct 2 2021 8:52 AM

  Saturday, October 2, 2021

  Reality always wins

  Reality is often painful. Yet opposing reality is much more painful because it is ultimately impossible.

  You can deny reality but your denial carries no weight beyond your own perception. Whether you accept it or not, reality always wins.

  Your best choice is clear. Whatever dreams, goals, hopes, intentions you may have, be realistic.

  Keep yourself on the side of truth, on the side of reality. Don’t let yourself be seduced into thinking, hoping, or acting contrary to what’s real and true.

  The world presents you with an abundance of very real possibilities. Though it will take work, you can experience much goodness and fulfillment while at the same time being realistic.

  As demanding as it may be, challenge yourself to keep your perceptions and expectations realistic. Reality always wins, so set yourself up to win along with it.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,680 Posts

  Sat, Oct 2 2021 8:54 AM

  Hi Craig,

  Thank you for stopping by.  I love your input here as well.