Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Fri, Aug 12 2022 9:09 AM

  Friday, August 12, 2022

  Do the little things well

  Driving a nail with a hammer is a mundane and relatively unsophisticated task. Yet it must be done with skill and precision, again and again, to build a magnificent house.

  It’s tedious to learn spelling, grammar, and proper usage of language. Yet you need those key components if you wish to communicate exciting, sophisticated concepts.

  The little things matter. Because every big thing is composed of lots of little things.

  It’s tempting to neglect the little things, to take shortcuts with them, to seek out the cheapest, easiest ones. But when you compromise on the details, those compromises are multiplied in the final result.

  Purchase good quality nails, hammer them straight and true in the places they need to be. Then you’ll have a structure that’s strong, durable, valuable, useful.

  Every moment is an opportunity to do the little things well. Remember to embrace each and every one of those opportunities, and you can make the big things amazing.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Sat, Aug 13 2022 11:56 AM

  Saturday, August 13, 2022

  The value of hope

  Hope alone will not bring what you hope for. But that doesn’t mean it lacks value.

  Hope focuses your attention on the positive possibilities. And where your attention is focused is where your energy is directed.

  Hope infects your expectations, points them toward a positive outcome. Those expectations drive your perceptions, your behavior, and affect your results.

  Hope for the best but don’t stop there. Hope for the best, then let hope push you into action and sustain that action for as long as necessary.

  Have so much hope that you get up and do something useful and effective with it, again and again. Do the work that hope demands rather than expecting hope to do all the work.

  Hope has great value, but it’s not an easy way out. At its best, hope points you in the most challenging and fulfilling way forward, and that’s a very good way to be headed.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Mon, Aug 15 2022 9:11 AM

  Monday, August 15, 2022

  Doubting yourself

  Other people are likely at times to doubt what you say. So get a jump on them, and exercise some healthy doubt of your own.

  Be the first to challenge yourself, genuinely and robustly. That prepares you well to respond to the challenges of others.

  Think of the ways you could be wrong, then work through them. By so doing you’ll improve your ability to be right.

  Take care not to get trapped in your own perspective. Make it a point to look at that perspective with some degree of skepticism.

  When you’re truly willing to change your own mind you’ll have greater power to change someone else’s mind. Know how to get past your own doubt and you’ll learn how to get past other doubt.

  Yes, by all means have confidence in yourself and in what you have to say. Strengthen that confidence by testing it, and improving it, with doubt.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Tue, Aug 16 2022 9:14 AM

  Tuesday, August 16, 2022

  Are you, can you, will you?

  Life has something important to tell you. Are you listening?

  Today contains valuable opportunities, some of which will never exist again. Are you prepared to act on them?

  Wonder and beauty surround you. Are you attuned to them, and open to being inspired?

  Problems, obstacles, and challenges constantly arise. Can you appreciate and embrace their value?

  People are impossible to fully understand. Can you love them for who they are?

  There’s so much to learn, to experience, to work through, to give. Will you?

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Wed, Aug 17 2022 10:51 AM

  Wednesday, August 17, 2022

  The quality you put in

  Know where you want to go. Start where you are.

  Understand what is necessary. Make use of what you have.

  Invest the time as it comes your way. Persist until you reach your objective.

  Learn from every consequence. Improve with every effort.

  Success is not a foregone conclusion. Yet it is well within your reach.

  Life is largely a matter of what you do with it, moment upon moment, day after day. The quality you’re willing to put in determines the quality you’re able to experience.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Thu, Aug 18 2022 9:01 AM

  Thursday, August 18, 2022

  Reality as it unfolds

  Has any experience ever ended up being not as bad as you thought it would be? Have you ever done something that turned out to be more difficult than you had previously assumed?

  Don’t let fear stop you from moving into the future. But do prepare yourself as well as you can.

  You cannot know exactly how anything is going to play out. You can, however, equip yourself to handle many different contingencies.

  Probably nothing you do is going to be perfect, but neither is the whole world likely to fall to pieces. The reality, when you actually arrive there, falls somewhere in the middle.

  Within that middle ground is opportunity to improve the experience, to create more value from it. Muster the courage to step forward tempered with the discipline to be reasonable and prepared.

  In between your best expectations and your worst fears, you’ll find plenty of ground upon which to move into the future. Acknowledge and embrace reality as it unfolds, knowing there’s always good you can make of it.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Fri, Aug 19 2022 8:38 AM

  Friday, August 19, 2022

  What works

  It sounds good, the experts give it praise, it has popular support. But will it get the job done, solve the problem, reach the goal?

  In the end what matters is one thing. Does it work?

  Speculation is useful but not definitive. Planning, preparation, expertise, and experience all can help, but do not guarantee success.

  You must find out what works, for the situation, for the time, for you and everyone else involved. To do that, you have to make a specific attempt and then make sure you’re honest about the results.

  You’ll find out soon enough whether the approach works or whether it doesn’t. If it works, stick with it and if it doesn’t, move on and attempt something different.

  Go beyond the noisy hypothesizing and put forth the effort to know for sure. Figure out what works, and then do it.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Sat, Aug 20 2022 8:40 AM

  Saturday, August 20, 2022

  Better than anger

  Your anger is justified and understandable. But it’s not very healthy or helpful, and it doesn’t feel so great.

  You don’t have to carry that anger around, letting it weigh you down. You can transform it into a more positive force.

  Instead of being angry about a particular problem, perhaps you could fix the problem. Even though you didn’t cause it, you can have the good fortune of being the person who solves it.

  Seething about what’s already happened won’t bring new value into your life. Yet taking positive action to improve the situation can benefit you and a whole lot of other people.

  Let go of the need to exact punishment and retribution. Fill yourself instead with the desire to promote goodness, cooperation, and understanding.

  You can do a whole lot better than anger. Get creative, identify an alternative, and choose not to let anger wear you down.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Mon, Aug 22 2022 8:02 AM

  Monday, August 22, 2022

  Make time your friend

  The world is always enticing you to live for the moment. Just remember that the moment will soon pass.

  The consequences of what you do right now, or fail to do, can be immense. And they continue to impact your life for a long time to come.

  Yes, live well in the moment and make the most of it. But don’t do so at the expense of all your future moments.

  When you pursue a small, immediate pleasure, are you sacrificing long-term fulfillment or well being? Make sure the cost you will eventually pay does not far outweigh whatever benefit you get right now.

  Even better, choose actions now that result in continuing value later. Invest your present moments while you have them rather than mortgaging your future before you even get there.

  Live and act such that whatever you do today makes tomorrow better, not worse. With your choices, make time your friend, enabling it to bring you a good and fulfilling future.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Tue, Aug 23 2022 8:53 AM

  Tuesday, August 23, 2022

  Listen

  Listen, with humility, with curiosity, with a genuine desire to help. Listen, without the need to prove anything, free of any assumptions about what you will hear.

  Listen and learn. Listen and understand.

  Listen and allow your perspective to be challenged. Listen and enable yourself to become more broadly informed, more considerate, more capable of having a positive impact.

  Listen to the noise and draw energy from it. Listen to the silence and find the peace that lives within you.

  Listen to gentle rain, booming thunder, whispers, shouts, harmony and cacophony. Listen, and hear life in all its glory, contrast, and richness.

  Listen to time as it unfolds, to life as it grows in meaning and depth. Listen, then speak in your own voice about all you hear.

   

  — Ralph Marston