Monthly Archives: December 2013

Aim high !

Aim high when choosing your life’s goal, no matter how high you aim, your achievements may fall below it.
Businesses advocate “continuous improvement” as part of their quality programs. They have realized to remain competitive in today’s global economy they must constantly strive to improve every aspect of the business, otherwise they will be overtaken by the competition. The same ethic applies to individuals. All of life is a continuous learning experience. Every success and every temporary setback only serve to prepare you for the time when you will eventually prevail. Your short-and medium-term goals should be realistic and achievable, but your long-term goals should always far exceed your present capabilities. As the Roman poet Virgil said, “Fortune sides with him who dares.”

Going the extra mile can give you insight and a

Going the extra mile can give you insight and a good reputation, both of which attract opportunity. Many obvious opportunities are found in places no one else has bothered to venture. If you put in the extra effort to make a good project an even better one, or you get to know your equipment better than anyone else on your shift, you will see things others overlook and be in a position to make use of them. Leaders who need a job done think first of people they know who will do it well. If other people respect you for the quantity and the quality of your work, you will find yourself advancing past others who regard their jobs as drudgery. For all the extra service that you’ve rendered, you’ll find yourself more than amply compensated by opportunities others never grasp.

Most of us at one time or another have been misunderstood by those who are important to us. They thought we planned to take an action they disliked when in truth our intentions were to proceed in an entirely different direction. Such misunderstandings are usually quickly righted and life goes on.
Spend your time and energy in constant self-inspection and self-improvement, building strong skills, and eliminating fears while growing in faith and self reliance.

Constant struggle between good and evil that goes on inside every one of us. This struggle is as old as mankind itself. Yet, while we recognize our own inner struggles, we are often quick to condemn others. Psychologists tell us that there is no such thing as a bad person; there are only bad behaviors. Make it a point to look for the good in yourself — and in others. Nurture the good character traits and work on the ones that may need improvement. Like plants in a garden, the character traits that grow strong and productive will be those that are fed, watered, and weeded regularly.

When you devote your time and efforts to doing your best at every job you do, instead of developing persuasive arguments why you should be paid more for what you do, the pay raises will take care of themselves. When you approach every job enthusiastically in a spirit of friendly cooperation, you distinguish yourself from the vast majority of people whose primary concerns include breaks, benefits, paychecks, and quitting time. Don’t complain about your status or your pay to anyone, not even to your best friend. Word will eventually get back to the boss. Which type of worker would you rather have on your team: one who complains constantly or one who is always helpful, cheerful, and reliable?

It’s been said that you should always work at two jobs simultaneously: the one you have and the one you desire. When you work as hard at the task you want to do as the task you must do, you are preparing yourself for the future. You are learning skills that will enable you to grow beyond your present position and into your boss’s job and your boss’s boss’s job. When the time comes, you’ll be ready. When you’ve mastered one task, don’t rest on your laurels. Instead, begin immediately to think about the future, about how you can improve what you’re doing now, and what you can learn that will allow you to progress in the future. Ours is a knowledge-based economy in which intellectual property is worth far more than physical goods. To succeed today requires continuous learning; staying current in your field means a lifetime of study in our fast-paced world.

Willing cooperation produces enduring power, while forced cooperation ends in failure.

No civilization based upon the unjust treatment of its people has ever endured. A tyrant may force the cooperation of others for a time, but that power is never sustained. Only when people are accorded the respect they deserve do they willingly create and maintain successful organizations and societies. When you build a company or an organization based on fairness and justice for every member, you have built a power that will long endure. The best way to secure the commitment and unending cooperation of others is through the simple application of the Golden Rule. It is the most successful and long-lasting management theory ever developed. When you treat others as you would like to be treated were you in their situation, you will inspire loyalty and enthusiastic cooperation. Set high standards for yourself and others, treat them well, let them do their jobs, and they will perform miracles for you.

Opportunity wastes no effort looking for the person who is wasting time through idleness or destructive action.

Opportunities somehow always seem to gravitate toward busy people who can hardly keep up with those they already have. Logically, it would seem that opportunities would make an effort to seek out individuals who have an abundance of time available, but instead opportunities appear for those who have goals and dreams and a plan for achieving them. We often think of opportunity as a living, moving thing, something that actively seeks out a willing recipient. In fact, the reverse is true. Opportunities are ideas or concepts that exist only in the minds of those who recognize them. When you have no goals or plans, opportunities mean nothing to you. They become opportunities only when you recognize them as ideas that you can implement to help you move toward your goal.

You don’t have to do more than you are paid for, but you can push yourself ahead mighty fast by doing it voluntarily.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, a professional services provider, a corporate staffer, or an hourly worker. Your boss, your clients, or your customers will notice you and come to depend upon you because you have shown yourself to be a person who can be counted upon always to do the right thing.

In recent years, great strides have been made in overcoming the traditional adversarial relationship between workers and bosses. At last we’re learning that when we focus on better serving our clients and customers, everybody wins. When you begin to focus on what’s good in your company instead of what you don’t like, you will be amazed how quickly you will have more responsibility, and soon you will be teaching your employees how to do your old job.

A positive mind finds a way it can be done. A negative mind looks for all the ways it can’t be done.

Someone once said, “There are no truths; there are only perceptions of truth.” Whether or not you accept this statement, whatever you believe to be true will become your reality. Your subconscious mind will believe anything you tell it — if you repeat the words often and with conviction. When you are faced with a daunting task that you’ve never attempted before, focus on the potential for success, not on the possibilities for failure. Break the job down into smaller elements and tackle each one separately. The only difference between success and failure in any job is your attitude toward it.

The mind grows only through use, and it atrophies through idleness.

Just as the physical body becomes strong through regular exercise, so does the mind require regular use to remain strong. Make sure that your personal development plan includes plenty of mental stimulation. One of the best ways to develop your imagination and visualization skills is through reading. As you read, your mind translates the words into images that help you better understand the concepts about which you are reading. Become a voracious reader. Read newspapers, trade magazines, self-help books, and novels; all will contribute to your store of knowledge and to your ability to visualize and more effectively use your imagination.

It is possible to go through life without ever accepting any responsibility, but such freedom from the cares of the world comes at an enormous financial cost. If you make it a practice to go out the back door when responsibility walks through the front, you will also miss out on the opportunities that always accompany responsibility. In almost any vocation, profession, or calling, your remuneration is directly proportional to the responsibility that accompanies your position. Make it a practice to volunteer for more responsibility or simply to assume it. There are times when you must get on with the task at hand without ever being formally told you’re in charge of it. If you demonstrate that you are a can-do kind of person, responsibility and the higher pay that accompanies it will come to you.

 Once you have turned them to understanding what laid you low, you can begin forming new plans. You may not have the money you once had; you may lack the allies you had cultivated. But you still have the benefit of a universe that eventually rewards honest effort, as well as gaining the experience of mistakes you will never make again. Remember, no matter where you are now, whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve.

Waste no words on a man who dislikes you. Actions will impress him more.

Some people think they can talk their way out of any situation, and for a time they may be right But if someone already dislikes you, either because of a simple misunderstanding or an error in judgment on your part, he or she will be especially difficult to persuade with words. Their emotions will always get in the way of their ability to think logically and reasonably. Consistent actions over a sustained period of time, however, will usually persuade even the most devout skeptic. If you constantly demonstrate that you are a generous, kind, and caring person, it will be very hard for even your enemies to dislike you. In any case, you will become a better person for having made the effort.