To repeat what others have said requires education, to challenge it requires brains. – Mary Pettibone Poole

I had a really great conversation with an amazing woman a couple of days ago.  She referenced a number of other people’s quotes and they rolled off her tongue like butter on popcorn.  They were brilliant and very well known.

And then I asked, “What’s your quote?”

Silence.

If a quote is from someone else

and a saying is something we’ve thought of and repeatedly say

why do we discount how powerful some of our own quotes are?

Is it because we’re not dead yet and haven’t been immortalized in a book or on the internet yet?

Or is it just not the proper thing to do?

The next time you find yourself quoting someone, how about adding your own?

You’ll surprise yourself

Try it.  You just might like it!

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. –Eleanor Roosevelt

Isn’t it funny that when we ask for help from someone we trust, they are right there for us.  Each and every time.

It’s funny, well not really, just how few people will truly bare their soul or make themselves vulnerable by sharing their experience with you.  You just get the surface stuff.

The friends that open up really are the best friends in the world.

So the next time someone asks you for help, will you step out onto that limb and share your insights?

You do have the opportunity to impact a person’s life.

It is not what is poured into a student, but what is planted. –Linda Conway

How many times have you been over loaded with so many things to do that not much of anything got done?

Or we had so much to read that it became overwhelming and nothing much was retained?

When did you last plant a seed? Literally and figuratively.

Spring time is the most popular with gardens and flower beds.

And students officially start in the fall.

What would happen if you planted a seed today? A seed just for you?

What would it look like?

What would it feel like?

When planting, there is no instant voila! and it magically appears.

The stuff that matters is a time invested labour of love, and an exploration that comes with realizations and revelations.

Plant a seed, cultivate a mind.

Courage is not the towering oak that see storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow. –Alice M. Swaim

FROST! There was frost when I opened the blinds this morning.  Good God, it’s only the first of October –it’s too early for frost!  And the cherry tomato plants don’t look so good.  Maybe they’ll be okay a little later when the sun comes out.

Courage is about going out on a limb.

Exposing yourself.

Being vulnerable.

Trying something new and believing you can do it.

Where will your road take you today?

And what will you do with this 24 hours?

Will you stand and wait on the edge?

Or will you be that blossom?

The Not-To-Do List –Tim Ferriss

If an agenda is typically related to business, what do you call an agenda that’s for personal use?  To Do List or Plan.

Have you read Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Work Week?

Fantastically awesome book!  And while not everything’s totally practical there are a few items you can do immediately.

Not only batching emails (absolutely brilliant), Tim talks about the “Not-To-Do List”.  Everyone’s made at least one To Do List in their lifetime, right?

What about doing a total paradigm shift:  Not-To-Do?

Whoa!! Who just pulled the emergency brake lever?

If you’re procrastinating or keep moving your To Do item at least 3 times, really, how important is it?

Scribble it out.

Put it onto your Not-To-Do List.

You’ll feel your load get lighter.

Relief too.

There’ll be more time to focus on items that really require your attention and effort.

Why not?

“The better the agenda, the shorter the meeting. People will focus on the list and be more reluctant to stray when they have a set number of things to accomplish.” –S.L. Young

Our days are over the top full enough without wasting time on matters that could be streamlined better.

How many times has a meeting gone off topic and over time?  Everyone has at least one story.

People have other activities they want to do after work.  Why spend more time working when you could be playing?

A study was conducted on how efficient people were just before they left on holidays.  It was found that the same amount of work got done in half the time!  Just image how the workplace could be if everyone was leaving on holidays ever other day!

What does your agenda look like going into the next meeting?

Always watch the front wheel of a vehicle as you pass. –Pete Dunford

Uncle Pete always said to keep your eyes on the vehicle’s front wheel as you’re about to pass it and as you’re along side of it. 99% of the time you’ll see the wheels turn before the driver puts on his signal.

That was 1987 and I’ve lost count of how many times this has saved me.

It’s funny what lies in our subconscious and then how we immediately respond.

Driving north on Hwy 2 tonight I watched a transport cab with a really long horse trailer pass a car and then stay in the left lane. Another car and I waited and waited for him to come back into the slow lane. Nothing happening for some time so we both decided to pass it.

Without warning, just as I was parallel with the cab’s door, the transport swerved left almost into the ditch sending me almost into the ditch on the right hand side!  There was tire rubber flying into my lane and gravel and sand being spit out faster than an airplane propeller getting ready for take off! It’s front tire exploded and I literally watched in slow motion rubber strips peeling off and flying into my car. The transport’s chrome rim sent a spray of sparks into the air as it made contact with the asphalt. The fight that must have been going on between driver and steering wheel must have been incredible! You knew the driver was desperately trying to stay out of the ditch. I have no idea how, but in the end the driver saved the day and called for a tire repair. I guess that’s why they call them professional drivers.

The lesson? Maybe to slow down on the drive home. You just never know what’s going to get thrown your way.

Worry? What worries?

It is not good to cross the bridge before you get to it. – Judi Dench

It ain’t no use putting up your umbrella till it rains. –Alice Caldwell Rice

Have you read Spencer Johnson’s book The Present or Who Moved My Cheese?

Two amazing reads.  All for the quest of happiness and success.  Simple ideas, yet very challenging.

How many times have we fretted about something before it actually happened?

And then when it did was it really as bad as we had imagined?

In the end what did we hum and haw about it or did we decide to take charge?

In the end, what did we learn?

Don’t worry.  Be happy!

The results are in!

1.     Just Do It!  – NIKE

2.     Love means never having to say you’re sorry – Love Story

3.     To boldly go where no man has gone before – Star Trek

4.     Think different. – Apple computers

5.     I Am Canadian – Molson Canadian

6.     Where’s the beef? – Wendys

7.     No pain, no gain. – Jane Fonda (1982 with the exercise and aerobic revolution)

8.     Live to Ride, Ride to Live. – Harley-Davidson

9.     The Heartbeat of America – Chevrolet

10.   For all you do, this Bud’s for you. – Budweiser

11.   It’s Miller time! – Miller Beer

12.   Eat fresh. – Subway

13.   Finger Lickin’ Good – Kentucky Fried Chicken

14.   Kills Bugs Dead. – Raid

15. “If you build it, they will come.” – Field of Dreams

A clear idea should fit on the back of a business card. –Morris Cooper

Tag lines are great!

They’re short, sweet, and catchy.

Can you put the company, the film, the person to the following 15:

1.     Just Do It!

2.     Love means never having to say you’re sorry.

3.     To boldly go where no man has gone before.

4.     Think different.

5.     I Am Canadian.

6.     Where’s the beef?

7.     No pain, no gain. (1982 with the exercise and aerobic revolution)

8.     Live to Ride, Ride to Live.

9.     The Heartbeat of America.

10.   For all you do, this Bud’s for you.

11.   It’s Miller time!

12.   Eat fresh.

13.   Finger Lickin’ Good.

14.   Kills Bugs Dead.

And for all you movie goers, can you name #15. “If you build it, they will come.”