Philosophy

Every day is a new beginning. Those simple words bring excitement or dread to the possibilities the beginnings hold. William James wrote, “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” It is your attitude at the front end that influences the results at the back end. “ John Maxwell reminds us of the saying, “All is well that ends well.” Acknowledging that this is true, he suggests another truth, “All is well that begins well.” It is this positivity of mindset and purpose that sets the foundation for ending well.

May you fill your days with joyous endings and new beginnings. Take learnings from the endings, and let go of the past. Begin a new page or a new chapter in your life’s magnificent journey. Fill it with excitement, challenge, possibilities and dreams. You have so much more to bring to yourself and life. “The start of something new brings the hope of something great. Anything is possible,” writes an unknown author. May Louis L’Amour’s counsel echo in your ears, “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” Let your life’s story be a relentless and passionate pursuit of new beginnings. And remember, all is well that begins well. Your best is yet to come.

Have a beautiful day and a magnificent week!!!

“Everything in the world began with a yes. One molecule said yes to another molecule and life was born,” wrote Clarice Lispector. Yes opens the door to possibilities. It creates a mindset of adventure and challenge, an invitation to explore new ideas, seek new approaches in accomplishing something or step into the unknown in search of the unthinkable. Yes is the road of doing and accomplishing. Yes is about more; no is about less.

Thomas Dreier said, “No is always a door-closing word; yes is always a door-opening word.” Yes creates an abundance mindset; no creates one of scarcity. Yes is the permission you give yourself to take your next step in adding to your life’s experiences and successes. May you passionately embrace John Maxwell’s wise counsel to always “live on the other side of yes.” An unknown author wrote, “We cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are.” Become more than you ever dreamed you could be… and more… so much more. Your best is yet to come. Just say yes.

To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning

In his book, The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor reminds great leaders of the great learnings from the Roman poet, Ovid, in his story about Pygmalion. Pygmalion had the gift of looking at a piece of marble and seeing the sculpture it held. Pygmalion’s story tells of his vision of his ideal and how the power of his gift made it a reality.

Pygmalion had a vision of his ideal, the zenith of all of his hopes and desires – a woman he named Galatea. One day he began to chisel the marble, crafting it to his vision. When he was finished, he stepped back and looked at his work. It was beautiful. Galatea was more than just a woman: The statue represented every hope, every dream, every possibility, every meaning – beauty itself. Inevitably Pygmalion fell in love.

He realized that he could not love a stone, and asked the goddess Venus to grant him a wish to bring the stone to life. And she did. His vision became reality. The lesson of this story, today, is known as the Pygmalion Effect: “when our belief in another person’s potential brings that potential to life.”

May you always be someone’s magical Pygmalion, seeing in others their magnificent and unique gifts and treasures, and helping them see it in themselves. May you remember Albert Einstein’s wise counsel, “There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Fill your life with making miracles, and help others in making theirs. Your expectations, the priceless keys to those you serve, are magnificent catalysts to their growth.

From my teacher Michael Reuter

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will,” writes Mahatma Gandhi. Life is filled with challenges that sometimes test our fortitude, commitment, and confidence. For a moment, we quietly reflect on what is not going right and think more of past mistakes and the weakness of our humanity. Our negative thoughts occupy our mind holding us back even further from the true, real greatness of our life. Norman Vincent Peale said, “Negative thinking definitely attracts negative results.”

Winston Churchill wrote, “When you are going through hell, keep on going, never, never, never give up.” Babe Ruth said, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” It is our positive mindset that resets our attitude reviving our belief and confidence in ourselves. It is our responsibility for our attitude that helps us reset our inner view. Albert Einstein wrote, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is though everything is a miracle.” May you live with that indomitable will that gives you the strength, resilience and passion to never give up, but to have a positivity to live a life of beautiful miracles. As Josh Groban, in his song, You are Loved, Don’t Give Up, sings, “You are loved.”

To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning

From my teacher, Michael Reuter

Robert F. Kennedy said, “Some people look at things as they are and ask, ‘Why? I dream things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’” His words capture the essence of imagination. It is the magical key that allows you to open your eyes, mind, and heart to new possibilities as you daringly step beyond your own self-imposed limits or those of others of life’s opportunities. You boldly move from the world of the ‘as is’ to something new, more exciting, more relevant, and more filled with future options, a world of ‘what can be.’

Albert Einstein wrote, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand.” He said, also, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” His words suggest that step beyond – from knowing what we know to exploring dreams undreamed.

May your mindset be one of continuing exploration and searching, be it in your professional or personal life and relationships, those casual activities you do every day, as you look for new possibilities and opportunities. And with great boldness and daring, ask ‘Why not?’, and move from a place of ‘as is’ to that of ‘what can be.’ May you live passionately, caringly, and confidently the words of Henry David Thoreau, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, and live the life you have imagined.”

My good friend and teacher writes, Zig Ziglar speaks to great leaders about commitment writing, “Most people who fail in their dream fail, not from lack of ability, but from lack of commitment.” Commitment transforms your hopes and promises into realities. In his blog post, The Magic of the Countdown, Seth Godin shares his thoughts of the metaphorical excitement that accompanies the great leader’s act of commitment.

Thea von Harbou invented the countdown. 10, 9, 8… It works. It focuses the attention of everyone involved and ensures that we’re truly alert for what’s going to happen next. It helps that the numbers go down, not up (because up might never end). And …

It focuses the attention of everyone involved and ensures that we’re truly alert for what’s going to happen next.

It helps that the numbers go down, not up (because up might never end). And it helps that as we get closer to lift-off, the tension goes up, not down.

But what really matters is this: There’s a commitment.

When we get to zero, we’re actually going to do this.

The commitment has to happen before the countdown can.

Jean-Paul Sartre writes, “Commitment is an act, not a word.” May your commitment to your life’s purpose and goals be unrelenting and filled with passion, excitement, and enthusiasm that transform your dreams into blissful realities. With great positivity and joy, choose to be on the playing field every precious moment of your life. Commit to realizing the greatness and beauty that is you that, at end of days, you can loudly and proudly say, “No regrets! I have lived my life to its fullest. I have truly lived every day of my life.”

Lou Holtz said: “Don’t promise more than you can deliver, but always deliver more than you promise.” A promise creates an expectation, hope, and anticipation. It is a verbal commitment to someone with your name behind it. It creates trust in the ears and heart of the recipient who hears an unsaid “because I said I would” which makes the promise a matter of character. Just as the value of words is found in actions, so, also, the truth of promises is found in their fulfillment.

May your promises, to yourself and others, provide a path of commitment to your life’s purpose and meaning, each being a piece of your beautiful life’s mosaic. As a reminder, may you remember Robert Frost’s words: “…. I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.” May you enjoy the beauty of each new mile and the value your kept promises continue to add to it. Life is so very good… and the best is yet to come.

In his TED talk, Want to Be Happy? Be Grateful, Brother David Steindl-Rast provides great leaders insights into the power and magic that a more grateful mindset has in living a fuller, richer and happier life.

“All human beings have something in common, all of us want to be happy”, he begins. One of the major contributors to being happy, he suggests, is the sense of gratefulness. Gratefulness arises when we experience something that is valuable and freely given. It is the combination of these two things – something of value and freely given – that creates gratitude which creates happiness.

How can we live gratefully? He suggests: “By experiencing, by becoming aware that every moment is a given moment… it’s a gift. You haven’t earned it, you haven’t brought it about in any way…. This moment with all the opportunity it contains.” The key to our happiness is availing ourselves of each opportunity each moment presents. “We hold the master key to happiness in our own hands.”, he says. “Moment by moment, we can be grateful for this gift.”

He proposes to great leaders a method for living gratefully. “Stop; Look; Go. We have to stop, be quiet and build stop signs into our lives. Look – open eyes, ears and nose, all our senses – for this wonderful richness that is given to us. And the third one: Go and really do something.”

Gratitude can be a key to our happiness. It will come when we fully learn and appreciate the value that each precious, freely given moment offers us… to be someone more, to do something more. May we embrace each of those beautiful moments with joyous passion, love and commitment that, at days’ end, they will say of you: He/she truly lived every day of her life.

Writing on the joy of creativity, Dr. Seuss tells great leaders: “Think left and think right, and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.” It is that magical power we hold to break away from seeing the world as it is to what it can be, to let our imagination run free, and create new possibilities and realities undreamed.

John Maxwell speaks of the principal characteristic of the creative person: “I believe that creative people always believe that there is an answer… and that’s why they stay creative. If I don’t think there is an answer, I’ll stop, I’ll quit, I’ll get discouraged, but if I think there is an answer, I’ll keep digging, I’ll keep creating until I find that answer.”

Maya Angelou writes: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” May you always remember Maxwell’s words: “There’s always an answer. Go find it today.” As John Muir said: “The power of imagination makes us infinite.” Think left and think right, and think high and low. Bring to the world the beauty and joy of your inestimable uniqueness of perspectives and insights. You will find an answer!