Notable Quote #24

February 26, 2008
Notable Quote #24

Good Afternoon!

I don’t know about you, but this week has already been pretty stinkin’ interesting!  Here are the Notable Quotes!

“I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to something if I could.  And no hours nor amount of labor nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me.”
Col. Harland Sanders

“Most great people have attained their greatest success
just one step beyond their greatest failure.”
Napoleon Hill

Again a great quote from Napoleon Hill!  I find the knowledge in Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich, to be as relevant today as it was in 1937 when it was first published.  Too many times we as individuals and society as a whole, quit when the going gets tough.  We fail once and we often give up…If we are “persistent” we may try a couple more times before we throw in the proverbial towel.  I have written about this in the past, but I can’t get away from it.  In almost any book you read, fiction, non-fiction, historical, self-help, etc. there is this idea of having raw and un-daunting determination.  We may read these stories and think that we could never be like that. 

Imagine standing alongside General George Washington and the Continental Army in 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  How would you have reacted when you failed at creating a lamp that could be run by electricity?  Thomas Edison failed more than 10,000 times before he got it right…Yeah you read that right, 10,000 times!  I’m glad he didn’t give up after 7,500 failures!  Where would we be without the great Col. Sanders?!  (Stop laughing!)

The point is we all need to be more determined.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was anything else worthwhile!  Think about it…God took 6 days to create everything! 

Determination is relevant to any type of success whether it be personal or professional.  Don’t give up on your dreams and goals.  No matter what is thrown in your way make a conscious effort to go over, go under or go through it!

Until Next Time,
Heath

Notable Quote #23

February 19, 2008
Notable Quote #23

Good Morning! 

That’s right it’s morning and the quotes are out!!!  I can’t believe it either!  Here we go!

“If you want happiness for an hour – take a nap. If you want happiness for a day – go fishing. If you want happiness for a year – inherit a fortune.  If you want happiness for a lifetime – help someone else.”
Chinese Proverb

It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.
Napoleon Hill

I have been reading another great book…Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.  Now there are TONS of great tidbits scattered throughout, but one idea keeps popping out at me…”OTHERS.”  Other readers of this book may not agree, but the stories of success and happiness have typically been when one person helps another.  It’s interesting to me that those who are successful have or are currently helping others!  (Remember success = happiness NOT money and material possessions…See quote #9)

Take for example John Wood.  John was a quick rising executive for Microsoft.  He went on a vacation in order to get away and ended up in Nepal.  There he saw children attending school attempting to learn with few if any books!  In fact books were such prized possessions that they were kept under lock and key in order to keep them safe and protected…FROM THE CHILDREN!!!  The head of the school looked at him and said, “Perhaps, Sir, you will someday come back with books.”  John reached out to his friends and business partners and within two months he had collected over 3,000 books!  He went back to the same village a year later and hand delivered the books that he had collected.  In 1999, John quit is executive job at Microsoft and started Room to Read. (To find out more click on the link)

Let me ask us all this…How have we measured success and happiness?  Are we trying to do it all BY ourselves FOR ourselves???  Our pastor this week challenged all of us to step out of our comfort zone and meet people where they are.  This may be a new idea to some and may be tough, but think about this…many times when we help others, we are often the one being helped.

Until Next Time,
Heath

Notable Quote #22

February 12, 2008
Notable Quote #22

Good Afternoon!

Welcome new readers!

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
H. Jackson Brown

Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge.  If you had all the money in the world, you couldn’t buy an extra hour.  What will you do with this priceless treasure?
Author Unknown

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
Charles Buxton

Here’s an EXTREME hypothetical situation…What if your bank informed you that every night at 12:01 a.m. you had $1,440 automatically deposited into your account.  They then told you that there are no restrictions and that you can spend the money any way you wish.  Sounds pretty cool huh?!?  Then you get to the fine print.  (How appropriate for banks, FINE PRINT!)  They tell you that you MUST spend the entire amount every day and that you are not allowed to hold or save any portion!  Sounds pretty good at first, but that would eventually get tough.  Believe it or not 1,440 are the number of minutes we have every day! 

How many times have you said…TIME…I NEED MORE TIME!!! or how about this…Oh man, how much more time do I have to sit here?!?  It’s interesting that we often want or perceive that we need more or less time.  The truth of the situation is we all have the same amount of time…1,440 minutes a day!  I find it humbling that I have the same number of minutes as those listed Brown’s quote.  Makes me feel a little selfish to know that such great people and leaders accomplished what they did with the same amount of time I have.  What about you???  Do you find yourself wanting more or wishing away time?  Time is a precious commodity, one that we cannot reclaim, reuse or recycle.  We must then use every minute given to us to make a difference, whether that be in our jobs, within our families/friends, or with ourselves.  Make the most of EVERY day, we are never guaranteed tomorrow.

Until Next Time,

Heath

Notable Quotes #21

February 6, 2008
Notable Quote #21 

Good Afternoon!  

This posting is probably a couple days late, and I REFUSE to make this a political debate, but as Super Tuesday has come and gone I wish to impart a couple quotes and hopefully get the wheels in your minds and maybe your heart turning    

“Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices.
Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.”
Katherine Mansfield  

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” 
 Henry Ford  

Super Tuesday turned out to be just that…SUPER!  The political landscape is taking form and the candidates on both sides are starting to quip more and more.  Honestly, I will be glad when November comes…and goes.  Even though I am young and honestly an inexperienced voter I am already tired of the rhetoric that the presidential candidates are bombarding us with.  I heard something interesting on the radio today, a gentleman called in and said he couldn’t believe it, here in America candidates spend billions of dollars to win a job that pays approx. $400,000/yr.  Doesn’t make much sense to me!  ($3 Billion was spent in the election of 2000 according to the Center for Responsive Politics)  

I chose these two quotes for a reason…That we would not only take a LONG and HARD look at the candidates running for President, but to also look on the inside of ourselves.  We often complain about candidates telling and promising us what we want to hear and when we elect them, they rarely following through.  What about us, do we tell others what they want to hear because it is easy?  Do we try to build a reputation on what we say versus what we actually do?  Eventually those things will catch up with all of us.  I want to be a man of integrity, known as someone who follows through on what he says.  Many times, actions speak louder than words.  

Be true, Act yourself, Face the truth!  

Until Next Time,
Heath