Category Archives: Rules to live by

Thought for the day: Day 9

“Big ideas and big plans are often easier – certainly no more difficult – than small ideas and small plans.  BELIEVE BIG.”

This is taken from the book, The Magic of Thinking Big.

Thought for the day: Day 8

“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”

I pulled this from the book Destination Success by Dwight Bain.  It’s crazy how true it is.  The bolder you are, the luckier you seem to get.  But it’s not luck.  Things begin to fall into place.  Taking a step out on faith can be scary.  But you’re rewarded in ways you can never imagine.

Thought for the day: Day 7

“Action 1st.  Mistakes 2nd.  Lessons 3rd.”

Thought for the day: Day 6

“My life doesn’t work without my wife!”

Thought for the day: Day 5

“What strengths do I most admire about my spouse?”

You and your spouse are in this thing called life together. Take stock of what you have there.  You married them for very specific reasons. What were they?  After you write out the list, might I suggest you write your spouse a note and let them know you haven’t forgotten?  How surprised would they be if they read a note from you pointing out their best qualities?  You could write one note for each individual strength each day for five days or one note a week for 5 weeks or however you think they would enjoy it the most.

Thought for the day: Day 4

What are five things you are looking forward to?

We all need things in our life we are looking forward to.  Heck, some of them could even be work related.  Are you finishing your degree?  Planning that dream vacation?  Waiting to watch your child graduate?  Are there any babies or grandchildren on the way?  I think you get the idea.

Thought for the day : Day 3

What are five things I’m grateful for?

This one should end up being a very long list.  Another way to look at this exercise is this: what if you woke up today with only those things you thanked God for yesterday?  That should get your brain in gear.

Thought for the day: Day 2

What are five of my strengths?

This one could be a bit tough.  But grab your sheet from yesterday and add this to the list.  Again, don’t stop at five if you can help it.

Thought for the day: Day 1

What are five recent victories in my life?

The first few days of this exercise are meant to get you thinking in a new way.  Too many of us tend to focus on the negative things.  I am quite certain most of us could rattle off several bad things that have happened to us the past few weeks or months.  To begin to change our mind-set we have to think differently.  So grab a pen and paper (and a chair) and write out your recent victories.  And know you don’t have to stop at five.

Thought for the day . . .

Years ago I started the practice of writing motivational quotes on a note card and carrying the card with me.  Several times throughout the day I would take out the card and read it.  That practice kept me focused.  When I started to feel down or was getting knocked off track I would pull out the card and reflect on it.  The topics of the cards ranged widely.  That’s what made it so fun and easy to do.

I want to share this daily practice with you.  Over the next sixty days I will be posting a motivation.  While they won’t be listed in a specific order, they will fall roughly into the following categories:

1) Taking Stock 2) Facing Your Fears 3) Being Courageous/Taking Risks 4) Taking Action.

My desire with this daily exercise is that you will reflect on the words and what they mean to you.  If a particular quote strikes you and you want to comment, please do.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  If the quote makes you think about something new or about something in a different way, that’s great.

The quotes come from a variety of places.  Many are from books I’ve read, some are from famous people, some are from speakers at conferences I have attended through the years.  When I know the source, I will cite it.

See you tomorrow.