“My job is to protect and to serve.”

Posted on by

“My job is to protect and to serve.”

Image from LAPD

Did you know the phrase “to protect and to serve” became the motto of the Los Angeles Police Department Academy in the mid-50s as the result of a contest? Its acceptance eventually expanded to the entire department, and it has been placed alongside the City Seal on all patrol cars.

Police protect and serve us by helping with emergencies such as car accidents, fires, illnesses, and rescues. Police can often be seen patrolling our streets and neighborhoods to prevent and solve crimes. When many of us would be paralyzed by fear or even run from such events, these brave men and women are often the first on the scene.

EXERCISE:

Who are the people you are committed to protecting and serving so they can live a happier and safer life?

Please make a point of including yourself on the list, and perhaps go a bit farther to lend the men and women in blue a hand from time to time.

“Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react, and reinvent.”

Posted on by

“Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react, and reinvent.”

—Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft

Image from wordpress

Imagine you are Aladdin with a magic lamp and three wishes to dramatically enhance your life. How many of your wishes would be extrinsic rather than intrinsic in nature?

What internal qualities and personal characteristics would you seek to more fully realize your vision of a brighter, more fulfilling future?

EXERCISE:

Consider that you already have your own internal magic lamp within you. Where will you begin, today, to use it to rethink, reinvigorate, and reinvent whatever aspect of your world you choose?

Friday Review: Persistence

Posted on by

FRIDAY REVIEW: PERSISTENCE

What is your level of stick-to-it-ness? Here are a few posts about persistence you may have missed. Click the links to read the full messages.

 

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

 

 

 

 

“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.”

 

 

 

“Elbow grease is the best polish.”

 

 

 

 

 

“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”

Posted on by

“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”

—Ralph Marston, 20th Century professional football player

Image from Unsplash by Glen Carstens-Peters

The critical word in today’s quote is “can.”

There is, of course, no guarantee that today will improve all, or perhaps more realistically, most of your tomorrows.

With the right attitude, planning, and of course, inspired effort, the likelihood of a more positive and successful future is inevitable.

EXERCISE:

What attitude-enhancing efforts will you bring into your day today?

What planning did you do yesterday, or this morning, to assure you are working on your top personal and professional priorities?

What inspired and committed actions will you take today to guarantee many better tomorrows?

“I’m breaking the habit of being myself.”

Posted on by

“I’m breaking the habit of being myself.”

—Dr. Joe Dispenza, lecturer, researcher, consultant, author

Image from All American Speakers Bureau

Describe your best future self.

What personal qualities and characteristics do you intend to develop in the years ahead?

If you find this exercise challenging, consider looking to the people you most admire and respect. You can also look to the past for individuals who set an example you wish to emulate or build upon.

EXERCISE:

Who are the people you identified?

What are their most favorable and inspiring qualities?

What current habit do you plan to break to more fully realize an even better version of yourself?

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed…”

Posted on by

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”

—Denis Waitley, American motivational speaker

Image from Unsplash by Constantinos Panagopoulos

Did you know that Harvard University has a course on happiness?

Think about it.

The students of one of the most prestigious universities in the world want to learn what’s involved in living a happy life, and don’t want to wait for some day down the road to begin their journey.

The fact that extrinsic recognition, rewards, and accomplishments alone never seem to do the trick is surprising to many people. It is our inner journey and the pursuit of intrinsic factors that provides the fulfillment we all seek.

EXERCISE:

Please pick up a copy of the book Happier, by Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD, which provides the backbone information for Harvard’s most popular course.

You can also look into the work of Martin Seligman, PhD, author of Authentic Happiness, for additional guidance into living a happier life.

“I need to take a sacred pause, as if I were a sun warmed rock in the center of a rushing river.”

Posted on by

“I need to take a sacred pause, as if I were a sun warmed rock in the center of a rushing river.”

—Dawna Markova, consultant member of the Society for Organizational Learning

Image from Unsplash

To what degree is your life like a rushing river of endless “to do” items? How often do you feel swept away, pulled under, perhaps even drowning in the commitments and urgencies of life?

How often do you experience peace of mind or a sense of calm centeredness throughout a typical workday or weekend?

If you are like many of us, your answer may be, “Not nearly enough.”

EXERCISE:

Consider the importance of adding a few more “sacred pauses” to your day to regain your footing and catch your breath so that you may fully experience a more satisfying life.

Consider meditation, prayer, walks in nature, exercise, power naps, and digital fasting as some potential strategies. Please reply to this post with some added suggestions you have found helpful.

Friday Review of Posts on Perception

Posted on by

FRIDAY REVIEW: PERCEPTION

They say perception is reality. Here are a few perception-related quotes you may have missed. Click the links to read the full messages.

 

“Reality is the other person’s idea of how things should be.”

 

 

 

 

“Choices are the hinges of destiny.”

 

 

 

 

“We are sitting under the tree of our thinking minds, wondering why we’re not getting any sunshine!”

 

 

 

“Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise.”

Posted on by

“Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise.”

—Frank Ocean, American singer/songwriter

Image from Unsplash by Glenn Carstens-Peters

I hope you love your life. I hope all your personal and professional efforts are rewarding in themselves, and that there is no need to brag or boast to call attention to your successes. After all, tooting your own horn can often backfire in our world of considerable judgement.

Ask yourself the following questions regarding your current work efforts:

  • How much impact, influence, and say do I have in my work?
  • How much am I learning, growing, and bettering myself through my work?
  • What difference, contribution, and purpose does my work provide to others in my various communities?

EXERCISE:

Take one minute tonight after you brush your teeth to look in a mirror and reflect on all your silent successes. You may notice how others in your world often toot your horn for you.

“Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.”

Posted on by

“Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.”

—George Halas, founder of the Chicago Bears

What would you rather be doing at this very moment? Hopefully you love learning, personal growth/development feels more like play than work, and reading The Quotable Coach every morning is an enjoyable and rewarding minute of your day.

What are the areas of your life in which you expend considerable effort because those activities fill you up rather than bring you down?

When I first began coaching, I was introduced to the word “toleration” by Thomas Leonard of Coach University. Simply defined, tolerations are things that bug us, sap our energy, and could be eliminated. Although some people have a sense of pride and even feel noble about carrying many of these burdens, there can be a considerable price to pay.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you bring more fulfillment and satisfaction into your work and life? What are some of the tolerations you can reduce or eliminate to lead a more enjoyable life?

Consider picking up a copy of Thomas Leonard’s book, The Portable Coach to learn more about this technique.