FRIDAY REVIEW: CHOICES
What sort of life are you choosing? Here are a few choice-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full message.
“Words empty as the wind are best left unsaid.”
“Easy Street is a blind alley.”
obstacles and dreams
“In one hand I have a dream, and in the other I have an obstacle. Tell me, which one grabs your attention?”
—Sir Henry Parkes, Member of the Australian Parliament
Image from Flickr by Mark Hunter
Today’s quote reminds me of the saying, “Where your attention goes, your energy flows.” Since energy is what moves the world, it makes sense to heed this advice.
What are the issues that grab your attention, personally and professionally? How is directing your attention there influencing and impacting your life?
EXERCISE:
How and in what ways can you stop focusing on your obstacles and put more time and attention to your most cherished goals and dreams?
The Town Gossip
“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”
—Will Rogers, 20th Century American Cowboy Humorist
Image from Flickr by Martin Pettitt
Did you know that parrots experience peer pressure? Just like humans, they desire to fit in with others in their group. This is one reason they learn to copy the sounds and language of the people around them.
This morning at the gym one of the other regulars was talking with a trainer. I was shocked by the level of vulgarity, back-stabbing, and general gossip in their conversation, especially being in a public place.
EXERCISE:
How do your actions and use of language stand up to the parrot test? What adjustments might you make to have the town gossip say only good things, or at the very least, say nothing about you?
Talkers are no good doers
“Talkers are no good doers.”
—William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 1, Scene 3
Shakespeare sure had a way with words!
I had to re-read today’s quote several times, letting it percolate for a while before I chose it for today’s post.
What was your first interpretation?
What other meanings might it have for you?
I first thought about an individual being all talk and no action. Next, I considered whether talkers, or those too busy being interesting to be interested, were bad people, arrogant, with excessive egos.
What is the message you prefer, or relate to the most?
EXERCISE:
What are your views on people who talk far more than they listen?
What would others say about your propensity to talk versus listen?
What relationship does this issue have with what actually gets done, and what you learn?
Feel free to respond to this post with your thoughts and perspectives.
exaggeration
“We always weaken whatever we exaggerate.”
—Jean Francois de la Harpe, 19th Century French Playwright and Critic
Image from recapo
Someone once told me that if you say something good about yourself it is bragging, yet if someone else says the same thing it is the truth.
What happens, however, if these messages are exaggerated rather than shared with a reasonable level of humility or tact?
We are all familiar with bold and bombastic claims for new products and offerings through the media. In the recent political circus, the candidates made grandiose statements about themselves and against their opponents. What are your thoughts on such matters? Who do you choose to believe?
EXERCISE:
Where are you perhaps weakening your arguments, views, or influence on others by exaggerating things? What new or different strategy or approaches will strengthen your case?
Friday Review Gratitude
FRIDAY REVIEW: GRATITUDE
What are you grateful for today? Here are a few gratitude-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full post.
“I thank you for your part in my journey.”
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
Thanksgiving 2016
“Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude.”
—Nigel Hamilton, British Biographer/Broadcaster
EXERCISE:
Who are those special people that make your life so wonderful? Make an extra special effort today, and every day, to show them and tell them.
THANK YOU so much for being a part of The Quotable Coach Project!
Most Sincerely,
Barry Demp
Go Outside
“Go outside. There is bliss in the silent expanse of nature.”
—Brendon Burchard, American Motivational Author
Image from Flickr by Moyal Brenn
I write this post on a Saturday morning in early November in Michigan. Saturday is a quiet time, a time for me to slow down, reflect, and fully appreciate my life and the world around me.
In just under an hour, I have had the good fortune to see an amazing sunrise, a brilliant blue sky, and the bright yellow, orange, and red leaves still on the trees in my neighborhood. Albert Camus once said “Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower.”
EXERCISE:
How and in what ways can you more fully experience the silent beauty and bliss of nature, today, and throughout the year?
the winds of change
“Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction.”
⏤Author Unknown
Image from Flickr by Ignis
Have you noticed the increase in super-storms in recent years – storms with winds over 150 miles per hour and distinctive forces with serious, sometimes deadly consequences? Following these events we always see the resilience and tenacity of people, rebuilding and renewing their worlds.
The pace of life and the winds of change throughout the world have picked up speed because of social, political, and technological factors. How are you surviving, or better yet, thriving, in these dynamic times?
EXERCISE:
What inner work related to your vision, values, beliefs, and talents will you do today? How will your internal Gyroscopic Guidance System help you find and continue on your truest path regardless of what storms come your way?
what a tangled web we weave
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
—Sir Walter Scott, from the 1808 poem Marmion
Image from Flickr by 55Laney69
Watching the media circus around the recent presidential election, I noticed an increase in fact-checking news segments.
Outright lies, deceit, half truths and, of course, gross exaggerations had many of us tangled up emotionally, stressed out, and completely disgusted.
Perhaps you are troubled by various levels of deceit in your personal or professional worlds. How do you handle these matters? How do you untangle the knots, or better yet, never tie them in the first place?
EXERCISE:
Where would more honesty, integrity, and good old-fashioned truth-telling and character set you free from the tangled webs many weave?