“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

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“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

– Charles Dickens, English novelist

565Image from Flickr by symphony of love.

One of the single most important things we can do to live a more fulfilling life is to exercise our “gratitude muscles” daily. You might find it interesting to know that gratitude:

  • Makes you happier
  • Makes people like you
  • Makes you healthier
  • Boosts your career
  • Increases optimism
  • Helps you sleep better
  • Gives you more energy
  • Helps you be more resilient
  • Increases self-esteem
  • Helps you live longer
  • Increases your energy level
  • Reduces stress
  • Improves all forms of relationships
  • Makes you more attractive, because you will be smiling more
  • Makes you a more effective leader and manager
  • Improves decision-making
  • Increases productivity

Exercise:

Take at least one minute today to journal about all the things you are grateful for.

Consider sharing this exercise with your family, close friends, and colleagues to make the most of the synergies available within these communities.

A great quote from Mahatma Gandhi

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“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”

– Mahatma Gandhi, pacifist leader of Indian independence movement

563Image from Flickr by ginnerobot.

It is a common custom in many parts of the world to remove one’s shoes before entering the home of a friend or colleague, so as not to bring any unwanted dirt into their residence and thus soil their surroundings.

Gandhi is asking us to consider the idea that negative or undesirable thoughts from others are a pair of metaphorical “dirty shoes” that can leave unpleasant remnants in our minds, polluting our inner world.

Exercise:

How can you limit or completely stop others in your professional and personal lives from “messing” with your mind?

A great quote from Lao Tzu

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“The reality of the building does not consist in the roof and walls but in the space within to be lived in.”

– Lao Tzu, founder of Taoism

562Image from Flickr by jillyspoon.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the wedding of my son Dan to his beautiful bride Carla. I am not a wedding planner, thank goodness, and I was amazed at how many venues it took to pull off this celebration.

Included were:

  • A restaurant to host the rehearsal dinner
  • The rooftop of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art for the ceremony
  • The ballroom of a wonderful, supportive hotel
  • A breakout room for a Sunday morning brunch
  • And even a local dance studio where the family and guests got to learn swing dancing

In each case, loving, joyous spaces were created by everyone who attended.

Exercise:

How can you, and those you care about, make the spaces within the buildings you live and work in even more special?

“Our life always expresses the results of our dominant thoughts.”

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“Our life always expresses the results of our dominant thoughts.”

– Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and theologian

561Image from Flickr by mkismkismk.

I recently participated in a webinar on social and emotional intelligence, as part of my continuing coach education. Fundamental to this form of intelligence are the areas of self-awareness and self-management. A substantial part of these relate to what Kierkegaard refers to as our dominant thoughts.

Explore the two lists below to see if any of these topics relate to your thinking:

  • Work
  • Family
  • Community
  • Gratitude
  • Achievement
  • Excellence
  • Spirituality
  • Growth
  • Stress
  • Worry
  • Fear
  • Anger
  • Resentment
  • Envy
  • Upsets
  • Shame

Exercise:

Consider journaling about your dominant thoughts today to make a list of your own. Aim to have more of the good ones and less of the unhelpful ones, to support your own emotional intelligence journey and your desire to have a more fulfilling life.

The Quotable Coach book now available (thank you for your help!)

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TQC-cover-welcomeI’m thrilled to announce that my book The Quotable Coach: Daily Nuggets of Practical Wisdom is now available.

If you’ve been waiting eagerly for this announcement, here’s where you can get a hot-off-the-press copy:

Ebook: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or your local Amazon store.

Paperback: My CreateSpace eStore.

If you’re purchasing the paperback version via my CreateSpace eStore, enter the code 42E47C9N for a 10% discount.

Many thanks to all of you who helped shape this book, voting and offering your feedback on the title and cover design. Thank you too for reading and supporting The Quotable Coach, whether you’ve been getting these emails for a couple of days or a couple of years.

If you’d like to know more about the book, which is an edited compilation of 365 of the best quotes from The Quotable Coach (so far), you can get all the details here.

“I’m not a genius. I’m just a tremendous bundle of experiences.”

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“I’m not a genius. I’m just a tremendous bundle of experiences.”

– R. Buckminster Fuller, architect and inventor

560Image from Flickr by Ohio Office of Redevelopment.

Buckminster Fuller was a remarkable man. At the age of 32, he decided to use his life as “an experiment to discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity.”

Over the next 54 years, he:

  • Was awarded 25 US patents.
  • Authored 28 books.
  • Received 47 honorary doctorates in the arts, science, engineering, and the humanities.
  • Received dozens of major architectural awards.
  • Circled the globe 57 times, reaching millions through his pop-up lectures and interviews.
  • Popularized the geodesic dome, the lightest, strongest, and most cost-effective structure even devised.

Even Albert Einstein was prompted to say to him, “Young man, you amaze me.”

Exercise:

How can you enhance and expand your own professional and personal experiences to discover and pursue your own genius and amaze yourself?

To learn more about Buckminster Fuller, you can go to: www.socialsynergetics.com/site/bucky-fuller

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

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“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

– Anais Nin, author

559Image from Flickr by Nono Fara.

Have you ever flown in a hot air balloon? If not, I’d highly suggest it as a must-do for your bucket list.

A couple of years ago, I received a gift of this experience as a surprise for my 33rd wedding anniversary. The balloon was inflated and the flame from a propane pack heated the air inside it to provide the lift required to rise above our surroundings. We were literally carried away to experience and see some awesome sights.

Exercise:

How can you summon the courage today to passionately expand and lift your own life balloon toward greater personal and professional heights?

“No matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”

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“No matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”

– Anthony J. D’Angelo, American writer

558Image from Flickr by emerille.

Do you ever daydream of living in a place that is always sunny, where the temperature is always ideal, where there are no major storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc?

If you do a bit of research, you will discover these top places to live, with relatively ideal weather:

1. Manjimup region, Australia

2. Lisbon, Portugal

3. The northwestern coast of Morocco

4. San Diego, California

5. Barcelona, Spain

6. Vina del Mar, Chile

7. Sassari, Sardinia

8. Adelaide, South Australia

Exercise:

Assuming you don’t plan to move to any of the places above in the near future, how can you optimize your attitude and general life perspective to bring a bit more sunshine into your world?

“Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today.”

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“Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today.”

– Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States (attrib.)

557Image from Flickr by Brett Jordan.

Procrastination is one of the primary reasons many people enter a coaching relationship. They just can’t seem to produce the professional and personal results they desire, and this pattern has been very familiar for years.

It’s common to think that coaching will break the habit of procrastination by bringing a level of accountability and a “just do it” perspective. Yet, while valuable, this support alone is rarely sufficient and is almost never sustainable. Instead, it’s important for each individual to gain a greater understanding for the reasons behind their painful and debilitating habit.

Exercise:

Explore the list below to see what may be the source(s) of procrastination for you:

1. Your circumstances are not optimal: the time and resources you need aren’t fully available.  The bad news is they rarely are.

2. You have no passion or desire for the activity, or no longer want to put in the effort to pursue what you may have wanted in the past.

3. You might even be sabotaging your own success because you feel unworthy of your dreams and aspirations.

4. You are afraid. This is perhaps the biggest reason people procrastinate. We are always simply afraid of the unknown, failure, and being vulnerable.

How can enhanced self-awareness, combined with your commitment to a better future, improve your orientation to action so that you don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today?

“Thankfully, dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.”

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“Thankfully, dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.”

– Stephen Colbert, American political satirist and comedian

556Image from Flickr by ljguitar.

When you were young, what were your dreams? Some of my friends dreamed of being great athletes or superheroes, and a few wanted to be movie stars. My dream was to become an astronaut with the “right stuff” to rocket into space on great adventures.

Today, many of us find ourselves earth-bound with our feet more firmly planted on the ground. It doesn’t have to be this way, and it is very much OK that our dreams have changed, perhaps many times, since our youth.

A critical component of this quote for me is to always have my sights out there and to continue being a bit of a dreamer.

Exercise:

Exercise your dreaming muscle, particularly your day-dreaming muscle, to explore some of the personal and professional accomplishments you wish to pursue.