“Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world…”

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“Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. They bring the world into focus; they corral ideas; they hone thoughts; they paint watercolors of perception.”

– Diane Ackerman, author, poet, and naturalist

When I was growing up, one of the most popular board games was Scrabble. This game brought families and friends together to test our abilities to take those small shapes and find focus from initial chaos.

Today, the number of popular word games is staggering, with some of the most popular being Words with Friends, Wheel of Fortune, Bookworm, Boggle, and the ever-popular crossword puzzle.

Exercise:

To build up your word-power muscle, keep an old-fashioned dictionary or thesaurus handy to review daily when you identify a word you don’t know, or when you are writing.

For those of you who are more tech-savvy, check out www.dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday or a similar site or app.

“There can be no joy in living without joy in work.”

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“There can be no joy in living without joy in work.”

– St. Thomas Aquinas, priest, philosopher and theologian

My brother Neal is an outstanding child psychiatrist who lives on the East Coast. The last couple of years have been quite difficult for him due to his lack of enjoyment in his work, caused by a dramatic change in his organization’s management.

His level of responsibility is high, and he is compensated quite well, but this level of reward makes virtually no difference to his level of satisfaction.
I’m proud to say that he just accepted a new (and likely more satisfying) job with a bit less pay to once again hopefully find joy in this very important part of life.

Exercise:

How can you contribute to and expand your satisfaction and enjoyment at work?

If that’s improbable or impossible, how can you make the courageous change required in order to find joy in your working life?

“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted, or take them with gratitude.”

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“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted, or take them with gratitude.”

– G.K. Chesterton, novelist

Since my mother Rose passed away 18 months ago, we have had the great privilege to have my father Marvin living with us. I must admit I was a bit concerned how it would change our lives, since not too long ago, Wendy and I became empty nesters.

At the age of 87, my father does not move as fast, and this has caused me to become far more aware of and self-reflective about my own life. I am pleased to say that with his wisdom and influence, I am taking far more things with gratitude than for granted.

Exercise:

Use today to slow down to half speed and look around at all the wonderful things that make up your life.

Go out of your way to thank those who are on this journey with you and consider sharing your insights about this exercise.

“To seduce almost anyone, ask for and listen to his opinion.”

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“To seduce almost anyone, ask for and listen to his opinion.”

– Malcolm Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine

When I conduct my individual and organizational personal excellence workshops, a key tool I share with participants is the Communications Toolbox. This includes six simple techniques that emphasize the importance of demonstrating sincere interest and truly listening to others.

Others’ thoughts, ideas, and opinions on any subject happen to be the key to unlock our ability to influence them. This ability to tune into others’ fundamental human frequency is like finding a perfectly tailored pair of gloves that fit our hands just right.

Exercise:

Respond to this email and write the words “Communication Toolbox” in the subject line, and I will send you a copy.

Two books that I find useful on this subject are Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott and Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson and others.

“To do what you love and feel it matters; how could anything be more fun?”

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“To do what you love and feel it matters; how could anything be more fun?”

– Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post

Many coaches share a common mission and purpose: to assist and support others in living their best life.

Fundamental to this mission is its expression in our vocations and professional worlds. To coin another quote, “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.”
Connecting who you are with what you do is critical for all of us if we are to be happy and fully expressed as individuals.

Exercise:

To move yourself forward in this area, I suggest you do both a values clarification assessment and a signature strength appraisal. By blending the results of these exercises, you will see the route that can be taken to fulfill your professional destiny.

You can use the value clarification assessment from Quote #32 here and you can do a signature strength appraisal based on the book Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham.

“Every human has four endowments – self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom … The power to choose, to respond, to change.”

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“Every human has four endowments – self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom … The power to choose, to respond, to change.”

– Stephen Covey, self-help author

Last year, we all lost a legend in the personal development world in Stephen Covey. Among his many accomplishments, he was recognized as one of Time Magazine’s “25 Most Influential Americans.”

He dedicated his life to demonstrating how every person can truly control and influence their own destiny – and the quote above sums it up pretty well.

Exercise:

How are you currently doing in your personal mastery journey to improve your self-awareness conscience, independent will, and creative imagination, to maximize your power to choose, respond, and change?

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

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“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

– Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States

The people who know me best know how much I love to learn. Learning is part of my fundamental fabric and is one of my signature strengths. Perhaps that is why, over 20 years ago, I was so attracted to the profession of coaching, where personal and professional growth and development is a top priority.

Not only do I enjoy learning new things each and every day, I find sharing this learning and supporting others on their own growth journey amazingly satisfying.

Exercise:

Select one or two things you would like to learn about today. Ask others around you to teach you things – or simply tap into the web and dig in.

Share what you learn with others in your world to compound your interest.

If a man does his best, what else is there

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“If a man does his best, what else is there?”

—George S. Patton, U.S. General in World War II

Image of a track starting line

Image from Unsplash by Kolleen Gladden

We live in a highly competitive society in which winning seems to be all that matters, in so many areas of our lives. Just look at sports, business, and even politics. However, if we examine how often any one individual or organization wins, we are often surprised at the modest or even low percentages.

This pursuit of winning and the pursuit of the perfect outcome leaves far too many of us falling short, often with negative views of ourselves and others.

Exercise:

Be your best self today and all this week, and use that as the only standard you measure yourself against.

Don’t be surprised by how great you feel, and by the considerable results you produce.

“There’s no greater power than to be in harmony with oneself.”

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“There’s no greater power than to be in harmony with oneself.”

– Panache Desai, spiritual writer

Do you like music? Me too. Great music has the power to move all of us. Think of some of your favorite songs, along with those smooth and often catchy melodies. I bet you could hum or sing some of them.

The action of tuning an instrument demonstrates that there is a certain frequency of vibration that resonates perfectly to make it sound just right.

Exercise:

Imagine you are a special and unique instrument of God that resonates at a particular frequency based on your unique abilities, gifts, values and beliefs.

Your job today is to take note 😉 of this special tune and play away.

“The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations.”

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 “The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations.”

– Benjamin Disraeli, 19th century British Prime Minister

We have now been working on The Quotable Coach series for over 24 months with over 350 posts. It is now your turn to do some “quotching”!

In the coming weeks, we will be selecting quotes, with coaching commentaries and appropriate exercise, from our loyal readers to be included in the series.

To submit a possible guest piece, please use the following guidelines:

  • Quotes of one, two and a maximum of 3 sentences are preferred.
  • Share a real world story or piece of useful information that demonstrates this quote’s application.
  • Provide a simple and straightforward exercise to help the reader apply this idea in their own personal and professional life.
  • Include a sentence of biographical information (with your name or pen name). We encourage you to use this as an opportunity to link to your website, LinkedIn profile, or other web presence.
  • Send your finished piece to me (barry@dempcoaching.com). We may make minor edits for house style or space requirements.

Thanks in advance for your participation. I look forward to reading your quotes, commentaries, and exercises!