“Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.”

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“Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.”

– Horace, Roman poet

Someone once said that contentment is being satisfied with what you have and who you are. This does not mean that pursing your goals with passion and bettering yourself is a bad idea.

Far too many people spend a considerable amount of time longing for a better future – and often missing life’s gifts that happen to be right in front of their noses.

Exercise:

Imagine, as you go through your day, that a wide variety of gifts are being sent to you by some higher power – and even by the people in your personal and professional life.

Make sure that you are wearing your special “gift-seeing glasses” so that you don’t miss a single one.

“The unfed mind devours itself.”

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“The unfed mind devours itself.”

—Gore Vidal, writer

Image from Unsplash

We’ve all heard the phrase “you are what you eat.” Perhaps this is also the case with our thoughts.

When we feed ourselves positive, affirming ideas and thoughts, our lives expand and become better. When we feed ourselves negative and critical thoughts – which often occur when our minds are not enriched – we tend to regress, becoming smaller and far less fulfilled.

Exercise:

If the phrase thoughts become things has some truth to it, plan your future cerebral meals carefully to include only the choicest morsels.

  • Consider purchasing a copy of John Maxwell’s Maxwell Daily Reader to chew on each day.
  • Read a passage from the Bible, Torah, Koran or another inspirational book.

Of course, please keep reading and sharing The Quotable Coach with others. I will do my best to make it worth your time!

Feel free to forward this email to friends and colleagues. If you received this from a friend, you can sign up to get future emails at www.thequotablecoach.com.

“Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.”

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“Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.”

– Diane Duane, science fiction and fantasy author

How many of you remember the old Lays potato chip commercial from the 70s and 80s – you know, the one that says you can’t eat just one? For some reason, those crispy salty treats caused many of us to find ourselves licking our fingers, having reached the bottom of the bag.

For me, books are a great metaphor for the satisfaction of gaining greater knowledge, entertaining ourselves, and expanding our worlds. They won’t even put those extra pounds on you.

Exercise:

Develop a list of books that you intend to read in the year ahead. Consider asking your friends, families and colleagues for their recommendations.

Buy at least one of those books this week on half.com, eBay or Amazon – and schedule yourself to enjoy those tasty bits of knowledge and pleasure daily.

Please check out my list of book recommendations for more ideas:http://www.dempcoaching.com/recommended-reading

“Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.”

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“Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.”

– Robert Half, businessman


As a business coach for over 19 years, I have worked with over 1,000 individuals in a wide variety of professions. It is a shame when I see people working 60 hours or more each week in jobs that don’t play to their strengths and talents. Many of these people experience high levels of stress, which can sometimes lead to burnout and illness.

As a coach, I help people discover and develop their strengths and unique abilities and apply them in their work. Sometimes, these people have fallen short of their fullest potentials simply because they haven’t put in the time and effort to make the most of their abilities.

Exercise:

How can you further discover and develop your talents and put in the work – which hopefully will feel like play – to avoid the tragedy of not realizing your fullest potential?

“The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology, but because of an expanded concept of what it means to be human.”

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“The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology, but because of an expanded concept of what it means to be human.”

– John Naisbitt, futurist and author

In my youth, I found that I often exchanged my time for money. As I get older, I now consider time as a new currency. How I spend my time and who I spend it with has great significance.

I do find that, as a high priority, I spend considerable time exploring and reflecting on life itself, hoping to maximize my potential and to contribute things of significance to those around me.

Exercise:

How can you further develop and expand your concept of what it means to be you?

With this expanded concept in mind, how will you spend your time and who will you spend it with in the future?

“The highest reward for a person’s toil… “

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“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.”

– John Ruskin, 19th century English artist and philanthropist

PROGRESS 1
I am a work in progress. How about you? With the wide variety of daily experiences we all have, I believe that we are constantly evolving and becoming a fuller expression of ourselves.

We all work each day to earn the compensation that allows us to care for ourselves and others. Ruskin’s quote, however, points to the less recognized and often subtle developments that accompany such experiences.

Exercise:

Explore how your daily efforts further your journey toward more fulfilling relationships, enhance creativity, expand greater self-esteem, support vibrant health, and extend your pursuit of wisdom.

How are you going beyond your basic psychological and physiological needs to pursue your own self-actualization? Consider Googling Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to explore this concept in more depth.

“People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”

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“People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”

– Zig Ziglar, best-selling author and motivational speaker

I’m not sure if I fully agree with this premise – however, I would support the belief that most buying decisions have a considerable emotional component. Marketers, the media, work associates and even friends and family are constantly pitching ideas and products. I find that I am most easily sold when both head and heart are involved in the decision – especially when the decisions are big ones.

Consider some of the big decisions that you’ve made successfully, including such matters as education, location, friendships, environment – and even your life partner. When making decisions such as these, you are unlikely to think, “there is an 83% likelihood we will be married seven years from now.” Instead, you pay attention to what your heart says.

Exercise:

How can you listen more closely to the wisdom of your heart, as you consider the decisions you need to make today and in the future?

“Do your little bit of good wherever you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

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“Do your little bit of good wherever you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

—Desmond Tutu, South African bishop and opponent of apartheid

I have recently finished reading the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. One of the ideas he points out as a way to generate individual and organizational habits that lead to greater success is to focus on “small wins.”

Too often we glamorize only the big wins – you know, those “superbowl” sized accomplishments that are highlighted in the media – without recognizing all those little steps along the way.

Exercise:

Develop a “little bit of good” journal, scoreboard or notebook to capture all the ways you can and do make the world a better place.

Create a separate section to capture all the little bits of good others do for you.

Imagine the possibilities of seven billion people doing this exercise!

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”

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“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”

– Author Unknown

Many years ago, I attended a seminar where the leader suggested – very cynically – that the reason most people get up in the morning is because they did not die in their sleep. Wow, what a horrible thought!

This quote is why I, and perhaps many engaged, optimistic individuals, get up each morning – to make themselves and their world a bit better, each and every day.

With this sense of purpose – to improve their worlds – they awake with both the intention and the opportunity to influence their lives for the better.

Exercise:

How can you structure your professional and personal life in order to take what’s good and make it better, and take what’s already better and make it your best?

“Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.”

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“Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.”

– William Arthur Ward, inspirational author

As part of my personal excellence workshop, I often ask my clients, “What inspires you?” Quite often, their answers include aspects of nature, such as beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

How often do you wake before the sun rises, to pursue the opportunities life presents? How often do you sleep in and miss the beauty of the dawn’s early light, and the opportunities that go to those early birds?

Some people even go through their days half-asleep, due to their lack of engagement.

Exercise:

How can you live a more inspired and engaged life, and grasp all the beauty and opportunities before you?

Consider doubling the amount of times each day that you say “Yes” and cut the amount of times each day that you say “No” in half.