#62: “The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow…”

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“The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won’t wait while you finish the work.”

– Patricia Clifford

Are you missing too many rainbows? Do you sometimes feel that life is passing you by? Do you tell yourself that you will have the time in the future – perhaps on the weekend or on vacation, or even when you retire – to get to the things that matter?

We cannot schedule life’s rainbows. We have to seize the precious moments when they occur.

Exercise:

How can you be more intentionally tuned into your world and find greater joy and fulfillment in life’s special moments?

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#61: “The longest journey is the journey inward.”

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– Dag Hammarskjold, diplomat, economist and author

I have just finished driving 845 miles over two days through Canada, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. My journey included stops in Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, a winery, and a very cool hole-in-the-wall diner with the best all-you-can-eat fish and chips I’ve ever had!

Most people I know like going on such adventures. This quote, however, is about our ability to journey within our own minds. Think about it: you can instantly go anywhere at any time without 15 hours in the car and two and a half tanks of gas.

Exercise:

Where have you already gone on this inner journey so far?

What new and expanded adventures are possible for each day, week, month, and year ahead?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#60: “Do what you know is right, do the best you can, and let the loose ends drag.”

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– Steve Strickler (attributed)

Life is a journey. It’s a game of progress, not perfection. When we live a life true to our nature and give it our all, perhaps we just need to let the chips fall where they may.

If we let go of the loose ends of life – the small stuff, the minor parts – then we can travel lighter.

Exercise:

Where do you sweat the small stuff, or major in the minors?

How can you simply let the loose ends drag?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#59: “Progress is impossible without change…”

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“…and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

– George Bernard Shaw

I heard once that the reason many of us resist change is because we are afraid of losing something. It may be the fear of losing the familiar (better the devil you know), fear of losing control, or simply the fear of losing a relationship we have come to know.

But what if we look at the flip side: the opportunities, the things we have to gain? Perhaps if we not only acknowledge that change is constant, but fully embrace it, even intentionally cause it, we can live fuller and more satisfying lives.

Exercise:

Where are you resisting change and maintaining a closed mind?

How can you develop a more open perspective to welcoming change in your world?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

Follow Your Heart

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“When at a conflict between mind and heart, always follow your heart.”

– Swami Vivekananda, Hindu monk

How do you make decisions? Do you come to them through logic, or check in with your gut? Do they make sense or do they feel right? Are you a head or heart decider?

Many people use both, and enjoy knowing that something is consistent with their core values as well as meeting the criteria of logic and critical thinking.

What if these two types of thinking are in conflict? How often have you been faced with such a conflict in your personal or professional life, and how successful have you been in making such decisions?

Exercise:

Where could increasing your emphasis on your heart’s decisions increase your success and satisfaction?

 

#57: “When one door closes, another opens…”

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“… but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.”

– Alexander Graham Bell, scientist and inventor

Life is filled with many endings and beginnings. It has many twists, turns, and even its share of dead ends. How can we maintain life’s momentum when we come to a real or apparent ending, instead of stopping too long to ponder or dwell on our past?

It often takes us a while to turn our heads and look forward, to grasp the doorknob of the future and open it with excitement and enthusiasm.

Exercise:

What doors in your life have you recently closed, and what new openings are available for you to pursue?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#56: “To succeed in life, you need three things…”

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“… a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.”

– Reba McEntire, musician and actress

Many of the quotes I’ve included in The Quotable Coach series discuss the benefit of vision and hard work to help you along your life journey. I like the added element here of having a funny bone, or a sense of humor, as we navigate this journey.

I personally need to take life a bit less seriously – to be more playful and light-hearted and to have a whole lot more belly laughs along the way. How about you?

Exercise:

What can you do to lighten your life journey, experience more humor and laughter and find a youthful, playful spirit that will bring more joy into your world?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

Nothing happens unless first a dream

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“Nothing happens unless first a dream.”

– Carl Sandburg, 20th Century Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet

Close up image of a blue eye

Image from Unsplash by Daniil Kuželev

A dream, a vision, a goal, an objective: Words that convey a view of the future. When we envision the future, a magical attractive power begins to pull us towards its realization.

Without this first thought of what we want to see, we are left exactly where we are – with something neither good nor bad unless we make it so. However, the moment we think about, imagine, and envision a future, we find the ability to reach our destiny.

Exercise:

What are your personal and professional dreams?
How can you exercise your personal and professional capacity to envision your future, and use this capacity to enhance your world?

#54: “Remember to pick something up when you fall.”

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– Unknown

We have all heard that experience is the best teacher. Many experiences do not provide us with success on the first attempt. Consider a baby trying to take its first steps, a child learning to read a book or ride a bike, a new leader speaking in public to a large group, learning a new language … the list goes on and on.

Have a “beginner’s mind” and a hunger for the lesson: this offers us the opportunity for value even in adversity.

Exercise:

Where did you fall down today, this week, this month? And what did you pick up when you stumbled?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

You cannot talk your way out of something you behaved yourself into.”

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“You cannot talk your way out of something you behaved yourself into.”

—Stephen Covey, self-help author

Image from Unsplash by Roman Melnychuk

Actions speak louder than words. They are all we really have to make our dreams of a better future become our reality.

Consider a business leader who consistently touts his core values and corporate vision, yet is seen by his colleagues to act inconsistently with these beliefs. Consider the individual who is constantly discussing his interest in health and wellness, but is often seen making unhealthy eating choices and is rarely seen engaged in physical activity.

Exercise:

Where in life can you bring greater alignment between your actions and your words?

To whom–besides yourself–will you make these promises, and what added support will be required to ensure this new level of personal accountability?