Tag Archives: The Quotable Coach

“If all you did was just look for things to appreciate, you would live a joyously spectacular life.”

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“If all you did was just look for things to appreciate, you would live a joyously spectacular life.”

—Esther Hicks, American channeler, inspirational speaker, and author

Image from Unsplash by Gabrielle Henderson

Esther Hicks narrated and appeared in the original version of the film, The Secret, as well as being a central source of the film’s inspiration.

One of the basic tenets of her teachings says that people create their own reality through their attention and focus.

Another aspect of her teaching is that the basis of life is freedom, the purpose of life is joy, and the result of life is growth.

EXERCISE:

Please consider working your appreciation muscles extra hard today.

Let me know what you see and how spectacular things go.

 

“Doing your best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

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“Doing your best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Serena Repice Lentini

What percent of the time do you give your personal and professional activities your very best?

How often do you feel stretched and notice the burn physically, mentally, or emotionally as you take on a particular challenge?

In grade school, I had the opportunity to visit New York and climb to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. The 162 steps to the top seemed like a million. I recall the heat and shaking in my legs as I tried to keep pace.

No one was stopping to catch their breath on the various platforms, and I sure didn’t want to look like a slacker in front of my friends.

Twenty minutes or so from my first step, I received my crowning reward, seeing the panoramic view of New York’s skyline, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and the Empire State Building.

EXERCISE:

Where in your world are you holding back your best efforts?

Where would taking those extra steps place you at a higher point to both see and pursue even greater personal and professional excellence?

Friday Review: Experimentation

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Friday Review: Experimentation

Where in your life has experimentation proven fruitful? Where has it not? Here are a few experimentation-related posts you may have missed.

 

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, risk-taking, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”

 

 

 

“There is always room in our budget for a little experimentation.”

 

 

 

“If you call failures experiments, you can put them on your resume and claim them as achievements.”

 

 

 

 

“The sooner you make a choice, the sooner you can make an adjustment.”

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“The sooner you make a choice, the sooner you can make an adjustment.”

—James Clear, America author, entrepreneur, and photographer

Image from Unsplash by Brendan Church

Consider these activities:

Rifle Shooting Archery Golf
Bowling Billiards / Pool Soccer
Drone Flying Darts Basketball

How many have you tried over the years, and how masterful were you, at your best?

How many shots were required to hit your target or better yet, the bullseye?

How did a ready, shoot, adjust, repeat process increase your eventual accuracy?

EXERCISE:

Where are you waiting to launch into action for fear of missing your target?

How would taking far more courageous shots at your personal and professional goals, making the necessary adjustments, help any misses become great hits in the future?

“Never bear more than one trouble at a time. Some people bear three kinds — all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have.”

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“Never bear more than one trouble at a time. Some people bear three kinds — all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have.”

—Edward Everett Hale, 19th Century American author and historian

Image from Unsplash by Antoine Dautry

If you are a negative, half-empty, or pessimistic individual, you may wish to practice your subtraction or division to improve your life. If you lean more strongly toward the positive, half-full, or optimistic scale, consider your addition and multiplication skills.

Many of us travel through time via various mental pathways from the past, to the present, and often into the future. If you happen to be in the half-empty camp, your troubles can easily add up and multiply beyond those present in the moment.

Using your mental muscles, selecting only one trouble at a time on your current doorstep can reduce your worries and lift the load more easily.

EXERCISE:

For the optimists among you who sees opportunities in most obstacles, feel free to add, multiply, and embrace as many possibilities as you wish.

“You don’t need to wear a hoodie or a lab coat to be an innovator.”

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“You don’t need to wear a hoodie or a lab coat to be an innovator.”

—Josh Linkner, Top Rated Keynote Speaker and World-Renowned Innovation Expert

image from Amazon

What do Earvin Magic Johnson, Seth Godin, Adam Grant, Steve Case, Richard Davis, and Eric Lefkofsky have in common?

If you happen to have recently read Big Little Breakthroughs, you would know the they are fans of the author Josh Linkner.

Instead of innovation, being accessible to only a select few, Josh offers through many real-world examples. In dozens of small ways we can all innovate and be far more creative in our personal and professional worlds, to generate big results.

Cutting edge research from Harvard University proves that all human beings are creative. In fact, 85% of creativity is learned behavior. Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle is fear — literally robbing us of this innate human capacity.

EXERCISE:

If you would like to learn The 10 Commandments of Brainstorming, The Seven Deadly Sins of Creativity, and Five Innovation Lessons from the Beatles, please check out the big ideas in this little book.

“Could this life be one level in a larger game?”

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“Could this life be one level in a larger game?”

—Mo Gawday, Solve for Happy

Image from Unsplash by Leslie Lopez Holder

In physics, work is the energy to or from an object via the application of force along a displacement. For the sake of simplicity:

Work = Force x Displacement

How hard do you work? How much force do you put into your personal and professional activities? Where are you headed in your intended direction through your efforts?

How happy are you pursuing and pulling on the levers and ropes of your life?

EXERCISE:

What are your thoughts on Mo’s question regarding life being part of a larger game? Please consider replying to share your perspective.

FRIDAY REVIEW: POTENTIAL

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FRIDAY REVIEW: POTENTIAL

Who in your communities has the most potential? Which among them would name you to their list? Here are a few potential-related posts you may have missed.

 

“There’s no such thing as overachievers; there are only under-estimators.”

 

 

 

“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.”

 

 

 

 

“The challenges that we face test us and help reveal our true potential.”

 

 

 

 

“Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.”

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“Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.”

—H. Jackson Brown Jr., Author of Life’s Little Instruction Book

Image from Unsplash by Edi Libedinsky

Everyone is watching! Your friends, colleagues, and especially your children are always keeping tabs on you. They don’t miss a trick.

What do they see and hear? How pleased would you be if you were forced to binge watch the last 24 hours of your life?

Over the past few months our two adult children have been our coaches and partners as we prepare to move from Michigan to Pennsylvania to be closer to family and friends. It is very gratifying to quietly sit back and see their generous examples of fairness, caring, and integrity coming back full circle.

EXERCISE:

How and in what ways is your own good example the best coaching you can offer your children and others in your personal and professional communities?

“When your past calls, don’t answer. It has nothing to say.”

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“When your past calls, don’t answer. It has nothing to say.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Hadija Saidi

Or maybe it does.

Most of us have had the experience of meeting with an old friend or former schoolmate, in which the stories and discussions reoccur like Groundhog Day. It’s like a record that keeps skipping back to play the same old tunes.

In such situations, we often tune things out and feel our lives wasting away because we’ve already been there and done that.

Alternatively, what if the lessons of the past were never fully learned and they present themselves again, hoping you have new lenses to see what you may have missed on the first, second, or third go-around?

Discovering what’s new might actually be more up to you than what appears frozen in time.

EXERCISE:

What would be the value of not always using your caller ID when you see a call from your past? How might you listen differently to discover new value in their messages?