Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
— Mahatma Gandhi
Every Sunday, after I go to Mass, I meet a friend for lunch. She has two sons, both of whom have struggled with addiction issues. Both have also been trying to figure out what to do with their lives. The younger son, Rhett, has tried to find a career of sorts but he’s struggled because he did some not-so-smart stuff a few years back. Because of his record, he finds it hard to find a job with a future and is waiting for these items to “fall off” his record. Even then, finding a job he’ll like is a challenge.
Recently, Rhett has been showing signs of moving forward. First, he decided that even though it may be difficult to succeed in this overcrowded field, he would enroll in a film study certificate program at a local junior college. (As a graduate of a junior college system, I can only say, “Thank heavens for junior colleges!”)
To get started, he enrolled in six units during the summer semester. For someone starting out cold, summer semester is a huge challenge. The same amount of study material is squeezed into Continue reading » A Story of Personal Power
He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.
— J.F. Clarke
What are you good at? Do you appreciate your gifts? Have you ever been told that something you thought of as a gift wasn’t really a gift? (I have the gift of gab, and yet some seem to think that it’s a curse. Hmmm.) As I get older, I’ve realized that whether something is perceived as good or bad depends largely on where you stand.
My friend Teri moved up the coast to a small town only a few miles from the beach where the marine layer tends to keep things temperate. She moved from Oldtown four hours to the southeast. Both towns are rural. They both have things that those of us from the “big city” think are weird – for example, Oldtown has a resident miniature camel. The residents of both towns tend to think like people from rural areas. When I was up visiting her, I actually said, this is just Oldtown with water and shade. She essentially agreed.
Now, before she had moved up the coast, she had very little patience for the rural residents of Oldtown. Up the coast, they’re somehow more charming. The real difference is Continue reading » Creating Success From Your Strengths
Part of courage is simple consistency.
— Peggy Noonan
Today is a HUGE success – well, for me anyway. I closed out three trades today, leaving me with an 83% success rate (5 out of 6 trades profitable) and a return of 35% over six weeks of trading.
It may not seem like much, but to me it is a confirmation that I am learning from my mistakes and making better trading decisions. I’m not making money hand over fist but that’s largely because I’m not risking great sums of money.
When I first started out, the market was relatively “stable” – meaning you didn’t get huge swings on a daily basis. Now, because people are more fearful, the hint of a whiff of bad news can make the market roll over and drop a couple of hundred points in 15-30 minutes. It can just as easily reverse itself and run up on the hint of a whiff of good news. Part of learning to trade stocks successfully is not just learning the “rules” — it is learning Continue reading » The Hobgoblin of Small Minds
Question: Why are YOU successful?
People who believe good events have permanent causes try even harder after they succeed. People who see temporary reasons for good events may give up when they succeed, believing success was a fluke.
— Martin E.P. Seligman
Back in the years when I was a hiring-manager I often invited prospective sales people to tell me about one of their successes; and then I asked them what they attributed that success to… and about fell out of my chair when, time after time, they would tell me, “just lucky I guess…”
Huh? I mean, aside from forfeiting the obvious opportunity to brag, if they truly weren’t aware of what led to their success, how in the world could I expect them to do it again on our sales team?
How’d You Get So Lucky?
Though no longer employed as a sales manager, I still think there’s merit in looking back over recent Continue reading » Just Lucky, I Guess
As you begin your day, what will make it a “successful” day?
Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.
— Annie Dillard
I went to my Zumba® exercise class this morning. Only there was no Zumba® exercise class this morning. And I knew that but it “slipped my mind”…
And, just as I was about to tilt into snafu, well, I chose to laugh at myself (once again) and realized that, class or no class, going to my non-existent Zumba® exercise class this morning got me out of bed and into my day: I’d gotten my walk done early (before class) and had time to go to the library and complete some research I needed to do… I’d gotten my momentum going. And as PattiAnn reminded us in The Trend Is Your Friend, momentum can be a good thing IF we’re moving in a desired direction: Continue reading » Carpe Diem – Seize the Day!
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