Category: Setbacks

"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated." — Maya Angelou

10/4/2017

There probably isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t face some disappointment, setback, or failure. Life is full of them for sure. Some have more or create more of these than others, but the key is that we all have them. For the longest time I didn’t spend my time learning from these mistakes and failures. I usually spent it feeling sorry for myself, blaming other issues, but you know what – deep down inside, I knew I had more to do with than I was letting on.

It took me many years to see the value of those failures. The lessons in defeat are many and like I always tell my basketball players throughout the years – there are many more valuable lessons to learn from losses than there are from winning. Now that I know that – it’s beginning to make a difference in my life. I look back and wonder sometimes if I had picked this up earlier in my life… how things would be much better or at least different.

It’s one of the things that helps a sports team to become great or an athlete too – but the same is true for all of us. If we can bounce back, get up, grow & get better from the setbacks we have in life – we will become better for sure. This holds true at work, at home, with our family and with other people too. They key is to learn early in life. Learn early and often is the key. As time goes on, it does get better for us. Just think of the possibilities 😊

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Quote of the Week - March 11, 2013

3/12/2013

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"The things which hurt, instruct." - Benjamin Franklin

I think the older you get the more this quote connects with you. They key is to have this (and other ideas like it) connect to you early in life rather than waiting for getting older to help you figure it out. I tell my students all the time, feel free to learn from me and others that are older than them so you don't take the time that we did to figure things out.

Learning more about Ben Franklin really shows me how smart he was. Those things that really matter in life, usually hurt us at some point in time and we have to learn from them. Life is full of teachable moments, we just have to look upon those moments as being able to learn from them rather than getting all upset and ticked off at those moments. Ben brings up so many important points about how we should live our lives. He learned many lessons himself about how he had to improve the way he did things. If you can find any of his writings, I suggest you take the time to read them.

So even if you don't like history, check out Ben Franklin. Not only is he a very wise man for the history of country, but he also learned some things about people and himself too. In life, improving ourselves and how we interact with others is one of the most important things we can deal with throughout our lifetime. What are your thoughts? Is Ben correct?

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Quote of the Week - February 18, 2013

2/21/2013

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"Remind yourself that you're bound to get better. Don't get down on yourself. Don't beat yourself up. It's the next opportunity that matters, not the last one." -- Jim Rohn

Jim must have had this one set up for me. This quote deals with something that I've had to try and deal with my whole life and I really only realized that fact probably a few years ago. It's been said many times, by many different people that we are our own worst enemy. Out of all the awful and negative things that others can say about us - what we say to ourselves can do so much more damage.

I've learned over the years how true this is. Recently I've been trying to change that in my life and I feel that it's starting to help. What I am thinking and saying to myself, does indeed make a difference. I guess I find myself reflecting on this more and more due to my age. I just turned 47 and there comes a time where you start looking back on your life and wonder about choices and decisions and how they affected how you got to where you are. I've done plenty of that for sure. But like the quote says - it's about the next opportunity, the next chance to do something great. So making that chang-over from living in the past, regreting things, etc., to LEARNING from the past I think is a huge deal.

Sticking to things, not quitting (which I've done plenty of in my life), finishing things off is all part of being ready for the next opportunity are the important points to focus on. What can I learn from your thoughts on this quote? How does this quote connect with you?

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Quote of the Week - December 10, 2012

12/10/2012

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“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” - Maria Robinson

I think all of us at one time or another dwell on our past, for both good and not so good reasons. I've come to realize that my past is something to learn from, get better for today and for my future from those experiences. I heard a great thought a few days ago about the past. It's always been said that the past is the past and that we can't go back and change anything, so it's best to move on. This person also went on to say that our past got us to where we are today. That's the point that stuck out to me as something to dwell on and connect with. My past, as yours too, has gotten us to where we are today. Good, bad and indifferent; that is something that we need to accept.

Something else to think about as the quote above suggests. The things we think about and end up doing today, will not only become our past of tomorrow; but it will lead us to our future as well. I'm trying very hard to spend time thinking about my past and how it's gotten to me where I am today. There are changes I'm also trying to make today from where my past has gotten me to, since I know that I have the power and control to change things today and in my future. Here is what I think is the missing piece to think about with the quote above. The changes that we make today, don't just affect us. They affect the people that we care about too. Looking back, if I knew this little nugget in high school; wow.. the changes I could have made back then to lead me to a different future. But the important factor is I didn't know and still wound up here in my future. Looking around where I am today, it's still pretty good. I'm in a good place and I'm working to make it and my future better.

Now, if you are in high school now - you need to stop and ponder this a little bit. Do your "homework" on this thought for sure, in other words spend a few minutes thinking about learning from your past, don't get down about it and let it keep you from doing great things today and in your future. It really doesn't matter what age you are, the younger the better for you I guess. Take a couple of things to work on. Things to get better at and keep moving forward towards your goals and dreams. There is no age limit on this fact. No matter when you start throughout your lifetime, you can make a new ending for sure.

This teacher loves to learn from others. Do you have any ideas or thoughts on this quote that others can learn from,especially me? Leave me your thoughts and ideas as I'm always interested in reading what you have to say.

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Quote of the Week - October 29, 2012

10/29/2012

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"It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final." ~ Roger Babson

Finally back! Working through some challenges. Sorry it's been such a long time. Looking to get back to being more consistent.

Great quote to focus on for the week. We always seem to hear that setbacks are usually temporary. It's good to remember that successes are too. We can't afford to dwell on both successes and failures for too long since that will keep us from moving forward in our lives. We need to focus on building on successes in our lives, learning the lessons from them to repeat in other situations. We also need to learn from our failures as to not keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

What are your thoughts?

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Best Stories Come from Struggles.

7/10/2012

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This is one thing that is easier to see with age.

But, oh how important it is to learn this sooner rather than later.

Throughout life we have successes and we have failures and setbacks.

Any successful person knows that you learn much more from one than the other.

Our successes are easy to celebrate.

We have plenty of other people around us wanting to share our successes.

We feel good about ourselves during those times.

On the other hand, when things are not going so well we find out some things then too.

Many people are not around to help us get through tough times, except true friends that know how difficult a time you are having.

At these times is when we can learn the most about ourselves.

Will we quit, make excuses, blame others and just generally let negativity take over?

Or will we sit back, take a deep breath and look for ways to solve the problem.

Will we take ownership about doing something about the problem, rather than quitting, make excuses or blame others?

I think most of us, especially when we become teenagers and beyond, understand that there will be plenty of struggles in life.

It’s important to have a frame of mind that knows when those times hit; it’s not the end of the world.

It’s also important to know that we can indeed do something about it and we can learn from the experience too.

As we go through life and we deal with problems, disappointments, set-backs and failures; understanding that we should take responsibility for getting through those issues, we can learn from them and we will become better for getting through those situations – that is such a key ingredient to success.

The sooner we connect with that the better off our lives will be. Along with the fact that other people that we are connected to will be better off as well.

Always interested in your thoughts and comments.

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"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated." — Maya Angelou

Quote of the Week - March 11, 2013

Quote of the Week - February 18, 2013

Quote of the Week - December 10, 2012

Quote of the Week - October 29, 2012

Best Stories Come from Struggles.

Coach John Daly

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