Category: Thinking - Coach to Expect Success

Quote of the Week - July 1, 2013

7/2/2013

"If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." -- David Viscott

When I saw this quote of course I saw it how it related to me. For a long time, having courage to start things has been a problem for me at times. It's amazing that during those times, once I get started on things it gets easier as time goes on. For me, and I think for others too, just to get started on something is the most difficult thing to get through. The worry, the thoughts of how difficult it might be, and yes the thoughts about failure come to mind too.

I was listening to Les Brown yesterday along with some things from Zig Ziglar too. Both speakers had amazing messages and both touched upon this subject. Waiting to get started on doing something due to fear of failing, robs so many people of things that could benefit not only themselves but a great number of other people too. I think for me, that has been an issue for some time. The old saying is that a lesson is repeated until a lesson is learned. That is something that I guess I've been going through for some time now.

Les Brown also brings up another great point. He mentions the idea that the most valuable piece of real estate is the grave yard. I believe he's right. He mentions that most people die with their "music" still in them. All the great ideas they had, but never acted upon. All the great intentions, that never were started. Les mentions that all those great inventions and things that would have helped so many people, are all gone now. Every time I hear Les talk about that, I know he's talking to me. I'm wondering, is he talking to you too? Do you have challenges getting the courage up to get things done or even get things started? As always, I enjoy hearing from others on this subject because I can always use more help in learning about getting better. I also know that other people need help too. Funny thing, Les mentions that too. We need to remember that we all need help in getting better and learning more. We don't have all the answers and cannot do it all on our own. Please, let me know your thoughts and ideas on this and any other items here on my blog.

Quote of the Week - June 10, 2013

6/9/2013

“With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself, or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow, or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.” ~ Wayne Dyer

Wayne hit it right on the head with this thought of his. We all have things that happen to us, every single day. The power is in the choice that we have, not only on how we let it affect us but more importantly how we will react to it. Looking back I can easily see that I've let too many things get me down which in turn has kept me from moving forward. Part of it is my personality, but since I know that, I actually can not let that stop me. I'm really trying to look at things from the side of trying to find the opportunity in things that happen.

It reminds me about those brick walls that Dr. Randy Pausch talks about. Things that get in our way and it causes us to ask ourselves how bad do we want to get through the brick wall and go after what we want. It sure would have been nice to have this idea earlier in my life. But the key is not that I do, I need to not only use it but I also need to help others see it sooner than I did.

I also think that it helps to have those goals and dreams in our lives too. When things happen, they can help us focus on the things that we have to do, to either let whatever happened to us help us or if we will let it hurt us and slow us down. If we have enough goals and dreams that we are chasing after I think this is a little bit easier to get around those things that pop up in our lives.

What do you think about Wayne's quote? Any thoughts or ideas to help me and probably others too? If you haven't gotten a chance to listen to or read any of Wayne Dyer's materials, I suggest you look into doing just that.

Quote of the Week - May 20, 2013

5/23/2013

"Two things define you. Your patience when you have nothing, and your attitude when you have everything." - Unknown

What a simple statement that if you just take a moment, you can see is really true. Patience is something that the sooner you realize you need it, the better off you will get. That's been a life-long battle for me. I guess with age comes the understanding on it's importance. Patience is needed in all aspects of life. It's a skill that can be improved upon and really needs to be focused on.

Attitude is the second piece of this 2 piece formula towards success. It, like patience, is something that we have control over. Looking at the two, it's easy to see how others can judge us fairly quickly on if we have enough or not enough of these two important qualities. How we respond to things shows our attitude. How we deal with people shows our attitude. How we deal with ourselves shows our attitude. It's easy to see on how important it is to recognize when things start going our way, our attitude better be right. It's the only way to handle things at that time. The combination of patience and attitude is used in tough times and in good times for sure. How do you measure up in these two areas? I know I have to constantly look to try and improve upon both of them everyday. I could use some help and advice on how you are able to do it. Let me and others know by leaving a few thoughts.

Quote of the Week - April 29, 2013

5/1/2013

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”  - Earl Nightingale

What a great quote to not only remind us about the need to dream and to never give up on your dreams, but also there is the reminder about how precious time is. As my friend Doug Evans says "Dreaming Is Never Optional". It is easy to remember it as DINO.   All great things take time to accomplish, for if they didn't take the extra time, then everyone would do great things.

We all know that time goes by, and it seems more and more it's going by faster and faster as we get older. Please understand a year will go by whether you go after your dreams or not. Then it will be 5 years, and 10 and so on. This is something that personally I've been battling with and I've started to figure this out that I have to start acting on my dreams and goals because time is not waiting for me. First you have to identify some dreams and goals that you want to accomplish. Give yourself permission to do just that.

No matter what age you are right now - it's the perfect time to start identifying some dreams and goals and start today to go after them. I'm trying to do something everyday, no matter how small that step is that will help me go after my dreams and goals. The sooner you start the better off you are since you will still have more time on your hands to continue to make those things happen. Go ahead... start today. Feel free to share any thoughts or ideas that you find helpful, or even things you are having trouble with. I have a feeling that we can help each other out with these ideas.

Quote of the Week - March 4, 2013

3/6/2013

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” – John Maynard Keynes

There is a lot of challenge from getting away from old ideas and old habits - for many like me it's a constant challenge to break out into having new ideas. The older we get, the more difficult it seems to be sometimes to developing new ideas. Difficult yes, impossible no.

Some of it depends I think on our dreams. We need to keep them alive and continually out in front of us. I try and get my students to understand that one. It's been said - "if you don't dream and think about it, it won't happen!" We will all end up somewhere in life. It might as well be someplace that we want to be. We need to break away from old ideas and have new ideas in our lives in order to help make that happen.

Another key in helping ourselves to have new ideas is to have good people around us encouraging us to go after our dreams and helping us think of new thoughts and ideas. We all know people that are helped by others to stay just where they are at. Association is a huge part of success as the people we hang around play a big part in us taking on new thoughts and ideas in our futures.

As always, I'm very interested in reading and responding to your thoughts. In fact, that helps me (and others) to develop new ideas and get away from old ones.

Quote of the Week - February 4, 2013

2/4/2013

"There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living" - Nelson Mandela

I guess many times in life it takes something that needs to happen to wake you up and help you focus in asking yourself, "how's my life going?" (The old, doing your homework connection) The current events going on around the state of Michigan and our country for that matter with education, has me thinking, a lot about my current profession as a high school teacher. I know I enjoy teaching and I am passionate about helping young people, but I am wondering about what else is out there for me? Being in my mid-40's might have a little something to do with it too.

At this point in my life I guess I am thinking about doing other things with my life. My two kids are getting older and there will be more time soon in my life to focus on my wife and myself more than I have been able to do in the past. Maybe I am also to look ahead for the next 10 to 15 years and see some other opportunities that I didn't have before. I'd like to think that I'm not ready to leave teaching, but I do wonder about what else I can do in education. This quote has me thinking about if I am just settling for things; and it connects with the reality that there is not a lot of time left in my working life if I do indeed want to explore what else is out there.

Like I said, sometimes it takes an outside factor or person or a group of people to help you along with this self-reflection of your life. I always tell my students about finding something they are passionate about in life and going after that. This statement can serve not only middle age people like myself, but I think it can ignite a great and wonderful life for teens that look for connections earlier in their lives than most adults did with theirs. What thoughts do you have about this? Have you found something passionate to connect yourself to in your life? I'm always interested in learning from others as teachers need to become a student again in so many instances. We need to realize that class is always in session throughout our lives.

Quote of the Week - January 21, 2013

1/23/2013

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes." - Andrew Carnegie

Finding this quote on a Monday and thinking about having goals for today (a teacher meeting day) along with goals for the week ahead; got me thinking about having these thoughts going for me long term. Instead of just a Monday or a week, I'm thinking (and I know that) I need to have these going for my future. Thinking about Andrew Carnegie (the steel industry guy) and all the success that he had with people and leadership; I know it's coming from a good source too.

I had a good discussion with a colleague today about focusing in on important things in life. That there are only so many things that we can control and actually do something about ourselves. Happiness comes from the fact that we have the ability to command over our thoughts on those things that are important and that are really important to us. The key is to realize this as soon as we can for then we still have time on our side to do something with this fact. The longer it takes for us to realize the truth to this statment the further away from true happiness I think we will be.

What are your thoughts on this quote? What lessons can you teach me and others with your opinions and thoughts? Please let me know here.

Quote of the Week - January 7, 2013

1/7/2013

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" - Neale Donald Walsch

When I first saw this statement, it kind of hit my right in the nose. Not only is it a new year, which typically means we review our lives and look to make changes; but it also made me realize I need to stretch my comfort zone. It also got me thinking about you, my students, and how much of an advantage you have over people like me that haven't looked to stretch our comfort zone many times throughout our lives. Please understand, with you being a teenager and if you can start the habit of stretching your comfort zone now, your future will have so many wonderful opportunities. Don't get into a rut or stuck in a box; it really limits all the great things that you can accomplish or go after in life.

What does this quote mean to you? Are there things you want to make changes to do them differently? Does your comfort zone need to be looked at because you know changes are coming for you in the near future? Please understand, you don't want to wait until your mid 30's (10 years ago for me) to start trying to figure out how to expand your comfort zone. As always - I love the fact that I get to learn new things from my students and others every day. So please help me learn some new things by sharing your viewpoints on this quote with me and others.

Quote of the Week - December 10, 2012

12/10/2012

“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.

Quote of the Week - November 26

11/27/2012

“The Greatest Barrier to Success is the Fear of Failure” ~ Sven Goran Eriksson

One of the biggest things that keeps us from success is that we are afraid of failing. One thing that we don't do a very good job at in our schools, in society as a whole is teaching about failure. Failure is one of these things that successful people grasp, deal with and most importantly - they learn from it.

I think as I have gotten older, I am trying to learn from failure to get better. But I know it still holds me back on other levels. It's one thing that I think we need to learn more about and then of course act on making things better when it comes with dealing with failure. What high school students don't know is that the earlier you deal with failure and learn from it, the better off they will be throughout life. When we fail at things, learn from it. Ask the right questions of yourself and others as to what happened so that you can learn from it and more importantly at times, not to make the same mistake again.

Not only is it important to learn from our own mistakes, but we also have to be open to learning from others too. Since throughout life, failures happen all the time, it's an important lesson that is always out there for us to learn from. Each and every day there are lessons on dealing with failures; which really shows the truth to the statement about success leaves clues. Being successful has clues all around us, every day. We just have to be open to them and learn from them. It starts with failure, handling it and learning from it ourselves is the first step. I really wish I grasped this point earlier in my life, but I'm sure glad I know about it now. As always, I love learning from others - no matter what your age. What are your thoughts, ideas, experiences and questions do you have? Feel free to share some here.