LAUGH AT EVERY EXCUSE

The easiest thing in the world is to come up with an excuse for not taking action. No matter what the situation, there's always an excuse that sounds perfectly reasonable and that can provide you with permission to do nothing.   Rarely does it help to fight against the excuses, because that just leads to even stronger and more compelling excuses. So how do you get around them?
 
Connect with a dream that is bigger than any excuse could possibly be. Grab hold of a dream that's so compelling it makes you laugh at every possible excuse.
 
If your goal is to do what you don't really want to do anyway, even the weakest excuse can stop you cold. If, however, your goal is tied to an authentic, personally meaningful dream, that's a completely different situation.
 
And that makes perfect sense. Because if it doesn't really matter to you anyway, there's not much point in spending your precious time on it.
 
Choose instead to live the beautiful, meaningful dreams that you truly desire to live. And no setback, no challenge, no excuse will have the power to even slow you down.
 
-- Ralph Marston

FILLED WITH JOY

How do you keep yourself filled with joy? Give it away every chance you get.   Every encounter is an opportunity to add richness to your own life and to someone else's life. Make the most of those opportunities.
 
When you don't feel like being joyful, that's when it will make the biggest difference. When you don't feel like smiling, that's when a smile will feel the best.
 
Joy is always there to experience and to share, when you simply let it come. Go ahead, let it come now, and again, and again.
 
The better you feel, the more effective you'll be at everything you do. Feel how good it feels to let the joy inside flow out from you.
 
Feel the goodness as that joy fills your world.

Promote your wish to a dream

How do you know if your dream is big enough? If you're working steadily and enthusiastically in the direction of that dream every day, it's big enough.      
But what if your dream is not compelling enough to constantly motivate you forward no matter what? Then it's really more of a wish, and not much use to you at all.
 
If that's the case, consider making it bigger and more meaningful. Promote it from a wish to a true, life-changing dream.
 
When the obstacles and challenges are great, make sure your dream is even greater. In those situations when you must push forward, it is essential to have something truly meaningful to push toward.
 
If you live just to get through the day, you'll end up doing it over and over again with nothing much to show for your efforts. Choose instead to dream big dreams, and get real fulfillment from your time and effort.
 
You can wish for what might be nice, and you'll probably be disappointed. Instead, reach deep inside, truly dream of how good you know life can be, and make that dream so big you absolutely must bring it to life.
 
-- Ralph Marston  
 

Get stronger

When the difficulties come, and pile so high on top of one another that you can't see the way forward, you have a choice. You can choose to give up, or you can choose to get stronger.   You can choose to bury your dreams under impenetrable layers of worry and fear. Or you can choose to make those dreams even more magnificent and compelling so that you cannot resist being pulled forward by them.   You can choose to feel sorry for yourself, or you can choose to feel the power of your true purpose. You can look for who is to blame, or you can look for ways to take full responsibility for the situation.
 
This is your life, and even the difficult stretches are very much worth living. In fact, it is during the challenging times that you build new capacity for greater richness.
 
When there is no obvious reason to be positive, choose to be more positive than ever before. Instead of being overwhelmed by the problems, choose to be energized by the positive possibilities hidden within them.
 
Feel the genuine confidence that comes from knowing you always have a choice. And choose to live the positive value in whatever life may send.

-- Ralph Marston

Getting it perfect

 

There is often great beauty to be found in imperfection. No tree is perfectly straight, no mountain peak perfectly symmetrical, and yet the world is filled with beautiful mountains, trees and other magnificently imperfect things.

 

When a friend is hurting, you don't have to put together the perfect combination of words to let that person know you care. All you must do is speak from the heart.

 

When there is a challenge facing you, it's not necessary to come up with a perfect solution. Effective, focused, appropriate action will do just as well.

 

It's fine for perfection to be your goal. Just don't let the lack of perfection be an excuse for doing nothing.

 

There are countless good and valuable things in life that are far short of perfect. In fact, if everything were always perfect, life would not be nearly so interesting.

 

Certainly you always want to do your best. Just make sure that getting it done takes priority over getting it perfect.

-- Ralph Marston

Partnership of success

Success is a partnership between thought and action. One without the other will not get you anywhere.   If you think about what you do and how you'll do it, but do nothing, the result is failure. If you rush into getting it done without putting any thought into it, that will just as surely bring failure.
 
It's crucial to put some good, solid thinking into what you wish to do. Be careful, though, not to think yourself out of ever getting it done.
 
Whatever your objective, it's absolutely necessary to take action. Yet it is also vital to take appropriate action that is well thought out.
 
You can think and you can do. Each is challenging in its own way, and yet every valuable thing you've ever accomplished has utilized these two skills that you most certainly have.
 
You have what it takes to reach whatever goal you choose. Think and do, then think some more and do some more, and steadily work your way toward success.
 
-- Ralph Marston