Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

"Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road. "

-Dag Hammarskjold

Fear

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

Wanna Write Like Hemingway?

Keep it simple.

A cub reporter named Ernest Hemingway was given 4 basic rules for writing when he started at the Kansas City Star.

1. Use short sentences.
2. Use short first paragraphs.
3. Use vigorous English.
4. Be positive, not negative.

Here's what master copywriter David Garfinkle says about vigorous English.

"It's muscular, forceful. Vigorous English comes from passion, focus and intention. It's the difference between putting in a good effort and TRYING to move a boulder... and actually sweating, grunting, straining your muscles to the point of exhaustion... and MOVING the freaking thing!"

When Hemingway was asked if he could write a in six words he penned what he considered to be one of his greatest works:

For sale, baby shoes, never used.

Thanks to Brian Clark at Copyblogger for this inspiration!

The Basics of Enterprise

The conduct of successful business
merely consists in doing things in
a very simple way,
doing them regularly,
and never neglecting to do them.
~ William Hesketh Lever

Choices vs Decisions

From David Allen's Productivity Principles Newsletter

Choices are more productive than decisions.

Commentary

“Decide” embodies the same Latin root as “homicide,” “suicide,” and “genocide,” and in a subtle way carries the same kind of finality and heaviness. There’s a sense that decision is a point of no return – no turning back, no recourse, no freedom. “Choosing” leaves us room to breathe, the openness to live and learn, to course-correct, to change our minds. Whereas deciding tends to frame our thinking as right and wrong, choices allow us to express a preference. Every choice is a decision, and every decision a choice, of course. But one of the greatest obstacles to effectiveness and success is the fear of making a wrong one. So we can use all the ammunition we can get to support our willingness to make a mistake. Words have great power, and it’s a good idea to choose the best ones.

The Cause of Unhappiness and Depression

To follow up on the previous post.....

This is a must-read article

"The Cause of Unhappiness" by Bruce Di Marscio

I'm So Sad

"The only reason you are ever unhappy
is because you think you should be."
---Bruce DiMarscio The Option Method

More on this later.....

Vision

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood,
divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for
the vast and endless sea." - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Possible Futures, Possible Pasts

Here's another good one for your consideration......

"Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them. You're always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past."
-- Richard Bach

Habit is a Cable

"Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it."

-- Horace Mann

The Precious Stone

Thanks to Gary Craig for bringing this back to mind.

"There was once a wise woman traveling in the mountains who found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and she opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked if she might give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But only a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman who had given it to him.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I'm giving it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. I want you to give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."
-Author Unknown