Daily Motivator - January

[bluidkiti]

January 13

Impossible becoming possible

You probably can’t do the impossible. But you’ll never know for sure unless you make the attempt.

The history of achievement, perhaps even including some of your own, is filled with examples of the impossible becoming possible. People give it a shot and sometimes they do succeed.

You may or may not achieve the impossible. Yet on the way there you’re likely to make some pretty impressive progress.

The higher the challenge, the more strength, skill, competence and persistence you’ll gain from pursuing it. Seeking to do what you cannot do gets you a whole lot better at what you can do, even if you fall short of achieving the impossible.

At the outer boundaries of what’s possible you’ll find fertile ground, rich opportunities, and a new perspective on your own capabilities. It’s territory that’s certainly worth venturing into now and then.

There have always existed possibilities beyond the possibilities. Experience the value in seeking some of your own.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 14

The work of right now

One step, then another, then another. That’s all you have to do to get wherever you wish to go.

Work through one challenge, and the next, then the one after that. You’ll be able to work your way in a positive, fulfilling direction.

Answer one question, write one sentence, make one phone call. Clean out one drawer, reply to one email, finish one workout.

The entire undertaking need not be overwhelming. Because you can choose to focus on as small a portion of it as necessary.

So give your attention to the task immediately at hand, to the work of right now, to the step you’re currently taking. Find joy in the process, and fulfillment in the experience of making a difference.

Do the work of right now. And you’ll be getting it done, one step at a time.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 15

Exaggeration

You wasted thirty minutes this morning so now the whole day is ruined. No, actually it’s not.

You gave in to temptation and ate a cinnamon roll so now you decide you’ll never be able to lose weight. But that thought is nothing but an extreme exaggeration.

It’s helpful to recognize problems and mistakes so you can correct them and avoid them in the future. Yet exaggeration is not really helpful at all.

Yes, perhaps you wasted some time early in the day. However, you have the rest of the day to make up for it.

Instead of punishing yourself endlessly for a small slip, take the opportunity to let it motivate you. Instead of exaggerating problems so far out of proportion that you give up, do what’s necessary to solve them, to get beyond them.

Make sure your thought process is working for you rather than against you. See the problems and challenges realistically, for what they are, and enable yourself to successfully deal with them.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 16

Jump into the adventure

Today offers you adventure. Accept the offer and embrace that adventure in whatever condition, whatever situation you find it.

Just passing the time is not sufficient. You are equipped for adventure, longing for adventure, worthy of adventure.

Adventure is not the safe, easy choice. Adventure asks you to put yourself on the line, to say what you care about, to do what you say, to live with the consequences.

The rewards are found in meaning, richness, substance. Adventure is following your purpose and fulfilling your potential.

Adventure demands courage and then builds more courage in even greater measure. Adventure illuminates and empowers what matters most to you.

Do what you are here to do. Jump into the adventure and give the best you have.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 17

Good life

The good you do may not be noticed by others. Do it nonetheless, because at a very minimum you will notice, and that’s something.

The beauty you create might not be seen by anyone else. Create and care for that beauty anyway, for in the act of doing so you give it meaning and value.

Living a good life is not a matter of being able to brag about the life you live. It’s a matter of being true to your highest perception of goodness, to truth itself.

The frivolous, superficial things are cheap to obtain and all too easy to lose. What’s worse, if you become obsessed with them they drain away your potential for much more meaningful and substantive pursuits.

Instead, create and expand upon opportunities to give of yourself. Look for how you can make more goodness in the world, and act on what you find.

You have your authentic self and the ability to invest yourself in what matters. Put it all together and make a truly good life for you and those around you.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 18

Fruitful connections

Offer your assistance to someone else, and you’re likely to make that person’s day. Accept the help someone offers to you, and you’ll make that person’s day.

Giving and receiving are two sides of the same beneficial experience. And the value from that experience pours out in both directions.

Sometimes the most generous thing you can do is to give fully of yourself. Other times the most generous thing you can do is to enable someone else to experience the joy of giving.

At some level there’s hardly any distinction between giving and receiving. The interaction creates sufficient goodness to go around.

The connection is what’s important. Through that connection value flows, and grows, giving rise to higher levels of richness and fulfillment.

You benefit this very moment from thousands of years of those fruitful connections. Make the most of every opportunity to keep them going.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 19

Desire what is

Fulfillment is yours when you allow it. To have what you desire is a simple matter of desiring what you have.

That doesn’t stop you from being ambitious and making new progress. On the contrary, it gives you the confidence and courage to continue moving forward.

If you fear that what you have tomorrow could be somehow less than what you have today, that fear will hold you back. If, on the other hand, you know you can choose to be truly satisfied with whatever you have, the fear dissolves.

Today you are whole, and complete, and have everything necessary for happiness and fulfillment. A month from now, or years into your future, that will continue to be true.

Over time your fulfillment will be expressed in many different ways. Yet as long as you allow it to exist within you, it is a positive force in your life.

Desire what is. And connect yourself with all the good that is present and possible.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 20

Get curious

Instead of getting angry, get curious. Rather than becoming frustrated, become curious.

There’s a reason behind what’s happening, and a deeper understanding behind that reason. Get curious, and you’ll encounter opportunities for positive transformation and improvement.

Get curious, and develop a powerful appreciation for what you might otherwise take for granted. Get curious, and discover the wealth of talent, wisdom, and creativity hidden in the people around you.

When you encounter a problem, get curious. If you’re not clear on what to do next, get curious.

Curiosity can turn a challenging situation into a valuable achievement. Curiosity illuminates valuable connections you never knew were there.

Who is the person you’re standing next to, what is along that road you’ve never explored? Get curious, and bring new richness to life.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 21

Following through

Following through distinguishes a spectacular adventure from a temporary dalliance. Following through means you’re serious, and enables you to achieve serious, significant results.

It’s fun to start something new, and plenty of opportunities for fun exist along the way. But fun is a pleasant result, not a reason.

A meaningful reason is what builds an endeavor of consequence and value. Because that reason pushes you to follow through.

When the going gets challenging and you keep going, you’re headed toward a rich reward. That reward won’t come quickly, yet you’ll eventually reach it by following through.

What have you started and where has it gone or failed to go, and why, or why not? More importantly, what could you start now, or continue now, in which you could find the motivation to persistently follow through?

Put yourself in position to follow through. It’s a major factor in achievements of every kind.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 22

Internal encouragement

You deserve encouragement, you benefit from encouragement, but encouragement doesn’t always come your way. When it doesn’t, or even when it does, you can also encourage yourself.

The other people in your life may not often be forthcoming with their encouragement. Yet you can always offer real and effective encouragement to yourself.

You know yourself better than anyone else knows you. So you’re well versed in which thoughts and expressions encourage you and which ones don’t.

It’s not selfish to encourage yourself. Because doing so prompts you to become more useful and to offer more value to all the people around you.

Think of all you’ve accomplished and remind yourself of how much more you can do. Recall how good it feels to make a difference, and offer yourself that good feeling again and again.

Though it’s great to receive external encouragement, internal encouragement can be just as powerful. Encourage yourself today to do all the good things you know you can do.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 23

Actual efforts

Visualize what you intend to do. But don’t let the visualization be a substitute for the doing.

It’s important to plan before you act. Yet if you have to choose between planning and action, you’re better off choosing action.

The intentions that have the most valuable impact are not the ones endlessly honed to perfection. They’re the ones you actually carry out.

Spend a little bit of time thinking about what will work. Then spend a lot more time discovering what actually does work and what doesn’t.

As perfectly effective as they are in your imagination, conceptual efforts don’t accomplish anything. To get things done you must perform actual efforts in the difficult and imperfect domain of reality.

Go beyond just thinking about it, talking about it, imagining it and planning it. Now is your time to step forward and get it done.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 24

Early decision

The sooner you decide, the less time you’ll spend on the decision. Decide early and you’ll free up more time to implement your decision.

Certainly there can be good reasons to hold off on a decision for a while, to take multiple factors into consideration. Yet as soon as you’re able to make a good, well-informed decision, go ahead and decide.

Most decisions require you to choose one option and forgo all the others, and that can be painful. But delaying the decision won’t make it any easier.

If you can do so, decide early and give yourself ample time to work out how to live with your decision. Decide early and you have the opportunity to grow more positive and enthusiastic about your choice.

Deciding quickly doesn’t mean being frivolous with your decision. You can decide early and decide well by being honest, upfront, and realistic about your choices.

Don’t rush your decision, but don’t needlessly delay it either. Go ahead, decide, and get on with making good on that decision.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

January 25

Lasting value

What can you do today? There are plenty of options, yet they’re not all of equal value.

Choose the activities that add richness to your life and to the lives around you. Spend your time not merely passing the time but filling it with life.

The world offers you endless ways to feel good in the moment, for just a moment. But you, and your unique life, are meant for much more than that.

Seek those activities and experiences you can feel good about long after you’re done with them. Don’t settle for vanishing pleasures when you can create lasting value and fulfillment.

When faced with a choice between enticing and enriching, go with enriching. Consider what you’re thankful for doing five years ago, and do more of those kinds of things.

Today you have a couple handfuls of irreplaceable hours in front of you. Give them the respect, consideration and substance that they, and you, deserve.

— Ralph Marston

[willbe275]

Give Thanks to God for yesterday, and even
more thanks for today, and if its God will,
give thanks for what He is about to do
tomorrow.

[bluidkiti]

January 26

Specific priorities

When you think about your future and what you want to do with your life, you envision specific priorities. When you wake up each morning and go through the day, you do so with specific priorities.

Do those priorities you follow on a moment-to-moment basis closely match your long-term priorities? If not, you’re failing to follow those lifetime priorities.

By their very nature, priorities determine what takes precedence for you. They inform and direct your thoughts, your actions, and the results you create.

You cannot have two or more sets of priorities that are in conflict with each other. What you end up with are actual priorities being followed and others being imagined but not acted upon.

So which is it? When you choose what to do over the next fifteen minutes, or three hours, what priorities are driving those choices?

Make sure the priorities you actually follow are the priorities you desire for the whole of your life. The time to do that is not someday but today, not eventually but now.

— Ralph Marston