Oprah and Maya
Just read this excerpt from an Oprah interview with Maya Angelou, a really wise 80 year old American poet, novelist, educator, producer, novelist, actress, historian. Here’s two gems from Maya that really resonate with me!
“I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one”
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”
WOW! That’s nice and thanks Maya for these lovely and timely reminders!!
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
“Burn” your future into your present
“I look to the future because that’s where
I’m going to spend the rest of my life”
The late George Burns wrote this and we all remember George as the famous actor and comedian who lived to the ripe old age of 100 years and 49 days. What’s more amazing is that he continued working till almost 100 – and loving every minute of it!
When we turn 100 and look back at our lives, I wonder how many of us will say “I loved every minute of it”? Of course there are ups and downs, we are human after all, but just how great would it be when we have more ups than downs! Think about it and do something about it NOW!
And what would you change today?
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
and From far away Persia…
Got this in my inbox and it’s a must share!
“Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do.”
- Rumi, 13th century Persian poet and philosopher -
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
Clever Quotes!
“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t” - anonymous -
Stumbled on this clever quote recently and realized this was applicable to anything I do in life! Translated, it means do whatever it takes now so that you can do whatever you want forever! Imagine that!!
Dream It . Live it
Jeff
Memories from the King of Pop
Was listening to an old Michael Jackson song, Man in the Mirror, and Mike had some really powerful words to share:
I’m gonna make a change,
for once in my life It’s gonna feel real good,
gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right…
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
So instead of complaining about everything in life, Michael reminds us with his powerful message, “look at yourself, make a change” or in other words, for things to change I must first change! Nice!!
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
A Cliché A Day Keeps the Doctor Away
A cliché is an overused (or abused) word or phrase that’s lost it’s impact. Yet, there’s loads of excellent clichés that’s kept me going in life. Here’s one:
READY – FIRE – AIM
I like this so much more than the usual Ready-AIM-Fire because I’ve often spent way too long aiming and could never fire because I used up all my energy aiming! Life’s the same isn’t it? How often (too often usually) do we spend looking for “the right time”, “the right circumstances”, “the right team”, “the right place”. And by the time we fire (another way of saying take action), the world’s moved on and we’ve lost the opportunity.
So instead of aiming forever, Get Ready (write your plan) Fire First (Take action – any action!), Get Feedback (what worked well? what didn’t?) then Aim and do it again with better results!
Think of something you want to do, would like to do, should do and haven’t done yet. Imagine how much better your life would be when you go READY-FIRE-AIM today!
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
Philosophy or Rock Music!
Shakespeare, Socrates, Aristotle, Confucius – yes they are the great philosophers in the history of the universe. Yet, there’s another group who are just as powerful – rock musicians!
On the way to my office this morning, I listened to Freddy Mercury and Queen sing their 1970s hit song “Don’t Stop Me Now”, and it dramatically and drastically changed my mood from slow Monday morning to go out and conquer the world! It was an amazing transformation as I listened to the same song for 20mins and practically ran from the subway station to the office!
Here’s a taste of the lyrics that shows the genius that is Freddy Mercury (who sadly passed away in 1991)
Tonight I’m gonna have myself a real good time
I feel alive and the world I’m turning inside out Yeah!
I’m floating around in ecstasy
So don’t stop me now don’t stop me
‘Cause I’m having a good time having a good time
I’m a shooting star leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I’m a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I’m gonna go go go
There’s no stopping me
When you couple the wonderful imagery of the lyrics to the pounding beat of the song, you have absolutely no choice but to have the best day of your life (which is happening to me now!) Be warned – “Don’t Stop Me Now” is a dangerous song as it goes from first gear directly to supersonic and takes you with it!!
When you need a dose of inspiration shooting through your entire body – rock music rocks!!
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
Mt. But overtakes Mt Everest as world’s highest mountain
There’s been so much talk of Michael Jackson’s untimely death lately that most of us didn’t notice an equally earth shattering piece of news – Mt But has overtaken Mt Everest as the world’s highest mountain!
So where exactly is Mt But? It’s really easy to find – it’s in your mind, and it’s your greatest obstacle to achieving anything in life, big or small, super important or really inconsequential.
And what is Mt But? It’s your inner voice that goes, “Yes, I’d like to do this in life, but ……..” or “I must start my diet now, but ………” or “I will start working on this really important project now, but ….. Every time you add a “but” to your inner voice in this context, your brain immediately goes to bed and does nothing to help you achieve your goals. In fact, almost 100% of the time after you utter “but” only negatives come out of your heart and mind and you have to climb a mountain higher than Mt. Everest to get things done.
The simple cure to overcome the Mt. But disease is to say, “I will start working on this project now because I like the recognition when I get it done right” or “I must start my diet immediately and I’ll do it because I want to live to see my kids grow up…” or “I’d like to achieve this in life and all I need is a strategy how”. What you’re doing is to put yourself in a better emotional state to handle any situation just by eliminating the word “but” under these circumstances, substitute it with “and” or “because” and complete the sentence with positives only. It’s really that simple and to those of you saying this is good advice but…. I suggest you say it again as “this is good advice and I’m going to use it now because I’m tied of climbing up Mt But!”
Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so – “Bill” Shakespeare
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
Wisdom from the brave!
ouch!
Wisdom comes from anywhere – even the Shaolin master pictured here. This young man is resting his entire body on a few sharp spears (and trust me it’s sharp – I tested it myself!) Many of us are asking WHY? Why is he doing this? What’s the use of training just to perform this type of stunt? Why? Why? Why?
Perhaps the better question is WHY NOT? Doesn’t this mirror life? Instead of saying why when faced with different or unusual situations in life, isn’t it far better to ask why not, dream about the solution and then find ways to do it?
Next time you’re faced with a new and slightly frightening situation, playfully ask yourself why not, smile, have fun with the moment and watch your life change!
“Some men see things as they are and say why – I dream things that never were and say why not” - George Bernard Shaw
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
Imagine some more ….
–Originally posted on 14.5.09–
More pictures from my recent trip to Shaolin. It looks like…. (gasp!) they’re playing basketball in their orange robes!
In between gongfu performances that displayed their amazing agility, and mental and physical prowess, these young men showed me yet another side to the very serious nature of martial arts. When it’s time to play, you play with passion, 100% passion. How often do you play your life with 100% passion? Start now!
Dream It . Live It
Jeff
