Mine 2 Shine

          Day-34- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Enjoy the Path, Not Just the Reward In my work, I am often asked to teach people how to set and achieve goals. When I ask my audiences, “Why is   it so important that you realize your goals?” they often answer, “Because getting the things I want will make me happy.” While there is an element of truth in this answer – getting the things we want often does bring a measure of joy into our lives – it somehow misses the mark. The real value of setting and achieving goals lies not in the reward you receive but in the person you become as a result of reaching your goals. This simple distinction has helped me to enjoy the path of life while, at the same time, staying focused on meeting my personal and professional objective. As one of my favorite philosophers, Ralph Waldo Emerson, observed, “The reward for a thing well done, is to have done it.” Whe...

          Day-33- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 See Your Children as Gifts On Father’s Day, my son Colby brought home a hand – made card from school. On the front of it was his small handprint and inside the card, above a little photograph of my child, were these words: Sometimes you get discouraged because I am so small And always leave my fingerprints on furniture and walls. But every day I’m growing – I’ll be grown up someday. And all those tiny handprints will surely fade away. So here’s a final handprint, just so you can recall, Exactly how my fingers looked, when I was very small. Love, Colby   Children grow so very quickly. It seems like just yesterday that I stood in the delivery room waiting for the birth of my son, and then two years later, for the birth of my daughter, Bianca. It is easy to promise yourself you will spend more time with your kids “when things slow down at work” or “...

    Day-32- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428   Practice the Action Habit “Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it,” observed David Starr Jordan. Most of us know what we need to do in order to live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives. The real problem is that we don’t do what we know. I have heard many motivational speakers say, “Knowledge is power.” I disagree. Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is only potential power. It transforms itself into actual power the moment you decisively act on it. The mark of a strong character lies not in doing what is fun to do or what is easy to do. The sign of deep moral authority appears in the individual who consistently does what he ought to be doing rather than what he feels like doing. A person of true character spends his days doing that which is the right thing to do. Rather than watching television for three ho...

        Day-31- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 List Your Problems “A problem well stated is a problem half solved,” said Charles Kettering. There is something very special that happens when you take out a piece of paper and list every single one of your problems on it. It is very much like the peaceful feeling you get after telling your best friend about something that has been troubling you for weeks. A weight somehow falls from your shoulders. You feel lighter, calmer and freer. I have discovered that while our minds can be our best friends, they can also be our worst enemies. If you keep thinking about your problems, pretty soon you will find you think about little else. The mind is a strange creature in this regard: the things you want it to remember it forgets, but all those things you want it to forget, it remembers. I have people coming to my seminars who tell m...

        Day-29- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Get Behind People’s Eyeballs One of the deepest of all the human hungers is the need to be understood, cherished and honored. Yet, in the fast – paced days we live in, too many people believe that listening involves nothing more than waiting for the other person to stop talking. And to make matters worse, while that person is speaking, we are all too often using that time to formulate our own response, rather than empathizing with the point being made. Taking the time to truly understand another’s point of view shows that you value what he has to say and care about him as a person. When you start “getting behind the eyeballs” of the person who is speaking and try to see the world from his perspective, you will connect with him deeply and build high – trust relationships that last. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason: to listen twice as much as we speak. A...

      Day-29- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Create a Love Account Mother Teresa once said, “There are no great acts. There are only small acts done with great love.” What small acts done with great love.” What small acts can you do today to deepen the bonds between you and the people you value the most? What random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty can you offer to someone in an effort to make his or her day just a little better? The irony of being more compassionate is that the very act of giving to others make you feel better as well. To practice being more loving, create a love account. Each day, make a few deposits in this very special reserve by doing something small to add joy to the life of someone around you. Buying your partner fresh cut flowers for no reason at all, sending your best friend a copy of your favorite book or taking the time to tell your children in no uncertain terms how you feel about ...