The human animal lives usually far within its limits; he possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and he behaves below his optimum. William James 1842 – 1910 Do you remember your fourth grade teacher? The other day I was thinking about mine. You might well wonder why, given that it’s been over fifty years since I was in that grade. My teacher was middle aged and rather bland, and she didn’t inspire me to learn new and exciting things. Here’s why she stood out:Â her class was the first time I …
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Category Archives: Motivating yourself
If a seed of a lettuce will not grow, we do not blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies with us for not having nourished the seed properly. Buddhist proverb Recently, a friend from England shared an article about the musical achievements of his sons; he called it a shameless plug from a proud parent. Both of his sons are teenagers, and one had been selected for the second straight year to play in the National (UK) Children’s Wind Orchestra. The other had been selected for two years running to play in the National (UK) Children’s Regional Symphony Orchestra. I …
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Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin 1706 – 1790 There was a young man I was coaching with the aim of helping him achieve his goals. Unfortunately, we reached a point where we were both a bit frustrated: looking back over the previous two years, we each realized that he hadn’t achieved the amount of progress he wanted. In an effort to get him back on track and moving consistently toward his goals, I gave him an assignment to complete before our next session. I asked him to study the Grand Canyon and Warren Buffet and give me …
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