Every person who had achieved something significant had other people backing him up. Nobody does the big stuff alone. Those who tried to do things by themselves, well… ended up alone.
“In order to be happy we require all kinds of supports to our self-esteem. We are human beings, therefore human beings are the purpose of God’s creation” – Bertrand Russell
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Tagged: Support Groups
“I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see. ” – Duane Michals
The power to imagine possibilities beyond obvious limitations is one of the grandest gifts God gave humankind. Every person must recognize in himself the capacity to think through a situation no matter how difficult and come up with unconventional solutions especially if conventional solutions have failed.
There are few important things before one unleashes the power of imagination: (1) One must believe that limitations are meant to be stretched, what we cannot do can be overcomed, (2) detach oneself from mental and emotional pressure even though there is every reason to be bothered mentally and emotionally, (3) look at the big picture and understand the big picture impact, (4) mind the details because it matters too, and (5) entertain possibilities, even outrageous ones.
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Tagged: Imagine, Power to Imagine
“There is nothing more to be esteemed than a manly firmness and decision of character. – I like a person who knows his own mind and sticks to it; who sees at once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it.” – Hazlit
There is something worst than a wrong decision. It is a NO DECISION. I respect a person who carefully weighs his options then makes a decision then learns from it, even if the decision turns out to be wrong.
This is in contrast to a person who has weighed his options but never makes a decision. He has delegated his future to circumstance; therefore , he has limited his opportunities to learn.
Hastiness, lack of information, lack of experience or lack of careful analysis may cause wrong decisions. We must pay careful attention to avoid these; however, there are times that a decision must be made quickly even when the information is insufficient.
If the information is sufficient, yet we fail to decide, we have surrendered our future to chance. We gave up the privilege to pursue the improvement of our situation.
Making decisions for our present and future is a privilege that we must not turn over to our environment. We are who we are based on our decisions, it includes deciding not to decide, including being allowed to be swayed by external forces instead of planning our own lives; it also includes the opposite, the courageous decisions that set us part and helped us become better people.
Circumstance will try to trap us, unnerve us, or make us insecure to make decisions. Regardless of a negative environment, we must take the risk to decide and hopefully, we would make the right choice; but if we make the wrong choice, hopefully, the mess would not be too much to clean up. But that is always better than deciding not to decide.
To succeed in life, one must learn to make decisions and learn from them. Whether the decisions end up right or wrong. We can charge that to experience.
The more we understand the consequences of our decisions, the more we become equipped by experience. The more we experience, the more we learn; and the more we learn, the more we grow in wisdom. And the more we grow in wisdom, the more we achieve holistic success.
Let us face what we need to face. Let us make courageously yet carefully weighed decisions and learn from their results.
Once there was a young man who asked an old master, “How do I succeed in life?”
The master replied, “Wisdom”.
Then the young man said, “How do I gain wisdom?”
“By making the right decisions,” said the old man.
The young man persisted, “How do I learn to make the right decisions?”
“Experience!” answered the master.
“How do I gain experience?” inquired the young man.
“By making wrong decisions!” exclaimed the Master.
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“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” – Horace
Olives are pressed so that the desired oil would come out. It is first washed then stripped of any leafy material then crushed by a stone mill or metal crusher. The desired oil is used for food flavoring, shaving, shining steel and brass, body massage, as a food dip, removing make up, cure diaper rash, hair tonic, softening skin, treating lice, and more.
Oftentimes, we learn to be creative when we encounter limitations. Answers to difficult questions are sought, and many times, they are found by the persistent thinker.
We also learn to fight for every inch during times of difficulty. Yielding is not an option. The instinct to survive takes over then we strive to protect our remaining territory then we begin to expand slowly but surely.
Therefore, when difficult times loom, we should not be afraid, rather, we should welcome it. Because it will bring out the best in us. And when the best in us is “pressed” out, it will benefit many, including ourselves.
The delightful thing about adversity is that we discover that our potential is much more than we thought.
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During one of my Maximizing Your Potential seminars, someone made a comment about herself, “I do not think that there is any more potential in me that I can develop. Maybe this message of Maximizing Potential is for the young.”
I agree with her statement that this message is for the young. But I would also disagree with her in discounting herself too soon. She did not even look 55 years young.
When I heard her statement,my memory retrieved a man’s name. With the name came a picture of a chain of restaurants and the aroma of delicious food, I could almost taste those finger licking good chicken of Col. Harlan Sanders. Yes, the founder of KFC – Kentucky Fried Chicken.
His retirement at age 65 signaled the beginning of a new adventure. He tried to offer his chicken recipe to a number of restaurants. His arrangement was that he would earn 5 cents from every chicken sold. He traveled by car all around North America. He was rejected 1008 times. But he never gave up. Prospect 1009 said yes to him.
He started franchising his chicken in 1952. By 1964, he had more than 600 franchised outlets in Canada and America.
For everyone who feels old and worn out, let this story of a man who believes that there is more out there, that one can still achieve dreams way beyond his present limitations, that a man can rust faster than be worn out, be an inspiration to you.
You are never too old to maximize your potential. And back to the lady in my seminar. Yes, my message is for the young. But it is not only for the young. It is for everyone.
“You are never too old to set another goal
or to dream a new dream”
- C.S. Lewis
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Tagged: Col. Harlan Sanders, dream, never too old, potential
“Action is eloquence; the eyes of the ignorant are more learned than their ears.” – Shakespeare
The best way to communicate our thoughts with those around us is through our actions. It is good to say, “I love you” to a family member but those words can be reinforced if an act of love is done. For example, I may say, “I love you” to my children but if I do not express it in actions, they are just words. The best way for me to reinforce it is to invest time with them in what they enjoy doing like play a game of swords or play ball with them.
If I want to say to my co-workers that I am a team player. The best expression is to do what a good team player would do. I must listen to others, show respect to my teammates, do my assigned tasks, meet my deadlines, communicate and give constructive feedback, motivate a disheartened teammate, and to be on time during team meetings.
The best way to reinforce what we say is to act on them.
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Tagged: Action, good example
“Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” – Carlyle
It is good to plan ahead, to have a vision for the future for life, family and career. But we must remember that it is the short-term activities done well that contribute to the long-term goals.
If I am a student and my goal is to be president of a large company one day, I must focus to excel in my studies now and also to learn from other sources about leadership and management.
Focus on the task at hand and do it well.
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Tagged: at hand, focus, task
An e-book version of my new book, Maximize Your Potential: How to Go Beyond Your Limits is now available. Everyone has untapped potential and there are two ways to approach it. The first is to ignore it, thus, it remains dormant. The second is to pay attention to it and cultivate it, thus, you become more productive and effective. If you want to pay attention to it and cultivate it then this book is for you.
Maximize Your Potential: How to Go Beyond Your Limits is about increasing your capacity to be more and achieve more. It is also about inspiring you to take that God-given capacity and unleash it to the world despite the obstacles that you may face.
The book discusses 9 factors and action items that if applied will guarantee that you will Maximize Your Potential.
Click here to visit my landing page and click ORDER NOW to pay via PayPal or Credit Card.
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Tagged: beyond your limits, ebook, Maximize Your Potential
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” – Aristotle
The following is a set of questions that may be useful for you when you are making your plan.
– What is the goal?
– If you were to draw a picture of what the end result would be, what would it look like?
– Is it specific enough to measure or quantify?
– Is it realistic yet challenging?
– Who would be part of the team to accomplish the goal?
– How will we find the team members?
– Who will be my support group/s for this?
– What is the procedure or steps in accomplishing the goal?
– What other resources do we need to fuel this undertaking?
– How long will it take? Do I make a short-term, mid-term or long term goal?
– When do I launch this?
– When is the deadline for step one or phase one, for step two or phase two…?
– In what other ways may I prepare for this undertaking?
“When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.” – Chinese Proverbs
Making a specific plan is a tedious process. Some don’t bother to make one. The reasons vary.
Some think that it is a waste of time.
Some don’t feel like doing it, they claim to be action persons and would rather be on the field.
Some just find it hard to think through.
Some believe that since no plan can be executed completely to the dot so why bother?
Some just do not know its importance.
Do you have the same reasons?
Goals are achieved by executing plans. There is no other way.
“Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.” – Margaret Thatcher
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Tagged: how to plan, plan
“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” – Thomas Wade Landry
Goals are achieved by executing plans.
Plans are necessary in order for one to maximize potential. Plans shape our decisions, give us guidelines, make us see what must be done to reach our goals, can lead us to abundance, and it challenges us to be more and do more.
A plan is something that you intend to do. It may be as vague as someone saying, “I plan to go to Boracay Beach one day.”
This type of general plan often does not push through. But if it does push through, it would be because someone planned the details.
It may be as specific as, “I plan to go to Boracay Beach on April 15 this year with my family. We are going to stay for a whole week. We will take Philippine Airlines via Kalibo. Our hotel will be at Waling-Waling. I am really looking forward to this vacation. I have been saving for a year to make this happen. It is going to be really fun!”
This type of a specific plan often happens. There is a destination, a vehicle, resources and a timetable, with some emotions into it.
In order for you to maximize your potential and go beyond your present limits, you must make a detailed plan of action to reach the goals that you have determined.
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” – Anonyomous
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Tagged: maximum potential, plans
