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A PLACE For Everything

“. . . most clutter enters our lives through the ‘more is better’ door. It comes from the disease of materialism, of looking for inner fulfillment in outer possessions.” ~ Joe Dominquez

Gazingus Pins

In the book Your Money Or Your Life, Joe Dominguez introduces the concept of the “gazingus pin”. A gazingus pin is that thing you can’t pass by in a store without buying. It can be anything, “from pocket calculators and tiny screwdrivers to shoes, pens and chocolate kisses”. [Robin & Dominguez, p. 25]

When you see your gazingus pin, your eyes glaze over, your mind goes on auto pilot, and you forget that you already have 10 or 100 or 1000 gazingus pins at home that you never use. All your attention is focused on this fresh, clean, lovely, new and improved gazingus pin. And “before you know it, an alien arm (attached to your body) has reached out and picked up the gazingus pin, and off you go to the checkout, still functioning like a windup zombie.” [Robin & Dominguez, 25 – 26] When you finally come to your senses, you find yourself adding a new gazingus pin to your drawer that is already full of other gazingus pins.

Continue reading “A PLACE For Everything”
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Where To Have A Reserve . . . And How

“Build a superreserve in every area: have more than enough.” ~ Thomas Leonard

Out Of Gas

I was on my way to work and decided to stop at a nearby store to fill my car’s gas tank. As I was waiting for the tank to fill, I noticed a woman who was trying to fill a gas can but was obviously having trouble understanding how to use the pump. I walked over and offered to help.

As I filled the can, she told me that she had run out of gas a short way from the gas station. A policeman had given her a ride to the store. She said she had a pre-op appointment with her doctor that morning. She had spent the night with her mother because it was closer to the doctor’s office.

Now, she was in danger of missing this important meeting with her doctor because she had run out of gas. As she told me her story, I thought to myself, “Here is a person who needs to keep a reserve.”

Continue reading “Where To Have A Reserve . . . And How”
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After Acceptance

“It is certainly true that, when you accept your resentment, moodiness, anger, and so on, you are no longer forced to act them out blindly, and you are less likely to project them onto others. But I wonder if you are not deceiving yourself. When you have been practicing acceptance for a while, as you have, there comes a point when you need to go on to the next stage, where those negative emotions are not created anymore. If you don’t, your ‘acceptance’ just becomes a mental label that allows your ego to continue to indulge in unhappiness and so strengthen your separation from other people, your surroundings, your here and now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Welcome to . . . Holland?!?

When my younger daughter was 6, she had a stroke. At age eight, while the doctors were still trying to decide what was wrong, she had another one, bigger and badder, that left her with a number of deficits to overcome. She had to relearn how to walk, how to talk, and how to use her left hand instead of her right. As you can imagine, this was a devastating blow to her and to our family. Continue reading “After Acceptance”

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Get Unstuck!

“Status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in’.” ~ Ronald Reagan

The Way Things Were

Do you know where the term “status quo” comes from? It’s from the Latin phrase, “status quo ante bellum”, or “the state before the war”. This refers to the borders, property boundaries, and other evidence of ownership used to reinstate land when a nation was defeated in war. At times, we can feel defeated, overwhelmed by too much to do or entrenched in negative habits and thought patterns, beaten down by indecision or faced with changes that we feel have been thrust on us. Continue reading “Get Unstuck!”

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How To Have Willpower When You Need It

“It’s not that you don’t know what to do, but rather that you don’t have the discipline to make yourself do what you should do, whether you feel like it or not.” ~ Brian Tracy

Your Chances For Parole May Vary

Pretend for a moment that you are a prisoner about to appear before a judge to request parole. (It’s a stretch I know, but use your imagination.) When would you want to go before the judge? First thing in the morning? Right before lunch? Middle of the afternoon? Last case of the day? Continue reading “How To Have Willpower When You Need It”

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5 Ways To Get More Done

“You often see people who appear to be busy all day long but seem to accomplish very little. This is almost always because they are busy working on tasks that are of low value while they are procrastinating on the one or two activities that could make a real difference to their companies and to their careers.” ~ Brian Tracy

You Can’t Do It All

You have more to do than you can get done. The pace of life is increasing and the demands on your time and energy are growing. Reports to write. E-mails to respond to. Groceries to buy. An exercise regimen to follow. Clients to call. Dishes to wash. Books to read. Children to care for. Phone calls to return. Customer complaints to address. A spouse to spend time with. Oh, and selfies to upload and Facebook posts to like and comment on. Continue reading “5 Ways To Get More Done”

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Step Out Of The Pit

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Each of us has Teachers that come into our lives at various times. Each of these Teachers brings an important lesson. Until you learn the lesson, that Teacher comes back again and again. Until you learn the lesson, you can’t move on.

The Farmer and the Donkey

I once heard a story about an old donkey who had outlived it’s usefulness. It was too old to work any more. The farmer who owned the donkey thought about having it put down, but just couldn’t bring himself to do so. However, one day the donkey fell into a deep pit and couldn’t get out. “Well,” thought the farmer, “this is the end. I’ll just fill in the pit with dirt and bury this poor old donkey.” Continue reading “Step Out Of The Pit”

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How To Know Your Values . . . And Why

“The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. . . Proactive people are driven by values – carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.” ~ Dr. Stephen Covey

“Crossing The I-Beam”

If you have ever read much or listened to presentations by Hyrum Smith, founder of the company that developed the Franklin Planner time management system and co-founder with Stephen Covey of the Franklin Covey company, you have likely heard his “crossing the I-beam” exercise. If you haven’t, I’ll summarize it here. Continue reading “How To Know Your Values . . . And Why”

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Your Super Power

“People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply: by the lives they lead.” ~ James Baldwin, No Name In The Street

The Key To Success

Once upon a time, there were 3 friends, Ron, Tom, and Oswald. (*This example is patterned after one presented by Darren Hardy in The Compound Effect. See Resources.) They grew up in the same neighborhood and remained good friends through school and later after they began their careers. They made about the same income. All three were married and were raising families. Continue reading “Your Super Power”

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Fundamentals Of Achievement

Here are two quotes from Robin Sharma.

“Success is really, really simple. It’s not easy, but it’s really simple.”

“Success lies in a masterful consistency around the fundamentals.”

Robin Sharma is the author of a number of best-selling books, including The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and several others in that series and The Leader Who Had No Title. He is a speaker and consultant on Leadership and Personal Mastery, who numbers among his clients many of the top companies in the world, as well as leaders in governments, business, and entertainment. Robin has identified 8 fundamentals of achievement [Sharma] which I share with you today. Continue reading “Fundamentals Of Achievement”