Tag: quote

Getting Started

Sunday, March 16, 2014 /

“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.” – Ben Stein

It’s a lot easier said than done, but figuring out what path you want to head down is a crucial first step to reaching your final destination.

Planning and figuring out what to do with the rest of your life might seem too monumental of a task, but the trick is to do it one step at a time, one day at a time.

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Sun Tsu

You need to realize that you are not signing a lifetime contract with anyone by simply choosing a specific goal for yourself. Worst case scenario is that you realize your current path is no longer in tact with your original plans and you’d have to change it. We’ve all taken detours before, and it shouldn’t be hard to get yourself back on a positive path. Pretty much, you just need to alleviate any unnecessary strain you imply onto yourself.

“Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.” – Mary Schmich

Take a nice deep breath and think about what you love doing. Close your eyes and reminisce about your childhood and all the dreams you had in front of you. What were some of those dreams?

Also, think about things you love to do. What do you love to do so much, that you’d do it for free? Maybe you’re already doing something everyday but never realized its potential for becoming a career. Now the trick is to find a way to get paid for what you love to do.

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” -St. Francis of Assisi

I know what you’re thinking… and yes, there is a high demand in the prostitution field, and yes, the pay is really good. But trust me, I tried it before and it was a tough gig… the hours were late, no healthcare, no dental, rude customers, weird customers and of course, not a good retirement package…. (just kidding)

Still having problems figuring out what’s for you? Try talking with family and friends. Maybe they can see the greatness and potential in you that you can’t see yourself.

Pick up the book called “Grindhopping” by Laura Vanderkam http://www.grindhopping.com. It talks about finding your own passions in life and turning it into an entrepreneurial venture. The term Grindhopping comes from the mundane lifestyles that most adults fall into, where we go to college, show up, become an average student and then eventually go out into the world as a corporate slave in the corporate grind. So Grindhopping is thus, finding your own path and becoming your own boss, hence skipping, or hopping, the daily corporate grind that drives so many of us into becoming mediocre working adults.

Grindhopping (verb) – Achieving accelerated career success, without paying your dues.

“Grindhoppers who hit the jackpot from the start have not just talent, but affection for their work. They do not believe that they should be anything but blissfully happy with their jobs.” – Lauren Vanderkam

Excepts from the book:

Guideline #1: Always Be Your Own Boss

No compromises, no excuses

Guideline #2: Know Where You’re Going

It’s the only way to drive on unmarked roads

Guideline #3: Recalculate Risk

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

Guideline #4: Think Projects, Not Jobs

Welcome to the Craig’s List Economy

Guideline #5: Seek to Be Judged on Results (and Deliver Them)

Be better, and you’ve got it made

Guideline #6: Everything is Negotiable

From money to work-life balance, don’t believe “that’s just the way it is”

Guideline #7: Cultivate a Network and a Nimble Mind

Learn how to learn on the job

I asked Lauren, “What is one thing all the Grindhoppers you met have in common?”

Her response was that all of them had a strong sense of self-discipline. After all, these people aren’t working for anyone else other than themselves. So it’s their own internal fire and personal drive that will allow them to succeed or fail.

So now the question is, do you have that same motivation within you?

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney


Wits of Wisdom

Sunday, March 16, 2014 /

Just some of my favorite words of wisdom from everyone….

“Women will never be as successful as men because they have no wives to advise them.” ~Dick Van Dyke.

“If you don’t like your job, you don’t strike! You just go in every day, and do it really half assed. That’s the American way.” ~Homer

“The large print giveth, but the small print taketh away.”  ~Tom Waits

“There are 3 kinds of people in this world… those that can count…. and those that can’t.”

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. “

“You grow up the day you have your first real laugh – at yourself.”

“You have a right to your opinions. I just don’t want to hear them.”

“You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is.” ~Ellen Degeneres

“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” ~Robin Williams

“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.”

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~Thomas Edison.

“A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just have one thing to say to the authors of that study: Duh.” ~Conan O’Brien

“The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.”

“Never play leap-frog with a unicorn” …. ouch!!!!

“Have no fear of perfection–you’ll never reach it.” ~Salvador Dali

“When you’re in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, ‘Damn, that was fun.'”

“The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.”  ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

“You can’t have everything… where would you put it?”  ~Steven Wright

“Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers.” ~Homer Simpson

“Plastic surgeons are always making mountains out of molehills.” ~Dolly Parton

“Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.”

“A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.”

“I plan on living forever.  So far, so good.”

“There are two different kinds of people in this world: those who finish what they start, and”


Cocky Sonofa…

Sunday, March 16, 2014 /

Overconfidence?

Is there such a thing? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds”
– Albert Einstein.

This quote has played a very big role in my own self esteem and can really be very positive, while being very egotistical and counter-productive at the same time.

I often reflect back to Bill Gates when he decided to drop out of Harvard in order to pursue his dreams. Imagine what his guidance councilor’s reaction to this was? I have so many different scenarios playing in my head, most of which involves the councilor calling Bill F-ing crazy, insane and absolutely idiotic, not necessarily in that order. Bill Gates, and anyone who walks the halls of Harvard, is pretty much guaranteed a six figure income right off the bat. Yet, Bill decided to take the chance, follow his own heart and do his own thing. Today, he is the most financially secure person in the world, to say the least.

But of course, we have to be realistic. We always hear about the amazing success stories but there are probably 10 (or more) failures for every victory. So how can one balance out between having our heads in the clouds but our feet on the ground?

Personally, I’ve always leaned toward taking the chance. Every mistake you make is one that you will learn from. Every mistake you make is one less mistake you will repeat.

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one”
–Elbert Hubbard.

Yes this may sound too aggressive and outlandish, and yes it is so much easier said than done, especially when you consider having to invest your life savings into your new widget. But I’m not talking about gambling when the odds are stacked in the favor of the casino, no, not gambling, but taking calculated risks in life. There are ways to plan things out, to stack the odds in your favor.

The best way to point yourself in the right direction is to do EVERYTHING you can to ensure success. There are so many other factors that are out of your hands, and those are meant to be left alone. However, aspects that you can control should be researched, planned, understood, structured, studied, debated, marinated, contemplated, practiced, innovated, re-contemplated and any other buzzword you could think of! Oh, and do come up with a plans A, B, C and D.

So far, you need to have confidence and believe in yourself then do everything you can to head towards the right direction. What’s next? *Now what?* (*refer back to previous blog post.)

“Now”, you have to listen.

Listening is a virtue. It’s so easily said, so frequently misused and too often forgotten.

Overconfidence only happens, when one forgets to listen. When one tunes out everyone else and only hears what you want to hear. You don’t have to agree or disagree with anyone, but you have to listen.

How do you listen? Well you need to be patient with the people who give you advice, but be careful whose advice you take.

There’s one more really, really important thing I need to tell you, which would pretty much make everything I said make so much more sense… it is the key to balancing your confidence….. it is something that one of my greatest mentors had taught me…. Umm it goes something like….. ummmm….. I can’t really remember it….. ahhhhh I wasn’t really listening….

–

Old Wisdom

Monday, February 1, 2010 /

First I was dying to finish high school and start college.

And then, I was dying to finish college and start working.

Then, I was dying to marry and have children.

And then, I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work.

But then, I was dying to retire.

And now, I am dying……

And suddenly realized, I forgot to live.

_

To make money we lose our health,

and then to restore our health we lose our money…

We live as if we are never going to die,

and we die as if we never lived….

stay-young-old-wisdom-quote-friend-quotes-live

More on staying young:

How To Stay Forever Young

George Carlin’s Views on Aging

Song and Video that Will Make You Want to Live Forever, Forever…

“The Power of One” Quotes

Friday, January 22, 2010 /

“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” -Helen Keller

“I choose to rise up out of that storm and see that in moments of desperation, fear, and helplessness, each of us can be a rainbow of hope, doing what we can to extend ourselves in kindness and grace to one another. And I know for sure that there is no them – there’s only us.” -Oprah Winfrey

“Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.” -Deepak Chopra

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” -Mother Teresa

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.” -Albert Schweitzer

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” -Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.” -Buddhist saying

“It is difficult to give away kindness. It keeps coming back to you.” -Cort Flint

“True beauty emanates from a selfless heart.” -Cristina Munoz

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” -The Dalai Lama

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” -The Dalai Lama

“The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.” -Hadia Bejar

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.” -Helen Keller

“Goodness is the only investment which never fails.” -Henry David Thoreau

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

“A person’s true wealth is the good he or she does in the world.” -Mohammed

“There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness, and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much.” -Mother Teresa

“We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” -Whoopi Goldberg

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” -Mohandas Gandhi

“Don’t just think, do.” -Horace

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” -Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax

“For it is in giving that we receive.” -St. Francis of Assisi

“Deeds of giving are the very foundations of the world.” -The Torah

Power-of-One-quotes-quote-sayings

Famous Last Words

Thursday, January 14, 2010 /

Famous Last Words
It was provoking for me…so I thought you all might enjoy it too.
*Thanks to Kristen “Ace” Nevarez


Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something.
– Francisco (“Pancho”) Villa

Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.
– Voltaire (attributed), when asked by a priest to renounce Satan

Get these fucking nuns away from me.
– Norman Douglas

Don’t worry…it’s not loaded…
– Terry Kath, rock musician in the band Chicago Transit Authority as he put the gun he was cleaning to his head and pulled the trigger.

Is someone hurt?
– Robert F. Kennedy, to his wife directly after he was shot and seconds before he fell into a coma.

Die, my dear? Why that’s the last thing I’ll do!
– Groucho Marx

Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!
– Karl Marx, asked by his housekeeper what his last words were

I’ll be in Hell before you start breakfast!
– “Black Jack” Ketchum, notorious train robber

I have a terrific headache.
– Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage

I’d hate to die twice. It’s so boring.
– Richard Feynman

Drink to me!
– Pablo Picasso

I have not told half of what I saw.
– Marco Polo, Venetian traveller and writer

Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking towards me, without hurrying.
– Jean Cocteau

Dammit… Don’t you dare ask God to help me.
– Joan Crawford. This comment was directed towards her housekeeper who began to pray aloud.

Lord help my poor soul
– Edgar Allan Poe

Thank God. I’m tired of being the funniest person in the room.
– Del Close, improvisor, teacher and comedian, died 1999

I have tried so hard to do right.
– Grover Cleveland, US President, died 1908

I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away. Peace, Love, Empathy. Kurt Cobain.
– Kurt Cobain (in his suicide note), Lead singer for American grunge band Nirvana, referencing a song by Neil Young.

In keeping with Channel 40’s policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts and in living color, you are going to see another first — attempted suicide.
– 30-year-old anchorwoman Christine Chubbuck, who, on July 15, 1974, during technical difficulties during a broadcast, said these words on-air before producing a revolver and shooting herself in the head. She was pronounced dead in hospital fourteen hours later.

It’s very beautiful over there.
– Thomas Edison

Now why did I do that?
– General William Erskine, after he jumped from a window in Lisbon, Portugal in 1813.

Don’t worry, relax!
– Rajiv Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, to his security staff minutes before being killed by a suicide bomber attack.

No! I didn’t come here to make a speech. I came here to die.
– Crawford Goldsby, aka Cherokee Bill, when asked if he had anything to say before he was hanged.

I really need a therapist’
– Christopher Grace, an actor who killed himself during a matinee performance of Greece

I know you’ve come to kill me. Shoot, you are only going to kill a man.
– Che Guevara

I’m tired of fighting.
-Harry Houdini

I see black light.
– Victor Hugo

LSD, 100 micrograms I.M.
– Aldous Huxley To his wife. She obliged and he was injected twice before his death.

I’m bored with it all.
– Winston Churchill, before slipping into a coma and dying nine days later.

I know not what tomorrow will bring.
– Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet

Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you.
– Mother Teresa

Don’t disturb my circles!
-Archimedes

I hope the exit is joyful and hope never to return.
– Frida Kahlo

Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool – good luck. (suicide note)
– George Sanders, Actor

They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.
– General John Sedgwick, Union Commander in the U.S. Civil War, who was hit by sniper fire a few minutes after saying it

Dying is easy, comedy is hard.
– George Bernard Shaw

I’m losing.
– Frank Sinatra

Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius. Will you remember to pay the debt?
– Socrates

My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.
– Oscar Wilde

famous-last-words-demotivational-poster-watch-this-demotivated-motivational-funny

*Thanks to Kristen “Ace” Nevarez