The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
Mark Twain
Tag: Change (Page 1 of 2)
You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.
Mike Murdock
Giftedness is not what you do or how hard you work.
It is who you are.
You think differently.
You experience life intensely.
You care about injustice.
You seek meaning.
You appreciate and strive for the exquisite.
You are painfully sensitive.
You are extremely complex.
You cherish integrity.
Your truth-telling has gotten you in trouble.
Should 98% of the population find you odd, seek the company of those who love you just the way you are.
You are not broken.
You do not need to be fixed.
You are utterly fascinating.
Trust yourself!
Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman
mnmlist has a post about the only thing you can change, a great reminder that even a long journey begins with a small step. Here is what resonates most with me right now:
You can’t change your entire life. You can only change your next action.
You can’t declutter your entire life. You can only choose to get rid of one thing, right now.
You can’t change the past, or control the future. You can only change what you’re doing right now.
You can’t change everything. You can only change one, small thing. And that’s all it takes.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
Rumi
“How does one become a butterfly?” she asked.
“You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
– Trina Paulus
Serendipity at work
I had finished reading “Enchantment” by Guy Kawasaki which has an origami butterfly on the front cover. The quote above turned up in my Facebook stream and the butterfly connection is obvious.
Going from caterpillar to butterfly is a great example of change.
I was reminded about the hammer-nail quote yesterday, found that one plus some more.
If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.
What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization.
A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.
If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life.
The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.
Classic economic theory, based as it is on an inadequate theory of human motivation, could be revolutionized by accepting the reality of higher human needs, including the impulse to self actualization and the love for the highest values.
The fact is that people are good, Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior.
The Tao of Coaching by Max Landsberg is an excellent book about coaching as a leader. The tagline on the book says Boost your effectiveness at work by inspiring and developing those around you which sums up coaching from the leaders perspective.
The books is described like this:
This book offers information on how to unlock the potential of people by applying the techniques of coaching. Coaching is the key to realising the potential of your employees, your organisation and yourself.
This book provides the techniques and tools of coaching that are vital for those who want to develop a team of people who will perform effectively and who will relish working with them.
The techniques and tools of coaching are integrated in the story about Alex and his career as manager. That makes it easier since you see them used in context.
The book lists these reasons why a manager shall use coaching:
• Create more time for yourself
• Achieve better results
• Build your interpersonal skills
If you want a great introduction to coaching as a leader, and a book you later can use as manual, I suggest that you buy The Tao of Coaching.
I got this classic story from a friend, it’s great and makes us see cracks and flaws in a different way.
A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One pot had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”
The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day while we walk back, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”
Moral:
Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.
I am a fan of Leonard Cohen and there is a part in the Anthem lyrics that means a lot:
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
In other words, we need to be open to let the light in – and to let our own light out.
Added in a comment by Sue James
Perhaps another way of expressing this can also be found in the words of another poet – Kahlil Gibran:
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.”