How Behavior Patterns Can Change Your Life

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face … The danger lies in refusing to face the fear … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living

As a musician and actor, Will Smith has built an impressive list of accomplishments. So much so that in 2007, Newsweek called him “the most powerful actor in Hollywood.”

No doubt he earned that distinction partly because of his multiple Grammy Awards, Golden Globe nominations and Academy Award nominations. Not to mention the fact that his movies have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. It’s safe to say he’s come a long way from the hard streets of West Philadelphia where he was born and raised.

30 Inspiring Quotes to Help You Develop More Perseverance and Persistence

Also see: The Science of Perseverance: How Your Beliefs Can Strengthen (or Weaken) Your Motivation.

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.

Thomas Carlyle

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

Maya Angelou

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

Calvin Coolidge

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

Jacob A. Riis

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.

Albert Einstein

7 Inspiring Quotes for a Happier, Healthier, More Prosperous Life

If you want to live a happier, healthier, more prosperous life in the coming year, these inspiring nuggets of wisdom are sure to help.

mneill“Financial security doesn’t come from the amount of money you currently have; it comes from your ability to get more of it whenever you want … Master the art of serving others and you will secure your financial future.”

Michael Neill

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson

What’s the Most Important Skill for Living a Happier, Healthier, More Prosperous Life?

“Though one may conquer a thousand times a thousand men in battle, yet he indeed is the noblest victor who conquers himself.”
– Buddha –

What’s the most important skill for living a happier, healthier, more prosperous life?

Self-Mastery. Psychologists call it self-regulation or self-control, and it’s the ability to get yourself to consistently behave in ways that move you toward your goals rather than away from them.

  • It’s the ability to set a course of action and keep moving forward no matter how hard it gets or how unmotivated you feel.
  • It’s the ability to recognize and overcome your negative habits, so you can intentionally create the amazing life you’ve imagined.
  • It’s the ability to say no in the face of increasing temptation from slick marketers and global companies who care more about their bottom line than your long-term health and financial security.
  • It’s the ability take sustained action toward your goals in the face of self-doubt and the endless array of distractions imposed by more and more technology.

I may be overstating this, but I believe it to be true. More than any other time in history, self-mastery is the essential skill that can rescue humanity from its path of over-indulgence, under-regulation and potential self-destruction.

10 Brilliant Examples of How to Open Your Blog Post With a Bang

“The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead. And if the second sentence doesn’t induce him to continue to the third sentence, it’s equally dead. Of such a progression of sentences, each tugging the reader forward until … safely hooked, a writer constructs that fateful unit: the lead.”

— William Zinsser, On Writing Well

With respect, I must disagree with Mr. Zinsser. We all know the most important part of any article is the title. Without a compelling title, your reader won’t even get to the first sentence. After the title, however, the first few sentences of your article are certainly the most important part.

Journalists call this critical, introductory section the “lede,” and when properly executed, it’s the bridge that carries your reader from an attention-grabbing headline to the body of your blog post. If you want to get it right, try one of these 10 clever ways to open your next blog post with a bang.

17 Inspiring Quotes About Loving Your Work

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Steve Jobs

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”

Maya Angelou

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

Patanjali