“We are all self-made, but only the successful will admit it.” — Earl Nightingale Do you ever stop to think about what makes us special? What makes us…us? Then, do you ever wonder what can possibly make some people great? What is greatness? Or talent? Or success?
Don’t wait for perfection to compliment imperfect people. ~Leadershipfreak
Actually, don’t wait for perfection, period. @MindcultureGuru
#ThinkBigSundayWithMarsha #inspiration
If you could improve something that matters to you in three minutes a day would you do it? Small investments make a huge difference. Hugging: We’re doing a hugging experiment in our home. I’ve been hugging my wife for one minute. Three times a day I set the timer on my phone for one minute […]
Read about the challenges of minority students in completing college education. But the bigger issue is how we can all work towards narrowing the disparity between the well-off and the not-so-well off, in the interest of a fairer shake. Compassion and understanding should be at the heart of any such efforts.
I’ve been posting multiple links about mindsets in my Facebook page after reading Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success which teaches how each of us can learn to fulfill our potential. Here’s a great summary of it.
Also, here’s a poem I came across in an old copy of Soviet Literature (1979).
Elegy
by Alexander Pushkin
The long-spent madness of once joyous days
Is dull and heavy like a drunken daze.
But, just like wine, the grief of days gone by
Grows ever stronger as years swiftly fly.
My fate is sad. Hard work and woe’s grim lore
Is all the future holds for me in store.
And yet, dear friends, I do not pray for death,
To think and suffer life must give me breath.
And I believe, mid worries, grief and pain,
Sweet spells of bliss will come my way again:
I’ll feast my ears on harmony supreme,
Let over fantasy tears freely stream,
And it may be, my sunset’s gloomy isle
Love shall light up with short-lived farewell smile.
1830
Translated by Diana Russell
Don’t you think it reflects a growth mindset? And that is something which always bestows hope.
“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s a day you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it.” ~Margaret Thatcher
So very true. Nothing better to make me focus than a line from the Iron Lady herself!
I like randomness. It is always more interesting than routine. So today, I decided to check out quotations on ‘challenge’. The above really stuck me as relevant for my daily life. And indeed for everyone’s daily life.
When I was editing the Athwela Business Journal, the Sinhala business magazine, we used the serialize the Sinhala translations by Daya Rohana Atukorala, of great personal development classics, by the likes of Dale Carnegie, Paul Parker and others. Each month a few pages from a chapter.
And I know personally, however dismal the day may have been, reading those few pages were immensely uplifting, not just to me but to all my staff who took the time to read it… It would just take a few minutes, but there was definite value added to our lives, and instant mood improvements. [You can read some First Chapters of Sinhala books by Daya Rohana Atukorala on SriLankaBookChapters blog.
This is why I like quotations so much. I know they make a real difference to the prepared mind. And hopefully, can pull in a few not-so-prepared minds as well.
Here are some other interesting quotes I found on challenge:
“Rejection is a challenge.” ~Veronica Purcell
***
“A trap is only a trap if you don’t know about it. If you know about it, it’s a challenge.” ~China Miéville in King Rat
***
“Life keeps throwing me curve balls and I don’t even own a bat. At least my dodging skills are improving.” ~Jayleigh Cape
***
“It has never been my goal to impress anyone but myself. That has proven challenging enough.” ~Richelle E. Goodrich in Smile Anyway
***
“That is the challenge Companion. To take what has happened to you and learn from it. Nothing is quite so destructive as pity, especially self-pity. No event in life is so terrible that one cannot rise above it.” ~Robin Hobb in Ship of Destiny
***
“When faced with two equally tough choices, most people choose the third choice: to not choose. ” ~Jarod Kintz in This Book Title is Invisible
***
“These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.” ~Abigail Adams
***
“Spending time with people without ambition is a self-destruction.” ~Amen Muffler
Wow, that last one smacks a trace of Buddhism in it. I’ll get back to mindculture’s Buddhism roots some time. If you like this, check out my oldest posts.
Mindculture's Blog 