Achieving Excellence Part ll

So, you've made your decision.
The next step--get to work!

Hone your Craft One of the biggest mistakes people make is underestimating what it takes to be successful. In our microwave, drive-thru, express-lane society, we all want it now. People honor and idolize what is visible--success, but they have difficulty conceiving all of the work that goes into achieving it.
If you have a love for something and you know it is your destiny, learn all that you can about it. Read all that you can about it. Talk to and LISTEN to experts in the field.
When I started my own company I had NO idea what I was getting into. I had been successful in the rat race and that success came very easily, but, I made the big mistake of assuming my success would transfer to everything else I did--by osmosis or something! Working for someone was completely different from owning a company. I wasn't prepared. I lacked knowledge and self-discipline. The worse thing was--I didn't know what I didn't know.
While your success is greatly contingent upon your actions, it doesn't necessarily mean you can get by with what you've been gifted with. Educate yourself. Apply what you learn. Evaluate your performance and make it better.
Excellence requires a very high price. That price must always be paid--and always paid in advance!!

Be Relentless Believe it or not, there are forces out there that want to keep you from being your best. Every decision we ever make is a choice between life and death. Some of the same choices can mean life or death, depending on the circumstance. For example, in the middle of getting an important task completed something may tell you you need to take a nap. Do you really need a nap? You may or may not. A nap at that time could keep you from productivity or it could help you to be more productive later. It's up to you to figure out if the decision is moving you closer to your goal or further away.
When you get down to work, things will happen to distract you, intimidate you, infuriate you or just plain deter you from your goal. Not necessarily bad things. Just things. Don't let them!
Keep your goals in front of you. Literally. Write them down and put them in your bathroom, on mirrors, on the refrigerator, in your car, in your purse--everywhere. The plan for your life is so important that you were CREATED for it.
If you know that you know that you know that this is what you're supposed to be doing, NEVER GIVE UP.

Take it to the Edge The Truth: There is nothing new under the sun. People are sheep. No one thinks. How else can you explain the proliferation of "reality" tv shows, mediocre recycled "music" and the endless, mindless activities that do nothing to improve society.
I hate boring stuff! Don't settle for that! There may be nothing new, but everything can become new. How?
You!
Be true to yourself. Show us what you're working with. You, and only you, have your own unique perspective of life. Everyone does. Don't be afraid--give us something to think about. Nobody wants a tired, been there-done that, generic version of ANYTHING! Explode the box! Trust that the Creator was right when He made you. It is a privilege and an honor to be able to carry out what you are purposed for. Let your heart sing and people will love you for it.

The dream is free. It's the journey you're gonna pay for. John Maxwell

Excellence costs. Pay that price! Be the one that brings people to tears. Be the one to make people LOL! Be the one that makes them go "hmmmm???".
Make it interesting. Make it fun. And, most of all, make it worth it!

Achieving Excellence Part l

Achieving excellence always begins with one thing. Making a decision.


Seems simple enough, right? It is, if you know who you are. Most failure can be contributed to a lack of determination. Do you know yourself well enough to be able to determine exactly what it is that you want?
If not, in your quest to figure out just who you are and what you would like to happen in your life, consider these 3 things:

Recognize your gifting I believe we have all been endowed with unlimited gifting in unlimited areas in unlimited amounts. Take some time and think about some of the things you're good at. Some things may seem more important than others. Some are more or less evident. Even if you complete what you may consider to be the most mundane of tasks well, that is a gift. There is no one anywhere that is able to do whatever it is that you do, and give it your special touch.
Determine your gifting and use it to help you get what you want and, more importantly, help improve our world.

Give in to your desires Our desires are planted in us for a reason. Have you ever looked at someone that enjoys a particular activity and wondered "What in the World???" People make the world go 'round and it is desire that fuels the trip. Desire may be the most important part of achieving success because, whatever it is we have a desire for, we will be enthusiastic about. Enthusiasm is crucial to accomplishment. The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek éntheos, meaning "God within". Enthusiasm reflects the love that you have for whatever it is that you desire.
It is that Love, my friend, that can be the biggest determining factor of whether or not you will succeed at obtaining your heart's desire.

You are not a victim Everything is beautiful in it's own time. Circumstances are never perfect. Sometimes they appear to be out of our control. Sometimes they are not favorable. Sometimes, to avoid being held accountable, we blame our circumstances.
One thing is for certain, no matter what the circumstance, everything happens for a reason. Work in your circumstance. Use it as a tool. Examine what's happening around you. What's hot? What's not? Why? What can you use to improve your circumstances and move you closer to your goals? What can you do differently next time to avoid a counter-productive situation?
You can either be a victim of or victorious in your circumstance. You will never be both.


Although determining your desires and gifting and capitalizing on your circumstances play major roles in deciding the plan for your life, the most important thing you can do to achieve real success is to get to know your Maker. We all have an important and unique part to play in His plan. Using all that He has given us, and knowing Him and His plan for our lives is the Most Excellent Way to achieve success.

(MY) Top Quotes for 2009

A recap of 2009 in quotes. Some I heard, some I read. All I liked. Here goes:


"Love is a verb."
Joyce Meyer
(The runner up, only because I heard it in 2010): "'No' is a complete sentence!"

Help Haiti here.

"If money can fix it, it's not really a problem."
S Pitts

"People are either frustrating or fascinating. The choice is yours."
J Blasko

"Ignorance isn't the problem. The problem is the ignorance of ignorance."
A Sweeney (Heard this last week. Added it anyway :)

"Nobody wants to buy a drill but everybody wants a hole."
J Dwyer (I'm sure this one was recycled from somewhere)

"The pole vaulter doesn't know how high he can jump until he knocks down the pole."
Dr. Robert Schuller from the book "You Can Become the Person You Want to Be"

"Be it if you want to be it."
Dr. J Davis
First runner up: "Explode the box!"

“The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong."
~Carl Gustav Jung via The Cushite @ www.FirstWorldBooks.com

"The difference between try and triumph is a little UMPH!"
Rev. Run via Dr. Robert Schuller

"People that are fearful are easy to control."
Dani Johnson
First runner up: "Quit needing it and GO GET IT!"

"I learned that I could be a giver by simply bringing a smile to another person."
Maya Angelou
(Bonus)"...when I walk in, they may like me or dislike me, but everybody knows I'm here."

Happy New Year! Off to make my own quotes :)

Winning Starts with Beginning!

I enjoyed this little excerpt from the book "You Can Become the Person You Want to Be" as written by Dr. Robert H. Schuller:

Walt Disney liked to tell the story of the boy who wanted so much to march in the circus parade. When the show came to town the bandmaster needed a trombonist, so the boy signed up. He hadn't marched a block when his horrible sounds created pandemonium. "Why didn't you tell me you couldn't play a trombone?" the bandmaster demanded. The boy answered simply, "How did I know? I never tried before!"

Taken from the chapter "Self-Confidence--Get it! Use it! Keep it!

One of my favorite trainers, Dani Johnson, tells us that in order to be truly successful at anything we need the persistence, enthusiasm and adventurism of a child.
What are you not doing now because you do not yet know that you can?

Do You Remember Where You Were When the Levees Broke?

I haven't blogged in a minute--I've been going through some things that have snatched my focus. Excuse me, that I've allowed to snatch my focus. When I thought I was ready to write, I couldn't think of anything to write about. I don't claim to be a writer but, if I were, you might call what I had writer's block.

Then I found this delightful man, Brad Bechler on Twitter , who wrote a book about Hurricane Katrina. (Kind of a reminder that there's always someone that has it worse than you do.) His book is called "When Will the Sky Fall?". I haven't read it yet, but if it's anything like his tweets, I'm sure it will be an enlightening read.

This week is the fourth anniversary of the hurricane that made history. Where the media desensitizes us to tragedies and horrific catastrophies by dehumanizing them and making them appear commonplace (you know the media CHOOSES what they report), the effects of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina remain to this day.

Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" puts a most human face on the tragedy that occurred August 29, 2005. Mr. Lee is a master documentarian and this piece is nothing short of mesmerizing. It is a much needed, must-see "look at a community that has been through hell and back, surviving death, devastation and disease at every turn".
I hope you've seen it.

The effects of Katrina were far reaching--I remember new members of our congregation became new members because they had been displaced by the storm. I live in New Jersey.
The Coast Guard, the National Guard, volunteer organizations were stretched by rescue efforts.
The world watched, and ridiculed, our government's stunted response to one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history.
(Not to go THERE but even the most *weatherly* challenged know that a Category 5 hurricane is going to require more than a little bit of attention--even in the best of circumstances.)
And finally, people from all over banded together to help a devastated region & people resume some sort of semblance of a life.

Amidst their tragedy, the people of the bayou go on. My heart goes out to the people of New Orleans and everyone else affected, still.
Sometimes you just have to get over your sweet self and put things into perspective in order to get things done.
I'm glad I am able to write again. :) Feel free to share your thoughts!