MOST LIKELY TO . . . ?

"Popularity? It's glory's small change."

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French poet/dramatist/novelist.

Given a choice I think most of us would choose to be popular.

Just don't let that be the only thing you choose to be.

WIN THE LOTTERY OR PLAN

"Planning without action is futile, action without planning is fatal."

Unknown

Not always; most people who buy winning lottery tickets do so without planning.

But for the rest of us having a plan is a good thing.

EVOLVING FROM ONE TO THE OTHER

"Sad people dislike the happy, and the happy the sad; the quick thinking the sedate, and the careless the busy and industrious."

Horace (BC 65-8) Latin lyric poet.

So if true, and I believe it is, the question is can you become one if you are already the other?

With effort, often great effort, yes.

Change for the good is never easy but always worth doing.

BEWARE PRE JUDGEMENT

"Always have your hook baited in the pool you least think there will be a fish."

Ovid (BC 43-AD 18) Roman poet.

This reminds me how often the business I thought my company would win didn't happen, while we frequently got that I was fairly certain we wouldn't.

I guess the moral is, if you're going to fish be ready to catch.

INEVITABLE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

"That which is escaped now is pain to come."

Proverb

Everyone occasionally puts off unpleasantness.

But you cannot avoid the unavoidable forever and attempting to do so only makes bad worse.

CAPTIVE TO OPINIONS YOU INSIST ARE TRUE

"An obstinate person does not hold opinions; they hold him."

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet and satirist.

It's not so much a matter of your opinions being true as it is your insistence they are. 

Once you reject alternative views you give up your own right of choice.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE OLD

"The new organization is edgeless, permeable, amorphous . . . constantly reforming according to need."

Unknown

This sounds like something an organizational consultant would say to their client.

As if all "new" organizations are this.

Not so.

Because resistance to change is as strong as it is, new or old, this does not happen way more often than it does.

NOT JUST ANY OPPORTUNITY, THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY

"Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat."

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) American speaker and motivational writer.

Remember this while looking for a job.

The one you don't get, the one you really wanted, leaves the way clear to the one you were destined to have.

NOW THAT'S REALLY STUPID!

"Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo."

H. G. Wells (1866-1946) British-born American author.

This applies equally well in our personal and professional lives, but for the moment, just think about how it relates to work.

Being honest, how many of your co-worker's ideas do you oppose because you didn't think of them first?

THIS REALLY AFFECTED ME

"Little things affect little minds."

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) British politician/author.

We're all occasionally subject to small mindedness so don't take this too personal.

However do think about it the next time you find yourself fretting over something you shouldn't.

BUT EVERYONE THINKS SO

"The voice of the majority is no proof of justice."

Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) German dramatist/poet/historian.

Nor validation that what the masses believe is correct.

Question what the majority believes as much as you listen to it.

ALL OR NOTHING . . . NO!

"To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation."

Saint Augustine (354-430) Theologian.

It's called walking, not running, a tightrope for a reason and while not the only requirement for success, moderation of speed is essential to get from one end of the rope to the other.

It's that way with lots of things.

In due time beats not trying.

THE BUSINESS OF MANNERS

"Anyone can be polite to a king. It takes a gentleman to be polite to a beggar."

Unknown

When was the last time you considered the role of good manners in business?

You should if for no other reason than, in business, today's beggar and king may soon swap places.

NOT ALONE

"One aged man -- one man -- can't fill a house."

Robert Frost (1875-1963) American Poet.

Substitute "startup" for "house" and this works just as well, regardless of whether or not the man is aged.

One woman too.

A LITTLE HARSH BUT POINT TAKEN

"If you were graduated yesterday, and have learned nothing today, you will be uneducated tomorrow."

Unknown

Just as sure as a print version of Encyclopedia Britannica is outdated the second it rolls off the press, so too are our educations.

Assuming we stop learning when we leave school.

Don't!

AS WITH LIFE AND LEMONS . . .

"She had an unequalled gift... of squeezing big mistakes into small opportunities."

Henry James (1843-1916) American author

At the core of many mistakes, possibly all, is the seed of future success.

Embrace your mistakes, learn from them.

UNLESS YOU WIN THE LOTTERY . . .

"Life gives nothing to man without labor."

Horace (BC 65-8) Latin lyric poet

Inspirations, great ideas, patents, opportunity, money, most anything you can name that seems related to success; none of it means anything without a lot of hard work.

LUCKY?

"Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise."

Baltasar Gracian (1601-1658) Spanish philosopher/writer

And those who "assist" themselves more will be luckier than those who don't.

DID YOU NOTICE HOW KNOWLEDGEABLE I AM?

"Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement."

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) Austrian-British philosopher

Acknowledgement by those you wish to recognize your knowledge.

If they don't, how knowledgeable are you really?

I'M JEALOUS OF YOU IF YOU NEVER ARE

"Jealousy is the jaundice of the soul."

John Dryden (1631-1700) British poet/dramatist/critic

Can there be a human emotion that affects all of us more deeply?

Be it if you must, I am from time to time, but try your best not to act on it.