THE VALUE OF WOULDA, COULDA, SHOULDA? ZERO

"Opportunity always looks better going than coming."

Unknown.

Like the horse you didn't expect to win, the one you didn't bet on that actually did.

Or the investment you didn't make and now realize you should have.

The trick is not to identify missed opportunity.

You need to identify opportunity before it actually is opportunity.

WHAT (ELSE) HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME?

"Nothing recedes like success."

Walter Winchell, 20th century American newspaperman.

An interesting play on words making the point that continual success requires continual success.

You're only as good as your last accomplishment.

THIS IS NO DREAM!

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours."

Henry David Thoreau, 19th century American philosopher/poet.

"Common hours" is 19th century code for awake time spent not dreaming the dreams of things you'd like to be, things you'd like to accomplish.

You have them. You may not acknowledge you do but you do have them.

Make them happen.

DREAM, PLAN, ACT!

"Man is a genius when he is dreaming."

Akira Kurosawa, 20th century Japanese film maker.

Kurosawa-san was right describing our dreams, both those while we sleep and those awake, as an indication of human genius.

However, a dream not realized is only a dream.

To actually be genius we must evolve what we dream to reality.

Dream, plan, act!

THINKING OF SOMETHING ELSE AS YOU READ THIS?

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

Alexander Graham Bell, late 19th/early 20th century inventor.

Pretty proud of that multi-tasking you do are you?

Maybe too proud??

INTELLIGENT INTENTION

"Our actions are the results of our intentions and our intelligence."

E. Stanley Jones, 20th century theologian

Hopefully you are intelligent enough to see this.

However, if not, but your intention is to accept it as true, good enough.

MONEY FOR WHAT YOU DO, NOT WHAT YOU COULD DO

"Ben Franklin may have discovered electricity but it is the man who invented the meter who made the money."

Earl Warren, 30th governor of California, 14th Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

Well, maybe not exactly, but the core message is true.

It's not what you create as much as what you do with what you create.

POWER WANDERING

“Not all those who wander are lost.” 

J.R.R. Tolkien, 20th century English author

from "The Fellowship of the Ring"

Not every path you take will take you where you'd like to be.

The problem is, which paths do you take, which should you not.

A bit of wandering can help.

FROM WHAT YOU ATTEMPT COMES ACCOMPLISHMENT

"The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's own efforts."

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-Swiss-U.S. scientist

You'll accomplish as long as you try, not always but often enough. And the more you try, the more you'll accomplish.

YOU MIGHT DARE BUT YOU'LL NEVER DO WITHOUT EFFORT

"The person who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore."

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American writer.

With emphasis on "do".

Many can "dare" but that alone won't get you far; you actually have to do something.

HOW LONG WOULD YOU PAY, GETTING LITTLE OR NOTHING IN RETURN?

"What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say."

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet/essayist/lecturer.

And what you don't do speaks pretty loud too.

Doing, not broken promises about things not done.

Not "explanations"; itself just a nice substitute for "excuses".

We are paid for doing what we say we will do to the benefit of ourselves and those who pay us.

Produce and you'll be paid; don't you won't, it's that simple.

THE LAND OF DONE

"I dwell in Possibility."

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet.

Possibility is where the road to Accomplishment begins. 

Start there, don't end there.

TODAY, 2 TO 1 OVER TOMORROW

"One today is worth two tomorrows."

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman/scientist/philosopher.

One to-do off today's list you might not otherwise get ta-done tomorrow.

That's worth a whole lot more than just two tomorrows.

MAKING OUR IMPERFECT WORLD

"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men."

George Eliot (1819-1880) British writer.

Were this not true the world would be nowhere near as imperfectly perfect as it is today.

You have a contribution to make; do what you can without concern for how (im)perfect you may be.

OK, BUT WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU DO?

"It is not length of life, but depth of life."

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet/essayist/lecturer.

When it comes to how long you do what you do, the emphasis should be on what.

RECIPE FOR ACCOMLISHMENT

"To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. We must not drift or lie at anchor."

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) American author/poet.

"Getting things done" implies taking action, often accompanied by hard work, for good reason.

ONLY IF ASKED

"There is no waste of time in life like that of making explanations."

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

The answer to the question "Did you do what you said you would do?" is either yes or no. 

Explanations/excuses can follow (only) if requested.

THE REWARD OF DOING IT YOURSELF

"Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice"

Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist.

I'm pretty sure Mr. Ford is talking about the effort required to chop wood creating warmth, but I see another possibility.

The good feeling that comes from having done something you could just as easily have left to someone else.

You realize the benefit of whatever you've done as well as the satisfaction of having done it yourself.

WHAT IS NOT WHAT YOU WISH WAS

"Everything you need you already have."

Wayne Dyer (1940-?) American psychotherapist/author/lecturer.

Worry about what you think you need and don't have when (if) the day comes when (if) you find you absolutely can do no more with only what you have.

And keep in mind, we're talking needs not wants.

KINDLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

"The kindness planned for tomorrow doesn't count for today."

Unknown

Another example of what you do, not what you say you'll do.

What is, not what you say will be.

And nowhere more important than for kindness.