UNDOING CAN BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN DOING

"It is easier to stay out than get out."

Mark Twain 19th century U.S. humorist/writer/lecturer.

What will you do today you'll wish you hadn't done tomorrow?

ONLY THE TIME IT TAKES

"One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity."

Baltasar Gracian (1601-1658) Spanish philosopher/writer.

But only the time it takes to reach the center of your opportunity.

Don't delay arriving there, the result of useless procrastination or lack of planning.

Understand what you need to do to get where you want to be, to become what you want to be, then do it.

TIME ENOUGH

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is."

C. L. Lewis, 20th century British novelist.

So the question you need to answer is, how will you spend each of those 60 minutes?

Time enough depending on what you do with them.

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!

WHAT-- YOU WORRY?

"Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength."

Charles Spurgeon, 19th century British preacher.

There are things which may happen tomorrow that you should worry about today.

But only worrying, not taking action to eliminate what you're worrying about, doesn't help.

THE SECRET TO SUCCESS WITHOUT WORK? THERE ISN'T ONE!

"Nothing will work unless you do."

Maya Angelou, 20th century American poet/civil rights activist.

Not your plans to succeed, should you even bother to make any.

Not getting the right job only to do as little work as possible after you're hired.

Nothing.

It all comes down to what you do as well as what you don't.

ALONG WITH LOTTERY TICKETS AS A WAY TO GET AHEAD IN LIFE . . .

"Hope is not a strategy."

Rudy Giuliani, former NYC mayor.

Hope is a good thing; hope all you want for whatever in life is important to you.

You can even hope that hope will be all you need to succeed.

But when done hoping, get to work to make happen what you need and want to happen.

YOU DO HAVE A BUDGET DON'T YOU??

"A budget tells us what we can't afford, but it doesn't keep us from buying it."

William Feather, 20th century American author.

What Mr. Feather says applies equally well to government budgets as it does to business budgets, and, guess what else.

Your budget.

You do have a budget don't you??

NOT JUST ROCKET SCIENCE

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing."

Wernher von Braun, 20th century German American rocket scientist

If this is not true for you it should be.

Know what you don't know and then research what you must to learn what that is.

HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY

"He that lives upon hope will die fasting."

Benjamin Franklin, 18th century American inventor, one of the founding fathers of the United States

 Hope you win the lottery, plan your life as though you won't.

THE PROBABLE, LIKELY, NOT THE CERTAIN

"If you can look into the seeds of time and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me."

William Shakespeare, late 16h/early 17th century English playwright, poet, actor

Mr. Shakespeare said this knowing no one knows in advance what or who, will or will not, when.

However, observing conditions as they are, attempting to understand what may come as a result, is a whole different matter.

That you can and should do.

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.

WHAT IT TAKES

"A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood."

George S. Patton, 20th century US Army general

It other words planning and a lot of hard work saves much waste later.

YOUR IMAGINATION MIRROR

"Fantasy mirrors desire. Imagination reshapes it."

Mason Cooley 20th century American professor.

Fantasy: What you want to accomplish.

Imagination: The beginning of your plan to realize your fantasy.

IT STARTS WITH A GOAL

"Those who do not have goals are forever doomed to work for those who do."

Brian Tracy, author

There's nothing wrong with working for someone else, the vast majority of people do.

But if you want to work for yourself, you must establish goals and a detailed plan to realize them. 

Anything less means you will most certainly fail.

ORGANIZING?

"For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned."

Unknown

Organizing is the time first spent thinking about what is to be done, plus the time required to create a plan to get it done, plus the time required to actually execute the plan provisions.

Shortchange any of that and you diminish your chance for success.

WHAT'D YOU DECIDE?

"There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision."

William James (1842-1910) American philosopher/psychologist.

Thoughtful planning prior to taking action is a good thing.

Just not to the point of indecision.

HOW HIGH WILL YOU THINK?

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."

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

But there are no limits on how high you can think, just what you think.

Fail for reasons other than you never had the thought, or never acted on the thought you did have.

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.

NOT LUCKY ENOUGH?

"It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it."

Baltasar Gracian (1601-1658) Spanish philosopher/writer.

Buying lottery tickets is fine.

Buying lottery tickets as though your life depended on you winning is not.

Continue your education (no education should ever be considered complete), plan, work hard, and you'll be amazed how much luckier you are.