Hesitation

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.

~Henry C. Link

Who You Lose To

People who take risks are the people you'll lose against.
~John Sculley

Listen To Your Own Heart

You must listen to your own heart.  You can't be successful if you aren't happy with what you are doing.

~Curtis Carlson

Potential

Our past is not our potential.

~ Marilyn Ferguson

The Greatest Enemy

The greatest enemy of your creative powers is smug complacency--being satisfied with less than what you are capable of doing.

~Nido Qubein

Thinking Outside the Box

The hotel management at the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego decided to install an additional elevator to better serve their guests. Engineers drew up plans cutting holes through each floor of the hotel. As they stood in the lobby discussing their plans, a janitor overheard the conversation. He listened carefully and became concerned with this; in face he commented this would make a great deal of mess. The janitor was told not to worry because the hotel would be closed to guests during the construction. 

Realizing that it would cost the hotel a lot to close for the duration of the construction and that it would leave a lot of people out of work during that time, the janitor suggested, "You could build the elevator on the outside of the hotel." At the time, this architectural concept had never been done before, but after investigation by the engineers, it proved an idea that was worth developing, and is now commonplace in buildings today worldwide. 

The janitor's idea saved the El Cortez huge amounts in guest revenue, employees from losing salary, and major clean-up costs related to the construction of the new elevator.

 The lesson here is that it doesn’t take an expert to come up with a great, groundbreaking idea, just someone willing to think outside the box.  What can you look at differently?  

Information vs Knowledge

We are drowning in information yet starved for knowledge.

~John Naisbitt

Who We Are

We must be trying to learn who we really are rather than trying to tell ourselves who we should be.

~John Powell, S. J.

Excellence

I would rather perform at 90% of  an excellence standard than 110 percent of an adequacy standard.

~Don Beveridge

Our Gifts

God has given us two incredible things: absolutely awesome ability and freedom of choice.  The tragedy is that, for the most part, many of us have refused them both.

~Frank Donnelly

Preparation

Remember, it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

~ Howard Ruff

Accept Fear

I have accepted fear as a part of life, specifically the fear of change, the fear of the unknown. I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: Turn back, turn back; you'll die if you venture too far.
~ Erica Jong

Do Nothing

A carpenter and his apprentice were walking through a large forest. When they came across a tall, huge, gnarled, old beautiful oak tree, the carpenter asked his apprentice "Do you know why this tree is so tall, huge, gnarled, old and beautiful?" 

The apprentice looked at his master and said "No...why?"

"Well," said the carpenter "because it's imperfections rendered it useless for what people wanted.  If it had been useful, it would have been cut down long ago and made into tables and chairs.  But instead, it was left here, untouched and allowed to grow so tall and old that now we can sit in it's shade and relax."

The lesson here is that sometimes we feel frustrated because we cannot do something now and yet we don't realize that our skills and talents are better served for another purpose.