Just A Thought

Thursday, 12 January 2012

TAKE POSSESSION OF YOUR OWN MIND. AND YOU MAY SOON MAKE LIFE PAY OFF ON YOUR TERMS.

Image by Wurz via Flickr

Your mind is unquestionably your most valuable possession. You may lose every material thing you own, but knowledge can never be taken from you. With it, you can earn a new fortune, build a new home, and buy anything you truly desire. No one else can control your thoughts; even the cruelest tyrant cannot force you to think about something you refuse to accept. When you make a deliberate decision to take control of your mind and feed it positive, constructive thoughts, you are on your way to taking control of your life. The thoughts you allow to dominate your mind will determine what you will get from life.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

A CLOSED MIND STUMBLES OVER THE BLESSINGS OF LIFE WITHOUT RECOGNIZING THEM.

Image by vorpaldin

To the untrained eye, a geode looks pretty much like an ordinary rock. But a trained geologist knows that inside the geode there is a beautiful crystal lining. The story is the same for those who refuse to examine new possibilities because their minds are closed. Life’s greatest opportunities, like the geode, often come in ordinary packaging. Do not allow yourself to become such a creature of habit that you simply go through the motions and let life happen to you. Just taking a new route to work, putting together a jigsaw puzzle, reading a newspaper instead of watching television, or visiting a museum at lunchtime will stimulate your thought processes and may help you open your mind to new possibilities.

Monday, 9 January 2012

THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT TRUTH THAT MAKES IT EASILY RECOGNIZABLE BY ALL WHO ARE SEARCHING FOR IT WITH OPEN MINDS.

Image by Wendy Kurtz via Flickr

Cookie mogul Wally Amos is fond of quoting the saying, "The mind is like a parachute. It functions best when opened." When you open your mind to the possibilities, objectively analyze information and refuse to allow your personal preferences and biases to influence your judgment, you will be able to perceive great truths that have been overlooked by others. A closed mind, though, will cause you to miss out on some of life’s greatest offerings. If you find yourself disputing the facts, or if you keep attempting to revise them to support your beliefs, ask yourself, Why am I so unwilling to accept this information? Am I being logical, or am I simply allowing my emotions to cloud my judgment? The worst mistake you may ever make is trying to persuade yourself to accept a false truth. It is inappropriate to try to fool others, but when you fool yourself, disaster is sure to follow.

THE MIND GROWS ONLY THROUGH USE, AND IT ATROPHIES THROUGH IDLENESS.

Image via Wikipedia

Just as the physical body becomes strong through regular exercise, so does the mind require regular use to remain strong. Make sure that your personal development plan includes plenty of mental stimulation. One of the best ways to develop your imagination and visualization skills is through reading. As you read, your mind translates the words into images that help you better understand the concepts about which you are reading. Become a voracious reader. Read newspapers, trade magazines, self-help books, and novels; all will contribute to your store of knowledge and to your ability to visualize and more effectively use your imagination.

Sunday, 8 January 2012

IF YOU HAVE A BETTER WAY OF DOING ANYTHING, YOUR IDEA MAY BE WORTH A FORTUNE.

English: USS Fortune off San Diego, California...

Image via Wikipedia

In any type of business, the most valuable ideas are those that make money, save money, save time, or improve the way things are done. Every improvement, however slight, is a step in the right direction. Being alert for opportunities to improve things is a function of a positive attitude. It is virtually impossible to think creatively about opportunities when your thoughts are concentrated on the downside risk instead of the upside potential. As you search for ways to improve your performance, or to find a better, faster, or more economical way to perform a task or build a product, by all means analyze and minimize the risks but focus on the possibilities.

Saturday, 7 January 2012

YOUR JOB WILL NEVER BE ANY BIGGER THAN YOUR IMAGINATION MAKES IT.

Daniel Burnham on the terrace of his Evanston,...

Image via Wikipedia

Daniel Burnham, the turn-of-the-century architect and civic planner whose plan for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair had an enormous influence on contemporary civic design, was quoted as saying, "Make no little plans." He knew that to achieve great things we must have grand ideas. If you can imagine it, you can create it. And if you can create in your imagination the job that you would like to have, it is possible to create it in the real world.

Thursday, 5 January 2012

THE IMAGINATION IS THE WORKSHOP OF THE SOUL, WHERE ARE SHAPED ALL THE PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT.

Image by sirwiseowl via Flickr

Before you can build anything worthwhile, you must first create it in your mind. Your mind is not constrained by physical limitations or boundaries. In the workshop of your mind, you can visualize things that have never been. It is said that Albert Einstein visualized how the universe might look if he were riding astride a beam of light through infinity. Then he worked out the mathematics to support his theory of relativity. You can use the power of your imagination to visualize solutions to difficult problems, to develop new ideas, and to see yourself achieving the goals you have set for yourself.

CLARENCE SAUNDERS MADE MILLIONS BY BORROWING THE SELF-HELP CAFETERIA IDEA FOR THE GROCERY BUSINESS AND NAMING IT PIGGLY WIGGLY. IMAGINATION PAYS!

English: I took photo of Piggly Wiggly in Spri...

Image via Wikipedia

The founder of the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain was a low-level employee in a corner grocery when he visited a cafeteria and got the idea that the same techniques could be applied to the grocery business. He was ridiculed by experts, but he was convinced that the idea was a good one. Saunders persevered, and his adaptation of the self-service idea to the grocery business led him to become the father of the modern supermarket. It is often true that a great idea alone is not enough to achieve success. Implementation may require as much as or more imagination than coming up with the idea originally. Those who study such things, however, report that when you have a really good idea, even if you can’t prove it, you will intuitively know that it is good. If you’re convinced, stick with it. Others will eventually recognize the value of your idea.

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

THE MAN WHO DIPPED A CHUNK OF ICE CREAM IN CHOCOLATE AND CALLED IT ESKIMO PIE MADE A FORTUNE FOR THE FIVE SECONDS OF IMAGINATION IT TOOK TO CREATE THE IDEA.

Eskimo Pies Advertisement, November 3, 1921.

Image via Wikipedia

We are just beginning to understand the mysterious ways in which the mind works, but successful people have long known how to use the power of creative vision to their advantage. Many "new" ideas are really nothing more than a new combination of two well-known products or ideas. Nevertheless, great fortunes have been built upon such combinations when they are supported by a clever name and marketing campaign. There is a definite process that you can use to tap into your imagination. In his book A Technique for Producing Ideas, James Webb Young identified five steps: 1. Gather the appropriate information. 2. Work the information over in your mind. 3. Incubate the idea in your subconscious. 4. Recognize the "Eureka!" stage when the idea is born. 5. Shape and develop the idea for practical application. The technique works. Give it a try the next time you’re searching for a creative solution to an old problem.

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

THE GREATEST OF ALL SUCCESS RULES IS THIS: DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD IF YOU WERE THE OTHERS

Image via Wikipedia

The Golden Rule is more than a principle of ethical behavior; it is a dynamic force that can work good in the lives of untold numbers of people. When you make it a practice to treat others as though you were the others, you spread goodwill among people who, in turn, may be moved to do the same. By their actions, they influence still more people, who generate goodwill among even more people. This force for goodwill increases exponentially and will return to you from totally new sources. The benefit you receive from a good deed performed today by a total stranger may have been a chain reaction from long ago when you observed the Golden Rule in your own dealings with another.

Monday, 2 January 2012

YOU MUST GET BUSY DOING SOMETHING ABOUT GOING THE EXTRA MILE.

English: Mission: STS-41-B Film Type: 70mm Tit...

Image via Wikipedia

It’s well and good to feel as though you have changed the attitude with which you render extra service, but if that service is in truth no more than anyone else’s, then you aren’t doing yourself much good. You need to examine your co-workers and competitors to understand just what it is that will make you stand out. If there are job performance standards, exceed them. If you’re fulfilling a contract, make sure you offer more than you promised. You cannot confine extra-mile service to your work alone. You must make it part of your philosophy for dealing with every person you encounter. Imagine how others will be delighted to find that you are the type of person who not only does what is promised but even delivers more. The true benefit of going the extra mile is in teaching yourself to strive always for better and greater achievement in all that you do.

Sunday, 1 January 2012

THE CHANCES ARE THAT YOUR JOB LIKES YOU PRECISELY AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE IT, BUT NO MORE.

MANCHESTER, CT- MAY 6: Jobseekers attend an e...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

You are the world’s greatest expert on your job, and you can make it into what you choose. You may have a job description, but there are few jobs in the world that come with detailed instructions. A job description simply provides a foundation upon which you may build the perfect job for yourself. When you give generously to it, a job responds with a full measure of satisfaction, personal growth, financial rewards, and promise for the future. If you are in a job you absolutely hate, and you have considered all the alternatives and decided that you will never like your job, find something else. But if you, like most people, dislike a few things about your work, but on balance believe you have a pretty good position, get busy making it the greatest job in the world. In your career, as in life, you get in direct proportion to what you give.

Saturday, 31 December 2011

THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF SERVICE YOU RENDER FIXES YOUR WAGES AND DETERMINES WHAT SORT OF EXPERIENCE YOU ARE GETTING.

SAN FRANCISCO - FEBRUARY 26: Copies of the Sa...

The only constraints that you have on your income and advancement potential are those you place upon yourself. If you don’t like your position, or if you are unhappy with your salary, do something about it. What can you do to make yourself more valuable to your department or your company? What tasks have not been completed because no one has the time or the inclination to take care of them? Look around and identify things that need to be done. Don’t wait to be asked. If you make it a habit to seek out opportunities, to take on new tasks, you will increase your knowledge about the organization and become such a valued employee that your company can’t afford to lose you.

Comments on Just A Thought: THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF SERVICE YOU RENDER FIX...

Thursday, 29 December 2011

HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WORKER IS GENERALLY THE BUSIEST.

Successful people are busy people. They despise idleness and constantly search for new challenges and better ways to do things. When others discover that you are a thoughtful, helpful, enthusiastic worker, you will soon have more business than you can manage, and you will greatly increase the number of people who have a stake in your success. The most mundane tasks become much more bearable when you compete with yourself to improve at doing them. When you find faster and better ways to do your job, you also free up time that can be spent in more creative pursuits.

WHEN THE GOING IS HARDEST, JUST KEEP ON KEEPING ON, AND YOU’LL GET THERE SOONER THAN SOMEONE WHO FINDS THE GOING EASY.

If you think achieving great heights of success will be easy, you either don’t understand at all how the process works or you have your sights set too low. Reaching the top of any field is difficult, time-consuming, and often tedious. The reason it isn’t crowded at the top is that most people won’t do the things that are necessary to achieve success. They are all too willing to give up when the going gets tough. If you need inspiration to persevere, read the biographies of men and women who have achieved greatness in their lives. You will find that they prevailed because they refused to quit. They continued to toil alone long after the masses had given up and gone home.

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

THE CLIMB UPWARD WILL BE EASIER IF YOU TAKE OTHERS ALONG WITH YOU.

When you take the initiative, you become a de facto leader whose success will depend in large measure upon your ability to inspire others to work with you. They will follow your lead when they have confidence in you and when they know they will share in your success. Few of us are good enough or lucky enough to achieve great success completely on our own. We need others to help us. When we give more in return than we ever ask of our friends and associates, not only will be able to accomplish much more in life, but it will also make the entire experience much more enjoyable.

Monday, 26 December 2011

IF YOU ARE A SHEPHERD, BE THE BEST AND YOU MAY LIVE TO OWN THE FLOCK.

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 25: A female wo...

One of the most wonderful things about life is that we are all unique with different levels of intelligence, interests, aptitudes, and desires. How dreadfully dull it would be if we all wanted to be nuclear physicists-or bakers. But, regardless of the gifts we may have received at birth and whichever skills we may have since developed, we all have the capability to be the best at what we do. Being the best is strictly a reflection of your attitude and your desire. Whether you are a salesperson, an executive, a secretary, or an assembly-line worker, you have the capacity to be as good as you choose to be. When you become outstanding at what you do, you will discover greatly increased demand for your services. When you become the best in your line of work, you may be asked so often to help other "sheep" that you will soon own your own "flock."