Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.–Norman Vincent Peale
As you begin the week, take Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s quote to heart. Have faith in yourself that you have what it takes to make your dreams come true. You have the strength to keep taking one step after the other, all the way to your dreams! You have the intelligence to figure it out, whether that means taking classes or brushing up your skills, you have what it takes to come up with the answers you need.
You can do this, I know absolutely and for sure that you can!
Your homework today is to stand straight and tall with your shoulders back. Hold your head high and look people straight in the eye and take the next step!
There is no one exactly like you, and that’s a very good thing. This world sure would be dull if everyone was just like everyone else. Be glad you are you!
Your dreams are unique to you so you don’t have to worry about whether or not someone else is better at achieving your dreams than you are. Even though their dream may look an awful lot like yours, there are particular shadings to your dreams that are specific to you. As you keep following your dreams, they will reveal themselves to you and you will see that your dream is unlike anyone else’s.
You have what it takes—you are fully packed with everything you need—to make your dreams come true. You may have to discover what you have and then develop it, but it’s there for you. Keep looking, keep stretching yourself, and you’ll find it!
Keep taking the next step. That’s your homework today. Break the step into small pieces and smaller parts. Keep breaking them down until you get to the tidbits and smidgens that are just right for you. Then do those tidbits!
Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored. ~Earl Nightingale
Your homework today is to keep Earl Nightingale’s quote in mind as you review your week.
Ask and answer the questions: When were the moments you were happy this week—what were you doing, who were you with, where were you? Do you notice a pattern of times, places, and people who make you happy? Can you bring more of this into your life?
As always, when you review your week, make sure you acknowledge and applaud yourself for the progress you’ve made toward your dreams. Even though it might be slight, it’s still progress. It all adds up so it all matters!
Thank you for being loyal followers of this blog. I appreciate it very much.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Of course being thankful means appreciating and being grateful for all the goodness in our lives—especially the small things that often go unnoticed, such as the sometimes subtle, understated beauty of Mother Nature, the quick smile that a passerby might offer you, and the burst of satisfaction you feel of a job well done even if it is something mundane.
Being thankful also means not allowing the hatred of misguided souls to stunt your life or thwart your quest to achieve your dreams. It’s demonstrating your thankfulness for all the goodness in your life as well as the kindness and decency in the world by taking the next step, then the following step, and then the one after that.
Being thankful is resolving that no matter what, you will do at least one little something every day that will take you a small increment closer to your dreams.
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Your homework today is to give thanks and share that gratefulness with others.
Your greatness may take the form of modeling a life of honor and integrity for your friends and loved ones; showing up at work and giving your very best effort every day; remembering to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.
You don’t have to be world-famous to be great.
All you have to do is to be the very best version of yourself in each moment.
Your homework is to take the next step. Break it into smaller and smaller bits until you find the smidgens that are just right for you. Then do those smidgens!
It’s our choice to let other’s slights to us or slanders about us make us feel ashamed of ourselves or guilty about who we are as human beings.
In the face of ridicule or criticism, it isn’t easy to keep our heads held high and our shoulders back. It can be tough to shrug off the initial shock and hurt when you feel laughed at or insulted. But, if we are resolved to achieve our dreams, shaking it off something we must do.
The ideal is to behave with grace, class, and charm when this happens so we can sail through the awkwardness. Sometimes, though, the only way to get through it is to grit our teeth and muscle it out—just plow through it and know that tomorrow is another day. And to remember this: with the new day comes opportunities for circumstances that are more pleasant.
Your homework today is to know that this, too, shall pass. And, as you’re plowing through while it’s passing, be sure to take the next step! Moving toward your dreams, even just a teensy bit, will bring comfort that will help you get through this passing rough patch.
You can do it, I am absolutely and totally convinced that you can!
I’m proud of you!
Your Friend and Pep Pal,
Lauren
PS Read one (or more!) of the many books written by Eleanor Roosevelt. She speaks candidly of her struggles to overcome acute shyness and paralyzing fear. It wasn’t at all easy for her and many times she took two steps forward and one step back. But she persevered and aren’t we—the Citizens of the World—fortunate that she did!
Please note: I apologize for the delay in getting this post to you. It was supposed to have been published yesterday. Again, sorry for the delay.
We can’t let other people make us feel bad about ourselves!
Since we aren’t clones of other people, it naturally follows that we aren’t going to think the same thoughts, do the same things, value and want the same things.
As a consequence, in some respects, our lives may look different than other people’s.
There is nothing wrong with this!
We are meant to follow our own Still Small Voice, to heed the urgings of our souls, and to listen to the whisperings of our hearts. Even though parts of our path may seem identical to other people’s and aspects of it may resemble the path others are on, our path is a unique, intensely personal, and private walk on this earth.
Remember this: No matter what anyone else things, says, or does, you were specifically, with thought and care, created to achieve your dreams. You have what it takes to make your dreams come true!
Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
When pursuing our dreams, it’s imperative that we follow the Still Small Voice within along with the whisperings and urgings of our heart and soul.
We absolutely cannot ignore these and instead obey what others think we should or should not do.
One group of people think we should do one thing, another group who think we should do something else, and yet a third group who think we’re crazy and we should just throw in the towel. If we try to listen to them all we’ll soon find ourselves tied into a pretzel the likes of which the world has never seen! On top of that, each group will be mad at us because they’ll claim we didn’t listen to them—and there will probably be still other people who will be mad at us because we didn’t ask their opinion in the first place.
Geez!
So, it’s best to follow the advice of Eleanor Roosevelt quoted here and do what we think is the right thing and the best thing to do in order to reach our dreams. Learn to shrug it off if someone is annoyed that we did or did not follow their advice (eventually they’ll get over it!).
Your homework today is to look ahead at your week and note the times you may come into contact with people who will have distinct opinions about what you should or should not be doing—especially with Thanksgiving this Thursday and the potential of being with people you don’t usually see throughout the year. Prepare a pleasant statement to say when they start telling you what to do.
Here is a sample statements:
~Thank you for taking an interest in what I’m doing. I appreciate your caring and support.
~Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.
~Thank you. You’ve given me a lot to think about.
Above all, be gracious and thank the person for trying to help. Even though their suggestions may be off base, they deserve acknowledgement for taking the time and putting in the effort to be helpful in their own way.
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.—Horace
You don’t know what you’re truly capable of until you’re put to the test. You don’t know all the talents you have or the depth and breadth of the ones that you are aware of until you come across a difficulty that challenges you to dig deep within yourself.
Your homework today is to take the next step. Trust and believe in yourself that you have what it takes to reach your dreams, no matter how rocky, steep, treacherous, and long the path may be.
