As the days grow short, the year winds down, and my thoughts turn to what I want to accomplish in 2010. I tell myself to follow the advice of legendary Chicago builder Daniel Burnham: “Make no little plans. They fail to stir the hearts of men.” It’s tough.
The following ideas help me get out of the daily rut to renew my commitment to make the world a better place. Perhaps they’ll move you, too.
- Henry David Thoreau: Make sure you have time in your life just to think.
Florence Scovell Shinn: If life is thought of as a game we are motivated to learn and apply the rules for our own happiness.
Martin Seligman: Cultivation of an optimistic mindset significantly increases your changes of health, wealth, and happiness.
James Allen in a nutshell: We don’t attract what we want, but what we are. Only by changing your thoughts will you change your life.
Marcus Aurelius: Don’t get caught up in trivia or pettiness; appreciate your life within a larger context.
Bhagavad-Gita: Seek peace inside yourself, do the work that is yours, and wonder at the mysteries of the universe.
Joseph Campbell: Always do what you love and appreciate your life as a wonderful journey.
Richard Carlson: Put your little struggles into perspective; by doing this you can gain more enjoyment of other people and life generally.
Dale Carnegie: Really try to see the world as another sees it. The appreciation he or she feels means that whatever you have to say will be truly heard.
Stephen Covey: Real effectiveness comes from clarity (about your principles, values, and vision.) Change is only real if it has become habitual.
Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi: Rather than being idle, doing what you love is a pathway to greater meaning, happiness, and a self of higher complexity.
The Dalai Lama: Achieving happiness does not have to depend on events. Through mental practice we can form the ability to be happy most of the time.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance: Whatever the pressures, be your own person.
Viktor Frankl: The meaning of life is the meaning you decide to give it.
Benjamin Franklin: Constant self-improvement and a love of learning form your ticket to unusual success.
Shakti Gawain: Life tends to live up to the thoughts and images you ahve about it, good or bad. Why not imagine your future the way you want it?
James Hillman: Not only celebrities and nuns have “callings.” All of us have in our heart the image of the person we can be and the life we can live.
Susan Jeffers: The presence of fear is an indicator that you are growing and accepting life’s challenges.
Richard Koch: By identifying what you’re good at, then doing more of it, success will come easily.
Ellen Langer: Mental habits dull our lives. By regaining control of your thinking you can experience life anew.
Lao Tzu: Make your life easier and more effective by attunement with the natural “flow” of the universe.
M Scott Peck: Once you admit that “life is difficult,” the fact is no longer great consequence. Once you accept responsibility, you can make better choices.
Source of most of these: 50 Self-Help Classics, 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life, by Tom Butler-Bowden 2003
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