5 ways to become better at anything:

1. Practice

2. Practice

3. Practice

4. Practice

5. Practice

"Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it." ~ Ted Williams

How to Take Advantage of the Talents You Already Possess...posted at http://ping.fm/JpKX0

"Motivation is the fuel necessary to keep the human engine running." ~Zig Ziglar
What's your fuel gauge show right now?

There is but one race: the human race. God "has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26)

"If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone." ~ Maxwell Maltz
(a great quote for us introverts :-)

"Beyond the sunset, O glad reunion
With our dear loved ones who’ve gone before;
In that fair homeland we’ll know no parting..."
~ Brock

With thousands of flags, honoring fallen heroes...
http://ping.fm/iD4nu

How to Take Advantage of the Talents You Already Possess

"How is it that many individuals, who possess only limited capabilities, manage to attract great admiration for extraordinary results?"

Start by taking an inventory of the skills and abilities you already have. A couple good resources for this are StrengthsFinder 2.0 and Now, Discover Your Strengths. Also, speak with those closest to you and ask them about their observations of what you do well. It may help to classify each skill and ability into three areas: helps produce income, give away/donate, use just for fun.

Have a specific purpose you are working toward, see what that purpose is very clearly. The opposite of this is to just drift along in life without focus.

Constantly strive to learn and grow. Ask questions and use your imagination, have a childlike curiosity.

Once you know what your abilities are, and you have prepared to use them to pursue a specific purpose, then garner the emotional enthusiasm needed to propel yourself toward your worthwhile objectives. Be determined and persistent in your pursuit of the worthwhile. Persistent effort tends to be the major difference between accomplishing something or not.

The last suggestion on finding and using your talents is to go over and above when completing tasks. The opposite of this is to think "good enough" when we know it really isn't.

In summary, take inventory of your skills and abilities, prepare to use them in pursuit of a definite purpose, continue to learn every day, and persist in your endeavors until complete.

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Post inspired by the Ultimate Success Program and Og Mandino's University of Success.

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
2 Timothy 1:7

"If you don’t follow the stock market, you are missing some amazing drama." ~ Mark Cuban

"Everything depends upon execution; having just a vision is no solution." ~ Stephen Sondheim

Anyone else out there planning to go see Chris Guillebeau, the author of The $100 Startup, in Columbus Ohio Tuesday evening?

Our character is measured by what we do, or don't do, when no one is around or looking.

Open the Door and Seize the Day!

"You may live in an imperfect world but the frontiers are not all closed and the doors are not all shut."

Don't stand in the way of opportunity, welcome it into your life. Take advantage of the preparation you have done in your life.

Be happy and sing a song of happiness. You never know when someone might be watching or listening.

Here are 5 ways to seize the opportunities that come you way:

1. Be aware of when you need to recharge...do it,and then get back to work.

2. Live in the moment, yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

3. Accept yourself for who you are and fulfill your current purpose.

4. Set constructive goals and move confidently toward them.

5. Learn to deal with crises as they arise, for certainly they will.

If your life now was illustrated by being in the ocean several hundred feet from shore, would we see you swimming (making progress) or sinking?

Go live today and fulfill the purpose you've been given!

Post inspired by the Ultimate Success Program and Og Mandino's University of Success.

Valuable lessons can be learned from examining the lives of people who have gone before us.

A good leader inspires people 2 have confidence in the leader; a great leader inspires people 2 have confidence in themselves. ~E Roosevelt

You Must Believe!
posted at http://ping.fm/8M9ys

My daughter, the cowgirl, in Santani Paraguay
http://ping.fm/STuCq
(can you find that on your world map?)

10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won't Tell You...http://ping.fm/VhmIE

The church can’t rise because it refuses to drop dead.
Death, not life, is God’s recipe for fixing up the world.

Watching These 60,000 Dominos Fall Is an Intensely Satisfying Experience.
http://ping.fm/YNj2W

Good mothers not only tell us how to live - they show us.

You Must Believe!

"The easiest thing to find on God's green earth is someone to tell you all the things you cannot do."

There is a two-word phrase that should be struck from your vocabulary if it hasn't already.

"I can't"

In reality, you can typically do what you believe you can do.

Have you realized how much value there is in effort that is determined and consistent?

One of the best things you can STOP doing is just talking about an idea. Conversly, one of the best things you can START doing is to take the first step in accomplishing your idea.

Often the only thing that stands between you and what you want from life is merely the will to try and the faith to believe it is possible.

Mark Hendricks teaches that we can change "Impossible" to "I'm possible" by just adding an apostrophe and one space. Do you see it?

Post inspired by the Ultimate Success Program and Og Mandino's University of Success.


 

You need a raise if you take your paycheck to the bank & the teller bursts out in laughter & passes it around for the other tellers to see.

Yeah, I'm Sexy and I Know it!
http://ping.fm/NG891

Graduation=where the commencement speaker tells students in identical caps&gowns that "individuality" is the key to success. ~ Robert Orben

12 Questions to Help You Move Forward
posted at http://ping.fm/rYJOT

"If you want to reach a goal, you must "see the reaching" in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal." ~ Zig Ziglar

When we are down, if we will seek out someone else who has a problem and get involved in helping them solve it, we quickly forget our own.

God calls into action today
All those who are children of light;
Whatever our hand finds to do,
Let’s do it with all of our might. ~ Hess

The $100 Startup book debuts tomorrow - look for it online or ask for it at your favorite bookstore.

Word of the Day
mensch (mench), noun:
A decent, upright, mature, and responsible person.
My son has grown into a mensch!

12 Questions to Help You Move Forward

"To succeed means that you may have to step out of line and march to the sound of your own drummer."

Like a vehicle, we all need a little checkup from time to time. Here are a dozen questions to help you with your personal checkup:

• Do you believe you were put on this Earth to fail?

• Is it wrong to be wealthy?

• Do you believe you have to go through bad times to get to good times?

• Is it better to ask forgiveness than permission?

• Who currently controls your life?

• Were you designed to be led by others?

• Do you really prefer mediocrity?

• Who is ultimately responsible for you?

• Are you preventing your own success?

• Do you feel you deserve personal success?

• Are you waiting for the world to come to you?

• Will you take the action you need to take now?

"I must have been put on Earth to succeed and I have a responsibility to use my abilities to the fullest. I can see that wealth, honestly earned and well spent, is inherently good. I don't have to suffer now to experience happiness later. Being here is all the permission I need to succeed. I prefer excellence to mediocrity and I except full responsibility for myself. I will bring my talents to the world and not wait for it to come to me. And I'll act now even if my results aren't perfect."

Post inspired by the Ultimate Success Program and Og Mandino's University of Success.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Also, in case you missed it last year, the super perigee moon is back for an encore performance tonight.

Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Soaring bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee. ~ van Dyke

Word of the day: Prayer
http://ping.fm/yAPci

Today is National Day of Prayer, designated by the United States Congress, when people are asked, "to turn to God in prayer and meditation."

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." ~ St. Catherine of Siena