"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

##

I love this quote from a very distinguished First Lady. I feel that it concisely captures and combines two very powerful subjects - our own power to envision what we may accomplish and a strong sense of ownership. Too many times, we let others with less vision convince us that our dreams are not worth pursuing. If you come across one of these "destructors" ask them to tell you what dream they have. If theirs is more coherent, more clear, and more motivating than yours - ask them to help you expand your vision. If (more likely) they have no dream to speak of, thank them for their advice, promptly ignore it, and move on to make your vision a reality. These destructors will only have power if you give it to them.

Great quote and a great point.

In my early 20's I realized that I was surrounding myself with the Destructor-type. I've always been involved with a lot of activities - creative, professional, athletic, etc.. - and found my "friends" just weren't supporting my efforts.

It dawned on me that life is too short to let people pull you down. In fact, it became clear to me that there were basically two types of people, the ones that will pull you down and the ones that will lift you up.

I chose to hang with the people that would lift me up, and do my best to lift up anyone else I ran into along the way.

Well it seems I spend half my time in the company of Destructor-types, the other half with some pretty positive folks, determined to see me follow my dreams to whatever end they take me. I am however taking steps to change the first half of this equation, although this process is moving forward slower than I would like. I have been thinking in the last couple of weeks though, that perhaps this is not such a bad thing after all (the slowness) I have been forced into using more self discipline in my everyday dealings with the Destructors, so it might be a good thing in the end. Just a different way of handling situations, a different perspective on the "long run"
"Live Like You Were Dying" David

David,

When considering any positive life change, the real key is sustainability. If you go through the trouble to change an attitude, change a behavior, or change a self-perception, it doesn't do much good if it unravels quickly thereafter.

The slowness may not be much fun for you right now, as it sounds like you are in transition. Many of us want change to happen very quickly, but things don't always work on our schedule. If you stay focused and make sure you are doing the right things, the change will happen, though.

And when it does, I'm sure you'll agree that it was much worth the wait.

Question: How can we (and the rest of the THRIVE! community) help you during your transition?

Have a great week!

.

Yes, there are plenty of 'We Can't', 'It won't happen people'. This type of person will only provide negative distractions from the individual's or teams's determined track to goal achievement. Leave them in the dust, side step that negative energy and, on a daily basis, ask 'How will I improve today?' and 'Who can help me to achieve that goal?'

I like that you ask "How will I improve today?" because it gives you the option for bite-sized amounts of improvement - just what can happen today. Even better, I like that you ask "Who can help me achieve that goal?" because it's an invitation to surround yourself with other people who know how to thrive! If you create the positive environment for yourself, it's so much easier to get positive results.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kris,

Dane and Kris,

You've both hit on key points here including actionability and community.

Think of the corollary to Dane's comments. If he were in some Bizarro world, they might look like:

"How am I going to make some huge improvement that's way too big for me to get my arms around?"

and

"How can I be sure to do this on my own without asking anybody for help?"

They seem ridiculous when written out like this, don't they? Just try to say them outloud on the bus without people looking at you as if you are totally mad.

Unfortunately, many of us subconsciously ask ourselves these questions. The outcome of these are inaction (aka THRIVE! Public Enemy #1) and a lack of support. These challenges mire us in prolonged periods of dissatisfaction, lethargy, and frustration.

Kudos to you guys for picking up on the power of seemingly simple questions and the mammoth success concepts they speak to! Way to THRIVE! it out!

.

quote:

"How am I going to make some huge improvement that's way too big for me to get my arms around?"

and

"How can I be sure to do this on my own without asking anybody for help?"

I'm thinking of putting these up in my classroom to start the school year. I'm hoping the kids understand it's the Bizarro world view....

So, I apologize if I've posted this in the wrong spot...
here goes:
The latest newsletter talked about setting goals and I kept hearing the importance of the thrill/adrenaline rush of realizing that goal (the marathon, the performance, etc.) I may have just happened to be on a blind date when I brought up this topic from "Thrive" (good idea? not sure). I was saying that the types of goals I set are more about long term changes without a "finish". So, if I decide to work out more often for a certain number of weeks there's nothing I will lose if I don't meet it and if I do, then I celebrate. There's no big culmination. So I asked if he thought it was a male/female thing. He said that men are more goal oriented than women. Are they? Or is it that we set different types of goals? Do men set ones with a culminating event with external rewards and women more internal or is it strictly a personal preference?

quote:

Originally posted by shoshy:
So, I apologize if I've posted this in the wrong spot...

Shoshy, in case you didn't see it, I replied in the newsletter area.