When I'm coaching, I always tell our clients that successful people have successful habits and unsuccessful people have unsuccessful habits. The quotes below encourage me to pay attention to the conversations that I’m having and the thoughts that I’m keeping.
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
"If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven't done much today.”
I'm not sure who originated this quote, several are cited, including Mike Krzyzewski, Lou Holtz, and Mikhail Gorbachev.
When you take inventory of your conversations, how much time do you spend talking about someone on your team, a customer, a company, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a fellow member of church, a kid’s coach? How much time do you really spend thinking small? What are the results of small thinking? Who are you attracting into your life as a result of the small thinking and the small conversations?
Today at the office and tonight at the dinner table, invest in the habit of talking about ideas. We get what we sow! Get in the habit of taking inventory on what it is that you're spending time talking and thinking about. Think big, think positively, and you will definitely increase the likelihood of wonderful experiences. Those experiences will inspire you to have more of the same! Our attitude, our frame of mind, the questions that we’re asking will impact the results we’re experiencing today, but I believe what’s much more important is that our future has a direct correlation to the actions and the thoughts of today!
Know what your impact is on those that you are trying to influence. How can you bring their experiences and thoughts to the next level? My late Auntie Ruby was a natural at doing this for our family events! They were always full of laughter and fun with the focus on full enjoyment of each other.
It's very common for me to be asked what the secret is to a happy life, and 99 times out of 100 I will answer, "Wherever you're at … be there." If you stay too focused on your past or consumed in the dreams of your future, you may miss the joy of NOW and the countless things happening in the PRESENT!
So be proud, learn, and grow from yesterday, and let your dreams and goals inspire you to create an unbelievable tomorrow that you can embrace and share with everyone around you!