Posts Tagged ‘inspirational quotes’

If you want something done, ask a happy, busy person to do it for you!

You all know this girl (in fact, you probably ARE this girl) who seems to get more done than everyone else and always seems happy about it.  Sure, she’s busy and optimistic.  But, really, doesn’t anything bad ever happen to her?  Doesn’t she ever have a bad day?  The answer is YES!

The difference is that positive people don’t wallow around in their problems or spend a lot of time worrying about (and complaining about) things that they can’t do anything about.  They find what they can do and they do it.  When presented with a problem, they look for the solution.  What’s that quote?

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill

I had to look it up.  I didn’t just know it.  Even though, if I didn’t tell you, you’d probably think I did.  A productive person goes and finds the answer – now.  She knows that “one day” is not a day of the week and she knows that the only time she has is NOW.  She doesn’t have any more hours in the day than any one else.

She doesn’t have to sacrifice her family, her relationships or her self care routines in order to be productive. In fact, she is probably better at keeping up with those things, finds time to play games with her kids, connect with her husband, travel and go out with her girlfriends.

She likely manages her time with a structure, whether it be a calendar or a planner or a “tickler file” (that one is for you, Tera McHugh).  Talk about it and it is a fantasy, schedule it and it becomes a reality.  I tell people all the time, “I just do what my calendar says.”  If my calendar says that it’s time to workout, well… I’m going to go work out.  If my calendar says it’s time to make follow up calls, then that’s what I do.  If I run into a conflict or I don’t feel like it, I move it to a more convenient time.  I don’t cancel!

Being positive and productive is a choice.  It is simply a set of habits that get repeated over and over again.  It doesn’t mean you won’t have problems and that you won’t have bad days.  It does mean that you (and everyone around you, for that matter) will feel a whole lot better about it.

Mother Teresa

No matter your politics or your religion, most people recognize Mother Teresa as a great woman.  Her life and her work celebrate the simple joy of loving, the greatness and dignity of all people and the value of doing little things faithfully and with love.  She inspires me in so many ways, but most notably by being a leader in the world who affected change with one small action at time.  The legacy she leaves us is the knowledge that small things matter and that everyone has something to contribute.  Everyone.  She said, “Do not wait for leaders.  Do it alone, person to person.”  What she may not recognize, in her humility, is that this is actually true leadership.  And this is the kind of leader that Mother Teresa was.  This reminds me to let go of the details and simply do the work that is in front of me now.  She also told us, “We can not do great things.  We can only do small things with great love.”  She reminds us that a smile heals and it is ours to give.  Smile at someone today.  She reminds us to love our neighbors, really.  For many of us, that means getting to know our neighbors.  And, with the holidays approaching, I also like to remember that Mother Teresa said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”  It is a small act of kindness and humanity and it is something tangible that we can all do.