“I like, and have adopted Mr. Branch Rickey’s way of looking at things. He was an old accomplished baseball executive. History knows him best for breaking the colour barrier for Jackie Robinson, in 1952. He said, “Luck is the residue of design”. Here’s the full quote.
“Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.”
I totally agree with you and old man Rickey. We’re all lucky if WE choose!! It’s true, we make our own luck. Attitude plays a major role. I’ve worked hard to be where I am, and with out the work, luck wouldn’t matter much.
Take care,
Tom”
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Enjoy this insight from my good friend Tom on the topic of luck.
Leadership Quotations Compiled for you by George Torok
One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven’t and don’t. George Bernard Shaw, “The Apple Cart” (1930), act I
All great truths begin as blasphemies. George Bernard Shaw, Annajanska (1919)
When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty. George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra (1901)
The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided. Casey Stengel (1890 – 1975)
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963), speech prepared for delivery in Dallas the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963
When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968)
Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else. Judy Garland (1922 – 1969), to her daughter, Liza Minelli
Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed. Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952)
Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Mark Twain
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. Mark Twain
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw
A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn’t like the tune. Anon.
Watch this 15 minute video to learn the forgotten lesson on how to motivate others. I gurantee this video will make you smile. Watch it and put a smile on someone else’s face. Validate them.
Luck is more a matter of perspective than it is the roll of the dice.
If luck is a matter of random chance then mathematically every one of us is equally lucky. Whether you think you are lucky or not is irrelevant. The real question is how lucky do you feel. Because, how you feel, will determine your actions and outcome.
Consider the passengers of the plane that crash landed in the Hudson River – were they lucky? You can imagine that there were moments during that scary nightmare that they cursed their luck. Yet upon the perspective of reflection they considered themselves extremely lucky. If you are afraid of flying you might consider yourself lucky for not being on that plane.
We are all lucky. It just depends on how we see it.
Everyone needs to re-motivate themself from time to time. That’s normal. Here are three simple techniques that can help you feel more motivated.
1. Read or listen to motivational stories about others who have accomplished great things. These lessons are best taken from simple folks who struggled and achieved something great. They can be from any field – sports, business, politics, medicine, science, community service, etc..
2. Associate with people who are motivated and tend to motivate you. If that doesn’t describe anyone in your current circle of friends – find new friends fast.
3. Make it your job to motivate others. The satisfaction from motivating others can be a powerful self motivator. Just ask Mother Teresa.
While speaking to a high school business class this week I was surprised by this question, “If you work all your life on something and still fail – was it worth it?”
I responded quickly to this question, “Yes.”
I did not clairify my answer at that time. I have since thought about the question and my answer.
I believe that if a person works on a direction all their life that they will be successful. They might not achieve 100% success. But they will be successful in moving towards that goal. For example, a person might work to cure cancer and never reach that during their lifetime. Was their life a success? Yes. Because of the movement they would have made in that direction. Some goals take more than one lifetime to achieve. And the success would never happen without someone dedicating their life to moving things forward.
Have you noticed how motivated you can be when you have a deadline?
Why is that?. A deadline indicates a recognized shortage of time. A stated shortage of time reminds us that we only have a limited amount of time. If you tell someone, “Take all the time that you want.” They won’t be highly motivated to tackle the obstacle. If you have forever to do something – why do it now?
My neighbour is dieing from cancer. He seems to be fading quickly. Considering how active and spry he had been it is upsetting to witness how frail he now looks.
He has a deadline – as do those around him. The end date is not known for sure but it is clearly measured in months and not year. It’s interesting to note the many visitors that have stopped by in the past couple months. It good to see them visit. I guess they only needed to be motivated.
What would you do if you thought that you were running out of time?
When you are on a roll you tend to be more successful.
Why is that?
When you are successful it is likely that you are doing the right things. And when you are rewarded with success you will tend to continue doing the right things. If what you are doing is working you will probably stick with it. Does that make sense?
If you are doing something that leads to success you will most likely continue to do that. Its not all that complicated. They teach rats and pigeons to push buttons for food and when they discover the magic button the rats and pigeons keeping pushing the same button.
Success breeds success.
And if you discover the magic button and remember to push it you are at least as smart as a rat or pigeon. Do you feel insulted by that comparison? Think about the people who are dumber then rats and pigeons. They fail to notice the results of pushing the right button.
Smart people are willing to learn from whatever or whoever is teaching the lesson whether it is a rat or a pigeon. Dumb people think, “It is only a rat. What can it teach me?” Smart people always look for the lesson. Dumb people judge the teacher and miss the lesson.
When you are successful you tend to be more optimistic. Success makes you feel more righteous, more confident and more valuable. Therefore you will present yourself with more confidence and confidence sells. Confidence assures your prospects that you believe in what you sell. Desperation is a deal killer.
A little bit of arrogance makes your prospects wonder if they are missing out on a good thing. Repeat – “a little bit”.
Success breeds success.
Successful people associate with successful people.
Sometimes we are too mired in the detail and daily grind. We might even feel hopeless because of how bad things appear. We might just need to back-up – to diverge in our thinking and look at the big picture.
One way to diverge in your thinking is to ask the question “Why?” – Why are we doing this? Why is this important? Why does this work this way?
Everyone has down days. That’s normal. What’s not normal is to stay down. How do you motivate youself on those down days? Start by changing your physical position.
Stand up. Look up. Stretch up.
Hold that position for 10 seconds and you will be suprised at the difference in your disposition.
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself."
Power Presentations Tip 25: How do you hold attention?The reality is that you don't hold attention for long. The best you can probably do is to capture the attention of your audience from time to time.If you think that everyone is paying attention to everything you say - you are deluding yourself. When you present you are competing with everything else […]
Posted by gtorok 
Posted by gtorok 
Posted by gtorok 
