Thoreau said it best...

"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."

That just about sums it up doesn't it?

The beauty of the great thinkers such as Thoreau or Emerson is their ability to keep it simple. To say so much with so few words.

What we can learn from these old masters is incisive thought, economy of words, pithy, evocative expressions that carry timeless wisdom.

Quotes like these boil life down to its essence... and that's what we need to do with our lives.

It's very easy to get caught up in the distractions of life and lose sight of your core essence...what's important to you and what matters today.

The best way to jump start your day is to keep it simple...

What are you setting out to accomplish and what are you going to do to get there?

Then do those things.

All too often we become like a floodlight...scattered, looking in all directions, no clear boundaries or definitions... the trick is to be a laser...

With laser like precision and focus...you can cut steel.

Now, go jump start your day.

Saw a bumper sticker the other day...

it said...

"My goal is to become the person my dog thinks I am."

Let's turn this around...

Who do you think you are?

Really, when you think about yourself, your future, where you're going and what you want...

what do you see?

Take a moment and visualize this...reach inside yourself and pull out the you that you see when you're listening to your favorite music or driving along that great road...and stop dreaming about it and...

...write it down.

The person that you dream about, visualize when alone and inspired...

the person you wish you could become...

is your ideal, and the image of this is something you most likely reserve for private, fleeting moments.... here's the thing...

Take a snapshot of that person, and live every day as a person like that would...

this is how you change your life.

It's simple, but not easy. You become what you do every day...

Isn't it time for you to start taking yourself seriously and finally be who you really are?

Go for it...now go jump start your day.

Words not to live by...

You're most likely familiar with David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. It's a brilliant life planning process that has spawned a whole industry of websites and apps that attempt to make it even better.

There's just one problem with it...

There are several contexts you put your tasks in, such as grouping all your @computer tasks together, your @running errands together, etc. Then he throws in a list that you call "someday/maybe". This is where you put things like "Get a black belt, learn skydiving, write a novel,"etc.

Maybe...? What's up with that? You put that word in front of anything and it only means one thing...

you're not going to do it.

Call it someday, but leave out the maybe. And while you're at it get rid of these words as well:

Try, should, hope, wish, around to it and might.

These words are copouts, when put in front of your goal, dream or plan these remove all responsibility from you, it's like giving yourself a pass.

Don't fall into this trap. When you erase wishy-washy words from your daily use, commit to your dreams and become decisive...doors will open.

Life's a highway... start the engine and drive it like you mean it.

Now go jump start your day.

Looking for the words that will change your life...?

Looking for that proverb, saying or parable that will make you sit up and become who you want to be? Searching for just the right combination of letters and sentences that will set your heart on fire, stir your belly and release adrenalin flows?

We all are, but one thing is missing...

Follow through with action.

Never forget that action precedes feeling...tape it to your mirror, know it inside your soul...action precedes feeling.

If you are waiting until you feel like taking action you'll wait forever...start taking action, force it if you have to...and the feeling will follow, allowing the momentum to build...

...and then there is no stopping you.

Do two things:

First, make it a part of your personality that any self improvement or inspirational media you take in...you will write down at least one thing you can do today that gets you closer to who you want to be. Not just notes, but doable things...something you can call an actionable item.

Second...whatever feeling you're waiting for to start your current project... stop waiting, start the project...then when the feeling comes you'll be too engaged to stop and take notice.

Nothing you read or hear will do anything for you unless you act on it, and sometimes that can only happen through conscious willpower on your part...but I assure you, once you cross that threshold you'll be in another dimension that feels like you should have been there all along.

Now...isn't it time you made your move?

Great post that will make you rethink where you're going...

Stephen over at the Rat Race Trap blog had this excellent post the other day, that will help you get to a new level in where you want to go...
http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/17-ways-to-achieve-heroic-goals.html#more-778

He does great job of making you think bigger, and it reminds me of the time a good friend asked me, "Have you ever not achieved a goal that you were totally committed to?"

Enjoy this...it will jump start your day.

This is a life changer...

It's easy to get wrapped up in what's going on out there economically, and this one is serious.

People in retirement are contemplating going back to work, people close to retirement are postponing it, and investors too young to even think about it are wondering where the money went.

Change however, can be good.... if we reevaluate the concept of retirement.

Previous generations were brought up to work hard, save your money, get a pension and social security at 65 - and they died 5 years later.

This generation has a life expectancy approaching the early 80's, and has a much different attitude about the quality of life in later years. The inevitable conclusion to this trend, as well as the controversy around social security...is that we'll be working longer.

And that my friends, is a good thing...

Retirement is an unnatural state. Humans are hard-wired to solve problems, face challenges and find purpose in what they do. Work gives this to you. This is an uplifting concept on two fronts...

First, it takes the pressure off of getting a certain sum in the bank before a certain date to retire on...

More importantly...it's more fun to stay in the game.

Embrace this, see it for what it is...a life changer, and take this opportunity to make new plans for yourself based on a longer life, and less pressure to accumulate millions of dollars before age 65.

Use the comments post to share anything you've changed in your life because of what's going on out there, I'm interested to see how this change is manifesting itself.

Now, go jump start your day.

How high can you really go...?

If you think you know the answer to this question, there's a good chance you're aiming too low.

The great achievements in humanity have not been accomplished by people who were satisfied with where they were in life.

They weren't done with the attitude that "good enough" is what they're aiming for.

They were done with a passionate willingness to reach higher, take it further, risk more and stretch the boundaries. The cliche "think outside the box" refers to this mindset, and instead of treating it as a corporate mantra thrown around loosely by management, think of it this way...

All of the limitations you have set for yourself are based on the past.
Your brain knows what your comfort zone is, and it will do what it has to do to keep you in familiar territory. Well that's somewhere you've already been...

Do the thing that scares you.

The mind, once stretched into a new dimension...grows, what are you doing to stretch yourself?

Now go jump start your day.