The Greatness Guide, Book 2

Makes me think of the words of consultant Richard Leider, who observed, “People over 65 were asked ‘if you could live your life over, what would you do differently?’ They said three things: I’d take time to stop and ask the big questions. I’d be more courageous and take more risks in work and love. I’d try to live with purpose—to make a difference.” That says it all.

Many of our professional and personal desires really can come true—if we write the script.

Everyone who is causing you stress, struggle and challenge in your life just might be an angel of sorts … carrying the lessons you most need to learn.

Each day we have the opportunity to make choices. And the way we choose shapes our destiny. So don’t get upset. Get excited. As author Paul Theroux once observed, “Only a fool blames his bad vacation on the rain.”

We live in a world seduced by the easy. We want to look great and be spectacularly fit but we don’t want to have to exercise to get there.

As Maya Angelou observed, “If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can transform a million realities.”

But as Lord Chesterfield said, “It is not possible to discover new oceans unless one is willing to lose sight of the shore.”

Life offers you daily opportunities to shine. To polish your gifts. To release your chains. To achieve personal mastery.

Kahlil Gibran once wrote that “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother”;

Nothing happens until you ask. People are not mind readers. They need to know what’s meaningful to you. And if you ask nicely, they just might say yes.