The Toddler's Guide To PerseveranceWritten by Maria E. Andreu
My two year old daughter asks me for ice cream about one hundred times a day. You think I'm exaggerating for effect, but I am really not. She starts when she first gets up in morning, requesting it as her breakfast. (I say no). She asks mid-morning, several times. She asks for it as an appetizer to her lunch, asks for it when my mother is caring for her (I'm blissfully not privy to that, as I am in world of grown-ups, coaching!), asks at snack, dinner, and about 70 other times during day. Sometimes she employs tactics of terror, kicking and screaming until our very nerves tremble. Sometimes she flashes sweetest smile. And of hundred times she asks per day (I made it a nice round number, but I suspect it's probably higher than that) she gets ice cream maybe once every two or three days. Sometimes she wears me down once a day for a few days. Now, before you start thinking this is an article on parenting techniques (as in, what NOT to do ), I'm actually using this headstrong toddler as an example. An example of what TO do. Yes, an example for even you to follow. Because what is her success rate? On a good day, it is one percent. ONE PERCENT. She FAILS 99 percent of time. She tries a variety of approaches, and finds that 99 times out of 100, they do not work. And yet, she gets a bit of what she wants just about every day. Why? Let's examine. First, she makes it very clear what she wants. She tells me color, flavor, in detail, in her request. She starts early in morning and doesn't let up until nighttime. She actually hits up her father more than she does me, knowing he's more of a softy, so she knows proper venue for her request. Lesson to be learned: Be REALLY clear on what you want. It's hard to expect world to give you what you're looking for if you don't quite know what it is. Define color and flavor of what you want. Second, failure is not any kind of deterrent for her. She is embodiment of old adage, "'No' just means try again later." She puts no negative spin to herself for 99 times she fails to get what she wants. She doesn't say to herself, "Oh, I've failed. Maybe I'm not meant to have ice cream. Maybe I should just learn to like this broccoli stuff. Why -oh why- do I never get what I want?" She just asks time number 83. And 84. And 85......
| | Your Greatness Begins With The Tiniest Of WavesWritten by Josh Hinds
Everything begins with smallest of gestures -- I think it's for this very reason that many of us never get around to reaching points in our life where we'd like to be. The timing just never seems to be right. We never have quite enough money for our undertaking or venture. We convince ourselves that we're not smart enough to go for our master's degree, or go to go back to college... To this I can only say one thing -- HOGWASH! My friend, simple fact is that if you wait for "just right moment" before you undertake any significant venture you're likely going to be about where you are now -- still waiting. Why is that? Because as most anyone who has gone before you will tell you, there is rarely a "right time" to set out in search of ones destination. Sure, there are variables that can come into play. For example, if you're dream is of starting a home business, yet you rely on day to day income that your job provides last thing you'd want to do is to simply quit that job. However, what's stopping you from starting and working it around your existing career? Then as your business takes off you can choose (or not) to move fully into your business and phase out your old job. What if it's not a business you want to pursue? What if it's farthest thing from a business? No problem! The same general rules can be applied to just about any undertaking.
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