Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Setbacks

Tags

Determination, Failures, Goals, Improving, Investigating, Learning, Mistakes, Persistence, Setbacks, Teaching

Why are setbacks so helpful? Why am I grateful for them? I am grateful for setbacks because they are the best teachers. When you try something that you need to do to finish a goal, most of the time you do not know if it will work. So, you take a swing and miss. You learn what not to do, or you learn that you need to learn more about what you are trying to do. Without the setback, you wouldn’t learn something.

I don’t seek them out. I just try something and see if it works. If it doesn’t I begin the work of finding out what other people do, look for tutorials and things like this, practice a little bit, and then give it another shot.

Setbacks, failures, mistakes occur when we try to do something out of our comfort zone or skill set. I’m not talking about stubbing your toe, or dropping something by accident. I’m talking about trying something that you have never done before, but need to do, in order to accomplish something. One of my goals is to write a book, or even a few books. One thing I learned early on, is that I needed more information. So, I interact with other writers, I take courses, and I practice my writing every day. Setbacks, failures, and mistakes are not something to be afraid of.

So today, I’m grateful for setbacks. They have taught me how to do something better. They have helped me realize I don’t know how to do something. They guide me to changing something.

Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – 5 Quotes

Tags

5 Quotes, Dreams, failure, Goals, Influence, Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich, wisdom, Wisdom Wednesday

Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.

Napoleon Hill

Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.

Napoleon Hill

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

Napoleon Hill

Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.

Napoleon Hill

A goal is a dream with a deadline.

Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill was an American author best known for his Think and Grow Rich book. His book, among others, had a huge impact on the self-help genre.

Have a great Wednesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge: Week of October 25, 2020

Tags

accomplishments, finish strong, Goals, missed opportunities, Purposeful life, refocusing, write it down

This week’s challenge: Go over all the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year and determine which ones you missed, the ones you hit, and the ones you are still capable of completing before year end.

Here is mine so far: x means hit, o means missed, notes following if still possible

Physical –

Missed my physical goals this year due to COVID-19 gym closures

Learning

Complete 10 courses online this year – x
Complete Computer Science Path this year – 55% through the course x

Financial

Missed my savings goals this year, but it is still salvageable

Spiritual

Finish 12 discourses x
Finish HI Leadership Course x
365 Spiritual Exercises x

Reading

Read 60 books this year x

Writing

Finish Rough Draft of my Fiction Book o Still possible
Write at a coffee shop 52 times this year to achieve a change of pace o

Blogging

Build followers to 800 by year’s end x
Finish and Post 365 Blog Posts x
Follow 200 new Blogs this year x

Social

Write 52 letters to my wife x
Send 365 texts to my wife x
Meet someone new each day (Social Media, Blog, or Out and about) o
Take a personal vacation each Quarter by visiting a new town and hanging out o
Visit the Library 52 times this year o

How are you progressing so far? If you have time, leave some notes in the comments section of what you will focus on for the rest of the year.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Week of Oct 11, 2020

Tags

accomplishments, account, Achieve, checkin, complete, finish, Goals, Status

This Week’s Challenge: The year is moving by quickly. This week your challenge is to go through all of your goals you set for the year and see where you’re at. Which goals are you going to miss? Which ones are you going to hit without a problem? Are there any goals that are still salvageable? Go through all your goals and find this out. You can still make it and finish out the year strong!

In the comments, give me an idea of which goals you’ve hit this year so far.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Week of August 31, 2020

Tags

3rd quarter, Assessment, Consistency, Determination, Goals, motivation, Track

Well, folks, we’re in the last week of August 2020. How is your year turning out? I realize this question may seem a bit sarcastic, but what I want to know is how are you doing with achieving your goals. I know some of them had to be put on hold or cancelled. A bunch of my goals were put on hold because the library, coffee shops, and other places I wanted to go for writing sites are still closed. The rest of my goals are on track. 

As we approach the end of the third quarter (end of September), continue to make adjustments to your plans for the goals you have. You can still achieve them, but if you’re a little behind, you’re going to have to kick into high gear to get over the finish line. 

Here is my schedule for the week:

• Writing Daily (Journaling, Book, Blog, Classes)
• Learning Daily (Writing Class, History Class, Coding Class, Sociology Class)
• Spiritual Exercises Daily (Journaling, Meditation, Reading)
• Exercise Daily (See Workout Routine)
• Reading Daily (One fiction book, two Non-fiction books)

Have a great week, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – 5 Quotes

Tags

5 Quotes, Contribution, Four endowments, Goals, Imagination, Stephen Covey, Work

Stop setting goals. Goals are pure fantasy unless you have a specific plan to achieve them.

Stephen Covey

Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.

Stephen Covey

Live out of your imagination, not your history.

Stephen Covey

Every human has four endowments – self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.

Stephen Covey

Life is not accumulation, it is about contribution.

Stephen Covey

Happy Hump Day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Setting Goals

Tags

Discipline, Drive, Goals, Monday, motivation, Persistence, Setting Goals, SMART acronym

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.

Tony Robbins

I set yearly goals each year. Last year I achieved most of them. This year I was on track. But then…you know the rest of the story. Covid-19 has put a damper on a lot of things, particularly now that it is back. But the goals I have set that Covid didn’t disrupt are all on track.

Setting goals gives us direction. They require us to decide about what we want to achieve. Once we’ve done this, however, we are on autopilot.

If you’ve never set goals before, just keep in mind the SMART acronym. This acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. If you’d like to read about it and watch a short video, here is the link.

I think the most important benefit I receive when I set a goal is the ability to see where I am and how to finish the rest of the journey. Try it out. You won’t be sorry.

Here is my week:

Physical – I will concentrate on shoulders this week. Every day I will exercise shoulders and do nothing else (See workout routine)

Mental – Learn, read, write, and journal

Spiritual – read my Bible, do my spiritual exercises, do my discourse work, and share my goodwill to all

Social – post uplifting quotes and articles to my social media feeds, interact with friends and family wherever possible

That’s it for today, folks. Have a great Monday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Love Yourself

Tags

Achievement, Goals, habits, Love Yourself, self-affirmation, self-care, Self-love, Spiritual

Don’t forget to love yourself.

Soren Kierkegaard

So many of us beat the living crap out of ourselves. I know I used to. I still do today, but less frequently. I typically get down on myself when I feel like I’m just “going through the motions” and not really putting my entire self into a project.

This happened recently.

I love an automated or ritualized day. I have the same recurring tasks each day and knock them down one by one. Blogging is one of them. I also read, code, learn, journal, interact on social media, exercise, and perform my daily spiritual tasks. It really works for me, but alas, these rituals drift from purposeful self-improvement to automaton-like actions very easily.

As I tackled this feeling, I realized that I should probably take my advice. There will be days where we just don’t feel the motivation and drive we normally do. We’re human. Can I say each workout I do in the gym is 100%? Heck no. This same phenomenon applies to everything else we do. So, I realized that I need to give myself a break.

This is self-love. This is taking care of yourself. This is giving yourself a break. Who wants to live with a micromanager and tyrant? I sure don’t. So, I closed my eyes a few days ago and pretended I was staring at my 7-year-old self. I told myself that you are OK. You will screw up. You’re still an honorable person. You will be lazy some days. On those days, continue to work, but take it a little easy. The days where you’re raring to get at it will be there too. Enjoy those days as well. The days you don’t feel it, enjoy them too and give yourself a break. Just keep doing your daily tasks and you’ll be fine.

That was all it took for me. What things do you do for yourself to recapture the passion you have for your daily tasks/goals? If you have some other ideas, post them in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Obstacles

Tags

Consistency, Goals, Henry Ford, Lessons, Obstacles, Persistence, puddles, road blocks, rocks, self-created

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

Henry Ford

Regardless of which path you take in life, you will run across rocks, puddles filled with mud, and other barriers. This is part of life.

When trying something new, most of the obstacles we face are built by us. We think something is too hard. We don’t think we’re good enough. We imagine all of these horrific things happening. In the end, when we’ve walked the path we’ve chosen, we realize that we created most of our problems. In fact, we created all of them.

How can you reframe all of it? Look at obstacles in a different way. Treat each obstacle as a lesson. Treat each obstacle as a stepping stone. Treat each obstacle as a means rather than an impediment. The moment you become detached from the obstacles you face, the less they will bother you.

Everything you face in life can be looked at in two ways. These obstacles can be looked at something that is done to us, or something that is done for us. Change “to” to “for” and the whole context of an obstacle or problem changes.

Deal with obstacles as they arise. Don’t create them in your mind. Trest each obstacle as something to learn from, rather than fret over. Keep your eyes on your goal. The obstacles will be meaningless, when you see the goal on the other side of them.

I hope each of you are progressing toward the goals you set this year. Keep going. You’ll get there. Just keep chipping away at them. If you keep chipping away, you’ll get to the finish line.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Book Review: The Success Principles

Tags

Goals, habits, Jack Canfield, Janet Switzer, Principles, Roadmap, Strategies, Success

I’ve been a fan of Jack Canfield since I read my first Chicken Soup for the Soul book. This book was a terrific read and provides some great ideas on things we can do to improve our lives. I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it to you, my readers. You can find it on Amazon, iBooks, Google Books, and Barnes & Noble.

Until next time…

Dave