Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Winston Churchill

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Achievement, Cycles of life, Persistence, Planning, Winston Churchill

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

Back by popular demand are my daily quotes. Over the last few months, I’ve missed this part of my blogging experience, so here we go.

Today’s quote is about pain, difficulty, and the challenges we face each day. This quote reminds me of the time I was enduring the U.S. Army’s Ranger School. The school at the time was 56 days long and was just a tough thing to get through. At one point in the course I passed what is called the “point of no return”. In other words, there was no way I was not going to graduate. I had gone through too much already. If I’d quit, all that pain and suffering would have been for nothing.

You can apply this quote to anything in life. If you are pursuing a goal and you are just beat, or you are dealing with one of any number of life’s problems, remember to keep going. The pain will pass, the suffering will pass, the fear will dissipate. At the end you’ll feel accomplished.

I enjoy working out. It wasn’t always so. The key to establishing a solid workout habit is to literally keep going. If you’re tired out during a routine, keep going. If you don’t feel like going to the gym, go anyway. The key to establishing a good workout routine is to do it until you see a benefit. Once you do, you’ll be hooked like most of the people I see in the gym consistently. We all show up because it is a huge benefit. We sleep better, are less stressed out, our appetite is good, and we get sick a lot less than others, not to mention we enjoy what we look like in the mirror.

Another aspect of this quote is time. We have all dealt with situations or time periods in our lives where everything has gone wrong. Many times, difficulties just pile up and we are just sitting there confused and wondering what else could possibly go wrong? The answer: A whole lot more.

You see good times and bad times arise in our lives repeatedly. It is inevitable. We ride the wave at some points and crash into the shore at others. Remain balanced and realize that each cycle will come to an end. Endure it. Do the best you can, particularly during those “dark” times. It will end just like before. This is the nature of life. One way to deal with these situations is to stop and think. Think about the situation, create a plan to deal with whatever it is you’re dealing with, and take one step at a time.

Well, that’s it for today folks!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Winston Churchill – Reflection

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Beginning anew, Goal Setting, Planning, Recharging, reflection, Winston Churchill

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” – Winston Churchill

I’m a huge fan of Winston Churchill and this quote is right on this time of year. I always get giddy during the holiday season. I enjoy the giving and grateful feelings that arise during this time of year. I also enjoy the time to relax, reflect, and the process of reviewing the year and how to move forward in the new.

What did I accomplish this year? Did I hit the goals I set for myself? What could I do better? Where could I focus my efforts in the New Year?

As I review things there are a few high points. The first is this blog. I didn’t realize how great it would be to create and write a blog. It’s awesome to see people from all over the world reading my postings and responding to them. The technology of today truly has created a global dialogue where people of different countries, cultures, and languages can interact with each other, learn about one another, and exchange ideas. It truly is a great time to be alive. Who knows what the future will bring. My guess is that we’ll see new devices, new technological breakthroughs, and a whole lot more.

I’ve written quite a bit about goal setting, self-discipline, leading a balanced life, and most recently about finding and pursuing your passion or life’s work. It’s hard to pursue these things when you’re supporting a family, working 9 to 5, and all the rest, but it is possible. If you are truly passionate about something, you’ll make it happen. For me, this year was the first year of my early retirement. I’ve found out a few things about myself that are quite interesting.

Retirement really isn’t retirement to me. I still have goals, I still have things I want to do in this life, and I still have a drive for a consistent and productive day. The only difference is that I am now in almost 100% control of my day. It is quite liberating, but also requires that much more self-discipline. Have you ever heard that saying, “The more rope you’re given, the more rope you’ll have to hang yourself”? This is the potential for retirement. You can either set up a daily schedule, plot out your goals and pursue them, or surf the net all day and get ZERO accomplished. Time will go by and you’ll wake up one day saying, “Where the hell did the year go?”

This year was a year of adjustment for me. Adjusting myself to a reduced income. Adjusting myself to all the time I have. Adjusting to living home with the parents and getting used to interacting with my Dad who loses more of his memory daily.

This month I’ll be finishing two books I read this time of year as part of my reflection. The first is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. The second is Getting Things Done by David Allen. I thoroughly enjoy both books because they really get you thinking. They also provide some helpful frameworks for planning, setting goals, and pursuing excellence in all areas of a person’s life.

I’ll begin work on the first of many books this year. The first step was finding a local coffee shop I could go to for my writing. I found one! It is called the Exquisite Corpse and it is nice. It will be my haunt after I get done with my gym routine. I like writing in areas where there are other things going on. I don’t need absolute solitude to create. Right now, as I write this blog posting, I am listening to some music. Music is one of the keys to my writing.

The rest of this month, in and around the holidays, will be mapping out the first quarter of the year. What do I want to accomplish? What’s the goal for the entire year? Once I’ve got things mapped out it’s off to set up a daily schedule to accomplish the things I set out to do. I really look forward to the New Year.

Well, that’s it for today folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed my writings this year and hope to continue to improve this blog to gather more followers. It’s all about the content and I’m still refining mine.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quotes

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Courage, creation, Determination, Persistence, Sidney Friedman, Walt Disney, Winston Churchill

“You can achieve anything you want in life if you have the courage to dream it, the intelligence to make a realistic plan, and the will to see that plan through to the end.” – Sidney A. Friedman

Sidney talks about the way we create things. There is always an internal visualization of what we want, then we utilize our reasoning, mental faculties to devise a way of manifesting the visualization. Since we are creating something brand new in most cases, it takes courage, discipline, and tenacity to bring this vision into reality.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

Another truism by one of my favorite historical figures. Winston Churchill was the epitome of steadfastness.

“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

Another of my favorite figures was Walt Disney. I grew up watching his weekly show, seeing his cartoons in the theater, and finally, going to his theme parks in California and Florida. Both are truly the happiest places on Earth.

The theme I see in all of the people whose quotes are recorded on the web and in our books is the ability these people had to create, persevere, and contribute to the human race. I hope you enjoy these quotes. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!!

Until tomorrow…