From our newsletter Outside the Lines

Smart folks thinking out loud about the journey to success.

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the actions.”
-Confucius, Chinese philosopher

“The heights charm us, but the steps do not; with the mountain in our view, we love to walk the plains.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer

“Little by little, one walks far.”
-Peruvian proverb

“Everybody makes his path differently.”
-Emanuel Ax, Canadian pianist

“In the middle of the journey of my life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”
-Dante Alighieri, Italian poet

“For the poet the credo or doctrine is not the point of arrival but is, on the contrary, the point of departure for the metaphysical journey.”
Joseph Brodsky, American poet

“It’s not the destination that matters. It’s the change of scene.”
-Brian Eno, British musician

“The road to success is always under construction.”
-Lily Tomlin, American comedienne

“The Path that leadeth on is lighted by one fire - the light of daring burning in the heart. The more one dares, the more he shall obtain.”
-Helena Petrova Blavatsky - Russian writer

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

Smart people thinking out loud about what they want

“I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.”
-Jane Wagner, American writer (for comedian Lily Tomlin)

“People who have what they want are fond of telling people who haven’t what they want, that they really don’t want it.”
-Ogden Nash American poet

“The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever.”
-Anatole France, French writer

“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”
-Bob Dylan, American musician

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
-The Dalai Lama, Tibetan religious leader

“I am an old man, but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life.”
-Pablo Casals, Spanish musician

“The idle mind knows not what it wants.”
-Quintus Ennius, Roman poet

“A person should want to live, if only out of curiosity.”
-Yiddish Proverb

“You can’t always get what you want…but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”
-The Rolling Stones, British rock band

“Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.”
-Anonymous

“If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it.”
-Chinese Proverb

“I want my world to get bigger and not end up in a small corner.”
-Sarah Polley, Canadian film director

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

Smart people thinking about making choices.

“The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created–created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.”
-John Schaar, American political theorist

“It is our choices … that show what we truly are far more than our abilities.”
-’Albus Dumbledore’ - J.K. Rowling, British author

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.”
-Robert Fritz, American author

“Of the blessings set before you, make your choice, and be content.”
-Samuel Johnson, English writer

“Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.”
-Oscar Wilde, Irish writer

“When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature.”
-Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist

“Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be.”
-WH Auden, British writer

“Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.”
-Hasidic Saying

“Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.”
-Sir Francis Bacon, British writer

“We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.”
-Penelope Lively, British writer

“Life is the sum of all your choices.”
-Albert Camus, French writer

“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”
-Christopher Reeve, American actor

Add your own quotes about making choices in the Comments box below.

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

Socks & Sadness

My heart sank recently when I went to buy a pair of socks.

I’ve nothing against socks. I wear them often.

But walking into the department store I was accosted with ruthlessly upbeat Christmas carols, fake snow and declarations of the festive season… yes, it’s only November 22nd and it’s already December 25th.

Sigh.

The year of buying nothing

As well as the Festive Season, the end of 2007 will also mark the end of an experiment my wife and I have been undertaking - The Year of Buying Nothing.

Our goal was to buy only the essentials we needed to keep our lives running (yes, including socks if necessary).

I can’t pretend we accomplished that flawlessly - in fact, we started to joke that in the last couple of months we’d started to live “The Year of Finding Loopholes.”

But one of the best things about this experiment has been an increased appreciation for what we do have in or lives - not just the stuff but also the more important things like the people and each other.

Gird yourself for the next 34 days

So as we in North America and in various other countries count down towards Christmas and the holidays … and with that, the relentless promotion of stuff to buy… get clear on what you appreciate already, as a way of helping you gain perspective on what it is you want to give and to receive.

Here are three ways to think about appreciation.

(read more…)

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Details: Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation, Mike Robbins, 2007

Categories: Non-Fiction, Self-Help

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In 15 words or less: Appreciative Living 101

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

“The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.”
-Gilbert K. Chesterton, British writer

“The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship.”
-Amelia Earhart, American aviator

“The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.”
-Dalai Lama, Tibetan

“When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.”
-Stephen Hawking, British physicist

“By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property.”
-Voltaire, French philosopher

“I have a greater appreciation for kitchen appliances, having played one.”
-Antony Daniels (C3PO in Star Wars), British actor

“Appreciation can make a day – even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.”
-Margaret Cousins, American writer

“I married an archaeologist because the older I grow, the more he appreciates me.”
-Agatha Christie, British writer

“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.”
-Joni Mitchell, Canadian musician

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

“It is hard enough to remember my opinions,without remembering my reasons for them!”
- Friederich Nietzsche, German philosopher

“Unless we remember we cannot understand.”
- E.M. Forster, British author

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
- George Santayana, Spanish philosopher

“How we remember, what we remember and why we remember form the most personal map of our individuality.”
-Christina Baldwin, American author

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Details: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, Stephen Pressfield (2003)

Categories: Self-help; Productivity

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In 15 words or less: If you want to do Great Work, stop being an amateur

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

You might recognize one of the great quotes from Australian cinema - Crocodile Dundee - in the subject line. (It was when my Canadian wife could say that in a perfect Australian accent (and sounded like she meant it) that I knew our relationship was here to stay…).

But the inspiration for this week’s article wasn’t Mick Dundee, but a short article on what knives you need to have in a properly stocked kitchen.

Don’t worry - this isn’t turning into the Cookery Channel

It was a perfectly interesting article, and should you be looking for tips on how and what to wield in the kitchen, I can recommend it.
But what was really interesting was the problem it helped me to solve - how to fine tune my new office space.

As some of you may recall, I moved into a new office a couple of months ago, leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of my home office. The move has been great … and it’s also clear that the office isn’t yet what I hoped it might be.

Danger! Creativity at work

And this of course is one of the genius things about our brain - our capacity to make connections.

In fact, someone one defined creativity as making new connections between known things.

If you’re stuck, what that means at its heart is you can only see one way to do what you need to do - and you don’t like what you see.

If you can generate new possibilities, then you have choice. If you have choice, you have your freedom back - and you’re unstuck.

And one of the best ways to create new possibilities is to add “new stimulus” into the mix, and shake your brain up.

Let me give you an example, combining the article on knives with my challenge to make my office space more successful.

(read more…)

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

Smart folks thinking about creativity

“Whatever creativity is, it is part of a solution to a problem.”
-Brian Aldiss, English writer

“Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas.”
-Donatella Versace, Italian designer

“The chief enemy of creativity is “good” sense.”
-Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist

“Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and the pupil are located in the same individual.”
-Arthur Koestler, Hungarian-British writer

“Creativity is a highfalutin word for the work I have to do between now and Tuesday.”
-Ray Croc, American founder of McDonalds

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