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Uncommon Quotes

Uncommon, but golden Nuggets from the wise men….

I could not be leading a religious life unless I identified myself with the whole of mankind, and that I could not do unless I took part in politics. The whole gamut of man’s activities today constitutes an indivisible whole. You cannot divide social, economic, political, and purely religious work into watertight compartments.

Mohandas Gandhi, 1935

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When I was in Vietnam, so many of our villages were being bombed. Along with my monastic brothers and sisters, I had to decide what to do. Should we continue to practice in our monasteries, or should we leave the meditation halls in order to help the people who were suffering under the bombs? After careful reflection, we decided to do both—to go out and help people and to do so in mindfulness. We called it engaged Buddhism. Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting….We must be aware of the real problems of the world. Then, with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do to be of help.

Thich Nhat Hanh

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We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.

Gautama Buddha

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Ten Steps to Great Beginning!

Starting something new and succeeding with it requires a predictable approach for the first timers, checklist for repeaters and guideline for masters… One such compilation shared by another wise friend:

Ten STEPS TO GREAT BEGINNING

STEP 1: Intelligently pick your opportunities. There are only so many hours in the day, so start by making a list of everything that you hate, and make sure that what you choose to invest your time in allows you to avoid as many of those as possible.

STEP 2: Learn to say No. What you say no to is even more important than what you say yes to. Again, you’re better off selecting one or two opportunities and really digging in and getting good at them rather than trying to tackle everything at once.

STEP 3: Fish where the fish are. Make sure there is an audience for what you are doing before you invest time or money.

STEP 4: Fish where the fish are starving. Look for things where people are passionate and driven by their emotions of greed, pride, fear, guilt and love. Link your business to people’s passions and you’ll have them lining up to get to you.

STEP 5: Do something to get new business every day. A good habit is to do at least one thing every day to fill the pipeline of new business. There is a link between this behavior and experiencing positive results continuously.

STEP 6: Be a true student of your business. Study everything you can get your hands on, both in terms of books, articles and other people that are successful in your field.

STEP 7: Study marketing. You must become a master student of marketing to be able to attract more clients than you could possibly work with. This allows you to command premium prices, have a halo effect around your business, and being able to personally pick and choose who you want to work with.

STEP 8: Set rules regarding access to you that both your staff and clients have to follow. Avoid the trap of being a slave to your e-mail and cell phone. Make yourself more valuable by being somewhat inaccessible. This will allow you time to plan and think.

STEP 9: Work really, really hard …especially in the beginning when you’re getting started.

STEP 10: Build “down time” in to your schedule. Be sure to build in time in your weekly schedule to exercise, goof off with your family, engage in a hobby or whatever else revitalizes and recharges you. Work until you’re exhausted; then play until you’re bored.

~ Have a great beginning for a great journey!

 

Ten Steps to Effective Living

Golden Nuggets – ten steps to effective living, shared by a wise friend:

STEP 1: Have clearly defined, written goals with clearly defined action steps and deadlines to achieve each and every one of them. Know and write down exactly what you want in business and in life.

STEP 2: Do what most people aren’t willing to do. Most people aren’t willing to get up one hour earlier and go to bed one hour later for those two extra, undisturbed hours each day. Do this and you will accomplish more in those two hours than you will the rest of the day.

STEP 3: Choose what you spend your time on. What you spend your time on is more important than how much work you actually do. Time is the most valuable commodity you have; yet, it takes little observation to see most people spend most of their time doing the most unproductive things – personally and professionally.

STEP 4: Don’t confuse activity with achievement. Don’t measure the value of what you do by how much time it took to do it. Spend the majority of your time doing the things that are going to yield the maximum results.

STEP 5: Help others grow. Your job is to create work for others, not yourself. Leverage is how you build wealth. Delegate wherever possible. If you do anything that can be done for less by someone else, then you will never get rich.

STEP 6: Don’t complain. No whining. Nobody really cares and it creates more problems than it solves. People are attracted to winners. Winners don’t complain. When things don’t go your way, suck it up and immediately get into the “Here’s what I’m going to do about it” mode. Don’t let anyone see you sweat!

STEP 7: Surround yourself with successful people. Gladly pay for access. If there is someone you want to know; someone who knows something that is of value to you or someone you want to build a relationship with, pay for their time, buy them dinner, and don’t ask for favours. Be humble but confident. Thank them for their time then follow up with letter and a gift.

STEP 8: Don’t quit right at the goal line. Don’t march eighty yards down the field and fumble at the moment of truth. Do the little extra it takes to get the touchdown and all the glory – that last and most important five percent.

STEP 9: Always be clear about why you do what you do: It’s not a question of if things are going to get hard and ugly, it’s a question of when. And when times get hard and ugly you need to have an awfully good reason to keep moving forward. Know why you do what you do.

STEP 10: Don’t ignore your health. If you aren’t disciplined to eat right and exercise seven days a week, then you might be rich someday but you won’t be healthy and isn’t that what it’s all about?

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