Thoughts on Gratitude

Here are some great thoughts on gratitude. Many thinkers throughout time have written down their thoughts and theories on why its important to be grateful for what you have and gratitude for where you are in life. Enjoy these nuggets of wisdom and think about things in your life that you are grateful for:

• God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” ~William A. Ward
• The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer
• Think about what you want, not what you don’t want. Be grateful for what you got, and you will get more to be grateful for. ~Travis Wright
• Gratitude is the memory of the heart. ~Jean Baptiste Massieu, translated from French
• Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone. ~G.B. Stern
• If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart
• If you have lived, take thankfully the past. ~John Dryden
• When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? ~G.K. Chesterton
• The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ~John E. Southard
• [G]ratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. ~G.K. Chesterton
• You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink. ~G.K. Chesterton
• For each new morning with its light,
  For rest and shelter of the night,
  For health and food, for love and friends,
  For everything Thy goodness sends.
  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Why do Some People Consistently Inspire Others to Follow Their Lead?

John C. Maxwell is world renowned for his knowledge of leadership, and his book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader (published by Thomas Nelson, 1999), is clearly the place to get started. But first, let’s start with a simple question: Why do some people consistently inspire others to follow their lead? According to John C. Maxwell, it is the “character qualities” they possess. In The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, he identifies these top traits and then defines them in ways that readers can absorb and utilize. View PDF excerpt

Each character trait is covered in a separate chapter and contains relevant quotes and anecdotes, details on its meaning, suggestions for further reflection, and exercises for improvement. In essence, John provides a mini-course in each quality. So what are the 21 indispensable qualities? They are listed below:

1. CHARACTER: Be a Piece of the Rock
2. CHARISMA: The First Impression Can Seal the Deal.
3. COMMITMENT: It Separates Doers from Dreamers.
4. COMMUNICATION: Without It You Travel Alone.
5. COMPETENCE: If You Build It, They Will Come.
6. COURAGE: One Person with Courage Is a Majority.
7. DISCERNMENT: Put an End to Unsolved Mysteries.
8. FOCUS: The Sharper It Is, the Sharper You Are.
9. GENEROSITY: Your Candle Loses Nothing When It Lights Another.
10. INITIATIVE: You Won’t Leave Home Without It.
11. LISTENING: To Connect with Their Hearts, Use Your Ears.
12. PASSION: Take This Life and Love It.
13. POSITIVE ATTITUDE: If You Believe You Can, You Can.
14. PROBLEM SOLVING: You Can’t Let Your Problems Be a Problem.
15. RELATIONSHIPS: If You Get Along, They’ll Go Along.
16. RESPONSIBILITY: If You Won’t Carry the Ball, You Can’t Lead the Team.
17. SECURITY: Competence Never Compensates for Insecurity.
18. SELF-DISCIPLINE: The First Person You Lead Is You.
19. SERVANTHOOD: To Get Ahead, Put Others First.
20. TEACHABILITY: To Keep Leading, Keep Learning.
21. VISION: You Can Seize Only What You Can.

Printed with permission of Dr. John C Maxwell

The Seven Demands of Leadership - What Separates Great Leaders from all the Rest?

by Barry Conchie

Who wants to follow someone who’s going nowhere? Or someone who’s unreliable or untrustworthy? Organizations wrestle with these questions and many others as they confront the elusive challenge of defining effective leadership.

The Seven Demands

Most people are certain that leadership is about direction, about giving people a sense of purpose that inspires and motivates them to commit and achieve. Leadership is also about a relationship between people — leaders and followers — that is built on firm ground; enduring values build trust. Few would disagree with these views.

Not everyone, however, offers the same answer to this question: What’s the best way to develop talented leaders to achieve sustained high performance? Indeed, Gallup Organization researchers have long been intrigued with this question. Having studied leadership talent for more than 40 years, Gallup set out to discover the demands that leaders must meet to be successful. We also wanted to uncover the developmental framework that would enhance leadership performance.

Our research confirmed the importance of two rather obvious demands — visioning and maximizing values. What was surprising was the presence of five other important demands that are essential to the development of all great leaders.

The research
First, a few words about how we arrived at these demands. Our study drew from a wide cross section of leaders who had a proven track record of success; we had evidence that they all delivered the goods. They were measurably the best when compared to others in similar roles. Their performance could be tracked to significant improvements to the bottom line. They enjoyed the endorsement of their bosses, peers, and direct reports. And they sustained high performance, often through adverse times.

For our initial leadership-development research, we identified and studied 100 leaders. They were drawn from general management, human resources, marketing, sales, manufacturing, research and development, and finance. They represented distinct levels of hierarchy, from managers to directors to vice presidents and senior executives. They had all faced significant demands that built and developed their leadership talent. Indeed, it was in researching this group that we uncovered the seven key demands that every leader must meet to achieve high performance.

We then expanded our study to include Read more

7 Step Guide to an Effective Morning Routine

by CG.com GuestBlogger, Todd Goldfarb

Since I have been living in New York City for 12 years, I am intimately familiar with the “daily grind” and the adjoining morning rituals many working people have.

It is important to realize that what you do in the morning sets the tone for the rest of your day, and habituating an effective morning custom can increase productivity in many areas of you life. By following the seven suggestions in this article, you will start to feel more alert, healthier and stronger!

Suggestion 1

Water. Drink a full glass of water as soon as you wake up. This is critical for the health of your body as you have just spent the last 7-10 hours with no food or drink. You are dehydrated and your entire system desires water to arouse the joints and muscles, and stimulate activity of your organs (especially in the digestive tract). As you drink this glass of water, feel the liquid going into your stomach and get a sense of the body waking up and responding to its lubricating effects. Water is calming for the mind as well and by making a habit of drinking water upon waking you are establishing a healthy pillar of activity first thing in the morning!

Suggestion 2

Stretch. Now that your body is nice and lubricated, and you feel more awake with water inside you, it is imperative to stretch your body. Your have just spent the last several hours in a period of physical inactivity, and you will soon be embarking on a full day of movement so it is crucial to check in with your body and give it a good stretch from the head all the way down to the toes. This is a wonderful way to begin preparing yourself for a successful day, and I recommend spending at least 10 minutes doing a varied routine of full stretches. If you are into Yoga, performing the sun salutations is a great practice and can certainly get you going.

Suggestion 3

Meditate. Meditation is an extraordinary practice that has innumerable health benefits and dates back thousands of years. Through meditation you commit yourself to the practice of listening within, and by sticking to it you will develop increased awareness, stronger intentions and enhanced patience. After a productive morning stretch, take 15-20 minutes and let everything go and just be. Sit (or lie) quietly in a comfortable area where you know you will not be disturbed. I highly recommend reading a book, listening to an instructional CD or even attending a class on meditation as you get more into it. If you do not meditate, or think that you don’t have the ability, you should and you do! It is an incredibly powerful practice to add to your morning routine.
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