Catalyst Quotes

“The Choice is Yours”

“There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ people.   Some are a little better or a little worse, but all are activated more by misunderstanding than malice.   A blindness to what is going on in each other’s hearts … nobody sees anybody truly but all through the flaws of their own egos.   That is the way we all see … each other in life.  Vanity, fear, desire, competition— all such distortions within our own egos— condition our vision of those in relation to us.   Add to those distortions to our own egos the corresponding distortions in the egos of others, and you see how cloudy the glass must become through which we look at each other.   That’s how it is in all living relationships except when there is that rare case of two people who love intensely enough to burn through all those layer of opacity and see each other’s naked hearts.”     (Tennessee Williams)

       INSTRUCTIONS FOR BEING HUMAN:

1.  You will receive a body.  You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons.  You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called Life.
3. There are not mistakes, only lessons.  Growth is a process of trial, error and experimentation.  The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned.   A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it.   When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end.   There is no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons.   If you’re alive, there are still lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is no better than “here”.   When your “there” has become “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here”.
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you.   You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you.   You have all the tools and resources you need.   What you do with them is up to you.   The choice is yours.      (Cherie Carter-Scott, Ph.D.)

“People Are Watching You”

“There are two primary choices in life:   1)  to accept conditions as they exist, or 2)  accept the responsibility for changing them.”   (Denis Waitley)

“The final meditation on fellowership from Ira Chaleff’s book “The Courageous Follower” is:    Courage always exists in the present.  What can I do today?  

 I am convinced that if more people would assume responsibility for asking themselves each and every day “what can I do today to make a difference?” that our organizations would experience radical transformation.

 Most of your peers are playing it safe.   They don’t want to stand up, stand out, and risk rejection or challenge.   They are content with doing just enough to get by, and by their own behavior our leaders encourage the perpetuation of this pattern.

We can do better, and because we can, we should.   Without courage, this is all just rhetoric.   Courage has to start today and it has to start with you.

 No organization can empower you – only you can empower yourself.   But you have to have the courage to give yourself permission to do something your peers are not willing to do.   If you don’t find that courage today, in the little things, you will never have the courage when things get really challenging.

 You have a lot more power than you think.     People are watching you.”      (Bret L. Simmons)

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”      (St. Francis of Assisi)

Everything is Possible”

“You may be disappointed if you fail but doomed if you never try.   Some people advance through life, while others remain stagnant and only dream of what they can achieve.   There is a difference between wanting and having, saying and doing. Don’t let those who fear progression keep you down or steal your visions.   Act out of your dreams.   Everything is real and everything is possible.      (Element Skateboards)

“Get up, stand up; Stand up for your rights.   Get up, stand up; Never give up the fight.” ​     (Bob Marley)

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in determination.”      ​(Tommy Lasorda)

“Champions aren’t made in gyms.   Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.   They have to have the skill, and the will.   But the will must be stronger than the skill.”      (Muhammad Ali)

“Be Great At Being You”

“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries before.” (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” (Deepak Chopra)

“Buddha left a road map, Jesus left a road map, Krishna left a road map, Rand McNally left a road map, but you still have to travel the road yourself.” (Stephen Levine)

Whatever you choose to do today, be great at it. Be great in your own, personally meaningful, worthwhile, fulfilling way.

Being great doesn’t necessarily mean being impressive, or being obsessive, or being anything other than how you sincerely wish to be. Being great means being great at being you.

After all, there’s only one of you and that confers upon you an important responsibility. You’re the only person who can truly express the unique perspective that you’re so fortunate to experience. Look past the aches and pains, the dilemmas of the moment, the superficial frustrations and disappointments. Remind yourself how good and right it feels to be, and more specifically, to be you.

Don’t waste your time borrowing or begging the tired old desires that you wouldn’t really even want anyway. Feel the pure energy of your beautiful, unique purpose, and see all the great ways you can live that purpose right now.

Fill your life with richness on this very day by giving your time, commitment and focus to what really, truly matters. Bring your life to life, and be great at being you. (The Daily Motivator)

“It May Be a Gift”

“You must be the person you have never had the courage to be.   Gradually, you will discover you are that person, but until you can see this clearly, you must pretend and invent.”    (Paulo Coelho)

“An eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks.   It will fly to some high spot and wait.   When the storm hits, the eagle sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm.   While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.   The eagle does not escape the storm; it simply uses the storm to lift it higher.   The eagle soars on the winds of life’s storms.”     (Unknown)

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass;  it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”    (Terri Pratt) 

“The next time you’re faced with something that’s unexpected, unwanted and uncertain, consider that it just may be a gift.”     (Stacey Kramer, TED –  Ideas Worth Spreading)

“What Should I Do With My Life”

“I’m convinced that business success in the future starts with the question, ‘What should I do with my life?’   Yes, that’s right.   The most obvious and universal question on our plates as human beings is the most urgent and pragmatic approach to sustainable success in our organizations.   People don’t succeed by migrating to a “hot” industry … or by adopting a particular career-guiding mantra … .  They thrive by focusing on the question of who they really are  –  and connecting that to work that they truly love (and, in so doing, unleashing a productive and creative power that they never imagined).   Companies don’t grow because they represent a particular sector or adopt the latest management approach.   They win because they engage the hearts and minds of individuals who are dedicated to answering that life question.”​     (Po Bronson)

“Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true.   This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs.   They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence.  When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”     (Walt Disney)

“There comes a time in a man’s life when to get where he has to go … if there are no doors or windows … he walks through a wall.”     (Bernard Malamud)

“… and then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”  (Anais Nin)

“Threes”

“To me there are three things everyone should do every day.   Number one is laugh.   Number two is think — spend some time in thought.   Number three; you should have your emotions move you to tears.   If you laugh, think and cry, that’s a heck of a day.”    (Jim Valvano)

“Three Rules of Work:   1)  Out of clutter, find simplicity.   2)  From discord, find harmony.   3)  In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”     (Albert Einstein)

“Three Rules for Success:    1)  Do what’s right.   Be on time, be polite, and be honest; remain free from drugs; and if you have any questions, get out your Bible.   2)  Do your best.   Mediocrity is unacceptable when you are capable of doing better.   3)  Treat others as you want to be treated.  Practice love and understanding.”      (Lou Holtz)

“Three things in human life are important:   1)  the first is to be kind.   2)  the second is to be kind.   3)  the third is to be kind.”      (Henry James)