“Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience.” - Hyman Rickover
 
How much courageous patience do you have to follow your dreams?

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
 
How do you make people feel?

“It is not the push from behind, or the pull from the front, but rather, the drive from within.” - 
Steve Bankston
 
What is driving you forward?

17 Hard Things You Have To Do To Be A Great Leader
 
To become one of the greats of leadership, it requires some very tough and unpopular decisions. Accepting responsibility when things go wrong while giving away the credit when things go well; running headfirst into the fire when everyone else is running the other direction.
 
People look to you for guidance, strength, hope, inspiration, motivation, and a lot more. Leadership will have its challenging days, but the satisfaction of knowing that you are impacting and making a difference every day far outweighs any challenge on any given day.
 
Here are 17 things great leaders have to do:
 
1.   You have to make the call you are afraid to make.
2.   You have to get up earlier than you want.
3.   You have to give more than you get right away.
4.   You have to care more about others than they care about you.
5.   You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing it safe seems smarter.
6.   You have to lead when no one else is following you yet.
7.   You have to invest in yourself even though no one else will.
8.   You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
9.   You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
10. You have to search for your own explanations even when you’re told to accept the “facts.”
11. You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
12. You have to try and fail and try again.
13. You have to run faster even though you are out of breath.
14. You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
15. You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
16. You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
17. You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.
 
From: Leadership First  

“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own ears.” - Laird Hamilton
 
What lives inside your head?

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Why is today the best day of your year?

“The truth is the kindest thing we can give to folks in the end.” - Harriet Beecher Stowe
 
What would the truth say about you?

"Love is the only bow on life's dark cloud. It is the Morning and Evening Star. It shines upon the cradle of the babe and sheds its radiance upon the quiet tomb. It is the Mother of Art, inspirer of poet, patriot, and philosopher. It is the air and light of every heart, builder of every home, kindler of every fire on every hearth. It is the first dream of immortality. It fills the world with melody, for music is the voice of Love. Love is the magician, the enchanter, that changes worthless things to joy, and makes right royal kings common clay.  It is the perfume of the wondrous flower - the heart - and without that sacred passion...we are less than beasts, but with it, earth and heaven are gods." -   Robert G. Ingersoll

“Your mind is where your future is formed.” - Erwin Raphael McManus
 
How are you using your mind to form your future?

“To fear defeat is to surrender victory.” - Erwin Raphael McManus
 
How do you remove the fear of failing?

Acknowledging A Special Treat
 
Going to see a movie has always been a very special treat for me and in more recent years perhaps it is the wide screen, those very comfortable lounge style chairs, the sensational surround sound, the larger than life images of the characters on screen and even the chance to indulge myself in some popcorn that makes it even more of a treat.
 
I also have some wonderful memories of the days when I was a young boy and my mom took me to a Saturday matinee. I will never forget that she would often buy me a packet of chocolate candy to eat during the movie. I would always discretely drop one or two onto the floor during the movie and then giggle quietly as they rolled all the way down to the front of the theatre making a clattering noise on the concrete floor. I am sure this boyish prank upset many of the older members of the audience, as well as my mom.
 
Even to this day there has always been a ritual that I go through once I get seated in the theatre which involves looking around to see if I know anyone, then as the lights dim, I will dig into the box of popcorn or devour that candy while watching the customary advertisements and coming attractions. As the lights fully dim and the screen expands to full viewing size, I always settle back into that comfortable seat in anticipation of what is to follow over the next two hours.
 
In the majority of cases I enjoy the movies I go to see and usually have just a hint of chocolate on my mouth and the remains of spilt popcorn, sprinkled all over my lap as the lights come up and the credits roll. I always sit there for just a minute or two reflecting on the movie and its message, often with a hint of a tear in my eye if the movie has had a very sad or touching ending. Then up I get and return to the reality of the outside world where I can further contemplate what I have just seen or discuss it with my family and friends.
 
I have always liked to watch the movie credits so that I could see the names of all the cast that I don't know or to find out the name of a particular song that I enjoyed. I have never really stopped to think very deeply about the importance of the movie credits and what they really mean, however, at the end of the last movie I went to see I sat engrossed in the credits which lasted for around two minutes and as I got up to leave, I realized that there was not one person left in the theatre except for my wife and myself. All of those people we had joined to watch the movie had quickly got up and left, some as I recall, even before the credits had started.
 
Often in life the enjoyment of the moment or the event is all that matters and we can be guilty of quickly moving on and forget to take a minute or two to reflect on and acknowledge those who have made all that enjoyment possible. At that instant, watching those credits meant more than just looking out for that cast members name or song title and the following quote from Samuel Goldwyn had a new meaning for me . . . 'When someone does something well, applaud! You will make two people happy'
 
Even though I was not applauding as I watched those movie credits, at least I was taking time to acknowledge and pay my respects in a very small way to all those talented and hard-working people both in front and behind the camera, who have given me my two hours of movie enjoyment, as well as a special treat. Hopefully my silent acknowledgement will make them happy, as it did for me.
 
 
Written by Keith Ready