Changed By a Few Words

Photo credit: Pexels

​I love quotes. I love personal growth. Put them together and you get these. If you know me in person, you’ve heard some of them. If you’re my kid, you’ve probably heard all of them.
 
Choose Your Hard  
​--Unknown
It’s all potentially hard, so which hard would I rather deal with? Fold the clothes now or iron them later?  Take the shower or lose friends due to stinkage? Dessert or extra workout? A little hurt now or a larger hurt later? Choose or life will choose for you.
 
People who wonder if the glass is half-empty or half-full are missing the point. The glass is refillable
–Unknown
This epitomizes the Abundance Mindset, also known as, “There’s always more where that came from.” Greed and poverty come from the same Scarcity Mindset – there will never be enough. Generosity and risk-taking come from an Abundance Mindset. This is the good measure, pressed down, running over thing Jesus talked about in Luke 6. You can’t out-give God. Try it and see.  
 
WIN, or What’s Important Now?
–Lou Holtz, legendary Notre Dame Football Coach.
I’m much more productive thanks to this simple acronym. When confronted with several things that need to be done at once, or when tempted by distractions like Facebook, it brings instant clarity. Is Facebook important now? If so, why? At the very least it helps me act and not simply react.
 
What Needs to Stay?
– Various minimalist sources
In my quest to remove Overwhelm from my life I’ve been decluttering my house, schedule, mind, and heart. Instead of asking, “What needs to go?” asking “What needs to stay?” has brought tremendous clarity to all these processes. It’s been especially powerful in working on my younger son’s bedroom, as it has transformed his mindset and made the process almost fun.
 
When you buy the best, you only cry once.
– Chinese proverb.
It’s quality over quantity. Brings to mind what I call the Aggravation Factor, which falls in closely with the Choose Your Hard principle. Sacrifice for the higher quality item, or don’t and be aggravated when it doesn’t work/last/fit.
 
If you keep trying, you are not failing. The only way you can fail is if you quit trying. If you’re still trying, even if you’re failing, you’re succeeding.
–Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker
This completely reframed risk-taking and failure for me. Failure is only final if you quit. FAIL = First Attempt In Learning. Fall down seven times, get up eight. This applies to everything from weight loss to raising children to achieving your dreams. Keep going and keep growing.
 
Never try to write your best. Rewrite, each time, trying to make it better, until you can’t make it any better.
– Brod Bagert  
Also,
No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think! 
–Finding Forrester
A friend of mine met Bagert at a library event. I checked him out on YouTube and, as a writer prone to writer’s block, I found this quote incredibly helpful. Both quotes really take the pressure off of “write your best” and help me conjure and capture my creative presence in the moment. I still struggle, but not as badly.
 
Finally, as I was working on this post, my younger son came home from school. When I asked him about the letter I received stating that we owe a large amount of money for his school lunches, he said he would try to figure out why his lunch bills are not coming home. My reply? There is a solution to this problem, and he will find it. Do, or do not. There is no try. Thank you, Yoda. 
 
What are some of your life-changing quotes and principles?

---

​Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe.