Curious about Value: How Do You Determine the “Value”? What Do You Value the Most?

Definition of Value: To estimate the value, or worth, of; to rate at a certain price; to appraise; to reckon with respect to number, power, importance, etc.. To rate highly; to have in high esteem; to hold in respect and estimation; to appreciate; to prize; as, to value one for his works or his virtues.

This past week, I experienced and excellent coaching session with a topnotch business consultant. He pointed out – and rightly so – that I have so many different career directions in my “Portfolio Career” that I can become scattered and unfocused. Therefore, he gave me the assignment to list the different careers and give each a value of A, B, or C. Not an easy task, because I love all of them.

Along with this homework, I have been reading the wise words of my favorite Internet gurus. I have encountered the word “value” numerous times. Over and over again, they have stressed the importance of creating content that has value, e-newsletters that provide value, videos with value, and making sure that any product we sell should have more value than expected.

If you are like I am, you have been disappointed with many of the programs and so-called miracle solutions you have purchased. Yes, most are guaranteed, but we fail to send them back.

When I looked up the “value” quotations, I found more than ever, so will share some that stood out from the plethora:

• “The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.” - Jim Rohn, American businessman
• “Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.” - Scott Hamilton, American athlete
• “It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most.” - James Cash Penney, American businessman
• “Too many people today know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” - Ann Landers, American journalist
• “You must look within for value, but must look beyond for perspective.” - Denis Waitley, American writer
• “If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.” - Benjamin Franklin, American politician

And, a few more for fun:

• “Freedom is a universal value.” - Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch statesman
• “You will be as much value to others as you have been to yourself.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman
• “One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion.” - Simone de Beauvoir, French writer
• “Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” - Mark Twain, American author
• “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” - Warren Buffett, American businessman
• “Simplicity and repose are qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.” - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect
• “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” - Anton Chekhov, Russian dramatist

In addition, some to chew on:

• “Books, like proverbs, receive their chief value from the stamp and esteem of the ages through which they have passed.” - J. Paul Getty, American businessman
• “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” - Charles Darwin, English scientist
• “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” - Thomas A. Edison, American inventor

Ask yourself what you value the most. I share quotations to spur all of us – including myself – to think and consider life’s questions. Let me know if they are helping you.

Curious about Dance: Do You Dance Through Life? If So, What Kind Are You Doing? Does It Help in Any Way?

“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet

“When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way.” - Wayne Dyer, American psychologist

I recently heard a guru compare life and life’s journey to dance. What a perfect metaphor for our lives. When dance is smooth and under control, we are centered and in balance. We follow the rhythm and have fun and peace.

However, when we are facing many challenges, we can lose the beat and have to work to get back into harmony. I challenge you to think of other life-dance comparisons. I know there are many.

In looking up this week’s quotations, I found depth and width and some surprising thoughts:

• “Life is like dancing. If we have a big floor, many people will dance. Some will get angry when the rhythm changes. But life is changing all the time.” - Miguel Angel Ruiz, Mexican author
• “Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance... poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music.” - Ezra Pound, American poet
• “I would believe only in a God that knows how to Dance.” - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher
• “Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.” – Confucius, Chinese philosopher
• “Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.” – Voltaire, French writer
• “You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher

And, a few others:

• “The web of life is a beautiful and meaningless dance. The web of life is a process with a moving goal. The web of life is a perfectly finished work of art right where I am sitting now.” - Robert Anton Wilson, American writer
• “Dance is bigger than the physical body. When you extend your arm, it doesn't stop at the end of your fingers, because you're dancing bigger than that; you're dancing spirit.” - Judith Jamison, American dancer
• “Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music.” - William Stafford, American poet
• “Dance is the hidden language of the soul.” - Martha Graham, American dancer
• “Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.” - Alvin Ailey, American dancer
• “Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.” - Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher

In addition, two that really resonate with me:

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” - Muhammad Ali, American athlete

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” - Robert Fulghum, American author

I don’t know if the above work for you, but they do for me.

Curious about Thinking: Do Our Thoughts Define Us? How Hard Is It to Change Our Thinking?

Definition of Thinking: Having the faculty of thought; cogitative; capable of a regular train of ideas; as, man is a thinking being. The act of thinking; mode of thinking; imagination; cogitation; judgment.

“How we think shows through in how we act. Attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking.” - David Joseph Schwartz, American businessman

“When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.” - Joseph Campbell, American author

I chose this week’s theme of “thinking” because it seems like all of 2008 has had thinking as a focus. Then, this month I was introduced to David Neagle and I know that I am on the right path with the right thinking. I am listening to his 4 CDs and they are definitely the answer!

Yes, I do believe that our thoughts define us. But, I also know – and this is even though all my friends, family, students and others who know me feel that I am the most positive person they know – that it is hard to change our thinking.

Ever since I saw “The Secret” many times, I have worked to erase any thoughts of things I don’t want while taking action to make what I do want to come into existence. We all have years of wrong programming behind us, so changing our thinking can present a challenge. I am up for that challenge. How about you?

How the experts view thinking:

• “Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death.” - James F. Byrnes, American politician
• “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet
• “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” - Zig Ziglar, American author
• “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” - William James, American philosopher
• “I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.” - Donald Trump, American businessman
• “When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself.” – Plato, Greek philosopher

A few more:

• “The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking.” - Robert H. Schuller, American clergyman
• “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.” - Bill Gates, American businessman
• “Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet
• “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” - Henry Ford, American businessman
• “Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” - Martin Luther King, Jr., American leader
• “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” - Albert Einstein, German physicist

And two of my favorites:

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.” - Christopher Morley, American author

“There are two distinct classes of what are called thoughts: those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and the act of thinking and those that bolt into the mind of their own accord.” - Thomas Paine, English writer

So, what are you thinking about?

Curious about Experience: What Kind and How Much Do We Need to Become Successful, Knowledgeable, and Self-Confident?

Definition of Experience: (1) The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering. (2) An act of knowledge, one or more, by which single facts or general truths are ascertained; experimental or inductive knowledge; hence, implying skill, facility, or practical wisdom gained by personal knowledge, feeling or action.

“You cannot create experience. You must undergo it.” - Albert Camus, French philosopher

“It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed.” - Ram Dass, American psychologist

I especially relate to the two previous quotations. I have a slew of experiences – and lots of both positive and negative ones – that I have learned from. How about you?

I feel that we must learn from every experience of our own and those of others that are shared in books, on audio products and in person. When we undergo a negative experience, we have to accept it, but also internalize what didn’t work. And, then not do it again. It may make us feel better when we realize that others have worked through the same or similar experiences. However, it is even more important to examine the experiences that worked for them.

Last night I listened to the recording of an excellent teleseminar, where the speaker, David Neagle, emphasized that so many gurus are selling products (at high, high prices) that inform the buyers of the how to of the systems that worked for them. He warned us to be careful. We are all different. And, even though the methods worked well for someone else, it doesn’t mean that they will necessarily work for us.

In my opinion, the best approach is to take what others have done, make it comfortable for you and then try it.

In my search for “experience” quotations, I found even more than ever before, so will share a smattering of the many with you:

• “Judgment comes from experience - and experience comes from bad judgment.” - Walter Wriston, American businessman
• “Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.” - Auguste Rodin, French sculptor
• “I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.” - John Wooden, American coach
• “Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience.” - Denis Waitley, American writer
• “Any experience can be transformed into something of value.” - Vash Young, American author
• “I have a theory that the best ads come from personal experience. Some of the good ones I have done have really come out of the real experience of my life, and somehow this has come over as true and valid and persuasive.” - David Ogilvy, American businessman
• “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” – Confucius, Chinese philosopher

Some with a different focus:

• “Experience is a great advantage. The problem is that when you get the experience, you're too damned old to do anything about it.” - Jimmy Connors, American athlete
• “Experience burned into me the conviction that access to education ought to be based on how much you are willing to learn and how hard you are willing to work, not on how many dollars your family has in their bank account.” - Dave Obey, American politician
• “Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience.” - Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman
• “Never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or convictions.” - Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish diplomat
• “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.” - Eleanor Roosevelt, American First Lady
• “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” - Helen Keller, American author
• “It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.” - Abraham Lincoln, American President

Here a couple that I will focus upon in the future:

Even though he is not one of my favorites, American businessman Donald Trump knows what works: He wrote, “Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.”

And, from one of my favorites, “The only source of knowledge is experience.” - Albert Einstein, German physicist

Let me read about some of the experiences that have changed your life.