Quote Me Happy

Four Stages of Learning

2010-09-16T12:25:00.001Z

1. Unconscious incompetence – what you don’t know you don’t know. You can live in this state of blissful ignorance for a lifetime, or until you begin something new. At which point, you become aware of your lack of skills and reach the state of:

2. Conscious incompetence – what you know you don’t know. It’s only at this point that we begin to learn new skills, and gain the expertise and experience needed to move forward. With sufficient practice, we reach the next stage:

3. Conscious competence – what you know you know. With further practice, we reach

4. Unconscious competence – this is what we don’t know we know. Our skills and expertise are so much a part of who we are and what we do that we don’t even think about them. We no longer recognize we have that skill, that behaviour, that attitude, that belief.

Abraham Maslow

Control

2010-07-02T11:49:00.000Z

"If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough" - Mario Andretti

Good & Bad

2009-11-13T12:46:00.000Z

"It's never as good as it looks, or as bad as it seems." - Rich Gelfond

Plans

2009-10-07T12:22:00.001Z

“No plan ever survives its first encounter with the enemy.” - Douglas MacArthur

Smile

2009-05-18T12:11:00.000Z

"A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks." – Charles Gordy

Goals

2009-05-06T15:39:00.001Z

“It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.” - Arnold Toynbee

Success & Failure

2009-04-30T17:06:00.002Z

"Want to double your success rate, double your failure rate." - Thomas Watson, co-founder of IBM

Controversy

2009-04-27T11:33:00.000Z

"When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest." - William Hazlitt

Experts

2009-02-09T10:36:00.001Z

"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." - Niels Bohr

Your best

2009-02-06T08:57:00.000Z

"Only the mediocre are always at their best." - Jean Giraudoux

Wealth and fame

2009-01-27T10:40:00.002Z

"Stop wanting wealth and fame and start wanting instead to do something well about which you are passionate xx" - Stephen Fry on Twitter

Knowledge

2009-01-20T13:55:00.001Z

"We are here and it is now. Further than that all human knowledge is moonshine." - H. L. Mencken

Perfection

2009-01-15T14:47:00.002Z

"Try as hard as we may for perfection, the net result of our labors is an amazing variety of imperfectness. We are surprised at our own versatility in being able to fail in so many different ways." - Samuel McChord Crothers

You can

2008-11-21T12:21:00.002Z

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right." -
Henry Ford

Attitudes

2008-11-21T12:15:00.001Z

"The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." - William James, American psychologist and philosopher, (1842-1910)

Regret

2008-06-09T17:14:00.000Z

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable." -Sydney Harris

Achieving greatly

2007-12-07T20:04:00.000Z

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” (Theodore Roosevelt)

Inspiration

2006-09-13T13:16:00.000Z

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action." (Frank Tibolt)

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Identity

2006-08-24T10:36:00.000Z

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." (Dr. Seuss)

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Happiness

2006-08-11T13:19:00.000Z

"Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way." (John Stuart Mill)

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Impossibilities

2006-08-11T13:16:00.000Z

"Things are only impossible until they're not." (Jean-Luc Picard)

Writing

2006-07-25T08:52:00.000Z

“The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” (Mary Heaton Vosse)

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Life

2006-07-17T16:49:00.000Z

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on." (Robert Frost)

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Parachutes

2006-07-17T15:39:00.000Z

"The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open." (14th Dalai Lama)

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Football

2006-07-07T11:33:00.000Z

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." (Bill Shankly)

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Act now. For now is all you have

2006-07-05T20:46:00.000Z

http://www.zealland.com/Treasure_Chest_Feb13-20,00.htm

Time

2006-05-19T13:55:00.000Z

"If you love life, don't waste time, because time is what life is made of." (Benjamin Franklin)

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Persistence

2006-05-12T09:31:00.000Z

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." (Calvin Coolidge)

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Family

2006-05-06T14:10:00.000Z

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." (Anthony Brandt)

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Perception

2006-04-25T14:57:00.000Z

"Reality doesn't bite, rather our perception of reality bites." (Anthony J. D'Angelo)

Our environment is neutral. It is the association of positive and negative meaning that we attach to our environment that creates our emotions.

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Decisions

2006-04-13T11:21:00.000Z

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
Abd be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somwhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
(Robert Frost)

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Direction

2006-04-10T11:56:00.000Z

"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." (Professor Irwin Corey)

If you ever wanted the best reason for changing, this quote surely provides it. If you are doing things now that you don't like - and you keep doing them - picture where it could lead you in 30 years time. If you don't like that vision, change now!

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Laughter

2006-04-05T14:49:00.000Z

"Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone." (Anthony Burgess)

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Regret

2006-03-31T08:33:00.000Z

"When it comes to opportunities there are two types of pain, the pain of discipline and the pain of regret" (Tony Robbins)

Either get your head down, take the first step and start working on all those objectives you want to achieve but haven't yet OR be prepared for the regret later in life when you look back and think of all those missed opportunities when you just didn't take any action. It's your choice and both choices involve pain - just don't make the mistake of putting off the short term pain because it will lead to the much greater long term pain of regret.

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Excellence

2006-03-27T10:39:00.000Z

"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." (Vincent T. Lombardi)

Next time you perform a task, the outcome of which you care about - ask yourself, "did I commit to doing the best that I could at that task?". If not, do it again, and do it better.

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Confidence

2006-03-21T17:39:00.000Z

"Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings". (Samuel Johnson)

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Work

2006-03-20T19:08:00.000Z

"Work to learn
Learn to build systems
Build systems to generate cash
Generate cash to invest
Invest to become wealthy
Become wealthy to become financially free
Become financially free to follow your passion
Follow your passion to touch people’s lives
Touch people’s lives to make a difference in the world
And let that become your work…" (Jim Pirrie, Future Pace)

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Attempts

2006-03-19T10:53:00.000Z

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" (Dr. Robert Schuller)

Surely one of the greatest questions ever asked and it becomes even greater when combined with the fact that there is no such thing as failure - only results. Failure is the association we make with negative results - and that negative association is what stops us from keeping trying until we get the positive results we are seeking. The most successful people in any field have 'failed' the most.

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Daring

2006-03-15T11:34:00.000Z

"Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game." (Goethe)

As Robert Kiyosaki says, it's often the leaps of faith and daring that are the difference between achieving great things and having a story along the lines of, "oh, I would have done that but I was just too busy". Why are the busiest people in the world the ones that seem to be able to find time for more?

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Hard work

2006-03-10T10:04:00.000Z

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." (Sam Ewing)

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Scheduling

2006-03-07T13:17:00.000Z

"What's talked about is a dream, what's envisioned is exciting, what's planned becomes possible, what's scheduled is real." (Tony Robbins)

Thanks Lee (@ Kale Software) for helping me out with the author of this one. This is a great truism. How many people have you been saying, "we must get a date in the diary", to? If you schedule something in - it's far more likely to happen.

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Risk

2006-03-03T16:48:00.000Z

"An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven't been done before." (Mark Twain)

This made me chuckle. If you've started up a hi-tech business in the UK, you'll be all too aware that UK investors are far more risk-averse than their American counterparts. Perhaps that's why a massive proportion of the most successful Internet businesses (Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Amazon, Salesforce.com etc) were not started in the UK...

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Life

2006-02-27T13:22:00.000Z

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." (Martin Luther King, Jnr)

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Discovery

2006-02-23T17:23:00.000Z

"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." (Andrew Gide)

This rings very true for me as an entrepreneur. Very few businesses get great results from the word go but to stick with it you have to be extremely committed.

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Preparation

2006-02-21T10:04:00.000Z

"The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare to win." (Bobby Knight)

The boy scouts' motto is 'Be Prepared' for a reason...

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Belief

2006-02-13T16:00:00.000Z

"Man is what he believes" (Anton Chekhov)

So much of what we experience is down to perceptions and interpretations. Yes, there are a few hard facts (even these can be challenged by battle-hardened philosophers) - but all our perceptions are filtered through our belief-systems which explains why the same event can become a totally different experience for two different people.

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Circumstance

2006-02-10T08:18:00.000Z

"We are not creatures of circumstance, we are creators of circumstance." (Benjamin Disraeli)

You have the power within you to make your dreams a reality, what's holding you back?

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Luck

2006-02-07T13:07:00.000Z

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" (Seneca)

So I wish you all the very best of preparedness, and an abundance of opportunities...

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Doubts and fears

2006-01-30T13:13:00.000Z

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt” (William Shakespeare)

Let a doubt creep into your head and it will often poach enough of your cerebral processing to become the focus of your conscious or subconscious intentions. Once that happens the doubt or fear is well on the way to becoming reality.

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Learning

2006-01-25T12:56:00.000Z

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." (Bill Gates)

Definitely true in business. To translate this into personal life, swap 'most unhappy customers' for 'biggest departures from your comfort zone'...

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Passion

2006-01-23T15:57:00.000Z

"The happiness of a man in his life does not consist in the absence but in the mastering of his passions" (Tennyson)

What do you have a passion for?

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Craziness

2006-01-20T17:04:00.000Z

Thanks to oneafrikan for Chris Rock's "Quote of the Year":

“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn’t want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named Bush, Dick, and Colon. Need I say more?”

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Strength

2006-01-17T18:27:00.000Z

“Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.” (J. Willard Marriott)

A fantastic quote that I find best used in reference to comfort zones. As many people at the top of their professions will testify, our experiences make us who we are.

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Planning

2006-01-13T12:00:00.000Z

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

I've found exactly the same in business. Good project management is not about the quality of the plan - it's far more about the process of planning (i.e. identifying desired outcomes, next actions, dependencies and bottlenecks).

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Blogging

2006-01-09T14:33:00.000Z

Definition of a blogger (for the uninitiated, a blogger is someone who writes blogs, like me), from Guy Kawasaki's blog

"Someone with nothing to say writing for someone with nothing to do." (Guy Kawasaki)

Well - since I only quote others in this blog, then at least half of that is true here... what about the other half?

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Choice

2006-01-09T12:52:00.000Z

"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise." (Robert Fritz)

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Progress

2006-01-07T12:11:00.000Z

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." (George Bernard Shaw)

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Power

2006-01-06T09:45:00.000Z

Great quote from Nelson Mandella on David Allen's blog:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we un-consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we feel liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (Nelson Mandela, 1994 Inaugural Speech, written by Marianne Williamson)

Fantastic.

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Success

2006-01-05T08:27:00.000Z

"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." (Winston Churchill)

Keep at it, because the most successful people will tell you that they've failed more than most. If you're afraid to fail, get over it - or you won't succeed.

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Dreams

2006-01-03T17:31:00.000Z

"The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities." (J. Allen)

And so it is my intention to share some great quotes that might help fuel your passion to turn your dreams into reality.

Keep dropping by, this will be an inspiring place to visit.

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