EXCELLENCE

                                                               

People make the mistake of thinking they have to be perfect. You need to understand that "perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence."
- Vince Lombardi                                                  

                                                         

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies linside of you.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

QUALITY

                                                     

Quality is not an act, it is a habit.
- Aristotle

PAY UP!

                                                     

Football great JJ Watt had an interesting take on success. He says: "Success isn't owned, it's leased. And rent is due every day. Every day someone is coming for your job. If you're the greatest, somebody wants to be the greatest. If you're not constantly improving, somebody else is. Every single practice I treat like a game."

KEEP GOING!

                                                   

       

Never give up! Keep moving forward. We might be still be in the dark if it weren't for this man who said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A . Edison

AWESOME AUDITIONS!

                                                           

They're rooting for you. Casting directors want you to do really well. They want you to be THE ONE. They don't want to disappoint the producers and have to begin again from square one.

Here's what some of the greats have to say about auditioning:

"If you get a chance to act in a room that somebody else has paid rent for, then you're given a free chance to practice your craft." - Philip Seymour Hoffman

"I had to stop going to auditions thinking, 'Oh, I hope they like me.' I had to go in thinking I was the answer to their problem." - George Clooney

So an audition is a great opportunity to practice your craft, do what you love and be the answer to their problem. How cool is that?!

JUST DO IT!

                                                     

You'll feel oh, so much better if you do what you keep putting off. Begin, take action, send that e-mail, make that call. The more you do it, the easier it will become. After all, "we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle 

A Greek proverb tell us that "well begun is half done." So let's begin, shall we, and create some new, empowering habits.

OBSTACLES

                                                         

"Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." - Henry Ford

8 KIND THINGS TO TELL YOURSELF DAILY

                                                             

1. I am lovable.

2. I am beautiful.

3. I am proud of myself and what I've accomplished.

4. What I do or hope to do matters.

5. It doesn't have to be perfect. Sometimes "good enough' is good enough.

6. I can do this.

7. I am unique and have something to offer to the world.

8. I am enough.

- Huffington Post

THE VERY BEST

                                                         

"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it." - W. Somerset Maugham

So, what are  you refusing to accept?

LIFE LESSONS

                                                       

45 Life Lessons written

by a 90-year old

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short not to enjoy it.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for things that matter.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye… But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful.  Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It’s never too late to be happy.  But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?’

27. Always choose Life.

28. Forgive but don’t forget.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give Time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you think you need.

42. The best is yet to come…

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

(Source: reginabrett.com)

ONE MORE TIME

                                                       

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." - Thomas Edison

THOUGHTS

                                                       

I speak so much about learning to use your mind to work FOR you rather than AGAINST you. Perhaps TUT - Notes from the Universe says it best:

"What if happiness didn't have anything to do with what you had, where you've been, or who you were, and arose entirely from what you chose to think about...

And what if changing your thoughts, so that you could feel happier more often, would entirely change what you had, who you were, and where you're headed..."

10 WAYS TO PRIORITIZE YOUR LIFE

                                                     

This post is from Marc Chernoff at marcandangel.com They have lots of fabulously helpful lists.

This one is 10 Ways to Prioritize your life and YOUR TO-DO LISTS to feel happier and more fulfilled: Think on this for a bit. What are one or two things you can commit to today?

1.  One thing at a time, with full presence.

2.  Family and close friends are at the top.

3.  Focus on importance, not urgency.

4.  Keep your efforts aligned with your purpose.

5.  Play to your strengths and delegate when it makes sense.

6.  Socialize and share with peers.

7.  Give what you can, as you seek what you desire.

8.  Leave the past behind as you plan ahead.

9.  Commit to self-respect, regardless of the issue at hand.

10. Leave room to breathe.

POSSIBLE

                                                           

Author Richard Bach wrote that if you argue for your limitations, they're yours.
Stop saying and thinking what you believe you can't do, where you think you fall short, where it's not going to happen. Let all of that go. Please!

Wernher von Braun said it beautifully here: "I HAVE LEARNED TO USE THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE GREATEST CAUTION."

SUCCESS

                                                         
"THE GREATEST GLORY IN LIVING LIES NOT IN NEVER FAILING, BUT IN RISING EVERY TIME WE FALL." - Nelson Mandela

WINNERS

                                                       

Visualization is just so powerful. Try to spend a few minutes each day visualizing and imagining exactly what you want to have happen. After all:

"Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event." - Brian Tracy

READY

                                                     

 
I have heard repeatedly that "I'm just not ready..." not ready for class, not ready for my audition, not ready to make that call or send that e-mail. So here's a terrific quote from that incredible actor and musician, HUGH LAURIE:

"It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There's almost no such thing as ready. There's only now. And you may as well do it now. I mean, I say that confidently as if I'm about to go bungee jumping or something - I'm not. I'm not a crazed risk taker. But I do think that, generally speaking, now is as good a time as any." 

So whatever it is you need to do, how about doing it now!!

THE CURE

                                                     

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."
- Dorothy Parker

NOW!!

                                                           

I know it can be seductive to worry about the future and to bemoan the past -- all the "coulda, woulda, shoulda" thoughts that can cascade through our busy brain.

This may be a good time to remind ourselves that, "THE PAST HAS NO POWER OVER THE PRESENT MOMENT." - Eckhart Tolle

So when you feel caught in the past or future, take a deep breath and bring yourself back to the here and now.