Goal Processing: Og Words of Wisdom (Part 3 of 3)

Our final set of thoughts from Og Mandino as you work on your 2008 resolutions and goals...

Og Mandino Quotes (Part 3)

201. This day is all you have and these hours are now your eternity. Greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death.
202. This is the place.
203. This is the time.
204. This too shall pass.
205. Time teaches all things to him who lives forever, but I have not the luxury of eternity.
206. To conquer fear I must always act without hesitation and the flutters in my heart will vanish.
207. To enjoy success I must have happiness, and laughter will be the maiden who serves me.
208. To multiply your value you must multiply your actions.
209. To surpass the deeds of others is unimportant; to surpass your own deeds is all.
210. Today I begin a new life.
211. Today I shed my old skin which hath too long suffered the bruises of failure and the wounds of mediocrity.
212. Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.
213. Today I will surpass every action which I performed yesterday.
214. Today you will be master of your emotions.
215. Today, I will act.
216. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy.
217. Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday.
218. True wealth is of the heart, not of the purse.
219. Try again, make one more attempt to close with victory, and if that fails, make another.
220. Try, and try, and try again.
221. Understand and recognize the moods of others. Make allowances for their anger and irritation for they know not the secret of controlling their minds.
222. Unless you act you will perish in a life of failure, misery, and sleepless nights.
223. Unless you put your skills, mind, heart, and body to good use, you will stagnate, rot, and die.
224. Victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats.
225. We must have the night to appreciate the day.
226. Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.
227. Welcome happiness for it enlarges your heart; endure sadness for it opens your soul.
228. What can take place before this sun sets which will not seem insignificant in the river of centuries?
229. What is success other than a state of mind?
230. When an act becomes easy through constant repetition, it becomes a pleasure to perform, and if it is a pleasure to perform, it is man's nature to perform it often.
231. When I am burdened with wealth I shall tell myself that this too shall pass.
232. When I am moved to praise, I will shout from the roofs.
233. When I am puffed with success I shall warn myself that this too shall pass.
234. When I am strangled in poverty I shall tell myself that this too shall pass.
235. When I am tempted to criticize, I will bite on my tongue.
236. When others cease their struggle, then mine will begin, and my harvest will be full.
237. When you are heavy with heartache console yourself that this too shall pass.
238. Where dry desert ends, green grass grows.
239. Where there are idle mouths I will listen not; where there are idle hands I will linger not; where there are idle bodies I will visit not.
240. Will my concern for this day not seem foolish ten years hence?
241. With each victory the next struggle becomes less difficult.
242. With love I will tear down the wall of suspicion and hate which they have built round their hearts, and in its place, I will build bridges so that my love may enter their souls.
243. Within you burns a flame which has been passed from generations uncounted, and its heat is a constant irritation to your spirit to become better than you are, and you will.
244. Yesterday's joy will become today's sadness; yet today's sadness will grow into tomorrow's joy.
245. Yesterday's success will not lull me into today's complacency.
246. Yesterday is buried forever, think of it no more.
247. You are a unique creature.
248. You are here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand.
249. You are nature's greatest miracle.
250. You are rare, and there is value in all rarity; therefore, you are valuable.
251. You can accomplish far more than you have, and you will.
252. You can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles with ambition.
253. You have been given eyes to see and a mind to think.
254. You have but one life and life is naught but a measurement of time.
255. You have unlimited potential.
256. You may encounter failure at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. You will never know how close success lies unless you turn the corner.
257. You must fail often to succeed only once.
258. You must have objectives before your life will crystallize.
259. You must nurture your body and mind in order to fulfill your dreams.
260. You only have time to love.
261. You were conceived in love and brought forth with a purpose.
262. You will become great.
263. You won't know how close success is unless you turn the corner.

Goal Processing: Og's Words of Wisdom (Part 2 of 3)

Just a few more thoughts from Og Mandino as you work on your 2008 resolutions and goals...Og Mandino Quotes (Part 2)

101. I will work when the failure seeks rest.
102. If all things shall pass, why should I be of concern for today?
103. If I delay, success will become betrothed to another and lost to me forever.
104. If I have no other qualities I can succeed with love alone.
105. If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will succeed.
106. If I stumble I will rise, and my falls will not concern me.
107. If you bring joy, enthusiasm, brightness, and laughter to your customers, they will react with joy, enthusiasm, brightness, and laughter and your weather will produce a harvest of sales and a granary of gold for you.
108. If you feel depressed - sing!
109. If you feel fear, plunge ahead.
110. If you feel incompetent, remember past successes.
111. If you feel insignificant, remember your goals.
112. If you feel poverty, think of wealth to come.
113. If you feel sad - laugh.
114. If you must be a slave to habit, then be a slave to good habits.
115. If you persist long enough, you will win.
116. If you waste today, you destroy the last page of your life.
117. Ignore the obstacles at your feet and keep your eyes on the goals above your head.
118. In setting my goals, I will consider my best performance of the past and multiply it a hundredfold.
119. Increase your knowledge of mankind.
120. It pays to be persistent.
121. Just as love is my weapon to open the hearts of men, love is also my shield to repulse the arrows of hate and the spears of anger.
122. Just as nature made no provision for your body to tolerate pain neither has it made any provision for your life to suffer failure.
123. Keep work and family separate.
124. Laugh and your life will be lengthened for this is the great secret of long life.
125. Laugh at goodness and it will thrive and abound.
126. Laugh at the world.
127. Laugh at your failures and they will vanish in clouds of new dreams.
128. Laugh at your successes and they will shrink to their true value.
129. Laugh at yourself for man is most comical when he takes himself too seriously.
130. Leave your problems at home.
131. Lift up a friend in need.
132. Lift your arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day.
133. Live this day as if it is your last. Seal up the container of life so that not one drop spills itself upon the sand.
134. Live this day as if it is your last.
135. Live today as if it is your last chance to prove your love and your greatness.
136. Look upon each obstacle as a lesson to be learned.
137. Look upon misfortune as opportunity in disguise.
138. Love the darkness because it shows you the stars.
139. Love will melt all hearts like the sun whose rays soften the coldest clay.
140. Love yourself!
141. Make every hour count and trade each minute only for something of value.
142. Make love your greatest weapon.
143. Make the hours ahead priceless!
144. Make this day the best day of your life.
145. Many face each obstacle in their path with fear and doubt and consider themas enemies, when in truth, these obstructions are friends and helpers.
146. Many succumb to despair and fail without realizing that they already possess all the tools needed to acquire great wealth.
147. Master your emotions so that each day will be productive.
148. Master your moods through positive action and when you master your moods you will control your destiny.
149. Meditation and prayer feeds the soul.
150. My desire to meet the world will overcome every fear I once knew, and I will be happier than I ever believed it possible to be in this world of strife and sorrow.
151. Nature knows not defeat.
152. Never allow yourself to become so important, so wise, so dignified, so powerful, that you forget how to laugh at yourself.
153. Never be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments.
154. Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried.
155. Never will I allow my heart to become small and bitter, rather I will share it and it will grow and warm the earth.
156. Never will I allow my mind to be attracted to evil and despair, rather I will uplift it with the knowledge and wisdom of the ages.
157. Never will I allow my soul to become complacent and satisfied, rather I will feed it with meditation and prayer.
158. Never will I labor to be happy; rather will I remain too busy to be sad.
159. Never will I overindulge the requests of my flesh, rather I will cherish my body with cleanliness and moderation.
160. Never will I scratch for excuses to gossip.
161. No longer shall my vocabulary include such words as cannot, unable, impossible, and quit.
162. No longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate today.
163. Obstacles are necessary for success.
164. Only a habit can subdue another habit.
165. Only action determines my value in the market place.
166. Only with laughter and happiness can I enjoy the fruits of my labor.
167. Only with laughter and happiness can you truly become a success.
168. People will always respond positively to joy and enthusiasm.
169. Persist and develop your skills as the mariner develops his, by learning to ride out the wrath of each storm.
170. Persist with the knowledge that each failure to sell will increase your chance for success at the next attempt.
171. Practice the art of patience for nature never acts in haste.
172. Put your uniqueness on display in the market place.
173. Rain cleanses the spirit.
174. Remember that as today's dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow's bloom so does today's sadness carry the seed of tomorrow's joy.
175. Remove from your vocabulary such words and phrases as quit, cannot, unable, impossible, out of the question, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless, and retreat; for they are the words of fools.
176. Rewards are great if one succeeds but the rewards are great only because so few succeed.
177. Seek constantly to improve your manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.
178. Set goals for the day, the week, the month, the year, and your life.
179. Should you concern yourself over events which you may never witness? Should you torment yourself with problems that may never come to pass? No! Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday, think of it no more.
180. Sleep in peace for you have not failed.
181. Small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.
182. Smile and your digestion will improve.
183. So long as I can laugh, never will I be poor.
184. So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist.
185. Strive for happiness and peace of mind.
186. Strive for happiness, to be loved and to love, and most important, to acquire peace of mind and serenity.
187. Strive to become better than you are.
188. Strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.
189. Success comes to those willing to work a little bit harder than the rest.
190. Success will not wait.
191. Suffer me to know that all things shall pass.
192. The height of my goals will not hold me in awe though I may stumble often before they are reached.
193. The only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in their habits.
194. The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal.
195. The problems of the market place will be left in the market place.
196. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.
197. There are good qualities in everyone.
198. There are lessons to be learned from failures.
199. There is no room in the market place for your family, nor is there room in your home for the market.
200. There is not time to hate, only time to love.

Goal Processing: Og's Words of Wisdom (Part 1 of 3)

Just a few thoughts from Og Mandino as you work on your 2008 resolutions and goals...

Og Mandino Quotes (Part 1)

1. Act now. For now is all you have.
2. Action is the food and drink which will nourish my success.
3. Action will destroy your procrastination.
4. All men must stumble often to reach the truth.
5. All nature is a circle of moods and you are a part of nature and so, like the tides, your moods will rise; your moods will fall.
6. All your problems, discouragements, and heartaches are, in truth, great opportunities in disguise.
7. Always let your reach exceed your grasp.
8. Always raise your goals as soon as they are attained.
9. Always strive to make the next hour better than this one.
10. Always take another step. If that is to no avail take another, and yet another. One step at a time is not too difficult.
11. Any act with practice becomes easy.
12. Apply all of your efforts to become the highest mountain of all and strain your potential until it cries for mercy.
13. Avoid with fury the killers of time.
14. Bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.
15. Bathe me in good habits that the bad ones may drown.
16. Be happy.
17. Be hungry for success.
18. Be prepared to control whatever personality awakes in you each day.
19. Become master of yourself.
20. Begin now to accent your differences.
21. Beginning today, you can increase your accomplishments of yesterday by a hundredfold.
22. Bury doubt under faith.
23. Cherish each hour of this day for it can never return.
24. Chuckle and your burdens will be lightened.
25. Concentrate your energy on the challenge of the moment.
26. Confidence will take away your fear.
27. Consider each obstacle as a mere detour to your goal and a challenge to your profession.
28. Consider each obstacle as a mere detour to your goal.
29. Count your blessings today.
30. Cultivate the habit of laughter.
31. Destroy procrastination with action.
32. Dismember fear with confidence.
33. Do not allow yesterday's success to lull you into today's complacency, for this is the great foundation of failure.
34. Do not be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments or indulge in self-praise for deeds which are too small to even acknowledge.
35. Do not commit the terrible crime of aiming too low.
36. Do not dwell on the past.
37. Do not judge a man on one meeting.
38. Do not listen to those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious.
39. Do not make vain attempts to imitate others.
40. Do not permit the petty happenings of today to disturb you.
41. Do not think of yesterday or tomorrow.
42. Do not waste a moment mourning yesterday's misfortunes, yesterday's defeats, or yesterday's aches of the heart.
43. Drink every minute to its fill; savor its taste and give thanks.
44. Drive a bad habit from your life and replace it with one which will bring you closer to success.
45. Each day will be triumphant only when your smiles bring forth smiles from others.
46. Each failure to sell will increase your chances for success at your next attempt.
47. Each frown you meet only prepares you for the smile to come.
48. Each minute of today will be more fruitful than the hours of yesterday. Your last must be your best.
49. Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow's good luck.
50. Each nay I hear will bring me closer to the sound of yea.
51. Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid them and you throw away your future.
52. Each struggle, each defeat sharpens your skills and strengthens your courage and your endurance.
53. Enjoy today's happiness today.
54. Failure does not course through your veins as you were not delivered into this world in defeat.
55. Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle.
56. Failure will never overtake you if your determination to succeed is strong enough.
57. For now you know one of the greatest principles of success; if you persist long enough you will win.
58. Forget the happenings of the day that is gone, whether they were good or bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that this will be the best day of your life.
59. Fulfill today's duties today.
60. Good habits are the key to all success.
61. Grant me compassion for weaknesses in others.
62. Grasp each minute of this day with both hands and fondle it with love for its value is beyond price.
63. Green grass grows where dry desert ends.
64. Greet the sunrise with cries of joy.
65. Happiness is the wine that sharpens the taste of the meal.
66. Have confidence that this will be the best day of your life.
67. I can accomplish far more than I have, and I will, for why would the miracle which produced me end with my birth? Why can I not extend that miracle to my deeds of today?
68. I consider poverty to be the mark of a lack of ability or a lack of ambition.
69. I have a choice and I will not let my life be fed to swine nor will I let it be ground under the rocks of failure and despair to be broken open and devoured by the will of others.
70. I have not time to hate, only time to love.
71. I need not wait for I have the power to choose my own destiny.
72. I shall live this day as if it is my last. And if it is not, I shall fall to my knees and give thanks.
73. I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge.
74. I will be successful.
75. I will command, and I will obey mine own command.
76. I will do the work that a failure will not do.
77. I will encourage my friends and they will become brothers.
78. I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.
79. I will form good habits and become their slave.
80. I will greet this day with love in my heart.
81. I will greet this day with love, and I will succeed.
82. I will laud mine enemies and they will become friends.
83. I will laugh at evil and it will die untasted.
84. I will look on all things with love, and I will be born again.
85. I will love all mankind.
86. I will love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even though they may be hidden.
87. I will love myself.
88. I will love the ambitious for they can inspire me!
89. I will love the beautiful for their eyes of sadness; I will love the ugly for their souls of peace.
90. I will love the failures for they can teach me.
91. I will love the kings for they are but human; I will love the meek for they are divine.
92. I will love the rich for they are yet lonely; I will love the poor for they are so many. I will love the young for the faith they hold; I will love the old for the wisdom they share.
93. I will persist until I succeed.
94. I will persist and I will win.
95. I will say it is done before the failure says it is too late.
96. I will talk when the failure remains silent.
97. I will think naught of my profession when I am in my home for this will dampen my love.
98. I will toil and I will endure.
99. I will walk where the failure fears to walk.
100. I will welcome happiness for it enlarges my heart.

Goal Processing: Resolution Help...

As you are working on setting your '08 goals, priorities and resolutions, review the 17 Goal Processing posts from the PLI blog in 2007.

2007 Goal Processing Posts

A few highlights...

• When you start telling yourself you can't do something, flip it into a positive and shorten it.
• Keep commitments to yourself first.
• As you reach for your personal and professional goals, a powerful question to ask yourself is this, "For what am I willing to sacrifice average?"
• How does leadership fit into your goals?
• Your job as a leader is to step back and look at where you and your team have your focus - is it on unchangeable conditions or solvable causes?
• God grant me... Processed Goals to live purposefully.
• If you can't be excellent at IT, don't be IT at all.
• You not only need to write down your goals, but you also need to write down the benefit of reaching each goal. Keeping your eye on your goal is important. Keeping your eye on the outcome of reaching your goal is more important.

General: 200 Words To Lead By

This is the Personal Leadership Insight's 200th post. So, here are exactly 200 words to lead by. These are the important ones.


inhale process exhale


soak up life

turn off the noise and just think

hug a loved one for more than five seconds

ask questions I should know the answer to

make eye contact

stop yelling for once in my life


inhale process exhale


call her

say I’m sorry

find out all the details this time

drive a different route

think before I eat

pray before I eat

think and pray before and after bed

stop talking about them

they aren't going to change


inhale process exhale


I'm not as important as I think I am

call people back earlier than later

be bold with my projects and tender with my people

help someone

get out of my little world

things are as bad as I think they are

but it could always be worse


inhale process exhale


stop whining

they just want to know I will be there for them

let someone else take the glory

just learn how to do it

he doesn’t dislike me

he dislikes everyone

she struggles just like me only she has the guts to show it

it will be okay in the end

if its not okay then you know its not the end

Innovative: Get In The Box

Pick up the January 2008 copy of the magazine Fast Company and flip to Chip and Dan Heath's monthly article (Made to Stick authors).

Basically they are making a point for getting in the box instead of getting out of the box when you need to get specifically creative. The secret is to just pick the right box.

I experienced this recently with the phenomenal student leaders known as the Wisconsin and Indiana FFA State Officers. Every fall I work with FFA leaders to create content and sharpen their delivery skills for spring banquet talks. These students will reach thousands of FFA members traveling their respective state.

Part of the training includes helping the students develop their speech topic, their main points and a list of potential supporting material. This creative process is exactly what Chip and Dan are talking about. Any moments of inspiration and innovative content creation came from working on a specific part of a speech. The inspiration didn't come from staring at a blank sheet. It was born from thinking about how to say this word better or that concept in a new way.

Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:

1. What area or project in your life needs some innovative or creative thinking?

2. What time and environment will allow you to just focus on this task?

Innovative: Fish Smoking

Find a creative way to say the same old thing and you are moving closer to earning attention instead of stealing it...

Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:

1. What is one topic or issue that people talk about so much that it gets ignored by most?

2. Come up with ways to express that topic or issue in a new way that grabs people’s attention.

Goal Processing: Compare Yourself...

...to the Last Year You.

Are you a healthier person?
Are you a wiser person?
Are your relationships stronger?
Are you more valuable at work?
Are you closer to your goals?
Are you a better person?

When you start your '08 goal planning, start with the answers to these questions.

Masterful Communication: Memorization Station

I don't often advocate memorizing content for presentations. However, there are times when you do need to memorize a portion of a presentation and very often presentation outlines need to be memorized. Following is a formula you can use to guarantee recall during your next keynote, workshop, class speech or professional presentation.

Memorization Station

You will remember any written text if you follow this formula. The Memorization Station works because of repetition, input varieties and word anchors. I once memorized a 30-page sales presentation using this formula.

Persistent Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
1. Your content should be as complete as possible a minimum of 21 days before your presentation. Complete doesn’t mean that you won’t make adjustments in the final three weeks, but this formula only truly works if you don’t make major adjustments mid-stream. The three week time period allows the material to make its way deeper into your memory.

Read it, Write it, Speak it, Hear it
2. Write your content out word for word at least once. You can type it for organization, editing and saving purposes, but actually write it out for memorization purposes. Next, read your content, word for word, out loud a minimum of 20 times start to finish. This step is really working on your brain strengthening the synapses created when you wrote it out. When you read a sheet of paper, your brain is taking a picture of that entire page and storing it in its entirety; even though you have to read it one word at a time.

Chunk it Down
3. Put your content into paragraphs. Number your paragraphs. Begin memorizing them one at a time. Do not go on to the next paragraph until the one before it is totally memorized and you can say it on command. Write out each paragraph on an index card and keep the one you are currently memorizing (and only that one) with you at all times. This step disciplines your brain to think about that piece of content as one piece of information. Therefore, if your content contains 10 paragraphs, your brain is essentially only needing to recall 10 unique elements during your presentation.

Outline it
4. After you have thoroughly memorized your content, take an index card and number out only the first words of each paragraph. This one card should be all you need to study from this point on. Most people stumble in a presentation trying to recall their very first words and/or when they have to move from paragraph to paragraph (major thought shifts.)

Good luck!

Fostering Relationships: 25 Cent Fundraising

Let's say you agree to give $.25 to a friend so they can buy a soda. What can the dynamics of that simple transaction teach us about effective fundraising?

1. He asked. Seems simple, but how much money has your organization lost simply because you haven't asked for it.

2. He asked for exactly $.25. You don't want to limit what people could possibly give, but it helped your transaction tremendously when he said he only needed a quarter. An unclear amount expectation can be a big wall.

3. He is a friend. Your relationship with your buddy applied the grease that made the transaction run quicker, smoother and with very little friction.

4. He had a very specific need. You knew exactly where your money would go.

5. You could relate with his need. Your friend was thirsty; a state of being you have been many times. This personal experience allowed you to sympathize for him and made it more likely for you to give.

6. You had the quarter on you and could hand it to him. This is about logistics. Dealing with if your potential givers will give is important and so is can your potential givers give?

7. You trusted he would use the $.25 to actually buy a coke. Why should your target market trust you? How have you built this trust? How will you continue to foster trust?

Master these dynamics and you are on your way to knowing how to get people to give you and your cause money.






Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:


1. Who have you been forgetting to ask?


2. What amount do you need or are looking for?


3. What are some ways that you can begin to build relationships with potential sponsors?


4. What value can you add to this relationship with your potential sponsors?