"I Learn, You Learn, We Learn" Blog

I came across this saying today that relates to the stresses many of us are going through as we, here in upstate NY,  had the official start to our school year today. Although we had just district and building meetings and no students until Tuesday, the stress of  some major changes in building structures and building construction (which is not quite finished) are taking their toll on some.

So the quote goes like this ” INCH BY INCH, LIFE IS A CINCH. YARD BY YARD, LIFE IS HARD.” You can obviously draw the conclusion that having small realistic, attainable goals is going to be  more of a success to you than big,  impractical and unreachable goals. 

So to all my friends and colleagues as we start a new year with students and families who are counting on us: take things in small, manageable and realistic chunks. Reap the benefits from those small things, because in the end they will add up to a huge success for both you and your students as you progress through the school year.

For more inspiration on success, view a short movie clip at http://www.simpletruths.tv/store/movies.php?movie=TNOS.

Sometimes reading a quote or two can provide those “aha” moments  about values you believe in or things you want to achieve. Here is a book of quotes that can be a great gift or just something for you to read and enjoy.

http://www.simpletruths.com/flash_files/ibMOTQ/ibMOTQ.html

Personal Growth

“It is one of the paradoxes of success that the things and ways which got you there are seldom those things that keep you there.”~ Charles Handy

“For everything you gain, you lose something.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Most of us plateau when we lose the tension between where we are and where we ought to be.”~ John Gardiner

“It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from followers.”~ Warren Bennis & Bert Nanus

Leadership Failure

“The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.” ~ Napoleon Hill

“Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success.” ~ William S. Gilbert

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.” ~ Herbert B. Swope

“A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience.” ~ Elbert Hubbard

 Inspiration
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ~ John Quincy Adams
 

“Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.” ~ Vince Lombardi

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Preparation

“All things are ready, if our minds be so.” ~ William Shakespeare
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” ~ John F. Kennedy
“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ~ Seneca

Experience

 “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by the past.” ~ Edward Gibbon 

 “A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.” ~ James Joyce  “You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it.” ~ John Updike

Charisma

“How can you have charisma? Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are making them feel good about you.” ~ Dan Reiland

“There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament.” ~Henry Van Dyke

“Charisma is a sparkle in people that money can’t buy. It’s an invisible energy with visible effects.” ~ Marianne Williamson