“The more attention you pay to a behavior, the more it will be repeated. Accentuating the positive and redirecting the negative are the best tools for increasing productivity. Killer-whale trainers know that when you don’t pay a lot of attention to what the animals do wrong, but instead give a lot of attention to what they do right, they do the right thing more often. When trainers start working with a new whale, the whale knows nothing about jumping over ropes. The trainers begin with the rope underneath the water, high enough from the bottom for the whale to swim under. If the whale swims under the rope, the trainers don’t pay attention, but every time he swims over the rope, they feed him. Focusing on the negative often creates situations that demoralize people. When good performance is followed by a positive response, people naturally want to continue that behavior.” – Ken Blanchard
Family Problems
Two men met recently and struck up a conversation. One was telling the other about some problems he was having with one of his kids.
After a while the other guy said, “You think you have family problems? Get a load of my situation. A few years ago I met a young widow with a grown-up daughter and we got married. Later, my father married my stepdaughter. That made my stepdaughter my stepmother and my father became my stepson.
“Also, my wife became mother-in-law of her father-in-law. Then the daughter of my wife, my stepmother, had a son. This boy was my half-brother because he was my father’s son, but he was also the son of my wife’s daughter, which made him my wife’s grandson. That made me grandfather of my half-brother.
“This was nothing until my wife and I had a son. Now the sister of my son, my mother-in-law, is also the grandmother. This makes my father the brother-in-law of my child, whose stepsister is my father’s wife.
“I am my stepmother’s brother-in-law, my wife is her own child’s aunt, my son is my father’s nephew and I am my own grandfather. Sheesh! You think you have family problems.”
One of a Kind
“You have been created as one of a kind. On the planet Earth, there has never been one like you… and there will never be again. Your spirit, your thoughts and feelings, your ability to reason and act all exist in no one else. The rarities that make you special are no mere accident or quirk of fate. You have within you the power to change the world.” – Andy Andrews
Lifting Others
What a Wonderful Life
Don’t Forget How to Live
Open Your Eyes
Worry and Prayer
An Encouraging Friend
Simplify and Focus
“I’ve been studying and working with extraordinary organizations and top-performing individuals for over 30 years. The most common and powerful factor in all of their successes has been the ability to simplify and focus. The two go hand-in-hand, because in order to get simplicity, you have to have focus. Focus means clarity. Clarity means knowing what is most important. When we are focused on what’s most important, we no longer have to wade through the endless sea of choices that can stretch before us. We make better decisions. We become more effective. We experience less stress. Getting focused is the path to simplicity, and simplicity is the path to success and fulfillment.” – Joe Calloway