Mikes Blog

Authentic life
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Don’t spend your day convincing other people how much you care. Spend your day putting your care into action.

Stop exerting your energy to prove how much you know. Continually invest your energy in learning something new.

Operate on the level of reality, not at a pretentious distance from it. Rather than obsessively seeking to appear a certain way, do what is necessary to actually be that way.

An authentic life is far more satisfying for you, as well as more helpful to others, than living behind a facade. A life of authenticity puts the power of truth into everything you do.

It is better to have truth leading you than to have truth chasing you. Work to put real substance in your life rather than fraudulent and fragile appearances.

Align your awareness and your choices with what is real, with what is true, with what is you. Live with the authenticity that will free you to experience life at its best.

— Ralph Marston

Start right now
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Now is the time, this is the place. Go with what you have and do what you must do.

If you’ve been waiting for an ideal time, consider the wait over. Choose an item from your to-do list and get going.

As nice as it would have been to start earlier, that possibility is not available to you. What you do have is the next best option, which is to start right now.

The clock is running, time is passing, and you might as well make use of as much of that time as possible. The instant you start to take action, you begin to transform fleeting time into enduring value.

Your efforts may very well bring complications, challenges, distractions, uncertainty, and other issues. But putting off those efforts will only make them more difficult when you finally get around to them.

Do yourself a big favor and start right now. The moment you currently have is ready for you to get the very best out of it.

— Ralph Marston

Accept no excuses
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Accept no excuses from yourself. You deserve better.

You’ve had a difficult morning, afternoon, and early evening. Even so, as the day draws to a close you can revive your sense of purpose and re-establish your focus.

When you find you’re offering yourself excuses for giving up or slacking off, don’t accept the offer. Instead, remind yourself of how precious your time is and of all you’ve committed to do with that time.

Sure, you have the ability to talk yourself out of making the effort. Fortunately you have just as much ability to talk yourself into it, and a lot better reason to do so.

Yes, that effort can be complicated, frustrating, uncomfortable, and inconvenient. And it can also be highly rewarding.

You deserve life’s best rewards and you deserve the experience of doing the demanding work to attain them. Accept no excuses, and give yourself the fulfilling life you deserve.

— Ralph Marston

Force for good
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Focus on the creation of real value, lasting goodness, kindness, fulfillment, and love. Turn your attention away from the petty, foolish distractions that generate so much empty noise.

Seek to gain wisdom, understanding, and deeper connection with every interaction. Resist the temptation to engage in drama and conflict.

Every other person you come into contact with is unique, and at the same time more similar to you than different. Respect that beautiful, valuable combination of diversity and kinship, and utilize it for the benefit of all.

Fill your mind with thoughts of positive possibilities. Fill your hours with generous and rewarding effort.

You have a deep and abiding interest in the deep and abiding interests of everyone else. What advances life as a whole advances your life as well.

Use this day and every day to live as a force for good. It is your opportunity and your obligation to yourself and to all of which you’re a part.

— Ralph Marston