Consider This Thought

These quotes made me stop and think. Now I hope they do the same to you. Started September 2012. Own your own Libbydoodle from my online shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/libbydoodle

[considerthisthought]

#277: Say What

“Say what you’re grateful for”

--Amy Morin

This picture is SO fuzzy.  But you know what?  I’m so thankful for a friend who was willing to come over and take it for me, even though she had never used my camera before.  I am thankful for a warm house to photograph in when it was negative degrees cold outside.  This quote is from a list of ways to overcome feeling sorry for yourself.  Don’t just be thankful - literally speak out loud the things you’re thankful for.  This simple act is one way to start to gradually recondition yourself to think positively and raise yourself by raising your attitude.

With the start of a new year, will you commit to say things your’e thankful for aloud each day?

[considerthisthought]

#276: Change Myself

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.  Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

--Rumi

It’s important to want to change the world - even just the world around you - but it’s also important to realize that impacting the world starts with changing yourself.  Changing yourself is not a forsaking of the desire to be a world-changer -- it’s actually a huge positive step toward making it come true!  Cleverness dreams of doing, which is important... and then Wisdom steps in and *starts* doing.

What will you do this year to improve yourself and change the world?

[considerthisthought]

#275: Be Excellent

Be Excellent to each other

Simple but powerful words to carry us into the new year, don’t you think?  That’s why I love this.  Don’t just be “ok” to each other.  Be *excellent*.  You alone can choose to rise above the status quo and the noise in the world today and choose excellence.  What would it look like for you to be excellent to your fellow humans in 2018?

[considerthisthought]

#274: Press Play

“You can’t stop the future You can’t rewind the past The only way to learn... is to press play.”

--Jay Asher

A fitting thought to consider as 2017 becomes past and 2018 becomes our new present.  The end of a year/start of the next year is a popular time to reflect on what we’ve done and been through, and look ahead to all that we hope to do and go through.  It’s a time to evaluate old goals and set new ones.  While a fresh start can happen any time, right now is a particularly poignant time time when you’re standing on the cliff edge of one year looking into the wild unknown of a brand new start... and it’s a time that can often feel overwhelming.  It’s easy to freeze on that cliff edge.  But 2017 is done.  2018 is coming.  That can’t be changed... but what you do with the time coming your way is up to you!

[considerthisthought]

#273: Willpower and Change

“It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t... it’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.”

-James Gordon 

The new year is nearly upon us, and the change in date is a great time for lots of people to think about making changes of their own... but then lots of people immediately give up because they “just lack the willpower”.  Here’s the thing: change isn’t based on some ability that you’re either born with or don’t possess... it’s based on your readiness and willingness to take the next step and make the change happen!

Are you ready for some changes as we head into the new year?  What steps will your ready self take?

[considerthisthought]

#272: Together

“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”

--Helen Keller

You don’t have to do it all on your own.  In fact, you probably shouldn’t!

Combining your efforts with a like-minded teammate is one time where 1 + 1 = 5.... aka your combined powers can do so much more than just the sum of your individual powers!  Don’t try to take too much on your own shoulders -- find teammates!  Help lighten their load, and let them help lighten yours!  Together we can do SO MUCH!

[considerthisthought]

#271: Stronger than Coffee

“Together we are stronger than coffee”

--Randy Langley (and the Tulsa 5Club!)

Today’s thought is a shout-out to all the people out there who are on your team - and you’re on theirs.  Take a moment today to thank someone who makes you stronger.  Take a moment today to bolster someone else.  Be stronger than the blackest coffee! :)

Side note: you can get a print of this doodle at https://www.etsy.com/listing/239076564/launch-out-2015-stronger-than-coffee?ref=related-0

[considerthisthought]

#270: Choice Gratitude

“Gratitude is a choice in the moment that changes your heart.”

--Matt Ham

In his fantastic talk at Launch Out 2015, Matt Ham describes how we think we’ll be happy when we attain certain states.  But “if we’re not grateful for where we are, we’ll never be grateful for where we’re going...”  Gratitude isn’t a destination that we’ll someday reach, it’s a choice we must make in the now.  Don’t wait until some magical day when you’re suddenly a grateful person - choosing to be grateful now is what changes you.

[considerthisthought]

#269: The Antidote

“Hope is the antidote to fear”

--Jane Tuttle

In her fabulous talk at Launch Out 2015, “The Two Feet of Hope,” Jane talks about how hope is *active*, how it’s “the belief that the future will be better than the present and you have the power to make it so.”  That mindset opens the door to creativity and happiness and flies directly in the face of fear!

[considerthisthought]

#268: Worth Sinking For

“You are building something worth sinking for”

--Kelsey Humphreys (awesome woman and host of “The Pursuit,” among other cool things. Look her up!)

Sometimes we forget.  We compare our dreams and stories to others’.  We forget that what we have is valuable.  Your story and your dream are something worth pursuing and sharing with the world.  They are your unique way to impact those around you.  And they are worth fighting for, sailing for, risking for - even worth sinking for.  So be brave, build, launch... because you’re building something worth sinking for!

[considerthisthought]

#267: Give Back

“Give back”

Two simple words.  Two important words.  As we live our lives, pursue our dreams, hustle, grow, learn... what good are we doing with what we gain?  Don’t get so focused on the gaining that you forget why you’re gaining in the first place and who has helped you get to where you are now.  Are you the only person benefiting from your growth?  

[considerthisthought]

#266: Hurry Up

“Hurry up and slow down.”

If you’re always moving from one thing to the next, mind always fixed on what’s coming next instead of living in the present moment, well... that’s barely living.  Yet if we’re honest, that’s exactly how so many of us scrape by.  We rush so that we “won’t miss anything” - and yet, think of how much we’re missing by rushing!  Slow down.  Partake in the simple joys of living.

[considerthisthought]

Libby, I follow you here and on Twitter... You show so much positive energy in whatever direction that looking at the person behind the doodle makes my day. Space on!!!

Ahhhhh shucksamighty, thank you so much! *^_^* I’m blessed to be surrounded by people and opportunities that constantly remind me of the wonder in life!

And YEAH, space on!! :D *fist bump*

[considerthisthought]

#265: Understand Limits

“Once we understood those limits, we could figure out how to push them.”

--Abe Davis

In his 2015 TED talk, MIT researcher Abe Davis spoke about some pretty crazy technology.  But nestled in the midst of all the “mind = blown” discoveries, this gem of a quote appeared and immediately struck me.

How do we typically feel about limits?  They’re hard.  They’re bad.  They’re... limiting.  And in this negative view of limits, we often try to avoid them.  They remain these nameless, faceless creatures that we can easily hate from a distance.

But notice Abe didn’t say, "When we looked at our limits.”  He said “understood”.  It’s active.  It’s analysis.  If we take the time to face, examine, and *understand* our limits, so much can be gained.  We can use what we learn to break past those limits.  We can take what we see and discover completely new directions in which to turn.

How would challenges change for you if you looked at limits as friends to learn from instead of foes to hide from?

[considerthisthought]

#264: Choose

“Choose Your Own Adventure”

Did you ever read those books when you were a kid - those ones where you got to make a choice at a fork in the road and determine the direction your path would turn next?

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that life is like that.  At any point in our journey, we can make a choice to change our direction -- And that can be both terrifying and empowering.

But think of the implications!  Don’t like the way something is working out?  Wish you/your life was different?  Choose to change something!   The choice may be a shift in perspective, career, thought, goals, habit, location, you name it -- YOU get to choose your own adventure.  YOU have a say. :) 

[considerthisthought]

#263: Experience More

“To experience more you have to do less”

I scrawled these words in the margin of a notebook a few months ago after a particularly interesting meeting.  It was so simple yet it struck me immediately... we naturally think, “I want to have more fun experiences, I must do more things!”  And while sitting around waiting for experiences is not going to catapult you into an exciting life, we often tend to go overboard.  I know I sure do.  But the answer is actually the un-intuitive reverse: slow down.  Savor the things that you do.  You can’t fully experience & appreciate what you are doing if you’re always rushing through it to get to what you could be doing next. 

[considerthisthought]

#262: Resistance

“To fly, we must have resistance”

--Maya Lin

If you’re familiar with how flight works, you know that nothing can magically lift itself up into the air and start flying.  It needs resistance.  It needs a disparity in pressure to help lift it up into the air.

In the same way, challenges are what help us rise above our current state.  If everything always went our way, we’d never grow and know what we can truly do.  Changes in pressure force changes in position.

How are *you* looking at the resistance you face?  Do you let it ground you, or see it as a potentially lifting force?