You "Take" Initiative

Ever tried to buy initiative at your local Wal-Mart or Target?  I think it’s in the sporting goods aisle, or maybe over in electronics. 

“Not!”

You can’t buy initiative.

You can’t dig for it like gold.

You can’t go around the world in search of it.

Nobody will walk up to you and hand you a bag of initiative.

You’re not given initiative.  You take it.

You take the bull by the horns, to use a good-ole southern expression, and you go and do the thing that needs doing.  Most of the time people aren’t appointed to “take the initiative”.

Man walking on the moon started with John F Kennedy, and then it spread by assignment until mankind has walked on the moon a few times. President Kennedy took initiative and declared the thing and it became so.

Mankind has accomplished some amazing feats simply because somebody took the initiative.  People who wait for permission, or wait to  be asked often find themselves still standing around after the last dance, or after the lights have been turned out and the game is over.

There are perhaps a hundred ideas in your home, work place and neighborhood just waiting for someone to take the initiative. 

Take it!

P Michael Biggs

www.up-words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Find Your Balance

Gabby Douglas made a name for herself at the recent Olympics in London.  She proved her skills again and again on the balance beam. 

I imagine Gabby lost her balance a time or two before she became a world class performer.  She practiced an age-old rule of thumb:

“To find your balance you have to lose your balance.”

Wayne Gretzky, Ice Hockey great, was famous for what some termed “foolish skating” in practice, but he did it so that he could find the limits of his abilities and keep pushing them out.  He would lose his balance so he could find it.

We say this another way:

Fail again … Fail Better!

Fall down – rediscover your balance, stand up and try again.

A simple principle – for life.

P Michael Biggs

www.up-words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Zero Is Safe

Zero is safe. 

Zero means …

-Never investing money

 -Never going for a job interview

  -Never asking for a date

   -Never sailing your boat

    -Never exercising

     -Never asking for the sale

 

Zero is safe … or is it?

A zero mindset causes …

      -Bankruptcy

     -Unemployment

     -Remaining single

   -Wasting a good boat

  -Deteriorating health

 -Lost sales and lost income

-The end of whatever

Ever heard anyone proclaim, at the end of his/her life –

“I’m proud of my lack of accomplishments.”

Probably not.

You’re not a nobody – a zero.  You are somebody. 

Maybe it is time to put feet and wings to your hopes and dreams.

Maybe!

P Michael Biggs

www.up-words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Barriers

Barriers are frustrating. 

They block our progress. 

They slow us down.  

Sometimes they block our view.

Barriers are a nuisance. 

So what barriers are in your way?  What is keeping you from doing whatever it is you really want to do?

Here are some barriers others have overcome.

-I’m not smart enough.

   -I’m not pretty enough.

      -I’m not of the right gender.

-I’m not born in America.

   -I’m not born in Dubai.

      -I’m not educated.

-I’m just a …

   -I’m lonely.

      -I’m no good to anyone.

Barriers are only temporary. 

They can be moved, jumped over, crawled under, torn down, repainted, blown up, re-engineered, educated, ignored, and above all – barriers can be overcome. 

What barriers are hindering us from making the most of our lives?

Identify!

Conquer!

Overcome!

P Michael Biggs

www.up-words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

A Good Manager

Life happens.

Things sometimes fall apart.

We make bad decisions.

We commit foolish acts.

“Are you a good manager of a bad experience?”

John C. Maxwell said that in a recent

interview in Success Magazine.

What a mouthful. 

Once it’s said and done, then what?  The wise ones in our world always find a way to manage the experience.  They learn all they can from that bad experience and then commit to stay away from those kinds of issues in the future.

It always boils down to this:

What did I learn?

How do I avoid it in the future?

What can I do better next time?

Manage those bad experiences or they will manage you.

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Invest in the Valuable

Let me tell you a story.

Carolyn and I recently got rid of our VW Beetle.  It had 154,000 miles on it and it no longer held any value.  We were facing on-going repair bills with no end in sight; therefore, we saw no value in that car.

End of story. 

Question:  Do you still have value?  Of course you do.

Then go out and invest in yourself. 

-Buy and read some mind stimulating books.

-Listen to some insightful audio programs.

-Enroll in a class.

-Buy a new suit of clothes.

-Buy a new pair of shoes, socks or anything else that makes 

   you feel special.

-Get a new hairdo or a redo.

Do something significant that adds value to you as a human being. 

Increase your worth.

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

See the Future

20 seconds

This is a really simple, really short thought, so hang on.

Want to see the future?

Use your imagination

What?

Use your imagination.

You become what you think about, visualize, dream about, plan for, and move toward.

Can you see your future!

Use Your Imagination!

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Motivation - Who Needs It?

Zig Ziglar was famous for saying this:

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last.  Well, neither does bathing.  That’s why we recommend it daily.”

John Maxwell said this:  Motivation gets you going – discipline keeps you going.

Two pretty important principles that work well together. 

I make it a daily habit to feed my mind some good and wholesome motivational thoughts.  And I have the discipline to continue this habit. 

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Do People Come Back

Seth Godin has helped me immensely with this thought.  Seth is a writer and business guru.  His concept is this:  everybody will not like and buy your stuff.  Our job is to find those who do like us and will buy. 

That’s simple. 

Do people come back to your store, or restaurant, or do they seek out your service?

My blogs are not read by every person I know.  I even have some family members who don’t read my stuff, and that’s okay. 

You need to be okay with that also.  Hopefully you do have enough people buying from you and looking into whatever it is you do.  If you don’t, perhaps another line of work is in your future.

People must love what you do in order to return.

We once frequented a certain restaurant in our little town.  No more.  We got tired of the impersonal manner in which they treated us.  We’ve found two other breakfast places we much prefer. 

Just like you, we go to places where we feel welcomed and cherished. 

Cherish your customers, whether they buy from you, attend your church, trust you with their taxes, or read your blogs, newspapers and magazines.

P Michael Biggs

www.up-words.net

Offering Up-Moments

One Moment at a Tim

The Greatest Motivational Message Ever

In four simple words I can give you what is perhaps the greatest motivational message the world has ever seen or heard.

Are you ready for it?

Okay, here goes.

Better sit down for this one. 

Better yet, re-lace your shoe strings.

Serious thought.

Powerful

P Michael Biggs

www.Up-Words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Don't Throw Stones

Criticism is a way of life it seems.  A critic is on every corner, in every business, on every news show, letting the world know their distaste of and how to improve every segment of our lives.

How do we ever get anything done with so many critics – barking dogs let’s call them?

How indeed. 

Sometimes, oftentimes, we simply ignore the barking dog.  We walk on by.  We keep walking straight for our goal, our objective

And soon enough, we are out of ear-shot of those barking dogs. 

I’m reminded of a Winston Churchill quote.

You will never reach your destination

if you stop and throw stones

at every dog that barks.

He knew a bit about the barking dogs of life.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time