Old Blood and Guts

You don't hear much about General George S. Patton Jr. these days. In his life (1885-1945) spanning two world wars, he is credited with inspiring many men to achieve success on the battlefield through aggressive, relentless action.

Patton on Initiative:

"Above all else remember that we as attackers have the initiative, we know exactly what we are going to do, while the enemy is ignorant of our intentions and can only parry our blows. We must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest."

On the importance of Now:

"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."

On Success:

“Success is how you bounce on the bottom.”

On Meaning:

“Live for something rather than die for nothing.”

The 1970 film Patton, starring George C. Scott as General Patton won seven Academy Awards including Best Actor and Best Picture. To be entertained and inspired add it to your DVD rental queue.

Sorry Nick, You're One Helluva Inspiration I Won't Forget

Mea culpa de jour. We all get busy with day to day tasks, some more important than others.

After seeing this YouTube clip around Thanksgiving last year, I was really moved. I showed it to my daughter and emailed it to many of my friends.

And yet when I started this blog on inspiration and motivation earlier this year, I had ruminated for quite sometime on what topics I would want to highlight first. I am ashamed to say that I forgot about Nick. As inspiring and motivating as he is, my life had become so swamped with email, voicemail, 4 o'clock meetings and deadlines that I neglected one of the most inspirational stories out there. And for that, I owe Nick a huge, world wide web public apology.

There are some stories that are better seen and heard from the source. Nick's story is one of them.



If there is one video you watch on this blog, click the clip above and I challenge you to tell me that this is not one of the most inspirational stories you've seen lately. If you know of any others that rank on this level, I'd love to hear about them.

Click here to see Part Two and Part Three of Nick's presentation or visit his Life Without Limbs website at http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/.

Pursuing Happiness

It takes more than a modicum of introspection for a person to admit that they may not be as happy as they could be. After all, despite the economic doom and gloom, and even in good times for that matter, aren't we always pursuing a higher level of satisfaction for our lives?

If the dismal science of Economics is the study of unlimited wants and limited resources. Then aren't we setting ourselves up to be constantly unhappy?

Well I'm pleased to report that there are some pretty smart people working on your behalf to help you find happiness. Case in point one Gretchen Craft Rubin, a Yale law graduate who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Gretchen writes a blog called the Happiness Project and I would encourage you to visit her site for it contains some very authentic insights into what we humans need to do to achieve a state of bliss worthy of our efforts.

My favorite post of Ms. Rubin's covers how we "characterize" situations. You can read it here. The premise is you can create your own reality by just carefully choosing your words and how you put any given situation into context. In my world, we sometimes call this "spin" or "great marketing". In either case, the take away here is that to inspire or motivate others, or in many cases to motivate yourself, you must be able to characterize situations in such a way as to promote positive actions. Anything less leads you down the slippery slope of unhappiness, unmet needs and right into the arms of those dismal unhappy economists.

You're Ready, I Said So

Sitting in Westwood at a Starbucks talking to my friend K, the ephiphany came, clear and simple. You're ready. Right here right now. You're ready.

Ready for what you ask???

Ready for anything life throws at you. Ready for anything you want in life. Roll with me for a second...

So my friend K is a film director. Full ride scholarship to a top notch film school. Graduates with flying colors. K created a short film shortly after graduating and licensed it to HBO. You may have seen it recently, its been playing in prime time. While all this sounds great, fantastic education, HBO licensing deals, jetting off to Sundance, K has an issue. He doesnt think he's ready to start living the dream. Don't get me wrong, K has tons of confidence and skills beyond belief. But what he's lacking is permission to succeed.

Just like the young Kwai Chang Caine from the campy 70's TV series who needs to snatch the pebble from his masters hand to prove he's ready to enter the real world, K is waiting for someone to tell him he's ready. So here's your kick in the ass, K, you're ready. You have permission to succeed. Don't get me wrong, you will fail along the way. That's just the way it is. Buddy, you need to leave the monestary. There is nothing else for you there.

And don't think I'm just picking on you. I've decided that this is what this blog is about. Its black and bold text to remind everyone that this isn't a rehearsal, it's the real thing. Get out and live.