英语励志文章

英语励志文章（通用23篇）

在日常学习、工作和生活中，大家最不陌生的就是励志文章了吧，借助励志文章人们可以实现文化交流的目的。那么你知道一篇好的`励志文章该怎么写吗？下面是小编整理的英语励志文章，仅供参考，希望能够帮助到大家。

Today I shed my old skin which hath, too long, suffered the bruises of failure and the wounds of mediority.

Today I am born anew and my birthplace is a vineyard where there is fruit for all.

Today I will pluck grapes of wisdom from the tallest and fullest vines in the vineyard,for these were planted by the wisest of my profession who have come before me,generation upon generation.

Today I will savor the taste of grapes from these vines and verily I will swallow the seed of success buried in each and new life will sprout within me.

The career I have chosen is laden with opportunity yet it is fraught with heartbreak and despair and the bodies of those who have failed, were they piled one atop another, would cast a shadow down upon all the pyramids of the earth.

Yet I will not fail, as the others, for in my hands I now hold the charts which will guide through perilous waters to shores which only yesterday seemed but a dream.

Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle. Just as nature made no provision for my body to tolerate pain neither has it made any provision for my life to suffer failure. Failure, like pain, is alien to my life. In the past I accepted it as I accepted pain. Now I reject it and I am prepared for wisdom and principles which will guide me out of the shadows into the sunlight of wealth, position, and happiness far beyond my most extravagant dreams until even the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides will seem no more than my just reward.

Time teaches all things to him who lives forever but I have not the luxury of eternity. Yet within my allotted time I must practice the art of patience for nature acts never in haste. To create the olive, king of all trees, a hundred years is required. An onion plant is old in nine weeks. I have lived as an onion plant. It has not pleased me. Now I wouldst become the greatest of olive trees and, in truth, the greatest of salesman.

And how will this be accomplished? For I have neither the knowledge nor the experience to achieve the greatness and already I have stumbled in ignorance and fallen into pools of self-pity. The answer is simple. I will commence my journey unencumbered with either the weight of unnecessary knowledge or the handicap of meaningless experience. Nature already has supplied me with knowledge and instinct far greater than any beast in the forest and the value of experience is overrated, usually by old men who nod wisely and speak stupidly.

In truth, experience teaches thoroughly yet her course of instruction devours mens years so the value of her lessons diminishes with the time necessary to acquire her special wisdom. The end finds it wasted on dead men. Furthermore, experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today will be unworkable and impractical tomorrow.

Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. What they will teach me is more to prevent failure than to gain success, for what is success other than a state of mind? Which two, among a thouand wise men, will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described but one way. Failure is mans inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.

In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have successed lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedeth all others is --I will form good habits and become their slave.

As a child I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men. I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path which threatens to imprison my future. My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, habit, and the worst of these tyrants is habit. Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.

I will form good habits and become their slave.

And how will I accomplish this difficult feat? Through these scrolls, it will be done, for each scroll contains a principle which will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which will bring me closer to success. For it is another of natures laws that only a habit can subdue another habit. So, in order for these written words to perform their chosen task, I must discipline myself with the first of my new habits which is as follows:

I will read each scroll for thirty days in this prescribed manner, before I proceed to the next scroll.

First, I will read the words in silence when I arise. Then, I will read the words in silence after I have partaken of my midday meal. Last, I will read the words again just before I retire at days end, and most important, on this occasion I will read the words aloud.

On the next day I will repeat this procedure, and I will continue in like manner for thirty days. Then, I will turn to the next scroll and repeat this procedure for another thirty days. I will continue in this manner until I have lived with each scroll for thirty days and my reading has become habit.

And what will be accomplished with this habit? Herein lies the hidden secret of all mans accomplishments. As I repeat the words daily they will soon become a part of my active mind, but more important, they will also seep into my other mind, that mysterious source which never sleeps, which creates my dreams, and often makes me act in ways I do not comprehend.

As the words of these scrolls are consumed by my mysterious mind I will begin to awake, each morning, with a vitality I have never known before. My vigor will increase, my enthusiasm will rise, my desire to meet the world will overcome every fear I once knew at sunrise, and I will be happier than I ever believed it possible to be in this world of strife and sorrow.

Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react, and soon these actions and reactions will become easy to perform, for any act with practice becomes easy.

Thus a new and good habit is born, for when an act becomes easy through constant repetiton it becomes a pleasure to perform and if it is a pleasure to perform it is mans nature to perform it often. When I perform it often it becomes a habit and I become its slave and since it is a good habit this is my will.

Today I begin a new life.

And I make a solemn oath to myself that nothing will retard my new lifes growth. I will lose not a day from these readings for that day cannot be retrieved nor can I substitute another for it. I must not , I will not, break this habit of daily reading from these scrolls and, in truth, the few moments spent each day on this new habit are but a small price to pay for the happiness and success that will be mine.

As I read and re-read the words in the scrolls to follow, never will I allow the brevity of each scroll nor the simplicity of its words to cause me to treat the scrolls message lightly. Thousands of grapes are pressed to fill one jar with wine, and the grapeskin and pulp are tossed to the birds. So it is with these grapes of wisdom from the ages. Much has been filtered and tossed to the wind.Only the pure truth lies distilled in the words to come. I will drink as instructed and spill not a drop. And the seed of success I will swallow.

Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall among men and they will know me not , for today I am a new man, with a new life.

When someone looks into your eyes they should see something alive within you. Having a dream is like owning a lighthouse1 which directs you on your journey.

At every turn we come across its mystery. At each new level we become more of the person we were meant to become. In lonely times, when we pass through a storm of disappointment, we find our faith is unshaken, our strength still strong.

Believe in your faith. Set the vision before your eyes. Write down your most sincere dreams and when the opportunity comes, step into your dream. It may take one season or more, but the result is the same. Make big dreams and then go out and make them realities. The highest hopes of the dreamer are revealed with every step taken in their journey to the impossible. For a season we must protect the dream so that it can grow quietly on the inside. But if we tenderly care for our deepest expectations, slowly but surely the dream will become new life.

Dreaming is an act of faith. The light of your expectations will cast off the shadows of a disbelieving world. God has given us the dreamer as a gift to light an unbelieving world.

Find your treasure within and cherish it. Tomorrow is waiting for you to take the first step.

Our character, basically, is a composite of our habits. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny,” the maxim goes.

Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness or ineffectiveness.

As Horace Mann, the great educator, once said, “Habits are like a cable. We weave a strand of it everyday and soon it cannot be broken.” I personally do not agree with the last part of his expression. I know habits can be learned and unlearned. But I also know it isn't a quick fix. It involves a process and a tremendous commitment.

Those of us who watched the lunar voyage of Apollo 11 were transfixed as we saw the first men walk on the moon and return to earth. But to get there, those astronauts literally had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of the earth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of lift-off, in the first few miles of travel, than was used over the next several days to travel half a million miles.

Habits, too, have tremendous gravity pull- more than most people realize or would admit. Breaking deeply imbedded habitual tendencies such as procrastination, impatience, criticalness, or selfishness that violate basic principles of human effectiveness involves more than a little willpower and a few minor changes in our lives. “Lift off” takes a tremendous effort, but once we break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole new dimension.

Like any natural force, gravity pull can work with us or against us. The gravity pull of some of our habits may currently be keeping us from going where we want to go. But it is also gravity pull that keeps our world together, that keeps the planets in their orbits and our universe in order. It is a powerful force, and if we use it effectively, we can use the gravity pull of habit to create the cohesiveness and order necessary to establish effectiveness in our lives.

There is no better school than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve my performance next time. Never again will I contribute to my downfall by refusing to face the truth and learn from my past mistakes. Because I know: gems cannot shine without polish, and I can not perfect myself without hardship.

Now I know that there are no times in life when opportunity, the chance to be and do gathers so richly about my soul when it has to suffer cruel adversity. Then everything depends on whether I raise my head or lower it in seeking help. Whenever I am struck down, in the future, by any terrible defeat, I will inquire of myself, after the first pain has passed, how I can turn that adversity into good. What a great opportunity that moment may present……to take the bitter root I am holding and transform it into fragrant garden of flowers.

Always will I seek the seed of triumph in every adversity.

A young friend of mine asked me in a letter, “What kind of man should I be?” My answer was, “Be a fighter.”

Another friend of mine inquired, “How should I live my life?” Again my answer was, “Be a fighter.”

The author of In Praise of the Fighter says:

Riding on the ceaseless rushing torrent of life, I should pursue and overtake it so as to create an even greater and deeper torrent of my own.

If I were a lamp, it would be my duty to light up thick darkness. If I were the sea tide, I would marshal rolling waves to cleanse the beach of all accumulated filth.

This quotation reflects aptly the state of mind of a lighter.

Fighters are badly needed in our time. But such fighters do not necessarily go to the battle- field gun in hand. Their weapons are not necessarily bullets. Their weapons may be knowledge, faith and strong will. They can bring the enemy sure death without drawing his blood.

A fighter is always in pursuit of light. Instead of basking in the sunshine under a clear sky, he holds a burning torch in the darkness of night to illuminate people's way so that they can continue their journey till they see the dawn of a new day. It is the task of a fighter to dispel darkness. Instead of shirking darkness, he braves it and fights the hidden demons and monsters therein. He is determined to wipe them out and win light. He knows no compromise. He will keep on fighting until he wins light.

A fighter is perennially young. He is never irresolute or inactive. He plunges deep into teeming crowds in search of such vermin as flies and venomous mosquitoes. He will fight them relentlessly and refuse to coexist with them under the same sky. To him, life means nothing but continuous fighting. He either survives by winning light, or perishes with his body covered all over with cuts and bruises. In the course of the struggle, it is the “future” that serves as the beacon light to him; the “future” gives people hope and inspiration. He will never lose his youthful vigour.

A fighter will never lose heart or despair. He will pile up broken pieces of brick and stone to rebuild a nine-story pagoda on the ruins of failure. No blows will ever break his will. He will never close his eyes until he has breathed his last.

A fighter is always fearless. His steps are firm. Once he has settled on an objective, he will press right ahead. He is never afraid of being tripped by a stumbling block. No obstacles will ever make him change his mind. His eyes will never be hoodwinked by false appearances. His actions are guided by faith. He can endure any hardships or sufferings while striving to attain his chosen objective. He will never abandon work as long as he is alive.

This is the kind of fighter we now need. He is not necessarily possessed of superhuman capability. He is just an ordinary person. Anyone can be a fighter so long as he has the determination. Hence a few words of mine about “being a fighter” to encourage those young people who wander about in a depressed state, not knowing which way to go.

"i dread to come to the end of the year,said a friend to me recently, "it makes me realize i am growing old.”

william james, the great psychologist, said that most men are "old fogies at twenty-fivehe was right. most men at twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs. they have accumulated the little stock of prejudices that they call their "principles, " and closed their minds to all new ideas; they have ceased to grow.

the minutea man ceases to grow-no matter what his years-that minute he begins to be old. on the other hand, the really great man never grows old.

goethe passed out at eighty-three, and finished his faust only a few years earlier; gladstone took up a new language when he was seventy. laplace, the astronomer, was still at work when death caught up with him at seventy-eight. he died crying, "what we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense."

and there you have the real answer to the question, "when is a man old?"

laplace at seventy-eight died young. he was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had a lot to learn.

as long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind, as long as he can look back on every year and say , "i grew," he is still young.

the minute he ceases to grow, the minute he says to himself, "i know all that i need to know,"--that day youth stops. he may be twenty-five or seventy-five, it makes no difference. on that day he begins to be old.

When I was a young boy in Santa Cruz, California I used to help my Grandfather in the fields by his home. This was not his land but back in those days it was not unusual to barter with the neighbours to worked it for them so he could grow the vegetables that he loved. He would then share them with the neighbour for payment. He grew corn, beans, peas, zucchini, cucumbers and garlic. And nobody could grow bigger dahlias than my Grandfather.

As I worked along side him he used to love to tell this story of a named Giuseppe (Joe) and his wife who moved to a new farm with their three sons. They were settling into the new community when a nearby farmer told Joe that there was gold in the dirt of his new property. Joe took that statement as that there was actual gold in the land. He thought to himself, "I have three healthy sons, I will tell them about it". Indeed he told his sons that there was gold to be found in their new property. Needless to say his sons actually took charge of their personal enterprise right on their own land. They had visions of what they would do when they found gold. Each son had a different vision. For as young as they were, they set up quite a professional approach in the digging for gold.

They began in one corner with a certain width and kept going until they got to the end. Once they got to the property line they would start another swath and go back the other direction. They began to realize that digging for gold was fun! This procedure went on for about six months and they still weren through going through the whole property.

Meanwhile Joe thought he would plant some crops in the area where the dirt had been turned thoroughly. He planted corn, tomatoes, potatoesand onions. His sons continued to dig through the soil, determined to find gold. As more dirt was available. Joe planted more crops. An interesting point here is that Joe had never farmed before but it had always been a dream of his to do so.

As each different crop became ready to be harvested Joe started to realize that there was more than he and his family could ever eat. One of Joe's neighbours suggested that he set Up a vegetable stand. Joe and his wife did that very thing. They called it Joe and Family Vegetables. Joe even had to leave some crops on the ground because he had more than enough to meet the demands at the vegetable stand.

What were Joe's sons doing in the meantime? They were still working the land even after they had finished the entire parcel. They started once again in the original corner. working in the leftover plant material while they were still on their quest to find gold.

This process went on for years and Joe and his wife became quite wealthy from their little vegetable stand. They were even able to send their sons off to college simply because they wanted to find gold.

Remember at the beginning of the story when Joe was told by his new neighbour that there was gold in the land? Well, the truth is. Joe's understanding of the English language was less than perfect. His new neighbour friend actually told him that his land had rich soil. So you can see where the concept of gold came In.

Did Joe's sons become slaves to the digging? No, they were inspired because they had visions of what money could do for them and did not focus on the money itself.

Is there.a way we can take this story to a higher level? Yes. the Universe provides us opportunity and sometimes dangles the carrot to inspire us. In essence. Joe's sons were inspired with the possibility of finding gold in the soil. Some of you I'm sure will draw your own meaning. but here is one to consider. Go out and pretend that there is gold in all your challenges and setbacks so that you can be inspired to motivate yourself to allow the Universe to provide all that you need and then some.

　　Dream What You Dream of 做你想做的梦

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real!

When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

Since his horse refused to go forward, a traveler in the state of Song drove it into a stream, then mounted to set off again. Still the horse refused to go, and he punished it once more in the same way.

This happened three times in all.

Even the most skilful rider could devise no better means of frightening a horse; but if you are not a rider, simply a bully, your horse will refuse to carry you.

I was up the next morning be fore the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland. The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and warmth of it peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over the edge of grey mountain and wavering length of upland. Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped, and crept to crept to the hollow places; then stole away in line and column, holding skirts, and clinging subtly at the sheltering corners where rock hung over grassland, while the brave lines of the hills came forth, one beyond other gliding.

The woods arose in folds, like drapery of awakened mountains, stately with a depth of awe, and memory of the tempests. Autumn’s mellow hand was upon them, as they owned already, touched with gold and red and olive, and their joy towards the sun was less to a bridegroom than a father.

Yet before the floating impress of the woods could clear it self, suddenly the gladsome light leaped over hill and valley, casting amber, blue, and purple, and a tint of rich red rose; according to the scene they lit on, and the curtain flung around; yet all alike dispelling fear and the cloven hoof of darkness, all on the wings of hope advancing, and proclaiming, “God is here!” then life and joy sprang reassured from every crouching hollow; every flower, and bud and bird had a fluttering sense of them; and all the flashing of God’s gaze merged into soft beneficence.

So, perhaps, shall break upon us that eternal morning, when crag and chasm shall be no more, neither hill and valley, nor great unvintaged ocean; but all things shall arise, and shine in the light of the Father’s countenance, because itself is risen.

A boy found an eagle's egg and he put it in the nest of a prairie chicken.The eagle hatched and thought he was a chicken.He grew up doing what prairie chicken do-scratching at the dirt for food and flying short distances with a noisy fluttering of wings.It was a dreary life.Gradually the eagle grew older and bitter.One day he and his prairie chicken friend saw a beautiful bird soaring on the currents of air,high above the mountains.

"Oh,I wish I could fly like that!" said the eagle.The chicken replied,"Don't give it another thought.That's the mighty eagle,the king of all birds-you could never be like him!" And the eagle didn't give it another thought.He went on cackling and complaining about life.He died thinking he was a prairie chicken.My friends,you too were born an eagle.The Creator intended you to be an eagle,so don’t listen to the prairie chickens!

If you could choose what kind of world to live in, what kind of world would you choose? If you could decide what would happen tomorrow, with what kinds of things would you fill it?

If you had the power to decide what types of opportunities would come your way, what opportunities would you select? If you knew that your experiences would match your expectations, what would your expectations be?

In fact, you do have the power to choose your own way. You do have the ability to decide what kinds of events, experiences, opportunities and circumstances come your way.

The world you experience is the world that your dreams, your thoughts, your expectations and your actions most closely resonate*. The world you see and live in is the world you most sincerely expect to see.

The universe is filled with endless possibilities, and those possibilities keep growing with every minute. The way you live determines which of those possibilities will come into your life.

With your thoughts, your actions, your values, your dreams and expectations, you choose what kind of world you live in. The way you live is closely mirrored in the world you see.

“We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…”

I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.

We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.

I want the future to be better than the past. I don’t want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.

The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.

Today is an excellent day for small improvements. Whatever is working for you, find a way to improve it just a little. There’s no need to make a huge change, just a small one, something you can do right now.

If you called just one additional customer each day, over the course of the next month you would talk to about 20 new people. If you learned just one more new word each day, in the next year you would increase your vocabulary by more than 300 words.

Small improvements can add up over time into big accomplishments. Look around you. Consider the work you do each day. Think about how you could do it just a little bit better.

In a marathon race, each step the winner takes is just a little bit longer and a little bit faster than each stride taken by the 100th place finisher. Yet over the course of the race, that small difference adds up in a big way.

Do just a little bit more today, and tomorrow too, and each day after that. Anyone can make just a small improvement, and that can make a big, big difference.

Some people go through life standing at the excuse counter.

They say they’d like to do this or that, but then they offer all the excuses in the world for why they can’t do whatever it is. No matter what the excuses are, the only thing that is usually limiting them is their own self-perception.

If I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned that a person —any person —may do anything they set their mind on doing. The things you need are willingness to work for what you want, patience to learn what you need to know and, most important of all, belief in yourself. You only need a seed, and then your faith in yourself will grow with you as you move forward.

If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you’re not smart enough, then take the time to learn what you need to know, and then your self-perception will change.

If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you never finish anything you start, then go and finish something and change your self- perception.

If your self-perception is that you’re too lazy, too busy, too unworthy, too unfocused, too depressed, or too dependent on others to accomplish great things, then you’re right. You are that because you believe you are, but in fact, you can change that! Life is change, and the past doesn’t equal the future. Your reality today is the result of your past beliefs and actions. Change your beliefs and actions, and you will change your future. Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. You are what you think.

Think about that the next time you need an excuse.

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exits in a man of 60, more than a boy of 20.nobody grows merely by the number of years; we grow old by deserting our ideas. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from infinite, so long as you are young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with the snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life. These are what I have and what we have at this period of life. So, I'm still young, yes, definitely ! Come on my fellow friends, show your energy and passion to this god damn world ! Let the universe hear our voice, see our cheek, hug our enthusiasm and witness our maturity. We're going to create a brand new future !

What is your recovery rate? How long does it take you to recover from actions and behaviors that upset you? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? The longer it takes you to recover, the more influence that incident has on your actions, and the less able you are to perform to your personal best. In a nutshell, the longer it takes you to recover, the weaker you are and the poorer your performance.

You are well aware that you need to exercise to keep the body fit and, no doubt, accept that a reasonable measure of health is the speed in which your heart and respiratory system recovers after exercise. Likewise the faster you let go of an issue that upsets you, the faster you return to an equilibrium, the healthier you will be. The best example of this behavior is found with professional sportspeople. They know that the faster they can forget an incident or missd opportunity and get on with the game, the better their performance. In fact, most measure the time it takes them to overcome and forget an incident in a game and most reckon a recovery rate of 30 seconds is too long!

Imagine yourself to be an actor in a play on the stage. Your aim is to play your part to the best of your ability. You have been given a script and at the end of each sentence is a ful stop. Each time you get to the end of the sentence you start a new one and although the next sentence is related to the last it is not affected by it. Your job is to deliver each sentence to the best of your ability.

Don’t live your life in the past! Learn to live in the present, to overcome the past. Stop the past from influencing your daily life. Don’t allow thoughts of the past to reduce your personal best. Stop the past from interfering with your life. Learn to recover quickly.

Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day. Reflect on your recovery rate each day. Every day before you go to bed, look at your progress. Don’t lie in bed saying to you, “I did that wrong.” “I should have done better there.” No. look at your day and note when you made an effort to place a full stop after an incident. This is a success. You are taking control of your life. Remember this is a step by step process. This is not a make-over. You are undertaking real change here. Your aim: reduce the time spent in recovery.

The way forward?

Live in the present. Not in the precedent.

A Better Tomorrow

People often wonder why historians go to so much trouble to preserve millions of books, documents and records.

Why do we have libraries? What good are these documents and history books? Why do we record and save the actions of men, the negotiations1 of government officials and the events during wars?

We do it because, sometimes, the voice of experience can cause us to stop, look and listen. Sometimes, past records, when understood in the right way, can help us decide what to do and what not to do. If we are ever to create lasting peace, we must seek its origins in human experience and in the records of human history.

From the stories of courage and devotion of men and women, we create the inspirations of youth. History records the suffering, the self-denial2, the devotion, and the heroic deeds of people in the past. These records can help us when we are confused and when we really need peace.

The main purpose of history is to create a better world. History gives a warning to those who promote war, and inspiration to those who seek peace.

In short, history helps us learn. Yesterday’s records can keep us from repeating yesterday’s mistakes. And from the pieces of mosaic4 assembled5 by historians come the great murals6 which represent the progress of mankind.

Some people go through life standing at the excuse counter.

They say they’d like to do this or that, but then they offer all the excuses in the world for why they can’t do whatever it is. No matter what the excuses are, the only thing that is usually limiting them is their own self-perception.

If I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned that a person —any person —may do anything they set their mind on doing. The things you need are willingness to work for what you want, patience to learn what you need to know and, most important of all, belief in yourself. You only need a seed, and then your faith in yourself will grow with you as you move forward.

If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you’re not smart enough, then take the time to learn what you need to know, and then your self-perception will change.

If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you never finish anything you start, then go and finish something and change your self- perception.

If your self-perception is that you’re too lazy, too busy, too unworthy, too unfocused, too depressed, or too dependent on others to accomplish great things, then you’re right. You are that because you believe you are, but in fact, you can change that! Life is change, and the past doesn’t equal the future. Your reality today is the result of your past beliefs and actions. Change your beliefs and actions, and you will change your future. Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. You are what you think.

Think about that the next time you need an excuse.

A convenient definition of innovation from an organizational perspective is given by Luecke and Katz (2003), who wrote:

"Innovation . . . is generally understood as the successful introduction of a new thing or method . . . Innovation is the embodiment, combination, or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant, valued new products, processes, or services.

Innovation typically involves creativity, but is not identical to it: innovation involves acting on the creative ideas to make some specific and tangible difference in the domain in which the innovation occurs. For example, Amabile et al (1996) propose:

"All innovation begins with creative ideas . . . We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is necessary but not sufficient condition for the second".

For innovation to occur, something more than the generation of a creative idea or insight is required: the insight must be put into action to make a genuine difference, resulting for example in new or altered business processes within the organisation, or changes in the products and services provided.

A further characterization of innovation is as an organizational or management process. For example, Davila et al (2006), write:

"Innovation, like many business functions, is a management process that requires specific tools, rules, and discipline."

From this point of view the emphasis is moved from the introduction of specific novel and useful ideas to the general organizational processes and procedures for generating, considering, and acting on such insights leading to significant organizational improvements in terms of improved or new business products, services, or internal processes.

Through these varieties of viewpoints, creativity is typically seen as the basis for innovation, and innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization (c.f. Amabile et al 1996 p.1155). From this point of view, creativity may be displayed by individuals, but innovation occurs in the organizational context only.

It should be noted, however, that the term 'innovation' is used by many authors rather interchangeably with the term 'creativity' when discussing individual and organizational creative activity. As Davila et al (2006) comment,

"Often, in common parlance, the words creativity and innovation are used interchangeably. They shouldn't be, because while creativity implies coming up with ideas, it's the "bringing ideas to life" . . . that makes innovation the distinct undertaking it is."

The distinctions between creativity and innovation discussed above are by no means fixed or universal in the innovation literature. They are however observed by a considerable number of scholars in innovation studies.

Types of innovation

Scholars have identified at a variety of classifications for types innovations. Here is an unordered ad-hoc list of examples:

Business model innovation

involves changing the way business is done in terms of capturing value .

Marketing innovation

is the development of new marketing methods with improvement in product design or packaging, product promotion or pricing.

Organizational innovation

involves the creation or alteration of business structures, practices, and models, and may therefore include process, marketing and business model innovation.

Process innovation

involves the implementation of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method.

Product innovation

involves the introduction of a new good or service that is new or substantially improved. This might include improvements in functional characteristics, technical abilities, ease of use, or any other dimension.

Service innovation

typically refers to service product innovation which might involve, compared to goods product innovation or process innovation, relatively less technological advance, being more interactive and information-intensive (though some service firms have major technology efforts - think of ATMs and banks, for instance. Service innovation may also involve novelty in the way in which services are produced (i.e. service process innovation), or in delivery of other aspects of the service - including creative content in the case of entertainment and cultural services.

Supply chain innovation

where innovations occur in the sourcing of input products from suppliers and the delivery of output products to customers

Substantial innovation

introduces a different product or service within the same line, such as the movement of a candle company into marketing the electric lightbulb.

Financial innovation

through which new financial services and products are developed, by combining basic financial attributes (ownership, risk-sharing, liquidity, credit) in progressive innovative ways, as well as reactive exploration of borders and strength of tax law. Through a cycle of development, directive compliance is being sharpened on opportunities, so new financial services and products are continuously shaped and progressed to be adopted. The dynamic spectrum of financial innovation, where business processes, services and products are adapted and improved so new valuable chains emerge, therefore may be seen to involve most of the above mentioned types of innovation.

Incremental innovations

is a step forward along a technology trajectory, or from the known to the unknown, with little uncertainty about outcomes and success and is generally minor improvements made by those working day to day with existing methods and technology (both process and product), responding to short term goals. Most innovations are incremental innovations. A value-added business process, this involves making minor changes over time to sustain the growth of a company without making sweeping changes to product lines, services, or markets in which competition currently exists.

Breakthrough, disruptive or radical innovation

involves launching an entirely novel product or service rather than providing improved products & services along the same lines as currently. The uncertainty of breakthrough innovations means that seldom do companies achieve their breakthrough goals this way, but those times that breakthrough innovation does work, the rewards can be tremendous. Involves larger leaps of understanding, perhaps demanding a new way of seeing the whole problem, probably taking a much larger risk than many people involved are happy about. There is often considerable uncertainty about future outcomes. There may be considerable opposition to the proposal and questions about the ethics, practicality or cost of the proposal may be raised. People may question if this is, or is not, an advancement of a technology or process. Radical innovation involves considerable change in basic technologies and methods, created by those working outside mainstream industry and outside existing paradigms. Sometimes it is very hard to draw a line between both.

New technological systems (systemic innovations)

that may give rise to new industrial sectors, and induce major change across several branches of the economy.

Social innovation

a number of different definitions, but predominantly refers to either innovations that aim to meet a societal need or the social processes used to develop an innovation

Enjoy that uniquenesss1. You do not have to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. You do not have to lie to hide the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else.

You were meant to be different. Nowhere, in all of history, will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now.

If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap2 in history, and something missing from the plan for humankind. Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it!

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No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort others with your kind of comfort. No one can bring your kind of understanding to another person. No one can be cheerful and light-hearted3 and joyous4 in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being.

Share your uniqueness. Let it flow out freely among your family and friends, and the people you meet in the rush and clutter of living, wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given to you to enjoy and share. Give yourself away!

See it! Receive it!

Let it inform you, move you and inspire you!

You are unique!

It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others. I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others. We turn our attention away from our own defects, and when we are forced by untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone them. For all I know we are right to do this; they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.

But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves fro which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world. To take a trivial instance: how scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie; but who can say that he has never told not one, but a hundred?

There is not much to choose between men. They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice, of nobility and baseness. Some have more strength of character, or more opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are the same. For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would consider me a monster of depravity. The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.