The Career Encouragement Blog

Great Quote About Real Work

This quote by Helen Keller is a great follow-up to the video on "Real Work"that I posted last week. 

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but my chief duty is to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.  The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

For More great quotes by Ms. Keller, check out this site.

Great Quote for Monday Morning!

"I daily become more sensible that my work must be affected by constant and regular exercises rather than by sudden and violent ones." 

~  William Wilberforce

What a great thought for the start of a new week! It's so easy to look at the "pile" on Monday morning and jump in rather frantically, only to crash and burn around 2 PM on Tuesday afternoon and need to spend the rest of the week recovering...the slackness of which will create another frantic situation the following Monday, of course!

So often, when we are in the middle of chaos and commotion at work, we realize that with a little planning, we could have avoided all this stress. How about we do things differently this week?  - Oh yes, I am speaking to myself here!  How about this week we categorize our workload as:

• Small burning platforms that must be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

• Mid-range projects that must be maintained and nurtured so that they don't regularly create small, burning platforms.

• Big strategic issues that must be addressed  bit by bit over time in order to avoid large burning platforms later.

Within each category, what "constant and regular exercises" can we implement so that we avoid Monday morning franticness?

 

Great Quote for Monday Morning

Here's a page of great motivational quotesto start your week off with encouragement and inspiration.  Lots of food for thought there!  The one I most needed to read this morning was:

"If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again."  ~Flavia Weedn

Which one did you need most today?

 

Quote for Wednesday

Saw this quote the other today and couldn't help but think of how things are going in the job market lately:

"Sunshine all the time makes a desert."  ~ Arab Proverb

We've had lots and lots of sunshine in the United States workforce over the past 5 years.  Our 401(k) accounts were up, and there was a "war for talent" so job opportunities were plentiful. The result?  Greed and self-centeredness - somewhat of a desert in our collective souls, perhaps.  

Now it seems the rain has come - the economy has tanked and each day brings news of more layoffs.   We're being forced to re-evaluate our priorities.  We're confused and disappointed in how our business leaders are handling things in many cases.  Yet deep down, we know that we as individuals are being given a chance to change how we operate in the world - an opportunity for our souls to grow perhaps.

What do you think?

 

Great Quote for the New Year

What a glorious, marvelous, lazy winter break I had - a true break from the cares of the world of work!

How about if we start the new year off with a great quote?

"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails."  ~ John Maxwell.

 

Quote for Friday

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world, and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."

~ E.B. White

Great Quote for Monday

"Be kind, for everyone you know is facing a great battle."

  ~ Philo of Alexandria

Great Quote for Mid-Week

Hat tip to Light Skinned-ed Girl for making me aware of this great quote:

"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.  What we need is to love without getting tired." ~ Mother Teresa

If you have a few minutes, spend some time on this very interesting blog!

Encouraging Quote for Monday

Hat tip to Aristotle for this one:

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."

Great Quote for Mid-Week!

Thanks to Deb at 8 Hours and a Lunch for introducing me to this great quote by Rainer Maria Rilke:

"If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty."

What a great quote to bring to work with us each morning - what an adventure we could go on with this attitude!

For more Rilke quotes see Deb's posting here.