I will get things done to make people safer, smarter, and healthier. Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere. I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond. And I will get things done.
- Americorp Oath

Some people focus on what they're going through; champions focus on what they are going to.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.
- Robert Frost

The finish line is just the beginning of a whole new race.
- Susan Saint James

The heights by great men reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight

But they, while their companions slept,

Were toiling upward in the night.
- Longfellow

It's a whole lot more satisfying to reach for the stars, even if you end up landing only on the moon.
- Kermit the Frog

Keep one eye fixed on the details; the other, on the horizon.

It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.

You don't "assault" Everest. You sneak up on it and then get the hell outta there!
- Ed Viesturs

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

People are like nails, they lose their effectiveness when they lose their direction.

Picture in your mind a sense of personal destiny.
- Wayne Oates

The question is, "What's more important - - your goal or others' opinions of your goal?"
- Peter McWilliams

You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again... So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. Once descends, ones sees no longer but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what ones saw higher up. When one can longer see, one can at least know.
- Rene Daumal, Mount Analogue

It's the little things you do that make the big things happen.
- Michael Dooley

Where your attention goes, you go.
- Gary Zukav

If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up.
- Norman Vincent Peale

Life by the yard can be hard,
But life by the inch is a cinch.

Keep adding little by little and it will become a big heap.
- Hesoid (c. 700 BC)

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.
- Ronald E. Osborn

Don't get D-Railed:

Set and achieve your goals by applying one of these four "D's" to anything that gets in your way:
Drop it
Delegate it
Delay it
Do it
- John Lee, time management expert

No one rises to low expectations.

The best career advice given to the young is 'Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.'
- Katherine Whitehorn

It does not matter how slowly you do so long as you do not stop.
- Confucius

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
- Walter Elliott

People tend to confuse their purpose (What do I love to do?)

Their ideals (How am I comfortable behaving?)

And their desired results (What can I achieve?)
- Robin Hirschberg

Life was meant to be lived and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
- Jack London

Don't tell me how hard you work. Tell me how much you get done.
- James J. Ling

At 10 minutes to seven on a dark, cool evening in Mexico City in 1968, John Stephen Akwari of Tanzania painfully hobbled into the Olympic Stadium - the last man to finish the marathon. The winner had already been crowned, and the victory ceremony was long finished. So the stadium was almost empty and Akwari - alone, his leg bloody and bandaged - struggled to circle the track to the finish line.
When asked why he had continued the grueling struggle, the young man from Tanzania answered softly: "My country did not send me 9,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 9,000 miles to finish the race."
- "The Confidence Course" by Walter Anderson

It’s OK to think about what you want to do

Until such time as you figure out what it is you were meant to do.
- Jim Morris’ grandfather

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we hit it.
- Tim Timmons

You are successful the moment you start moving forward a worthwhile goal.
- Charles Carson

All I kin say is when you finds yo'self wanderin' in a peach orchard, ya don't go lookin' for rutabagas.
- Kingfish

"Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked. "Begin at the beginning," the King said, gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

If something's not worth doing, it's not worth doing well.

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target.
- Ashleigh Brilliant

Things are always at their best in the beginning.
- Pascal

Here I am, fifty-eight, and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
- Peter Drucker

Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.
- Robert A. Heinlein

You will never reach a goal that you do not set.
- Mark McConachie

There is no way of getting away from treasure … once it fastens itself upon your mind.
- Joseph Conrad

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
- Douglas Adams

The best laid schemes o’ mice and men

Gang aft a-gley.
- Robert Burns
Note: Gang aft a-gley is Old English/Scottish for go often awry. If you don't know what "awry" is, look it up!

GET THE BIG PICTURE
Have you ever watched an artist paint a picture? He or she works close to the canvas – painting small sections at a time in the process of bringing the whole creation into being. But every once in awhile, the artist must step back from their work and look at the whole picture. Only by stepping away from what you are working on and involved with can you gain the proper perspective or point of view that is crucial to the end result.
- Michael Angier

There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads to fortune; omitted, all the voyages of life is bound in shallows and in misery.
- Shakespeare (Julius Ceasar)

To reach your goals in life, you've got to bridge the 12" gaps between your head, your heart and your gut.
- Grant M. Bright

Obstacles are those nasty things we encounter when our goals are unclear.

There's nothing wrong with setting goals, but it doesn't mean a thing if you don't pay attention to the day-to-day details.
- Don Shula, Coach, Miami Dolphins

You've got to think about "big things" while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.
- Alvin Toffler

Take care of the beginning and the end will take care of itself.

Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way and who will be sharing the adventure with them.

A goal is a dream with a deadline.
- Harvey Mackay

Alice: Can you tell me which path I should take?
Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to go!
Alice: I don't really know.
Cheshire Cat: Then, clearly, any path will do!
MORAL: If you're not sure where you're going, you're liable to end up someplace else - and not even know it.

The greatest thing in this world is not so much where you stand as in what direction you are moving.
- Goethe

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Be like a postage stamp... stick to one thing until you get there.
- Josh Billings

Famous archer, Howard Hill won all of the 267 archery contests he entered. He could hit a bullseye at 50 feet, then split first arrow with the second. Would it be possible for you to shoot better than him? YES, if he were blindfolded! How can you hit a target you can't see? Even worse, how can you hit a target you don't even have!? You need to have GOALS in your life!

Four of the saddest words in the world are "I wish I had..."

There is no finish line.
- Nike Corporation Motto

There are only two things you "HAVE TO" do in life. You "HAVE TO" die. You "HAVE TO" live until you die. You make up all the rest.

If we do not change our direction we are likely to end up where we are headed.

God gives every bird its food, but He does not just throw it in the nest.

You miss 100% of the shots you never take.
- Wayne Gretzky

I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
- Wayne Gretzky

Have you ever watched a stonecutter at work? He will hammer away at a rock for perhaps a 100 times without a crack showing in it. Then, on the 101st blow, it will split in two. It is not that blow alone which accomplished the result, but the 100 others that went before as well.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
- Henry David Thoreau

There may be nothing sadder than people who spend their lives talking about what might have been.

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you are alive, it isn't.
- Richard Bach

Keep your head and your heart in the right direction and you'll never have to worry about your feet.

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
- Will Rogers

If you've made up your mind you can do something, you're absolutely right. If you've made up your mind you can't do something, you're absolutely right.

What comes first, the compass or the clock? Before one can truly "manage time" (the clock), it is important to know where you are going, what your priorities and goals are, in which direction you are headed (the compass). Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going.
Rather than always focusing on what's urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.

Why kill time when you can make it work for you.

Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder what has happened.

Imagine being in a room with two TV sets. One is a large screen TV with surround sound. The other is a miniature 1" screen TV. What would you tend to focus on and become absorbed in? Some people make their problems the size of the large screen TV and their personal goals the size of the miniature one. It is important to mentally minimize the problems and the "cant's" and maximize the goals and the "cans".

Never, never quit.

Is your life busy and full of activity? Are you blindly following someone else? You may be going nowhere! "Processionary" caterpillars follow one another. It's possible to have a long line of them following each other in a circle around a flower pot that contains their food. They may continue to march around the pot for hours, days, only to finally expire from exhaustion. Being busy and active means nothing if your activity is not centered on the most important things or if you are blindly following someone else.

Great living starts with a picture held in the imagination, of what you would like to do or be.

SETTING CLEAR GOALS: When you look toward the sun you don't see the shadows.

We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures touch the skies.
- Emily Dickinson

Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity.

The powerful play goes on - and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

He had a lot of talent, but didn't have much dedication, wasn't organized, didn't know how to learn, didn't know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn't try to learn how to get better.
- Jack Nicklaus on a golfer with a lot of talent who never "made" it

The more clear you are on what you want, the more power you will have.

"Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work - and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."
- Lucille Ball

Goals should be SMART:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Assignable (who does what)
R = Realistic
T = Time-Related

My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
- Louis Pasteur

Write it down. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants; cant's into cans; dreams into plans; and plans into reality. Don't just think it - ink it!

The biggest lie on the planet: "When I get what I want, I will be happy."

Do Something,
If It Works,
Do More Of It
If It Doesn't,
Do Something Else.
- FDR

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
- Alexander Graham Bell

Advice from a veteran trapeze performer: "Throw your heart over the bars and your body will follow."

Commencement address by Sir Winston Churchill at a graduation ceremony: "Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never." - this was his entire speech.

Before you build a better mousetrap, it helps to know if there are any mice out there.

You love what you find time to do.

Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.
- E Joseph Cossman

If you don't scale the mountain top you won't see the view.

You must take a single step before you can walk a mile.

Ten percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing.

If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.

Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.

The harder we try, the luckier we are.

When you rest, you rust.
- Martin Luther

Do not wait for ideal circumstances nor for the best opportunities; they will never come.

I find the great thing in this world is, not where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

If You:
- Care more than others think is wise
- Risk more than others think is wise
- Dream more than others think is practical
- Expect more than others think is possible
Then you dramatically increase your chances of reaching your goals.

I learned that, before you reach an objective, you must be ready with a new one, and you must start to communicate it to the organization. But it is not the goal itself that is important.
- Jan Carlzon, CEO SAS

Importance of Commitment: Breakfast of ham and eggs. The chicken was involved, but the pig was totally committed.

Next in importance to having a good aim is to recognize when to pull the trigger.
- Elmer G. Letterman

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
- Goethe

You can't pick cherries with your back to the tree.
- J. Pierpont Morgan

Plan well before you take the journey. Remember the carpenter's rule: Measure twice, cut once.

The difference between goals and mission is reflected in the difference between "I want to get married" and "I want to have a successful marriage."

It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project.
- Napoleon Hill

If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
- Mark Twain

The only way you can bring in the harvest in the fall is to plant in the spring, and to water, weed, fertilize in the summer.

One never goes as far as when one doesn't know where one is going.
- Goethe

Some people steer by the light from the stars, while others steer by the lights from each passing ship.

We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. We postpone and postpone, until those smiling possibilities are dead.
- William James

Don't worry about the intensity and direction of the putt - until you get on the green!

You REAP what You SOW: Life is like a boomerang. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.
- Grant M. Bright

The squeaking wheel doesn't always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.

Even if you're on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there.
- Will Rogers

People don't PLAN to FAIL - they just fail to plan.

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
- Lewis Carroll

The Apollo-11 mission (man on the moon) was off-course 90% of the time but through technology was able to "course-correct" and achieve its goals. We need to make continuous "course-corrections" to reach our individually set goals (i.e. prioritized "to-do" lists).

The map is NOT the territory. When you get your "trip-ticks" from AAA - the route may look simple & easy on paper, but when you take the trip, the "territory" may present some unforeseen difficulties. We may try to plan and map out things and they may look straightforward on paper, but when we attempt to "execute" the plan a lot unforeseen difficulties may arise. (Use as an analogy to a lot of things)

Can you have more than one major MISSION pervading your life? NO. That would be like coming to a fork in the road and trying to go both ways by straddling it.
- Charles Garfield

Most people are content to let "perfect days" happen at random rather than PLAN for them.

If you clearly and vividly IMAGINE yourself in the first person doing, being, having the things and qualities you truly want ... then you will be using positive imagination to begin a change to fulfilling that image.

A lot of people go through life like they are rowing a boat. They look at where they have been (the PAST) rather than where they are going (the FUTURE).

Personal drive and energy will rise to meet (but not necessarily exceed) GOALS. If your goal is to get married, drive and energy will stop at the wedding. If your goals is to have a successful MARRIAGE, drive and energy will continue after wedding.