Daily Motivator - October

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October 1

Good to be you

You are a unique and valuable part of life. Let that value come to the surface and do its good work.

You’re hard on yourself, demanding of yourself, and in many ways that compels you to improve. But don’t be so critical that you destroy your confidence or discourage yourself.

You have good work to do, useful insights to express. You have thoughts and feelings that can be of great benefit to yourself and others.

So let your essence flow out to the world. Allow your unique gifts to add new richness to life.

Your own special truth won’t always be welcomed with open arms, but so what? It’s far better to embrace and to own who you are than to hide it.

It’s good to be you. Let the world in on the best of that goodness.

— Ralph Marston

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October 2

Embrace responsibility

When it seems you’re always disappointed with everyone else, look in the mirror. The person you’re really disappointed with, is you.

When you’re frustrated with everything that happens, stop and look within. It’s not the external things that frustrate you, it’s you.

That’s a difficult truth to accept. It is also a powerful truth to know.

Because you have great influence and control over yourself. And by exercising that control, you can make things a whole lot better.

It’s pretty much impossible to change the whole world to meet your needs, or even a single other person for that matter. Yet you can absolutely improve yourself, and that can change the trajectory of your whole life.

If it’s something you care about, it’s something you’re responsible for. Embrace that responsibility, act on it, and the whole world becomes a better place.

— Ralph Marston

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October 3

Venture forward

The unknown is filled with terrifying threats and wondrous beauty. Do you dare to go there?

If you avoid everything you don’t already know, your awareness, your spirit, your power collapse in on themselves. Your once-brilliant potential is corrupted into a losing battle for meaning and relevance.

Your very existence is established and supported by your ability to explore and encounter. Your desire to venture into the unknown and to deal with whatever you find, is what enables you to experience goodness itself.

You will run into problems, and maybe even monsters, as you expand the boundaries of your known world. Yet out there beyond where you now are, that’s where your life in all its richness must be lived.

Courage is not some rarefied, unobtainable quality available only to a select few. Courage is what you do, what you’ve done, what you’ll continue every time you step beyond what you already know.

All that dangerous, unexplored territory is where your treasures await. Keep yourself strong, capable, and clear about the dangers as you venture outward to claim those treasures.

— Ralph Marston

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October 4

All along the way

You don’t really win by causing others to lose. You win by doing something of value.

Your ability to truly win is independent of what other people do. Winning exists in the process more than the result.

Yes, you want the result to be positive and valuable. That’s how you determine the nature and extent of your effort.

Yet the winning does not come only in the reward. The winning comes also in everything you do to reach the reward.

You are living life in every moment, and you wouldn’t want the reward to only be at the end. For the reward to be maximized, it must be present throughout the whole process.

Choose the priorities and actions that enable you to win not just at the end of the undertaking, but all along the way. Every day, every moment, take the opportunity to truly win.

— Ralph Marston

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October 5

Difference of perspective

What you say is not what other people hear you say. What you hear other people say is not what they intend to say.

Everyone has various lenses, filters, biases, and perspectives through which they experience life. It’s an aid to understanding to keep that in mind.

Before you dismiss anyone as an idiot or praise anyone as a genius, catch yourself. Use your intellect and energy to more fully understand the content rather than to prematurely label its source.

You cannot remove yourself from your own perspective. You can, however, remind yourself that it’s always there.

If possible, in your own words repeat back what you heard, and ask if you understood correctly. Seek to clarify and better understand before you make any judgment.

Words have precise meanings, yet life experience and context can significantly expand and even alter those meanings. Speak clearly, listen carefully, then go as far as possible beyond the words to foster true and helpful understanding.

— Ralph Marston

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October 6

Do what you can

You may not have much time to get it done, yet you do have some time. Use the time you have.

You may not get it perfect, yet you can get it done. Do what you can, the best that you can, with the time and resources available.

You may not be able to think of the cleverest way to say what you want to say, yet you do have the opportunity to say something. Say what you mean to say, in whatever way you can think to say it.

Let the desire for excellence drive you to do your best work. But don’t let it become an excuse for you to avoid the work.

The highest commitment to excellence is meaningless if you don’t do anything to express that excellence. Do the work, bring that excellence into being at whatever level you can.

Every stretch of time, every situation, every challenge, every desire is an opportunity to make a difference. Though it may not be perfect, use what you have and do what you can.

— Ralph Marston

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October 7

Embrace your consequences

Be thankful when your mistakes result in negative consequences. Because you’ll quickly learn not to make those mistakes.

Be thankful when you do not instantly get whatever you want. The need to work for what you have is what gives meaning and value to the good things in your life.

Be thankful when someone criticizes something you’ve said or done. Honest feedback gives you the opportunity to improve.

Be thankful when another person disagrees with you. Your perspective can grow stronger and more compelling when you must defend it from challenge.

Those who become soft and weak are those who always get their way, who leave their messes for others to clean up. Those who become highly effective are those who are most directly connected to the consequences of their actions.

Embrace the consequences of what you think, say and do. Those consequences will continually force you to do even better.

— Ralph Marston

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October 8

Power of thought

If your thoughts are working against you, stop having those particular thoughts. Make the intentional choice to think other thoughts.

If your thoughts are overwhelming your awareness and alertness, back away from those thoughts. You can do less thinking and analyzing, and more observing, acting and experiencing.

Thinking is an extremely powerful, useful, beneficial skill. Yet like any powerful force, it can be destructive when carried to the extreme.

Your thinking is an important part of your life. Yet it is not the entirety of your life.

With the power of thought, you can think yourself into anything. Be sure to exercise control over that power, so your thoughts lead you to positive outcomes.

Don’t let your thoughts get the best of you. Instead, harness them to make yourself the best you can be.

— Ralph Marston

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October 9

Change in outlook

You cannot avoid the fact that this day will present you with difficulties. What you can do is make the living of this day worth all the difficulties.

Nothing is going to make life perfect. Yet from anything you can make life rich and meaningful.

Your problems won’t all be solved for you. Yet you can step forward, face those problems, and transform them into new value.

Before you get to feeling too sorry for yourself, look around. Realize that a change in outlook can bring you a whole new world of possibilities.

It could be that whatever intimidates you can be made to strengthen you. Or perhaps you can take hold of what was getting you down, and make use of it to lift you up.

Reality is unthinkably vast, yet the reality that matters most is the reality you choose to see and to deal with. Choose from a place of love, with positive purpose, and fill your days with meaningful living.

— Ralph Marston

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October 10

Your life changes

Some of the choices you made yesterday made life a little bit better. How can you make even more of those same kinds of choices today?

From some of your past challenges you’ve been able to create new value. What can that teach you about the challenges you face right now?

Many of the things you worried about last week, you can’t even remember because they turned out to be nothing. How many of your present worries are similarly unfounded?

In the last five years you’ve made real progress in certain areas of your life. How can you apply that experience going forward?

Your life changes and you play a big role in that change. Consider the very real opportunity that situation presents.

Good things are built a little bit at a time. And right now, right upon you, is that precious time.

— Ralph Marston

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October 11

Purposeful activities

Your success is not determined by how busy you are. It is determined by how well your accomplishments satisfy your purpose.

Living a meaningful life is not necessarily about racking up a profusion of impressive feats. Having much to boast about is not the same as having much to live for.

Yes, be ambitious. And make sure it means something, to you, to your world, your values, your purpose.

What good things would you do even if no one would ever know you had done them? What places would you visit just for the experience, not for the selfie photos or bragging rights?

Do those things, go to those places. When deciding what to do, make sure it means something.

Merely being busy for the sake of being busy rewards you with anxiety and not much else. It’s being purposeful in the activities you choose, that brings you true fulfillment.

— Ralph Marston

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October 12

Beyond your feelings

Pay attention to your feelings. But don’t let them dictate your whole life.

How many times have you not felt like doing something, and then once you started you didn’t want to stop? Although the way you feel is a factor in your choices, it’s not the only factor.

Your feelings are powerful and important. That doesn’t mean they’ll always point you in the best direction.

Take your feelings into consideration. Experience them fully and honestly.

Look also at objective facts, at the viewpoints of others, at what has failed or succeeded in the past. See the situation in its entirety, not just in the context of the way you feel.

Trust your feelings while at the same time going beyond them. You’ll create an outcome that feels very good, because it is.

— Ralph Marston

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October 13

Be amazed

Walk outside in the daytime, and be amazed at the wind as it blows. Look up at night, and be amazed at the size of the universe.

Be amazed that you cannot ever possibly know all the amazing things there are. Be amazed that you can indeed know an ever-growing number.

Be amazed at the smallest of details. Be amazed at the sweeping vistas that fill your vision.

Be amazed at the variety of people and their opinions and how they can still share a very real kinship. Be amazed that the ocean waves never cease, and that life goes on despite all its challenges.

Be amazed at what is new in the last hour, at all that has existed for centuries and even longer. Be amazed that you can take it all in and craft a unique sense of meaning to guide you forward.

Be amazed at the utter chaos of infinite possibility and at the magnificent order that emerges from it. Be amazed at your own amazement, and never let it leave you.

— Ralph Marston

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October 14

You don’t say

Sometimes what you don’t say matters more than what you do say. Sometimes what’s missing is more enticing than what’s there.

Details are important, but the story is even more important. And every good story must have plenty of space for imagination.

Do you love a good mystery? So does everyone else.

Say what you know, say what you mean, say what is true. But don’t say so much that your words lose their power.

Leave some details out and you’ll add some wonder in. Save some facts for later and they’ll gain new power as they age.

Tell your story best by choosing not to tell it all. Leave room for those who hear you to fill in their own details, and what you say will be much more compelling.

— Ralph Marston

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October 15

Quiet refuge

Take quiet refuge from the storm. Reacquaint yourself with the miracle of being you.

Look at the beauty that is your life. See it not as a flat image in the eyes of others, but as a living reality unto itself.

Yes, you are connected to all that is, to all who are. Choose not to corrupt that connection with need, but rather to nourish it with generosity.

Your spirit is alive and well. Let yourself experience its potent richness.

Breathe in, breathe out, and ride upon the energy that flows through your existence. Linger for a while in pure truth that has no need for validation, or expression, or fear.

At your most authentic level, all is well. And will always be.

— Ralph Marston