- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
American humanitarian and UN diplomat

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Give more list…

What are the most common "drag you down, get in the way of success" thoughts?

• Defeatist (accepting, expecting, or being resigned to defeat)
• Cynical (contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives)
• Vindictive (seeking revenge)
• Blame/ Fault (who cares? what are we going to do now?)
• Wishful (do what you can to influence the deal/ project/ situation and keep moving)
• Self-pity (get over yourself… complain less… especially to yourself)

Get the complete list (5 more) and a printable reminder.

(Some definitions provided by Merriam-Webster. Most popular thoughts provided by your GiveMore team. They’re not our thoughts, you understand. We have friends with these thoughts.)
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If you’ve not seen it (outside the money hours or on a well-earned break)…

Be inspired to think more and fear less with this favorite clip from the film Defending Your Life (about 5-minutes). I love this one.
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Today’s quotation is the final thought from Eleanor Roosevelt’s article in Atlantic Magazine in April 1961… "What Has Happened to The American Dream?"

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- Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–1944)
French aviator and writer

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Give more influence…

How are you kicking off your workday?

Are you preparing your mind with solid thought, information, and support? Are you allowing the right radio or TV personalities to get you ready (are any of them good… share one)? The right news or material? The right people at the office?

Be careful to what you give your attention. It all has an influence on you. (And kicking it is much more fun than mediocrity… or worse.)

Feed your mind well. It’s where action starts.

(And life’s too short to be mediocre.)
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If you’ve not seen it (outside the money hours or on a well-earned break)… an inspiring 1-minute Apple ad on "Thinking Different."

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- Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
English writer

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Give more truth…

If you’re not getting push back from time-to-time (or conversations aren’t occasionally uncomfortable), you may not be getting the full truth. And without the full truth, your choices and actions might take you in the wrong direction.

Make sure you do your best to objectively dig for truth (rather than hope or wish something to be. Ask that second and third question.)

We call it "wishing it in" at Give More. If you play tennis, you get it. In a match, if your opponent hits a ball that you’ll have to run hard to get, you might be lazy and "wish it out" instead of pushing it. Avoid "wishing in" a new hire (here’s an idea on this one), a partnership, or project. Go for objective truth.

Speaking of truth… Do you know the fable The Emperor’s New Clothes? I always thought I did but it really goes much further than I knew (10-minute read, tops).

It’s about truth, conviction, and being valuable.

Read with an English accent (which apparently can sound very different depending upon which part of England you’re from) and a bit of actor’s energy, you might find yourself laughing out loud with pity as you recognize the similarities to some of our organizational experiences today.

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- George Cecil (1891–1970)
American advertising copywriter

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Give more risk…

Comfort. Risk. Both are enjoyable.

One we strive to create. One we try to minimize.

One can make us lazy. One can make us stronger.

When did you last risk failure? When did you last leave your comfort zone?

212 challenge… Step out of your comfort zone once more each week and create over 50 additional opportunities for excitement, challenge and possibility each year. This is what life’s about.

It’s been said that youth is wasted on the young. By taking risks, we assure life isn’t wasted on the living.

212 commitment… Risk. Attempt. Fail. Succeed. Once more each week.

(from the book, 212° the extra degree® – what’s 212?)
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Q1 printable GiveMore calendars for Two-Twelve (one less syllable… and a year long reminder to give it that extra degree of effort).

Area code and state abbreviation charts are here.
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Today’s quotation is from a correspondence school advertisement in 1921. George Cecil was writing as William Lawrence.

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- Lance Armstrong (1971 – )
American cyclist
7-time Tour de France champion

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Give more challenge…

Too many people are losing productivity on a particular day of the week because of a Flintstone-like mentality perpetuated by sitcoms and morning radio personalities. (Search Twitter for the word "Mondays" today for proof.)

It’s getting to the point where Tuesdays are the new week. (Wednesday is hump day, Thursdays are almost Fridays, Fridays are practically the weekend and Mondays… They’re for ramping up.)

It’s time for a little LUKSA (it’s Polish for "let us kick some @$$"… not really… just an acronym we made up).

Could you help inspire a "let’s kick some @$$" Monday morning start to the week? Could you spark a little positive revolution and help someone break out of the TGIF mentality (or yourself if it applies)?

Wouldn’t both be more fun (and profitable)? How about just starting it at home?

Get a LUKSA printable reminder here.
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1 minute from Nike to get you revved up. I watch this at least once every couple of weeks. I love how it builds and then pops at 0.38. Sick good. (That’s really really good.)

If you know a teenager who wants to care, pass it along. I shared it a few weeks ago at talk with some high school students and it seemed to connect nicely.
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In case we missed you last week… Here are our results to our "What’s the worst thing about meetings?" survey (and the solutions – whether you’re leading it or attending it).

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- Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915)
American publisher and writer

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Give more thought…

You can draw value from a naysayer or cynic by remaining objective and positive in your thinking (yes, it can be tough).

Occasionally, they’ll point out valid hurdles or challenges you haven’t seen (even if they present it like an @ss). With their help, if you can remain objective/detached (and keep your ego in check), you’ll have a better chance of getting something valuable from the interaction.

Stay objective. Be no ego. Get value. (Seriously)

(5 ways to get your ego out of the way)
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Today’s quote is by Elbert Hubbard who wrote A Message to Garcia (1500-word classic on Initiative and Responsibility). Do you have your free downloadable copy? It’s one of our favorites. We’ve even created a fun version for kids.

(No Gomo printable reminders are here.)

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- Hillel (30B.C.–10A.D.)
Babylonian scholar

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Give more time…

Today is 20% of your week.

Two workdays are 10% of your month.

To lose only two workdays each month to fatigue or a desire to wait for a better day to do something, would be to lose more than a full month of workdays each year.

Imagine if your income reflected your slow days… and know that in the long run, it probably does.

47 workdays remain in the quarter. Tic toc.

(Who should you remind? Get your printable work days for 2012.)
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What if you checked email only 3 times a day?

Since November 2010, we’ve been doing this as a team at GiveMore to see if it helps us.

Here’s what we’ve learned.
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Today is one month out from Christmas day.

In the GiveMore quote we published on the day after Christmas, I highlighted some history of the day and suggested that the date itself was arbitrary and that we should carry the holiday’s spirit every day. A few subscribers were a bit annoyed with some of what I said (the original "Merry Today" post is here).

I just came across another piece written about a 100 years ago by a preacher that says what I was trying to say, but so much better. It’s called "Keeping Christmas" – something I plan to remind myself with on a weekly basis (about a 3-minute read). I hope you enjoy it.

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- Chinese proverb

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Give more reminder…

For those who depend on customers, clients, or patients…

Remember… It took a lot to bring those people in. Make sure you keep them by continually radiating a service culture internally. When you see an opportunity, seize it (for the good of everyone).

Through your interactions with other departments, help and encourage each other to embrace the fact that it’s the customer/ client/ patient who keeps the lights on (metaphorically and literally). Don’t encourage, condone, or contribute to negative discussions about them. Focus instead on how your organization helps people solve their challenges and/ or improve their business or personal lives.

This is what keeps the lights burning bright (and you shining bright).

(smile & move)
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To help you kick off the day… A beautifully shot and scored video of New York (5 minutes). I’ve found it puts me in a great state of mind to make good things happen. (Thanks to Mark Hurst for tipping us off. Surround yourself with good people, you’ll learn about good things.)

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- Isabel Allende (1942 – )
Chilean-American novelist

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Give more investment…

Moving forward (now), make a conscious choice to flip that internal switch and focus on giving more for the dollars you earn (with your effort, with your product/ service) and you’ll find more will come your way. It may not always happen as quickly as you’d like, but it’s the better bet in the long run.

(pace your expectations… give more… enjoy more)
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When I think about today’s quote, it reminds me of Jon Stewart’s introduction of Bruce Springsteen at the Kennedy Center Honors program a couple years ago…

"Whenever I see Bruce Springsteen do anything, he empties the tank… every time. And the beautiful thing about this man is he empties that tank for his family, he empties that tank for his art, he empties that tank for his audience, and he empties it for his country. And we, on the receiving end of that beautiful gift are ourselves rejuvenated, if not redeemed."

That "every time" is what gets me.

Most of us don’t get the opportunity to empty the tank in such a cool way as Springsteen, but we can work to empty the tank and be rock stars in our own worlds.

As a subscriber to GiveMore, you’re obligated to empty the tank (No Gomos*).

Over the weekend or during a well-earned break, you can enjoy Jon Stewart’s hilarious and moving introduction to Springsteen here (9.5 minutes).

*Gomo: Someone who goes through the motions. The Gallup poll people tell us 54% of us are in this category (they corporate speak it using the term… disengaged). Get a No Gomo wristband here. Get a No Gomo or No D-grunt printable reminder here.

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- Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)
Danish philosopher and writer

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Give more concept…

Sometimes, if we don’t have success after repeated attempts to do something, we can lose confidence and eventually give up trying. It’s called "learned helplessness" (we learn to be helpless).

Give more check: Any areas where you and your team have stopped trying (or try, but with little commitment) because prior repeated failures and/ or a perceived inability to succeed has trained you not to try? With customer care improvement initiatives? In motivating and improving team attitudes and cooperation?

If so, what can you start doing today to minimize any "learned helplessness" that may have set in? (Maybe have a Cross The Line discussion.)

To see (6-minute video) an interesting take on the concept from a class at Penn State Erie and to learn a little more about the person behind it…
click here.
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If you’ve not seen it or need a reminder to dump your excuses, here’s
1 minute from Nike.

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