All hail Seizer!

The former emperor of Rome (or so he claims) has a very interesting place called 'A Personal Change blog'.

It's new but he's written quite a number of posts about self development, personal improvement and so on. Some of what he says gives pause for thought...

Take a look here.

The blink of an eye...

In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.

Robert Green Ingersoll

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Eternity is awesome in its scope... all else fades into less than insignificance. Such thoughts inspire respect for the universe on the one hand, fear of it on the other.

The main virtue

Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.


Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English Author

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In other words, in order to call on the full range of what we are capable of we need to go out and truly live. And truly living requires that we move out of our comfort zone... and moving out of our comfort zone requires... courage.

Rocky speaks

I think I'd like to be remembered as someone who beat the odds through just plain determination. ... that I persevered. Because I think that being somewhat of a pest to life, constantly plaguing and pursuing, will bring results.

Sylvester Stallone (1946-) American Actor

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Again and again, people who have been successful name perseverance - or persistence - as the main ingredient of success. It is often said that a person with average talent but never-ending persistence will beat everybody else simply because, usually, everybody else gives up before they get round to succeeding.

Why do we give up?

I think there are numerous reasons but one of the strongest is the belief that this thing we are trying just won't succeed. As it starts to get a little difficult, or as we find ourselves in a dead end that we can't work our way out of we tell ourselves it isn't possible for it to work out, that the difficulties are intractable, that we don't, after all, really want to do this.

We give ourselves permission to fail. And so fail is what we do.

For me - and maybe for you - the point is to give ourselves permission to succeed against the odds, to persuade ourselves to step out of the comfort zone and to just get on and do it. We need to believe that, if you want something badly enough, you usually can get it. The thing you want might be monumental so the effort required may be monumental also but it's still possible. And if it's possible then, well, maybe you should just do it...

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.” Horace (65-8 BC) Roman Poet

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Of course, that's easy to say when life is smooth and sweet. I find it less easy to remember this piece wisdom when I'm actually experiencing adversity. But that does not deny its fundamental truth. You only discover what you've got when you need to use what you've got. And the best stuff in you is revealed by the hardest times because we can all be good people when it's easy.

Next time, in the midst of troubles or strife, I'm going to ask myself what qualities I need to get me through this. Then I'm going to ask myself whether I'm prepared to summon them right now, when they're most needed, in order to help me - or a loved one - out.

I can't imagine I'll turn myself down...

A short break will follow...

... while my wife and I take a holiday. Back next weekend...

Find a direction

It is more important to know where you are going than to get there quickly.
Mabel Newcomber

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I see this as a description of life.

There's no point in working away for years and years only to find that what you're achieving isn't what you actually want.

I recently did a thought exercise where I imagined witnessing my own funeral; more to the point I heard what my family, friends, business associates and acquaintances said about me in their speeches. The point of the exercise was to ask yourself: what would you like to hear? How would you like them to remember you? Once I answered those questions I started to realise what kind of life I wanted to live.

Such insights give one direction, clarity...

We already know...

“People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.”
Dr Samuel Johnson

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It's strange how we always seem to know the 'right thing' when we're faced with it - even if we've consistently done the 'wrong thing' previously. It's almost as if the right thing is naturally in our brains but is sometimes deeply enough buried that it needs somebody to dig it out for us. The right thing always seems so obvious when we suddenly 'discover' it...

Dr Johnson's view of man is an optimistic one. He evidently believes that good and right behaviour are intrinsic to man's nature. I think I tend to agree with him.

Increase the peace

Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish Writer

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This is quite amusing in its own way but it also tells us that instead of demanding everybody else shape up and do the right thing the one sure way of increasing the quantity of good in the world in to increase the quantity of good in oneself.

And, of course, leading a better life provides a better example. Some of what you do right will rub off on others...