A Real Time Waster

I love quotes, the simpler the better. Attributed to President Eisenhower, this quote is short, simple and speaks a lot of truth. Eisenhower said, “Never waste a minute thinking about people you don't like."

Yet, many of us spend a lot of time thinking about people we don’t like. We think about what they must be thinking about us. We think about what we are going to say to them the next time they say something to us. We think about the last time we saw them and all the things they do that rub us the wrong way.

If you think about it, it really is time wasted. Chances are you won’t ever have the opportunity to use that witty comment you keep playing in your head. Of course, you can’t go back and redo the last argument or respond to the catty comment, so why keep thinking about it?

If you think about something with enough passion and feeling, you can recreate that experience. Seriously, if you think about something that upset you or infuriated you, you will find yourself getting upset or infuriated all over again. Your body will tense up. Your breath will get shorter and you will actually recreate the physiology of upset or anger. The mind is just that powerful! So use it for good.

If you must replay situations in your mind, think about the time you laughed until you cried with a friend or the feeling you had when your boss thanked you for a job well done or when your business finally started turning a profit.

Spending your time on people who enrich your life and experiences that enhance your life is never a waste of time.

Let people who don’t like you waste their time thinking about you. You’ve got better things to do.

Favorite Quotes

I love quotes. I have a large collection of them. My training materials and presentations are peppered with them. I feature a quote at the end of my monthly newsletter. I have a white board at my desk where I feature a new quote every week. Heck, I have a white board at home in my office that I use for quotes.

Here are a few of my favorites

"My will shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me, or I can be lost in a maze. My choice, my responsibility, win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny."
~ Elaine Maxwell

"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can anyone deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me."
~ Zora Neale Hurston

"The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles."
~ Gandhi

"Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels."
~ Faith Whittlesey

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."
~ Sam Ewing

"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."
~ Ella Fitzgerald

"I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That's were the fun is.”
~ Donald Trump

"Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you're going to do about it."
~ Kathleen Casey Theisen

"Happiness is not easily won; it is hard to find it in ourselves, and impossible to find it elsewhere."
~ Nicolas Chamfort

"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you."
~ Rita Mae Brown