Monday Morning Motivations A Fresh Coat of Paint

Published by Robert A. & Vicki L. Prentice of Professional Development Systems
August 7, 2006 Issue 210

From the Desk of Bob

Well, the feedback on last weeks article Vicki wrote was wonderful. Thanks to all of you who sent in such kind words. Yes, Vicki is a pretty awesome and I am so blessed to have her as my wife. Your comments and notes throughout the week truly encouraged Vicki, who enjoys writing whenever she gets the opportunity. Thanks again!

If any of you would like to try your hand at writing positive content or already have a positive story you want to share with our MMM readers, please let me know. I am more than happy to share this wonderful opportunity and platform to encourage others.

I should also mention that if you are looking for more positive content to read, you should check out the website at www.ezinearticles.com! This is a site loaded with good reading material by a variety of authors, myself included.

Have a GREAT week! Bob

In this week's issue

Life Attitudes

Seeds of Success: A Fresh Coat of Paint

Recipe for Miracles

The Prairie Beacon

Mr. Attitude's Life Tested Tools

Life Attitudes

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction."
~George Horace Lorimer~

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."
~Vince Lombardi~

"Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts."
~Coleman Cox~

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Seeds of Success: A Fresh Coat of Paint

By Robert A. Prentice

Over the last several days we have been scraping and sanding and scraping some more to get the old paint off of our house. This is no easy chore! There are at least three coats of paint on this old house that must come off if we are ever to have a decent-looking paint job in the end. In some places the old paint is coming off pretty easily but in others it’s very, very difficult. It is taking lots of time and hard work and there are no quick fixes in this process, but since we want to do it right, we are persevering.

As I am scraping the old paint away I am reminded of the uniqueness of a fresh coat of paint and of the need for a properly prepared surface on which to apply that fresh paint. In no way would I ever attempt to put a fresh coat of paint right over the old paint because I know it would ultimately be an exercise in futility, and I would find myself doing the job again in only a couple of years.

Not only is the scraping of the old paint required; there is the need to put fresh caulk around the windows, doors and gaps, to repair siding, and in our case, even replace some windows. Quite frankly, there’s quite a process we must go through before we can even think of putting the new fresh coat of paint on this old house.

The reason I share this laborious process with you today is because I have found that many times people, myself included, attempt to apply a “fresh coat of paint” so to speak, to their lives without first taking the proper steps to prepare for that new look. Seeing the need for change in our lives and, desiring a quick fix, we decide to take a few shortcuts. We go out and buy some paint and start slapping it on hoping it will make us look good.

To put it another way, we attempt to change the way we look to others by buying something or entering into a relationship or acting in a way that will make us look more successful to others–basically trying to hide the crud and adding something to our life that we hope will convince us and others that we have it all together. This works about as well, in the long run as trying to apply fresh paint to a surface that isn’t properly prepared, because meanwhile, the crud is still there, right under the surface.

Do you know what I mean by crud? Well, the “crud” is all the procrastination, worry, fear, negative thoughts, bad attitudes, hurt, disappointment, pride, anger, bad habits, past failures, bitterness, or whatever else we are trying to cover up. The crud is the stuff that must be dealt with if we are to have the true success we desire, and there is literally no other way to rid ourselves of this crud, other than to begin diligently and tenaciously scraping it away, little by little.

Trust me–I know about crud and I am not done with the laborious process of scraping in my life either. Much like you I hunger and crave for the fresh new coat of paint, but for now, I have got to keep scraping the crud away. Care to join me? I have extra scrapers available!

Recipe for Miracles

Ingredients:

1 part of knowing who you are

1 part of knowing who you aren’t

1 part of knowing what you want

1 part of knowing who you wish to be

1 part of knowing what you already have before you

1 part of choosing wisely from what you have before you

1 part of loving & thanking for ALL you have (“bad” included)

Mixing Instructions:

Combine ingredients together gently and carefully.

Using faith and vision, mix together with strong belief of the outcome, until finely blended.

Use thoughts, words and actions for best results.

Bake until Blessed. Give thanks again.

Yield: Unlimited servings

~Author Unknown~

Bob "Mr. Attitude" Prentice is available for Keynote, conference engagements, and in-house company training assignments Call to schedule Bob TODAY! 800.437.9715

Read on...

The Prairie Beacon

The Prairie Beacon is a monthly positive attitude paper, published by Mr. Attitude, featuring Seeds of Success articles, motivational stories, quotes and attitudes, all guaranteed to challenge and inspire it's readers to live a richer, fuller and happier life.

Subscribe today! Just $15 for 12 issues. Send your check to: The Prairie Beacon 410 Wessington Street South Wessington, SD 57381

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Mr. Attitude's Life Tested Tools

My training sessions consist of the principals, attitudes, and skills that I have discovered over the course of my life, and that I aspire to practice in my day to day living. These are the Life Tested Tools that I have to offer:

KEYS TO BETTER LEADERSHIP • Creativity Encounter • Planning for Results • Organizational Effectiveness • Understanding Ourselves and Others • Teamwork Works • Building Morale

KEYS TO BETTER SELLING • Gaining a Prospects Attention • Building Interest • Communicating with Conviction • Painting Pictures of Desire • Asking for the Business • Welcoming Objections • Showmanship in Selling • Total Customer Service • Bootstrap Marketing o Barter o Networking o Advertising o Podcasting/Blogging o Internet

KEYS TO BETTER LIVING • Attitudes for Excellence • Managing Stress and Time • Complete Life Strategy • Tapping our Potential

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Feel free to pass your Monday Morning Motivations on to a friend.

What a great way to let them know you are thinking of them!