80 Days...

The first 30 days passed by slowly, yet the days since have been flying by. I am amazed to be at 80 days already. I'm really feeling good, strong, clear minded, and even more motivated to implement some brand new personal challenges...for the next 100 days. It's really neat to see how having small successes over a short period of time can really fuel the flame of inspiration, motivation and confidence. I'm going to start developing my next set of goals over these last 20 days. I am ready to keep working hard and reaping real, lasting rewards that will continue to improve my life and the lives of those around me indefinitely. As I see it now, at 80 days, this 100 day program is only the beginning of more goodness to come, as I plan to grow and share as much as I possibly can. :-)

Here's the rundown of the past 10 days:

1. PhilosophersNotes: Here are the books I covered this week:

"The Pursuit of Perfect" - Tal Ben-Shahar
"Real Magic" - Wayne Dyer
"Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - Robert T. Kiyosaki
"Rumi Daylight" - Rumi
"The Science of Being Great" - Wallace D. Wattles
"The Science of Getting Rich" - Wallace D. Wattles
"Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" - T. Harv Eker
"The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson"
"The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" - Deepak Chopra
"The Silva Mind Control Method of Mental Dynamics" - Jose Silva & Burt Goldman

Here are my favorite 13 quotes from the past 10 days...

“You can render to God and humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“Get rich, that is the best way you can help the poor.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“Facts do not cease to exist simply because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?” – Rumi

Learn to fail, or fail to learn.” - Tal Ben-Shahar

“Greatness is attained only by the thinking of great thoughts.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5

“Practicing the Law of Giving is actually very simple; if you want joy, give joy to others; if you want love, learn to give love; if you want attention and appreciation, learn to give attention and appreciation; if you want material affluence, help others to become materially affluent. In fact, the easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want.” – Deepak Chopra

“The answer to your prayer is not according to your faith while you are talking, but according to your faith while you are working.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” – Alexander Graham Bell

“In every forest, on every farm, in every orchard on earth, it’s what’s under the ground that creates what’s above the ground. That’s why placing your attention on the fruits that you have already grown is futile. You cannot change the fruits that are already hanging on the tree. You can, however, change tomorrow’s fruits. But to do so, you will have to dig below the ground and strengthen the roots.” – T. Harv Eker

“Commit to paper precisely what you would like to have appear in your physical life. By seeing it and reading it repeatedly you will plant that thought more firmly in your mind and you will begin to manifest that which you are imaging.” – Wayne Dyer

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

***More Super-Awesome Quotes follow below this post...


2. Jump Attack: I enjoyed my week of rest as the demands of this program have been heavy on my legs. I am getting stronger and faster indeed, and I look forward to completing the final phase of the program. This new phase sees all my weights increasing and my reps going down. This phase will be power based and intense. I look forward to the ongoing challenge and will be pushing hard until completion. I hope by the end of this phase to be able to "put it down", aka "slam dunk" for those not hip to the lingo. ;-)


3. Nutrition, Eating Well and my other Commitments: I've been staying strong, eating well and feeling good. I've discovered dried Figs (Black Mission) and have been in love with them. I was reading about nutrition and Figs were highly recommended by numerous sources so I thought I'd give them a try. They look kinda gross, and not so appealing, yet once I took my first bite and chewed I was hooked. I've forged on with the plant based (Vegan) diet while also managing to stay clear of all sweets, refined grains/sugars, toxins, etc.

In other food/nutrition related news I would highly recommend that everyone watch Food, Inc. It's a great documentary that has been getting a ton of attention Nationwide, and really sheds light on the state of our Food and Agriculture Industries. Discovering how the food you eat, and the products you buy get from the farm to your plate, is a great thing to know. You'll be very surprised to learn about the whole process. You'll be appalled at some of the practices and truths, yet you will be informed and empowered. Check it out! :-)


***Here are the rest of the quotes I've enjoyed from the past 10 days...

“You might initially think courage, not faith, is the opposite of fear. But consider that courage exists only where there is fear to be overcome. Without fear there can be no courage; you would just act.” - Josè Silva and Burt Goldman

“To deal with it [fear], go to your meditative level. Polarize the fear; visualize the positive expectations. What would you be doing if you did not have the fear? Go over this again and again.” - Josè Silva and Burt Goldman

“There is no way to get dark out of a room other than to let light in. The only way to get stress out of your being is to let in relaxation. You cannot be relaxed and stressful at the same time.” - Josè Silva and Burt Goldman

“Fear is nothing more than Negative Expectation.” – Brian Johnson

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well… To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“And truly it demands something godlike in him who cast off the common motives of humanity and ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Man is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks, he is!” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”- Thomas Jefferson

“There is only one way in which you can ‘change your luck’ and that is by altering your thoughts.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Our desires presage the capacities within us; they are harbingers of what we shall be able to accomplish. What we can do and want to do is projected in our imagination, quite outside ourselves, and into the future. We are attracted to what is already ours in secret. Thus passionate anticipation transforms what is indeed possible into dreamt-for reality.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do that which is assigned to you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.” – Thomas Edison

“Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.” – Rumi

“The intelligent want self-control; children want candy.” – Rumi

“No mirror ever became iron again; No bread ever became wheat;No ripened grape ever became sour fruit.Mature yourself and be secure from a change for the worse.Become the light.” – Rumi

“Patience is the key to joy.” – Rumi

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?” – Rumi

“Burdens are the foundations of ease and bitter things the forerunners of pleasure.” – Rumi

“Facts do not cease to exist simply because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley

“Conventional opinion is the ruin of our souls.” - Rumi

“God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one.” – Rumi

“Travelers, it is late. Life’s sun is going to set. During these brief days that you have strength, be quick and spare no effort of your wings.” – Rumi

“If your knowledge of fire has been turned to certainty by words alone, then seek to be cooked by the fire itself. Don’t abide in borrowed certainty. There is no real certainty until you burn; if you wish for this, sit down in the fire.” – Rumi

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” – Buddha

“The Principle of Power gives us just what we ask of it; if we only undertake little things, it only gives us power for little things; but if we try to do great things in a great way it gives us all the power there is.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“You can never become a great man or woman until you have overcome anxiety, worry, and fear. It is impossible for an anxious person, a worried one, or a fearful one to perceive truth; all things are distorted and thrown out of their proper relations by such mental states, and those who are in them cannot read the thoughts of God.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“Intellect helps us to see the best means and manner of doing the right thing, but intellect never shows us the right thing.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“Obey your soul, have perfect faith in yourself. Never think of yourself with doubt or distrust, or as one who makes mistakes.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“Close your ears to all adverse suggestions. Never mind if people call you a fool and a dreamer. Dream on.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.” – George Bernard Shaw

“Greatness is attained only by the thinking of great thoughts.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“So surely as you find yourself in the mental attitude of haste, just so surely may you know that you are out of the mental attitude of greatness. Hurry and fear will instantly cut your connection with the universal mind.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“It is within the power of every man to become great.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“It is a tremendous fact that all you need is already within you.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“The only service you can render to God is to give expression to what he is trying to give the world, through you. The only service you can render God is to make the very most of yourself in order that God may live in you to the utmost of your possibilities.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“The world needs demonstration more than it needs teaching.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“When you discover your essential nature and know who you really are, in that knowing itself is the ability to fulfill any dream you have… and the more you experience your true nature, the closer you are to the field of pure potentiality.” – Deepak Chopra

“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5

“But first, you have to practice stillness. Stillness is the first requirement of manifesting your desires, because in stillness lies your connection to the field of pure potentiality that can orchestrate an infinity of details for you.” - Deepak Chopra

“Practicing the Law of Giving is actually very simple; if you want joy, give joy to others; if you want love, learn to give love; if you want attention and appreciation, learn to give attention and appreciation; if you want material affluence, help others to become materially affluent. In fact, the easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want.” – Deepak Chopra

“The takers are the people who believe that their lives will always be the total of what they can get from the world. They are always thinking get, get, get. They plan and scheme ways to get what they want in money, in love, in happiness, and in all kinds of good. No matter that they may be applying metaphysical techniques, they still may very well be takers. But whatever may be their spiritual ideals or lack of any, no matter what they take, they can never know peace or security or fulfillment… The givers, on the other hand, are convinced life is a giving process. Thus their subtle motivation in all their ways is to give themselves away, in love, in service, and in all the many helpful ways they can invest themselves. They are always secure, for they intuitively know that their good flows from within.” – Eric Butterworth

“This means that your acceptance of this moment is total and complete. You accept things as they are, not as you wish they were in this moment. This is important to understand. You can wish for things in the future to be different, but in this moment you have to accept things as they are.” - Deepak Chopra

“All problems contain the seeds of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation or thing.” – Deepak Chopra

“One-pointed intention is that quality of attention that is unbending in its fixity of purpose. One-pointed intention means holding your attention to the intended outcome with such unbending purpose that you absolutely refuse to allow obstacles to consume and dissipate the focused quality of your attention. There is a total and complete exclusion of all obstacles from your consciousness. You are able to maintain an unshakable serenity while being committed to your goal with intense passion. This is the power of detached awareness and one-pointed, focused intention simultaneously.” – Deepak Chopra

“The Law of Detachment says that in order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it. This doesn’t mean that you give up the intention to create your desire. You don’t give up the intention, and you don’t give up the desire. You give up your attachment to the result.” – Deepak Chopra

“Everyone has a purpose in life… a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of goals.” – Deepak Chopra

“You can render to God and humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“To do things in a way you want to do them, you will have to acquire the ability to think the way you want to think; this is the first step toward getting rich.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“The purpose of Nature is the advancement and unfoldment of life; and every man should have all that can contribute to the power, elegance, beauty and richness of life; to be content with less is sinful.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“What he [God] wants is that you should make the most of yourself, for yourself, and for others; and you can help others more by making the most of yourself than in any other way. … You can make the most of yourself only by getting rich; so it is right and praiseworthy that you should give your first and best thought to the work of acquiring wealth.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“A seed, dropped into the ground, springs into activity, and in the act of living produces a hundred more seeds; life, by living, multiplies itself. It is forever Becoming More; it must do so, if it continues to be at all.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“Get rich, that is the best way you can help the poor.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“A man’s highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits on those he loves; love finds its most natural and spontaneous expression in giving.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“It is the natural and inherent impulse of life to seek to live more; it is the nature of intelligence to enlarge itself, and of consciousness to seek to extend its boundaries and find fuller expression.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“You are to become a creator, not a competitor; you are going to get what you want, but in such a way that when you get it every other man will have more than he has now.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“The answer to your prayer is not according to your faith while you are talking, but according to your faith while you are working.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“You must form a clear and definite mental picture of what you want.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“You cannot impress the mind of God by having a special Sabbath day set apart to tell Him what you want, and then forgetting Him the rest of the week.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“You cannot exercise much power without gratitude; for it is gratitude that keeps you connected with Power.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“It is necessary, then, to cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you; and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“You want to be rich in order that you may eat, drink, and be merry when it is time to do these things; in order that you may surround yourself with beautiful things, see distant lands, feed your mind, and develop your intellect; in order that you may love men and do kind things, and be able to play a good part in helping the world to find truth.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“In order to get rich you do not need a ‘sweet hour of prayer’; you need to ‘pray without ceasing.’ And by prayer I mean holding steadily to your vision, with the purpose to cause its creation into solid form, and the faith that you are doing so.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“Every day is either a successful day or a failure; and it is the successful days which get you what you want. If everyday is a failure, you can never get rich; while if every day is a success, you cannot fail to get rich.” - Wallace D. Wattles

“Do not give your creative impulse to Original Substance, and then sit down and wait for results; if you do, you will never get them. Act now. There is never any time but now, and there never will be any time but now. If you are ever to begin to make ready for the reception of what you want, you must begin now.” – Wallace D. Wattles

“In every forest, on every farm, in every orchard on earth, it’s what’s under the ground that creates what’s above the ground. That’s why placing your attention on the fruits that you have already grown is futile. You cannot change the fruits that are already hanging on the tree. You can, however, change tomorrow’s fruits. But to do so, you will have to dig below the ground and strengthen the roots.” – T. Harv Eker

“An affirmation states that a goal is already happening. I’m not crazy about this because, often when we affirm something that is not yet real, the little voice in our head usually responds with ‘This isn’t true, this is BS’ … On the other hand, a declaration is not saying something is true, it’s saying we have an intention of doing or being something. This is a position the little voice can buy, because we’re not stating it’s true right now, but again, it’s an intention for us in the future.” – T. Harv Eker

“Your programming leads to your thoughts; your thoughts lead to your feelings; your feelings lead to your actions; your actions lead to your results. Therefore, just as is done with a personal computer, by changing your programming, you take the first essential step to changing your results.” – T. Harv Eker

“No thought lives in your head rent-free.” – T. Harv Eker

“It’s simple arithmetic: ‘Your income can grow only to the extent you do.’” – T. Harv Eker

“Poor people choose to play the role of the victim.” – T. Harv Eker

“Let me put it bluntly: anyone who says that money isn’t important doesn’t have any! Rich people understand the importance of money and the place it has in our society. On the other hand, poor people validate their financial ineptitude by using irrelevant comparisons. They’ll argue, ‘Well, money isn’t as important as love.’ Now, is that comparison dumb or what? What’s more important, your arm or your leg? Maybe they’re both important.” – T. Harv Eker

“Complaining is the absolute worst possible thing you could do for your health or your wealth. The worst! … For the next seven days, I challenge you not to complain at all.” - T. Harv Eker

“Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.” – T. Harv Eker

“If you shoot for the stars, you’ll at least hit the moon. Poor people don’t even shoot for the ceiling in their house, and then they wonder why they’re not successful.” – T. Harv Eker

“Comfort kills! If your goal in life is to be comfortable, I guarantee two things. First, you will never be rich. Second, you will never be happy. Happiness doesn’t come from living a lukewarm life, always wondering what could have been. Happiness comes as a result of being in our natural state of growth and living up to our fullest potential.” - T. Harv Eker

“Bless that which you want. If you see a person with a beautiful home, bless that person and bless that home. If you see a person with a beautiful car, bless that person and bless that car. If you see a person with a loving family, bless that person and bless that family. If you see a person with a beautiful body, bless that person and bless their body.” – T. Harv Eker

“Energy is contagious: either you affect people or you infect people… I believe negative thinking is like having measles of the mind. Instead of itching, you get bitching; instead of scratching, you get bashing; instead of irritation, you get frustration. Now, do you really want to be close to people like that?” – T. Harv Eker

“Here’s an equation I want you to remember for the rest of your life: CZ = WZ. It means your ‘comfort zone’ equals your ‘wealth zone.’ By expanding your comfort zone, you will expand the size of your income and wealth zone.” – T. Harv Eker

“I am concerned that too many people are focused too much on money and not on their greatest wealth, which is their education. If people are prepared to be flexible, keep an open mind and learn, they will grow richer and richer through the changes. If they think money will solve the problems, I am afraid those people will have a rough ride. Intelligence solves problems and produces money. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone.” – Robert Kiyosaki

(Speaking about Debt)- “If you find you have dug yourself into a hole... stop digging.” - Robert Kiyosaki

“We all have tremendous potential, and we all are blessed with gifts. Yet, the one thing that holds all of us back is some degree of self-doubt. It is not so much the lack of technical information that holds us back, but more the lack of self-confidence.” – Robert Kiyosaki

“Life is much like going to the gym. The most painful part is deciding to go. Once you get past that, it’s easy.” - Robert Kiyosaki

“If you have little money and you want to be rich, you must first be ‘focused,’ not ‘balanced.’ If you look at anyone successful, at the start they were not balanced. Balanced people go nowhere. They stay in one spot. To make progress, you must first go unbalanced. Just look at how you make progress walking.” – Robert Kiyosaki

“Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” – Alexander Graham Bell

“Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.” – Peter Senge

“Whenever you feel ‘short’ or in ‘need’ of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love, friendship. I know it is often the last thing a person may want to do, but it has always worked for me. I just trust that the principle of reciprocity is true, and I give what I want.” – Robert Kiyosaki

“When you go beyond outcome in life you find yourself unconcerned about what is in it for you. Thoughts, feelings and behavior focus more and more on the fulfillment of your purpose. You go beyond success, achievement and performance as indications of your life’s mission. Instead, every moment is lived fully and lovingly. Material possessions cease to dominate your thoughts, which is not to say that they disappear. They simply cease to be the focus of life. Instead, your purpose takes hold, and you gain a sense of joy and inner harmony knowing that you are divinely fulfilling your reason for being here. As Michel de Montaigne put it so succinctly: “The great and glorious masterpiece of man is how to live with purpose.” – Wayne Dyer

“All of the things that you have become convinced are limits are products of the way in which you have learned to think… Before the invention of the microscope most people did not believe in the existence of microscopic life. People who believe only what they can see or p – Wayne Dyer

“Become detached from the outcome of your actions and paradoxically your level of performance will climb.” - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“Begin to act in your physical world as if that person whom you would love to be were already here.” - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“When you are able to shift your inner awareness to how you can serve others, and when you make this the central focus of your life, you will then be in a position to know true miracles in your progress toward prosperity.” – Wayne Dyer

“How do you surrender? Just let go! Don’t strain to achieve; instead, enjoy the process of the work that you are doing. The results will come independent of your striving for them. When your mind is on the result rather than what you are doing, you create inner discord that blocks any and all possibilities for miracles to show up. Prosperity is about process, not outcome. Purpose is about loving and giving.” – Wayne Dyer

“Your biggest hurdle to reshaping your personality into the work of art that you desire will be overcoming your fears and doubts.” - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“For a master, the rewards gained along the way are fine, but they are not the main reason for the journey. Ultimately, the master and the master’s path are one. And if the traveler is fortunate—that is, if the path is complex and profound enough—the destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels.” – George Leonard

“Commit to paper precisely what you would like to have appear in your physical life. By seeing it and reading it repeatedly you will plant that thought more firmly in your mind and you will begin to manifest that which you are imaging.” – Wayne Dyer

“Create an intention inventory for yourself. Not a wish list, but an inventory of what you intend to create within yourself. The kind of person you want to become, along with the necessary ingredients for creating that person. You must first know this. Then shift to your intention stance. ‘I intend to manifest the necessary talent and intellect to become the kind of purposeful person I am destined to be.’ This kind of inner commitment to your own excellence is the stuff of which miracles are made.” – Wayne Dyer

‘The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.” – Carl Rogers

“Change is not a threat but a challenge; the unknown is not frightening but fascinating.” - Tal Ben-Shahar

“The pain associated with the fear of failure is usually more intense than the pain following an actual failure.” - Tal Ben-Shahar

“A conscious realization of our innate oneness with the Ineffable does not mean that we will never make a mistake again. Even enlightened beings burn their bagels once in a while. It’s important to maintain a sense of humor because this is how you will stop being afraid of making a mistake. You’ll make some, but so what? That’s why they’re called mis-takes. Humor relaxes the uptight ego. You get a new cue from your inner Self and simply say, ‘I missed my cue, so let’s do a second take.’ Your willingness to take the risk of making a mistake is actually an expression of courage and a willingness to grow from them. Mistakes are about getting the blessing in the lesson and the lesson in the blessing.” – Michael Beckwith

“Taking the constraints of reality into consideration, the Optimalist then works toward creating not the perfect life but the best possible one.” - Tal Ben-Shahar

“The word appreciate has two meanings. The first meaning is ‘to be thankful,’ the opposite of taking something for granted. The second meaning is ‘to increase in value’ (as money appreciates in the bank). Combined, these two meanings point to a truth that has been proved repeatedly in research on gratitude: when we appreciate the good in our lives, the good grows and we have more of it. The opposite, sadly, is also true: when we fail to appreciate the good—when we take the good in our lives for granted—the good depreciates.” – Tal Ben-Shahar

“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare, is to lose oneself.” - Søren Kierkegaard

“The problem in today’s corporate world, as well as in many other realms, is not hard work; the problem is insufficient recovery.” - Tal Ben-Shahar

“The rising levels of mental health problems, coupled with improved psychiatric medication, are thrusting us toward a brave new world. To reverse direction, rather than listening to advertisers who promise us the wonder drug, the magic pill that will improve performance and mood, we need to listen to our nature and rediscover its wonders. Regular recovery, on the micro-, mid-, and macrolevels, can often do the work of psychiatric medicine, only naturally.” – Tal Ben-Shahar

“Those who understand that failure is inextricably linked with achievement are the ones who learn, grow, and ultimately do well. Learn to fail, or fail to learn.” - Tal Ben-Shahar

“The basic premise of cognitive therapy is that we react to our interpretation of events rather than directly to the events themselves, which is why the same event may elicit radically different responses from different people. An event leads to a thought (an interpretation of the event), and the thought in turn evokes an emotion. I see a baby (event), recognize her as my daughter (thought), and feel love (emotion). I see the audience waiting for my lecture (event), interpret it as threatening (thought), and experience anxiety (emotion).” – Tal Ben-Shahar

“The goal of cognitive therapy is to restore a sense of realism by getting rid of distorted thinking. When we identify an irrational thought (a cognitive distortion), we change the way we think about an event and thereby change the way we feel. For example, if I experience paralyzing anxiety before a job interview, I can evaluate the thought that elicits the anxiety (if I am rejected, it will all be over and I will never find a job) and reinterpret the event by disputing and replacing the distorted evaluation with a rational one (although I really want this job, there are many other desirable jobs out there). The distortion elicits an intense and unhealthy fear of failure; the rational thought reframes the situation and puts it in perspective.” – Tal Ben Shahar

“Helen Keller, who in her lifetime knew much suffering, as well as joy, noted that ‘character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.’” - Tal Ben-Shahar

“Why the double standard, the generosity toward our neighbor and the miserliness where we ourselves are concerned? And so I propose that we add a new rule, which we can call the Platinum Rule, to our moral code: ‘Do not do unto yourself what you would not do unto others.’” – Tal Ben-Shahar