Archive for December 2017

Broadcaster and motivational expert Earl Nightingale tells us, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.” Many of us come up with New Year’s resolutions every year. Unfortunately, we often end up frustrated and overly self-critical when things don’t go as well as we hoped, and we don’t reach our goals. How can we improve this…

The Chinese bamboo tree shows little or no apparent signs of growth for four years. Then suddenly, it can grow as much as 25 metres in weeks. That’s a powerful metaphor for the growth of successful people. Over those apparently-dormant four years, the tree actually is growing, we just can’t see it. It’s developing an…

The traditional German song O Tannenbaum is often translated as O Christmas Tree. This is only partly true, however. The English version is quite different from the German. The essence of the German song is far more universal. One of the beauties of learning languages is discovering what words and poetry mean to the people…

Self-help author Napoleon Hill loved to tell the story of how his grandfather would let a few oak trees grow in the middle of his fields. He believed that exposing them to unsheltered winds resulted in stronger trees and thus more durable wood for the wagon wheels he would build. The same can be said for people.…

“You get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want,” said writer and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. There’s tremendous depth to this statement and as many interpretations as there are people on the planet. It shines in direct contrast to the ideal of the rugged individualist so…