“
Life throws challenges and every challenge comes with rainbows and lights to conquer it.
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”
Amit Ray (World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird)
“
Never believe for a second that your weak, within all of us we have a reserve of inner hidden strength,
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”
Victoria Addino
“
The ego lusts for satisfaction. It has a prideful ferocious appetite for its version of "truth". It is the most challenging aspect to conquer; the cause for most spiritual turmoil.
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”
T.F. Hodge (From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph over Death and Conscious Encounters With the Divine Presence)
“
At times, life presents us with challenging conditions, and trying to navigate them can be utterly overwhelming. Since our most powerful asset is the ability to make choices for ourselves, this freedom to choose, we must conquer, cherish dearly, and practice cleverly. (“The infinite Wisdom of Meditation“)
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”
Erik Pevernagie
“
Let's find and remedy all our weaknesses before our enemies get a chance to say a word. That is what Charles Darwin did. ...When Darwin completed the manuscript of his immortal book "The Origin Of Species" he realized that the publication of his revolutionary concept of creation would rock the intellectual and religious worlds. So he became his own critic and spent another 15 years checking his data, challenging his reasoning, and criticizing his conclusions.
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”
Dale Carnegie (How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: Time-Tested Methods for Conquering Worry (Dale Carnegie Books))
“
Cowards shrink from challenges, weaklings flee from them, but warriors wink at them.
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”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
You can look at the situation and feel victimized. Or you can look at it and be excited about conquering the challenges and opportunities it presents.
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”
Jack Welch (Winning (Enhanced Edition))
“
Sometimes it's like: If something terrifies you, you should totally do it BECAUSE it terrifies you. And then you'll do it and you'll realise what you're capable of.
”
”
Jonathan Saccone-Joly
“
SELFLESS LOVE.
If you have a special person in your life, but you find yourselves arguing, irritated and/or fighting out of the blue… you both need to try to step back and be selfless and think of the other person... with no ego of your own. No ego. We are ALL dealing with our own tough issues. We may keep them to ourselves, but we all have struggles. If you BOTH allow yourselves to step into each others shoes- to have the awareness and respect for each others issues and struggles... that will most likely allow the love that you have for each other to shine through at its brightest.
There will be ups and downs- feelings of being under-appreciated for both. It will happen. But let that be the worst that happens. Unity through diversity. That's the greatest love. A selfless love. It’s paradoxical, but you each would get back more than you give out. That's the love that conquers all things that’s mentioned in the Bible. It will be challenging for both of you, but well worth it.
”
”
José N. Harris
“
You have to prepare physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to conquer any mountain.
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”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
God gave me this enormous talent, but He forgot to give me the courage to use it." ... "I don't think God forgot," Justin said. "I think He simply gave you a challenge that you haven't yet conquered.
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”
Margaret Brownley (A Lady Like Sarah (A Rocky Creek Romance, #1))
“
When you are confronted with challenges that are difficult to conquer or you have questions arise, the answers to which you do not know, hold fast to the things you do know. Hang on to your firmest foundation, however limited that may be, and from that position of strength face the unknown.
”
”
Jeffrey R. Holland (Created for Greater Things)
“
You were born to dream. You were born to strive. You were born to conquer. You were born to rise.
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”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
You are strong because of what you overcame, brave because of what you defeated, fierce because of what you mastered, and powerful because of what you conquered.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Everyone smiles in the same language,
Happiness knows no frontiers, no age.
No difference thar makes us feel apart
if a smile can win even a broken heart.
”
”
Ana Claudia Antunes (A-Z of Happiness: Tips for Living and Breaking Through the Chain that Separates You from Getting That Dream Job)
“
Dear past, I survived you. Dear present, I’m ready for you. Dear future, I’m coming for you.
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”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
A still tongue keeps a wise head.
”
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Barbara Ann Kipfer (863 Buddhist Ways to Conquer Life's Little Challenges)
“
Go forward and conquer any mountain on your path.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
You have to make an enemy a friend to conquer his or her evil intentions.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
I want to set the example my mother set for me: a strong female role model who faces challenges takes risks and conquers fears. I want my children to know that as women they can do whatever they dream as long as they believe in themselves. More than anything it is my responsibility to instill in my daughters the knowledge that they can have a family and everything else too.
”
”
Mireya Mayor (Pink Boots and a Machete: My Journey from NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer)
“
I have been seriously afraid at times but have used my fear as a stimulating factor rather than allowing it to paralyse me. My abilities have not been outstanding, but I have had sufficient strength and determination to meet my challenges and have usually managed to succeed with them.
”
”
Edmund Hillary (View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest)
“
Another year of life is a gift from God. May He continue to bless you with strength to conquer your challenges, wisdom to choose your battles carefully, faith that your steps have already been ordered and confidence to trust that no one person or situation can undo what He has already set in motion. - Happy Birthday!
”
”
Carlos Wallace
“
Challenges are part of life;
We weaken our spirit, when we act in fear and lose hope.
But we strengthen our spirit, when we fearlessly with faith and hope, rise up to meet and conquer the challenges.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
There comes a point in your life when you realize your hardest times are your best times, too—you will see the rainbow of your life.
”
”
Roy Bennett
“
A step towards what you fear is a mile towards mastering it.
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”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
You cannot blame circumstances for any failure. The ultimate power lies within you to fearlessly conquer challenges for your achievements.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
A wasteland is a confrontation to a man of stature: an empty place, a gauntlet thrown down in challenge and defiance. A place like that cries out to be conquered and civilised.
”
”
John C. Wright (The Hermetic Millennia (Count to the Eschaton Sequence, #2))
“
You have to conquer every obstacle, before you can reach the top of the mountain.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
There would be no rainbows without sunshine and rain.
”
”
Roy Bennett
“
Human complexity can be conquered with calmness.
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”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
Here was one more difficulty for him to meet and conquer.
”
”
Upton Sinclair (The Jungle)
“
Your deepest scars tell the world of your greatest triumphs.
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”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
I'd challenge gods and queens to make you mine, Ballard. Conquer a kingdom or two if necessary.
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”
Grace Draven (Entreat Me)
“
Probably the greatest challenge and the most difficult thing you will face in mortal life is to learn to control your thoughts. In the Bible it says, as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." Those who can control their thoughts have conquered themselves.
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”
Boyd K. Packer
“
When we have graciously endured every adversity, we become like a shining diamond.
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Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
Do not run away from your challenges. You must endure and overcome each challenge.
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”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Scars are your greatest medals in life.
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Matshona Dhliwayo
“
God, why can’t I get over this? I’ve conquered so many things, met so many challenges head-on. Yet today just proved…some things you can never leave behind.
”
”
Jenny B. Jones (Just Between You and Me: A Novel of Losing Fear and Finding God)
“
A mighty storm is inconsequential when facing a mighty ship.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
You have to conquer every mountain to fulfill the dream.
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”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Transgressions are to be understood and corrected, not dwelt upon or agonized over.
”
”
Barbara Ann Kipfer (863 Buddhist Ways to Conquer Life's Little Challenges)
“
If you dare take the challenge, you will possess the courage to conquer.
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”
Lailah Gifty Akita
“
Conquering the world was a simple thing; commanding one's spirit was the real challenge.
”
”
Darren Shan (The Thin Executioner)
“
When you’re free from the shackles of solitude you never get the sense any mountain is too high to scale, or any horizon is too far to conquer.
”
”
Saim .A. Cheeda
“
Without mountains, we might find ourselves relieved that we can avoid the pain of the ascent, but we will forever miss the thrill of the summit. And in such a terribly scandalous trade-off, it is the absence of pain that becomes the thief of life.
”
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Craig D. Lounsbrough
“
Loving someone is a full time commitment. Use that time wisely. Cherish the high points and fight hard to conquer the challenges. No one said love would be easy, but it is dam sure worth it.
”
”
Carlos Wallace (The Other 99 T.Y.M.E.S: Train Your Mind to Enjoy Serenity)
“
On this upward and sometimes hazardous journey, each of us meets our share of daily challenges. If we are not careful, as we peer through the narrow lens of self-interest, we may feel that life is bringing us more than our fair share of trials--that somehow others seem to be getting off more lightly.
But the tests of life are tailored for our own best interests, and all will face the burdens best suited to their own mortal experience. In the end we will realize that God is merciful as well as just and that all the rules are fair. We can be reassured that our challenges will be the ones we needed, and conquering them will bring blessings we could have received in no other way.
”
”
Jeffrey R. Holland (Created for Greater Things)
“
I have a deep appreciation for anything that challenges my morality. I tend to wonder which thing or person might overpower my beliefs and would I avoid it altogether in order to say, "It didn't conquer me," or would I accept the challenge head-on in an attempt to prevail? Which requires greater courage?
”
”
Donna Lynn Hope
“
Challenges are unique to every individual. What makes a challenge difficult or easy is the level of power inherent within it. Easy challenges do not require a great deal of effort, and therefore their yields are poor. Difficult challenges, on the other hand, require a great deal of effort, and in exercising the will in order to conquer them, they yield magnificent gifts of power.
”
”
Théun Mares (Cry of the Eagle: The Toltec Teachings Volume 2)
“
The hero in a romance is the most important challenge the heroine must face and conquer. The hero is her real problem in the book, not whatever trendy issue or daring adventure is also going on in the subplot. In some way, shape, or form, in some manner either real or perceived on the heroine's part, the hero must be a source of emotional and, yes, sometimes physical risk. He must present a genuine threat.
”
”
Jayne Ann Krentz
“
When you are truly aligned with virtue, there is no sense of arrogance, righteousness, or superiority. When you are truly aligned with virtue, a harmony pervades. VIII.
”
”
Chin-Ning Chu (Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life)
“
There are times when after conquering one significant milestone in the journey,we realise the benign ignorance we had about the colossal challenges posed by the next milestone.
”
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Varun Sayal (Demons of Time: Race to the 7th Sunset (Time Travelers #1))
“
Don’t let the horrible nature of the waters prevent you from crossing the rivers of life. The more horrible the challenges we face, the sweeter the joy of conquering them.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Leaders' Ladder)
“
You have to conquer every obstacle to realize the goal.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
You can conquer any challenge with daring faith and hope.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
You have to conquer every mountain to realize the dream.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
A bird only conquers the sky when it has mastered enough courage to lose sight of the ground.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
One who conquers the sea today is ready to conquer the ocean tomorrow.
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”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
In order for a seed to rise, it must be buried in dirt; likewise, in order for the great to rise they must be buried in adversity.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life
”
”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“
Take action to conquer mountains; don't ever go without faith, tenacity and vigilance!
”
”
Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
“
Real pleasure comes from overcoming challenges, feeling confidence in your abilities, gaining fluency in skills, and experiencing the power this brings. You develop patience. Boredom no longer signals the need for distraction, but rather the need for new challenges to conquer.
”
”
Robert Greene (Mastery)
“
You and I, we’re responsible for our own flourishing. We’re responsible for not letting our happiness depend on external circumstances—we shouldn’t let the rain, annoying strangers, or a leaking washing machine decide upon our wellbeing. Otherwise, we become helpless victims of life circumstances out of hand. As a Stoic student, you learn that only you can ruin your life and only you can refuse to let your inner self be conquered by whatever nasty challenge life throws at you.
”
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Jonas Salzgeber (The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness)
“
I learned a long time ago that the honest and just don't always win. Good doesn't always conquer. Sometimes the bad guys win. Sometimes they win for a very long time, because the masses are afraid to challenge them.
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Anthony DiFiore (Fangs and Stilettos)
“
Ever since Apple's first brochure proclaimed "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication," Jobs had aimed for the simplicity that comes from conquering complexities, not ignoring them. "It takes a lot of hard word," he said, "to make something simple, to truly understand the underlying challenges and come up with elegant solutions.
”
”
Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs)
“
I’ve been arrested—spent time in lockup with genuinely dangerous guys. I’ve been in street fights without rules where no one was coming to break it up—and I’ve won. I’ve conquered the insurmountable challenge of earning a law degree and dealing with the self-centered jackasses who are my clients without committing aggravated assault. It’s a diaper. How hard could it be? I
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”
Emma Chase (Sustained (The Legal Briefs, #2))
“
When we embark on a hard adventure with our kids, we must make sure our kids know we believe in them. This not only helps them to believe in their own ability to conquer the challenge but also knits their hearts with ours as we rise to the challenge together.
”
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Greta Eskridge (Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids)
“
drink half their body weight in ounces of water every day. It’s much easier to add a habit than to take one away, but the water goal is a challenge. When they conquer that for the month, they’ve set a new standard for achievement and can add on something tougher.
”
”
Rachel Hollis (Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be (Girl, Wash Your Face Series))
“
Your enemy is presenting you with new options and challenges every day. If you respond in a wholly expected way each time, you will become predictable, and a predictable enemy is much easier to defeat than one who treats his adversaries to a surprise on a regular basis.
”
”
Stanley Bing (Sun Tzu Was a Sissy: Conquer Your Enemies, Promote Your Friends, and Wage the Real Art of War)
“
She strolled between shelves, looking at titles, smiling as she met old friends - books she had read three times or five times or a dozen. Just a title, or an author's name, would be enough to summon up happy images. Strange creatures like phoenixes and psammeads, moving under smokey London daylight of a hundred years before, in company with groups of bemused children; starships and new worlds and the limitless vistas of interstellar night, outer space challenged but never conquered; princesses in silver and golden dresses, princes and heroes carrying swords like sharpened lines of light, monsters rising out of weedy tarns, wild creatures that talked and tricked one another...
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”
Diane Duane (So You Want to Be a Wizard (Young Wizards, #1))
“
I personally believe mavericks are people who write their own rulebook.
They are the ones who act first and talk later. They are fiercely independent thinkers who know how to fight the lizard brain (to use Seth Godin’s term).
I don’t believe many are born, rather they are products of an environment, or their experiences.
They are usually the people that find the accepted norm does not meet their requirements and have the self-confidence, appetite, independence, degree of self reliance and sufficient desire to carve out their own niche in life.
I believe a maverick thinker can take a new idea, champion it, and push it beyond the ability of a normal person to do so. I also believe the best mavericks can build a team, can motivate with their vision, their passion, and can pull together others to accomplish great things. A wise maverick knows that they need others to give full form to their views and can gather these necessary contributors around them.
Mavericks, in my experience, fall into various categories – a/ the totally off-the-wall, uncontrollable genius who won’t listen to anyone; b/ the person who thinks that they have the ONLY solution to a challenge but prepared to consider others’ views on how to conquer the world &, finally, the person who thinks laterally to overcome problems considered to be irresolvable. I like in particular the third category.
The upside is that mavericks, because of their different outlook on life, often sees opportunities and solutions that others cannot. But the downside is that often, because in life there is always some degree of luck in success (i.e. being in the right place at the right time), mavericks that fail are often ridiculed for their unorthodox approach. However when they succeed they are acclaimed for their inspiration. It is indeed a fine line they walk in life.
”
”
Ziad K. Abdelnour (Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics)
“
Imagining what would happen if you changed one thing you do on a daily basis—and thinking about how that change would affect everything else—is a clever way to conquer seemingly impossible scenarios and consider how even the smallest thing you deal with impacts everything else you do.
”
”
Tanner Christensen (The Creativity Challenge: Design, Experiment, Test, Innovate, Build, Create, Inspire, and Unleash Your Genius)
“
Real pleasure comes from overcoming challenges, feeling confidence in your abilities, gaining fluency in skills, and experiencing the power this brings. You develop patience. Boredom no longer signals the need for distraction, but rather the need for new challenges to conquer. Although
”
”
Robert Greene (Mastery)
“
I can do anything I believe I can do! I’ve got it, and every day I get more of it. I have talent, skills, and ability. I set goals and I reach them. I know what I want out of life. I go after it and I get it. People like me, and I feel good about myself. I have a sense of pride in who I am, and I believe in myself. Nothing seems to stop me. I have a lot of determination. I turn problems into advantages. I find possibilities in things that other people never give a chance. I have a lot of energy—I am very alive! I enjoy life and I can tell it and so can others. I keep myself up, looking ahead, and liking it. I know that I can accomplish anything I choose, and I refuse to let anything negative hold me back or stand in my way. I am not afraid of anything or anyone. I have strength, power, conviction, and confidence! I like challenges and I meet them head on, face to face—today especially! I am on top of the world and I’m going for it. I have a clear picture in my mind of what I want. I can see it in front of me. I know what I want and I know how to get it. I know that it’s all up to me and I know I can do it. Roadblocks don’t bother me. They just mean that I am alive and running, and I’m not going to stand still for anything. I trust myself I’ve got what it takes—plenty of it—and I know how to use it. Today, more than ever. Today I am unstoppable! I’ve got myself together and I’m getting more together every day. And today—look out world, here I come! Limitations? I don’t even recognize them as limitations. There is no challenge I can’t conquer; there is no wall I can’t climb over. There is no problem I can’t defeat, or turn around and make it work for me. I stand tall! I am honest and sincere. I like to deal with people and they like me. I think well; I think clearly. I am organized; I am in control of myself, and everything about me. I call my shots, and no one has to call them for me. I never blame anyone else for the circumstances of my life. I accept my failings and move past them as easily as I accept the rewards for my victories. I never demand perfection of myself, but I expect the very best of what I have to give—and that’s what I get! I never give myself excuses. I get things done on time and in the right way. Today I have the inner strength to do more than ever. I am an exceptional human being. My goals and my incredible belief in myself turn my goals into reality. I have the power to live my dreams. I believe in them like I believe in myself. And that belief is so strong that there is nothing that diminishes my undefeatable spirit.
”
”
Shad Helmstetter (What To Say When You Talk To Your Self)
“
You can have anything you want in life, you must be willing to conquer the challenge.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita
“
When you stretch your mind, you stretch the world around you.
”
”
Gustavo Razzetti (Stretch Your Mind: How to conquer your comfort zone one stretch at a time)
“
Obstacles are opportunities waiting to be conquered. Get real with it.
”
”
T.F. Hodge
“
Tenacity is strength in adversity.
”
”
Martin Uzochukwu Ugwu
“
motivation comes from feeling—knowledge isn’t enough to motivate change. But motivation also comes from confidence. The Elephant has to believe that it’s capable of conquering the change. And there are two routes to building people’s confidence so that they feel “big” relative to their challenge. You can shrink the change or grow your people (or, preferably, both).
”
”
Chip Heath (Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard)
“
To prevent humiliating collisions with the universe, I suggest we all adopt an attitude of being open to learning in every moment of our relationships. Every interaction contains within it the possibility of deep connection with our beloved, with ourselves, and with the cosmos. Relationship is the ultimate spiritual path, because it constantly presents us with the challenge to love and embrace in the very situations in which we're most prone to shun and reject. For that reason above all, relationship is the place where our spirituality most visibly comes to light. You can tell more about a person's true spirituality from the way he or she treats his or her partner than you ever could from tallying that person's church attendance.
”
”
Gay Hendricks (The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level)
“
The Creed for the Sociopathic Obsessive Compulsive (Peter's Laws)
1. If anything can go wrong, Fix it!!! (To hell with Murphy!!)
2. When given a choice - Take Both!!
3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.
4. Start at the top, then work your way up.
5. Do it by the book... but be the author!
6. When forced to compromise, ask for more.
7. If you can't beat them, join them, then beat them.
8. If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.
9. If you can't win, change the rules.
10. If you can't change the rules, then ignore them.
11. Perfection is not optional.
12. When faced without a challenge, make one.
13. "No" simply means begin again at one level higher.
14. Don't walk when you can run.
15. Bureaucracy is a challenge to be conquered with a righteous attitude, a tolerance for stupidity, and a bulldozer when necessary.
16. When in doubt: THINK!
17. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.
18. The squeaky wheel gets replaced.
19. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.
20. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!!
”
”
Peter Safar
“
In order to win life's daily struggles, you must have a winner's mind. One that is in control and proclaims that you will conquer today's challenges and that you will adapt and overcome any obstacle put or placed in your way. But if you continue to nurture a mind set on losing or quitting, you will find yourself in a losing position every time. Today, adjust your mind set and proclaim "I am a winner because winning is within me.
”
”
Keyon Polite
“
One had only to look at the map to see that Panama was the proper place for the canal. The route was already well established, there was a railroad, there were thriving cities at each end. Only at Panama could a sea-level canal be built. It was really no great issue at all. Naturally there were problems. There were always problems. There had been large, formidable problems at Suez, and to many respected authorities they too had seemed insurmountable. But as time passed, as the work moved ahead at Suez, indeed as difficulties increased, men of genius had come forth to meet and conquer those difficulties. The same would happen again. For every challenge there would be a man of genius capable of meeting and conquering it. One must trust to inspiration. As for the money, there was money aplenty in France just waiting for the opening of the subscription books.
”
”
David McCullough (The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914)
“
When life hands you questions, answer them.
When life hands you mysteries, unravel them.
When life hands you enigmas, decipher them.
When life hands you tasks, accomplish them.
When life hands you problems, tackle them.
When life hands you skills, develop them.
When life hands you talents, sharpen them.
When life hands you friends, cherish them.
When life hands you family, value them.
When life hands you acquaintances, treasure them.
When life hands you opponents, confront them.
When life hands you acquaintances, celebrate them.
When life hands you allies, support them.
When life hands you riches, multiply them.
When life hands you possessions, protect them.
When life hands you pleasures, ration them.
When life hands you experiences, relish them.
When life hands you students, instruct them.
When life hands you mentors, study them.
When life hands you teachers, esteem them.
When life hands you disciples, inspire them.
When life hands you gurus, honor them.
When life hands you lessons, remember them.
When life hands you teachings, impart them.
When life hands you demands, tackle them.
When life hands you obstacles, challenge them.
When life hands you troubles, overcome them.
When life hands you burdens, conquer them.
When life hands you titles, cherish them.
When life hands you degrees, employ them.
When life hands you medals, welcome them.
When life hands you awards, appreciate them.
When life hands you blessings, count them.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
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With the best of intentions, the generation before mine worked diligently to prepare their children to make an intelligent case for Christianity. We were constantly reminded of the superiority of our own worldview and the shortcomings of all others. We learned that as Christians, we alone had access to absolute truth and could win any argument. The appropriate Bible verses were picked out for us, the opposing positions summarized for us, and the best responses articulated for us, so that we wouldn’t have to struggle through two thousand years of theological deliberations and debates but could get right to the bottom line on the important stuff: the deity of Christ, the nature of the Trinity, the role and interpretation of Scripture, and the fundamentals of Christianity. As a result, many of us entered the world with both an unparalleled level of conviction and a crippling lack of curiosity. So ready with the answers, we didn’t know what the questions were anymore. So prepared to defend the faith, we missed the thrill of discovering it for ourselves. So convinced we had God right, it never occurred to us that we might be wrong. In short, we never learned to doubt. Doubt is a difficult animal to master because it requires that we learn the difference between doubting God and doubting what we believe about God. The former has the potential to destroy faith; the latter has the power to enrich and refine it. The former is a vice; the latter a virtue. Where would we be if the apostle Peter had not doubted the necessity of food laws, or if Martin Luther had not doubted the notion that salvation can be purchased? What if Galileo had simply accepted church-instituted cosmology paradigms, or William Wilberforce the condition of slavery? We do an injustice to the intricacies and shadings of Christian history when we gloss over the struggles, when we read Paul’s epistles or Saint Augustine’s Confessions without acknowledging the difficult questions that these believers asked and the agony with which they often asked them. If I’ve learned anything over the past five years, it’s that doubt is the mechanism by which faith evolves. It helps us cast off false fundamentals so that we can recover what has been lost or embrace what is new. It is a refining fire, a hot flame that keeps our faith alive and moving and bubbling about, where certainty would only freeze it on the spot. I would argue that healthy doubt (questioning one’s beliefs) is perhaps the best defense against unhealthy doubt (questioning God). When we know how to make a distinction between our ideas about God and God himself, our faith remains safe when one of those ideas is seriously challenged. When we recognize that our theology is not the moon but rather a finger pointing at the moon, we enjoy the freedom of questioning it from time to time. We can say, as Tennyson said, Our little systems have their day; They have their day and cease to be; They are but broken lights of thee, And thou, O Lord, art more than they.15 I sometimes wonder if I might have spent fewer nights in angry, resentful prayer if only I’d known that my little systems — my theology, my presuppositions, my beliefs, even my fundamentals — were but broken lights of a holy, transcendent God. I wish I had known to question them, not him. What my generation is learning the hard way is that faith is not about defending conquered ground but about discovering new territory. Faith isn’t about being right, or settling down, or refusing to change. Faith is a journey, and every generation contributes its own sketches to the map. I’ve got miles and miles to go on this journey, but I think I can see Jesus up ahead.
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Rachel Held Evans (Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions)
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Joy is not the satisfied contemplation of an accomplished result, the emotion of victory, the satisfaction of having succeeded. It is the sign of an energy that is deftly deployed, it is a free affirmation: everything comes easy. Joy is an activity: executing with ease something difficult that has taken time to master, asserting the faculties of the mind and the body. Joys of thought when it finds and discovers, joys of the body when it achieves without effort. That is why joy, unlike pleasure, increases with repetition, and is enriched. When you are walking, joy is a basso continuo. Locally, of course, you may run into effort and difficulty. You will also find immediate moments of contentment: a proud gaze backwards to contemplate the long steep plunge of the slope behind you. Those satisfactions, though, too often present an opportunity to reintroduce quantities, scores, figures (which track? how long? what altitude?). And walking becomes a competition. That is why expeditions in high mountain country (conquering peaks, each one a challenge) are always slightly impure: because they give rise to narcissistic gratification. What dominates in walking, away from ostentation and showing off, is the simple joy of feeling your body in the most primitively natural activity.
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Frédéric Gros (A Philosophy of Walking)
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Since their invention about half a century ago, video games have come to play a vital role in modern human civilization. I think this is because we modern humans were never designed to live like we do now—sitting in traffic, working in offices, shopping in stores. We are, by design, hunter-gatherers. Millions of years of evolution have wired our brains with an inherent need to hunt, gather, explore, solve puzzles, form teams, and conquer challenge after challenge in order to survive as we claw our way to the top of the food chain. For most people, day-to-day life no longer requires many of those experiences or challenges, and so those primal, instinctive needs inside us have no natural outlet. To keep our minds and bodies healthy, we have to simulate those old ways in the midst of our modern, technological lives, where everything on the planet has already been hunted and gathered. Thankfully, the technology that created this problem also gave rise to its solution—a way for us modern city dwellers to exorcise our inner evolutionary demons: video games.
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Ernest Cline (Press Start to Play: Stories)
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Travis came up behind her, his hat brim bumping her head as he nuzzled her neck. She giggled and danced away, feeling playful yet oddly shy at the same time. Travis gave chase, his husky laughter blending with hers as the two of them darted out of the barn. When they neared the porch, he grabbed her about the waist and lifted her off her feet. Meredith squealed. “You can’t escape me,” Travis murmured in her ear as he gently settled her back on the ground. Meredith turned in his arms to face the man she loved. “I’ve no desire to.” His eyes darkened, and for a moment she thought he would kiss her. But then he scooped her into his arms and carried her up the porch steps. The front door proved more of a challenge to conquer. Travis had to juggle his hold on her a bit before he could get the latch open. Meredith laughed in delight, endeared by his awkward efforts. Once the door was cracked, he kicked it wide with his boot and carried her over the threshold. “Welcome home, Mrs. Archer.
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Karen Witemeyer (Short-Straw Bride (Archer Brothers, #1))
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We are the Guardians of the Tree of Life. We have been given the blessing and honour to protect it and to help others to taste its fruits with love and compassion. The Tree of Life teaches us to carry and share “Love” and only “Love”. And so,the light of Love should shine through our eyes. Arrogance, Pride, Anger, Hatred, Criticism, Lust, Envy and Jealousy is a heavy burden to carry on our shoulder. They are the enemies of truth and are the most dangerous inner diseases of the heart and with such disease we will be prevented from entering paradise on the Day of Judgment.
Sometimes among us, we may encounter many challenging disagreements and difficulties. And to overcome those problems or to bring any change for good, we have to use our greatest weapon of “Love” because only Love can conquer the enemy of truth. Love is the only force of change and transformation. Love can penetrates the driest heart releasing river of compassion and forgiveness. Let love and only love be the instrument of change.
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Ricky Saikia
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Some of Ben-Gurion’s generals wanted to take the West Bank of the Jordan River, frustrated that Israel had forfeited an opportunity to establish a secure natural frontier, but Ben-Gurion demurred. He had several reasons. The last thing Israel needed, he believed, was to control an even greater number of Arab civilians. As it was, Ben-Gurion was worried about those Arabs who remained in Israel. They were Israeli, because they had stayed inside the state, but the only thing that distinguished them at that point from Israel’s enemies on the other side of the line was that they had not fled, while their family members had. Ben-Gurion did not dare imagine that they yet had any loyalty to the new state. Ben-Gurion was also concerned that the Americans would look askance on Israel taking more territory. No less important, Ben-Gurion chose not to conquer the West Bank because his mind had moved on to other challenges. He was, as Anita Shapira notes, “already immersed in the vital mission of bringing in masses of new immigrants and absorbing them.”48 THE
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Daniel Gordis (Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn)
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Unfortunately the hostility that the European displayed toward the native cultures he encountered he carried even further into his relations with the land. The immense open spaces of the American continents, with all their unexploited or thinly utilized resources, were treated as a challenge to unrelenting war, destruction, and conquest. The forests were there to be cut down, the prairie to be plowed up, the marshes to be filled, the wildlife to be killed for empty sport, even if not utilized for food or clothing.
In the act of 'conquering nature' our ancestors too often treated the earth as contemptuously and as brutally as they treated its original inhabitants, wiping out great animal species like the bison and the passenger pigeon, mining the soils instead of annually replenishing them, and even, in the present day, invading the last wilderness areas, precious just because they are still wildernesses, homes for wildlife and solitary human souls. Instead we are surrendering them to six-lane highways, gas stations, amusement parks, and the lumber interests, as in the redwood groves, or Yosemite, and Lake Tahoe-though these primeval areas, once desecrated, can never be fully restored or replaced.
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Lewis Mumford (The Pentagon of Power (The Myth of the Machine, Vol 2))
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When you are in a place of fear, everything in you will want to run, but I challenge you to run to it. It will build your confident trust in Him when you see that the very place that fear is, is the same place that fear will be conquered. Be encouraged by what God did for Moses, Joshua, Daniel… and what He has done for me time and time again. When you let God lead, you might find yourself in some rather scary places, but remain steadfast in Him and confident that He will bring provision and fight on your behalf. It’s in those times that miracles happen and nations change.”-Sadie Robertson
Quote Reading-5/27/18
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Sadie Robertson
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Peter’s Laws™ The Creed of the Persistent and Passionate Mind 1. If anything can go wrong, fix it! (To hell with Murphy!) 2. When given a choice—take both! 3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes. 4. Start at the top, then work your way up. 5. Do it by the book . . . but be the author! 6. When forced to compromise, ask for more. 7. If you can’t win, change the rules. 8. If you can’t change the rules, then ignore them. 9. Perfection is not optional. 10. When faced without a challenge—make one. 11. No simply means begin one level higher. 12. Don’t walk when you can run. 13. When in doubt: THINK! 14. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing. 15. The squeaky wheel gets replaced. 16. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live. 17. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself! 18. The ratio of something to nothing is infinite. 19. You get what you incentivize. 20. If you think it is impossible, then it is for you. 21. An expert is someone who can tell you exactly how something can’t be done. 22. The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea. 23. If it was easy, it would have been done already. 24. Without a target you’ll miss it every time. 25. Fail early, fail often, fail forward! 26. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. 27. The world’s most precious resource is the persistent and passionate human mind. 28. Bureaucracy is an obstacle to be conquered with persistence, confidence, and a bulldozer when necessary.
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Peter H. Diamandis (Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World (Exponential Technology Series))
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Amid the wreckage of their relationship there are still friends who feel that the rage and jealousy Diana feels towards her husband is reflection of her innermost desire to win him back. Those observers are in a minority. Most are deeply pessimistic about the future. Oonagh Toffolo notes: “I had great hopes until a year ago, now I have no hope at all. It would need a miracle. It is a great pity that these two people with so much to give to the world can’t give it together.”
A similar conclusion has been reached by a friend, who has discussed Diana’s troubles with her at length. She says: “If he had done the work in the early days and forgotten about Camilla, they would have so much more going for them. However they have now reached a point of no return.”
The words “there is no hope” are often repeated when friends talk about the Wales’s life together. As one of her closest friends says: “She has conquered all the challenges presented to her within the profession and got her public life down to a fine art. But the central issue is that she is not fulfilled as a woman because she doesn’t have a relationship with her husband.” The continual conflict and suspicion in their private life inevitably colours their public work. Nominally the Prince and Princess are a partnership, in reality they act independently, rather like the managing directors of rival companies. As one former member of the Wales’s Household said: “You very quickly learn to choose whose side you are on--his or hers. There is no middle course. There is a magic line that courtiers can cross once or twice. Cross it too often and you are out. That is not a basis for a stable career.
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Andrew Morton (Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words)
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Miss Boyd’s voyages to Greenland were conducted during a transitional period in polar exploration between “the Golden Age,” in which conquering the poles was accomplished by overland routes and by sea, and the modern technological era heralded by early polar flights by Amundsen, Ellsworth, and Byrd. Gillis wrote that Louise Arner Boyd “represented one of the last revivals of a Victorian phenomenon the wealthy explorer who poured a personal fortune into expeditions aimed at advancing science and satisfying profound personal curiosity.” [3] In rejecting a sedate and sheltered life as a wealthy wife and mother, she defied societal expectations. But she also challenged the ideal of a polar explorer as defined by manliness, stoicism, and heroism. Her seven daring expeditions to northern Norway and Greenland between 1926 and 1955 paved the way for later female polar explorers,
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Joanna Kafarowski (The Polar Adventures of a Rich American Dame: A Life of Louise Arner Boyd)
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One day,our love will conquer this dark cycle.That's worth everything to me."
Luce looked up and saw the love glowing in his eyes. He believed what he was saying. He didn't care if he suffered again and again; he'd forge on, losing her over and over,buoyed by the hope that one day this wouldn't be their end. He knew it was doomed,but he tried over and over again anyway,and he always would.
His commitment to her,to them, touched a part of her that she'd thought she'd given up on.
She still wanted to argue: This Daniel didn't know the challenges coming their way,the tears they would shed over the ages.He didn't know that she'd seen him in his moments of deepest desperation. What the pain of her deaths would do to him.
But then-
Luce knew.And that made all the difference in the world.
Daniel's lowest moments had terrified her, but things had changed. All along, she'd felt bound to their love, but now she knew how to protect it.Now she had seen their love from so many different angles. She understood it in a way she'd never thought she would.If Daniel ever faltered,she could raise him up.
She had learned how to do it from the best: from Daniel.Here she was,about to kill her soul, about to take away their love permanently, and five minutes alone with him brought her back to life.
Some people spent their entire lives looking for love like this.
Luce had had it all along.
The future held no starshot for her. Only Daniel.Her Daniel, the one she'd left in her parent's backyard in Thunderbolt.She had to go.
"Kiss me," she whispered.
He was seated on the steps with his knees parted just enough to let her body slide between them. She sank to her knees and faced him. Their foreheads were touching.The tips of their noses.
Daniel took her hands. He seemed to want to tell her something,but he could not find the words.
"Please," she begged,her lips edging toward his. "Kiss me and set me free.
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Lauren Kate (Passion (Fallen, #3))
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For this reason, we ought to explore with our children questions such as: How has this experience opened you up? What needs to happen for you to surrender to this experience? Is there something you are resisting, or something of which you are afraid? What will you carry from this experience into your next experience? When our children watch us process our experiences and deal with life as if it were full of rich meaning and opportunities for growth, this is how they will approach their own challenges. They will learn to befriend their experiences and trust that these experiences exist to take them closer to authenticity. Approaching parenting with such a philosophy, we impart to our children the assurance that life isn’t to be feared and resisted, but that it possesses infinite wisdom in all its shapes, colors, and dimensions. We teach our children to embrace situations without reacting to them, fighting with them. In this way they learn to become peaceful co-creators of their life, viewing it as a partner to grow with, not as an enemy to conquer.
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Shefali Tsabary (The Conscious Parent)
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Life is a crapshoot. It is also brief. No generation is invulnerable to the formidable and grave powers of creation and obliteration that time renders. All people are subject to the vagrancies of time’s steady pulse and subordinated to brute chance engendered when pulling the levers of fate found in our risk-filled environment. We can tilt the odds in our favor of living happily to a ripe old age by displaying a high degree of awareness and exercising self-control. We must rightfully display pride in our lives by claiming responsibility for ourselves and by taking on every challenge without mental equivocation. I seek to conquer personal fears and employ honest effort, energy, endurance, and enthusiasm supplemented with booster shots of intellectual integrity to become my personal master. Self-mastery, self-discipline, conscientious study, uncompromising integrity, and ethical awareness form the foundation stones of all religions and these qualities anchor every person of high character. While no personal medicine wheel is without faults and frailties, a person who exhibits an annealed temperament constantly searches inward to improve him or herself while maintaining a vigilant eye upon fulfilling their caregiver responsibilities.
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Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
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Amar reached for my hand and put something in my palm. I looked down: string.
“For conquering,” he said.
I stretched the string into a taut line.
“Conquering what? Insects?”
“No. Your enemies.”
The stars. Fate.
The string drooped in my fingers.
“Why do you hate them?” he asked.
“If Akaran has its eyes and ears in Bharata, then you already know,” I said darkly, thinking of the horoscope that had shadowed the past seventeen years.
“Do you believe the horoscope?”
“No.”
I meant it. There was no proof. Sometimes, I still thought it was a hateful rumor born of Mother Dhina’s jealousy.
“Then why hate the stars?”
“For what they did. Or, I guess, what they made other people do,” I said softly. “For making me hated without reason and without evidence. Wouldn’t you hate distant jailers?”
“I don’t believe they’re jailers. I believe the stars.”
“Then you’re a fool to marry me.”
He laughed. “I believe them, but I choose to read them differently.”
“I don’t see any happy way to explain death and destruction.”
“Doesn’t death make room for life? Autumn trees die to make room for new shoots. And destruction is part of that cycle. After all, a devastating forest fire lets the ground start anew.”
I stared at him. No one had ever said anything like that in Bharata. No one had ever challenged the stars. And yet, the light contoured him, clung to him, like the stars knew and believed everything he said. Maybe I believed him too. All I had done was curse the stars from a distance. I’d never thought to reinterpret what they meant. I turned around, as if seeing the night sky for the first time.
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Roshani Chokshi (The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen, #1))
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Both C.K. and Bieber are extremely gifted performers. Both climbed to the top of their industry, and in fact, both ultimately used the Internet to get big. But somehow Bieber “made it” in one-fifteenth of the time. How did he climb so much faster than the guy Rolling Stone calls the funniest man in America—and what does this have to do with Jimmy Fallon? The answer begins with a story from Homer’s Odyssey. When the Greek adventurer Odysseus embarked for war with Troy, he entrusted his son, Telemachus, to the care of a wise old friend named Mentor. Mentor raised and coached Telemachus in his father’s absence. But it was really the goddess Athena disguised as Mentor who counseled the young man through various important situations. Through Athena’s training and wisdom, Telemachus soon became a great hero. “Mentor” helped Telemachus shorten his ladder of success. The simple answer to the Bieber question is that the young singer shot to the top of pop with the help of two music industry mentors. And not just any run-of-the-mill coach, but R& B giant Usher Raymond and rising-star manager Scooter Braun. They reached from the top of the ladder where they were and pulled Bieber up, where his talent could be recognized by a wide audience. They helped him polish his performing skills, and in four years Bieber had sold 15 million records and been named by Forbes as the third most powerful celebrity in the world. Without Raymond’s and Braun’s mentorship, Biebs would probably still be playing acoustic guitar back home in Canada. He’d be hustling on his own just like Louis C.K., begging for attention amid a throng of hopeful entertainers. Mentorship is the secret of many of the highest-profile achievers throughout history. Socrates mentored young Plato, who in turn mentored Aristotle. Aristotle mentored a boy named Alexander, who went on to conquer the known world as Alexander the Great. From The Karate Kid to Star Wars to The Matrix, adventure stories often adhere to a template in which a protagonist forsakes humble beginnings and embarks on a great quest. Before the quest heats up, however, he or she receives training from a master: Obi Wan Kenobi. Mr. Miyagi. Mickey Goldmill. Haymitch. Morpheus. Quickly, the hero is ready to face overwhelming challenges. Much more quickly than if he’d gone to light-saber school. The mentor story is so common because it seems to work—especially when the mentor is not just a teacher, but someone who’s traveled the road herself. “A master can help you accelerate things,” explains Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and career coach behind the bestseller The Success Principles. He says that, like C.K., we can spend thousands of hours practicing until we master a skill, or we can convince a world-class practitioner to guide our practice and cut the time to mastery significantly.
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Shane Snow (Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking)