So I just heard something on the t.v. related to the amount of methane reserves in the ocean available for some type of fuel. While that is almost completely irrelevant to this post, it pointed out the fact that those reserves were estimated to last around 3,000 years. Three thousand years. It's almost unfathomable to wrap our minds around what that even entails.

But one thing is for certain. We are guaranteed nothing in this life. At best we can expect to live 100-110 years, and on average we'll have around 75 years. And amid all these numbers on our expected lifespan is the notion of just how brief our time is on this Earth. It makes me think - why in the world, with such a little amount of time we have, would we hold back from something?

To take a step back and really try to think about it, it's nearly disturbing to think about the petty stuff that holds us back, prevents us from going for our dreams, or keeps us bound to some idea of living in security. The reality is is that whatever we have is a gift and it's not a gift that lasts forever. We owe it to ourselves to take advantage of our opportunities, and forge the life we truly want.

One day everyone reading this very brief writing will be dead. I can't think of many things that I could reasonably justify depriving myself of in living a fulfilling, happy life. But how many of us live with that as part of our philosophy? To live our lives knowing we won't be around forever, and to go for what we really want.

In my opinion, it's a very powerful idea.

"I believe that in the pursuit of education, individual desire is more influential than institution, and personal faith more forceful than faculty."
-Russell M Nelson

I've thought this for at least a few years now, but only just came across this profound quote.

Want to know more about Russell M Nelson?

Lately, I've been going to bed and having Jim Rohn wake me up! Hah! Well, it's not as homoerotic as it sounds, but I downloaded a free program that is an alarm clock that plays whatever mp3's you have on your computer. I think I found it on hotfiles.com as a free download but I'm sure you can pick any one from Google.

Over the last week I have set the alarm to play Jim Rohn, and it is so refreshingly invigorating that you must try it! You may be suprised to find how much you can listen to in a morning where typically we think there's barely enough time to even get ready to leave.


One little gem of a Jim Rohn quote to go out on today:

"Rarely does a good idea interrupt you."

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

Mark Twain

If you don't know who Jim Stovall is, look him up if you want to be inspired. I would bet he has videos on youtube since he is a prolific speaker.

If you do or do not know who he is, you'll still have something to gain from his book The Ultimate Gift. I found out about this book from someone who doesn't study success at all ironically. They simply found from word of mouth that it was a good read.

The book is written as a story about a young man who goes through a journey according to his billionaire great-uncle's will. Some of the lessons are truly awesome. Some of the stories are very moving and emotional. Overall, the story quality is decent to good, but the moral lessons are timeless and life changing if you give them thought and then apply them.

You could probably read the entire book in 3 days even if you read quite casually, and that time will be very well invested. I'm sure they packaged it to be given as a gift, but what's in the pages really is a gift to the reader.

Click here to give The Ultimate Gift!

A personal friend of mine really liked David Allen's other audiobook called Getting Things Done so I figure this audiobook (Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life) will have some sound (no pun intended) advice and quick-and-easy tips as well.

Just around 30 minutes into it already and I've already taken quite a few notes. It's definitely a practical book, and sometimes I find that exceedingly refreshing when undertaking the study of personal improvement. I'm sure you can relate if you have been a student of this field for even a few months.

Here is a nice quote I heard that was new to me: "What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do." That is an Aristotle quote, but it certainly sounds like Jim Rohn!

I will be posting more on this audiobook in the days to come. I don't think it will take but 2-3 days to listen to it in it's entirety.

Additional random quote gems:

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas A. Edison

"Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." Susan Ertz

I found these particularly profound and wrought with truth:

"No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men." Thomas Carlyle

"Do not confuse notoriety and fame with greatness... For you see, greatness is a measure of one's spirit, not a result of one's rank in human affairs." Sherman Finesilver

"No great man ever complains of want of opportunity." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude." Arthur Schopenhauer

"Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things." Lawrence D. Bell

"The price of greatness is responsibility." Winston Churchill

"The ultimate is not to win, but to reach within the depths of your capabilities and to compete against yourself." Billy Mills

"True greatness is the most ready to recognize and most willing to obey those simple outward laws which have been sanctioned by the experience of mankind." Froude

"The man who is anybody and who does anything is surely going to be criticized, vilified, and misunderstood. This is a part of the penalty for greatness, and every great man understands it; and understands, too, that it is no proof of greatness. The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure contumely without resentment." Elbert Green Hubbard

"Every great man is always being helped by everybody, for his gift is to get good out of all things and all persons." John Ruskin

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." Hyman Rickover

"Well, I wouldn't say that I was in the great class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great." Harry S. Truman

"Some things have not changed since the dawn of history, and bid fair to last out time itself. One of these things is the capacity for greatness in man—his capacity for being often the master of the event —and sometimes even more—the changer of the course of history itself. This capacity for greatness is a very precious gift, and we are under a danger in our day of stifling it." Dr. William Clyde de Vane

"A desire for bigness has hurt many folks. Putting oneself in the limelight at the expense of others is a wrong idea of greatness. The secret of greatness rather than bigness is to acclimate oneself to one's place of service and be true to one's own convictions. A life of this kind of service will forever remain the measure of one's true greatness." Richard W. Shelly, Jr.

"Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends." Brian Tracy

"What to Say When You Talk To Your Self" by Shad Helmstetter is my most recent endeavor, as you may have noticed from the top right of the web site. I've added that small progress meter moreso than anything just because I like it.

Regardless, so far up to page 115 the book is good. It has been addressing a lot of valid reasons why self-help generally fails. I, being a neophyte to the study of self help (perhaps just about at 1 year now), could not help but have formed this idea already - that self help generally leaves people where they started. It is unfortunate to be certain. I do believe, nonetheless, that most, if not all, people can improve.

Back to the book -- Shad Helmstetter has many good points and his key reason why self help generally fails is that it is often external motivation and does not address the core of changing and improving your self. The short chapter on actually talking to yourself took the appearance of personal affirmations, and I must say I considered myself a skeptic of the idea. I can't lie to myself. Rather, it is more likely I think I do not want to lie to myself. But still, he does sell the idea in a rather good, new light (at least to me).

All in all, I am anticipating the rest of this book and I just get this feeling that I will be coming back to it again and again for the great truths I've already encountered.