Do you just have too much to do?

Making schedules and lists can help, but if you put more on your schedule than an ordinary human being can complete in a day, you won’t finish everything. When you don’t meet your daily goals you might feel like you’ve let yourself down. You could throw your goals out the window, but that’s not much of a solution.

In order to organize your goals, you should create two lists. Put every task you need to complete on one list. On another list, your daily tasks, put only the projects you need to do in that day. Separate your daily list into different sections. You can create sections for errands, important phone calls, projects, etc. Move things from your master list to your daily list every day. You’ll find this much easier than trying to get absolutely everything done in one day.

Don’t hesitate to create a routine for your day. We’re often afraid to do this because routines can become monotonous. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Switch things around if your routine isn’t working. Find a routine that matches your personality. You have the power to make your life more productive and more fun.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann (Lawyer, businessman, poet, dramatist, philosopher)
(”At DePauw I contracted a disease which I have never shaken off. The disease was idealism. Because of it I did the thing in life I wanted to do - Writing.”) Written in 1927, Desiderata represents a philosophy Ehrmann had thought out over a lifetime. In 1956, the rector of Baltimore’s St. Paul’s Church anthologized the poem in a mimeographed pamphlet of inspirational writings for his congregation. Someone reprinting it later, separated from its original credit, erroneously described it as having been found in old St. Paul’s Church dated 1692. The year 1692 is in fact the founding date of St. Paul’s Church and has nothing to do with the poem.

This particular piece is from my “adopted daughter” Diane Jensen, a very bright young adult who’s much more mature than her years would lead you to believe. It demonstrates the power of emotion, and the depth of pain. This is her description of the piece: “I’m going to put in two pieces I wrote … they were both written in the middle of the night, in the heat of my emotional turmoil and are both about the same two people in my life. Collectively I call it For All The F*ing Men. Enjoy, and read with a grain of salt.”

Rigor mortis.

That’s what it’s like. I can’t pry the cold bony fingers of your influence away from my heart even now when they are lifeless and clammy. I can’t erase all the feelings I had for you the way you seem to have done for your own.

I’m being unreasonable. It’s selfish of me to expect that because I love you you’ll love me back, but I can’t accept that it’s just gone, like a puff of smoke. A whole lifetime of your half-presence, your being there only in my mind, I was never really close to you, you never let me, and now you fade back into the oblivion of distance.

I feel like I’m losing a part of myself, losing all of myself. I grow pale and wilted without you like a hyacinth in a closet. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I let go? I feel horribly and terrifyingly out of control, my center hollowed out like a jack-o-lantern, grinning emptily, meaninglessly. You’re the wind that’s blown out my candle; I’m that one lifeless orange globe, smashed in the street by prepubescent boys trying to out-macho each other. I would beat my chest and tear my hair; I would crawl into a dark hole and pick at my skin like a disease if it weren’t for the eyes. The thousands of eyes of classmates, parents, peers, that idolize me.

The unspoken expectations are heavy like a chain around my neck. That girl is happy, smart, perfect, things can’t go wrong for her. She’ll go places, you’ll see. I have to live up (live down?) to their wordless urgings.

You, symbol of manly strength, of stable reliability, of caring, protection, advice, and love, have shifted your mask just enough for me to see behind it. I see your pumpkin grin. You’re scared, you’re empty, as unreliable and ever changing as I, our only difference is love. You think you have it, but deep down all you are is hollow. I know I have it, and it makes me empty.

Noncommittal and wavering, changing your attitude like a chameleon, to suit whatever your situation may be at the moment. “I’ll always be here,” you say, “I’d give anything just to be with you,” and my grin could melt a glacier.

“He loves me!” I think. Then out of those same sublime lips come other words, simpering, dodging, meaningless words to shield your soft belly from impending blows. “I don’t want to interfere,” you mumble. “I’ll always be here for you, I just have to figure some things out for myself.” “You have to have faith.”

The ice envelops my soul again and the cold winter of life - without knowing what we are – what you are to me, tears me to ribbons. Fuck, why do I keep coming back for more? Keep offering up my wrists to be slit? Don’t you see what a miracle you are? Don’t you see that now that there’s a place for you in my heart you must either fill it or leave me with only a gaping hole to remind me of what once was? A souvenir of my pointless past.

You’ve already won, you’ve already made me dependent, your declarations of undying affection echo in the hollow caverns of empty promises. Just don’t let me wander them alone.

No one becomes successful by accident. Success requires making a plan and sticking to it. It is simple, but does require commitment; it is not hard to do, but does require hard work. The good news is that once you begin, the results start coming almost instantly. The miracle of successful living is that the smallest step towards success attracts more success! Here is a very brief outline of the key points that will help you achieve the highest levels of success.

1. Look into the nearest mirror - the person staring back at you is the only person responsible for your success. Smile! No one else is the cause of your success or to blame for your short comings. Successful people take full responsibility for their actions.
2. Smile back at your reflection. Successful people are cheerful, optimistic, and forward thinking. If you think you don’t have anything to smile about, smile anyway. Positive thoughts drive out negative thoughts. It’s hard to have a negative thought while you are smiling!
3. Positive self-esteem is the foundation for success. Feel good about yourself and your abilities, achievements and potential. Don’t dwell on your mistakes. Remind and praise yourself on your past accomplishments. Congratulate yourself for taking positive steps toward a more successful future.
4. Believe in yourself. You are here for a purpose. God doesn’t make extras just to fill in the scenery. Find your mission and begin working to fulfill it.
5. Desire to be a success. Decide right now that you will be successful. Commit to being successful.
6. Associate with successful people. Do what they do. When faced with choices, make the choice a successful person would make. Blow your bonus check on a gambling trip or invest it?
7. Avoid unsuccessful people. Do not under any circumstances associate with negative people. Negative people are toxic; they destroy, they do not build. They are vampires that can live only by draining the life from others. The odds are greater that they will pull you down faster than you can lift them up. You can choose to stay away from all the negative people in your life. Avoid all the whiners, complainers, blamers and thumbsuckers.
8. Do what you are best at and what you get the most satisfaction from. There is no reason to stay stuck doing things that are frustrating, boring, unhealthy, unproductive, demeaning or unfulfilling.
9. Write down a vision of how you want to live your life. Be specific. Where you want to live, what kind of carpet, who your friends are, the pony’s name, what the new church rec hall you donated looks like, etc. Make a Future Scrapbook; paste in pictures, drawings, essays, clippings. Make up news headlines about your achievements. Every day visualize yourself as you would like to be - and then act that way!
10. Write down your biggest goal, the one you most want to fulfill. Write it in the present tense, I am…, I have…, I contribute…. Success is the result of a personal decision, so start your goal with I. Read your goal aloud every morning and night. Tell people your goal. Make a plan to achieve your goal and stick to it.
11. Study the science of success. Read books, listen to tapes, watch videos and positive TV programming. Talk to successful people and ask them how they became successful. Fill your mind with positive thoughts and give yourself positive self-affirmations.
12. Every day do something that brings you closer to your goal. Never give up. You can only fail if you quit trying. Keep on keeping on and you will succeed. Achieving success requires following a system. Begin today by putting these 12 points into daily practice.

Everybody experiences fear of failure, uncertainty, insecurity, low self-esteem, indecision, depression, nervousness and embarrassment. Successful people master these temporary conditions by taking positive action, by sticking to their plan, by maintaining their vision of the future, by learning from setbacks and by dedicating themselves to the pursuit of their mission. By following these simple steps you will become successful and achieve all that you desire.

© S. Iscoe, 1998. Please feel free to copy and distribute this article, but only in its entirety, including this notice and the following credit lines. Stephan Iscoe is a successful consultant and trainer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Stephan welcomes your feedback at 888-842-5651. Visit Link to Success.