Tag Archives: success

Vince Lombardi on winning / success

  • Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything.
  • Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
  • Success demands singleness of purpose.
  • Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
  • It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.
  • The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
  • The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.
  • The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.
  • Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
  • I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.

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Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

Benjamin Franklin on improving thinking and writing

benfranklinAs we dig into our post-Labour Day realities, the scribes at CG&A COMM thought it best to review some advice from Benjamin Franklin – a very productive and prolific man. Here is this American genius on how to improve your own thinking and writing skills. Benjamin Franklin writes in his autobiography how he used news copy of current affairs:

About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator. … I thought the writing excellent and wished if possible to imitate it. With that view, I took some of the papers, and making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then without looking at the book, tried to complete the papers again by expressing each hinted sentiment at length and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should occur to me. Then I compared my Spectator with the original, discovered some of my faults, and corrected them. … I also sometimes jumbled my collections of hints into confusion, and after some weeks endeavoured to reduce them into the best order before I began to form the full sentences and complete the paper. This was to teach me method in the arrangement of the thoughts. By comparing my work afterwards with the original, I discovered many faults and corrected them; but I sometimes had the pleasure of fancying that in certain particulars of small import I had been lucky enough to improve the method or the language, and this encourage me to think that I might possibly in time come to be a tolerable English writer, of which I was extremely ambitious.

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Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Tolstoy’s “10 Rules of Life”

In a person’s quest for success and happiness, literary giant Tolstoy wrote ten rules to follow. Interestingly, he wrote these rules when he was 18 years old. Through his life, he broke many of them. (ed. – I can’t help wondering what he would have written as rules in his later years?)

Tolstoy’s “10 Rules of Life”

  1. Get up early (five o’clock)
  2. Go to bed early (nine to ten o’clock)
  3. Eat little and avoid sweets
  4. Try to do everything by yourself
  5. Have a goal for your whole life, a goal for one section of your life, a goal for a shorter period and a goal for the year; a goal for every month, a goal for every week, a goal for every day, a goal for every hour and for every minute, and sacrifice the lesser goal to the greater
  6. Keep away from women
  7. Kill desire by work
  8. Be good, but try to let no one know it
  9. Always live less expensively than you might
  10. Change nothing in your style of living even if you become ten times richer

 

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

 

 

Margaret Thatcher – on success

Margaret Thatcher’s musings have provided motivation for many around the world. Here’s a favourite on the topic of success:

 

What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.

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For more bons mots, click on the By George Journal tags of motivation and inspirational. Also, in Our E-Bookshelf, you can obtain Our 1000 FAV Quotes, a compilation of the best of the best FAV quotes.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

Definition of Success

RWEmerson1859One of the greatest thinkers this world has seen is Ralph Waldo Emerson. Here’s how he defined success.

 

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

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Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

10 bons mots of Theodore Roosevelt

President_Theodore_Roosevelt,_1904American President Theodore Roosevelt was a great motivator with many inspirational insights into attaining a solid work ethic and a purposeful life. Here are ten of his most remarkable bons mots.

 

“Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.”

“Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.”

“The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.”

“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

“Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.”

“Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.”

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

 

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Gardner’s 10 Steps Towards Success

Chris Gardner, today 62, is an American entrepreneur, investor, stockbroker, motivational speaker, author, and philanthropist who, during the early 1980s, struggled with homelessness while raising his toddler son, Christopher, Junior.  Gardner’s fortunes changed however, when he wrote a book of memoirs, The Pursuit of Happyness, first published in 2006. Today, he is CEO of his own stockbrokerage firm and resides between Chicago and Toronto.

Gardner has written much on his personal journey and has assembled ten steps towards success. Here are his rules.

Step 1: Commit to Plan A
When you are trying to do something that you are truly passionate about, there is no Plan B. Plan B sucks.

Step 2: Put family first

Step 3: Decide to be world-class
Strive to be the best you can be in what you are doing and be persistent.

Step 4: Have self-worth
Never confuse your net worth with your self-worth. Your net worth can fluctuate up and down but your self-worth should not. Who you are and your values, should never be negotiable, compromised and should never settle.

Step 5: Keep your team motivated
You have to respect those around you, let them grow and trust them. Then, you have to leave them alone.

Step 6: Change is necessary
Change is absolutely necessary for personal growth and it’s going to happen.

Step 7: Baby steps count
Baby steps count as long as you’re going forward.

Step 8: Follow your passion
Life is short. If you are doing something that you are not fully committed to, if you are doing something you are not passionate about, you are compromising yourself every day.

Step 9: Do whatever it takes
If you have a goal, if you have a dream, go after it. Don’t let anything stand in your way.

Step 10: Start where you are
Start from where you are and take those necessary steps to help you live your passion.

(ed. – Source http://www.leadgrowdevelop.com/chris-gardners-top-ten-rules-for-success-week-long-motivation-series-part-5/ )

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Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Jack Welch’s Strategic Questions

Jack Welch is the infamous American business executive who guided General Electric for two decades. Today he is author and business coach and he shares his business acumen in many profile articles.

 

In a recent LinkedIn article, Welch lists the core questions to ask when developing (or reviewing) a successful business strategy. There are five key lines of questioning to begin a thorough assessment.

 

1  What does the playing field look like now?

  • Who are the competitors in this business, large and small, new and old?
  • Who has what share, globally and in each market? Where do we fit in?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor? How good are their products? How much does each one spend on R&D? How big is each sales force? How performance-driven is each culture?
  • Who are this business’s main customers and how do they buy?

 

2  What has the competition been up to?

  • What has each competitor done in the past year to change the playing field?
  • Has anyone introduced game-changing new products, new technologies, or a new distribution channel?
  • Are there any announced or potential new entrants, and what have they been up to in the past year?

 

3  What have you been up to?

  • What have you done in the past year to change the competitive playing field?
  • Have you bought a company, introduced a new product, stolen a competitor’s key salesperson, or licensed a new technology from a start-up?
  • Have you lost any competitive advantages that you once had – a great salesperson, a special product, a proprietary technology?

 

4  What’s around the corner?

  • What scares you most in the year ahead — what one or two things could a competitor do to nail you?
  • Is your top talent secure, and are you caring for them appropriately, with pay, perks, and a culture that inspires them?
  • What new products or technologies could your competitors launch that might change the game?
  • What M&A deals would knock you off your feet?

 

5.  What’s your winning move?

  • What can you do to change the playing field – is it an acquisition, a new product, globalization, or better talent?
  • What can you do to make customers stick to you more than ever before and more than anyone else?

 

To read the full article, here is LinkedIn link.

 

 

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Canada’s Most Influential Brands

In a survey conducted by ICA Canada and Ipsos, Canadians selected Internet-related firms for 7 of the 10 most influential brands in the country. The survey looked at more than 100 companies with the largest ad budgets in Canada, and ranked them according to an influence index. It asked Canadians to rate brands on categories like trustworthiness, presence, corporate citizenship, engagement and “leading edge.”

Of the most influential brands in Canada, 7 of 10 were Internet related. Only one of the top ten was Canadian.

The survey found some notable demographic differences. Millennials scored tech brands highest: Netflix, PayPal and Instagram made their top 10 list. Gen-Xers are big fans of Walmart, while Baby Boomers consider Microsoft more influential than Apple. Baby Boomers also included two iconic Canadian brands among their top selections; yet, CBC and Canadian Tire did not make the overall top ten in the survey.

The top 10 brands in Canada for 2016 are:

  1. Google
  2. Apple
  3. Microsoft
  4. Facebook
  5. YouTube
  6. Visa
  7. Walmart
  8. Tim Hortons
  9. Amazon
  10. Samsung

This Ipsos poll surveyed 6,006 Canadians, and is considered accurate to within 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The poll was published by Huffington Post.

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25 Most Influence Canadian Companies

In a related survey, Canadian Business (with Rogers) identified the 25 most influential brands in the country, ranked by “respect” of average Canadians. This is a list of the companies that best connect with their customers. The poll seeks opinions on five key aspects of a company’s reputation (the quality of its products and/or services; its customer service; its commitment to innovation; community involvement; and also, the person’s overall view of the brand).
The results of this Canadian-centric survey have a number of surprises in the top 25…

1 MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op)
2 Cirque du Soleil
3 West Jet
4 Tim Hortons
5 Roots
6 Shoppers Drug Mart
7 Videotron
8 BRP (Bombardier)
9 Loblaws
10 Canada Goose
11 Gildan Activeware
12 Home Hardware
13 Canadian Tire
14 Lululemon Athletics
15 Saputo
16 Metro
17 TD Bank
18 Rona
19 McCains Food
20 Jean Coutu
21 Telus
22 Sun Life Financial
23 RBC
24 Molson Coors
25 IMAX

So, where is Rogers (ed. – this exercise must have been embarrassing for the company’s market research team)? Where’s the beloved CBC – or any other news media companies in this list? Is it any surprise Air Canada or more banks didn’t make the list? No gas companies? This list of most “respected” Canadian brands is insightful indeed. Read all the background and commentary in the Canadian Business article.

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Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need an experienced communicator or a go-to-scribe? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Warren Buffett -isms

 warren-buffett-richest-man-in-america

With a net worth of more than $66 billion, Warren Buffett is the third-richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine. Here are some Buffet-isms on investment.

  • I am a huge bull on the American economy.
  • I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and I am a better businessman because I am an investor.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average started the 20th century at 66 and it ended at 11,400. That’s not a bad train to be on.
  • Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful.
  • Buy and buy and buy little pieces of a wonderful group of American businesses, and you’ll do fine over time and you’ll keep your costs low. If you try to be a little bit smarter, you’ll probably end up being a lot dumber.
  • Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
  • Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they’re doing.
  • The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.
  • Insanity consists of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result.
  • Over the years, a number of very smart people have learned the hard way that a long stream of impressive numbers multiplied by a single zero always equals zero.
  • In my view, derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.
  • The market is there only as a reference point to see if anybody is offering to do anything foolish. When we invest in stocks we invest in businesses.
  • You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.
  • In this case (the current U.S. credit crunch), Wall Street drank its own Kool-Aid.
  • If you buy a farm as an investment, do you sit there and watch the Farm Channel on television all day, as they tell you corn went up a penny or something like that? No. You buy the farm and figure it is a good investment over a period of time.
  • It is far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.

 

 

Timothy Farris quotes on life

Timothy Farris is many things to many people – and he seems to be everywhere as author, entrepreneur, blogger, podcaster, public speaker, charity advocate, health guru and multiple business award winner. Much like one of his insightful quips – “Life is too short to be small” – Farris is often larger than life. His observations provide one good reason to pause.

Here are 20 of By George’s favourite Timothy Farris quotes on life.

  • The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?
  • Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all.
  • When you try to do something big it’s hard to fail completely.
  • What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.
  • Many a false step was made by standing still.
  • Someday is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.
  • The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, but to pursue and experience the best in the world.
  • For all their bitching about what’s holding them back, most people have a lot of trouble coming up with the defined dreams they’re being held from.
  • Remember—boredom is the enemy, not some abstract “failure.
  • Age doesn’t matter: an open mind does.
  • If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
  • Role models who push us to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress—stress that is healthful and the stimulus for growth.
  • It’s lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals, paradoxically making them the most time and energy-consuming.
  • Most people are fast to stop you before you get started but hesitate to get in the way if you’re moving.
  • You are the average of the five people you associate with most, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious, or disorganized friends. If someone isn’t making you stronger, they’re making you weaker.
  • A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.
  • The bottom line is that you only have the rights you fight for.
  • People are fond of using the its not what you know, its who you know adage as an excuse for inaction, as if all successful people are born with powerful friends.
  • $1,000,000 in the bank isn’t the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows.
  • To enjoy life, you don’t need fancy nonsense, but you do need to control your time and realize that most things just aren’t as serious as you make them out to be.

 

A parable: #honesty #character

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. “The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and, excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.  Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still… nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil. He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room.

When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful – in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed, Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is “Jim!”

Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.”

“All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. “

“Therefore, congratulation Jim, you are the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”

Suggestions for a successful life

  • Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
  • Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.
  • Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
  • Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
  • Be forgiving of yourself and others.
  • Be generous.
  • Have grateful heart.
  • Persistence, persistence, persistence.
  • Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
  • Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
  • Commit yourself to constant improvement and to quality.
  • Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
  • Be loyal.
  • Be honest.
  • Be a self-starter.
  • Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.
  • Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
  • Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.
  • Take good care of those you love.
  • Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

 

(ed. – This is a list taken from a poster that was forever hanging in our family rec room. Though it is no longer on the wall, today, most all points are committed to memory.)

A dozen gems from Oprah Winfrey

Oprah_Winfrey_at_2011_TCARecently we came across a selection of remarkable quotes by modern day star Oprah Winfrey. Her inspirational outlook on life is summed up in her observation, “I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who, from an early age, knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.”

 

Here are a dozen of the gems.

  • “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”
  • “With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.”
  • “The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance–and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.”
  • “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
  • “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”
  • “Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.”
  • “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.”
  • “If you don’t know what your passion is, realize that the one reason for your existence on earth is to find it.”
  • “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
  • “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”
  • “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.”
  • “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not be paid for it.”

 

(ed. – SOURCE: http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/oprah-winfrey-19-inspiring-power-quotes-for-success.html and photo credit: By Greg Hernandez from California, CA, USA (Oprah Winfrey at 2011 TCA) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons )

Good advice on success

I re-discovered this gem from back issues of the By George Journal.

In building a firm foundation for success, here are a few stones to remember:

1. The wisdom of preparation.
2. The value of confidence.
3. The worth of honesty.
4. The privilege of working.
5. The discipline of struggle.
6. The magnetism of character.
7. The radiance of health.
8. The forcefulness of simplicity.
9. The winsomeness of courtesy.
10. The attractiveness of modesty.
11. The inspiration of cleanliness.
12. The satisfaction of serving.
13. The power of suggestion.
14. The buoyancy of enthusiasm.
15. The advantage of initiative.
16. The virtue of patience.
17. The rewards of cooperation.
18. The fruitfulness of perseverance.
19. The sportsmanship of losing.
20. The joy of winning.

 

(ed. – This list was compiled by Rollo C. Hester.)

 

Quotes by American business legend Henry Ford

  • Henry_ford_1919Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.
  • Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
  • It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.
  • Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
  • Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
  • You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.
  • A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.
  • It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.
  • Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
  • As we advance in life we learn the limits of our abilities.
  • Don’t find fault, find a remedy.
  • I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.
  • Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
  • The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.
  • There are no big problems, there are just a lot of little problems.
  • There is no man living that can not do more than he thinks he can.
  • You will find men who want to be carried on the shoulders of others, who think that the world owes them a living. They don’t seem to see that we must all lift together and pull together.
  • A bore is a person who opens his mouth and puts his feats in it.
  • Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.
  • Any colour – so long as it’s black.

Henry_ford_1910Ford-T

(ed. – Photo of Henry Ford is taken in 1919. Credit: By Hartsook, photographer. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo of the Model T car is from 1910. Credit: By Harry Shipler [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.)

By George, join our dialogue!

bygeorgejournal02

 

  Do what you love. Know your own bone;

  gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and

  gnaw it still. – Henry David Thoreau

 

Our By George editorial mission is to share provocative thoughts on the pages of this journal, on our Facebook page, and with tweets of quotes and quirky political observations. We connect daily to project inspirational thought, motivation – and fun into our readers’ days.  Visit the pages of this By George Journal regularly and connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

  

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Provoking Thought. Providing Thoughtfulness.

 

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By George, what great quotes!

Each and every day via our By George Twitter feed, we provide quotes of motivation and inspiration, observations on success and character, about life and the best of life. Here are our last 25 FAV quotes from the past few weeks…

  • “Having a great intellect is no path to being happy.” – Stephen Fry
  • “Never mind searching for who you are. Search for the person you aspire to be.” – Robert Brault
  • “It is well to think well; it is divine to act well.” – Horace Mann
  • “There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.” – Christopher Morley
  • “The real secret of success is enthusiasm.” – Walter Chrysler
  • “It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
  • “It’s always too early to quit.” – Norman Vincent Peale
  • “As the water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it, so a wise man adapts himself to circumstances.” – Confucius
  • “The more I live, the more I think that humor is the saving sense.” – Jacob Riis
  • “Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.” – J. P. Morgan
  • “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.” – James Allen
  • “Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.” – Bernard Malamud
  • “Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa
  • “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
  • “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” – Marcus Aurelius
  • “Isn’t is funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.” – C.S. Lewis
  • “As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” – Andrew Carnegie
  • “Success and happiness are not matters of chance but choice.” – Zig Ziglar
  • “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter”- Walt Disney
  • “Just remember…when you think all is lost, the future remains.” – Bob Goddard
  • ”Success isn’t something that just happens – success is learned, success is practiced and then it is shared.’ -Sparky Anderson
  • “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle
  • “The pursuit of normality is the ultimate sacrifice of potential.” — Faith Jegede
  • “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh
  • “However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.” ― Stephen Hawking

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Lessons of Life and Success

To follow up on yesterday’s post of Colin’s Powell: 13 Rules, By George reaches back into our archives to produce a short-list of “life lessons” posts that have been published in these pages. Each list of rules or lessons provides a slightly different perspective on the age old pursuit of happiness and/or success. Enjoy (and take notes).

Tolstoy’s “10 Rules of Life”

8 Lessons of Life – from 108 years old Alice Herz-Sommer, the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor

10 life lessons you should unlearn – from Martha Beck, concerned over one’s “satisfaction in life”

Carnegie’s 10 Rules of Success

Successful? Here are two lists to commit to memory – Habits and ways of rich, successful people and 9 ways highly successful people think differently

Celebrating 20 Years!

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As 2014 winds down, we’re once again speaking about the 20-year milestone we passed this year. 1994-2014 – what a ride!

For those who may not know about CG&A COMMUNICATIONS, here are 10 facts on our company’s history.

  1. In the 20 years, there has been more than 30 consultants work within our “CG&A network” (as many as 14 at one time in our history). Today, there are 4 individuals in the network who have been associated with us for more than 15 years.
  2. Though we started the business in Ottawa and much of our work focuses on Parliament Hill and the federal government, our company’s main office was located in the Niagara Region for just under 11 years (we operated in various Ottawa locations for the other 9+ years).
  3. We have played an integral role in the passage of important legislation: federal and provincial impaired driving laws; education amendments in Canada’s copyright law; and a new Ontario law that is the first North American legislation to address school anaphylaxis protocols.
  4. We have counseled CEO and Boards of a total of 5 hospitals and 6 health organizations, and worked with both the Health Minister and Deputy Minister in Ontario.
  5. We served the National President, National Board and CEO of MADD Canada on many different levels for a total of 14 years. We managed MADD’s government relations and advocacy efforts, executed its media relations, and advised on public policy matters.
  6. For more than a decade we have been counseling provincial ministers of education and senior policy officials, who have been successful in achieving significant education amendments in the recently passed federal copyright law.
  7. We provided strategic counsel and public relations support to Board members of the Ottawa Transition Board, the body that managed the amalgamation of 12 municipalities into the new City of Ottawa in 2001.
  8. For three years, we were the public relations company of record for the Ottawa International Airport, branding and positioning the newly privatized business entity (ed. – you may say in getting this contract our business took off).
  9. We provided media relations and webmaster services for a wide range of clients from MADD Canada to Commissionaires Ottawa, from Ottawa International Airport to Ottawa Transition Board; and advised dozens of other clients from hydro, telephone, hospitals, financial advisors, etc.
  10. Over the years, we have written and distributed By George, an entertaining and informative newsletter. Currently, Chris George edits the opus as an on-line journal: www.bygeorgejournal.ca.

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