Set Your Own Course

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.
- William Ernest Henley

Having a personal opinion is great.
Believing that one's personal opinion is absolute truth
leads to most of the world's troubles.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Steve Jobs' Three Rules of Life ...

1. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

2. Don't be trapped by dogma -
which is living with the results of other people's thinking.
Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

3. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition -
they somehow already know what you truly want to become.
- Steve Jobs

Take time to contemplate -
away from the opinions and influence of others -
what you really want
and what you believe to be important in your life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's affirmation:
I set my own course through the ocean of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Life and Death: Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 (video)

Big Dream - Big Adventure

Create Your Masterwork

Fun and Success
      

In Your Own Life, You are the Star

 

Don't live your life to please other people.
- Oprah Winfrey
[Be of service, but don't be a doormat.]

This is your life.
In the symphony of your life, you are the star.
You write the melody and the lyrics.
You are the soloist and the conductor.
You are merely a bit player in other people's lives,
but in your own life, you are the star.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You get what you settle for.
- the character Louise in the movie Thelma and Louise

It does not do to dwell on dreams, ...
and forget to live.
- the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Be the Melody in the Symphony of Your Life.
Write the melody and the lyrics.
Be the soloist and the conductor.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Choose Your Life Purpose

What guides you and maintains your direction?

Where Are You Going?

The Melody Within Your Soul
    

Happiness Comes from Inside Ourselves

 

It is not our circumstances
that create our discontent or contentment.
It is us.
- Vivian Greene

We Create Our Own Joy or Our Own Sorrow.
-Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Fortify yourself with contentment,
for it is an impregnable fortress.
- Epictetus

True humility is contentment.
- Henri Frederic Amiel

Further reading: Live Content

Rejoice

A Life of Abundance

True Riches
      

Trust in Yourself

 

Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.
- Jonas Salk

Trust in yourself.
Your perceptions are often far more accurate
than you are willing to believe.
- Claudia Black

Whatever you do, you need courage.
Whatever course you decide upon,
there is always someone to tell you
that you are wrong.
There are always difficulties arising
that tempt you to believe your critics are right.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust your own inner guidance.
Have faith that your steps are
carrying you toward your dreams.
Keep your eyes on the heavens
and believe that your feet will carry you well.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Follow your dreams, believe in yourself and don't give up.
- Rachel Corrie

Further reading: The Symphony of Your Life

Confidence is Half of Victory

Uncharted Territory
      

It's YOUR Life, Make YOUR Choices

 

Don't compromise yourself.
You are all you've got.
- Janis Joplin

It all depends on how we look at things,
and not on how things are in themselves.
The least of things with a meaning
is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.
- Carl Jung

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
- Henry David Thoreau

If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable,
you disconnect yourself from what you truly want,
and all that is left is compromise.
- Robert Fritz

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
- Steve Jobs

In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
- attributed to Thomas Jefferson

The Meaning of a Thing is Not Measured by its Size.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Your To-Do List

Question Your Questions

Choose Your Priorities

Your Relationship with Time

The Main Thing
     

Don't be an Imitation

 

Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland

To free us from the expectations of others,
to give us back to ourselves -
there lies the great singular power of self-respect.
- Joan Didion

Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him,
and then choose that way with all his strength.
- Hasidic Saying

Be simply yourself and don't compare or compete.
- Lao Tzu

Since you are the one who has to live with your choices,
be sure they are your own.
- Alan Cohen

Further reading: Have Confidence in Yourself

Trust Your Own Advice

Believe in Yourself

Think for Yourself
       

Dare to Believe in a Better Future

When we are no longer able to change a situation -
we are challenged to change ourselves.
- Viktor E. Frankl (Nazi concentration camp survivor)

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared
believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.
- Bruce Barton

I don't think of all the misery
but of the beauty that still remains.
- Anne Frank

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.
I just wish he didn't trust me so much.
- Mother Teresa

I Believe In Peace; I Believe In Mercy.
- Malala Yousafzai (shot by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating education for girls)

Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.
- Anne Frank (died in Nazi concentration camp)

Today's affirmation:
I believe in the goodness of people.
I believe in my own inner strength.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,

committed people can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

- Margaret Mead

Further reading: Mother Teresa prayer

Not A Victim

Anne Frank
     

Be an opener of doors

 

I celebrate myself, and sing myself.
- Walt Whitman

When you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you
that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.
- Joseph Campbell

Follow that will and that way
which experience confirms to be your own.
- Carl Jung

If you get to the point where someone is telling you
that you are not great or not good enough,
just follow your heart
and don't let anybody crush your dream.
- Patti LaBelle

Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Further reading: Don't Settle for "Good Enough"

Choose to Follow Your Heart

Go Where There is No Path

Choosing Your Destination
    

Trust Common Sense Rather Than "Belief"

 

Since you are the one who has to live with your choices,
be sure they are your own.
- Alan Cohen

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason
and your own common sense.
- The Buddha

Don't follow any advice, no matter how good,
until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think
in your mind that the counsel is wise.
- Joan Rivers

The ultimate authority must always rest
with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Each man is the architect of his own fate.
- Appius Claudius

Don't believe me.
I don't want you to believe me
but I want you to listen and make choices - your choices.
If what I say, doesn't work for you, leave it.
But if it works for you and that's what you want, then make it yours.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Further reading: To Thine Own Self Be True

Don't Take It Personally

Encourage Me

True to Your Best
    

Don't get dragged down by the madness of the world

 

Let today be a day to soar -
soar your spirits, soar your joy,
soar your belief in yourself.
Let all aspects of your life soar.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Protect your vision.
Prevail over adversity.
Persevere in the midst of turmoil.
Passionately act upon your convictions.
Purposely walk into the day.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We are strange beings, we seem
to go free, but we go in chains -
chains of training, custom, convention,
association, environment -
in a word, Circumstance -
and against these bonds
the strongest of us struggle in vain.
- Mark Twain

Today's affirmation:
I soar on eagle wings,
high above the madness of the world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Soar, It's Your Natural State

Fly Life on Free Wings

No Limits on Your Life
     

Do Not Be Swayed by the Opinions of Others

Value your own opinion more, and others' opinions less.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

To free us from the expectations of others,
to give us back to ourselves -
there lies the great singular power of self-respect.
- Joan Didion

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better
to displease the people by doing what you know is right,
than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.
- William J. H. Boetcker

Celebration wears a lot of different outfits
but always wears the same old, beautiful dancing shoes.
- Mary Anne Radmacher 

Everyone should carefully observe
which way his heart draws him,
and then choose that way with all his strength.
- Hasidic Proverb

To know what you prefer
instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Resilience is about believing in yourself,
and trusting your own wisdom
rather than being swayed by the opinions of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Whatever anyone else says or does, their words and their actions are truly about themselves. Don't take it personally when they rant, even if they direct their unhappiness in your direction.

While I appreciate how unpleasant it is to have others making unreasonable demands of you, it may help to remind yourself that it's not personal. Others are often 100% focused on their own issues and their own perceived needs. They project their frustration out into the mirror of life. When they look into that mirror, they think they are seeing your face, but in reality, they are seeing their own emotions.

Each of us is responsible for the consequences of our choices. When we choose for others rather than for ourselves, we suffer. Make all your choices from the longing of your own heart.

Gather all the facts.
Listen respectfully to others.
Be charitable to all.
And then make your own decisions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Remember to love yourself and to take time for yourself.

Say NO to the demands of the world.
Say YES to the longings of your own heart.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Own Choices

Your Intuition is Your Guide

At the Center of Your Being

Experts and Authorities

How to Be Yourself

Personal Boundaries
       

Master of My Fate

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.
- William Ernest Henley

Having a personal opinion is great.
Believing that one's personal opinion is absolute truth
leads to most of the world's troubles.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Steve Jobs' Three Rules of Life ...

1. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

2. Don't be trapped by dogma -
which is living with the results of other people's thinking.
Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

3. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition -
they somehow already know what you truly want to become.
- Steve Jobs

Take time to contemplate -
away from the opinions and influence of others -
what you really want
and what you believe to be important in your life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's affirmation:
I set my own course through the ocean of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Life and Death: Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 (video)

Big Dream - Big Adventure

Create Your Masterwork

Fun and Success
      

 

Don't be a Doormat

Don't live your life to please other people.
- Oprah Winfrey
[Be of service, but don't be a doormat.]

This is your life.
In the symphony of your life, you are the star.
You write the melody and the lyrics.
You are the soloist and the conductor.
You are merely a bit player in other people's lives,
but in your own life, you are the star.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You get what you settle for.
- the character Louise in the movie Thelma and Louise

It does not do to dwell on dreams, ...
and forget to live.
- the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Be the Melody in the Symphony of Your Life.
Write the melody and the lyrics.
Be the soloist and the conductor.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Choose Your Life Purpose

What guides you and maintains your direction?

Where Are You Going?

The Melody Within Your Soul
    

We create our own discontent or contentment

 

It is not our circumstances
that create our discontent or contentment.
It is us.
- Vivian Greene

We Create Our Own Joy or Our Own Sorrow.
-Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Fortify yourself with contentment,
for it is an impregnable fortress.
- Epictetus

True humility is contentment.
- Henri Frederic Amiel

Further reading: Live Content

Rejoice

A Life of Abundance

True Riches
      

Don't be Dissuaded

 

Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.
- Jonas Salk

Trust in yourself.
Your perceptions are often far more accurate
than you are willing to believe.
- Claudia Black

Whatever you do, you need courage.
Whatever course you decide upon,
there is always someone to tell you
that you are wrong.
There are always difficulties arising
that tempt you to believe your critics are right.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust your own inner guidance.
Have faith that your steps are
carrying you toward your dreams.
Keep your eyes on the heavens
and believe that your feet will carry you well.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Follow your dreams, believe in yourself and don't give up.
- Rachel Corrie

Further reading: The Symphony of Your Life

Confidence is Half of Victory

Uncharted Territory
      

YOUR Life, YOUR Choices

 

Don't compromise yourself.
You are all you've got.
- Janis Joplin

It all depends on how we look at things,
and not on how things are in themselves.
The least of things with a meaning
is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.
- Carl Jung

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
- Henry David Thoreau

If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable,
you disconnect yourself from what you truly want,
and all that is left is compromise.
- Robert Fritz

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
- Steve Jobs

In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
- attributed to Thomas Jefferson

The Meaning of a Thing is Not Measured by its Size.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Your To-Do List

Question Your Questions

Choose Your Priorities

Your Relationship with Time

The Main Thing
     

Never Kowtow to the Expectations of Others

 

Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland

To free us from the expectations of others,
to give us back to ourselves -
there lies the great singular power of self-respect.
- Joan Didion

Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him,
and then choose that way with all his strength.
- Hasidic Saying

Be simply yourself and don't compare or compete.
- Lao Tzu

Since you are the one who has to live with your choices,
be sure they are your own.
- Alan Cohen

Further reading: Have Confidence in Yourself

Trust Your Own Advice

Believe in Yourself

Think for Yourself
       

Believe In Peace; Believe In Mercy

 

When we are no longer able to change a situation -
we are challenged to change ourselves.
- Viktor E. Frankl (Nazi concentration camp survivor)

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared
believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.
- Bruce Barton

I don't think of all the misery
but of the beauty that still remains.
- Anne Frank

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.
I just wish he didn't trust me so much.
- Mother Teresa

I Believe In Peace; I Believe In Mercy.
- Malala Yousafzai (shot by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating education for girls)

Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.
- Anne Frank (died in Nazi concentration camp)

Today's affirmation:
I believe in the goodness of people.
I believe in my own inner strength.

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world.
For, indeed, that's all who ever have.
- Margaret Mead

Further reading: Mother Teresa prayer

Not A Victim

Anne Frank
     

Stay Alert for Doors that Open for You

 

I celebrate myself, and sing myself.
- Walt Whitman

When you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you
that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.
- Joseph Campbell

Follow that will and that way
which experience confirms to be your own.
- Carl Jung

If you get to the point where someone is telling you
that you are not great or not good enough,
just follow your heart
and don't let anybody crush your dream.
- Patti LaBelle

Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Further reading: Don't Settle for "Good Enough"

Choose to Follow Your Heart

Go Where There is No Path

Choosing Your Destination
    

Trust Your Own Common Sense Rather Than "Belief"

 

Since you are the one who has to live with your choices,
be sure they are your own.
- Alan Cohen

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason
and your own common sense.
- The Buddha

Don't follow any advice, no matter how good,
until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think
in your mind that the counsel is wise.
- Joan Rivers

The ultimate authority must always rest
with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Each man is the architect of his own fate.
- Appius Claudius

Don't believe me.
I don't want you to believe me
but I want you to listen and make choices - your choices.
If what I say, doesn't work for you, leave it.
But if it works for you and that's what you want, then make it yours.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Further reading: To Thine Own Self Be True

Don't Take It Personally

Encourage Me

True to Your Best