Here are some more excerpts from my latest book, Simple Realities (The pathway to happiness and success), which is now available at Amazon.com and on Kindle.
IDEAS
We all come up with hundreds, maybe thousands, of ideas throughout our lives. The problem is that we seldom come up with them at the right time or in the right place, so they are forgotten. The great idea that comes in the shower gets washed down the drain when the next thought squeezes it out. That’s why we should keep an Ideas file. Keep it on your computer, in a book or on scraps of paper kept in a file, whichever works for you. As soon as you can, record every idea that comes to you and review the regularly. You’ll be surprised at how many good ideas will eventually be used.
One way to come up with a good idea is to come up with a lot of ideas and discard the bad ones.
Ideas are useless until acted upon.
An idea is like a train: if you don’t board it while it’s there, you’ll miss it.
You can’t really develop an idea until you can express it clearly; even the finest goods have to be packaged and sold.
Great ideas are like airplanes; they need landing gear as well as wings.
Ideas, like wheelbarrows, don’t go anywhere on their own.
Ideas are like children; yours are special.
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
Dave, the most open-minded person I’ve ever known, and I were disagreeing at the executive committee meeting. “We’re not that far apart, Lyman,” he said. “Dave,” I replied, “we’re diametrically opposed!” “Well,” he suggested, “that’s not that far apart.”
Minds, like parachutes, function best when open.
Until we understand something completely, we should be completely open-minded about it.
There is a point up to which open-mindedness is a virtue but beyond which it is a weakness.
To see the light you sometimes have to open your mind, not your eyes.
Some people get so broadminded that their thinking gets shallow.
Sometimes what is fair has to give way to what is practical.
When someone suggests a new way to do something, before coming up with reasons why it won’t work always look for one reason why it might.
Some open minds should be closed for repairs.
A deaf ear is the first symptom of a closed mind.
Few things die quicker than a new idea in a closed mind.
Sometimes it’s better to judge the intention rather than the action.
People who are afraid of change will always have trouble opening their minds.
PUNCTUALITY
Think for moment about the signals you send by being late. You’re telling other people that:
a) You are more important than they are.
b) The things you have to do are more important than the things they have to do.
c) You’re not very well organized.
d) You’re irresponsible.
e) You’re insensitive to their feelings.
f) All of the above.
Being late is an insult to everyone else involved.
People recall all the faults of those who keep them waiting.
When people are kept waiting they will always be less pleasant to deal with.