Daily Motivator - February
 

February 1

Great living to do
Stop waiting for the right time and make this the right time. Stop begging for permission and give yourself permission to live an outstanding life filled with all the experiences and joys you want to have.

You don't have to hope for a lucky break. You just have to step forward, take your destiny in your own hands, and do the work to give your own unique vision to this world.

Right now, right in front of you are actions you can take and positive differences you can make. Don't hesitate another minute to get started making the most of what you already have.

Throw the doubts and excuses out the window and throw yourself into creating new value and goodness. You know you can do it, and you know how great it will feel.

You've already made the massive investment of your whole life to get to this point. Now, do something worthy of all that time and effort.

Raise your expectations, step beyond your doubts, and engage your passion. You have a lot of great living to do, and now is when to do it.

Ralph S. Marston

February 2

Joy always

Whether rain pours down or the sun shines bright, this is a day for joy. When things go as planned and also when they don't, the time is right for joy.

If you limit your joy to only certain circumstances, you'll fail to have it when you could use it most. Choose to be joyful no matter what, and even on the darkest days you'll brighten the world with your presence.

Let your joy sweeten the victories and ease the defeats. Let your joy shine its light on a positive way forward no matter what the past has been.

Live with joy in your heart and put the power of gratitude, integrity, love, enthusiasm and persistence into your life. Live with joy, do your work with joy, and you'll be more effective at everything you undertake.

Joy is a choice that will give you great power. When you feel positive about life, you are able to do great things.

You never have to be a victim because you always have the option to be joyful. Choose that option, live with joy through every moment and you're sure to be your very best.

Ralph S. Marston

February 3

Benefit from positive expectation

When people know you expect the worst of them, they will usually act according to those expectations. When you expect the best of people, and they're aware of it, they'll generally do what they can to live up to those expectations.

Sure, some people will disappoint you and others will pleasantly surprise you. For the most part, though, your interactions are heavily flavored by what you bring to them.

Because of that, you can make an enormous positive difference in your own life and the lives of others just by virtue of what you expect. Expect a better day, a better situation, better results, a better world, and you'll begin to make that better world.

Even if you try, you cannot fully hide your expectations. They're shouted to the world through your body language, your tone of voice, your choice of words, and countless other factors.

So go ahead and give yourself the benefit of positive expectation. Expect the best of life, of the people around you, of your circumstances, of everything.

It costs you nothing to expect the best, and there's no good reason to expect anything less. Consistently expect the best, and you'll find yourself, and many of those around you, making it so.

Ralph S. Marston

February 4

Disruption

When you get too close to what you're doing, you have trouble seeing it all. Focus is essential, and so too is it essential to relax that focus.

The best, most creative solution to the problem does not come from the problem. It comes from the richness of life that exists outside the problem.

With your established routine and habitual thought patterns you can get good work done. With a disruption in that routine you can achieve major breakthroughs.

To make your effort more effective and more creative, back away from it. Stop trying so hard, and allow yourself to be the whole, well-rounded person you know you are.

Make room in your life for mystery, wonder, beauty, color, soft, hot, quiet, dry, wet, bright, dark, and cool. Invite and embrace new experiences, people, places, sensations and ideas.

Always, seek to make a difference, but don't ever make it a chore. Live fully, diversely, even unexpectedly, and in all you do, you'll do well.

Ralph S. Marston

February 5

Freedom within

Forgiveness eases the burden of resentment. Gratitude releases you from the need to need.

Love unbinds you from fear, anger and worry. Caring and generosity push away the despair.

Understanding liberates you from stale old assumptions. Kindness lifts you out of cynicism and disappointment.

Within you already is the power to escape whatever gets you down. Because within you is the choice to live with goodness and integrity, strength and responsibility.

The latest bright flashy gadget will not save you, really won't even interest or entertain you much. The good values within, though, can light up the whole world.

Feel the power you have for spreading goodness, love, wisdom and all things that matter. Free yourself from within, and dance through life bringing joy to all.

Ralph S. Marston

February 6

The power to act

All the disappointments that have ever hounded you cannot equal the power of one positive action. Go ahead now and take that action.

Proclaim your confidence in the future by creating something good and useful with the present. Erase doubts by doing work and getting results that prove them wrong.

Thoughts, feelings, worries and opinions can get you down. Positive, productive action cuts through all that and lifts you up.

Don't let a negative attitude prevent you from taking action. Do something, make a difference, and your attitude is suddenly much better.

If you feel helpless and ineffective, like there's no point in doing anything, go ahead, do something anyway. You're feelings will change.

Always, you have the power to act, and it can improve everything in your life. Use it to move solidly, again and again, in the direction of your dreams.

Ralph S. Marston

February 7

Too good

You’re too good to let a single day of your life go to waste. You’re too good to let the time pass without packing as much great living into it as possible.

You’re too good to put toxic junk into your body, your thoughts and your awareness. You’re too good to be resentful or discouraged.

You hold the power of a unique and beautiful life in your hands. You see things no one else sees, and you have an obligation to make value and meaning out of what you see.

The possibilities are too good to ignore, or to run away from. With so many good things to do, it makes no sense to get caught up in empty or destructive pursuits.

The opportunity that is your life on this day is calling to you. That opportunity is too good to pass up.

Thousands of years of history, and your entire life to this point, have brought you where you are. Tap into that accumulated goodness, and transform it into new greatness.

— Ralph Marston

February 8

Fresh new life

The world begins again in this moment. New possibilities wash away old disappointments, giving fresh energy to every hope.

Up ahead in the distance, fulfillment and achievement call to you. Keep going, they say, keep doing what you must in the service of all you love.

Already you are well on your way, the experience and wisdom you've gained serving you more powerfully with each new day. You've learned the importance of joy, of purpose, challenge, commitment and gratitude, welcoming new opportunities in every circumstance.

No matter how far you've come, no matter what lies ahead, the pure, majestic substance of life is yours right now. Treasure it dearly and make use of it fully.

Let the brightness astound you and the stillness inspire you. Let the darkness humble you and the tumult energize you.

Fresh new life is born today, and you are here to live it. Give to it what it deserves, which is everything.

Ralph S. Marston

February 9

Your outlook

If you look for reasons to be angry, you'll find plenty of them. Look instead for reasons to be joyful, and see them everywhere.

This day, this world, the events and people in it will reflect yourself back to you. Give joy, love, respect, understanding, creativity and good cheer, and get back much of the same.

Choose to be hopeful and you'll find yourself putting your hopeful outlook into action. Almost like magic, you'll also find yourself connected to others who share your positive perspective.

Even your small corner of the universe is so stuffed full of motion, objects, ideas, events and other stimuli you can't possibly comprehend it all. Out of limitless possibilities, you choose your outer experiences based on your inner stories.

What kind of stories are you repeating to yourself? Are they stories of fear and despair, or stories of hope, of love, of giving and sharing and achievement?

Your outlook is more than just what you think of the world. It is what you make of the world, of your life, and you have every reason to make it the best you can imagine.

Ralph S. Marston

February 10

Two choices

When things go wrong, you have two choices. You can make things worse or you can make things better.

You can feel sorry for yourself or you can let the situation inspire you to take positive action. You can look for someone to blame or you can make a decisive move forward.

Just because you've been disappointed is no reason to add to that disappointment with your own actions. In fact, just because you've been disappointed is no reason to act disappointed.

Your actions are based on your choices in this moment, not on past history. Your actions are based on what you've decided to make of yourself, not on what life has dealt you.

What if you could emerge from the situation and be stronger, more positively focused, with a greater sense of purpose and unstoppable confidence? In fact, you can.

Make the choice that will ultimately benefit you and everyone else in your world. No matter how unfair or unjust or disappointing life may be, choose to look ahead, act ahead, live ahead and get ahead.

Ralph S. Marston

February 11

Power of happiness

Instead of seeking to be happy, be happy. Instead of waiting to be happy, be happy now.

Happiness is not something you must prove or justify. Happiness is not something for you to place conditions upon.

Happiness is yours when you simply allow it. You can do that at any time, in any situation, as often as you choose.

When you choose to be happy with life you choose to be highly effective at living it. You choose to be generous, creative, energetic and inspired.

Happiness feels good, and that's not a trivial thing. When you feel good about life, about yourself, about others, you can do great things.

Stop resisting the power and possibility of happiness. Be happy, now, and be all you are meant to be.

Ralph S. Marston

February 12

Embrace the resistance

Don't see it as an obstacle. See it as a chance to discover how committed you are to moving forward.

Don't see it as a problem. See it as a way to gain new strength.

Does it seem that the world pushes against you every time you set out to make progress? Actually, the resistance you encounter is providing a path to your goal, and a way to create something of value.

If the quest were too easy, reaching it would have no significance. It is precisely the difficulties, challenges and obstacles that give your work meaning.

You're already strong and capable, becoming stronger with every challenge. Embrace the resistance, appreciate it for what it offers, and you'll find yourself moving steadily through it.

Instead of complaining that the work is too hard, celebrate that it's sufficiently challenging to produce a valuable, meaningful reward. Then keep up the good work, reaping all the benefits that come from doing so.

Ralph S. Marston

February 13

First response

If you find yourself feeling judgmental, let it be a reminder to feel thankful instead. When you notice yourself obsessing over what's wrong, let that prompt you to focus instead on all that is good and right with life.

Gratitude is a quick-acting remedy to whatever gets you down. Gratitude opens your awareness to positive possibilities and gives you greater access to the abundance that surrounds you.

A day that begins with gratitude is a day likely to result in meaningful progress. Begin the day being thankful and you'll end the day with even more to be thankful for.

Gratitude is more than just being nice and saying thank you. Gratitude is a powerful strategy that energizes you with effectiveness and resourcefulness in every area of life.

Every situation is an opportunity to be thankful. Take those opportunities, and turn those situations into positive, fulfilling experiences.

Make gratitude your first response. It makes everything you do more effective and fulfilling.

Ralph S. Marston

February 14

Create from what is there

Creativity is not making something out of nothing. Creativity is making meaning out of something.

The raw material of life and of creativity has always been present. In order to be creative, you don’t have to make anything materialize out of thin air.

Creativity is never out of reach because life’s abundance is always very much within reach. To be creative, take what is already there and apply it in a way that makes life richer and more enjoyable.

Whether you wish to create an object, an idea, a story, song, picture or experience, the ingredients are already present. Start with what you know, with what you have, add a lot of what you love, and you’ll create value.

Instead of waiting for a great idea to hit you, realize that you already are the great idea. Go with what feels good, interesting, useful, satisfying and fulfilling, and you’ll go far.

Creativity is your birthright, so claim it in every area of your life. Take what is there, add yourself to it, and live creatively every day.

— Ralph Marston

February 15

Already well on the way
The achievement is already in place. Allow it to unfold through your actions.

It's not a matter of whether you can do it, because you can. The possibilities, the time, the resources and the pathway are all here now.

It's a matter of whether you will. Set aside fear, rise above doubt, throw out hesitation and do what you know you can do.

Laugh at how flimsy your excuses now appear. Smile with confidence as you get the job done.

Crush old negative assumptions with new positive actions. Transform time and possibility into progress and value.

Feel your passion as it grows stronger and more engaged with every action. You can do this, and you're already well on the way.

Ralph S. Marston

February 16

Where your focus points
When the camera's focus is altered, the photograph changes dramatically. When the focus of your awareness changes, your whole life changes with it.

The quality of life you live is dictated by which portions of life you focus upon. The world appears different for every person because every person brings a unique focus to it.

To quickly change your life, change your focus. In an instant, the picture is different.

Focus is a powerful tool you can deploy to see the big picture, the small details, and everything in between. Focus shuts out the distractions, tosses away the irrelevant, and leverages your passion.

The direction of your focus maps out the direction of your day, your year, your life. The span and persistence of your focus will enable you to achieve the most ambitious goals.

Where your focus points, you cannot help but follow. Keep it always pointed in a positive, meaningful direction.

Ralph S. Marston

February 17

Live your good fortune

Good, valuable possibilities wait eagerly to be fulfilled. Life is rich, and yet can be so much better.

Every new day is filled with hope and with potential as it dawns. Welcome the goodness, and commit yourself to making sure it is not wasted.

You've done well, given much, lived with passion and purpose. Now, remind yourself how good and right that all feels, and do more.

Be better than you've been lately. Life continues to offer great new opportunities, so take them and make good value with them.

Today, more positive possibilities swirl around you than ever before. Live your good fortune by putting it to good use.

This is a day to show life how great and amazing it can be. And you are the lucky person who can do it.

Ralph S. Marston

February 18

Live in awe

If you wish life to change for the better, you must change for the better. Today will be happy to present you with many fine opportunities for that.

Are your best possibilities hiding behind stale old assumptions? Perhaps those assumptions have become so much a part of you that you've forgotten they even exist.

Imagine yourself looking at all the details of this day as the child you were years ago. Feel amazement at seeing the wonder in front of you, free of the jaded cynicism you have so proudly perfected.

Somewhere inside you is someone who wishes to live in awe of the miracle that is your life on this day. That sense of pure wonder is as close as your next thought.

Give yourself permission to stop fighting the empty battles imposed by your ego. Give yourself permission to be fully in love with each moment you're in.

There are wondrous experiences to be lived, here and now, hiding in plain sight. Remind yourself how great and meaningful this very day can be, and make it so.

Ralph S. Marston

February 19

Full of promise
Your dreams are too important to wait for someday. Act on them today.

Your perspective, your skills, your insights are too valuable to go unused. Jump into the fray, do something good and meaningful with them today.

Your best possibilities plead with you to follow them, to fulfill them. Great opportunities pop into the picture with every turn of events.

Your future is too full of promise to spend any of it wondering what could have been. Let your highest potential continue to unfold today through your focused effort.

Here and there you've had little tastes of how great life can be, of how much good you can do. Decide now to stop fighting over the meager scraps and to start enjoying the whole magnificent feast.

Give your unique existence in this abundant universe the love, respect, attention and effort it all deserves. This is all too precious to waste even a morsel.

Ralph S. Marston

February 20

Whatever you choose
Some people start out with the greatest advantages and end up doing nothing with them. Don't be one of those.

Others start with nothing, with just about everything going against them, and yet manage to achieve many great things. By all means, be one of those.

What life hands you is a factor, but not the most important one. What matters most is what you do with what you have.

The day doesn't have to be bright and sunny in order for you to make it beautiful. People don't have to be friendly or cooperative in order for you to be your best in their presence.

It's easy to blame a difficult situation on bad luck, or on the misguided intent of others. It's much better, though, to accept full responsibility for finding positive possibilities and bringing them to fruition.

There's not much that can stop you, or push you forward, without your participation. No matter what comes your way, you can make of it whatever you choose.

Ralph S. Marston

February 21

Unrealized potential

You have vast amounts of unrealized potential. Now is your time to transform the good things that could be into the good things that are.

There is great abundance in this universe. Today is a fresh new opportunity to harvest and express that abundance in specific, meaningful ways that will enrich all of life.

Yes, it can be done and you can be the person who does it. Yes, it will take significant effort and you are able to make that effort.

You’ve already proven how capable you are by navigating your way through life’s many and varied challenges up to this point. Now, seek to take on new challenges and to create new value.

Whatever you have already achieved, you owe yourself the splendid, satisfying experience of working to achieve even more. Your unrealized potential has been waiting long enough, so jump forward and bring it to life.

Throw away all the excuses, step beyond your doubts and hesitations, and go for it. Feel the great treasure that’s already so very close, and make it real.

— Ralph Marston

February 22

Crazy good inventive
Invention is not just for mechanical contraptions or software applications. You can and often do invent new ways to optimize and energize life.

Creativity is not limited to artists, musicians and film directors. You can benefit from your own creativity in everything you do.

The purpose of your life is not to be like every other person's life. You're here to invent unique ways for expressing joy, experiencing wonder, giving love and raising life to a higher level.

Jump away from the well-worn path, rebooting your senses and sensibilities with refreshing stimulation. Give yourself permission to feel what you feel, then take those feelings and invent with them.

If you're bored, or angry, dismayed or burned out, you're not paying attention to the swarm of creative opportunities each moment delivers. Practice a little less self absorption and a lot more self invention.

The moment calls you to invent, and you're made for it. Be crazy good inventive with big things, little and in between.

Ralph S. Marston

February 23

Allow life to be rich

Allow the drama to subside. Allow peace to permeate your presence.

Allow hope to have a welcoming home within your heart. Allow fear to fall away, leaving love to take its place.

Striving burns you out, and the harder you try the more difficult it gets. Do whatever you do without waging a personal war against it, and rise to new levels of effectiveness and joy.

Allow life to be as it is, and allow yourself to make beauty and greatness with all you find. Allow those around you to be who they are, and bask in the bright glow of every living presence.

Tune out the voices shouting that you should be worried or angry. Contemplate the immensity of your good fortune on this day, and empower yourself with a perspective of gratitude.

Allow value and rich meaning to flow forth from your actions, your words, your thoughts and your heart. Allow life to be rich as it is uniquely expressed by you.

Ralph S. Marston

February 24

Steadily increasing quality

Having more, doing more, seeing and experiencing more, those are great to a point. Then they're not.

If you spread yourself too thin in order to have everything, you lose the ability to enjoy anything. When your attention is pointing in a thousand different directions, it's not really pointing anywhere.

Visualize yourself hiking along a mountain road under a clear blue sky with a few treasured friends. Then think of how much less enjoyable the same trip would be in a bus with a hundred people crammed inside.

Packing too many activities, possessions, priorities and commitments into your life can have a similar negative effect. It's better to clear out the meaningless stuff, giving yourself time and space to enjoy the beauty.

Ambition is admirable, and following that ambition makes your whole world a better place. Being insatiable, though, just makes you weary, ineffective, and not very pleasant to be around.

Though countless good possibilities tug at you, follow only the ones you can give yourself to fully. Instead of always craving more quantity, build yourself a life of steadily increasing quality.

Ralph S. Marston

February 25

Someplace in particular
When you can be specific, you can be effective. If you are not making as much progress as you'd like, perhaps it is because you have not clearly defined that progress.

It's all too common to want to go someplace nice. The way to get there is to aim for someplace in particular.

When you know exactly what you want to do, you're already well on the way. As you fill in the details of your dream you are in fact bringing that dream to life.

Vague wishes can make you feel good, and also leave you without anything tangible. Specific goals give you a map that leads exactly where you want to go.

The very act of clarifying your intentions gives powerful energy to those intentions. You are capable of anything if you simply keep pointed in the appropriate direction.

Be clear and precise about what you intend, and the path to fulfillment opens up in front of you. Then, take the steps that will bring you there.

Ralph S. Marston

February 26

Always making a difference
Zero in on what you do well, and do it often. Whatever it is you do that makes the biggest difference, ramp it up.

Don't be timid, embarrassed, worried, lazy or arrogant about it. Just get busy and go make a positive contribution to life.

You live in a beautiful world, filled with endless possibilities. This world needs what you have to offer, and is begging for you to add your own unique value.

The fact is, you're good at a lot of things. Have the courage to admit what you love, to put your efforts into what you do well, and to create something awesome from that dynamic, every day.

Pour yourself into the incomparable experience of doing what you do best, of making palpable progress, of knowing that what you do truly matters. Refuse to accept any discouragement or excuses, especially from yourself.

Revitalize every moment you enter by giving your best effort. Delight in knowing you're always making a difference.

Ralph S. Marston

February 27

Learn and leave it behind
As life plays out in its minutes, months and decades, you'll occasionally make some mistakes. When that happens, don't get mired in regret, self-loathing or self-pity.

Choose instead to learn everything you can from the error of your ways. Then commit yourself, remind yourself and in fact insist to yourself that you never make the same mistake again.

Everyone makes mistakes, and if you're going to do anything worthwhile, you're sure to make some of your own. You cannot entirely avoid making mistakes, yet you certainly can avoid making the same mistake multiple times.

It may seem obvious to avoid making the same mistake twice, but unfortunately it is not so obvious when the possibility presents itself. There are all too many people who have fallen into repetitive, self-destructive patterns, making the same mistakes again and again.

To avoid that fate, start by accepting full responsibility for the mistake. That gives you power to learn from it, and perhaps even more importantly, to let it go.

Accept the mistake, and learn enough from it so you'll never make it again. Then leave it behind as you move forward, smarter, more experienced and more positively purposeful than ever before.

Ralph S. Marston

February 28

What you can do

What you can do is to do your best. Honestly, authentically, with no excuses or cutting corners, just go ahead and do your best.

Some people might appreciate it, and many others probably will not. What really matters, though, is not what others think or say, but the fact that you’ve given your very best to the effort.

So don’t hold yourself back out of fear or anxiety about the way you’ll be received. Push yourself forward, true to your highest ideals, focused on your dreams, your values, your passions.

What you can do is to do your best, and it can be spectacular. What you can do is contribute to life in your own special way.

Courage comes from realizing how profoundly blessed you are to be able to make a difference. Feel your good fortune, feel your courage, and put it into action.

Today, experience how right it is to do what you can do. Give your best to every situation, to every opportunity, to every hour of this day, and reap the rewards of a day well spent.

— Ralph Marston

February 29

Launch into action

There’s one way and only one way to seal the commitment. Launch yourself into action.

The moment you actually start doing something about it, the whole situation changes. Wishing, hoping, wondering, speculating and theorizing are left in the dust by action.

The real world runs on real effort. Invest yourself in it and start generating some real returns.

No, you can’t be sure your efforts will bring the results you want, but if you’re looking for a guarantee, consider this one. You are guaranteed not to get results if you just sit there and do nothing.

Action will squash your doubts, electrify your passion and open doors you never knew existed. Give yourself some focused action and see how much more powerful you suddenly feel.

Take that first step and you zip from doing nothing to doing something. It makes all the difference in the world.

--Ralph Marston