How to go for the gold.

  • What percentage of being an Olympic champion would you attribute to hard work versus natural talent?

    I think it’s drive over talent for sure. I was not the quickest learner. When I was 7, my mom said, ‘You need to work harder because everyone else is learning faster than you.’ Skating taught me to have a work ethic—in order to improve, you have to put the time in.

    — Kristi Yamaguchi

    Quote from Parade magazine, January 19, 2014.

    Same with writing, right?  You know the drill . . . butt in chair.  Warm up with a freewrite, using a prompt. Then keep going. Just write.

  • Everybody in this world has a story to tell and they should share their stories

    — Ray Engan

    Ray Engan, winner of the 2013 Toastmaster International Speech contest for District 57 (Northern California). Engan believes we learn how to overcome adversity when we share our stories.  Engan had to overcome his fear of public speaking.  One of the people he met in Toastmasters, Darren La Croix, said something that inspired Engan, “The only way to get better at something is to do it.”

    So, what are you waiting for?  Write that story that’s been simmering on the back burner. Just write!

    Ray Engan is a humorist, sales trainer and executive speech coach whose lively stories can be heard every month at West Side Stories Petaluma.

    Ray will be giving a seminar to add humor to presentations and your life in Petaluma, CA.  Details soon on his website.

  • The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.

    — Neil deGrasse Tyson.

    Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.

  • Writing is therapeutic. It saves lives. Your truths are eager to come out. Let them spill onto the page, and see what doors writing opens for you. Your story is buried treasure.

    — B. Lynn Goodwin

    B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, and the author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers, available on Amazon. A former teacher, she conducts workshops and writes reviews for Story Circle Network, www.storycircle.org and InspireMeToday, www.inspiremetoday.com/. She’s working on a YA novel and brainstorming a memoir.

    Note from Marlene: Today’s post is dedicated to Don Riley. A brilliant man, loving husband, devoted father, and adoring grandfather . . . family man and wonderful friend to many.  His writing was deep, powerful, insightful and inspiring. His truth did indeed spill onto the page. He will be missed.

  • “Hook ’em with the lead. Hold ’em with laughter. Exit with a quip they won’t forget.”

    — Erma Bombeck

  • It’s time to leave behind the beliefs that limit us and embrace the creative beings we truly are.

    — Suzanne Murray

    Join Suzanne in one of her many fabulous writing workshops, or personal coaching, or EFT.

    Yosemite Spring Retreat  April 4 – April 6

    Journey to the west of Ireland

    The Heart of Writing – a four week coaching package

    EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

    Check out Suzanne’s Blog for ideas on writing, creativity and life coaching.

  • Never settle! Don’t be afraid to go after your heart’s desire!

    — Ellen Britt

    Dr. Ellen Britt is an award-winning online marketing strategist, Amazon best-selling author and founder of PinkCoatTails.com, featuring Fabulous Finds and Delicious Deals for women online entrepreneurs. She has produced and hosted more than a dozen telesummits and has interviewed some of today’s most well-known and respected names in marketing and self-development. Connect with Ellen and her Pink Coattails community on Facebook by clicking here.

  • Just because you ran into an obstacle, a setback or a bump in the road, does NOT mean your dream is over. It’s a sign it’s WORTH pursuing!

    — Ellen Britt

    Dr. Ellen Britt is an award-winning online marketing strategist, Amazon best-selling author and founder of PinkCoatTails.com, featuring Fabulous Finds and Delicious Deals for women online entrepreneurs. Ellen specializes in teaching savvy women entrepreneurs how to take their knowledge and expertise and transform it into Genuine Influence. She has produced and hosted more than a dozen telesummits and has interviewed some of today’s most well-known and respected names in marketing and self-development. Connect with Ellen and her Pink Coattails community on Facebook by clicking here.

  • You may have tangible wealth untold;
    Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
    Richer than I you can never be —
    I had a Mother who read to me.

    from The Reading Mother by Stickland Gillilan (1869-1954)

  • Change is good and flexibility in a world of change is even better.

    — James Seamarsh