NEXT year, I’m going to try something I’ve never tried before.
I’m going to have a jar of quotes. 365 quotes, in fact.
The jar will sit by the side of my bed and every morning when I wake up, I will stick my hand into the jar and pull out a quote for the day.
Then for the next 24 hours, I want to try and embody that quote through all the actions and activities I engage in that day.
This idea for the New Year stemmed from the frustration I felt in not getting very far in terms of moral improvement.
You see, on this endless path to self-improvement, I find myself constantly on the lookout for ways to re-invent myself. Or at least, iron out my flaws. But the realisation that I wasn’t getting anywhere was a testament to the fact that I was trying to focus on too many things at once.
That was my mistake; trying to apply all these ‘ways’ to improve all at the same time.
Ways to be a kinder person.
Ways to be a healthier person.
Ways to be a more hard-working person.
Ways to be more motivated,
fitter,
grittier,
less shy,
more ALIVE.
Whatever it was, it was clouding my mind at the same time that some other self-improvement tip was clouding my mind.
Sure enough, this cloudy, foggy blur of thoughts and ideas succeeded in obscuring my mind, and to no surprise, I fell right back where I started with no evidence of self-improvement to be proud of.
It looked like a miserable failure. But you can’t fail if you learn from your mistakes, right? You either win or you learn. In the words of Henry Ford, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently”.
And so I will begin again.
As 2018 draws to a close, the start of another year looms ever closer on the horizon and heralds a new beginning. A fresh start. A clean slate. I will try again at this whole self-improvement thing, hopefully this time, more intelligently.
In order to improve in self-improving, I need to focus on ONE. THING. AT. A. TIME.
And that is where the jar of 365 quotes comes in.
I remember lying in bed one night, contemplating on why I was trapped in this non-advancing version of myself. Then, in a sort of Aha moment, this idea popped into my mind!
Maybe, just maybe, this little jar of quotes can help me to focus on one thing at a time. It might help me to concentrate on improving just one aspect of myself each day. And that is how each Quote-of-the-Day will work its little magic, one day at a time. Hopefully, by the end of 2019, I’d have taken 365 steps in the right direction towards self-improvement, rather than the backwards steps I was taking this year.
But I wouldn’t share all this if I didn’t want to motivate you as well! This is my first time trying this out, and I encourage you to try it too! We can try it out together and see if it works!
With two days left of 2018, you’ve still got time to gather 365 of your favourite quotes (I know, it’s a lot!).
Or, we could do it together!! Every day next year, I will post on my blog the Quote-of-the-Day that I’ve pulled out of the jar that morning! That way, we can live through the same quote each day!
I’ve just finished collating 365 quotes (finally)! The whole ordeal resembled an archaeological feat trying to excavate through past diaries, my phone, various journals, old notepads, as well as the internet to dig up the hidden gems which were the quotes that had inspired me throughout my life.
Let me share with you 15 of the 365 quotes that you can look forward to in 2019…
1. All men are created equal. Some work harder in pre-season. – Emmitt Smith
2. I want to be your favourite hello and your hardest goodbye.
3. A man must be
BIG ENOUGH to admit his mistakes,
SMART ENOUGH to profit from them, and
STRONG ENOUGH to correct them.
BIG ENOUGH to admit his mistakes,
SMART ENOUGH to profit from them, and
STRONG ENOUGH to correct them.
– John C. Maxwell
4. A setback is a set-up for a comeback.
– Eric Thomas TGIM video
5. Smile, love & be kind
6. From this moment on, every voice that told you "You can't" will be silenced. … And the person you were before this moment, that person's turn is over. Now it's your turn.
– Freedom Writers, 2007
7. Practice like you’ve never won. Perform like you’ve never lost.
8. Suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion.
– Muhammad Ali
9. You are where you are today because of what you did yesterday, but what you did yesterday isn't going to get you to where you want to be tomorrow.
– Eric Thomas TGIM video
10. The only failure is not to try.
– George Clooney
11. The difference between an average person and a successful person is what the successful person gets done in the extra hour they have waking up an hour ahead of everyone else.
12. If you don't train, you don't make the team. It's the same with academics!
– Young and Unheroic
13. For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others. For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. And for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.
– Audrey Hepburn
14. Everyone is trying so hard to keep it together. That is how fragile and beautiful everyone’s life is.
– Kate in “How Stage IV Cancer Taught Me to Live” by Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo
15. Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.
– Lilo & Stitch, 2002
I can’t wait to try out this jar of 365 quotes in the New Year. Look out for the quotes on this blog in 2019! I hope we can do it together and continue to healthily grow into a better version of ourselves.
One day at a time, one quote at a time.
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