Climb every mountain, ford every stream, Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream!

Climb every mountain, search high and low
Follow every byway, every path you know.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream!

A dream that will need
all the love you can give,
Every day of your life
for as long as you live.

Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream!

Entrepreneurs

“An entrepreneur is defined as a person who is willing to live like no one else will so that one day they can live like no one else can.” – Anonymous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c__ESApFGss

You never know how far you can go unless your run

Secretariat.  Penny Chenery, is an entrepreneur and goes against criticism in a male dominated world.  One great scene - All the investors reject her and she gets one to invest on the terms she believes in, and they all follow.  She gets rejected by all the investors at first, by her husband, by her brother, etc, but she continues to believe in herself. 
 
One quote - "You never know how far you can go unless you run." 

“I will not live the rest of my life in regret.” – Chenery

Are you limiting your creativity?

This is an interesting artcile: http://www.copyblogger.com/creativity-killers/

Some of what limits creativity:

• Creating and evaluating at the same time
• Fear of ambiguity
• Being trapped by false limit

Awesome article everyone should read

http://www.smarta.com/advice/starting-up/starting-your-own-business/10-lame-excuses-for-not-starting-your-own-business

She's a wild one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WifpCsOQ3JM



"Wild One"

They said change your clothes
She said no I won't
They said comb your hair
She said some kids don't
And her parents dreams went up in smoke

They said you can't leave
She said yes I will
They said don't see him
She said his name is Bill
She's on a roll and it's all uphill

She's a wild one
With an angel's face
She's a woman-child
In a state of grace
When she was 3 years old on her daddy's knee
He said you can be anything you want to be
She's a wild one
Runnin' free

She loves Rock and Roll
They said it's Satan's tongue
She thinks they're too old
They think she's too young
And the battle lines are clearly drawn

She's a wild one
With an angel's face
She's a woman-child
In a state of grace
When she was 3 years old on her daddy's knee
He said you can be anything you want to be
She's a wild one
Runnin' free

She has future plans and dreams at night
When they tell her life is hard she says that's alright

She's a wild one
With an angel's face
She's a woman-child
In a state of grace
When she was 3 years old on her daddy's knee
He said you can be anything you want to be
She's a wild one
Runnin' free

Here's to the crazy ones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmG9jzCHtSQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Here's to the crazy ones.
  The misfits.
    The rebels.
      The troublemakers.
        The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
     And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
     disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
      Because they change things.

They invent.    They imagine.    They heal.
  They explore.    They create.    They inspire.
    They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
   we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Always Love - Nada Surf

Always Love

To make a mountain of your life
Is just a choice
But I never learned enough
To listen to the voice that told me
Always love Hate will get you every time
Always love Don't wait til the finish line

Slow demands come 'round
Squeeze the air and keep the rest out
It helps to write it down
Even when you then cross it out

But Always Love Hate will get you every time
Always Love…Even when you wanna fight

Self-directed lives
I want to know what it wouldd be like to
Aim so high above
Any card that you've been dealt, you...

Always Love Hate will get you every time
Always Love Hate will get you

I've been held back by something
Yeah. You said to me quietly on the stairs,
I've been held back by something
Yeah. You said to me quietly on the stairs.
You said
Hey, you good ones.
Hey, you good ones.

To make a mountain of your life
Is just a choice
But I never learned enough
To listen to the voice that told me...
Always love hate will get you every time
Always love hate will get you

I've been held back by something
Yeah, You said to me quietly on the stairs,
I've been held back by something
Yeah, You said to me quietly on the stairs
You said..
Hey, you good ones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ulU08Se7Qs

I'm not afraid

I'm not afraid (I'm not afraid) to take a stand (to take a stand)
Everybody (everybody) come take my hand (come take my hand)
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let'n you know that, you're not alone
Holla if you feel that you've been down the same road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5-yKhDd64s&feature=related

Jeff Bezos's commencement speech - cool

How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make?

Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?

Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?

Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure?

Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?

Will you bluff it out when you're wrong, or will you apologize?

Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love?

Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling?

When it's tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless?

Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder?

Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S27/52/51O99/index.xml

I'm gonna hold on-- 'cause what I believe in is so strong - Shania Twain

"I Ain't Goin' Down"

I'm gonna hold on--
'cause what I believe in is so strong
No matter how long, no one
Can tell me I'm wrong--I ain't goin' down

I had a baby at fifteen--
daddy never did forgive me
I never heard from the guy again
I had to drop outta high school--
everybody treated me so cruel
But I didn't give in and giver her away

Her smile got me through the day--
and every night I'd pray
I could give her enough
At night I'd lie awake and cry--
hopin' we'd get by
'Cause you can't live on love

I worked night and day to keep us goin'
Through the sweat and tears
without her knowin'
It was worth it just to watch her grow
Oh, oh, at least I was able to hold her
Whenever she needed my shoulder
I'm so glad I never let her go

Her smile got me through the years--
dried away the tears
And filled me with hope
At night I'd lie awake and cry--
prayed we would get by
And for the courage to cope
Oh, oh, oh

Her smile got me through the day--
and every night I'd pray
I could give her enough
- Shania

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dSHeT99kPg

being uncomfortable is good

“It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.

It’s uncomfortable to propse an idea that might fail.

It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.

It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.”

don't let little things piss you off

Unsuccessful people are REACTIVE. They are a leaf blowing in the wind, the world is happening around them, and they are just trying to stay alive. When something bad happens, someone did it TO them and they take it personally. They get caught up in the victim mentality and take every opportunity to let people know it.

Successful people, on the other hand, are PROACTIVE. They make things happen in life and are on a mission. And by golly, they aren’t going to let some silly parking ticket take them off their mission. Instead, they say to themselves “these things happen” and move on to more important tasks.

http://www.startbreakingfree.com/226/how-to-stop-letting-little-things-in-life-piss-you-off/

what the bleep do we know?

quotes from a very trippy movie, What the Bleep do we know? you should definetly check it out - i copied and paisted the link to watch the movie bellow as well


Makes you wonder, doesn't it? If thoughts can do that to water, imagine what our thoughts can do to us.

you have to think in possibilities of conciousness

i wake up in the morning and i consciously create my day the way i want it to happen

this is a good assignment if you see it that way

i am at one with the great being that made me and brought me here that formed the galaxies and the universe, etc - how did that get taken out of religion?


http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=54892  

Gross National Happiness

world leaders should start with GNH rather than GNP - measuring the intangible

http://www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_measuring_what_makes_life_worthwhile.html

welcome to the future

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Yg9wjctRw&feature=related

When I was ten years old
I remember thinking how cool it would be
When we were going on an eight-hour drive
If I could just watch TV
And I'd have given anything
To have my own Pac-Man game at home
I used to have to get a ride down to the arcade
Now I've got it on my phone

Chorus:
Hey, glory, glory, hallelujah
Welcome to the future

My grandpa was in World War 2
He fought against the Japanese
He wrote a hundred letters to my grandma
Mailed them from his base in the Philippines
I wish they could see this now
The world they saved has changed you know
'Cause I was on a video chat this morning
With a company in Tokyo

Chorus:
Hey, everyday's a revolution
Welcome to the future

Hey, look around it's all so clear
Hey, wherever we were going, well we're here
Hey, so many things I never thought I'd see
Happening right in front of me

I had a friend in school
Running back on the football team
They burned a cross in his front yard
For asking out the homecoming queen
I thought about him today
And everybody who'd seen what he'd seen
From a woman on a bus
To a man with a dream

Chorus:
Hey, wake up Martin Luther
Welcome to the future
Hey, glory, glory, hallelujah
Welcome to the future

Alice in Wonderland

"The Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?
[Alice checks Hatter's temperature]
Alice Kingsley: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are. "

randoms

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin

God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy. - Billy Currington
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKpQRjj_WbU&playnext_from=TL&videos=OWBcS6_nbAg&feature=feedrec

Positivity

If something has ever been done before why can’t you do it now.  If something is ever going to be done in the future why can’t you do it right now.  There is only one way in my mind to coach and that is with a positive expectation as a result. – 6 time Olympic Coach, Richard Quick

Criticism

this is the way steve jobs responded to a guy criticizing his iPad - i thought it was pretty cool.  "By the way, what have you done that’s so great? Do you create anything, or just criticize others work and belittle their motivations?"

Belief

My old swim coach Richard Quick, "Believe in Belief"

“Heretics must believe.  More than anyone else in an organization, it’s the person who’s challenging the status quo, the one who is daring to be great, who is truly present and not just punching a clock who must have confidence in her beliefs.  Can you imagine Steve Jobs showing up for the paycheck?  It’s nice to get paid.  It’s essential to believe.” – Seth Godin

"I think I can I think I can" - The Little Engine that Could

A little steam engine had a long train of cars to pull.

She went along very well till she came to a steep hill. But then, no matter how hard she tried, she could not move the long train of cars.

She pulled and she pulled. She puffed and she puffed. She backed and started off again. Choo! Choo!

But no! the cars would not go up the hill.

At last she left the train and started up the track alone. Do you think she had stopped working? No, indeed! She was going for help.

"Surely I can find someone to help me," she thought.

Over the hill and up the track went the little steam engine. Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo!

Pretty soon she saw a big steam engine standing on a side track. He looked very big and strong. Running alongside, she looked up and said:

"Will you help me over the hill with my train of cars? It is so long and heavy I can't get it over."

The big steam engine looked down at the little steam engine. Then he said:

"Don't you see that I am through my day's work? I have been rubbed and scoured ready for my next run. No, I cannot help you,"

The little steam engine was sorry, but she went on, Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo!

Soon she came to a second big steam engine standing on a side track. He was puffing and puffing, as if he were tired.

"That big steam engine may help me," thought the little steam engine. She ran alongside and asked:

"Will you help me bring my train of cars over the hill? It is so long and so heavy that I can't get it over."

The second big steam engine answered:

"I have just come in from a long, long run. Don't you see how tired I am? Can't you get some other engine to help you this time?

"I'll try," said the little steam engine, and off she went. Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo!

After a while she came to a little steam engine just like herself. She ran alongside and said:

"Will you help me over the hill with my train of cars? It is so long and so heavy that I can't get it over."

"Yes, indeed!" said this little steam engine. "I'll be glad to help you, if I can."

So the little steam engines started back to where the train of cars had been standing. Both little steam engines went to the head of the train, one behind the other.

Puff, puff! Chug, choo! Off they started!

Slowly the cars began to move. Slowly they climbed the steep hill. As they climbed, each little steam engine began to sing:

"I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I think I can - I think I can - I think I can I think I can--"

And they did! Very soon they were over the hill and going down the other side.

Now they were on the plain again; and the little steam engine could pull her train herself. So she thanked the little engine who had come to help her, and said good-by.

And she went merrily on her way, singing:

"I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I thought i could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could I thought I could --" - Watty Piper

Great Quote about Life

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others...for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of people, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”  - Albert Einstein

Happiness is in your mind

Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.
Benjamin Franklin

No man is happy who does not think himself so.
Publilius Syrus

Our minds are as different as our faces: we are all traveling to one destination; --happiness; but few are going by the same road.
Charles Caleb Colton  

Happiness is not a matter of events, it depends upon the tides of the mind.
Alice Meynell

 -Source: http://www.inspirational-quotes.info/happiness.html

Who are you not to be?

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. Thee's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Nelson Mandela

My list of things to do today

I won't break my back for a million bucks I can't take to my grave
So why put off for tomorrow what I could get done today

Like go for a walk, say a little prayer
Take a deep breath of mountain air
Put on my glove and play some catch
It's time that I make time for that
Wade the shore and cast a line
Look up a long lost friend of mine
Sit on the porch and give my girl a kiss
Start livin', that's the next thing on my list

Raise a little hell, laugh 'til it hurts
Put an extra five in the plate at church
Call up my folks just to chat
It's time that I make time for that
Stay up late, then oversleep
Show her what she means to me
Catch up on all the things I've always missed
Just start livin', that's the next thing on my list

Under an old brass paperweight
Is my list of things to do today

- Toby Keith 

Click

Dance

 I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance,
Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance. - Lee Ann Womack
click

Laughing

"They all laughed at Christopher Columbus
When he said the world was round
They all laughed when Edison recorded sound
They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother
When they said that man could fly...

"They told Marconi
Wireless was a phony
It's the same old cry...

"They all laughed at Rockefeller Center
Now they're fighting to get in
They all laughed at Whitney and his cotton gin
They all laughed at Fulton and his steamboat
Hershey and his chocolate bar...

"Ford and his Lizzie
Kept the laughers busy
That's how people are
They laughed at me wanting you
Said it would be, "Hello, Goodbye."
And oh, you came through
Now they're eating humble pie..."

- George Gershwin

Conclusion: if you are being laughed at you might be on to something... 

I won't grow up

"Oh maturity's a wrapped up package deal so it seems
And ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams
All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will
Have to grow up be an adult yeah be bored and unfulfilled
Oh when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great
About slaving 50 years away on something that you hate,
About meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity
Well if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I yeah I won't grow up"
- Lyrics from Frank Turner song, Photosynthesis

I came across this band when I lived in England - i think his songs are great and if I was clever, I would sort out how to put a song in a post, but you should definitely check out his songs especially the one by Photosynthis if you are venturing out.  Check out his songs for free on his MySpace page.  Click.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

-Rudyard Kipling

Friends are the Inspiration.

Here is a shout out to my inspirational friends and their blogs / websites - check them out.

Katherine Bell - writes about her experiences at Stanford Medical School.  Click.

Meagan Donahue - Venture capitalist writes about her life experiences. Click.

Curtis Williamson - Entrepreneur.  Sign up for a race if you live between SD and SB. Click.

Ray Jones - Singer / Song Writer and Entrepreneur.  Click.

Larry Chiang - Author of "What they don't teach you at Stanford Business School." Click.

Elizabeth Heng - Future President.  Click

Garth Brooks

We call them cool
Those hearts that have no scars to show
The ones that never do let go
And risk the tables being turned

We call them fools
Who have to dance within the flame
Who chance the sorrow and the shame
That always comes with getting burned

But you've got to be tough when consumed by desire
'Cause it's not enough just to stand outside the fire - Garth Brooks

Job's Commencement Speech at Stanford

"You've got to find what you love, and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it, and like any great relationship it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don't settle...

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart...

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. 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, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

What I love about him is his passion and his disdain for dogma and you can see it in the products he creates.  His competitors seem to just copy him.

I think you should watch the speech if you haven't ever heard it because every time I hear it I am inspired.  Click.

Einstein Inspiration

These are some quotes from Albert Einstein I like:

Learn from yesterday, life for today, hope for tomorrow.  The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Logic will get you from A to B.  Imagination will take you everywhere.

Imagination is everything.  It is the preview of life's coming attractions.

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

I have no particular talent.  I am merely inquisitive.

- Albert Einstein


I just think Albert Einstein is amazing and want to spend some time studying theoretical physics...  why am I obsessed with dead people?  Maybe its because I was a history major.  Anyway, I think we can learn a lot from the past. 

More Quotes

Most people give up when they're about to achieve success.  They quit on the one yard line.  They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.  - Ross Perot

Success is measured by how far you bounce back after hitting bottom.  - General George S. Patton

(these quotes I got from the blog I mentioned in my last post)

Mark Twain and Inspiring Blog

"Keep away from people who try to belittle  your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

- Mark Twain 

I love Mark Twain - what a legend.  More inspiration from Mark Twain to come. 

Also,

This is seriously a great blog



ps I like to keep these posts short and sweet - I don't like lots of words as you can see.

Clips on failure

Awesome

Cute and Inspiring

Theodore Roosevelt

Keeping with the theme of US presidents for now here is another, very well known, but I think it rocks:

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena... who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in worthy causes. Who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement and who, at worst, if he fails, fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt