You can win | Page 8

¨ know that hard work never hurts anyone but believe "why take a chance?"

Who is an optimist? It is well described by the following:

Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
Make all your friends feel there is something in them.
Look at the sunny side of everything.
Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.
Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Give everyone a smile.
Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.*

Step 2: Make a Habit of Doing It Now

We have all procrastinated at some time in our lives. I know I have, only to have
regretted it later. Procrastination leads to a negative attitude. The habit of procrastination
fatigues you more than the effort it takes to do it.
A completed task is fulfilling and energizing; an incomplete task drains energy like a leak
from a tank.
If you want to build and maintain a positive attitude, get into the habit of living in the
present and doing it now.

He slept beneath the moon
He basked beneath the sun
He lived a life of going to do
and died with nothing done.

--James Albery

16 of 16 When I Become a Big Boy

This is like the little boy who says when I become a big boy, I will do this and this and I
will be happy. And when he becomes a big boy he says, when I finish college and do this
and this and I will be happy. And when he finishes college he says when I get my first job
and do this and this I will be happy. And when he gets his first job he says when I get
married and do this and this and then I will be happy. And when he gets married he says
when the kids get out of school and I do this and this I will be I happy. And when the kids
get out of school, he says when I retire and do this and this, I will be happy. And when he
retires what does he see? He sees life has just gone by in front of his eyes.


* "Creed for Optimists" by Christian D. Larsen, in The Best of ... Bits Pieces, Economics
Press, Fairfield, NJ, 1994, p. 3.
Some people practice procrastination by hiding behind high sounding words, saying "I'm
analyzing" and six months later they are still analyzing. What they don't realize is that
they are suffering from a disease called, "Paralysis of Analysis" and they will never
succeed.
Then there is another breed of people who procrastinate by saying "I'm getting ready"
and a month later they are still getting ready and six months later they are still getting
ready. What they don't realize is they are suffering from a disease called "Excusitis."
They keep making excuses.
Life is not a dress rehearsal. I don't care what philosophy you believe in--we have got
only one shot at this game called life. The stakes are too high. The stakes are the future
generations.
What time is it and where are we? The answer is now and we are here. Let's make the
best of now and utilize the present to the fullest. The message is not that we don't need
to plan for the future. The message is that we do need to plan for the future. If we utilize
our present to its fullest, we are sowing the seeds for a better future automatically, aren't
we?
If you want to build a positive attitude, learn the phrase, "do it now" and stop the habit of
procrastination.
The saddest words in life are:

¨ "It might have been."
¨ "I should have."
¨ "I could have."
¨ "I wish I had."
¨ "If only I had given a little extra."

Never leave till tomorrow which you can do today.

--Benjamin Franklin

I am sure all winners wanted to be procrastinators but never got around to it.
When people say, "I will do it one of these days," you can be sure it means none of these
days.
Some people keep waiting for all lights to turn green before they leave home. That will
never happen and they fail even before they start. That is