I am enjoying finding 3 quotes to share each week. This week, I have one brilliant one suggested by one of the readers.
Examine what you tolerate.
We are familiar with how actions are more important than the words we speak. Equally powerful is what we tolerate. When we tolerate something - a stupid, crass joke or tardiness or whatever - we are saying we are okay with it. If it is not something we agree with, then should we tolerate it?
Are we surrounded by true friends? Are we surrounded by people who add value to our lives? Are we setting a good standard? Are we seeing people exhibit good behaviour around us? By examining patterns of behaviour and patterns of toleration, we can see why certain things keep happening again and again.
When we started The Quad, we were told we were silly to expect people to come to class on time. In India. We disagreed. People come on time. Set expectations. Stick to them. And of course, in extreme cases, make exceptions. But when we tolerated lesser and set higher expectations, our students improved.
Thank you, dear reader, for sharing this.
The day you teach the child the name of the bird, the child will never see the bird again.
– Jiddu Krishnamurti
We are pattern machines. We like wrapping things up into a concept and seeing that same pattern or concept everywhere. It makes life easy. It makes data processing easy. And of course, it is a necessary skill.
But there's always a flip side to these things. How often do we enjoy the simple pleasures? A sunset is beautiful every single day. The wind on your face is glorious every single day. Watching a bird fly is fascinating. Observing a cat jump and move is to watch gracefulness in action.
But if we've seen it once, we've seen it all.
The work wants to be made, and it wants to be made through you.
– Elizabeth Gilbert
I needed to read Big Magic before I could understand The War of Art. Her writing is a caress while Steven Pressfield slaps you in the face in every page.
Whenever I think of what I add to the world, or ask myself if what I am doing unique or worthy enough to put out there, I read a bit of this book. Everything that has made me has given me my perspective and voice. Only I can produce a piece of work with me in it. You cannot. But you can produce a piece of work that can only be made by you.
We need to allow it to happen. This means writing a ton of average and poor posts and not posting them. Or posting them and not getting any feedback. But as we do this, as we channel more and more of ourselves to step out into our work, magic happens.
When I started coaching, I realised I needed my own voice to coach. Not everyone gets me. Nor is my coaching style appropriate for everyone. But that's okay. This is the way I am meant to coach and that means the few of you I reach, I connect at a deeper level. That makes both of us better.
Thanks for reading. And do share a quote that touches you deeply.