Daily Motivator - September
 

September 1

Fill it well

Fill your mind with thoughts of what’s possible. Fill your day with action.

Fill your heart with love and with gratitude. Fill your world with goodness.

Fill your spirit with awe and wonder. Fill your moments with meaning.

Fill your attitude with enthusiasm. Fill your life with new value.

What you put in determines what you experience. Put in plenty of the good stuff, the positive stuff, the rich and meaningful stuff.

Life unfolds according to the energy with which you fill it. Fill it always with the best you have.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 2

Able to give

If you don't give value in return for value, your life gets out of balance. If all you do is take, that takes a big toll on you.

Getting something for nothing is not something you want. It may seem good on the outside, but it will tear you up on the inside.

Tokens of achievement are a poor substitute for being a person who does the achieving. The goodies alone will not fulfill your deep-seated desire to make a difference.

Take a continuing, active role in your own fulfillment. Anything less is not true fulfillment at all.

Jump at the opportunities to create value. Get away from people who promise or who seek something for nothing.

Your heart wants to be able to give. Do yourself a favor, and let it.

-Ralph Marston

September 3

Deep tranquility

Breathe in slowly, deeply, then calmly let it out. As you do, relax your life down to its core.

Feel warm, soft release as tension melts gently away. Experience deep tranquility as you focus on the beauty of right now.

Take the opportunity to remember who you are. In this moment, bring your dreams close enough to touch, to admire, to energize you.

Keep breathing slowly, deeply, gently. Although your concerns are all real, none of them have to compromise the peaceful, inner you.

Now, here, experience the positive power that is always with you. Renew your understanding of how you can harness that power to do good.

Linger a while in this state of serene empowerment. Then step forward into the world, and transform it with your love.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 4

You are needed

Because you’ve achieved, you now have the chance to do it again. Because you’ve persisted, you now can gain great value from continuing to persist.

Did you think this would be easy? Did you think you would be able to make one leap and then never have to make any effort again?

That’s not the way it works, and you wouldn’t want it to anyway. What gives richness to your life is the opportunity to participate, again and again, in making good things happen.

You are needed, you are necessary, you are in demand as someone who can make a difference. Consider what a blessing that is, and then think of what you can do about it.

All your effort has bought for you the opportunity to make even greater effort. That’s a very good and desirable thing.

You are needed to make a difference in life, today and every day. Feel how great it feels to be so needed, and enjoy fulfilling your beautiful obligation.

— Ralph Marston

September 5

Small moments

Small moments are the building blocks of great achievements. Steadily, diligently, one moment at a time, is how new value comes to life.

Anyone can stay positive, focused, effective for one small moment. Great things happen when you string such moments together.

Today is filled with an abundance of moments. Within those moments, if you choose, you can make real, solid progress.

For a moment, let go of worry, anxiety, fear, anger, resentment and frustration. Fill that moment with action that makes a positive difference.

When that productive, satisfying moment is over, you can choose to do it again. You can create positive moments for as long as it takes to get the results you seek.

Enjoy living at your highest level of effectiveness for just this moment. Then keep it going, and amazing things begin to appear on your horizon.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 6

Live so spread goodness

Live each moment with integrity, and you’ll find value and goodness in every experience. Make truth your priority and let your life gain from its great power.

Fully benefit from life’s goodness by fully committing yourself to uphold it. As tempting as it can be to cheat others, you cannot do so without cheating yourself more.

The way you treat people is a major part of the way you treat yourself. Act always with respect toward others, and you’ll live with great respect for yourself.

The most loving, compassionate, generous activities are the most enriching activities. Live to spread goodness, and you’ll spend your moments immersed in goodness.

Being truthful feels right because it is right. Being genuinely helpful feels good because it is good.

Align yourself with the power of life’s highest values. And live at your highest, most fulfilling level.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 7

True to what really matters

You cannot fix everything that is broken. Yet you can love what is for what it is, and make steady progress.

Life will never be perfect. Even so, you can fill every moment of it with richness.

People, events, and even your own ideas may from time to time disappoint you. Smile, be thankful for the experience, for the wisdom, and step forward.

You are stronger than the sting of regret. You have this moment, this life, and the ability to live it with loving purpose.

Go ahead, and let yourself live true to what really matters. Drop your pretense, and show your genuine beauty.

You have this day, and it is the opportunity that exceeds all opportunities. Embrace what’s now possible, and make it all count.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 8

Fresh new opportunity

Your past disappointments have now released you. Today you are free to achieve.

Even if you’ve failed a thousand times, now you are positioned to succeed. Get busy and get it done.

Walk away from the excuses that have enabled you to hold yourself back. Now you can direct the strength of your will toward positive purpose.

Consider what a precious gift your life is. Feel the power as you put your love of life into action.

Every outer weakness you can transform into an inner strength. With that strength, guided by love, give birth to new goodness, achievement, richness.

Negativity has lost its power to distract you. Grab the fresh new opportunity of now and run with it.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 9

Achievement mode

Create some meaningful new value with this day you now have. Choose to put yourself in the achievement mode.

Start with commitment. Decide on a goal and decide you will achieve it, no excuses, no quitting, no let up in action until it’s done.

Continue with enthusiasm. Care, even if no one else does, relentlessly positive about the good work you’re doing.

Remember your purpose. With each challenge, remind yourself why you must push through it and what’s most important about doing so.

Zero in on value. Understand that your efforts transform the value available to you into the value you seek to create.

Dance with joyful persistence from one task to another, grateful for the opportunity. Live today in the achievement mode, and discover how very much you can do.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 10

Keep complacency away

Complacency wins by doing nothing. If you’re not actively supporting a meaningful purpose, you’re growing complacent.

You gain power, control, resources by accepting the situation as it is in the moment. But don’t let your acceptance become complacence.

Value fades when it is not utilized, built upon, and expanded. Yesterday’s victories will be worthless tomorrow if you don’t continue the effort.

By very definition, life is a dynamic experience, and standing still is not an option. Either you move ahead or you fall behind.

Any time you feel complacency begin to engulf you, reach deep inside. Connect with those things that make you determined to make a difference.

Let your purpose, your determination, your desires, dreams and passions keep complacency away. Make the most of the progress you’ve already made by keeping it going.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 11

Big deal

Most of the things you make a big deal about won’t be a big deal for long. Many of the things that consume your attention, you won’t even remember in a couple of weeks.

Life sends a whole lot of seemingly urgent matters your way. The majority of those matters don’t really matter.

Before you get all caught up in the crisis of the moment, step back. Look at it from the perspective of your entire life.

If it really does matter in the big picture of things, then plunge yourself fully into doing something positive and useful about it. If it really doesn’t matter, then move yourself on to whatever does.

Make all the time you spend with life, quality time. Invest that time in the service of what you care about.

There is plenty of time to do what matters, if you will simply stay away from what doesn’t. Give your moments the respect they deserve, and from them you’ll create rich fulfillment.

— Ralph Marston

September 12

Live gracefully

Live life gracefully rather than fighting against it. Take the path of peace, of strength, of confidence.

To live with wisdom, understand you don’t have all the answers, and no person does. To live with strength, accept and value life as it is, as it comes.

To embed confidence in every activity, know that you already are enough, already have enough to begin making progress. To sustain success, see that the more you lift others up, the more your own life is lifted.

To fill your world with joy, rise above shallow, superficial concerns of ego. Give your attention, your energy to what matters, to all you love.

This day, choose to be rich in the substance of real life. Be authentic in your richness.

Live with grace, with integrity. And live in a way that satisfies the deepest part of you.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 13

Treasure today

Treasure today while you live it. Give the beauty of this moment the full attention it deserves.

Later can wait for later. Let the rich texture of now brush against every part of your being.

Harbor no sadness for a past that has faded. All joy is still brand new, no matter how long ago it was born.

Worry, worry, worry, all it does is tie you down. Give anger no place from which to spring, nor resentment a dark corner where it can hide.

Instead, provide wonder, joy, curiosity and goodness a living vessel to fill with their magic. All the richness of life is now focused on now, and you are here to live it.

Whatever your circumstance or condition, life has a unique beauty for you to express right now. Feel the accumulated joy, letting it spill into the world to make new joy in this moment.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 14

Be a source of joy

Here you are on a beautiful day, filled with positive possibilities. Here you are, to make it even better.

You’re here today to be a source of joy, and to make life better. Allow joy to flow out from you, and experience how great it feels.

Choose to simply laugh off what would normally annoy you. Overwhelm the situation with your own joyful smile, kind words and thoughtful actions.

Be of service, be helpful, just because if feels so good and right. Put a smile on your face, in your voice and in your thoughts, and watch as your joyful expression spreads far beyond you.

Decide to enjoy what you’re doing, whatever it may be. People all around you will pick up on that joy and send it back to you in even greater measure.

Fill your heart with joy by filling the world with joy. Be a source of joy today, and experience life at its best.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 15

Power past distractions

Distractions pick at you, grab at you, seek to entice you and to push you aside. The assault never stops, yet you have the strength, the will and ability to live beyond it all.

You can form an intention and follow that intention no matter what. You can feel your purpose, live that purpose and render the distractions irrelevant.

Always, the world’s meaningless noise clamors to get you caught up. Live and function on a level higher than that noise, and it ceases to be a problem.

You can power your awareness past any distraction. Because you can ask yourself what’s most important, and you can answer.

The goal you’ve set, the difference you want to make, the dream you hold, these all matter. Remind yourself how much they matter, and aim your focus in their direction.

Know who you are, what you love and care about most. Feed your purpose into the power of intention, and distractions won’t distract you for long.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 16

Feel good by doing good

It feels good to do good, to be good. It feels good to help, to make a difference, to shine a bit of positive light into the world.

By simply offering a genuine smile, a friendly word, you can make someone else’s day. It will make your day as well.

You have the power to brighten the world. Use that power, and live in that brighter world.

Honest consideration will tell you it really doesn’t feel so good to push people out of your way. No lasting satisfaction comes from abusing or minimizing others.

There’s something that feels much better than winning at the expense of others. It’s winning in a way that benefits all.

Create positive people, positive feelings, positive experiences everywhere you go. Feel good by actually doing good, and make life better for everyone.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 17

Opportunity to love

See it not as a chance to criticize. See it as an opportunity to be patient, an opportunity to love.

See it not as a disagreement. See it as insight into the other person’s perspective.

Get your ego out of the picture and amazing things happen. You don’t have to waste energy being offended, angry, or resentful.

Though you have every right to be frustrated, you have every reason to let it go. Though you are justified in feeling sorry for yourself, that is never your best option.

Focusing on yourself attracts stress. Loving others, loving life and its miraculous beauty, enables peace.

Every encounter, every situation, every moment is an opportunity to love. See the opportunity, take it and live it, now.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 18

Turn it into a good thing

If you’re disappointed with yourself, with someone else, with a particular situation or just with life in general, you’re at a powerful starting point. You can channel that energy of disappointment in a positive direction and do great things with it.

Feel the disappointment, and then let it pick you up, push you forward and get you going. Suddenly you’re fifty miles down the road, well on your way to meaningful achievement.

Don’t concern yourself with what went wrong, or with whatever things you dislike. Focus your attention on a great, shining vision of how you want life to be.

Give the power of your attention to your positive goals, to your dreams and highest aspirations. Give your time and energy to making all those great things happen.

Doing something positive with your disappointment takes a lot more effort than just sulking and brooding. And yet, very quickly, it feels a whole lot better to be doing something than to just stay mired in negativity.

When life disappoints you, the best choice you have is to turn it into a good thing. In fact, decide to make it into the best thing that ever happened, and leave your disappointment far behind.

— Ralph Marston

September 19

Better than you’ve been

Decide today to be better than you’ve been. Commit to raise your life to a higher level.

Start with your thoughts, letting go of the ones that hold you down. Replace them with thoughts of excellence, of possibility, with visions of achievement.

Next, raise your expectations. You deserve to do more, to be more, to understand more, so expect it without question.

Then, push yourself into constant, effective action. Invest great effort, driven by your higher thoughts and expectations.

You can be better than you’ve been, reach higher than you’ve reached, and do much more than you’ve done. You get to be the person who makes all that happen.

Inject the power of passion and purpose into every experience. Choose to get better, act to get better, every moment, every day.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 20

When life demands much

You wish for comfort, for the long, difficult challenge to be over somehow. And yet, in that challenge you can continue to find new strength and meaning.

In meeting all the challenges, day after day, life grows in substance and richness. As difficult and uncomfortable as it may be, working through challenges makes you more fully alive.

There are no quick solutions, no easy answers to life’s most significant challenges. Yet in stepping up and dealing with those challenges, you connect with great value.

You learn what’s truly important, and figure out how to support and expand it. You come to more deeply treasure all you love.

You grow more capable, more resourceful, more caring, understanding, patient. The more costly the investment you make in life, the more valuable your whole world becomes.

Go ahead, feel your strength, step up to the challenges, make a difference in your own way. When life demands much, that’s your opportunity to give even more.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 21

There is an answer

There is an answer to your problem. Just because you haven’t found it yet, doesn’t mean it’s not there.

There is an answer, and very likely it hides behind your own ego. When you accept that you don’t know it all, can’t do it all, you’re closer to finding the answer.

Life constantly changes, and the way things worked before may no longer be a good model. If the problem is due to some new development, the best solution could be something new as well.

Instead of fighting, sulking or giving up in the face of the problem, use a different approach. Accept it, and even be thankful for it, eager to learn what it can teach.

Then, open yourself to all possibilities. Don’t reject a solution simply because you can’t take credit for it.

There are answers, solutions, good and workable ways forward. Allow yourself to find them, free of any preconceived notion, and you will.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 22

Living in harmony

You won’t change minds by criticizing what people believe. The way to influence minds and hearts is with love, care, respect, understanding.

No one gains enthusiastic cooperation by trickery or by fighting for it. To achieve true cooperation, find a way to align your interest with the other person’s interest.

If you act with brute force you are met with brute force. When you act with understanding you earn understanding in return.

Whatever you care about is best served by supporting whatever those around you care about. Though you may not agree with others, you can still benefit from living in harmony with them.

Be a positive example of what you believe, of the values you hold. People will listen when they’re inspired, not when they’re scolded.

Act with respect, tolerance, understanding and love. Allow the other people in your life to be an endless source of joy and fulfillment.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 23

New adventures

There are so many good things you can do, places you can go, people you can meet. Don’t let yourself get stuck in the habit of only doing what is comfortable, what is familiar.

A whole world exists beyond what you already know. Regularly explore some new part of it, physically and intellectually.

Refresh and revitalize yourself with new ideas, new experiences, new situations and new acquaintances. Each day is unique, so fill it with new, unique substance.

It’s easy to retreat to what’s comfortable. But by doing so all the time, you build a prison from which it’s more and more difficult for you to escape.

Opinions, beliefs, relationships, interests, skills and knowledge all benefit from being regularly challenged. Strengthen yourself by venturing beyond what’s familiar.

Get out of the comfortable sameness. Push yourself into new adventures where you’ll add great new richness to your life.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 24

Get out of your own way

Did someone hurt your feelings? Get over it and get on with life.

Are you trying to get people to feel sorry for you? Even if you get what you want, you won’t have anything of value.

Are you putting time and energy into being offended? Do you understand what an extreme waste of your life that is?

Don’t make life more difficult than it has to be. Rise above the need to fret about what others say or do or think or feel.

Choose to be a positive influence, no matter how the people around you are being. Decide to live by the highest standards, free of the need to judge the standards of others.

Let go of any desire to be seen as a victim, and replace it with the drive to make a difference. Get out of your own way, and do all the great things you are meant to do.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 25

Everyday creativity

Sometimes creativity starts with a flash of inspiration, but that is actually pretty rare. Most good and valuable creations are made by people who simply get started and stick with it.

Certainly it is romantic to think you have a special muse who bestows her creative brilliance upon you from time to time. In between those scarce celestial moments, though, it's good to have a more practical plan.

In fact, all sorts of magnificent, soaring fruits of creativity come about through plain old hard work. From rocket ships to business plans, musical compositions to golf lessons, magnificent paintings to website forms, creativity is an everyday affair.

You don't have to be a celebrated artist or film director to be meaningfully creative. You just have to take the time, do the work, and put your care and attention into it.

Life itself is a continuing creative process, and you have an opportunity to participate in it every day. Decide to make a positive difference, follow through on your decision, and you're being creative in a valuable way.

Gather inspiration from all the creativity you experience around you, and then do the work to make even more goodness in life. Whether your muse is calling to you or not, create something wonderful out of every day.

Ralph S. Marston

September 26

Joy where you are

What you enjoy doing, you do well. When you enjoy the moment you’re in, you rise to a higher state of awareness, of effectiveness, of existence.

Let your enjoyment be based on choice, not on judgment. Instead of deciding in advance what’s enjoyable and what’s not, simply decide to enjoy whatever is.

No, not everything is enjoyable. Yet a whole lot more people, situations, and activities can be enjoyable if you’ll just let them be.

Let go of the stressful, anxious need to run somewhere else. Peacefully direct your energy into creating real joy, real enjoyment, right where you are.

Allow a little enjoyment, and create more patience, understanding, confidence and focus. Rather than fighting against a difficult situation, choose to enjoy a unique and valuable moment.

Find joy, encourage joy, make joy right where you are. The more you enjoy life, the more there is to enjoy.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 27

Entice yourself

Give yourself something to look forward to. Then work your way toward it.

When you know you’re going somewhere desirable, you’ll bear almost any burden to get there. When you’ve chosen a specific direction, you’ve enabled yourself to make progress.

Give yourself the gift of a meaningful and rewarding destination. Inject enthusiasm into your moments, into your work, into your attitude.

What would you most like to be doing next Saturday, or next February? Commit to a real reward for yourself, and begin immediately to benefit from its positive power.

You deserve a future that you can be enthusiastic about. You have what it takes right now to point yourself toward such a future.

Entice yourself with a promise that will pull you through the challenges, inconveniences and disappointments. Give yourself something to look forward to, and invigorate your spirit as you move in its direction.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 28

The dream inside

Inside you is a dream. Inside you lives a vision of life at its absolute best.

The world will tell you your dream is unrealistic, and it probably is. But being realistic is not the purpose of your dream.

The dream inside has great value, no matter what it is. For it is authentic, it embodies your highest ideals, and it will drive you to do amazing things.

Pay heed often to that dream, for it guides you in a positive, fruitful direction. It shows you what really matters, and pushes you to be your best in every situation.

You live in an abundant universe, but the abundance by itself has no meaning. What’s inside you is what makes it all matter.

Feel that warm, persistent richness of the dream that lives inside. Go ahead, let it give energy and positive purpose to all you do.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 29

Give more

If you’ve settled for less than you can be, now is a good time to stop settling. Today is your opportunity to get a whole lot more from life by giving more.

If you sense emptiness in the moments, that’s your cue to fill them with more living. It doesn’t have to be complicated, sophisticated or impressive, just real.

You want more, you deserve more, but wishes and worthiness won’t take you all the way. You must make it happen, and you can, and that’s a great thing.

You’ve provided life with a lot of positive contributions. Looking back, it’s easy to see that making a difference is what makes you feel great, what makes you feel intensely alive.

Now you can expand on that great feeling. Now you can further enrich your life by using your energy to enrich the lives of those around you.

Be more, do more, give more than ever in your own unique way. And no matter what happens, your life will be far better for the effort.

-Ralph S. Marston

September 30

Discover your way forward

If you’re not sure how to begin, you’re in good company. No one is ever one hundred percent certain how to start on something new.

The only way you can be sure of what you’re doing is to already have it done. So wherever you are, whatever you know or don’t know, go ahead and get started.

Your approach might be totally wrong. If it is, you’ll quickly find out.

You will absolutely need to make adjustments as you go. The path will never be exactly as you imagined.

Though you’re not sure what to do, there is one thing you can be sure of. The only way to figure it out is to start.

Get going, do something, give it your best with a commitment to see it through. Discover your way forward, and you’ll get it done.

-Ralph S. Marston