Robert M. Persig

"To live only for some future goal is shallow.  It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top."

— Robert M. Pirsig

American Writer

1928 - 

Those of us who set goals sometimes get so caught up in the goal that we live only in tomorrow's world and forget about today.  We think that when we publish our first book or sell our first painting that everything will be perfect.  The future that we imagine is never what we thought it would be.  We still carry the negative baggage that we have today into the future.  If we have marital problems today, we probably will still have them tomorrow.  We need to learn to live with ourselves no matter what our living conditions are.  Whether we are poor or rich, we are still the same person.  If we are unhappy when we are poor, we will be unhappy when we are rich.  Learn to be happy now.  Enjoy the moment.

Have you stopped to smell the roses today?  Spring is just around the corner and the hard winter of 2011 is sliding out the door.  Are you finding joy in the moment?  Have you seen the first robins or the red-wing blackbirds?  Have you given those you love a hug and told them that you love them?  Take a walk today.  Taste the wind on your lips.  Smell the fresh air.  Dance with the rain drops.

Goals are important but they should not dominate our lives to the point that we ignore the beauty around us.  Don't live in the future because it has not come yet.  Don't live in the past because it has already gone.  Live in the moment where you are.  Love yourself for who you are now.

Natalie Goldberg

"One of the main aims in writing practice is to learn to trust your own mind and body; to grow patient and nonaggressive."

Natalie Goldberg

American Writer/Painter

1948 - 

Do you trust yourself — your mind, your thoughts, your dreams, your desires, your hopes?  Do you trust your body — how you walk, how you dance, the sound of your stomach gurgling, the pain in your left knee?  Many of us don't trust our own instincts.  We put our faith in others.  Maybe it is a parent, a friend, a spouse of even a spiritual leader.  We believe what they say to be true.  We need to learn to listen to that small tiny voice inside us that knows the way.  This voice is the first one we hear before we quickly move on to our more rational voice.  How many times have you felt something to be true in your gut but you have chosen to do what your rational mind said?  Learn to trust yourself and to believe in yourself.

(The source of this quote is the book, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg.  Every creative leader should read this book multiple times.)