Inspirational Living: Life Lessons for Success & Happiness

Listen to episode 482 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Wealth & Greatness Within You | Living Your Ideals. Edited and adapted from Levels of Living by Henry Frederick Cope.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, you can help us out by leaving a positive review at the iTunes store. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Levels of Living (Essays on Everyday Ideals) by Henry Frederick Cope, published in 1908.

There is an old mystical saying that the things which are not seen are essential to all success. We are blind if we can see only with our eyes, and we only are sensible when we know that there are many things beyond our senses. Practical people consider all the factors to every problem, and things are not less real to them because they might be intangible.

The unseen things are imminent to us always. There are many things not yet pigeonholed by our science nor catalogued by our philosophies. You can dissect a daisy and enumerate its parts; but you never know a daisy until you have seen the unseen things thereof, until you have felt the subtle appeal of its beauty.

The danger is that in our hard workaday lives we shall forget the reality of the unseen; we shall get to thinking that gold, steel, land, and money are the only real things. How easy it is to measure everyone by their possessions of tangible things. How easy to make these our chief end in life — to slight the real prizes (the unseen wealth that lies so close at hand or already possessed), while we rush and strive for the rainbow of riches.

Listen to episode 481 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Courage, Self-Mastery & Rising Above Our Failures. Edited and adapted from Ready Money by George H. Knox.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Success is largely a matter of management. Self-mastery means more than doing right morally and controlling one's temper. You, indeed, must have something of a temper if you are going to be good for anything. Without a temper a person is like a piece of untempered steel. But while it’s necessary to have a temper, it is also necessary to control it, at least most of the time — all the time would be asking too much.

It is said that the person who can control their temper can control others and have things their own way. But sometimes our inclinations are harder to control than our temper. It is understood that we should control our thoughts and actions so far as not doing certain things is concerned, but it is doing things that we don’t like to do, or when we don’t like to do them, that is the real test — for there is such a thing as impulse, moods, and the blues that we must contend with.

It is said that a horse is a creature of impulse. If it wants grass it eats grass; if it wants to lie down it lies down. We are sometimes also a creature of impulse to a certain extent. When we feel like quitting, we too often quit, whether we are through or not. When we don’t like the work, we quit for the same reason. And when we get the blues; we quit simply because we are blue.

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Listen to episode 480 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Finding Yourself | Living Up to Your Potential. Edited and adapted from Ready Money by George H. Knox.

Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. A special thanks to our newest patrons: Lucy Burns and Afya Gabriel. I truly appreciate your financial support. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Ready Money by George H. Knox, published in 1905.

There's not very much difference between the person who is succeeding and the other who isn't; between the person who is taking big strides onward, and the other who is doing only fairly well. One has discovered themselves; and the other has not. One knows they can do things; and the other is not sure.

We are more capable than we think we are. We don’t expect as much of ourselves as we should. We too frequently judge ourselves by what we are, instead of what we may become by adding just a little more energy and thought to our efforts.

The rate at which your capacity for doing things can be developed is wonderful. You can do but a little today, but by doing that little (and doing it with snap and energy), you are a stronger person tomorrow. You can do more. And the next day a new idea is evolved in your mind. You begin to think. And thinking is what makes the woman and man — not thinking alone, but thinking and putting those thoughts into action.

Listen to episode 479 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Getting Started Right Each and Every Day. Edited and adapted from Byways of Blessedness by James Allen.

Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Life is full of beginnings. They are presented every day and every hour to every person. Most beginnings are small, and appear trivial and insignificant, but in reality they are the most important things in life.

See how in Nature everything proceeds from small beginnings. The mightiest river is at first a rivulet over which the grasshopper could leap; the great flood commences with a few drops of rain; the sturdy oak, which has endured the storms of a thousand winters, was once an acorn; and the smoldering match, carelessly dropped, may be the means of devastating a whole town by fire.

Have you yet discovered the vast importance of beginnings? Do you really know what is involved in a beginning? Do you know the number of beginnings you are continuously making, and realize their full importance? If not, come with me for a short time, and thoughtfully explore this much ignored pathway to success and a life well lived.

Help disadvantaged children get a head start by visiting today's sponsor SavetheChildren.org.

Listen to episode 478 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Strengthen Your Will-Power | Motivation. Edited and adapted from Stepping-Stones to Success by Horace D. Hitchcock.

Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. A special thanks to our newest patrons Krishno Sarkar and Zakhar. If you would like to become a patron and gain exclusive access to over 175 additional podcasts from our archive, as well as my new series of articles on how to run joyfully while completing the Couch to 5K program, visit LivingHour.org/patron. Thank you. 

Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Stepping-Stones to Success by Horace D. Hitchcock, published in 1914.

When it comes to human accomplishment, the power of will is the greatest power in the world. In fact, no person can determine the limits of any individual mind; neither can they foretell the limits of human endeavor. The accomplishments of today would appear as positive impossibilities to those who lived ages ago. A safe maxim for the future thus might be: "There is nothing that is impossible."

The power of will is a force distinctly human, and involves that which cannot be fully understood or explained. Like electricity, we know its cause and effects, but we do not know exactly what it is. Thought power deals with the brain in activity, and it is a conscious power; in other words, "Will power."

No normal person lives who does not have some will power. The common phrase, "I have no will power” is a contradiction and an impossibility. “Nothing is impossible to the person who can will. That is the only law of success," said Mirabeau, the French revolutionary.

Listen to episode 477 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Meaning of Money & How to Use It. Edited and adapted from Youth and Opportunity by Thomas Tapper.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. I’d like to start today by expressing my gratitude to all of you who listen to this podcast. We just passed the 10 million download mark, which is millions more than I ever thought we’d get when I started this podcast. So, thanks again. It is a real privilege to be part of your life each week.

Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Youth and Opportunity by Thomas Tapper, published in 1912.

When discussing the Factors of Success, comparatively few people would fail to insist that the one thing above all others in desirability and importance, is money. We give precedence to money because we believe in its power, and yet, at the same time, it is the most impotent of our many servants.

Rightly regarded, money is a wholesome possession. The amount of good it can be made to do is so astounding that it is no wonder we regard it as the greatest thing in the world. Yet it is not the greatest thing in the world. It is merely one essentially important thing, and about its importance everyone should rightly inform themselves.

Listen to episode 476 of the Inspirational Living podcast: C25K Motivation for Running Couch to 5K | Runners High. Including motivational and uplifting quotes on running.

Podcast Transcript: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. The topic of today’s podcast is a little different. While I occasionally mention the importance of exercise and having a fit body, most of the time I talk about life lessons and success habits unrelated to fitness.

But not today. Today we are going to talk about running, because around 8 weeks ago I decided that I was going to take up running for the first time. While I played a lot of sports in my youth, I always hated running. But now at the age of 52, not having done any regular, aerobic exercise in many years, I decided to start running, AND that I was going to enjoy it. Not only that, I set a goal for myself of running a 10.5K mini-marathon by the end of the year.

I downloaded the free C25K app by Zen Labs, which thousands of other people have used successfully to take up running, and now am on week 7 of the program, looking forward to graduating soon to their free 10K training app.

The biggest challenge in getting this far is that I’ve had to radically change my old mindset of hating running. And (I’m happy to say) I’ve succeeded in that. Now, I actually do enjoy running. I genuinely look forward to it. I’ve even begun to get a “runner’s high” that lasts throughout the day. Indeed I’m starting to feel around 20 years younger — and all without the pain, struggle, and difficulties that cause so many beginning runners to quit.

If you would like to join me on this journey, and learn how you can turn running into a joyful habit rather than a grind, visit LivingHour.org/patron. For as little as $3 a month, you can gain access to my advice on running with a joyful, positive mindset. You can also share with me your own experience with the Couch to 5K app, get my personal feedback and support, and other benefits exclusively offered to our podcast patrons. Once again, that’s LivingHour.org/patron. Thank you.

Now, on to today’s reading, which is a collection of inspirational quotes on the subject of running. For attribution, check out the full transcript which I have included with this podcast.

“Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think of what it might be. In running the mind flees with the body, the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with [your] feet and the swinging of [your] arms.” — Joyce Carol Oates

“For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself.” — Haruki Murakami

“Never limit where running can take you. I mean that geographically, spiritually, and, of course, physically.” — Bart Yasso

“Our running shoes have magic in them. The power to transform a bad day into a good day; frustration into speed; self-doubt into confidence; chocolate cake into muscle.” — Mina Samuels

“I don’t run to add days to my life, I run to add life to my days.” — Ronald Rook

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Listen to episode 475 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Personal Character: The Crown & Glory of Life. Edited and adapted from How to Get On in the World by Major A.R. Calhoun.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. To make a one-time donation to our podcast, please visit LivingHour.org/donate. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from. How to Get On in the World by Major A.R. Calhoun, published in 1895.

The crown and glory of life is Character. It is the noblest possession of the individual, constituting a rank in itself and an estate in the general good-will. Character dignifies every station, and exalts every position in society. It exercises a greater power than wealth, and secures all honor without the jealousies of fame. It carries with it an influence which always tells, for it is the result of proven honor, rectitude, and consistency — qualities which, perhaps, more than any other, command the general confidence and respect of one’s fellow citizens.

Character is human nature in its best form. It is moral order embodied in the individual. People of character are not only the conscience of society, but in every well-governed state, they are its best motive power — for it is moral qualities in the main which rule the world. Even in war, Napoleon said, the moral is to the physical as ten to one.

Listen to episode 474 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Courage, Persistence & The Energetic Life. Edited and adapted from How to Get On in the World by Major A.R. Calhoun.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Thomas Carlyle said that the first requisite to success is carefully to find your life work and then bravely carry it out. No soldier who won a succession of triumphs, nor business person who reached the top, did not find their beginning slow, arduous, and discouraging.

Courage is a prime essential to prosperity. Your progress may be slow in comparison with your ambition, but if you keep a brave heart and stick persistently to it, you will surely succeed in the end.

The forceful, energetic character, like the forceful soldier on the battle-field, not only moves forward to victory themselves, but their example has a stimulating influence on others.

Listen to episode 473 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Gaining Freedom from Worry, Fear, Hatred & Suspicion. Edited and adapted from Youth and Opportunity by Thomas Tapper.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. A special thanks to Jesse-Rodriguez-Wood for upgrading his patronage level. We have various patron levels for our podcast, each of which comes with its own unique rewards. To learn more, please visit, LivingHour.org/patron. Thank you.

Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Youth and Opportunity by Thomas Tapper, published in 1912.

When our tongues are tied we cannot speak; when our hands are tied we cannot labor; when our feet are tied we cannot travel. If we lived under a tyrant who, with little warning, tied our tongue, hands, and feet, and made us helpless, we should rebel and fight for freedom. And yet we live under just such a tyrant; or, rather, a family of tyrants, who not only tie our tongues, hands, and feet, but our ability, perseverance, happiness, and pleasures of life.

These tyrants are Fear, Worry, Suspicion, Hatred & Co. When a Roman tyrant threatened to put a Greek slave in jail, the slave laughed at him and said: "You can put my body in jail, but my spirit will be forever free." However, the tyrants we submit to actually put the spirit in prison; and thus we become helpless.

To succeed in life, we must work freely with our resources. Resources are positive things. They help us and increase us. They make it plain to us just where opportunity is to be found. And yet the tyrants that put the spirit in jail are not positive things. They are the worst possible form of impediment, and impediments never helped a person in all the history of the world.