The Don't Quit Poem!

The Don't Quit poem was written many years ago. The author of this poem is unknown. Sadly, in recent years a number of people have claimed ownership of the poem and some have even claimed to have written it themselves!

Here is the original poem in it's entirety:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit. 

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow. 

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown. 

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit. 

- Author unknown

Believe Me, It Works!

In life most of us are really bored and annoyed. We are not satisfied with what we have. We never have been thankful for what we have and we just take them only for granted. Just think for a while, A man who walks is jealous of someone who goes by car. why not if he is satisfied with his legs. because there are disabled people who cant even walk. And who has three regular meals to eat is jealous of people who are in McDonald's or KFC. But why don't they think about people who has only one meal per day. And there are people who don't have even a single meal to eat. For them even a bread piece would be a gift from God. Remember everyday approximately 20,000 people are died for hunger. So are we here to blame God or to be thankful. Yes, We must be thankful. We have something to eat, We have someone to share, We have so many to love, We have a shelter to rest. We have a beautiful life to live. Then why we are still blaming? Why don't we enjoy what we have? All depends on our Attitude.

I always believe we get something if we are only satisfied with something and appreciate what we have. I will tell you an example. There are so many people who are not satisfied with there money. They always want more. But if they work hard, yes they can earn more. But they want to earn without putting the effort. So they buy lottery or they bid. But when they depend on luck they only lose. They spend money everyday to buy lottery. But the return what they get is less. So without their Knowledge they lose. But think if those people are satisfied and live a life within the asset that they have. What if they make a budget and live. Then they can eat, they can do charity, they can save and they can live a lovely life. Remember it works when we appreciate something what we have.

Another example is myself for appreciating things that we have. My father is a Driver. He earns something for the day where we can spend a happy life. But he educated me, He did everything for me and still he is doing. I can also blame God that i got nothing. I can blame my Dad that he didn't send abroad to study and can ask him for money for clubbing or to enjoy in any other ways like many other teenagers. But I didn't do it and i will not. To be grateful to god i am happy with what I have. If we take others in this position what they usually do is blaming and they are always disappointed. If anyone ask "How are you?" they tell "Not bad" or something related to that. It clearly shows that they are not satisfied. But if anyone asks me "How are you?" I used to tell "I am great" or "I am awesome". Believe me from the day i started telling like that I have changed so much. I am feeling happy everyday. My anger has been reduced. Though I don't have much in my hand I am living a happy life with what I have.

Believe me, When you start appreciating things that you have. When you stop criticizing things that you don't have, When you used to tell that I am Great even though you are not, Life will be more happier.

So live your life the fullest, because its too short to be unhappy.

Secrets !!

What is it that makes people successful and I mean really successful compared to you or me? Are they smarter or do they work harder? Are they risk takers or have powerful and influential friends?

The financial newspaper Investors Business Daily (IBD) asked these same questions a few years ago and started a multi-year search for the answer. They studied industry leaders, investors and entrepreneurs to understand the traits they all had in common that contributed to their success. Reproduced here is their list of 10 Secrets to Success along with my commentary on each no-so-secret, ‘secret’. I hope you take these not-so-secret, secrets to heart and realize your dreams – whatever they may be.

1. How You Think is Everything.

Always be positive. Think Success, not Failure. Beware of a negative environment.

This trait has to be one of the most important in the entire list. Your belief that you can accomplish your goals has to be unwavering. The moment you say to yourself “I can’t…”, then you won’t. I was always given the advice “never say I can’t” and I’d like to strike those words from the dictionary.

I’ve found that from time-to-time my attitude waivers. A mentor of mine once said “it’s ok to visit pity city, but you can’t stay and there comes a time when you need to leave”. Positive things happen to positive people.

2. Decide upon Your True Dreams and Goals: Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.

Write down my dreams and goals? Develop a plan to reach them? You mean like a project plan? Yes, that’s exactly what this means. You may have heard the old adage: A New Years resolution that isn’t written down is just a dream, and dreams are not goals.

Goals are those concrete, measurable stepping stones of achievement that track your progress towards your dreams. My goal is to start a second career as a freelance writer – what are your goals?

3. Take Action. Goals are nothing without action.

Be like Nike and “Just do it”. I took action by reaching out and started writing. Every day I try to take some action towards my goals. It may be small, but it’s still an action. Have you taken action towards your goals?

4. Never Stop Learning: Go back to school or read books. Get training & acquire skills.

Becoming a life long learner would benefit us all and is something we should instill in our kids. It’s funny that once you’re out of school you realize how enjoyable learning can be. What have you learned today?

5. Be Persistent and Work Hard: Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.

I think every story of success I read entails long hard hours of work. There is no getting around this and there is no free lunch. But, if you’re working towards something that you’re passionate about, something you love – then is it really work?

6. Learn to Analyze Details: Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes.

I think you have to strike a balance between getting all the facts and making a decision with incomplete data – both are traits of successful people. Spend time gathering details, but don’t catch ‘analysis paralysis’.

7. Focus Your Time And Money: Don’t let other people or things distract you.

Remain laser focused on your goals and surround yourself with positive people that believe in you. Don’t be distracted by the naysayer’s or tasks that are not helping you achieve your goals.

8. Don’t Be Afraid To Innovate: Be different. Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.

Follow through on that break-out idea you have. Ask yourself “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?”

9. Deal And Communicate With People Effectively: No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others.

Successful people develop and nurture a network and they only do that by treating people openly, fairly and many times firmly. There is nothing wrong about being firm – just don’t cross the a-hole line. How do you deal with people?

10. Be Honest And Dependable: Take responsibility, otherwise numbers 1 – 9 won’t matter.

Attitude In The Workplace: Knowing Yourself As A Way to Improve Your Work Quality

Attitude in the workplace is sometimes one of the most difficult to discuss. Whenever some executives approach me to discuss how they can improve their attitude at work, I usually tell them to start with themselves. I am a big advocate of first looking within yourself before you start looking externally.

How can one speak about improving their attitude without first looking hard at themselves? It is always easier to blame external factors when sometimes the fault lies with us. If you want to improve your attitude in the workplace start by knowing yourself and asking yourself these questions.

1. What Am I Really Good At?

Here is the first check of your attitude. Do you really know what you are good at? Why is this important? Based on my experience, I see many young executives demonstrating their frustrations just because they do not know the answer to this basic question. It affects their work attitude. They start to lose their temper and start to blame their bosses and company for not giving them the right opportunities.

There are two things that you need to check when it comes to knowing what you are good at. Firstly, check for your core competency. These are skills and technical knowledge that is required for you to complete your job well. Sometimes, you are already academically qualified to do this work. Other times, you get on job training. Secondly, check for the softer values that are needed. The common term used is your EQ ‘skills’. While technical skills and knowledge are important, equally important (or sometimes even more important) – are the softer skills. These are in general called social skills. Left unchecked, the lack of this self-knowledge will affect your work attitude.

2. Do I Really Belong Here?

When you have honestly asked yourself the question above, then you have taken your first step in improving your attitude in the workplace.

Now you know you have the technical skills and knowledge. You also know you have the softer skills to tackle your work. Yet you feel your attitude in the workplace is far from your desired level. Then ask yourself this question – do you really belong here?

Sometimes, we may have all the skills and knowledge and social skills required to do our work well but we feel inadequate. Then it is time to ask if your values and principles matches with the work that you do? To find joy in your work and one that gives you a feeling that you have a good attitude in the workplace, you need your values and principles to match with those that your work provides.

When you find that your values and principles do not match with those that your work provides then you need to think hard about your choices. Left unchecked, it will just contribute to negative attitudes at work. You start to feel frustrated.

Sometimes, our life values and principles change with our life stages. For example, I used to clock long hours at work when I was a bachelor, sometimes 18 hours on end. I was happy giving my all. After all I lived alone in the city. But when my first child came along, my values changed. I no longer wanted to clock those hours. So, ask yourself if you really belong here?

This can help improve your attitude in the workplace.

3. What Can I Do Better Of?

If you have answered positively to the first two questions, then I just say you have taken huge steps ensuring that your attitude in the workplace will become better. The last step is to pinpoint what you can do better of? Always strive to improve yourself. There must be skills, character and parts of our personality that you can adjust and improve. When you start to improve yourself, you start to create a better attitude in the workplace. You become more patient with your colleagues and bosses. You start to smile more. Ask yourself honestly, what can you do better of today?

If you feel some of your colleagues seems frustrated with their work or seem less pleasant to work with lately, maybe they need to ask themselves these hard questions. That way, they too can start to be on the road to better attitude in the workplace. 

So Lovely Hambantota.

Hambantota 2018, the possibility emerged with the peace brought upon Sri Lanka by the Heroic Defence Forces of Sri Lanka.

Hail the Heroes of the Nation & Prince Diyasena of "Revolt in The Temple" (April 1953), the maestro of "The Turn of the Screw" at "The Turn of the Tide" from 26th July 2006 at Mother River, Our Mother Lanka, to 19th May 2009 at "The Sea of Conches", My Sri Lanka, Our Island.
This Land is My Land; This Land is Our Land, from Point Pedro to Dondra Head.

Nothing is impossible.
Hambantota 2018 is possible.

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