Walt Disney once said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Many people don’t realize that Walt Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse and so many other iconic characters, was once a man who was very familiar with failure. In fact, in his younger years, he had a boss who fired him because he said he lacked creativity, but Disney refused to give up.
The Power Of Belief
Eighty-five-year-old retired doctor Roger Bannister sold his old leather shoes for 266,500 pounds. This was no ordinary pair of shoes. They are a piece of history and a symbol of the power of belief to break down barriers. Roger was wearing these shoes when he did what people in the 1950’s thought was impossible: he ran a mile in under 4 minutes. 3 minutes 59.4 seconds, to be exact.
Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way
In heavy boots and a big winter coat, 56-year-old factory worker James Robertson doesn’t look like much of an athlete. But looks can be deceiving. This Detroit factory worker walks more than 20 miles a day to and from work, a round trip that takes him 8 hours or more. He then has only a few hours to sleep before he wakes up to do it all over again.
Delayed Gratification – The Secret to Success?
Delayed gratification means giving up pleasure now to get a greater reward in the future. We cut down on the junk food today, so we look good at the beach next summer. We save money now, so we can relax in retirement. We all delay gratification to some degree, and it starts at a young age.
Quitters Can Be Winners
Bill Gates has been named the world’s richest man 16 times. While he owes much of his success to perseverance, he probably owes just as much to his willingness to quit. It turns out that the old saying, “quitters never win and winners never quit” isn’t exactly true. Many of the world’s most successful people are serial quitters. Gates probably wouldn’t be the famous billionaire he is today if he hadn’t dropped out of college. He was a sophomore at the prestigious Harvard College when he decided to quit.
Lessons From The Life Project
During one week in 1946, 14,000 babies were born in Britain. From their first breath to old age, scientists have tracked and recorded the lives of each one. New cohorts of babies have been added multiple times over the decades. At this point, there are five generations participating in the study. And the total number of participants is 70,000 and counting! That adds up to a boatload of data. It’s enough data, in fact, that the research has generated over 6,000 academic articles and books. These are some of the best-studied humans in the world!
Imagine Your Future – a Guided Visualization
I want you to sit up straight in your chair. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, and relax. I’m going to speak to you, and I want you to just listen and imagine. Do not sleep. Just relax and imagine.
Right now I want you to think about your life. Think about your family. See your family. Think about your friends. In your mind, see your friends. And think about your job. See yourself working. And when you see all these things in your mind about your current life, how does it make you feel? Take a moment to imagine.
The 80/20 Rule For English Learners
Hi Everyone, Thanks for listening to our free lessons. We’ve been getting a lot of positive emails about these short lessons and we’re really happy you like them. If you want to try our longer listening lessons and our special speaking lessons, take a look at the Deep English Fluency Course. Ok, now for today’s […]