The Fallacy of Doing Our Best

Beth Vogtchallenges, confidence, expectations, goals, In Others' Words, Life, lifequotes, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Reality, success 9 Comments

KLowering the Bar to Achieve More by @bethvogt Success, my friends, isn’t always about giving our best effort. Sometimes success is doing a little bit less. Can I get an “amen!”? Over the years, my family has learned to ask, “What’s the wise choice?” And sometimes the best, wisest choice is to stop trying so hard. There are times when …

In Others’ Words: The Importance of Protecting Our Dreams

Beth Vogtdreams, In Others' Words, Quotes 11 Comments

Confronting Our Doubts @BethVogt   We all chase after dreams. During our childhood, the simplest of questions may spark a dream: What do you want to be when you grow up? Pause for a moment and let’s remember that oh-so-much-younger us. The one who didn’t hesitate to believe we could become a ballerina. Or an astronaut. Or a dolphin trainer. …

In Others’ Words: A Work in Progress

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 10 Comments

As I moved the graphic over into this blog post, two words stood out to me in the quote: in progress.  “In progress” means motion. Forward motion. We’re moving toward something — a goal. A dream. There’s action happening. When I was deciding on the graphic to use for the quote, I skimmed through lots of photos of staircases and …

In Others’ Word: Don’t Jump — to Conclusions, That Is!

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, Quotes, success 10 Comments

We all have different goals. Different dreams. Different opportunities. But no matter what we’re aiming for, we all hope to succeed. I’ve attended lots of writers conferences in years past. (Not lately. It’s been more about my daughter’s volleyball tournaments — and I’m okay with that.) When I’m with writers, we talk about the books we’re writing. The books we …

In Others’ Words: Fail Forward

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, Quotes, success 5 Comments

I like it when successful people talk about their failures. Take, for example, when another writer shares how many times their manuscript was rejected before they landed a contract. (The Help by Kathryn Stockett was rejected 60 times.) Or when a pro athlete shares his struggles. (6’7″ NBA pro Paul Pierce was cut from the varsity team in high school …

In Others’ Words: Time Requirement

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, Quotes, success 10 Comments

  Each of us is striving toward a different goal, but whatever we want to accomplish requires the same thing: skill, and effort, and time.  Sometimes, more than anything else, the time required to reach our goals trips us up. We feel good about ourselves when we’re learning a skill. We feel good about effort of any kind. Pursuing a …

In Others’ Words: It’s Not About Luck

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, opportunities, Quotes 5 Comments

  I’ll skip over luck, thank you very much, and go for opportunities every time. Even those “lucky breaks” people talk about? Those were just opportunities in disguise.  Think about it: That time you met someone who knew someone … and that other someone helped you along the path to your dream. Or that part-time, temporary job that somehow helped …

In Others’ Words: Taking a Closer Look at Failure

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perseverance, Quotes 12 Comments

  I wish I’d had a better understanding of failure when I was younger. I wished I’d known things like: Failure happens — to everybody. Everybody. Not. Just. Me. Failure may feel awful … like the end of the world … but most of the times, you wake up the next day and get a second chance at things.  Failure …

In Others’ Words: Never Walk Back

Beth Vogtgoals, In Others' Words, Quotes 7 Comments

  Progress is not about how fast you are going, but it is most definitely about forward motion. We almost always equate progress with success — although sometimes that is debatable — and sometimes we also believe success has to happen quickly. Hence, the term “overnight success,” which is an oxymoron in itself.  I’ve achieved some successes in my life …

In Others’ Words: Go Ahead, Astound Yourself!

Beth Vogtconfidence, In Others' Words, Quotes 4 Comments

Right before school started for my daughter CJ, we spent the weekend in Breckenridge. It just so happened our time there coincided with the inaugural Colorado Classic bike race. My husband, daughter, and I stood with hundreds of other spectators lining the streets and watched cyclists speed downhill through the town. I was astounded by the display of professional cycling. …