This blog itself started as a collection of excerpts from books I have read. As a repository for thoughts, I value having a single collection point of searchable and linkable notes to re-visit easily. So while the blog is for my own edification, I have started keeping a catalog of thoughts to share with my two sons over time. Many of these thoughts, quotes, sayings, and aphorisms apply to my own life, but I want my sons, along with anyone else whom may find value in them, to have them as well. A majority of these ideas I cannot attribute to anyone in particular because I write them down in a small notebook at the time I hear them so they are not forgotten to the annals of a busy mind and busier life. Over time I will continue to add to these thoughts and maybe one day even later I will expound on each of these thoughts individually.

• Don’t wait to tell people how you feel.
• Be principles. Be honest. Be strong. Be confident.
• Take care of yourself and others.
• Stand for something.
• Be willing to admit when you are wrong, then learn from it.
• Train as though your life depends on it.
• Find a passion and then keep working at it. Never be satisfied and always improve.
• Give others a chance to prove themselves but don’t accept anything less than 100%.
• Hold others accountable but check yourself first.
• Making excuses for not doing something that is important to you is not because you are too busy but because you are lazy.
• If you win you win. If you lose you learn.
• Go out and do something you’re not good at. Go out and fail at something.
• A winner is someone who never let losing stop them.
• It is better to be a warrior in a garden then a gardener in a war.
• A great story is based around order and chaos. The hero must lose something to restore order.
• If you are doing the right things for the right reasons, you will win in the end.
• Time, Talent, Treasure. You must sacrifice one of the three to be make a difference and be truly great.
• Busy is a choice. Don’t use being busy as an excuse.
• You can make things happen or you can make excuses. But you can’t do both.
• Courage is more valuable than confidence.
• The foundations of leadership are Honesty, Fairness, and Consistency.
• Be strong. Be accountable. Never complain.
• Don’t trade dollars for days. Always have an exit strategy.
• Stand up straight with your shoulders back.
• Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.
• Make friends with people who want the best for you.
• Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
• Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.
• Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.
• Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).
• Tell the truth, or at least, do not lie.
• Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.
• Be precise in your speech.
• Time is a gift. What are you going to do with it today?
• The Seven Virtues of Bushido: Integrity, Respect, Heroic Courage, Honor, Compassion, Honesty & Sincerity, and Duty & Loyalty.
• Strive to add value everyday.
• Luxuries then to become necessities and to spawn new obligations.
• A hero is often the person recognized for the blood of his followers or the lives of his brothers.