Doddsism #115

Replace a bad habit with a good one. Perform an habit exchange!

It seems like good habits are hard to form, while bad habits are hard to break. Habits can be very powerful. You can get into a routine of doing something that eventually performing this task becomes like breathing, you do it without thinking about it. Unfortunately for most of us we have gotten into some bad habits that we want to fix but have been doing it for so long that it is hard to stop. Procrastination is a good example of this. We procrastinate so much that even when we want to stop it becomes difficult to. I heard somewhere that after you do something four times consistently, it starts to become habitual. The more you continue to repeat this pattern the stronger the habit can become. If we can replace the bad habit with a good one then not only have you eliminated a bad habit but you have also started a good one.

Doddsism #114

You can't always do what you want, but there is always something that you can do!

It is easy to get frustrated when you want to do something but are unable to. This is especially true when your stuck doing something you absolutely do not want to do, like working when you really want to be at the beach. Whether it is time or means that is keeping you from doing what you want, it is easy to feel like you don't want to do anything at all if you can't do what you truly want. Whatever the reason you are unable to do the things you want to do, don't lose hope because there is always something else you can do. If the thing that is keeping you back is time, time management becomes very important. It is important to think ahead to things coming up so that you can plan accordingly. Planning is also important if it is financial reasons holding you back. Saving a little at a time over a long period of time can really add up.

Doddsism #113

Don't spend so much time worrying about "what if" that you miss out on "what is"

"What if" is a game we have all played. It seems the more we dislike our current situation the more we play it. What if I had went to a different school or studied a different major. What if I started playing sports at a younger age or stayed with that person I broke up with. Sometimes we can get so caught up with what we could have done that we don't see the opportunities in front of us. If we could only see the decisions that we made in the past the way we see them now things would be different. The "what if" game doesn't only apply to the past but also the future. What if I win the lottery or get discovered and become a huge celebrity. Dreams are great but if you never take the actions necessary to reach them, a dream may be all they ever are.

Doddsism #112

Be careful that the things you take for granted now don't become the things that you miss later.

You know that feeling when you first get something that is really nice. That excitement that you feel when you open it or use it for the first time. Shortly after, that feeling begins to go away. It doesn't all go away instantly but bit by bit each day until finally we don't think about it at all. Even if we still use this item we become so accustom to having it around that we don't give it much thought. We tend to think that things will always be there. Truth is most things we use on a daily basis don't get much thought unless it is malfunctioning. Sometimes the same thing happens with the people we love. We take for grated the things they do for us until for some reason they are not doing them anymore. Even worse sometimes the things we hate the most become the same things we wish we could have back in the future.

Doddsism #111

There can only be one captain at a time, too many people trying to steer at once will inevitably lead to an accident!

Life is like a long drive. You start out on a path, you may have a few twist and turn along the way but you are driving towards a destination. Along the way you run into obstacles that may divert you from your original goal, some may even change your path altogether. The thing to remember as you are traveling through the highway of life is to not let someone else steer your ship. I am not saying that you should not listen to other people or take input. What I am saying is don't let someone take the wheel out of your hands or worst pull you away from a goal that you have set for yourself. At the end of the day when every one has gone home and your all alone, you are going to have to live with the decision you have made. 

Doddsism #110

Just because you have the title does not mean you are the title.

In honor of fathers day I would like to dedicate this posting to my father. Just because you have a child does not mean you are a parent. Just because a man has a child does not mean that he is a father. My father is a real father. He is not a father simply because he had me, but because of the things he has done and still does. There are qualities that come along with filling a title. You can have the requirements to be something, but not have the actual qualities it takes to really be that title. See being a parent is more than just having a child. You have to provide for that child, protect them, teach them and be an example for them. That is the short list, the complete list of what it takes to be a parent innumerable. Some men have the requirements to be fathers, but have not done the things it takes to be a real father.

Doddsism #109

If your don't like your story so far, change the chapter! 

Life is like a book and with everyday we add new pages to our stories. Sometimes in life we get stuck in a rut or complacent.  We become unhappy with the story line. It could be hard times, sadness or just plain boredom. When you become unhappy with your life sometimes a small change can be the start of a whole new chapter. There are time when we need to start over fresh. Other times may need to add something to help enhance the story line or maybe there is something we need to remove from our lives to help rewrite the story.

Doddsism #108

If you never fully commit to your dream, you may never achieve it. Don't let your dream remain a dream!

Ever had a dream that seemed just out of reach? Something that you felt like you could almost accomplish but it was just out of your grasp? Sometimes we have dreams that are achievable but only with the right amount of commitment. We start to go after the thing we want just to let friends or family tell us how impossible it would be to achieve or worst we talk ourselves out of trying. Some of the most successful people in the world are the biggest dreamers. When you dream on a grand level sometimes its hard for others to see your vision. Sometimes we can dream so big that we talk ourselves out of our dream and if you are not fully committed to  your goal you can easily be dissuaded from it. 

Doddsism #107

Every checker has a chance to be kinged and every pawn has a chance to become a queen! Its not how you start the game, its how you finish!

Unfortunately when we are born we do not get to pick the circumstance that we are born into. We don't get a shopping list and decide whether we want to be rich, or tall, or beautiful. We are placed on this earth with no say on where we are born or even asked if we want to be born. But fear not, one of the best things about life is your beginning does not have to be your ending. In chess even a pawn has a shot at being something more. A pawn is considered the weakest piece on the board, but like any other piece it is capable of taking the other pieces down. If in your life you feel the lowest of the low, remember that you can change your situation and just like a pawn you have an opportunity to be more than what you started as.

Doddsism #106

Even late bloomers bloom, there is no time limit on success!

I have heard that saying used a lot "late bloomer." I really never believed in that term because I don't believe you can be late to bloom. A better saying would be "everyone blooms at different times." Just because you have not made it yet doesn't mean that your not going to make it. And just because someone else made it before you, does not make the success your going to have any smaller. Some people are born and instantly know exactly what they want in life. Truth is that most people are not like that. I think about my first year of collage, I thought for sure I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I like most other found myself changing my major. Even when I finished with the degree I wanted I still ended up going back to school and choosing a different route. Sometimes the more you think you have it figured out, the more you realize that you really don't. Its the times when you don' think you have it figured out that you find you really do.

Doddsism #105

If you throw enough darts eventually you will hit a bullseye! Don't give up, keep throwing!

In sales they teach you that every "no" you hear brings you closer to someone saying "yes". In that sense, sales is a lot like life. Sometimes it feels like we keep trying and trying just to miss the  goal that we have set for ourselves. It may not seem like it in the midst of it but every failure you have brings you closer to your success.

Doddsism #104

I would rather take a shot at my dream and fail than to never try and wonder "what if"  for the rest of my life!

I'm sure you have heard that one before. It is so true. So many times we let fear talk us out of doing something that we want to do. We can be so rational that we predict failure before we even make an attempt. How many times has there been something that you wanted to do, try, make, say, etc... that before you even attempted it you said to yourself  "Its not going to work so I'm not even going to try." In sports I have heard analyst sit and talk about what teams didn't have a shot at beating another team.