Be careful how you say things

"Words and hearts should be handled with care for words when spoken and hearts when broken are the hardest things to repair."

The way you communicate with others is very important because that's the beginning of relationships building.

If you do not know how to speak, you should remain silent.

Email is also another form of communication. Don't let the speed and ease of sending email blind you to the fact that you will be judged on what you say and how you say it.

"Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another." - Napoleon Hill

Take a look at this story:

It was Alice's second anniversary, and her husband sent her flowers at the office. When he placed the order he told the florist to write "Happy Anniversary, Year Number 2" on the card.

Alice was delighted when the florist arrived, but her joy was heavily clouded by the note on the card. It read "Happy Anniversary. You're Number 2."

"Sharp dagger only wounds the flesh, but a sharp tongue can wound the spirit."

Good communication skills can be learned. They are at the heart of interpersonal skills and the greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective your communication will be.

We should always think before we speak or write because choices of words can make a lot of difference.

Photo 1 by Birta Rán taken from this source
Photo 2 by MoonSoleil taken from this source

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Remember to KISS?

"All the fun is in how you say a thing." - Robert Frost

KISS is an acronym of the phrase "Keep It Simple, Stupid". Another version of the phrase is "Keep It Short & Simple" which you might hear quite often before you deliver your speech or presentation to a group of people who have a very tight schedule.

Sidney Smith wrote: "The writer helps us the most who give us the most knowledge, and takes from us the least time."

If you understand this principle well, you will always try to keep your writing short and simple by going straight to the point.

I love short and simple quotes because they are easy to remember and give remarkable impact. Below are some of those short quotes that I love:

"Men learn while they teach.
"Conceit is the quicksand of success."
"Today is the future I created yesterday."
"I look within to find my treasures."
"Good, to forgive; Best, to forget."
"Our attitude determines our altitude."
"You never know what you can do till you try."
"You never miss the water till the well runs dry."
"We are often our own worst enemy."
"Mistakes are the best teachers."
"Delegate but don't forget."

The above short quotes can be good topics for blogging!

In commercial world, very few thin books make big money even though their content can be superb because many could finish reading those books without the need of buying. However, in blog I tend to believe that we don't need long posts because many people don't really have time to read as there are so many blogs nowadays. Besides, since we blog daily, breaking a long post into multiple posts should be more effective.

What is your view about this? By the way, if you have short quotes you love, please share in your comments. Thank you.

Photo 1 by sierraromeo taken from this source
Photo 2 by ario_j taken from this source

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Know all the steps required

"There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps." - Peter A. Cohen

"Success starts with a dream, a thought; but that's only the first step. Writing it down is the second step. Doing one specific thing to bring it about is the third step."

"First step toward your success is for you to cause the turning point in life i.e. stop seeking idle pleasure and begin truly seeking success and happiness."

"Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently." - William Arthur Ward

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." - Confucius

"Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step." - Samuel Smiles

Photo by itspaulkelly taken from this source

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Learn to communicate your thoughts

To win friends instantly, admire everything and everybody, and express it freely.

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” - Mother Teresa

Most of us impress too much, express too little. Reading, listening, watching TV is impressing - absorbing - taking in. Talking, writing, doing is expressing - giving out. For faster growth, expressing should equal impressing.

“Having knowledge but lacking the power to express it clearly is no better than never having any ideas at all” - Pericles

“Words and hearts should be handled with care for words when spoken and hearts when broken are the hardest things to repair.”

“There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all.”

Photo by nuanc taken from this source

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Write It Down

Just once in your life sit down to think and decide what one thing you want most out of life - what you want to be, or do, or have.

Then W.I.D. (write it down). Writing down a mere wish works like magic for converting that wish into a goal. And W.I.D. works like DYNAMITE for converting a goal into an actuality - a reality.

One minute spent writing it down will do more to bring it about than ten years of dreaming, wishing, and talking about it.

Whatever you want - large or small, material, mental, or spiritual - write it down as a goal then do something every day to help you reach it. That's the nearest thing to that so called SECRET OF SUCCESS YOU'LL ever discover.

Writing down that statement about our goal will change our whole life. Before we write it down, it was just "some thoughts in our head". Writing it down on paper changed it to something real, on fire, alive. Writing it down on paper was like planting a seed in the ground. It grew.

Photo by Tojosan taken from this source

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Read and Think

"Ink is the transcript of thought."

"A drop of ink may make a million think." - Lord Byron

"If you've learned to read, you can learn to succeed."

"We learn to read so that we can read to learn."

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” - Margaret Fuller

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” - Joseph Addison

"Reading without thinking is like eating without digesting."

"Force yourself to reflect on what you read, paragraph by paragraph." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Photo by Karl O'Brien taken from this source

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