“If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.”

George S. Patton, General U. S. Army

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

Mark Twain

"The ancestor of every action is thought."

Emerson

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought."

Buddha

"When you are not told what to do you begin to think what to do."

Roger Cohen, Op-Ed Columnist New York Times

"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking."

Voltaire

"Never be afraid to sit awhile and think."

Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

"You and I are not what we eat; we are what we think."

Walter Anderson, The Confidence Course

"Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

Winnie the Pooh

"Time to think matters ─ at least if we’re interested in getting the answers right."

Stephen L. Carter

"Thinking is always out of order, interrupts all ordinary activities and is interrupted by them."

Hannah Arendt, Life of the Mind

"Too often we…enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

John F. Kennedy

"The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds."

Will Durant

"Thinking is like living and dying. Each of us must do it for himself."

Josiah Royce

"Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar territory."

G. Behn

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking."

Albert Einstein

"Pursuing our thoughts in silent contemplation takes an investment in time that few can spare."

Stephen L. Carter

"A moment’s thinking is an hour in words."

Thomas Hood

"Sometimes I think and other times I am."

Paul, Variete: Cantiques spirituels 192

"To think is to differ."

Darrow

"To think is to live."

Cicero

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."

William Jones

"What we think, we become."

Buddha

"Our job is not to make up anybody’s mind, but to open minds and to make the agony of the decision-making so intense you can escape only by thinking."

Anonymous

"The person who thinks before he speaks is silent most of the time."

Anonymous

"Think ─ and you will be very lonely."

Anonymous

"Thought is action in rehearsal."

Anonymous

"We live in a world that leaves very little time to contemplate."

Anonymous

"Don’t worry too much about what people think because they seldom do."

Anonymous

"Invest a few moments in thinking. It will pay good interest."

Anonymous

"One cannot think crooked and walk straight."

Anonymous

"Think Differently + Do Things Differently = Better Results"

Anonymous

March 29, 2019

Getting From Here To There

Tags: Business, General,

My sister Helen, a serial multi-tasker with no equal, shared a simple visual with me many years ago to describe how she manages to address and finesse the multitude of personal and business tasks that are littered in her path every day: Always keep the ball rolling forward.

There’s something about forward momentum that keeps the competitive juices flowing, companies in business, goals on task. And what better symbol for a relentless, challenging pursuit than a spherical object with a mind of its own (just ask a golfer).

I’ll admit that when I started my business, 38 April Fools Days ago, the experience felt more like total submersion in an Ikea Ball Pit.

(What was I thinking?)

It took an incredible support system and Herculean tenacity to fight the doubts, stabilize the vision, and simplify the challenge: Just get the ball from here to there already.

With that visual top-of-mind, “there” is where I gratefully reside today: (still) running a successful business that has dragged me to the precipice and back many times, and taught me the wisdom of the phrase, “change or die.”

But how does one actually get from here to there, arriving at that place, realizing that dream, attaining that goal? My suggestions:

1) Buy a ball (commit to something).

2) Remember that balance is key. The goal can’t be all-consuming or you’ll crash and burn.

3) Measure twice, cut once. Don’t lose yardage ignoring your gut or taking short cuts that will inevitably result in “call backs.”

4) Best not to go it alone. Roll with people who make work fun, judgements few, contributions many, success inevitable.

5) Stumble forward: Failure can actually help you gain ground faster.

I’m very proud that our company toughed it out (The Great Recession) and managed to defy the odds. The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that nearly one-fifth of business startups fail in the first five years and almost half of all employer establishments go under within five years.  Only about one-third survive 10 years or more.

I'm thinking of changing our tagline to Perseverantia Vincit (perseverance conquers).

Anita Alvare (bio)/Alvare Associates/610-520-6140

April Fools Day   Small Business Administration

Since establishing Alvaré in 1981, Anita has guided the agency through 38 years of steady growth and success. A marketing communications entrepreneur who has done it all, she remains deeply involved in strategic planning and creative direction, bringing extensive knowledge and insight to each client project.

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Comments (5)

04.01.2019
Anne

Happy Anniversary Anita! Well deserved. Love the “new” tagline! So grateful to have participated on the journey. xo

04.01.2019
Kevin Barr

Five balls with five people moving/rebalancing themselves.
Five great suggestions!
I have been blessed to know you for five years.

Keep that wisdom and perseverance flowing Anita!

04.01.2019
Joyce Williams

Congratulations, Anita!!

04.01.2019
Doug

Great story and advice for any person thinking about starting a business!

04.03.2019
S. Joan Rychalsky

Anita, This is another magnificent article guiding us in a good, positive and encouraging direction.  Your insights are affirming, insightful, attainable and wise.  Thank you.  Joan