Motivation

"What Reagan seems to have discovered is that when you give subordinates full responsibility for the results they produce, they demonstrate far greater motivation and creativity than when they are merely carrying out instructions." - Dinesh D'Souza

Whenever I'm choosing how to spend my time and whether to commit to something (and hopefully most of the time when I'm supervising at work), empowerment is a "must-have" part of the game. With observations like the one above, who wouldn't?

It's Why He Tried To Surround Himself With Chicago Cubs

"You surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere." - Ronald Reagan

Satisfied Living

"I've almost never seen him complain," Nancy Reagan writes. "If something is bothering him Ronnie, he'll rarely mention it. And he never tells anyone, not even me, when he's not feeling well."

Complaints are a spinning wheel that sucks the energy right out of the human race. Such a paradox: How much simpler act could there be? Just don't talk. Idle the vocal cords. As a last resort, seal the lips so that the complaint is stifled into indecipherable Muppet-mumbling. Yet how hard is it to release frustration in any other way?

I think that's where it helps to turn to another source. The spiritual person can converse with god(s) to vent or find strength. Any person can paint a vivid mental picture of a brighter future and pursue it with a passion that blots out the ills.

Half Empty, or Barely Full?

"[Reagan] operated on the assumption that nature can be cruel and that human beings are flawed; as a result, he didn't expect perfection and was always pleasantly surprised when events turned out for the better." - Dinesh D'Souza

Good Government

"If no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?" - Ronald Reagan

That seems like a political slant on the old adage "remove the plank from your own eye before pointing out the splinter in someone else's." Abraham Lincoln was quick to say "there, but for the grace of God go I." It's as noble a cause as I can think of to master ourselves and to master forgiveness.

Life Should Be A Song

I wonder what it's all about, and why
We suffer so, when little things go wrong?
We make our life a struggle
When life should be a song.

- Ronald Reagan, age 17, in his high school yearbook

The Contents of the Half Full Glass

"My optimism," Ronald Reagan observed, "comes not just from my strong faith in God but from my strong and enduring faith in man."

This was in 1991, years after he had been shot.

Credit Guard

"There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit." - Anonymous

Future Man

"While others were obsessed and bewildered by the problems of the present, Reagan was focused on the future. This orientation gave Reagan an otherworldly quality that is often characteristic of great men." - Dinesh D'Souza

I love dreamers, those visionary people who see a better world and take steps to get there bit by bit.

Close Non-Relationships

"[Reagan] was gregarious and liked people, yet he allowed virtually no one to get close to him." - Dinesh D'Souza

I suppose that could be characterized as a weakness or a strength. Close relationships come with cost, so those who see that as too much and are comfortable with the absence of deepest intimacy may choose to live in that type of friendly isolation.