The power to make and keep commitments to ourselves is the essence of developing the basic habits of effectiveness.

We found ourselves enjoying him instead of comparing or judging him.

leadership is communicating others’ worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.

Because we are, by nature, proactive, if our lives are a function of conditioning and conditions, it is because we have, by conscious decision or by default, chosen to empower those things to control us.

Anytime we think the problem is “out there,” that thought is the problem.

The reason: our problems and pain are universal and increasing, and the solutions to the problems are and always will be based upon universal, timeless, self-evident principles common to every enduring, prospering society throughout history.

We also conscientiously worked on our motives and cultivated internal sources of security so that our own feelings of worth were not dependent on our children’s “acceptable” behavior.

Society’s competitive approach to resolving the conflict and differences tends to center on “winning as much as you can.”

If you have the right map of Chicago, then diligence becomes important, and when you encounter frustrating obstacles along the way, then attitude can make a real difference. But the first and most important requirement is the accuracy of the map.