Most weeks, I use this space to pass along observations, insights and the occasional suggestion or advice. My hope is that these thoughts will help deliver the best possible long-term care services.
But try as I might, a cold hard fact keeps staring me in the face: There are people out there who deliver far better advice in far fewer words. So in the space that follows, I’d like to share some undeniably sound advice for the year ahead, courtesy of others.
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“The world rewards you for value provided, not time spent.” – James Clear
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“You are in business to satisfy customers, and if you can’t do that you’re going to fail. – John Mackey
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“If our customers are happier than our competitors’ customers, we are going to continue to thrive and grow.” – Neil Blumenthal
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“Follow your heart but take your brain with you.” – Alfred Adler
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“It is better to own a small piece of something big than a big piece of something small.” – Marcus Lemonis
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“The world does not dictate what you should do, but it does require that you be a master in whatever you undertake.” – Orison Swett Marden
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“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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“It is not who is right, but what is right, that is important.” – Thomas Huxley
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“After enlightenment, the laundry.” – Zen proverb
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“The biggest problems present the biggest opportunities.” – Ankun Jain
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“The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order.” – Alfred North Whitehead
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“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” – Carl Sagan
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“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo
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“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” – Coco Chanel
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“Chains of habit are too light to be felt, until they are too heavy to be broken.” – Warren Buffett
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“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” – Amelia Earhart
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“Character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.” – J.C. Watts
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“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey
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“The time to worry is before you place the bet, not after they spin the wheel.” – Bill Parcells
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“Amateurs hope, professionals work.” – Bill Russell
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“Man plans and God laughs.” – Yiddish proverb
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“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” – Cicero
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“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
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“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama
These thoughts have certainly helped me. I hope they might do the same for you in the year to come — and beyond.
Happy holidays!
John O’Connor is editorial director for McKnight’s.
Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.
