Posts by Robert Ringer
Nothing Happens Until Something Moves
I have long believed that the difference between success and failure — in any area of life — is not nearly as great as most people might suspect. And as the years have passed, I have become increasingly convinced that action is perhaps the single biggest factor when it comes to determining how an individual’s…
Read MoreDealing with Your Handicaps
A healthy perspective has allowed me to view so-called physical handicaps in a different light since my daughter was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at a relatively young age. Like most parents confronted with the illness of a child, I went through the usual stages of denial, anger, and despair. However, as the years passed, I…
Read MoreIdentifying Opportunity in Adversity
People often misread an event or circumstance as an adversity or setback. The problem is that we tend to judge events on the basis of their immediate impact, but, as life repeatedly teaches us, the long-term consequences of an action can be quite different from what we initially observe. The bad is superficial and obvious;…
Read MoreTurning Losses Into Gains
Sometimes it’s difficult to muster up the positive mental attitude to see opportunity in a bad situation. Things get so out of hand that it’s easy to become discouraged to the point of feeling despair. Those are the times when your mettle and sinew are really put to the test – sometimes very long tests.…
Read MoreTurning Defeat into Victory
As you can imagine, I receive a lot of e-mails from people who share their woes with me – particularly during these bad economic times. And while I can’t answer all of them, I do try to read each and every one. I not only do it because I feel a moral obligation, but for…
Read MoreZip the Lip
As I watch the daily news, I am constantly reminded that an oversized ego can be the biggest obstacle to long-term success. Of course, everyone has an ego, so it’s pointless to delude yourself into believing you’re an exception. It’s far better to acknowledge the existence of your ego and try to keep it under…
Read MoreWhen I Went to Vegas with James Bond
Are you old enough to remember Las Vegas? I’m not talking about today’s Las Vegas – tract homes thrown up like mud huts with tile roofs … traffic jams that rival those in New York, Chicago, and L.A. … and giant gaming corporations that are in total control of anything and everything that goes on…
Read MoreHow to Win a “David vs. Goliath” Battle
Once upon a time, there was a ferocious dinosaur known as Publishaurus rex who roamed the Earth, devouring everything in its path. Bookstores and authors were especially attractive prey for this carnivorous monster. While scientists believe that most dinosaurs disappeared as a result of some catastrophic natural disaster about 250 million years ago, the Publishaurus…
Read MoreThe Truth About Your Mistakes
Talk about lucky. I shudder to think that but for the luck of the draw, I could have been born Garfield the Cat instead of a human being. I can’t tell you how happy I am that I have a human brain. Even more important, I have free will, and the only limitations on that…
Read MoreHere’s to You, Mrs. Robinson
Regardless of your age, you’ve probably seen what is arguably the best and most successful cult film of all time, The Graduate. Today, with oversexed, deranged female teachers playing out the role of Mrs. Robinson with increasing frequency, it can’t help but bring back memories of the film that launched Dustin Hoffman’s career back in…
Read MoreMake Money on Vacation by Selling Photos
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The same holds true for pictures. Any image can represent many different ideas to different viewers. A successful stock photographer has to learn that the hard way. Often when we’re composing a shot, we have a specific idea in our head – we see one…
Read MoreA Vote for Execution
A quote that ranks right up there with the best of Voltaire and Montaigne is the late Coach John McKay’s famous response when a reporter asked him, after another Tampa Bay Buccaneer loss, what he thought of his team’s execution. Said McKay, with a straight face, “I think it’s a good idea.” Of course, when…
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