Maya Angelou

"You can't use up creativity.  The more you use, the more you have."

Maya Angelou

American Poet/Writer

1928 - 

Creativity is a gift that we all possess.  If you have ever watched a small child play, you know this is true.  Children before they attend school have such powerful imaginations, yet through the many years of schooling much of this imagination is lost as the children are forced to conform to the world of adulthood.  Only the strongest hold onto their imagination and continue to think in ways that upset the mainstream.  The more we use our imagination the stronger it grows.  If we don't use our imagination, it withers and disappears.  Are you encouraging your imagination and that of the people around you?

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Maya Angelou

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

— Maya Angelou

American Author

1928 - 

How do you define success?  Many people define success as wealth and fame, but these are illusionary and short-lived.  Just think of the stories you have read of rich people who are now homeless.  

(2011)

I think Maya Angelou is on the right track when she says that success is about liking and loving yourself and what you do.  As creative artists we may never have fame or fortune, but if we like what we do, we are truly blessed.  Do you love what you do?  Do you enjoy painting, writing, acting or singing?  And most creative leaders will answer that they do love what they do.  The more difficult questions is:  do you like yourself?  

Happiness is accepting who you are, no matter what the warts, scars and pimples.  Some people live a lifetime and never learn to like themselves.  We are all humans and we have all made mistakes.  Maya Angelou describes many of the challenges and mistakes of her life in her six autobiographies, including her rape at age eight as well as working as a teenage prostitute. Today Angelou at 83 is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, actress and filmmaker.  Dr. Angelou has received over 30 honorary degrees.  In 2011 President Barack Obama presented Maya Angelou with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Have you learned to like yourself?  To accept who you are and from where you have come?  True success is about loving oneself.  

Here is Maya Angelou reading her poem, And Still I Rise.

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Maya Angelou

"If you don't like something, change it.  If you can't change it, change your attitude.  Don't complain."

— Maya Angelou

American Poet/Writer

1928 -

One of the easiest things to do is to criticize, to complain, to find fault.  It is a trap that many creative people fall into.  The world doesn't always recognized our creative genius so we put others down.  Complaining becomes our defense mechanism, the way to protect ourselves from the onslaught of the world around us.  What we need to learn is that complaining is not productive.  It does not help us create great works of art.  If we don't like something about the world, we need to either change it or change ourselves.  And what I have found over the years is that it is much easier to change yourself than it is to change those around you and it requires a lot less energy and time.

So ask yourself: "What did I complain about yesterday?" Then ask yourself if you can change it and if not, then change your attitude."  I teach people that they have little or no control on what happens to them.  The only thing they have 100 percent control of is their attitude.  If you don't like where you live, then change your attitude.  If you don't like your boss, then change your attitude.  We need to develop an attitude of gratitude.  We need to appreciate what we have, not complain about what we don't have.

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