Robert C Slayton - Grief to Joy and Inspiration

Quote from Marcus Allen: Here are the four Ps. Preparation prevents poor performance. At the time, he was part of the Kansas City Chiefs. Question: What’s something in your life right now that deserves better preparation? For me, it’s my signature talk. I just need to work on it every day (feel free to harass me about this). Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts...

Quote from Samuel Johnson: Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. Question: What would you start today if you stopped needing perfect conditions? Personally, I stopped worrying about perfect conditions decades ago. I just kind of do things, like starting my first business, to speaking professionally in the 90s, to writing books, to dancing. I’m amazed at...

Quote from Erma Bombeck: You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. Question: Reflect on how...

Quote from Gene Brown: Today's opportunities erase yesterday's failures. Question: What’s one bold move you could make today that would make your past failures irrelevant? I think I’m taking these bold moves. Stepping into professional speaking. Working with men to help them chart the next course of their lives. Being an energetic coach. These enhance my professional insurance practice. Robert’s S...

Quote from Christopher Morley: There is only one success, to be able to spend your life in your own way. Question: Are you living life on your own terms, or someone else’s definition of success? For me, I’m creating my life. Ever since 2023, I’ve slowly moved the needle for my life to be something that resonates with me. Doing the things I love, focusing on the work that give me joy. How about you...

Quote from Diogenes: I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough. Question: When did simplicity show you a better way to live? For myself, my goal is to continue to minimize my possessions. When the time comes for me to move (someday in the future), my goal is to pack my car and a trailer and that’s it. Everything else is sold, left behind, or thrown away. Robert’s...

Bulgarian Proverb: From the promise to the deed is a day's journey. Question: What’s stopping you from turning today’s good intention into real momentum? Thanks for reading Robert’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe

Quote from André Gide: Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you. Question: Is there anything in your life you’re afraid to let go of? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers o...

Quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: Certain rights can never be granted to the government but must be kept in the hands of the people. Question: What’s a right you believe should always stay with the people — no matter what? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to...

Quote from Albert Einstein: If we knew what it was that we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? Question: Have you ever started something totally unsure — and discovered something amazing along the way? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like...

Quote from Sir John Lubbock: I can but think that the world would be better and brighter if our teachers would dwell on the duty of happiness as well as the happiness of duty. For we ought to be as bright and genial as we can if only because to be cheerful ourselves is the most effectual contribution to the happiness of others. Question: What’s one way you’ve brightened someone’s day just by being...

Written 6/25/2025. If you follow my posts, you may remember me talking about a book I’ve been slowly reading. Like, since August of 2023. Almost 2 years and less than halfway through. It’s entitled “The Book of Secrets” by Osho. A little 1302-page tome of wisdom. What I was reading today concerned sansara and moksha. Sansara is the world, moksha is the transcendent everything. Our mind always divi...

Quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes: The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of an eye. The more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract. Question: Have you ever tried to open someone’s mind—only to watch it close tighter? What did you learn from the experience? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subs...

Quote by Alan McClashen: Delight is the secret, and the secret is to grow quiet and listen, to stop thinking, stop moving, almost stop breathing, to create an inner stillness in which, like mice in a deserted house, capacities and awareness too wayward and too fugitive for everyday use may delicately emerge. Question of the day: When was the last time you were still enough to hear what your soul w...

Quote from Ilka Chase: The only people who never fail are those who never try. Question for you: What’s something you’re proud you tried—even if it didn’t go as planned? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acce...

Quote from Josh Billings: Consider the postage stamp. Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there. Question for you: What’s one goal you’ve stuck with—no matter how long it’s taken? Thanks for reading Robert’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to b...

Quote from Priscilla Wayne: As bread is the staff of life, so appreciation is the food of the soul. Question for you: What’s the most meaningful 'thank you' you've ever received — or given? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other sub...

Quote from Helen Keller: We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. Question for you: When did life’s challenges teach you something joy never could? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subs...

Quote from Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Question: What’s a time when a small group made a big difference in your life — or in the world? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe

Quote from Boris Pasternak: What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth. Life always spills over the rim of the cup. Question: When did life surprise you by spilling beyond what you thought was possible? Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public epis...

Quote from Linda Neukrug: Today, let me do, not stew. Question: What are you done stewing over — and finally ready to do ? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe

Quote from Mahatma Gandhi: To believe that what has not occurred in history will not occur at all is to argue disbelief in the dignity of man. Question: What’s a change the world has never seen — but you still believe humanity is capable of? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe

Quote from Aristotle: For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them. Question: What lesson did life teach you that no book or class ever could? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe

Quote from Lewis Carroll: When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less. Question: Have you ever had a word mean something totally different to you than it did to someone else? What happened? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton...

Quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. Question: What’s more romantic than locking eyes? Locking hearts on the same horizon. What dream are you chasing together? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.co...