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A few days ago my left shift key broke.

I have about 15 years of typing on a keyboard under my belt and it wouldn’t seem like it, but it’s it’s hard as all get-out to keep typing at regular speed and actually stay as productive as I need to be without the left shift key (sorry, right shift key – you’re just not as effective).

It sounds like a small thing, but I spend at least 5-6 hours a day on a computer typing constantly. Whether it’s writing for the blog, talking with vendors or working with new clients or just responding to emails, I write a lot and all of my writing was all lower case without any punctuation – not the greatest first impression for new clients or for a writing audience (who knew the shift key could be so debilitating). Fortunately, I didn’t let that stop me.

It’s not always a shift key, but a lot of times, little obstacles come up that try to to stop you from what you need to be doing. They’re not insurmountable, but they’re annoying and difficult enough to maneuver that you’ll want to quit. Here’s how you can get past them:

Accept there are things you can’t control

Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are – Teddy Roosevelt

This has become one of my favorite quotes because it literally strips away every excuse you have for not doing something.

You don’t have to do the craziest thing in the world. You don’t need to be the most spectacular. You don’t need to be the most famous. You just need to do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

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I’d like to take this sidenote to mention how much of a badass Teddy Roosevelt was. A brief list of some of his accomplishments include:

• 2x President of the United States
• Was a Cowboy For The First Part of His Life
• Lead the Rough Riders in a War in Cuba
• Won a Noble Peace Prize
• Went on African Safaris
• Created the Panama Canal
• Took an Expedition to South America for fun

Oh yea, one time, he was shot before he was to give a speech, diagnosed himself as “fine”, gave a 90 minute speech and only afterwards did he decide to go to the hospital.

It’s safe to say we could all stand to learn a few things from this guy – most importantly that there are some things in life you simply can not control including:

• The stock market
• Hurricanes,
• Tsunamis
• Getting shot in the middle of your speech
• Your shift key breaking 300 miles and a international plane flight from the nearest apple store.

You can’t always control everything around you – but you can choose how you react to the things that happen.

You can cry and complain about how unfair things are and why other people have it easier, or you can pick yourself up, and get to work.

You can choose do what you can with what you have where you are.

OR

You can complain about what you can’t do with all the things you don’t have while you’re in the wrong place.

You can choose to be a victim or you can be a conqueror. Whether or not you lean into your excuses is the difference.

Stop Letting Excuses Steal Your Life

Every time you tell yourself an excuse and believe it, you’re letting your life shrink. Instead of your definition of what’s really impossible growing – it shrinks. Instead of pushing your limits, you’re actively pulling them inward towards yourself.

You disqualify to more and more activities and start to tell yourself the limits of your reality, when it could be so much more. You end up with less adventure, less experiences, and a less-fulfilled life

A list of the basic excuses most people come up with:

I just can’t do it

False, you have no idea if you can until you try, you just need to start.

David Goggins wanted to run an Ultramarathon despite never running anything before. Now he’s one of the best in the world.

I don’t have enough to do everything perfectly

False, you don’t have to do everything perfectly, you just need to start. 

Facebook grew out of Mark Zuckerberg starting a hot or not site in his dorm room. They’re about to IPO for 100 billion dollars – billion with a b. That turned out pretty well.

I can’t do that yet, I need to be in New York, California, Thailand [insert location here] for it to work. 

False, no you don’t, wherever you are, you just need to start.

Dwolla is a payment processor upending the entire online payment industry from freaking Iowa. Who says you need to be in Silicon Valley/Boulder/New York to make stuff happen.

Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are – Teddy Roosevelt

When you buy into your own excuses, you live a smaller life and shortchange yourself out a whole host of experiences you never let yourself have – your excuses literally end up stealing your life and you end up doing way less than you’re capable of.

Stop it! Why? Because you’ll die soon – seriously.

If you haven’t read the top 5 regrets of the dying – you should go read it now. Compiled by a hospice nurse, this goes over the top 5 things that her dying patients regretted from their lives.  

The #1 regret consistently was:

I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself

Other people’s expectations can tempt you to do something you don’t really want to do – so much so that they sometimes become your own. You begin to own excuses which are nothing more than things people have told you you can’t do, when there’s no good reason why you can’t just go ahead and do it and live a life that’s true to yourself.

Don’t let excuses steal your life

Keep going and Don’t let anything stop you.

You can have excuses, but nobody wants to hear them (spoiler alert!). If your excuses make you feel better – that’s great, but nobody wants to hear you blabber on and on about why you can’t do something when you have the ability/skills/money/freedom/know-how to go do it.

Ever read a book about excuses? (okay, I’ve got one here) but that’s the only one with any good excuses in it.

Every other excuse you can come up with – no one cares about. You might think they do, but you’re the only one.

You’re not in 5th grade and your dog didn’t’ eat your homework. Stop it with the excuses

Make a decision. Do it. Own it.

And don’t give up.

Back To The Shift Key

So what happened with my stupid broken shift key. It could have derailed a few things, delayed some blog posts, lost me some clients and messed a lot o things up. Well, I kept working and it turned out to be just a blip on the radar.

1. I sent an email out to subscribers in all lower-case without fancy punctuation like exclamation points. BOOM. If they can’t read one tongue-in-cheek email in all lowercase, we’re gonna have bigger problems.
2. I held client communications for my agency mostly through the phone
3. I imported this blog post in word – changed everything to sentence case, then brought it into wordpress and touched it up.

Meanwhile

1. I signed one client
2. I sent out proposals to two more.
3. Got impossible tanks finalized (shhh)
4. Sent out 3 guest posts (including this beginners triathlon guide at expert enough)
5. Signed a contract with a new partner in Bali.
6. Beta-launched a very cool new aspect of things coming up soon (email subscribers find out bout this stuff via lowercase emails).

You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can choose to do something with what you’re given. Whether that’s a broken shift key or the next impossible thing you’re gong to do. It’s your choice. It’s always your choice.

TLDR (too long, didn’t read):

There’s always an excuse waiting for you…if you want it.

There’s always a way to suck it up and get things done…if you want it.

Which are you going to choose? 

Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are – Teddy Roosevelt

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We haven’t done of these in a while, but Jeff Sarris from Spyr Media is checking in with his Impossible shirt in front of the impossible store in Barcelona, Spain. Yup, that’s right we’re going international. Boom.

Got an impossible shirt? Get one and go do something (keyword: do something) impossible, snap a photo and send it in. We’ll feature you in the impossible gallery cause we love you like that. Boom boom.

p.s. Ladies, looking to rock some impossible tank tops? We’ve got something coming up for you in the next couple weeks – promise! Get excited!

photo credit: spyder239

When I first came upon this inspirational quote, “Do what you can with what you have where you are,” I stopped and pondered how ridiculous it sounded. I even scrolled past it.

I really thought there might have been an error in the wording. But then I came back to it. Again and again. Pondering the simple words and potentially complex meaning.

Before long, I became curious about who made this statement and from what context. I also wondered when the quote was said and what was going on in the world at the time. So after some research, I determined this is a profound quote that needs to be shared more — “do what you can with what you have where you are.”

So here I am writing about it because it speaks volumes about personal growth, wellness, mindset, happiness, and self love — all the topics I write about on Sassy Sister Stuff. It should be my new motto for living my best life! And it should be at the top of my inspirational quotes list!

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Where did this quote come from? What exactly does it mean? And who originally said these words?

It seems there is some confusion about the origin of this quote. Often it is falsely attributed to Theodore Roosevelt.

However, it seems appears Roosevelt quoted Squire Bill Widener of Virginia when he used this quote in chapter IX of Theodore Roosevelt:  An Autobiography (first published in 1913).  Roosevelt attributes the quote to Squire Bill Widener in the book. But over the years, it has been mistakenly published as Teddy Roosevelt’s words.

These words were originally said in the mid- to late-1800’s or early 1900’s. Once I learned more about Squire Bill Widener, I was fairly certain his words were as profound as I thought.

Squire Bill was a prominent community figure, Confederate solder, Sunday School Superintendent, Justice of the Peace, spiritual advisor, and teacher. With credentials like that, I was fairly certain he was a very smart man.

It turns out, Squire Bill was a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt and this is how Roosevelt knew these brilliant words of wisdom!

Now that we have that mystery solved, I am going to break down this quote and help you see how important it is to your life!

What Does Do What You Can With What You Have Where You Are Mean?

Theodore Roosevelt said that the quote summed up one’s duty in life. I think of it as a motivational quote that inspires me to remember that perspective is everything and we have choices in life. We can choose the way we respond to things and we can choose our point of view.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the meaning…

Why is this Quote Important to Your Life?

This simple inspirational quote encompasses so many different aspects of living your best life and becoming the person you are meant to be — personal growth, wellness, happiness, positivity, mindset, choices — and so much more.

Use these tips to help you navigate through life in a manner that brings you peace, happiness, and fulfillment. Maybe even post Squire Bill Widener’s inspirational and motivational quote some place where you can see it often and SMILE:)

1. Accept There Are Things You Cannot Control

These are just some things that you cannot control — but you can control how you choose to react to things that happen around you.

You can get angry or stressed about life and waste your energy on complaining, or you can pick yourself up and get on with life when something happens that isn’t part of your plan.

Hint: Life is going to GO ON, so you might as well GO ON with it, too! You may just have to be flexible and shift your mindset a bit!

You can choose to be a victim of circumstances or you can choose to be a conqueror of mindset. Which are you going to be?

2. Stop Making Excuses

Sometimes it’s simply impossible to “get” what you need or want at the moment. Don’t let that become an excuse for inaction. Sometimes you have to make do with what you have — plain and simple.

Use what you have available to you now to keep pushing forward to the next phase of your life rather than STOP. Don’t let something that seems impossible at the moment become an excuse for why you’re not making your dream happen down the road.

You’re just not making your dream happen AT THIS MOMENT… just keep moving forward… keep trying… with what you have in front of you right now.

This quote strips away every excuse imaginable for not doing something. You are one step further away from your goals every time you find an excuse for not moving forward.

3. Don’t Let Anything Stop You

Develop and maintain your personal goals, aspirations, and achievements and don’t let anything stop you from trying to attain them.

You can find an excuse around every corner for not attaining your goals — but if you keep a positive mindset and BELIEVE that you can meet your goals, you’ll be on the right path toward becoming the person you are meant to be.

If you let something STOP you, where will you be headed? Think about Disney’s Dory… “Just keep swimming!”

4. Life is All About Moving Forward

When you hit a roadblock, you can ask yourself, “Why does this always happen to me?” or “What’s wrong with me?” These self-limiting questions are not productive. They are not going to give you any positive results that will help achieve your goals.

You have to remember, everyone faces obstacles. It’s not just you. There is no time to feel sorry for yourself. Instead, ask yourself questions that will help you move forward in life. For example:

• How can I use this situation/challenge/opportunity to my advantage?
• What lessons can I learn from this circumstance?
• What can I do differently to help me succeed?

5. Small Steps Help You Success

Sometimes you get caught up in the obstacles and find yourself stuck. It’s difficult to move forward. But it’s important to do what you can do, and take those small steps toward your goals.

Once you stop, it’s going to be harder to start moving forward again. But every little baby step helps move you along your journey of life and helps you become the person you are meant to be. You can choose to STOP, but it’s not going to get your anywhere, right?

So remember that even the SMALL STEPS will propel you FORWARD in your journey! When you’re tired, weak, or frustrated — keep thinking about even the smallest steps you can take. You might be moving at a snail’s pace, but at least you will be moving:)

6. You Do Not Have to be Perfect

Everyone faces challenges of wanting to “wait until I’m ready” or “wait until the time is right” or “wait until whatever.” We all run into those times of frustrations, fears, and doubts. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need everything to be perfect before you start something. Or you need everything perfect to be able to move forward. Life doesn’t work like that.

Just START. Move FORWARD.

With every single step you take, you are becoming more perfect and learning more about the person you are meant to become. So don’t waste time waiting for everything to be perfect — remember progress over perfection every time!

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7. Live a Life True to Yourself

Don’t pretend you are someone you are not. Don’t live for others. Don’t wait to become someone else. Live a life that is true to the person you are RIGHT NOW. Live a life that speaks to your heart and soul. Do what makes you happy and fulfilled now — with what you have, where you are.

You are going to change over time. Your “do what you can” and “what you have” and “where you are” is going to change along your journey — so live each moment of your life in the present. Don’t wait for something that may or may not come your way.

Grab what you have in life and make the most of it — while being true to yourself! Every. Single. Day.

8. The Grass Isn’t Always Greener on the Other Side — Be Grateful

In today’s society, it’s easy to make comparisons and begin to think the grass might be greener on the other side. Be careful with this way of thinking.

Instead, you need to appreciate and focus on what you can do, what you have, and where you are in life. This way, you can make it the strongest and best life possible rather than wasting time and energy on comparisons.

Build upon what you do have rather than what you do not have. Develop a mindset of gratitude and positivity. Comparisons do not help anyone move forward in their journey through life.

9. Forgive and Forget the Past

This one is rather simple — forget about anything or anyone who has derailed you on your journey in the past because all that matters now is the present. Stay strong, stay confident, stay positive.

Keep a healthy mindset. Let go of regrets and anger. Everything from your past has played a part if your reality today. Either get over it, or be thankful. But move along on your journey. It’s a waste of time and energy to dwell on the past.

Final Thoughts: Do What You Can With What You Have Where You are

My educator brain tells me there should be commas in that sentence. Yep! “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” is the way it should be written. But the Internet and Google don’t always play nice with punctuation so I’m going to skip the commas and make it easier on all of us.

I also want to mention that several variations of this quote have developed through the years. Many of which are also incorrectly attributed to Theodore Roosevelt. You may see or hear:

 ~ “Do what you can where you are, with what you have.”

~ “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”

They are all derived from the original quote by Squire Bill Widener. But it’s really more important for us to remember the meaning behind the words, right?

I hope you use these 9 tips to reflect on your life choices, actions, and mindset about how you want to live your life. We all just want to be successful and happy.

Use these simple words to help you remember how to build a life of happiness and success.

Did something resonate with you in this article? Do you think the quote, “do what you can with what you have where you are” is powerful? Will you let this quote guide your decisions and mindset in the future? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below:)

Thanks for being here! I appreciate you!

Love to ALL! ~ Susan