"Identifying what makes us tick is important, because it lays the groundwork for who we are, where we are going, how we are going to get there, and when. We are on a path that will take us to places we have never been before, and things we have not achieved before. We are on a path that will send us and drive us to wherever we want to go."
-- Gino Wickman
"Without self-knowledge there can be no authentic success, no authentic happiness, and no authentic living. If you do not know who you are, how can you know what success really is? Without self-knowledge you may end up chasing other people’s definitions of success, but not your own. The failure to be true to oneself, to be faithful to core values, and to listen to innate wisdom leaves even the most accomplished person feeling unsuccessful and as if something is missing."
-- Robert Holden
"When it comes to imagining what your future at work could look like, take the lead from Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla. Ask yourself one simple question: ‘How can I make things better?’ Musk is a serial entrepreneur and innovator but he doesn’t believe in translating new ideas into reality just to be different. In fact, he questions whether this is innovation at all. Rather, Musk implores his team to make a difference, to create a service or product that is better and delivers more value to people, organizations or the planet. When you work on envisioning your future, start with what you can do to make things better."
-- Gemma Leigh Roberts
"Your desire determines your destiny. Anyone who lives beyond an ordinary life has great desire. It's true in any field: weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire creates little heat. The stronger your fire, the greater the desire and the greater the potential."
-- John C. Maxwell
"Another great way to increase joy is to journal or read about joy. The research on the impact of gratitude journaling on our happiness is overwhelming. I worked with a basketball player who used to read an encouraging letter from his grandfather before every game. Writing and reading about joy can often overwhelm the stress of a big event. It’s very hard to be grateful and stressed at the same time. When we tap into gratitude, we tap into joy, which allows us to tap into our play mind for performance."
-- Brian Levenson
"That’s basically what we all do—all of us who spend our days making and doing interesting things for no particularly rational reason. As a creator, you can design any sort of jewelry that you like for the inside of other people’s minds (or simply for the inside of your own mind). You can make work that’s provocative, aggressive, sacred, edgy, traditional, earnest, devastating, entertaining, brutal, fanciful . . . but when all is said and done, it’s still just intracranial jewelry-making. It’s still just decoration. And that’s glorious. But it’s seriously not something that anybody needs to hurt themselves over, okay? So relax a bit, is what I’m saying. Please try to relax. Otherwise, what’s the point of having all these wonderful senses in the first place?"
-- Elizabeth Gilbert
"Think why or what. Goals can be thought of in relatively abstract, why-am-I-doing-this terms or in more concrete, what-am-I-actually-doing terms. For example, dealing with the mess in your closets can be thought of as “getting organized” (why) or “throwing out clothes I never wear” (what). Think about your goals in why terms when you want to get energized, stay motivated, or avoid temptations. Think about your goals in what terms when you are dealing with something particularly difficult, unfamiliar, or anything that takes a long time to learn."
-- Heidi Grant Halvorson
"Success doesn't mean avoiding failure. All of us fail. As we travel, we all hit potholes, take wrong turns, or forget to check the radiator. The only person who avoids failure altogether is the person who never leaves her driveway. So the real issue is not whether you're going to fail. It's whether you're going to fail successfully (profiting from your failure). As Nelson Boswell observed, the difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views mistakes. If you want to continue on the success journey, you need to learn to fail forward"
-- John C. Maxwell
"The truth is, however, that when it comes to feeling successful no amount of money is enough because money is not enough. Hence, the key to feeling successful is not only more stuff, more money, more credit, or more shops, but also more wisdom. Before you ask yourself “How much more can I get?” you first have to ask “What do I really want?” This one simple question—“What do I really want?”—is the key to feeling truly successful. No amount of materialism can provide the answer to this question; only you can do that. You must learn to be wise"
-- Robert Holden
"By the Law of Correspondence, which says, 'As within, so without,' your outer life will begin to correspond to and mirror or reflect your inner life. As your inner life changes, your outer life changes to reflect this new thinking. Shakespeare wrote, 'There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.'"
-- Brian Tracy
