The Measure of Success

"Men don’t fail; they give up trying.” Often it is not the wrong start but the wrong stop that makes the difference between success and failure. To quit while we’re ahead would be silly; to quit when we’re behind is even sillier. It requires will to hold on a little longer. It requires wit to know that the measure of success is not the luck, the breaks of the game, but the conquest of failure. 'The trouble with most of us,' it has been said, 'is that we stop trying in trying times.' There is wisdom even in puns."

-- Elihu Root

The Life Principle

"The Life Principle as it flows through you takes the shape of the mental mold which you prepare for It. Let us take the analogy of water, which will take the shape of any vessel into which it is poured, yet it ever remains the same H2O, regardless of the shape and size of the container. Your thoughts, imagery, and mental patterns mold, fashion, and shape your life."

-- Joseph Murphy

You Are As Good As Anybody Else

"Self-confidence comes from proving your belief in yourself by your little achievements and your small successes as you go along. Self-esteem gives you permission to believe that you have something inside of you that should be developed. That in itself creates motivation for you to seek, to learn, to read, to role model, to discover, because you believe that you’re worth more than your present circumstances. It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from. You’re as good as anybody else—no better, but as good."

-- Denis Waitley

People With Aiming Points

"We think about our goal as we have our morning coffee and breakfast, while we’re in the shower, and it comes to us again and again during the day. We are on course. We are moving toward the fulfillment of our current goal. And it is often the last thing we think about as we drop off to sleep. It is our aiming point. And people with aiming points tend to reach them."

-- Earl Nightingale

Success Must Be Enjoyed

"Success must be enjoyed. It may be won with tears but it must be crowned with laughter. Otherwise the effort may be worthwhile—it may be good or even great—but for the individual without the inner laughter, which is known by another name as satisfaction, there can hardly be success."

-- Og Mandino

People With Goals

"People with goals on which they have set their hearts and minds are always moving toward those goals. Even while we sleep, our deep minds are working on the project. That’s why we often awaken, early in the morning, with the solution to a problem that had repeatedly resisted our conscious attempts to solve it the day before."

-- Earl Nightingale

Obstacles To Being Present

"Eliminate temptations that are obstacles to being present. All kinds of screens—from TV screens to smartphones to tablets—populate our lives everywhere. Even when you go to restaurants to eat, often there are TVs blaring, and you cannot avoid looking up to see what’s going on. People eat or drink as they watch screens around them. Screens have invaded homes, too. I have visited families who installed them in their dining rooms so they can watch TV as they eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner. With smartphones and tablets, people can double- or triple-task simultaneously: eating, speaking on the phone, and watching TV. No wonder people often can’t remember what they ate or exactly what they said or were told."

-- Ichak K. Adize

Take Charge of Your Own Mind

"Man must take charge of his own mind and not permit others to govern it for him. Creed, dogma, tradition, superstition, fear, and ignorance rule the mind of the average man. The average man does not own his own mind. It does not belong to him. It is often ruled over and governed by the rank superstitions of others."

-- Joseph Murphy

Find Your Power Place

"Part of knowing your purpose is knowing what your life work is. What is it that gives your life a sense of meaning and purpose? Once you find that, it puts you in your power place."

-- Les Brown

Goals Give You The Drive and Energy

"Without a goal we are much like the man with a boat and nowhere to go. Goals give us the drive and energy we need to remain on the track long enough for their accomplishment. Like the captain of the ship about to leave port, we should be able to tell anyone our next port of call—and perhaps the one after that too."

-- Earl Nightingale