"The quality of your life is not about the size of your bank account, the length of your résumé, or the power you wield over others. It is a measure of your wholeness as a human and how you show up in service to others. It is expressed through the strength and balance of your physical, mental, emotional, intuitional, and spiritual domains"
-- Mark Divine
"Psychologists find that achieving a sense of progress doesn’t require huge gains. Fuel can come from small wins. When you make headway, even if you’ve turned off the main road, it reminds you that forward movement is possible. Instead of feeling daunted by the long road ahead, you’re ready to make the next turn"
-- Adam Grant
"The first step to winning in your mind is to learn to concentrate so you can focus on “thinking about your thinking.” This is a skill called metacognition. Developing this skill will not only give you control over the quality of your thoughts, but enable you to move beyond them at will."
-- Mark Divine
"Ultimately, we are the authors of our life's narrative, weaving a tale that reflects our growth, resilience, and capacity for transformation. Just as a book evolves with each reading, our life stories continue to unfold with every retelling, revealing new layers of meaning and depth that highlight the richness of our human experience."
-- Brent M. Jones
"You have to do whatever it takes and not give up. Whatever you do, it might not be what you want to do, but it doesn't have to be – it should, however, be a stepping-stone to get you where you want to go."
-- Shaa Wasmund
"Torch the complacency you feel gathering around you, your coworkers, and teammates in that rare air. Continue to put obstacles in front of yourself, because that’s where you’ll find the friction that will help you grow even stronger. Before you know it, you will stand alone."
-- David Goggins
"To make your goal compelling, answer the question; 'How will I know that I have achieved this goal - what will I see, hear and feel that will let me know I have achieved it?' Then imagine stepping into your body at the time you will have achieved the goal. Now write down your answers to the question in the present tense - as if it's happening now."
-- Stephanie Philp
"All things being healthy, the brain is equipped for longevity if the body and mind are kept strong. It is part of the negative social training system that says that as people hit fifty or sixty they will start slowing down and the decline picks up steam from there. And when mental decline occurs with no diagnosis of a brain degenerative disorder, it’s chalked up to “the normal aging process”—which I believe is not normal at all."
-- Mark Divine
"If we decide to pay attention on that which depresses us or makes us feel uncomfortable, the “storms of our life”, we will be overcome with stress and lose our sense of personal well-being. However, if we force our attention and decide to focus on what for us is of most importance, we will keep a clear and focussed mind when all those around us are feeling lost."
-- Mario Alonso Puig
"Extraordinary minds are motivated by a quest or calling—a drive to create some positive change in the world. This drive propels them forward in life and helps them to gain meaning and make a meaningful contribution."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"In the journey of life, change is inevitable. Whether you're feeling lost, facing obstacles, or seeking to evolve into a better version of yourself, it's essential to recognize that change is the catalyst for personal growth."
-- Brent M. Jones
"The story of your life is made up of the experiences you've had and the people you've known up to this moment. At every moment you have the ability to either continue the story in the direction it has been or to steer it in an entirely new direction, including this moment right now."
-- Joel Fotinos
"All over the world amazing human beings like that exist. It doesn’t take wearing a uniform. It’s not about all the hard schools they graduated from, all their patches and medals. It’s about wanting it like there’s no tomorrow—because there might not be. It’s about thinking of everybody else before yourself and developing your own code of ethics that sets you apart from others. One of those ethics is the drive to turn every negative into a positive, and then when the storm comes, being prepared to lead from the front."
-- David Goggins
"The idea of the comfort zone is deceptive – it seems warm and pleasing. But really you're the frog in the proverbial boiling pot. It's the very thing that's holding you back, and it's not doing you any good. The discomfort zone is a state of mind you'll need to get used to if you want to make a significant change in your life."
-- Shaa Wasmund
"The same principle applies to our lives. We harvest in direction proportion to what and how much we sow. If we desire love, kindness, compassion, and joy in our lives, we must sow many seeds of love, kindness, compassion, and joy. Additionally, when we sow these seeds, it cannot be a one-time thing. We must sow those seeds everywhere we go."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Determine what is holding you back. What is the major reason you are not doing the things you truly want to do? Find others who are achieving success in these areas and determine what they are doing that you are not and what skills they have that you do not."
-- Andrew Clancy
"Human beings have a natural instinct to learn and grow. One way of learning and growing is by setting goals that stretch and challenge you. It's often in the process of accomplishing the goal - or even in failing - that you learn and grow the most. You're most happy in circumstances that stretch your mind - and sometimes your body. And striving towards something positive contributes to a feeling of achievement and vitality. Achieving goals helps you build self-confidence and self-esteem."
-- Stephanie Philp
"The whole point of the twenty-four-hour mission is to keep up a championship pace, not for a season or a year, but for your entire life! That requires quality rest and recovery time. Because there is no finish line. There is always more to learn, and you will always have weaknesses to strengthen if you want to become as hard as woodpecker lips. Hard enough to hammer countless miles, and finish strong!"
-- David Goggins
"The Law of Magnetism says that we can only attract the same kind of energy that we put out about ourselves. It’s based on the quantum-physical principle that everything—including every person—projects this power. In fact, the Universe is filled with vibrations that scientists call “strings” of energy. It moves within us, from us, and all around us literally all the time. Whether we’re aware of it or not, each of us is a part of a vast exchange and expansion of this force that takes place in the Universe every moment of every day."
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
"Your time is there for you to use as you see fit. If you discover you need more of it, decide what changes you can make in your life. They might feel huge, daunting, even out of reach, but you only need to take the first step. It all starts in your mind."
-- Shaa Wasmund
"Your boss is not responsible for your happiness or success. Your parents or family members are not responsible for your happiness or success. Your friends are not responsible for your happiness or success. Only you are responsible for your own happiness and success. (And, by the way, you aren't responsible for the happiness and success of other adults. Stay in your own lane!) If there is someone who you feel is causing you distress or limiting you in any way, then make a positive action to change it."
-- Joel Fotinos
"I encourage you to find people who know more than you do regarding various facets of life. Or find people who were once in the same position you are in right now. Listen, learn, and appreciate these people. They will help you see what is not visible at this time."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Evaluate your life in its totality! We all waste so much time doing meaningless things. We burn hours on social media and watching television, which by the end of the year would add up to entire days and weeks if you tabulated time like you do your taxes. You should, because if you knew the truth you’d deactivate your Facebook account STAT, and cut your cable. When you find yourself having frivolous conversations or becoming ensnared in activities that don’t better you in any way, move on!"
-- David Goggins
"The body is the subconscious, and for this reason, when you look after your body, you are taking care of your mind; and when you take care of your mind, you also take care of your body."
-- Mario Alonso Puig
"If you've experienced hardships or negative experiences that you've triumphed over, you will have also increased your set of life skills. You will have learnt ways to look at things differently, and developed additional skills for tackling life's challenges, as well as achieving your goals."
-- Stephanie Philp
"There has never been an easier time to learn. You can do it all from the comfort of your own home if you choose. Education opportunities are everywhere: join a free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and take part in university modules; watch YouTube videos by experts; read books; listen to podcasts. In fact, you can do it all online. Whatever you want to learn, the world will teach you."
-- Shaa Wasmund
"You have incredible mental powers that you habitually fail to use to their full extent. By systematically setting goals for your life and making detailed plans to achieve them, you will save yourself years of hard work and use vastly more of your thinking powers than the average person."
-- Andrew Clancy
"If you’re one of the few who acknowledge that, want to callous those wounds, and strengthen your character, it’s up to you to go back through your past and make peace with yourself by facing those incidents and all of your negative influences, and accepting them as weak spots in your own character. Only when you identify and accept your weaknesses will you finally stop running from your past. Then those incidents can be used more efficiently as fuel to become better and grow stronger."
-- David Goggins
"Unleash hidden potential through character skills. The people who grow the most aren’t the smartest people in the room. They’re the ones who strive to make themselves and others smarter. When opportunity doesn’t knock, look for ways to build a door—or climb through a window."
-- Adam Grant
"One of the uncomfortable truths about life is this: we don't always get what we want; we get what we settle for. After all, if you didn't settle for something, you would get more, right? That's common sense, and yet it's not always something we want to hear. It's uncomfortable because it puts the responsibility of your life squarely on the shoulders of . . . you."
-- Joel Fotinos
"The key to a happy life is to be able to create happiness in any moment. But how do you do this? Focus on what you have right now. To create your happiness, it is as simple as focusing on what is good right now in your life instead of focusing on what is wrong. But don’t just think about what is right —dwell on it. This is not a checklist. Take the time to appreciate and savor what is going well in your life. Today, right now, think of one thing that is going right in your life and then meditate on that for a few minutes. Chances are when you are done, you will be smiling. Don’t pursue your happiness, create it!"
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"From the time you take your first breath, you become eligible to die. You also become eligible to find your greatness and become the One Warrior. But it is up to you to equip yourself for the battle ahead. Only you can master your mind, which is what it takes to live a bold life filled with accomplishments most people consider beyond their capability."
-- David Goggins
"We need to work on our self-belief and our self-worth first. Think of it like building psychological muscle. If your inner confidence is weak, you will feel fragile and bruise more easily. But if you've built that muscle, if you're stronger, you'll be able to take a punch. Build your inner strength and you'll see you're enough, even if you've messed up."
-- Shaa Wasmund
"There are some areas in life where I can set a plan based on a goal and walk in a straight line towards that goal. For example, I decide that I want to lose weight for a friend’s wedding in eight weeks. That is a straight-line goal. I set the goal, make a plan and then stick to it. I decide I want to have a psychology degree. I go to university, study hard and, at some point, pop out with the result. The pathway for both these goals is primarily in my control; there is a clear cause-and effect relationship."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"There is very little learning in achieving something easily. It probably indicates the goal you set wasn't challenging enough. But when you get off target, you're forced to either give up or to examine what you're doing. After the examination you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again, as the song goes. You make adjustments, adapt, and try again. You might search for more information to help you reach your goal and incorporate that, or enlist the help of other people as you continue your efforts. Depending on the goal, these processes may well be repeated, until finally you achieve your outcome or redefine the goal with the knowledge and practical skills you've gained along the way."
-- Stephanie Philp
"Commit to success by seeking mastery. Find the best way to carry out each step along the way to your one thing and accept accountability for doing everything possible to achieve it. Look for a mentor who can direct you along your path."
-- Gary Keller
"What you do from this moment on matters. Every thought and action matter. Everything you do either becomes a way to stay where you are or to move forward. Which do you want? More of the same? Or something more?"
-- Joel Fotinos
"I don’t know what mistakes you’ve made in the past, but I’d like to suggest that you, too, mostly did the best you could with what you had at the time. If you find yourself living with regret, try to catch it and see what’s moving. Did things mostly turn out all right? If so, be grateful! Is there anything funny about it? If so, laugh! Have you learned anything new since then? If so, enjoy what you now know and express it however you can! Do whatever you can do to let your regret go—forgive yourself and, if necessary, ask for forgiveness from others—so you can move on with your life."
-- Gladys McGarey
“Some people are born with very little; some are fortunate enough to have it all. When I grew up, we didn't have much. I had to hustle to get what I wanted … but I had that hunger for more. I didn't always make the right choices, but I learned from my mistakes.”
-- Curtis Jackson
"Your strong need may be to be the best teacher you can be, the owner of your own business, a skilled photographer, or the person who can hold their breath underwater for the longest time. Needless to say, the act of Actualization is in the act of doing … not talking about doing."
-- Shaa Wasmund
"While your conscious mind enables you to identify and analyze your environment, your subconscious mind contains the great powers that allow you to accomplish great things. It is essential that you learn to tap into these powers in order to achieve your goals."
-- Andrew Clancy
"When you are experiencing yourself as the cocreator of your life, you make choices about what you desire to create, and channel the infinite energy, power, and wisdom of your higher self into manifesting your choices through active visualization and affirmation. When the channel is flowing freely in both directions, you are being guided by your higher wisdom, and based on that guidance, you are making choices and creating your world in the highest, most beautiful way."
-- Shakti Gawain
"Don’t be afraid to try a new style. Instead of focusing on the way you like to learn, embrace the discomfort of matching the method to the task. Reading and writing are usually best for critical thinking. Listening is ideal for understanding emotions, and doing is better for remembering information."
-- Adam Grant
"Charge your goals with purpose, priority and productivity to achieve results. Your purpose is your foundation. Your big one thing is your priority for action. Your small one thing fuels your productivity."
-- Gary Keller
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
-- Barack Obama
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again …”
-- Theodore Roosevelt
"Commit to life-long learning: Successful people are life-long learners. They possess what researchers have labeled a growth mindset, they understand the focusing illusion, and they develop their emotional intelligence."
-- Michael Edmondson
"You don't have to feel powerless. Whatever your circumstances are, there are positive thoughts and positive actions that can change them for the better. You are responsible for your own life, and you can absolutely make your life better and more successful."
-- Joel Fotinos
"Most of us also know what it feels like to come up against something that isn’t going to serve us at all. Being open to life sometimes means turning away from things that aren’t good for us. We can say a kind but firm “No, thank you” and just keep going on with our lives."
-- Gladys McGarey
"As a resilient person, you believe that regardless of what life throws at you, you still have some measure of control over your life. You can still be responsible. When tragedy strikes, rather than just feeling sorry for yourself for the rest of your life or blaming circumstances, you'll look for even small ways to improve a bad situation. You'll focus on the positive changes you can make to improve your life or situation. You may, for example, watch the news and feel hopeful that things are getting better in the world and that you can make a difference, even if it's only in your little corner of society or your family."
-- Stephanie Philp
"Passion and skill often align with a person’s one thing. Singular focus leads to spending a large amount of time developing a skill that improves your results and adds to your enjoyment. Bill Gates developed his high school passion for computers into a singular skill for programming. He built that knowledge into success as co-founder of Microsoft."
-- Gary Keller
"When you make a firm commitment to achieve a particular goal, you step on the accelerator of your subconscious mind, enabling you to be more creative, determined, and focused than ever before."
-- Andrew Clancy
"What do you need to learn in order to have the experiences you listed above? What would you love to learn? What books and movies would stretch your mind and tastes? What kinds of art, music, or theater would you like to know more about? Are there languages you want to master? What skills do you need to develop to make your career thrive? Remember to focus on end goals—choosing learning opportunities where the joy is in the learning itself, and the learning is not merely a means to an end, such as a diploma."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"Many things are possible when you are allowed to fail once, and twice, and to try again, to break through the barriers of disadvantage. In fact, the great personality theorist Alfred Adler believed that healthy living involves trying to strengthen shortcomings that may be stopping you from carrying out the life you’ve imagined for yourself."
-- Michael Edmondson
"By focusing on controllable factors such as our efforts and actions, and by detaching ourselves from uncontrollable outcomes such as acceptance and rejection, we can achieve greater success in the long run."
-- Jia Jiang
"Several analyses of the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study have observed a link between a high sense of purpose and decreased mortality in adults over fifty. Purpose has been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and to prevent the worst effects of Alzheimer’s disease. There is also evidence linking volunteerism with decreased risk of death—not to mention a stronger sense of well-being. This suggests that living with purpose can actually help us live longer—and better."
-- Gladys McGarey
"Use it or never gain it at all. Put yourself in the ring before you feel ready. You don’t need to get comfortable before you can practice your skills—your comfort grows as you practice your skills. As polyglots show us, even experts have to start from day one."
-- Adam Grant
"To be the driver of your life, it is essential to set goals. Goals give us power by directing our focus toward relevant behaviors and away from unimportant actions, energizing and increasing persistence, and providing a standard against which we can continually compare our performance, increasing our desire to attain the standard."
-- Ryan Gottfredson
"For some people, having a regular massage helps them de-stress. For other people, it's going for a run or engaging in some other form of strenuous exercise. Taking a walk in the countryside, spending time with your family, getting an early night, and meditating can all help to keep you on an even keel emotionally. Find the activities that work most effectively in keeping you at your best, and then make sure you nurture yourself by doing them frequently."
-- Stephanie Philp
"You must fight the temptations that keep you from completion of the tasks that lead to achievement. You must force yourself and discipline yourself to resist these temptations and push through to completion. Do what you must: Set benchmarks and create balanced scorecards, measures, metrics, and deadlines for every key task. These things activate your subconscious forcing system, enabling you to start earlier, work harder, stay later, and get the job done."
-- Andrew Clancy
"Highly creative people who think differently have figured out that failure is a learning experience and, as such, is a necessary and expected part of future success."
-- Michael Edmondson
"Each of us is here for a reason, to learn and grow and to give our gifts. When we are able to do so, we’re filled with the creative life energy that I call the 'juice.' The juice is our reason for living. It’s our fullfillment, our joy. It’s what happens when life is activated by love. It’s the energy we get from the things that matter and mean something to us."
-- Gladys McGarey
“People have lots of dreams, wishes, and desires, but they never truly focus on their goals and whether they can realistically achieve them. When you have clear goals, you can weigh the pros and cons of every decision without getting tied up in what other people think. But you can only achieve your goals if you know what they are.”
-- James P. Owen
"The moral of this chapter is that if you want to be successful in your life, work, and leadership, you need to be the driver rather than the passenger. When you are the passenger, you do not have a clear destination in mind and you allow your external world to determine both your direction and destination. When you are the driver, you control your destiny. You have a clear destination in mind and are taking action to advance toward that destination."
-- Ryan Gottfredson
"One way to help keep you focused on what you want is to remind yourself from time to time what your life would be like if you don't make this big decision. What would happen? Would you go back to wishing and hoping for change? Would things stay the same? Would things actually get worse? Remember those words from my mother: if you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got."
-- -- Joel Fotinos
"Everyone has goals. The people who actually achieve their goals create routines. They build systems. They consistently take the steps that, in time, will ensure they reach their ultimate goal. They don’t wish. They don’t hope. They just do what their plan says, consistently and without fail. They forget the goal and focus solely on the process."
-- Jeff Haden
"The level of your success at this point in your life is the sum of your thoughts, beliefs, and actions up to now. And if you keep living your life with the same thoughts, beliefs, and actions, then you'll continue to achieve roughly the same amount of success. You won't get something different until you do something different. And you won't do different things until you become different."
-- Joel Fotinos
"If you do not change your attitude and your actions for the better, then your situation will not change for the bettter. I know that sounds obvious, but one thing I have found from my own experience, and from having taught these ideas to thousands of people over the years, is this: we often say we want change, but we don't commit to the change. Then nothing changes, and then we complain about it. It's important for you to embrace this simple truth—you will need to change your attitude, and you will need to change your actions."
-- Joel Fotinos
"True health is about living with the world around us as an engaged, participatory experience. It’s about cooperating with the living force within us: our will, our desire to be here and to share our gifts with the world. Our willingness to do so becomes our sense of purpose, and once we have that, our souls can be healthy in any state."
-- Gladys McGarey
"Go for a walk, a run or a bike ride (usually better before the shower!) Exercising, even just a 20 minute walk each day means that you're moving your body. Exercise helps defeat emotional, physical and mental stress. Better still, exercise floods your brain with positive chemicals and leaves you feeling great."
-- Stephanie Philp
"Life in the 21st century certainly challenges individuals to think differently about everything. We need to implement the process of thinking differently in our lives so that we become adaptable to the changes ahead."
-- Michael Edmondson
"No matter our roles, advancement and improvement require gaining new knowledge, learning new tasks, and developing more skills."
-- Ryan Gottfredson
"If you think age is your limitation, search for amazing people over fifty (or sixty or seventy or eighty, or whatever age), and you will find dozens and dozens of stories of people older than you who started a new chapter in their lives and had great success. Or if you think you're too young, search for amazing people under twenty-five (or twenty, or seventeen, or fifteen, or even twelve) to find stories of people who have achieved amazing things at a young age. Whatever your circumstance, the internet is a great place to find inspiration from others who have shared that same circumstance and overcame it."
-- Joel Fotinos
"There will always be obstacles that stand between you and anything you want to accomplish. The ability to solve problems is essential in any successful endeavor, and you possess that ability, if you desire the goal intensely enough; nothing can hold you back."
-- Andrew Clancy
"Strive for excellence, not perfection. Progress comes from maintaining high standards, not eliminating every flaw. Practice wabi sabi, the art of honoring beauty in imperfection, by identifying some shortcomings that you can accept. Consider where you truly need the best and where you can settle for good enough. Mark your growth with Eric Best’s questions: Did you make yourself better today? Did you make someone else better today?"
-- Adam Grant
"A more successful approach to changing our lives is to set small, doable, bite-sized, realistic targets and implement specific habits that will take us towards these targets. This will create a momentum that leads you towards your destination. Yes, it may look like it will take longer, BUT it will get you there."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"Each of us came here to do something. And as I see it, true health has nothing to do with diagnosing a disease or prolonging life just for the sake of it; it’s about finding out who we are, paying attention to how we’re called to grow and change, and listening to what makes our heart sing."
-- Gladys McGarey
"The clearer and stronger your intention, the more quickly and easily your creative visualization will work. In any given situation, ask yourself about the condition of your intention. If it is weak or uncertain, look more deeply to see what your doubts, fears, conflicts, or concerns may be. Sometimes your hesitations may be an indication of feelings and beliefs that need to be acknowledged and healed. In some cases, hesitation may be an indication that this is not a truly appropriate goal for you."
-- Shakti Gawain
"When we do not have a clear purpose, goal, or destination, we develop a prevention mindset and focus on not failing, avoiding problems and risk, seeking comfort, and playing it safe. But when our goals and purposes are clear and activated, we adopt a promotion mindset aimed at succeeding, anticipating problems, taking risks, seeking gains, and making progress, even if uncomfortable. As such, depending upon our mindset, we think about and approach our contexts very differently."
-- Ryan Gottfredson
"You cannot find the path until you step on to it. While walking on the path is critical to success, so too is reflecting upon life’s experiences."
-- Michael Edmondson
"You have some very precious capacities which enable you to analyse and reason. Nevertheless, don’t forget that you have other hidden talents which are just as important. Cultivate periods of silence and reflection and you will begin to see facets of reality that you were not aware of beforehand."
-- Mario Alonso Puig
"Making mistakes is a normal, natural and essential part of learning and living. Yet maybe you think that as you're older now, you should be able to do everything perfectly first time. There's no learning in that. Mistakes do not equal 'failure'."
-- Stephanie Philp
"Avoid the comfort zone. Many people become complacent with their current situations; they become so comfortable in their job or relationship that they avoid making any changes at all, even for the better. People who get stuck in a comfort zone, combined with learned helplessness, are almost impossible to help in any way."
-- Andrew Clancy
"There will be times when you want to take a breather. There will be times when it snows (literally or figuratively)! Those are the days that you need to double down and take those actions toward your goal. Those who end up getting out of bed and going to the gym despite their feelings and the snow will say that it was the best thing they did, and afterward they were glad they pushed through the inertia and stayed on course. Their goal of health and fitness is one step closer because of their persistence."
-- Joel Fotinos
"When we have an open mindset, we are primarily concerned about seeking truth and thinking optimally. This desire comes with the beliefs that we have incomplete information and can be wrong. It drives us to be open to and seek out the ideas and suggestions of others to improve our current position and come closer to the truth. With this mindset, we are able to put off our ego’s need to be seen as being right or having all the answers and avoid blind spots that limit the quality of our thinking and decision-making."
-- Ryan Gottfredson
"Extraordinary events are not going to be revealed but rather we are going to realize that if we do not change our limited way of thinking we will be unable to see things from a perspective which allows us to discover doors where before we only saw walls. We need to recover that sense of wonder and surprise we had as children so as to enter what Einstein called “the beauty of mystery”."
-- Mario Alonso Puig
"Compete against yourself. Measure your progress over time, not against an opponent. The risk of competing against others is that you can win without getting better. When you compete against yourself, the only way to win is to grow."
-- Adam Grant
"Marking your progress really helps. Writing a diary, drawing charts of your journey, drawing pictures … all these things help make the process real, remind you of what you have achieved, and keep you focused on the next step. The same applies whether it is working towards your fitness goals or your career goals."
-- Shaa Wasmund
"Successful people understand that lifelong learning demands that they remain open to learning throughout their life to continuously update their ability to be more fully human and engaging."
-- Michael Edmondson
"Forget the money, because if you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living—that is, to go on doing things you don’t like doing. Which is stupid. Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
-- George Bernard Shaw
"Doing things outside your normal routine will help you become more resilient. When you step out of your comfort zone, yes it might feel uncomfortable at first - stressful even - but it also stimulates your brain and creates new neural connections. If you did that thing again you would feel more comfortable the second time. If you repeated the action enough it would soon become part of your day-to-day life. It would be incorporated into your comfort zone. In this way your comfort zone expands."
-- Stephanie Philp
“Failure is a manifestation of learning and exploration. If you aren’t experiencing failure, then you are making a far worse mistake: You are being driven by the desire to avoid it. And, this strategy—trying to avoid failure by outthinking it—dooms you to fail."
-- Ryan Gottfredson
"We need to be like that winning horse. As we go through life trying to achieve goals we have set for ourselves, obstacles will appear. Forces are going to materialize that are in direct conflict with our goals. If we turn our focus to these outside forces and take our eyes off the goal, it will delay us from achieving our objective or perhaps even prevent it. Again, picture that winning horse."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Manage Your Time Well To achieve all your goals and become everything you are capable of becoming, you must get your time under control—this is key to your feelings of happiness, confidence, power, and personal well-being. A sense of control is only possible when you practice excellent time management skills."
-- Andrew Clancy
"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be."
-- Patanjali
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
-- Henry David Thoreau
"The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once observed, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances that they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”
-- Michael Edmondson
"Consciousness is always a choice. It’s the choice to bring your awareness to the present moment, the decision to see and prioritize that which is truly important, that which is genuinely honoring and value enhancing in your life. Your constant question must be: “What am I focusing my consciousness on now?”"
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
"Keep your mind open to change all the time. Welcome it. Court it. It is only by examining and reexamining your opinions and ideas that you can progress."
-- Dale Carnegie
"When it comes to success, who would you consider to be one of the most successful basketball players of all time? Surely, Michael Jordan is at the top or near the top of your list. He recited these lines in a Nike commercial: "I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
-- Ryan Gottfredson
"When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel."
-- Eloise Ristad
"That said, it's important to find ways to maintain a balanced state of mind and body, regardless of what changes are going on in your life. Activities like meditation, regular exercise, positive thinking and balanced, rhythmical deep breathing, have all been shown to reduce stress levels and help you be more resilient."
-- Stephanie Philp
"What we believe about ourselves, others, our future, and even our past will shape our growth and influence our results. If we want to grow, we must learn to break the glass of self-limiting beliefs."
-- Dondi Scumaci
"It is extremely important to value ourselves. Though most of us at some point in our lives feel like we do not have worth or desirability, it is important to fully understand that we are important. We are significant. People need us and that makes us useful. Our self-esteem rides largely on how we value ourselves. From our selfesteem comes our confidence. There is so much riding on how we value ourselves when it comes to mental health."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
“You know those overnight-success stories you’ve heard about? It’s not the whole story. Dig deeper and you’ll usually find people who have busted their asses for years to get into a position where things could take off.”
-- Michael Edmondson
"Be proactive about rest and recovery. Don’t wait until you’re burned out or bored out to take breaks—build them into your schedule. Taking time off helps to sustain harmonious passion, unlock fresh ideas, and deepen learning. Relaxing is not a waste of time; it’s an investment in well-being."
-- Adam Grant
"It can seem like everything is in a constant state of change. That's because it is. The rate of change is increasing and it's doubtful that the speed of change is going to slow. It's important to get used to it. So it would be useful to build your resilience so you can cope better with change, or even begin to enjoy it."
-- Stephanie Philp
"Visualize Your Goals Continually Your ability to visualize is perhaps the most powerful faculty that you possess. All improvement in your life begins with an improvement in your mental pictures. You are where you are and what you are today largely because of the mental pictures that you hold in your conscious mind. As you change your mental pictures on the inside, your world on the outside will begin to change to correspond to those pictures."
-- Andrew Clancy
"You should want what you want so much that you are willing to commit time every day to accomplish it. Yes, take time off to rest so you stay balanced. Just make sure that you develop the habit of taking actions toward your goal consistently."
-- Joel Fotinos
"Disregard how others define you, good or bad, as it is wrong and simply does not matter. The only thing that does matter is what we think of ourselves and how we can become a better person today than we were yesterday."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"A fit and healthy body can not only lift your resilience levels physically but also lift your mood, help you be more alert, and improve your self image psychologically, helping you to cope with typical modern day stress. Research shows that an active lifestyle that includes regular physical activity contributes significantly to higher levels of resilience in all aspects of life. It may also help you to be more mentally tough."
-- Princeton University
"If you feel good about yourself and your abilities it makes sense that you will have more resilience and better coping strategies. Self-confidence comes from your self - that's why it's called self-confidence. This is great because it puts you back in the driver's seat and gives you control over how you feel."
-- Stephanie Philp
"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success."
-- Dale Carnegie
"The inner speech, your thoughts, can cause you to be rich or poor, loved or unloved, happy or unhappy, attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak."
-- Ralph Charell
"A humble learner mindset is required to do things differently. Arrogance is the belief and behaviour of those who believe that a different life can be lived by doing the same things that they have always done."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"You must be willing to accept and have that which you are seeking. Sometimes we pursue goals without actually wanting to attain them. We are more comfortable with the process of pursuing. Ask yourself, “Am I really completely willing to have this?”"
-- Shakti Gawain
"Each time you move forward in the face of adversity and disappointment, you build up a habit of persistence. You become stronger, prouder, and more powerful; you deepen your levels of self-discipline and personal strength. You develop the iron quality of success, the one quality that will carry you forward and over any obstacle that life throws in your path."
-- Andrew Clancy
"It is critical that as we age, we continue to feed our minds to avoid the natural tendency to lose brain function. Our physical bodies need exercise. So does our brain. Many people of advancing age resort to solving puzzles. That is fantastic. My preference is learning something new and then remembering it long enough to take a test. Engage and commit yourself to lifelong learning. How cool is it to keep both our bodies and minds sharp at any age!"
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Teach what you want to learn. The best way to learn something is to teach it. You understand it better after you explain it—and you remember it better after you take the time to recall it. Like the Golden Thirteen, you can do this in groups, with each member teaching a distinct skill or slice of information."
-- Adam Grant
"Even in tough times, you can look back and see how far you’ve come, how much you’ve learned, and the support you’ve received along the way. Paying attention to the “reverse gap” is a perfect exercise in gratitude and is far more likely to give you a boost of happiness than striving for happiness in the future. That’s why gratitude is such a powerful system for Blissipline."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deep human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world."
-- Andrew Clancy
"It's natural to want the journey to riches to be easy and painless. Unfortunately, that's not realistic. However, if you expect that your journey will include highs and lows, then you won't be surprised and you can prepare yourself, which will minimize the chances that you will give up before you reach your goal."
-- Joel Fotinos
"It’s not a matter of what you wish you could achieve. The question to ask is what accomplishment is most important to you — so important that you’re willing to put it at the center of your life and make any sacrifice necessary to achieve it."
-- James P. Owen
"Redefine success. The most meaningful form of performance is progress. The ultimate mark of potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but the distance you’ve traveled—and helped others travel."
-- Adam Grant
"The point is, if you reach for your dreams, there will be people there to help pull you into the stars. Likewise, and I promise, if you choose to immerse yourself in the mud of this world, someone will help pull you in deeper as well. The choice to reach where you want is purely yours, but I exhort you to reach for the stars."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Our brains are hardwired to move towards success and reward, and away from threat and change. When we set those large, sometimes barely achievable goals we set ourselves up to fail from that moment. It is far more pragmatic and ultimately more successful to set small goals and, as we achieve them, set new small goals. Before we know it, that elephant has been eaten and our preferred future awaits us."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"What is auto-suggestion? Very simply put, auto-suggestion is repeating something over and over again to create a certain outcome. When you consciously feed suggestions to your subconscious mind, it gets to work on orienting your life toward what you are feeding it."
-- Joel Fotinos
"The more you believe in your chosen goal and the possibility of attaining it, the more certain you will be to do so. Ask yourself, “Do I believe that this goal can exist?” and “Do I believe that it is possible for me to realize or attain it?”"
-- Shakti Gawain
"Your happiness will accelerate your movement toward your goals, but it should not be tied to them. The best thing you can do to meet your goals is to find a life balance that allows you to be happy now. Integrate practices into your daily routines that allow you to feel content and focus on the journey, not the destination. That’s how you’ll break free of stress and anxiety and be in the best position to fulfill your vision."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"If you can look around you and see failure and difficulty, that’s a product of your mind. If you see abundance and achievement, that’s a force of your own, too. Everything that you’ll ever manifest is in the boiling pot of your conscious energy, creating the concoction that you’ll later call your life."
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
"Before you take action, everything is a theory. After you take action, you are in the process of moving toward something. There is nothing worse than unrealized potential. Wouldn't it be terrible to come to the end of your life and think, “I wish I had wasted less time procrastinating and taken more actions and chances . . .”? It doesn't have to be that way."
-- Joel Fotinos
"Successful transitions occur when we give up beliefs or behaviours that prevent us moving into our preferred future, even if they have served us well to this point. Successful transitions often require us to challenge assumptions about what we believe about ourselves, life, and what is possible for us."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"You must have a true desire to have or create that which you have chosen to visualize. Ask yourself, “Do I truly, in my heart, desire this goal to be realized?”"
-- Shakti Gawain
"Start to incorporate some systems for bringing intellectual richness into your life. It might be reading a few pages each night before bed, visiting a gallery or exploring one room of a museum each week, or attending one play per month. A great set point here is to read at least two books per month."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"There is a business idea that says that your success equals the average success of the five people you spend the most time with. If you hang out with people who talk a good game but mostly procrastinate, chances are you are the same. But if you surround yourself with people who are on the ball, who have confidence and love life, that vibe rubs off on you, and you will tend to have more confidence and success."
-- Joel Fotinos
“I don’t know anyone who is wildly successful who hasn’t worked really hard and faced a lot of adversity along the way,” Jerry says. “There’s a false sense that success can come to us easily, that we shouldn’t have to try so hard. I’m here to tell you that’s not true.”
-- James P. Owen
"Look for ways to create value from any experience. Ask yourself these questions: What can I learn from the experience? How can I use this experience to positive advantage? How can I learn to better myself as a result of this experience? Simply having the intent to create something positive automatically ensures that something positive will happen."
-- Susan Jeffers
“A bad habit enters like a guest, joins the family, and finally, takes control.”
-- The Talmud
"The journey to your preferred destination is best thought of in the same way. What are the steps you need to take? What is a short-term and specific goal you could set yourself to move towards your preferred journey? These are not the necessarily the same habits you will have in a few months’ time as you get closer to your goal; they are the habits you need right now that will get your journey underway."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"Let me be clear. In one sense, all goals can be achieved. However, if you're deep in debt and you pick “I want one billion dollars” as your goal, that is probably not going to happen. However, if you are deep in debt and choose “I want to be debt free” as your first goal, that is far more achievable, and once you achieve that, you can then create further goals. And then who knows? Maybe you can eventually level up to a billion dollars. But start with something that will work"
-- Joel Fotinos
"Often people attempt to live their lives backward: They try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. The purpose of creative visualization is: To connect us with our being. To help us focus and facilitate our doing. To deepen, expand, and align our having."
-- Shakti Gawain
"The people making you feel guilty for going your own way and choosing your own life are simply saying, “Look at me. I’m better than you because my chains are bigger.” It takes courage to break those chains and define your own life. So dare to live your precious days on Earth to their fullest, true to yourself, with open heart and thoughtful mind, and with the courage to change what doesn’t work and accept the consequences. You may find that you can fly farther than you ever imagined."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"Caught up in what might be regretful, annoying or frustrating about our lives, we often forget what has gone, or is going, right. You can wrap yourself in a warm feeling of comfort if you count what is good. It may seem trivial or small set against your complaints, but it can persuade you that, if those issues are a source of comfort, there will be others."
-- Suzie Hayman
"The point of having a goal is to have something that motivates you to achieve it. It's meant to be something that excites you, gets you out of bed in the morning, and keeps you wanting to move toward it. If you choose something that doesn't do those things, then you need to choose better. Napoleon Hill wrote, “Small fires create small heat.” This means that if your goal is too weak, then it won't be something you're excited to work toward."
-- Joel Fotinos
"As you row through life, you must know that it will be tiresome at times, and your human tendency will be to quit and rest. Your brain will do some amazing rationalization to justify quitting rowing. At this point I urge you to keep rowing, even if at a slower pace. If you quit and regress, you will now have to cover the same ground that you lost twice, and who wants to do that? Keep rowing, people, and know that the wind will soon be at your back again."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Life is always about choices and trade-offs. Successful transitions are about making these choices in alignment with our identity and where we would like to be headed."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"Bring your idea or mental picture to mind often, both in quiet meditation periods, and also casually throughout the day when you happen to think of it. In this way it becomes an integrated part of your life, and it becomes more of a reality for you. Focus on it clearly, yet in a light, relaxed way. It’s important not to feel like you are striving too hard for it or putting an excessive amount of energy into it — that tends to hinder rather than help."
-- Shakti Gawain
"Some people get hung up on setting a goal because they think that one goal is what they'll need to work on for the rest of their life. What is better, is to create a goal that inspires you, delights you, and is just beyond your reach. Then, when you achieve that goal, you can set your next goal, and the next, and so on. If you do have a huge goal, then you can break it down into smaller goals."
-- Joel Fotinos
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"Character Building: By seeking rejection in tough environments, one can build up the mental toughness to take on greater goals."
-- Jia Jiang
"It’s true that unforeseen events and changing circumstances can affect your game plan and, potentially, the outcome. Elements of luck will certainly play a role. You may find that you have to put your plans on hold temporarily, or regroup and come at your goal a different way. But none of that matters. The success or failure of your effort still rests entirely with you. No excuses!"
-- James P. Owen
"The level of your success at this point in your life is the sum of your thoughts, beliefs, and actions up to now. And if you keep living your life with the same thoughts, beliefs, and actions, then you'll continue to achieve roughly the same amount of success. You won't get something different until you do something different. And you won't do different things until you become different."
-- Joel Fotinos
"The first Law of Success, the law of Manifestation, demonstrates how things come into being. In quantum physics, consciousness creates reality—and this applies to your personal world as well."
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
"Habits are a bit like training a new puppy. They require lots of reinforcement and checking that you are on the right track. If left unattended, new habits can simply disappear (or you can develop unwanted ones!). The new habits require that you check in with them regularly to make sure you are putting them into play (just like you need to check in regularly with the new puppy to make sure it is doing what you are training it to do)."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"Thoughts and feelings have their own magnetic energy that attracts energy of a similar nature. We can see this principle at work, for instance, when we “accidentally” run into someone we’ve just been thinking of, or “happen” to pick up a book that contains exactly the perfect information we need at that moment."
-- Shakti Gawain
"I know that sounds obvious, but one thing I have found from my own experience, and from having taught these ideas to thousands of people over the years, is this: we often say we want change, but we don't commit to the change. Then nothing changes, and then we complain about it. It's important for you to embrace this simple truth—you will need to change your attitude, and you will need to change your actions."
-- Joel Fotinos
"The things that matter most in life are the things that matter least in the moment."
-- Mark Manson
What I believe Mark Manson is saying here is that we often get caught up in the little things that don't actually matter in the grand scheme of life. We spend so much time and energy worrying about things that won't really make a difference in the long run. Instead, what truly matters in life are the things that we tend to overlook or take for granted.
For example, we may get stressed out about work deadlines, but what really matters is spending time with loved ones and making memories that will last a lifetime. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day struggles, but it's important to take a step back and focus on what really matters in life.
So, the lesson here is to think about what matters most to you in life, and to make sure you're investing time and energy into those things, even if they're not the most urgent or important things in the moment. Because those are the things that will ultimately bring you the most happiness and fulfillment.
"In my life I’ve always made a conscious choice to work in fields where I love what I do so much that it ceases to feel like work. When you love what you do, life seems so much more beautiful—in fact, the very idea of “work” dissolves. Instead, it feels more like a challenge, a mission, or a game you play. I encourage everyone to try to move toward work that feels this way."
-- Vishen Lakhian
"You are not going to succeed in everything you attempt in life. That’s guaranteed. In fact, the more you do in life, the more chance there is not to succeed in some things. Look at how rich your life can be, however, from your many adventures. Win or lose, you just keep winning!"
-- Susan Jeffers
"Our beliefs are like unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what’s possible and impossible and what we can and cannot do. They shape every action, every thought, and every feeling that we experience. As a result, changing our belief systems is central to making any real and lasting change in our lives."
-- Tony Robbins
"Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."
-- James J. Lachard
""A good goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.” Scary and exciting are two beautiful feelings that good end goals often bring out. Scary is a good thing because it means you’re pushing your boundaries—that’s how you take steps toward the extraordinary.""
-- Joe Vitale
"When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact. That is—everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it…. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again."
-- Steve Jobs
"Contrary to popular belief, courage—the ability to do something that’s frightening, such as asking for what you need or want, or do the right thing amid rejection and disapproval—is not born but gained. It’s like a muscle. You need to keep exercising it to keep it strong. Otherwise, it might weaken or even atrophy. So I use rejection attempts to continue to exercise my courage muscle, stay mentally strong, and keep my confidence flowing."
-- Jia Jiang
"If you really want to accomplish something extraordinary, an ordinary effort won’t do. You’ve got to dig deep, give it your all, and then find a way to give a little more."
-- James P. Owen
"Get into the habit of asking questions where you don’t already know the answers. Questions asked with the intent of truly understanding, rather than to look for answers that confirm our position."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"It is natural to feel uncertain, unmotivated, or fearful when facing new challenges. But negative feelings shouldn’t stop you. The best way to gain confidence and improve your mood is to take action, even though you’re not feeling up to it. The next time you find yourself hesitating due to your negative mood, get going anyway. Go for a run even though you feel lethargic; invite a colleague to lunch even though you feel shy; volunteer for a project even though you doubt your abilities; or enroll in a challenging course even though you feel unprepared. Now it’s time for you to get out there and fail as quickly as you possibly can. And then fail again."
-- Ryan Babineaux
"Dreams are really important. They make us human. We dare to set nearly impossible goals. Yet all those imaginings are worthless without a process to help us achieve them. A dream, once born, quickly dies without a process to support it. Then a dream turns into a regret—and all of us already have too many of those. The key is to set a goal, use it as a target that helps you create a plan for achieving it . . .and then do your best to forget all about that goal. As I learned from James Clear, a leading thinker on the subject, the best use of a goal is to inform the process you will follow to achieve it."
-- Jeff Haden
"Knowing this, why are we so afraid to fail? The answer is because we personally identify with failure and see ourselves as failures. I challenge you today to intentionally fail at something and then take notice around you. The sun still rises, and it will still set. Be bold!"
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Start thinking about yourself as a lifetime student at a large university. Your curriculum is your total relationship with the world you live in, from the moment you’re born to the moment you die. Each experience is a valuable lesson to be learned. If you choose Path A, you will learn one set of lessons. If you choose Path B, you will learn a different set of lessons."
-- Susan Jeffers
"Knowing what we want out of life is important. It provides us with a focus. It enables us to start moving in a consistent direction, rather than being like a bird flitting here and there."
-- Stephen Macdonald
"The mechanics of your mind reveal fascinating possibilities—not merely in the capacity to work out complex problems and learn new information, but an ability that transcends logic and actually moves into the realm of physical creation. This is the power of your consciousness, and it’s the source of your destiny creation."
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
“When I work with groups, I always remind them that if you see yourself as second best, that’s how people are going to treat you. And then I ask them, ‘If you could be any kind of car, or any kind of animal, what kind would you be?’ For cars, they always pick the best. Nobody wants to be a car with four flat tires and busted headlights. When it comes to animals, they want to be a tiger, a cheetah, or a beautiful dove. I tell them, ‘You want to be the best, and that’s why I’m here.’”
-- James P. Owen
"Research suggests that grateful people have more energy and optimism, are less bothered by life’s hassles, are more resilient in the face of stress, have better health, and suffer less depression than the rest of us. People who practice gratitude—and yes, it is something one can learn and improve—are also more compassionate, more likely to help others, less materialistic, and more satisfied with life"
-- Dondi Scumaci
"You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path. Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times and to endure failure. Persist! The world needs all you can give."
-- James P. Owen
"Positive thinking changes everything in your life. Without your negative Chatterbox, you will wonder what you were always so afraid of before. You will have energy you never thought possible. You will laugh a lot and love a lot more. You will draw more and more positive people into your life. You will be healthier physically. You will be happy to be alive."
-- Susan Jeffers
"Successful people have a lean approach to planning. They find ways to take small steps in order to experiment, collect information, and adjust course, without the need for a huge investment or long-term commitment. With this in mind, rather than worry about your plans for the next month or year, focus on what you can do today. Take a small, immediate step related to your interests or aspirations. For example, you might talk to an expert, visit a company, sign up for a conference, buy a book, or begin building a prototype."
-- Ryan Babineaux
"You’re a vibrating force in the workings of this world, a creative consciousness that directs both your own destiny and that of all humankind. You are—at this moment—engaged in an exquisite act of personal and global creation. When you take control of the cosmic energy within, you align yourself with the Universal Laws, a source that will allow you to create a wellspring of happiness, success, and value beyond belief!"
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
"The reason life is so precious is that it is limited." It is finite. Life can’t be multiplied, it can’t be saved up, and it can’t be stored away to be used in the future."
-- Brian Page
"This is easier said than done because discipline usually involves discomfort if not outright pain. You will absolutely feel like you are being tried by fire. But you know what? Pure gold is tried by fire. It is put through intense fire and the impurities are driven out, leaving pure gold. This is what discipline will do for every facet of your life. My question to you is this: Are you ready to discipline yourself to make changes that will dramatically improve the quality of your life, or do you need to hit rock bottom first?"
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
“Every person is surrounded by a thought atmosphere. . . .Through this power we are either attracting or repelling. Like attracts like and . . . we attract just what we are in mind.”
-- Ernest Holmes
"It all depends on your mindset, Julia believes: “When I think about the past, I see that what might have been negative at the time turned out well in the end. Certain things had to happen for me to know what I know and be who I am today. If you look at life that way, you see that what you have learned every step of the way is going to help you for the rest of your life.”"
-- James P. Owen
"Real toughness is experiencing discomfort or distress,"leaning in, paying attention, and creating space to take thoughtful action. It’s navigating discomfort to make the best decision you can."
-- Steve Magness
This quote by Steve Magness is talking about what it means to be truly tough. He believes that true toughness isn't just about being physically strong or able to handle difficult situations, but it's about being able to experience discomfort or distress and still be able to take thoughtful action.
To put it simply, Steve is saying that real toughness involves being able to navigate uncomfortable situations and making the best decisions possible despite the discomfort. This means leaning into the discomfort, paying attention to what's going on around you, and creating space for yourself to take thoughtful action.
Let me give you an example. Imagine you're taking a really difficult exam, and you start to feel anxious and uncomfortable. A tough person in this situation wouldn't just give up or panic, but they would lean into the discomfort, pay attention to what's going on, and create space to make the best decision possible. They might take a deep breath, refocus their attention, and calmly work through the exam to the best of their ability.
Another example could be in a situation where you need to have a difficult conversation with someone. It's uncomfortable and distressing, but a tough person would lean into the discomfort, pay attention to what's being said, and create space for themselves to respond thoughtfully. They might take a moment to gather their thoughts, speak calmly and respectfully, and work towards a solution.
In summary, Steve Magness is saying that true toughness involves being able to navigate discomfort and distress in order to make the best decisions possible. It's not just about being physically strong, but about being mentally tough and resilient in difficult situations.
"A dream is shadowy and elusive as long as we think of it as “something I wish would happen.” It becomes achievable only when we define it clearly as “a goal I will strive for.”"
-- James P. Owen
"An important part of your self-exploration is keeping a Success Journal. The word journal originally meant a written record of the experiences on a journey. Your pursuit of success is a voyage in itself, and your written record will help you get from here to your ultimate destination. Your process will take you through many stops along the way, and your entries can act as a personal road map, keeping you on track and redirecting you toward your goals."
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
"Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don’t think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn’t stop you from doing anything at all."
-- Marshall Goldsmith
"But picture the mighty oak. First that acorn had to break apart and a seedling had to emerge. Then that seedling had to face and survive droughts, floods, storms, being chopped down, and more. Eventually, it grew and grew into the mighty oak. That is what we must be willing to endure, and if we do, in time, we too will be the mighty oak standing tall and standing strong."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"You are more likely to encounter unexpected opportunities and ideas when you are doing new things—trying activities, exploring unfamiliar places, meeting people, or being exposed to different ideas or cultures. So find a way today to step out of your usual haunts, habits, and thinking patterns to experience new possibilities. For example, you might drive a different route home from work, introduce yourself to a stranger, attend an offbeat play, or read an unfamiliar magazine."
-- Ryan Babineaux
“My father taught me a lesson that has saved me a lot of grief in life. He said, ‘Even though people may mock you — the way you speak, your hair, your accent, the color of your skin — those are wounds that you don’t have to own.’ He got me to focus on my own life and not on what others think about me.”
-- James P. Owen
""The previous patterns of your life may have left you unhappy, and you may be gazing into the future without much hope, but you can leave that gloomy outlook behind. Your journey to a new, happy future can begin right now!
-- Sandra Anne Taylor
"Having too many choices is also a problem. In a classic study, psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper set up a display table with twenty-four varieties of gourmet jam at an upscale food market. Those who sampled the spreads received a coupon for one dollar off any jam. On another day, shoppers saw a similar table, except that only six varieties of jam were on display. The large display attracted more interest than the small one . . . but when the time came to purchase, people who had seen the large display were one-tenth as likely to buy as people who had seen the small display.*"
-- Jeff Haden
"Goals can be overwhelming if we focus on the end point. It’s easier to make progress if we focus on small steps that move us in the right direction."
-- James P. Owen
"Ten minutes more in any facet of your life will yield huge results. In what area in your life would you like to see a huge, positive change, and are you willing to indulge an extra ten minutes per day toward that goal? Even if you are at zero time spent right now, imagine what an extra forty-two hours spent in that area will do for you this time next year. Don’t stop . . . just ten minutes more! You can do it!"
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
“Whenever I engage in something or I’m in the process of making a choice about something, I ask myself if my Fulfillment Needs are being met. I use this in my work life all the time, and I’ve found that I keep attracting interesting and fulfilling projects! It’s all very rewarding. I’m much happier and more fulfilled in my work life than I’ve ever been! I also keep my needs top of mind with relationships… very important to feeling a sense of connection that’s good and full of joy!”
-- Rhonda
"Many people have worthy, even exciting aspirations. Only a small percentage of people actually put these in writing and consistently read them. The moment you take these steps, you have separated yourself from the multitude that stops with a dream. You give your dream strong legs to run on."
-- Dondi Scumaci
"When you spend time each day engaged in work that matters to you, you improve your mood, build momentum, stir up your creativity, and become attuned to the opportunities around you. So don’t wait —get to work on something important today."
-- Ryan Babineaux
“I want our students to ask, ‘Are my choices moving me closer to where I want to be, or are they impeding me?’ If you apply that question to every aspect of your life — your friends, the activities you choose to engage in, your work, your education — you might realize you need to change your priorities or your environment. If friends hold you back, get new friends. If relatives keep you down, make them distant relatives.”
-- James P. Owen
"This is what you find when you study the true masters of any profession. They don’t care much about winning, about money, about fame, about most of the things that have come their way as a result of their success. Their journey has always been toward something bigger. They aren’t running a race against the competition. They are in a battle with themselves."
-- Ryan Holiday
"Please understand, if you are okay with your life right now, that is perfectly fine. Your definition for success might be exactly where you are right now. Not everyone is wired to constantly seek to achieve more. However, if you feel like you need a change in some area of your life, I strongly urge you to find someone else today who is excelling in that area and set up a time to meet with them. Pick their brains and glean a nugget . . . today."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Taking responsibility means looking to yourself for answers when things go wrong and giving yourself credit when things go right."
-- James P. Owen
"The problem with not being specific is that your brain has no clear instructions on how to take the next step. Your mind has no measurable way to know if the moves you’re making are getting you closer to your goal. By not articulating what success looks like, in detail, you can’t possibly put together a roadmap that will get you there."
-- Brian Page
"THINK OF A time in your life when you were feeling happy, enthusiastic, and full of energy. Now consider what you were doing. Our guess is that you weren’t sitting at home eating Haagen-Dazs and watching reruns of Friends. If you are like most people, the times in your life that have been the most vibrant and meaningful were when you were engaged in exciting projects, taking on new challenges, learning fascinating things, immersing yourself in creative expression, or nurturing a significant relationship."
-- Ryan Babineaux
“I learned that you have to back up your dreams with a plan. When I talk to people who are locked up, or in great trouble, they do not want to hear cliches about hope. So I tell them the truth: There is no such thing as a brighter future if you don’t have a plan. I call it ‘operational hope,’ which means hope backed up by a plan to get from point A to point B, and from point B to point C. It’s hope laid out in small, achievable steps.”
-- James P. Owen
"When I shifted gears in my thought process from all the negativity, I was experiencing and started thinking about what I could learn, how I could be a blessing to someone, etc., my day and disposition brightened tremendously. I encourage you to fully embrace the power your thoughts have not only on you, but on everyone around you. The next time you start a negative thought process, make a conscious decision to turn those thoughts around and see how it changes your attitude. Make it, “The best day ever!”"
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Optimists see things differently. Setbacks are temporary, isolated events and solvable. They have a future focus; less concerned with what happened, they look ahead to options, solutions, and action. Optimists are not interested in fixing blame. They want to fix the problem. Blame is irrelevant"
-- Dondi Scumaci
"If something has crushed your dream, do you find that you are in denial? I wasn’t really in denial—I didn’t think there was life after the NFL, so I hadn’t even reached the point of denial yet — but I was in a death spiral. I believed if I couldn’t play football, then life as I knew it was over. If you’re in denial about a crushed dream, or if you’re succumbing to the “death” feeling where demons roam and you believe that nothing matters in life anymore, you need to face the facts. We all have to look at those facts objectively and analyze our next move, no matter how painful it is."
-- Matt Mayberry
"Almost nothing in life goes exactly the way we want or expect. When things go wrong, some people lose heart while others buckle down and work even harder."
-- James P. Owen
"If you want to be a doer—a person whose life is filled with meaningful experiences, diverse opportunities, and continual learning and growth—then it is essential that you not deplete your confidence and energy by overthinking your opportunities."
-- Ryan Babineaux
"Your knowledge stems from the fact that regardless of the challenges you faced in the past, they are over and done with and probably have little to no impact on you today. With this knowledge comes hope. You can now deal with a challenge today with the knowledge that in the future, you will look back at this challenge knowing you overcame it. This knowledge provides you with hope, and with hope comes joy. So, face today’s challenge knowing that this too shall pass. It might not be today or tomorrow, but soon today’s challenge will be history."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
