"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
"You’ll stay motivated when you find a process you trust and commit to working that process for as little as a week. Forget how far you need to go to reach your goal; just commit to following the process for a week. By the end of that week you’ll have made a small improvement: You’ll be able to run a little farther, or lift a little more weight, or speak with greater confidence, or perform a task more effectively. Whatever goal you set, you will have moved a few steps closer to achieving that goal."
-- Jeff Haden
"Whatever you’re pursuing, study it. For me, it was the playbook. I had to study it inside and out. After practices I also studied the videos of my and other teammates’ performances. So, no matter what you’re pursuing, study it by reading books about it, watching videos about it, and joining others to discuss it. This builds up your knowledge of the sport or whatever it is you’re interested in. It builds your mental strength."
-- Matt Mayberry
“I think many people hesitate to set a goal because they think it has to be something you want to do forever. And that’s not really the way it is. Goals can be incremental, requiring just simple, small steps to move you on your way. Go as far as you can see, and when you get there you can see farther.”
-- James P. Owen
"When you have clear and challenging goals, you tend to be more focused and engaged, which leads to a greater sense of flow and enjoyment in what you’re doing."
-- Brendon Burchard
"When you take time to dwell on something, the most powerful computer in the world, your brain, will figure out a way to make it happen. If you truly desire to become a better spouse and you contemplate regularly on this, thoughts of flowers, love notes, romance, or acts of kindness will come into your mind. Then it just becomes a matter of acting on these ideas. Remind yourself daily of who or what you desire to be or have. Then do not be surprised when you find yourself accomplishing whatever it is that you have been thinking about."
-- Robert Sully Sullivan
"Like old maps and old stories, continually doing what we have always done will bring us back to old places, the places we have been before. Repeat after me: What got me here will not take me one step further. To have more or become more, I will have to do new things."
-- Dondi Scumaci
"Another way to foster innovation is to seek out skills and knowledge outside of your current range of experiences. If you are an engineer, take a class in art; if you are employed as a business analyst, try your hand as a volunteer career counselor; if you work at a computer in an office, take up carpentry. Read books and magazines on unfamiliar topics, attend conferences on subjects you know little about, and pursue classes and workshops that help you develop new physical skills."
-- Ryan Babineaux
"I know we’re discussing the mental here, but honestly, doing something physical can really pay off for your mental work. Lifting weights and cardio are two of the best methods to strengthen working memory and intelligence. The trick, however, is to keep pushing yourself, just like Neal and I pushed each other during our workouts to increase the intensity. If you work out at the level you’ve always done—like running a mile, for example—then you’ll stay where you are mentally. You have to push yourself a little past your limit to expand the mind."
-- Matt Mayberry
“When you look at the mountain peak, all you can see is a lot of hard work ahead. But once you start climbing, you gain some confidence, and soon the view changes. It’s like that in life — in the process of attempting the climb, your horizon changes. If you never attempt it at all, your perspective stays exactly the same, and the options never change. Only by attempting, by pushing beyond what you see right now, will new horizons emerge. You begin to see possibilities — things you want to do, things you can do.”
-- James P. Owen
"At every stage of life, you should be a rookie at something. Midlife can be like Kansas, long and flat. Creating a goal will energize your days."
-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty
"You must pay your debts, own your mistakes, communicate your intentions. You must have a plan for what you’re going to do after. Whether that’s a next project, a new chapter, another charge. Retreats, we must remember, are only temporary. They are buying us time until we can take the offensive and courageously attack again in pursuit of our victory."
-- Ryan Holiday
“I’m not a teacher, and yet I’m creating schools. I know something about teaching people because I’ve had to teach my own children and I’ve gone through the learning experience myself. I’m not pretending to have all the answers, but I’m figuring it out. You just have to be willing to jump in and try. You have to be ready to make mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes you’re not being challenged enough! You just don’t want those mistakes to be the same ones you made before.”
-- James P. Owen
"It’s important to be able to shut out the world on a regular basis and laser-focus on the job at hand. Turn off your smartphones and all social media for at least twenty minutes a day. You can take a walk or simply sit somewhere quietly and just breathe… relax. Some people call this mindfulness meditation. When your thoughts begin to wander, gently pull them back. When that work meeting pops into your head, push it out and focus on your breathing. When you start mentally planning your next workout, return to your breathing. This can have dramatic results and will help you in your work and activities toward achieving your dreams."
-- Matt Mayberry
"Innovation, like luck, is dependent on being present and ready to act at the right time and place. You are more likely to come up with transformative ideas when you are doing things out in the world— trying new activities, exploring unfamiliar places, meeting people—than when you are at home watching TV on your couch. An important aspect of becoming an innovator is learning to act outside the box—to step out of your usual haunts, habits, and thinking patterns to embrace new possibilities."
-- Ryan Babineaux
"When you put in the time and effort, when you make improvements, when you gain a certain level of skill, you become the thing that you’re trying to achieve. “Becoming” feels wonderful because you’ve earned it."
-- Jeff Haden
"Things that matter usually take time, energy, and concentration. Is devoting our time to binge-watching movies on TV or beating the next ten levels of Candy Crush really worth it? It might be, if it gives us some much-needed diversion from our real-life stresses. Probably not, though, if these distractions have become a lifestyle and are taking us away from the pursuits we’ve identified as most meaningful to us."
-- Joshua Becker
“There are people in every life who have an intensity and an interest in who you are. They show up at odd times, and if you’re wise, you learn from them. If I’ve achieved anything, it’s because I learned to look for and recognize these people who are like beacons of light. And it’s true on a larger scale as well. In times of great stress in society, it’s the ordinary people who become great teachers. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, and Mother Teresa were all common people who rose up to give great hope to others.”
-- James P. Owen
"Sometimes we may not give our best at work or in school until a problem arises. We wait to tell those we love how much they really mean to us, and then we regret it when they’re gone. We forget about our most important values and priorities in life while we’re rushing to earn a hefty paycheck or receive an extra bonus."
-- Matt Mayberry
