Your Culture Sets Your Expectation

"One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior. New habits seem achievable when you see others doing them every day. If you are surrounded by fit people, you’re more likely to consider working out to be a common habit. If you’re surrounded by jazz lovers, you’re more likely to believe it’s reasonable to play jazz every day. Your culture sets your expectation for what is “normal.” Surround yourself with people who have the habits you want to have yourself. You’ll rise together."

--  James Clear

When People Think In Why Terms

"When people think about what they are doing in why terms, they are guided by the big picture—their smaller, everyday actions become a part of something larger and more important. They are more connected to long-term goals. As a result, when people think why rather than what, they are less impulsive, less vulnerable to temptation, and more likely to plan their actions in advance."

-- Heidi Grant Halvorson

Why Be A Team Player

"If you want to reach your potential or strive for the seemingly impossible, you need to become a team player. It may be a cliche, but it is nonetheless true Individuals play the game, but teams win championships."

--  John C. Maxwell

Make YOur Personal Dream Come True

"No matter which goal you choose, there will be lots of people telling you you’re wrong.  Just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you. Pay close attention to when you’re being the real you and when you’re trying to impress an invisible jury.  Whatever you make, it’s your creation, so make it your personal dream come true."

-- Derek Sivers

Work In Preparation

"Certainly, hard work alone doesn’t beget success. Environment, support, natural affinity, and talent may all play a role. But focusing on work in preparation gives you a better opportunity for success."

-- Brian Levenson

If You Keep Fighting

"On the other hand, when you're in the valley, the most important thing you can do is persevere. If you keep fighting, you're likely to get your second wind, just as distance runners do. And it said that only when runners are exhausted enough to reach that place do they find out what they can truly accomplish. If you keep persevering while you are in the valley, not only will you likely make it to higher ground where you can make better decisions, but you will also have developed character, which will serve you well throughout life"

--  John C. Maxwell

The Danger of Easy

"While technology has done so much for science and medicine and to expand global interconnectedness, it has turned an active society idle. Our thumbs log more “steps” than our feet. Everything is automated and life has become too “done for you.” The problem is that easy makes you weak. And being weak leads to unhealthy living, disease, and an early checkout."

-- Mark Divine

That One Percent Different

"If you want to be useful, you can always start now, with only 1 percent of what you have in your grand vision. It’ll be a humble prototype version of your grand vision, but you’ll be in the game. You’ll be ahead of the rest, because you actually started, while others are waiting for the finish line to magically appear at the starting line."

-- Derek Sivers

The Greatest Discovery

"Perhaps the greatest discovery in human history is that “you become what you think about—most of the time.” Your beliefs, either positive or negative, helpful or hurtful, largely determine everything you do and how you do it."

-- Brian Tracy

The Danger of Waiting

"Change requires action. Most people wait until they feel like it to change their attitudes. But that only causes them to keep waiting because they have the whole process backward. If you wait until you feel like it to try to change your attitude, you will never change. You have to act yourself into changing."

--  John C. Maxwell

Your Invincible Power

"Everything changes when we give ourselves permission to be more selective in what we choose to do. At once, we hold the key to unlock the next level of achievement in our lives. There is tremendous freedom in learning that we can eliminate the nonessentials, that we are no longer controlled by other people’s agendas, and that we get to choose. With that invincible power we can discover our highest point of contribution, not just to our lives or careers, but to the world."

-- Greg McKeown

The Power of Play

"Too many of us are stuck in that “work” mindset, trying all the time to be serious, grounded, and intensely focused on delivering what’s expected of us. “Play” doesn’t come into it. I see it with students taking standardized tests and with executives presenting in the board room.  Many approach big performances with stress and tension, which can hinder them. In reality, we need to bring our playful selves to work, especially in times of performance."

-- Brian Levenson

How Your Life Will End Up

"If you could go anywhere, where would you like to go? Not in terms of vacations, but in your life. Your answer to that question does a lot to determine whether or not you're successful. You see, we're all on a journey, whether we know it or not. we are traveling inevitably toward the ends of our lives. So the real question for us is whether we're going to select a destination and steer a course for it, or allow ourselves to be swept along with the tide, letting others determine where we'11 end up. The choice is entirely up to us."

--  John C. Maxwell

How To Change Your Own Thoughts

"How do you change your thinking? You change what you put in your mind. Your mind is the gateway to the heart. You’re what you are and where you are because of what’s gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind."

-- Zig Ziglar

Find Your Core Focus

"Most people are sitting on their own diamond mines. The surest ways to lose your diamond mine are to get bored, become overambitious, or start thinking that the grass is greener on the other side. Find your core focus, stick to it, and devote your time and resources to excelling at it."

-- Gino Wickman

Daring Greatly

"Perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they don’t exist in the human experience. We must walk into the arena, whatever it may be—a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation—with courage and the willingness to engage. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice, we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly."

-- Brene Brown

Be Open To Other Ideas

"Intellectual humility, just one more aspect of this concept, is an acknowledgement that you might be wrong. (Yes, you.) When we have intellectual humility, we create a space for possibility and an openness to others’ ideas—about how to train, how to improve, how to shift our next performance based on changes in our environment. After all, the best idea today won’t be the best idea a year from now."

-- Brian Levenson

The Power of Big Dreams

"When you dream, don't let practical considerations limit you: the bigger the better. Big dreams inspire you to action. They grab your imagination and fill your mind, consume your thoughts and lead you to act. Because they are hard to achieve, they provide you with a great sense of satisfaction once you have accomplished them. Remember that you will accomplish only as much as you dream you can—so if you want to accomplish big things, you'd better dream big."

-- Newt Gingrich