“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
"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
“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
"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
"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
“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
"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
"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
"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
“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
"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
“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
"Taking responsibility means looking to yourself for answers when things go wrong and giving yourself credit when things go right."
-- James P. Owen
“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
"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
“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 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
“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
“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
“Never settle for being average, or doing just enough to get by. Average is not exciting; average does not make you stand out. I’ve worked with some very smart people, and I found that when I invested the time to learn, I could catch up with them, even if I started behind.”
-- James P. Owen
