Define Success For Yourself and 49 Quotes

What does success mean to you?

Is it a lot of money? Cars? Traveling? Being with family? Doing what you love? 

Society has had the notion that success means having a lot of money, and maybe that’s success for some people, but not for everyone. 

Part of success to me means doing work I love doing, helping others along the way and surrounding myself with family and good friends. 

Success is only a word that has a different meaning to everyone. 

There isn’t “One” way of achieving success, there are multiple.

So one of the most important questions you can ask yourself is, “What does success mean to me?”

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49 Quotes on Success

1) “So first we gotta define success for ourselves then we have to put in the work to maintain it, take that daily tally. Tend our garden. Keep the things that are important to us in good shape.”
Matthew McConaughey

2) ”Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill

3) “The greatness of a man is not how much wealth he acquires, but in his ability to affect those around him around him positively.”
Bob Marley

4) “There are many aspects to success; material wealth is only one component. …But success also includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being, and peace of mind.” 
Deepak Chopra

5) “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
Herman Melville

6) “Success is really nothing more than the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. This means that any person who knows what they are doing and where they are going is a success. Any person with a goal towards which they are working is a successful person.” 
Earl Nightingale

7) “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
 Albert Schweitzer

8) “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Thomas Edison

9) “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.”
Oprah Winfrey

10) “I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.” 
Abraham Lincoln

11)  “Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” 
Roy T. Bennett

12) “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” 
Mark Twain

13) “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” 
Theodore Roosevelt

14) “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.” 
Bob Dylan

15) “Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.” 
Dalai Lama XIV

16) “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” 
Vince Lombardi

17) “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” 
Francis Chan

18) “Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” 
Robert T. Kiyosaki

19) “The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.”
Zig Ziglar

20) “I find the best way to love someone is not to change them, but instead, help them reveal the greatest version of themselves.” 
Steve Maraboli

21) “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” 
George Bernard Shaw

22) “The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.”
Stephen Richards

23) “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.” 
Joyce Brothers

24) “And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!” 
Dr. Suess

25) “I’ve had great success being a total idiot. ” 
Jerry Lewis

26) “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” 
Woody Allen

27) “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” 
Booker T. Washington

28) “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” 
Dale Carnegie

29) “Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury – to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best for both the body and the mind.” 
Albert Einstein

30) “To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great.” 
Hegel

31) “Success means we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and abilities were used in a way that served others.” 
Marianne Williamson

32) “The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.” 
Napoleon Hill

33) “Action is the foundational key to all success.”
Pablo Picasso 

34) “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”
Arthur Ashe 

35) “I attribute my success to this—I never gave or took any excuse.”
Florence Nightingale

36) “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”
Frank Lloyd Wright 

37) “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
Henry Ford

38) “Your true success in life begins only when you make the commitment to become excellent at what you do.”
Brian Tracy

39) “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life—and that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan

40) “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
John Wooden

41) “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
Benjamin Franklin

42) “What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.”
Margaret Thatcher

43) “For success, attitude is equally as important as ability.”
Walter Scott

44) “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.”
Thomas J. Watson

45) “The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
Barack Obama

46) “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”
Bruce Lee

47) “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
Helen Keller

48) “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”
Steve Jobs

49) “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember–the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.”
Zig Ziglar

Space Pioneers

Imagine hundreds of years from now…Humans discussing the past, discussing the time and place we are currently in.

We are living in the generation where space exploration is just getting started. We are the pioneers of space.

Do you think the first created ships successfully sailed?
Maybe, but I’m sure a lot of them failed. 

We are in that stage for space exploration.

We are creating and testing spaceships that work and learning from what doesn’t work.

Create. Adapt. Learn. Fail. Try Again.

This leads to the topic of perspective. Yes we have come a long way as humans but we are still in the beginning stages of many things, such as space exploration.

This perspective of seeing life through a lens of being in the beginning of creation, adaptation, advancement, etc inspires me and inspires the pioneers of the unknown.

They look to the future. I look to the future. The Universe is vast.

And I appreciate the range of perspectives life has given all of us.

Finding Joy Now

My focus shifts from one task to another as my thoughts wander and I drift further and further away from the present moment. 

This has happened to me many times and I’m sure will happen again in the future, but I have learned a few methods to finding and feeling joy in this moment right now.

Of course some people will say that to attain joy you need to exercise, eat healthy, don’t smoke, save money for retirement — to Do these things _________… and don’t do these things __________… Then you will be happy. And that’s just not true.

You either feel joy now or you don’t. It’s not something you will forever maintain once you accomplish this thing or that thing. It’s something to be had in this moment and to keep with you deep down as you journey through life. Even through the hard times that life brings to us all you will be able to remind yourself of the genuine joy you have. 

Joy comes from a multitude of actions and it’s unique to everyone. One big source of joy comes from loving what you do.

This is difficult in societies that tell us to live for the future – to disregard your happiness for 30-40 years and then you can be happy in retirement. It’s a lie and it has made many CEO’s wealthy.

I do believe in hard work and I believe in doing what you need to do to provide for yourself and your family, but in this internet age it is possible to find joy today while working toward financial freedom and other long-term goals.

Once you accept some inalienable truths you can experience a deep joy. Things such as: 

– Tomorrow isn’t promised.
– One day you are going to leave this planet forever (Memento Mori).
– This moment might be all you have.

Of course there are more inalienable truths, but these are a few that inspire me to find joy today, tomorrow, and throughout all the ups and downs of life.

Below are some exercises that have helped me and can help you. Each person is unique and will find joy in different ways so use what works for you.

-Remind yourself of a happy memory. Dwell in that memory for at least one minute.

-Remind yourself that the best times of your life haven’t happened yet. They are on their way.

-Think of someone you look up to as a role model. Remind yourself why you look up to them.

-Think of 3 accomplishments you are proud of that you have achieved in the past.

-Write down 3 things you enjoy doing – Can be anything – a sport, hanging out with people, going to a certain place, any hobby you have or would like to have.

-Try affirmations. Tell yourself “I am happy now. I am loved. I love life.”

-Think about what you would like to do if you didn’t have to worry about money. Remind yourself that it is possible to attain this in time. Don’t forget it.

-Observe your surroundings without thinking about them. Just see everything without labeling them for a few moments.

-Stargaze.

-Read something new.

-Surround yourself with a few objects that make you feel good.

Text Call someone you love.

Your joy is to be experienced today. Of course you won’t feel joy in every moment of your life, no one does, but you can take action toward living a more joyful life. 

Achieve Goals with Focus

My to-do list grows bigger and I start taking less action…

Am I the only one who gets distracted with all the “to-dos” and end up not getting anything done?

Sometimes I want to complete so many things that I end up completing nothing or going halfway on a task. This is when I remind myself to do less and Focus.

We are bombarded with numerous options every day of our lives. It can seem nice to have options but often the more options we have the more distracted we become.

So I ask myself, “What is a long-term goal I have and what do I need to do next to achieve it?”

I like this question but sometimes a clear answer doesn’t come to mind when I ask this. This is when Focus comes into play again.

At this point I think about a few things I could do to achieve my long-term goal. I might not be 100% sure about what to do but I choose an action whether it’s to write a blog post, create a video, work on social media, etc.

I follow one course until successful. I do it until it’s complete. And then I ask myself again, “What is a long-term goal I have and what do I need to do next to achieve it?”

What’s a long-term goal you have?

What actions are you taking to achieve it?

How to Succeed Through Failure

Vincent Van Gogh, Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, Dr. Seuss, Oprah, Steve Jobs, Elvis Presley, Mark Cuban, and just about every other successful person.

What do all these people have in common?

Failure. Rejections. People doubting them.

But they also had & have perseverance & belief in their vision.

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It’s more than a mindset.
It’s a pull.

Life pulls people toward their destiny but few people listen to life.

“Be in the world but not of the world.”

The world tells you to settle. 

Life, the infinite, gives you signs of what you should do—your passions, hobbies, interests, etc.

But the world tells you you can’t do that as a career.
They tell you you’ll fail.

And you will. At first.
But in time you will succeed.

“Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.”
C.S. Lewis

• J.K. Rowling’s original Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was accepted.

• Dr. Suess’s first book was rejected 28 times before it was accepted.

• Stephen King’s first book, Carrie, was rejected by 30 publishers before it was accepted.

• Oprah was told she wasn’t fit to be on television. 

• Steve Jobs was fired from the company that HE CREATED!

• Thomas Edison talks about failing over 10,000 times.

• Walt Disney experienced bankruptcy and a mental breakdown

• Vincent Van Gogh only sold ONE painting during his lifetime…He made over 900 paintings.

They never gave up because their purpose was never about “money.”

They “failed” over, and over, and over again, and again, and again.

Or maybe they just found a lot of ways that didn’t work.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas Edison

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward.”
Thomas A. Edison

The world laughed at them. And they will laugh at you if you try to attempt anything great, anything outside the “norm.”

Laugh with them. It is funny. And it will be even more funny when you make it, because it’s not about the critics and it’s not even about you. Your life’s work has a deeper purpose. It is life living through you.
It is Love.

As you begin to follow your life’s purpose, and it is hard in the beginning when you are experiencing failures, but the pull toward your purpose will grow within you. Your vision will be tested but your belief in it will grow as you persevere through the difficult times.

“Gold is tested by fire, and human character is tested in the furnace of humiliation.”
Sirach 2:5-7

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.”
J.K. Rowling

Don’t fear failure. Fear never trying.

A research study found that one of the top 5 things a person on their deathbeds regrets is never living a life true to themselves.

More inspiring quotes to help you persevere through failure:

“The phoenix must burn to emerge.”
 Janet Fitch

“You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. It is good to have a failure while you’re young because it teaches you so much. For one thing it makes you aware that such a thing can happen to anybody, and once you’ve lived through the worst, you’re never quite as vulnerable afterward.”
Walt Disney

“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”
Dale Carnegie

“Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure.”
George Eliot

“Failure is success if we learn from it.”
Malcolm Forbes

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”
Johnny Cash

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
Napoleon Hill

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”
Steve Jobs

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
Michael Jordan

“Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others.”
Amelia Earhart

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Robert F. Kennedy

Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”
Henry Ford

“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”
Zig Ziglar

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.”
Oprah Winfrey

“It is fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
Bill Gates

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill

“Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
John Wooden

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
Dale Carnegie

“Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing.”
J.K. Rowling

Doubt Breeds REAL Confidence

“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.”

Francis Bacon

Have you ever been so confident in something & then ended up wrong?
I have. 

I’ve tried to put together a small table without following the directions & after failing I finally decided to use the directions.

An ignorant confidence does that to us all. Blind faith is easy.

Over the years I have learned that I know nothing for sure. I am confident in that and so I can live confidently, forever learning. Confident in trying something so many times, and failing, until I can do it with complete confidence.

Confidence is a great trait to have in all aspects of life, but HOW you gain that confidence is more important than “confidence” itself.

In a world that praises fake confidence & bravado, why and how can you use doubt to breed REAL confidence?

“The dumbest people I know are those who know it all.”
Malcolm Forbes

Remain humble —You stop learning when you are confident in “knowing it all:”

“Men cease to think when they think they know it all.”
Horace

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
Stephen Hawking

Doubt can help you improve.
It’s a sign that there is something to learn, always.

Instead of having blind confidence in whatever it is you’re doing, question it & LEARN.

Do you follow directions when building things like tables for the first time?
I do now. Doubt guides me to follow the directions because I doubt I can build a table without directions if I’ve never done it before.

So why can’t we apply this idea to other aspects of life?

We can.

We can question things & look for answers until we learn what we need to to succeed & grow in that area. 

And no matter what there’s always more to learn!

Doubt allows you to think critically and opens your mind.

“If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one’s own self-deception and ignorance.” 
Marcus Aurelius

Having doubt will prepare you for anything you anticipate. Soldiers train every day to stay ready for battle, because if they had 100% confidence without training, they would fail. Doubt is a guide for them, as it is with all people.

“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.”
Robert Hughes

People who doubt are preparing themselves for the future, which is today. (Yesterday the future was today…)

“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”
René Descartes

Some people don’t want to be wrong in the fear of looking stupid. That is stupidity in itself.

“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”
Charles Bukowski

“The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it.”
Rajneesh

Ignorance is NOT bliss.

Doubt is a good thing.

It will lead you to a REAL, humble confidence.

Doubt will keep you learning and growing throughout all of your days.

“Uncertainty also relieves us of our judgment of ourselves. Then we don’t know if we’re lovable or not; we don’t know how attractive we are; we don’t know how successful we could potentially become. The only way to achieve these things is to remain uncertain of them and be open to finding them out through experience. Uncertainty is the root of all progress and all growth. As the old adage goes, the man who believes he knows everything learns nothing. We cannot learn anything without first not knowing something.” 
Mark Manson

“Always be suspicious of those who pretend to know it all, claim their way is the best way and are willing to force their way on the rest of us.”
Walter Williams

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing.”
Socrates

I can agree with Socrates in saying that I also know nothing.

You don’t need to fight doubt. It’s there for a reason.

Allow doubt to prepare you and guide you to real confidence.

The Question IS The Answer

Will this article make you smarter?

Questions. Questions. Questions.

Everyone is looking for answers. No one is looking for questions.

But the answer is within the question.

Research has been done by scientists on the power questions have on human brains.

Questions trigger a reflex in humans know as “instinctive elaboration,” which means when someone asks you a question, the question takes over the brain’s thought process. 

Behavioral scientists Morwitz, Johnson, and Schmittlein did a study on this topic and found that asking people questions about their futures significantly influenced their decisions. This is known as the “mere measurement effect.” The study was done in 1993 with over 40,000 participants by asking them if they were going to purchase a new car within six months. This question increased their purchase rates by 35%.

Similar surveys have been done on the topics of voting, donating blood, exercise frequency, and more. 

Each survey found that all these behaviors can be increased by asking about them!

Your mind is powerful!

Research has found that the more the brain thinks about a certain behavior, the more likely it is that you will do it.

Thinking about something can change your behavior and sensations.

Imagine sipping some warm hot chocolate. 

Can you taste it? 

Can you notice your mind shifted its focus from where it was to the hot chocolate?

Your mind is powerful…

So if you never ask a question, you will never get an answer.

If you ask a negative question like, “why do bad things always happen to me?” You will get an answer, and it will reinforce bad things happening to you.

If you ask a positive question like, “how can I live my best life?” You will get an answer and it will reinforce ideas of how you can live your best life.

Questions are powerful tools you can use to live more of the life you want to live.

Here are some others who strongly agree:

“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.”
Alan Watts

“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
Tony Robbins

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
Voltaire

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”
Eugene Ionesco

“Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”
Rainer Maria Rilke

“One of the many qualities that separate self-made billionaires from the rest of us is their ability to ask the right questions.”
Justine Musk

“Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.”
E. E. Cummings

“If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.”
W. Edwards Deming

“Life is an unanswered question, but let’s still believe in the dignity and importance of the question.”
Tennessee Williams

“I think that probably the most important thing about our education was that it taught us to question even those things we thought we knew.”
Thabo Mbeki

He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.”
Voltaire

“A wise man’s question contains half the answer.”
Solomon Ibn Gabirol

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”
Francis Bacon

7 powerful questions Tony Robbins asks to spark positive emotions are:

—What am I happy about in my life now?

—What am I excited about in my life now?

—What am I proud about in my life now?

—What am I grateful about in my life now?

—What am I enjoying in life right now?

—What am I committed to in my life right now?

—Who do I love? Who loves me?

What are 3 other questions you can think of that by asking yourself them will help you achieve a goal?

In All Things, Use what Works for You

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

Bruce Lee

How often have you been told what to do with your life?

Most people who give you unsolicited advice have good intentions but it doesn’t mean that what has worked for them will work for you.

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
Paulo Coelho

It’s easy to get lost in all the things you “should do,” as people will tell you, while forgetting about what you actually want to do.

It can be extremely difficult when it seems like everyone else is doing what people say you “should do”, like going to college, but it’s not for everyone.

Here are some people who didn’t go or dropped out of college:

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Ted Turner, Tony Robbins, Richard Branson, Ellen DeGeneres, Rachael Ray, Michael Dell, Jack Dorsey, Russell Simmons, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and many others. Find a list of 100 here.

Remember this quote from Mark Twain whenever you are thinking that you should be doing what others are doing:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

If you’re struggling in an area where you see others succeeding in, it doesn’t make you dumb, it just tells you that that area is not for you, unless you’re passionate about it. You can learn & master any skill you want through relentless practice.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” 
Albert Einstein

A variety of life experiences & hobbies can help you figure out your passion.

Maybe it’s writing, acting, speaking, athletics, designer, teacher, attendant, horse trainer.

But people say, “you can’t do that, no one makes money doing that.”

Except they do…

If there is anyone doing what you would love to do, you can do it too.

You may have to take some side jobs as you focus on getting paid to do what you love, but if you are passionate enough about it, you will find a way.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
Steve Jobs

You are unique.

People find the most happiness when they embrace their uniqueness instead of trying to please people & fit in.

Maybe you learn best visually while someone else learns best verbally.
Or aurally, physically, logically, socially, or solitary.

Which way is best? 

There is no “best.” There is only what is best for you.

Find out how you learn best & don’t judge yourself.

I think I learn best visually—I like demonstrations especially when I am able to get involved.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
Benjamin Franklin

There are many crossroads in life, leaving you with multiple choices. The easy path is to follow what others are doing.

A nurse who spent years working in palliative care, taking care of people in the last 12 weeks of their lives, researched and wrote the top five regrets people have on their deathbeds.

The most common regret was “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” Find the article here.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Use what works for you, not what works for someone else.

Here are 3 more ways to live life you won’t regret

Quotes to help find and follow your bliss

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”
Maya Angelou

“If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures. Sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The people who make it to the top – whether they’re musicians, or great chefs, or corporate honchos – are addicted to their calling … [they] are the ones who’d be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren’t being paid.”
Quincy Jones

“There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don’t like because you think it will look good on your resume. Isn’t that a little like saving up sex for your old age?”
Warren Buffet

“I think the foremost quality – there’s no success without it – is really loving what you do. If you love it, you do it well, and there’s no success if you don’t do well what you’re working at.”
Malcolm Forbes

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. 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

“The law of work seems unfair, but nothing can change it; the more enjoyment you get out of your work, the more money you will make.”
Mark Twain

“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”
Rumi

“Yes, I’ve made a great deal of dough from my fiction, but I never set a single word down on paper with the thought of being paid for it … I have written because it fulfilled me. Maybe it paid off the mortgage on the house and got the kids through college, but those things were on the side—I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for the joy, you can do it forever.”
Stephen King

“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
Steve Jobs

Stop Looking Back & Live Life like you’re Driving

I was driving on the highway yesterday as I adjusted my rearview mirror to the honking car behind me. I kept my eyes on the rearview mirror for too long and crashed, totaling my car and injuring my body.

This is a metaphor but very real in that it happens to people every day; you look back for too long, dwelling in the pain of the past as it becomes a habit & nearly impossible to look forward.

What happens when you look back for too long?
You crash.

It’s important to look back every now & then so that you can shift lanes & stay cautious without getting in an accident. Caution is important to moving forward, but too much caution will keep you where you are.

Sometimes by looking back you are just stalling. Sitting. Waiting…Waiting for something to happen, but nothing does, because YOU are the driver. YOU decide where you go.

But it can be difficult to look forward when this ruthless world is quick to punish…

…Especially when you find success.

When you find success you’ll find a crowd of cars tailing you, honking at you, craving your attention. They want you to look back. They don’t want you to follow your vision & move forward. They want you to remember all the pot holes you hit on your way.

How are you responding to the world around you?

Everyone & everything wants your attention. 

Are you giving it to them?

Or are you following YOUR vision?

You are the driver of your life. You are empowered.

Keep looking forward and I’ll see you on the highway.

Quotes on not looking back

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
C.S. Lewis

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein

“The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.”
Oprah Winfrey

“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”
Rick Warren

“If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you’ve done and whoever you were and throw them away.”
Steve Jobs

“Never look back unless you are planning on going that way.”
Henry David Thoreau

“If you look back, you’ll soon be going that way.”
Proverb

“We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors and for the purpose of profiting by dear bought experience.”
George Washington

“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.”
Steve Maraboli

“I feel confident imposing change on myself. It’s a lot more fun progressing than looking back.”
David Bowie

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Mother Theresa

Here are 3 things you can do to live a life you won’t regret living!