“We all have problems. But it’s not what happens to us, it’s the choices we make after.”
Elizabeth Smart has survived the unimaginable. And for someone who’s had her experience to be able to move forward with their life in such a positive way is nothing short of amazing. This quote, from Smart, reminds us that our negative experiences don’t have to define us. However, the choices we make afterward are what counts. Our negative experiences can inspire us toward negative choices–making our wounds last. However, they can also inspire us toward positive choices that not only heal our own wounds but also help in the healing of others’.
“Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them.”
Successful people are fearless, successful people act without hesitation, and successful people have no worries. Each one of these statements is false. However, we tend to subconsciously assume they’re fact. This quote, by T. Harv Eker, reminds us that our idea about successful people are most often wrong. They do have worries, doubts, and fear. Yet they forge ahead in spite of these feelings. If you’re waiting for these feelings to go away as a prerequisite for success, then you may find yourself waiting indefinitely, and you may find success always out of reach.
“If you’re doing something outside of dominant culture, there’s not an easy place for you. You will have to do it yourself.”
Whether we want to believe it or not, things like our age, gender, race, and socioeconomic background play a factor in where we go to school, when, if we attend college, what we major in, the career we pursue, when we start a family. The list goes on. Simply put, a lot of what happens in our life is already laid out for us per our dominant culture. But once in a while, we step outside of our trajectory. As this quote by Ava DuVernay reminds us, paving a different path isn’t always going to be easy. It might feel uncomfortable, and there may be moments we feel like we’re…
“Dreams don’t have to just be dreams. You can make it a reality; if you just keep pushing and keep trying, then eventually you’ll reach your goal. And if that takes a few years, then that’s great, but if it takes 10 or 20, then that’s part of the process.”
In an interview, world renowned tennis player, Naomi Osaka, was asked what advice she would give her younger self. After joking about eating too much rice, she follows up with this inspiring quote that echos some of the challenges and adversities she faced in becoming a pro tennis athlete. In a nutshell, this quote reveals that accomplishing your dreams boils down to three things or “three Ps”: perseverance, patience, and perspective. You have to keep at it (perseverance), understanding things may not happen overnight (patience), all while having a mindful appreciation of the process (perspective).
“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful.”
It’s human nature to come up with every excuse in the book before we finally start something. And a very common excuse we get ourselves to believe is that it’s just not the right time to begin. Sounds like a logical reason. But there’s a difference between the condition being feasibly and the condition being perfect. This quote comes from Mark Victor Hansen, motivational speaker/author and co-founder of the book series Chicken Soup for the Soul. It serves as a reminder that chasing after the perfect condition–when everything is just right–inevitably results in us never getting started. “There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions.” So if…
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.”
This quote is not to be taken literally. It’s from the classic children’s story, Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. In the story, Peter Pan’s ability to fly is significantly influenced by his belief that he can without any second thought or hesitation. While the story is made-up, the core principle is real. Nothing kills our ability to do something more than doubt. The moment we doubt whether we can is the moment our likelihood of doing it significantly decreases. Unfortunately, believing in yourself can be easier said than done. So, if self-doubt does creep in despite your effort to fight it, there’re a couple things you can do. First, it…
“Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.”
There are different kinds of storms that vary in intensity. What you see following a day of thunder, lightning and rain is far better than what you see after a hurricane or tornado. Some storms leave destruction at their wake while some restore the earth. The same applies to life. When bad things happen, like a storm, it’s natural to assume the worst–That our life would turn upside down. But as this anonymous quote reminds us, not all storms come to disrupt our life. Some leave things better than before, like a rain storm replenishing the soil for new things to growth. So when you’re going through a challenge or…
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”
It’s easy to assume people who show courage aren’t afraid–that they lack fear. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s fear in all of us, and this quote, by Mark Twain, reminds us that fear is not necessarily absent in the midst of courage. It’s there. However, what is also present is a resistance to or mastery of fear. This means overcoming fear with faith (resistance) or using it as fuel (mastery) or both. So courage doesn’t absolve all fear but, in a way, it can be created and strengthened by it. It doesn’t have to be about choosing one or the other but deciding how we redirect…
“Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier, and healthier life.”
For the Monday to Friday five-day workweek worker, Mondays can be the most dreaded day of the week. Waking up on a Monday, it can be hard to wave off the feeling of hopelessness and despair. The thought of another five days shakes you to your core, and you would give anything for just one more day of weekend. If this is you, you’re not alone. Maybe your dreaded day is not Monday. Depending on your schedule, it could be a Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday–whatever that day is that commences your workweek, the feeling is unfortunately the same. This quote, by Germany Kent, helps bring hope out of despair on…
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“There are only two rules for being successful. One, figure out exactly what you want to do, and two, do it.”
“Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul.”
“When thinking about life, remember this: no amount of guilt can change the past and no amount of anxiety can change the future.”
“The struggles we endure today will be the ‘good old days’ we laugh about tomorrow.”
This quote, by Aaron Lauritsen, reminds us that we might one day look back at the struggles we’re going through today and laugh about them. Perhaps it’s not a memory we laugh about. Or we don’t look back and think ‘those were the good old days.’ But one thing is certain. Whatever the struggle, it was a crazy and unusual situation that we made our way out of. We’ll manage to cling to the good moments, however few. We’ll hold on to the lessons learned. And we’ll realize how strong we must be to have overcome that struggle and be where we are today.
