“I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse.” – Florence Nightingale
There comes a time in our life when we all need a bit of inspiration.
Things might not be working out and you may begin doubting the process.
You begin feeling that the ladder is resting on the wrong wall.
Or you may simply need a small nudge in the right direction.
I have compiled together ideas and quotes that have been helpful in my journey.
Not all of these ideas may be relevant to you.
But there might be a few ideas that you need to hear right now in your own path to success. I hope that some of these ideas and quotes resonate with your idea of success and uplift your journey!
Let us begin!
1. Do You Dream Big Or Do You Hesitate?
“Unless you dream, you’re not going to achieve anything.”-Richard Branson
2. If The Journey Looks Overwhelming, Start With Small Consistent Steps
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”- Lao-tzu
3. If You Do Not Believe in You, Who Else Will?
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” –J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
4. While Taking Small Steps, Do It With Love And Interest
“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” –Mother Teresa
5. Ditch The Assumptions Now And Then Again Tomorrow
“We make all sorts of assumptions because we don’t have the courage to ask questions.” ― Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
6. Embrace Your Uniqueness, Do Not Be Ashamed Of It
“I am a rare species, not a stereotype.” ― Ivan E. Coyote
7. Do More of What Makes You Come Alive And Keep Doing It
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”― Howard Thurman
8. Imagine And Then Do…Implement Those Great Ideas
“Imagination means nothing without doing.” ― Charles Chaplin
9. Have Faith in The Process, Take Risks, Rediscover Your Courage And Improvise To Get Results
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ― Kurt Vonnegut
10. Take Good Feedback But Do Not Get Bogged Down By Opinions
“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”― Eleanor Roosevelt
11. Repurpose, Reinvent And Embrace New Ways
“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old”― Peter F. Drucker
12. Remember That Excess Doubt And Creativity Cannot Survive Together
“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” ― Sylvia Plath
13. Look At things From A New Perspective
“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.”― Albert Einstein
14. And Get Pulled By What You Really Love
“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”― Rumi
15. Begin Now
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
16. Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone
“I have realized; it is during the times I am far outside my element that I experience myself the most.” ~ C. JoyBell C.
17. There Are Many Imagined Fears And Troubles But Few Real Ones
“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.”― Mark Twain
18. Understand More, Make The Steps Clear And Fear Disappears
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” ― Marie Curie
19. Everyone Has Fears, But Not Everyone Has The Courage To Transcend Them
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ― Nelson Mandela
20. Just Go Ahead And Take Prompt Action
“The best lesson I learned was to just do it.”- Richard Branson
21. Are You Taking Advantage Of The Gift Called Today!
“Never put off for tomorrow, what you can do today.”- Thomas Jefferson
22. How To Catch Inspiration Every Single Time Even When Inspiration Does Not Strike
“That inspiration comes, does not depend on me. The only thing I can do is make sure it catches me working.” ― Pablo Picasso
23. Are You Making Work Feel Like Work or More Like Fun And Play?
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ― Confucius
24. Are You Attempting To Draw Out The Best In People?
“I learnt early on that if you can run one company. You can really run any company. A company is all about finding the right people and inspiring those people, drawing out the best in people.” – Richard Branson
25. Are You Afraid Of Your Success? Are You Scared Of Your Light?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ -Marianne Williamson
26. When All Else Fails, Read This To Inspire Yourself
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: 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
27. Finding Your Happiness On The Path…Choose To Be Happy!
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle
28. What We Choose To Act On Determines Our Happiness
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” ― His Holiness The XIVth Dalai Lama
29. A Science-Backed Way To Be Happy And Successful: Are You Deeply And Meaningfully Connecting And Collaborating With Others?
“The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people,” and “Happiness equals love—full stop.” George E. Vaillant, M.D
30. Keep The Good Humor Alive To Make The Path A Lot More Bearable
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” ― Charles Dickens
31. Have Some Gratitude Along The Way For The Facilitators And Catalysts Of Your Success
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” ― Meister Eckhart
32. Serve Others and Create Great Value
“I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.” ― Kahlil Gibran
33. Remember That What You Are Doing Makes a Big Difference
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” ― Jane Goodall
34. Experiment and Then Do Better By Improvising And Using Alternate Hypotheses
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”-Sir Richard Branson
35. Give Everyday All The Best That You Have
“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
36. Do Not Forget To Celebrate The Little Victories
“I celebrate myself, and sing myself.” – Walt Whitman
37. Always Advance Confidently Towards Your Dreams Even If You Do Not Feel Confident
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”― Henry David Thoreau
38. Know The Difference Between What You Can Change And What You Cannot
“Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”― St. Francis of Assisi
39. Work Very Hard But Deeply Rest And Relax
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” ― Alan Cohen
40. Is Perfectionism Preventing You To Launch? Recognize it And Release It
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.”- Voltaire
41. Embrace Your Uniquely Unique Uniqueness!
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” ― Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!
42. Have Great Expectations From Your Day And From Your Goals
“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!” ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
43. But Understand That There Will Be Disappointments And Your Expectations May Not Be Always Met
“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.” ― Henry David Thoreau
44. Paint Your Own Masterpiece, And Listen To Your Inner Voice
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.” ― Steve Jobs
45. Enter Into The Delirious Joy Of Unhindered Learning
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” – Zen Master Shunryo Suzuki
46. Put Your Troubles And Setbacks In Perspective
“Take a step back. Draw in a deep breath. Now ask yourself, ‘So what?’ Then, after answering, ask yourself again, ‘So what?’ And then a third time—‘So what?’ Chances are you’ll come to realize that the issue at hand is not as dire, detrimental, or important as you first thought.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich
47. Recognize Your Dominant Thinking Patterns And If They Are Serving The Goal Of Your Success
“With our thoughts, we make the world.”-Buddha
48. Seek Your Dharma, And Find Your Purpose
“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it” ― Buddha
49. Sit in Silence To Appreciate Life And Movement
“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still.” ― Jiddu Krishnamurti
50. Cherish Your Alone Time, Seek Incubative Answers
“You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, simply wait, just learn to become quiet, and still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”-Franz Kafka
51. The Secret To Success Is Repeated Action Despite Failure
“Do it again. Play it again. Sing it again. Read it again. Write it again. Sketch it again. Rehearse it again. Run it again. Try it again. Because again is practice, and practice is improvement, and improvement only leads to perfection.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich
52. How Strong Is Your Desire To Succeed?
“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”- Paulo Coelho
53. Always Choose Possibility Thinking And Possibility Outlook
“I dwell in possibility.” ― Emily Dickinson
54. And Yet Again, Try Again And Try Better, The most Reliable Path To Great Success
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
55. Become A Scientist In Your Life
“A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions–as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.”― Friedrich Nietzsche
56. When The Going Gets Tough, Appreciate The Little Things
“Appreciate every little beautiful moment in every day of your life. Give it a try and you’ll see the world from another perspective.” ― Thea Kristine May
57. Always Remember That Hope Is a Very Powerful Force Of Positive Change
“Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there’s no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.”― Laini Taylor
58. Do Not Get Defeated By Your Defeats, Instead Treat Them As Learning Experiences
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”― Maya Angelou
59. Repeat This Mantra For Success: Do NOT take Failure Personally
“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”- Zig Ziglar
60. See The Horizons With New Eyes
“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” —Marcel Proust
61. You Are Not Too Little, And You Matter, So Act Like You Do
“One kernel is felt in a hogshead; one drop of water helps to swell the ocean; a spark of fire helps to give light to the world. None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of service. Think of this and act.” ― Hannah More
62. Take Charge Of Your Life And Take Radical Responsibility To Affect Positive Change
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
63. Cultivate More Enthusiasm: Grow It, Water It And Promote It
“Enthusiasm is a supernatural serenity.” ― Henry David Thoreau
64. Master The Inner Game For Outer Results
“Letting go of judgments, the art of creating images and “letting it happen” are three of the basic skills involved in the Inner Game.”- W. Timothy Gallwey
65. Optimistic Persistence Is Essential For Continued Success
“Success requires persistence, the ability to not give up in the face of failure. I believe that optimistic explanatory style is the key to persistence.”- Martin Seligman, Learned Optimism
66. It Might Be More Risky To Not Go For Your Dreams
“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin
67. Do Something Different For Different Results: Change It, Mix It, Match It, And Shake Up The Doldrums
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” -Albert Einstein
68. Repeated Engagement And Action Are The Keys To Success
“It always seems impossible until its done.”-Nelson Mandela
69. Make The Turn And Keep Making The Turn: Show Up And Keep On Moving
“A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn.”― Helen Keller
70. Believe That It Is Possible To Succeed: Engage Social Proof
“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.” ― Stuart Chase
71. Enjoy And Get Lost In The Journey, Forget Trying To Quickly Reach The Destination
“The journey is the treasure.” ― Lloyd Alexander
Where you are at in your journey and what challenges are you facing? Let me know in the comments below!
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