Figureoutable Quotes

We may feel the world is slipping out of our hands and recognize that the core of our conceived blueprint is escaping us. Let us challenge, then, a point of resilience and get out of the weeds, clear our mind and figure out "who is who" in our lives, and gauge what is valuable in our mind. ("The dirty bike")

When our thoughts are unsettled and our inner world is in a muddle, we may sharpen our wits and try to recognize the invisible edges of our fractured stance. If we seek to figure out, what our life story is all about, we may be able to put the missing pieces in place and identify what is driving us, what we are actually up to and why we are running like mad dogs, sometimes. (“On a doggy day”)

You can do whatever you set your mind to if you just roll up your sleeves, get in there, and do it. Everything is figureoutable.

The most powerful words in the universe are the words you say to yourself.

Maybe I'm not so different from everyone else after all. It's like somebody gave me a puzzle, but I don't have the box with the picture on it. So I don't know what the final thing is supposed to look like. I'm not even sure if I have all the pieces.

I win or I learn, but I never lose.

If it’s important enough, I’ll make the time. If not, I’ll make an excuse.

Perfectionism at its core isn't about high standards. It's about fear. Fear of failure. Fear of looking stupid, fear of making a mistake, fear of being judged, criticized, and ridiculed. It's the fear that one simple fact might be true: You're just not good enough.

Nearly two decades later, I can say that the only thing that allowed me to take that leap was because a deeper, wiser part of me believed that somehow I’d be able to figure it out.

Your potential is limitless. You are unique, valuable, capable, and worthy of the dreams in your heart. Most of all, you have what it takes to transform and transcend whatever challenges you face.

I'm trying to figure out if I love art enough to be poor.

Having someone do certain things for you is like getting someone to chew your food for you. It might be easier to swallow but it loses all its flavor... And you want the flavor!

Clarity comes from engagement, not thought!

In order to get the right idea of our self, we first need to figure out who we really are.

There's a difference between owning your choices and blaming yourself.

Human interaction. The most complicated form of happiness I will never figure out.

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

In order to change ourselves, we must first believe we can.

That's enough crying about the problems, let's begin killing the problems.

insight without action is worthless. Taking action is the only path to change.

If you believed to your core that everything really is figureoutable, what would you now do? What would you create or heal or transform or transcend? Who would you become?

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the economy, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny. Albert Ellis

Just because someone doesn't like what you do doesn't mean no one else will. A person's opinion is not The Truth, it's their truth.

We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.

There are two types of pain you will go through in life: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons.

Remember that gal that gave up? Neither does anyone else. Unknown

Even if this entire book is bullshit, can you think of a more empowering and pragmatic philosophy to embrace?

Every pro starts off as an amateur. There's not one top artist, athlete, writer, scientist, architect, entrepreneur, programmer, musician, or potter who enters the field at the top of her game. To begin anything new or learn anything new means you will be a neophyte. You must go from outsider to insider. Respect that. Embrace it. Be willing to suck.

I am always trying to figure God out so that I can figure Him in. But after a while I figure that I should just let God be God, and figure that He’ll figure it all out anyway.

It’s hard to become what you don’t see.

Everything’s in the mind. That’s where it all starts. Knowing what you want is the first step toward getting it. Mae West

If you are possessed by an idea, you find it expressed everywhere, you even smell it. Thomas Mann

if you’re committed to figuring things out, all excuses have got to go.

No matter what you want to figure out, one thing is for sure: writing it down is a fundamental step to making it real.

No matter what you’re facing, you have what it takes to figure anything out and become the person you’re meant to be.

Remember—humans once believed the world was flat, that margarine was better than butter, and that an ice-pick lobotomy cured mental illness. Aren’t you glad those days are over?

...a fall is never final unless you stay on the ground.

As David Deutsch says, “Everything that is not forbidden by laws of nature is achievable, given the right knowledge".

Bullshit makes good fertilizer.

Opportunity cost is no joke. Every choice has a price. Everything you say yes to means you’re saying no to something else. Translation? Each time you pick up your brain-draining gadget and say YES to watching another cat video, you’re saying NOPE to ever reaching your biggest and most important long-term goals.

What holds us back from consistently performing at the levels we’re capable of? To find the answer, we have to look inside. No matter what we’re trying to figure out, the biggest barriers are often in our own minds:

Create before you consume.

Our brains tend to reinforce what we already believe.

All beliefs are a choice and choices can be changed.

What can I learn from this? How can this work for me?

Simple is elegant and extremely efficient.

The fastest way out of our fear is through it.

If you’re not doing what you want to do. However, you still think about it every day. This means you have not given up. Only you know what action will make it happen and thought is an action. Keep focusing on what you want to do and figure out how to turn your thoughts into reality…

Rule 1. All problems (or dreams) are figureoutable. Rule 2. If a problem is not figureoutable, it’s not really a problem—it’s a fact of life or law of nature (e.g., death or gravity). Rule 3. You may not care enough to figure this problem out or achieve this particular dream. That’s okay. Find another problem or dream that ignites a blazing fire in your heart and go back to Rule 1.

It’s never about the lack of money or time or anything else. It’s about your internal game, your commitment to do whatever it takes to be creative, get resourceful, and figure it out. To find or make a way ahead, no matter what.

Yet there can be no significant change in the world unless we first have the courage to change ourselves. In order to change ourselves, we must first believe we can.

Knowing something intellectually is very different from doing something consistently, mastering it, and benefiting from it.

The art of eliminating excuses means embracing the fact that your dreams aren’t made or broken by anyone but you.

If you wait to figure out everything before starting anything, it'll never happen.

Since most of us are just trying to figure it all out, why not be kind and considerate while on the journey?

it’s important to stay mindful of your environment, especially as you work to incorporate new, more supportive and expansive beliefs.

If you had to find the time, you would.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Eleanor Roosevelt

it was about making the time. And there’s always more time than we realize

You make time for what matters most.

Putting pen to paper is a mystical way to access your most profound truths.

Repetition is a key principle in neuroplasticity. It’s how we rewire our brains and turn good ideas into permanent new ways of being and behaving.

Your innate power is immense. Your potential is limitless. You are unique, valuable, capable, and worthy of the dreams in your heart. Most of all, you have what it takes to transform and transcend whatever challenges you face.

*Comparschläger: noun; a self-inflicted poison. Activates when you compare yourself to others and end up feeling worthless. Analogous to Goldschläger, the disgusting cinnamon-flavored schnapps with gold flakes that, when ingested in large quantities, makes you puke.

Beliefs create behaviors. The cumulation of those behaviors adds up to your entire life. Know what else? Every belief has a consequence. Your beliefs either heal you or harm you. They either support your aspirations or thwart them. Belief becomes the source of your limitation or your liberation. It doesn’t matter what’s true, it matters what you believe.

Look around. There’s no shortage of people hungry for a moment of connection. There’s always someone who could use a little assistance. A little attention. A little comfort. A little love. Next time you catch yourself feeling like a fraud, check yourself. Chances are, you’re shining your flashlight on yourself rather than directing it where it can make its greatest impact—caring for others.

Speaking of taking responsibility, a quick reminder about an essential universal principle: You are 100 percent responsible for your life. Always and in all ways. It’s not your parents. It’s not the economy. It’s not your husband or your wife or your family. It’s not your boss. It’s not the schools you went to. It’s not the government or society or institutions or your age. You are responsible for what you believe, how you feel, and how you behave.

Companies with billions of dollars employ some of the most intelligent, creative humans on the planet to mastermind new ways to lure us into spending our lives on their apps and in their platforms. Remember, stock prices rely on keeping engagement metrics high. Many tech companies’ survival is based on continuously inventing ways to capture an ever-growing share of your time and attention. If you think you’re a customer of these products and platforms, think again. Your time, attention, and data are their product.

Do you love me?” Diana asked. Caine’s eyes widened. She could actually see him twitch. Like a startled animal. Like a rabbit who had just heard a fox. “It’s a yes or no question,” Diana said acidly. “But I’ll accept a nod or a shake of the head or an incoherent grunt.” “I . . . I don’t know what you mean by that,” Caine said lamely. “When I jumped off the cliff, you saved me even though it meant letting Sanjit and the others escape.” “You didn’t give me much choice,” Caine said peevishly. “You had a choice. You wanted to destroy them.” “Okay.” “Why did you make that choice?” Caine swallowed and seemed to find his palms sweaty since he rubbed them on his sides. Diana walked to the door. She unlocked it and held it open. “Go away,” she said. “Come back when you figure out your answer.

Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.” It’s part of a longer passage, which reads:

You wouldn’t have the dream if you didn’t already have what it takes to make it happen.

We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.

the brain is wired to answer questions. No matter what question you ask, your brain will immediately start searching for an answer.

The first destructive thought to watch out for is “I know this already.” Whenever we feel like we already know something, our minds disengage and shut down. The next time you hear yourself thinking or saying, “I know this already,” especially as you read this book, immediately catch that thought and switch to a growth-minded question. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” Ask it again and again with genuine curiosity. “What can I learn from this? What can I learn from this?

is

If it's important enough, I'll make the time. If not, I'll make an excuse".

This isn’t always possible, but train yourself to move toward discomfort. Put yourself in situations that feel scary and intimidating—that’s where the figureoutable magic is!

You might have heard that “fear” is the acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. Or maybe you roll with the cheeky edition: Fuck Everything and Run. I prefer the more actionable version: Face Everything and Rise.

I had no idea how to find work I’d love doing. Even the idea of trying felt wildly irresponsible.

There are two types of pain you will go through in life: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons. Jim Rohn

Excuses are dream killers. If we allow them, our excuses will keep us locked in a prison of our own making.

The key to demolishing the time excuse is to first embrace the fact that everything you’re doing with your twenty-four hours is a choice. Your choice. A choice that you make and a choice you can change.

Rule 1. All problems (or dreams) are figureoutable. Rule 2. If a problem is not figureoutable, it’s not really a problem—it’s a fact of life or law of nature (e.g., death or gravity). Rule 3. You may not care enough to figure this problem out or achieve this particular dream. That’s okay. Find another problem or dream that ignites a blazing fire in your heart and go back to Rule 1. As David Deutsch says, “Everything that is not forbidden by laws of nature is achievable, given the right knowledge.

Do you realize that virtually everything that surrounds us was once only a thought? An idea? A wild, formless figment of someone’s imagination? Every movie you’ve ever seen. Every story you’ve ever heard. Every book you’ve read. Every song that’s made you sing, dance, or cry has taken the mystical journey from the world of unmanifest to the manifest. From formless idea to concrete reality. These minds of ours are magical creation machines. They’re the birthplace of every extraordinary experience we’ve ever encountered and every major breakthrough in human history. Our minds are what give us the power to manufacture reality, both for ourselves and others. That’s because . . . Everything in the material world is first created on the level of thought.

Nothing exists in our world that does not first exist in our mind. That’s the universal gift we’ve been given to help us shape our lives and, collectively, the world around us. We’re born creators with an innate power to bring our ideas and visions into reality.

It’s a force that underpins every action we take and how we interpret and respond to the world around us. This deeper, commanding force is our beliefs. Beliefs are the hidden scripts that run our lives. Like a track running underneath a train, our beliefs determine where we go and how we get there. But before we start talking about concepts without clearly defining them, let’s use this shared definition: A belief is something you know with total and absolute certainty. It’s a thought that you’ve decided—consciously or unconsciously—is The Truth. Our beliefs are the root of our reality and our results.

The Anatomy of Hope, Jerome Groopman, MD, writes: Researchers are learning that a change in mindset has the power to alter neurochemistry. Belief and expectation—the key elements of hope—can block pain by releasing the brain’s endorphins and enkephalins, mimicking the effect of morphine.

Your beliefs are THE master commanders of your behavior and your results. Beliefs control our bodies and how we respond to crises, criticisms, and opportunities. They tell us what to notice, what to focus on, what it means, and what to do about it. The fact that your beliefs shape your reality is undeniable. They affect you physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, intellectually, and culturally. Here’s what’s important to remember: Long term, your beliefs determine your destiny. Beliefs create behaviors. The cumulation of those behaviors adds up to your entire life. Know what else? Every belief has a consequence. Your beliefs either heal you or harm you. They either support your aspirations or thwart them. Belief becomes the source of your limitation or your liberation. It doesn’t matter what’s true, it matters what you believe.

We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are. Anaïs Nin

Our brains tend to reinforce what we already believe. This well-documented phenomenon is called confirmation bias. Simply put, confirmation bias means we look for and find evidence to support our beliefs. We cherry-pick information that confirms what we already know, while ignoring (consciously and unconsciously) information that challenges our existing beliefs.

The first step to becoming free from your beliefs is noticing which ones are creating hurt or misery for you. Practice becoming aware of what you’re thinking (i.e., believing) and know that, at any moment, you get to decide if you want to continue believing that thought. Research has proven that our brains are highly adaptable. The brain is like a muscle in that it changes and gets stronger with use. Scientists often refer to this as “plasticity.” Studies in neuroscience show that we can grow new neural networks and train our brain to think in new ways. Whatever thoughts we repeat most often and with the most emotional intensity, we reinforce. Physically, we strengthen and build those neural networks. That means we can literally hardwire beliefs into our brains and nervous systems. Whatever thoughts we don’t use or reinforce will grow weak and eventually fade away.

You don't figure out everything overnight, you figure out things over time.

Your beliefs are the master commanders of your behavior and results.

Any limiting belief can be erased and replaced. Best of all, changing your beliefs doesn't have to be hard. It just takes awareness, desire, and practice.

Take back control over your mind, time, and attention. Do not allow your technology to dictate your to-do list. Other people's agendas should not derail your own.

My biggest mistake? Searching my head for an answer that could only be experienced through my heart.

Action is the fastest and most direct route to clarity.

Ignoring our truth doesn't make it go away. It only spawns despair and dysfunction.

When you don't have something clear and meaningful to work toward, you can experience a host of other problems.

The clearer you are about what you want to figure out, the better chance you have of actually doing it. Clarity equals power.

You wouldn't have the dream if you didn't already have what it takes to make it happen.

There's a difference between getting defensive and getting determined. This is about maturity, discernment, and most crucially, considering your source.

That which you give freely, you receive instantly.

Many of our most deeply held convictions are hand-me-downs. They’re old, unexamined, and unquestioned ideas that we innocently accepted from others.

Everyone is always doing the best they can. Blame and resentment have no place here. But it’s important to recognize that, whether positive or negative, our environment is one of the most significant sources of our current beliefs.

appreciating the upside doesn’t negate the hazards.

The fact that we use our phones twice as many times as we think we do indicates that a lot of smartphone use seems to be habitual, automatic behaviors that we have no awareness of.”7

The Environmental Working Group’s Guide for Good Food on a Tight Budget

Discovering what you really want saves you endless confusion and wasted energy. Stuart Wilde

a belief is nothing more than a thought that you’ve decided is significant and true.

Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. . . . A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

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. Attributed to Marie Curie

You never get stronger if you only do easy things. I didn’t want fear to calcify in my bones. I refuse to energetically shrink down into a smaller, less capable me. Just because I made a mistake and messed up didn’t mean I was going to give up.

You’re not broken or weak if you’re afraid. You’re human.

Action is the antidote to fear.

Worst-case scenarios are often low-probability events. They’re even less likely to happen if you strategize how to prevent them from happening, and how you’d deal with them if they did.

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. William Shakespeare

Millions of neurons are constantly monitoring the environment to select the most important things for us to focus on. These neurons are collectively the attentional filter. They work largely in the background, outside of our conscious awareness. This is why most of the perceptual detritus of our daily lives doesn’t register, or why, when you’ve been driving on the freeway for several hours at a stretch, you don’t remember much of the scenery that has whizzed by: Your attentional system “protects” you from registering it because it isn’t deemed important.

If I didn’t believe the answer could be found, I wouldn’t be working on it. Dr. Florence Sabin

The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves. Richard Bach

Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Only assholes do that. Haruki Murakami

One of the biggest obstacles that holds us back are those excuses. The little lies we tell ourselves that limit who we are and what we ultimately accomplish.

You are 100 percent responsible for your life.

You are responsible for what you believe, how you feel, and how you behave.

It’s never about having the time, it’s about making the time.

When you change a belief, you change everything.

It’s never about your resources, it’s about your resourcefulness.

Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, money, circumstances, than failures and success, than what other people think, say, or do. It is more important than appearance, ability, or skill. It will make or break a business, a home, a friendship, an organization. The remarkable thing is I have a choice every day of what my attitude will be. I cannot change my past. I cannot change the actions of others. I cannot change the inevitable. The only thing I can change is attitude. Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.4

Fear is not the enemy. Waiting to stop feeling afraid is.

Doing the thing is far easier than the terror we inflict upon ourselves by stressing over it in our heads. The fastest way out of our fear is through it.

Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, “What else could this mean?” Shannon L. Alder

Avoidance doesn’t extinguish your fear, action does.

Nothing has any meaning besides the meaning we give it. Whether we realize it or not, we assign a meaning to everything in our lives—every event, every interaction, and (yes) every sensation.

When you’re stuck in a paralyzing thought loop of indecision, stop thinking and start doing. Make a move, no matter how tiny.

Ambiguity is the enemy of accomplishment.

How can this work me? How can this work for me?

He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. Viktor E. Frankl

Practice becoming aware of what you’re thinking (i.e., believing) and know that, at any moment, you get to decide if you want to continue believing that thought.

To build skills, earn trust, develop a body of work, forge relationships, gain mastery

When you make your heart your home, you become aware of things imperceptible to others.

FEEL SAD, NOT MAD Imagine how painful and miserable someone’s life must be to have time to be that mean.

confirmation bias means we look for and find evidence to support our beliefs. We cherry-pick information that confirms what we already know, while ignoring (consciously and unconsciously) information that challenges our existing beliefs.

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

I’m still shocked at how much time and energy we humans can waste being indecisive, talking about ideas (in our heads or aloud) but never doing anything about them. I spent years wondering if I had what it took to be a dancer. Could I be one? Should I be one? I even fantasized about what it might be like. But I never made a move, until I did. My biggest mistake? Searching my head for an answer that could only be experienced through my heart. That’s when I learned a lesson I still live by to this day: Clarity comes from engagement, not thought. Write that down. Memorize it. Tattoo it on your tush. Whenever you’re trapped in the hell of indecision, do something about it as quickly as possible. Find a way to take a tangible, real action and you’ll be rewarded with priceless feedback to inform your next steps.

I say this because deep in my bones I am that certain everything really is figureoutable. Yes, even if you’re starting from scratch. Even if you’ve already tried and failed. Even if you don’t have a clue what the hell you’re doing or why things keep going wrong. Even if the world has told you time and time again that you can’t. Even if you’ve been born into extraordinary challenges or find yourself with the deck stacked against you.

If you want, you can keep all your reasons (i.e., excuses) why you can’t make change happen. Why you can’t figure things out. You can hang on to all your reasons—your age, your parents, your genetics, your health, where you were born, ad nauseam. No one is going to come and take those reasons away. You have every right to think and believe whatever you want. But if you do hold on to the reasons why you “can’t,” know this: You’ll never experience the depth of your love, your gifts, your strength, your creativity, and your highest potential. Neither will the world.

You can scare yourself into stuckness by assuming you have to make radical life changes in order to make progress. You don’t. Real change is practically invisible as it’s happening. No trumpets sound. A marching band will not play at your door. Meaningful progress doesn’t feel particularly exciting. Most days, it feels like work. You show up, grind it out (sometimes joyfully, sometimes not), and repeat.

There is a promising idea that I will be spending the rest of my life figuring out my Self.

Our educational system doesn’t train us to harness the power of our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and the wisdom of our bodies. It doesn’t teach us how to develop winning mindsets, perspectives, and practical habits not only to meet and overcome life’s challenges but also to experience real joy and fulfillment. It fails to show us how much intrinsic power we all have. Sadly, we get very little (if any) practical training on how to use our gifts to make a difference.

Nothing in life is that complicated. You can do whatever you set your mind to if you just roll up your sleeves, get in there, and do it. Everything is figureoutable.

Instead of saying, What’s the point? ask yourself, What’s the next right move?

GOLDEN RULE: Never reply when angry, emotional, or buzzed.

Starting small and sucky beats staying stucky.

She put down her screwdriver, turned to me, and said, “Don’t be silly, Ree. Nothing in life is that complicated. You can do whatever you set your mind to if you just roll up your sleeves, get in there, and do it. Everything is figureoutable.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those with reasons and those with results.

The second destructive thought virus is “This won’t work for me.

you’ll never grow beyond your current circumstances if you’re closed off to everything except what you currently know.

They had power and security, and were making millions. But on an emotional and spiritual level, many seemed bankrupt.

miracles like electricity, indoor plumbing, and Wi-Fi. Do you realize that virtually everything that surrounds us was once only a thought? An idea? A wild, formless figment of someone’s imagination? Every movie you’ve ever seen. Every story you’ve ever heard. Every book you’ve read. Every song that’s made you sing, dance, or cry has taken the mystical journey from the world of unmanifest to the manifest. From formless idea to concrete reality. These minds of ours are magical creation machines. They’re the birthplace of every extraordinary experience we’ve ever encountered and every major breakthrough in human history.

Everything in the material world is first created on the level of thought.

Do you realize that virtually everything that surrounds us was once only a thought? An idea? A wild, formless figment of someone’s imagination? Every movie you’ve ever seen. Every story you’ve ever heard. Every book you’ve read. Every song that’s made you sing, dance, or cry has taken the mystical journey from the world of unmanifest to the manifest. From formless idea to concrete reality. These minds of ours are magical creation machines. They’re the birthplace of every extraordinary experience we’ve ever encountered and every major breakthrough in human history.

Our minds are what give us the power to manufacture reality, both for ourselves and others. That’s because . . .

Nothing exists in our world that does not first exist in our mind.

We’re born creators with an innate power to bring our ideas and visions into reality.

Beliefs are the hidden scripts that run our lives.

In order to solve any problem or achieve any dream, we must first make a change at the level of belief. Because when you change a belief, you change everything.

The fact that your beliefs shape your reality is undeniable. They affect you physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, intellectually, and culturally.

Long term, your beliefs determine your destiny.

Test scores and measures of achievement tell you where a student is, but they don’t tell you where a student could end up. Carol Dweck

Our beliefs either propel us to or prevent us from living to our fullest potential. Our beliefs determine whether we fail or succeed, and how we define success in the first place.

All problems / dreams are figuroutable. If a problem is not figuroutable, it's not really a problem, it's a fact of life or a law of nature (like death or gravity)