John C Maxwell Quotes

Seven Steps to Success 1) Make a commitment to grow daily. 2) Value the process more than events. 3) Don't wait for inspiration. 4) Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity. 5) Dream big. 6) Plan your priorities. 7) Give up to go up.

We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up.

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.

Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.

Talent is a gift, but character is a choice.

Success is... knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.

if you don't have peace, it isn't because someone took it from you; you gave it away. You cannot always control what happens to you, but you can control what happens in you.

Learn to say 'no' to the good so you can say 'yes' to the best.

The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.

Question for God every morning: What is the main event today? What do you want me to focus on today?

Remember, man does not live on bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up.

To Stay Focused in Life: You can't know everyone You can't do everything You can't go everywhere We have to pick and choose between good and a little bit better.

A leader who produces other leaders multiples their influences.

The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying

If you don’t change the direction you are going, then you’re likely to end up where you’re heading…

Do not take the agenda that someone else has mapped out for your life.

Stay focused instead of getting offended or off track by others.

Everything begins with a decision. Then, we have to manage that decision for the rest of your life.

We feel unhappy and confused with our life when we don't do the focus or calling that God has on our life.

Relational skills are the most important abilities in leadership.

Poem by Howard A. Walter (Character) I would be true, for there are those who trust me; I would be pure, for there are those who care; I would be strong, for there are those who suffer; I would be brave, for there is much to dare. I would be friend of all--- the foe, the friendless; I would be giving, and forget the gift; I would be humble, for I know my weakness; I would look up, and laugh, and love, and lift.

The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that's when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.

There was a very cautious man Who never laughed or played He never risked, he never tried, He never sang or prayed. And when he on day passed away, His insurance was denied, For since he never really lived, They claimed he never really died. (Anonymous poem)

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.

A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others. By John Maxwell

Most People have a desire to look for the exception instead of the desire to become exceptional.

Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.

True success comes only when every generation continues to develop the next generation.

Your success stops where your character stops. You can never rise above the limitations of your character.

He that thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.

You must do right before you feel good.

Happiness simply cannot be relied upon as a measure of success.

Have to sow excellent seeds to have an excellent life. Must start with sowing excellent thoughts.

You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.

Must manage your thought life daily and then you can manage your life.

Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.

I want to make a difference with people who want to make a difference, doing something that makes a difference.

People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

Live to learn and you will really learn to live.

Dont ever be impressed with goal setting; be impressed with goal getting. Reaching new goals and moving to a higher level of performance always requires change, and change feels awkward. But take comfort in the knowledge that if a change doesn't feel uncomfortable, then it's propably not really a change.

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

It's said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others' mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others's successes.

You cannot enjoy others until you enjoy yourself because you cannot give to others what you do not have.

The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness.

If you wouldn't follow yourself, why should anyone else?

A dream worth pursuing is a picture and blueprint of a person's purpose and potential

When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.

Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about themselves, and small people talk about others

The sum of all your thoughts comprises your overall attitude.

Tend to the people, and they will tend to the business.

Most people who decide to grow personally find their first mentors in the pages of books.

If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then someday you can do the things you want do when you want to do them.

One of the major keys to success is to keep moving forward on the journey, making the best of the detours and interruptions, turning adversity into advantage.

People dont care what you know until they know what you care

Life is now in session. Are you present?

Maya Angelou observed you cant use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. Sadly,too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured. There has to be climate in which new ways of thinking,perceiving, questioning are encouraged.

You can't move people to action unless you first move them with emotion.... The heart comes before the head.

Dreams don’t work unless you do

Your attitude is like the minds paintbrush. It can paint everything in bright, vibrant colors-creating a masterspiece.

People are never able to outperform their self-image.

It's good to be out of your comfort zone. Just don't step out of your gift zone.

In most cases, those who want power probably shouldn't have it, those who enjoy it probably do so for the wrong reasons, and those who want most to hold on to it don't understand that it's only temporary.

You see, when our attitudes outdistance our abilities, even the impossible becomes possible.

Ideas have a short shelf life. You must act on them before the expiration date.

Attitude is the first quality that marks the successful man. If he has a positive attitude and is a positive thinker, who likes challenges and difficult situations, then he has half his success achieved.

It's better to prepare than to repair.

A dream becomes a reality as a result of your actions, and your actions are controlled, to a large extent, by your habits.

If you're not failing, you're probably not really moving forward.

A person who knows how may always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be his boss.

The bottom line in managing your emotions is that you should put others – not yourself – first in how you handle and process them. Whether you delay or display your emotions should not be for your own gratification. You should ask yourself, What does the team need? Not, What will make me feel better?

When you realize that people treat you according to how they see themselves rather than how you really are, you are less likely to be affected by their behavior.

God uses people who fail—'cause there aren't any other kind around.

The leader’s Attitude is like a thermostat for the place she works. If her attitude is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the environment is easy to work in. But if her attitude is bad, the temperature is insufferable.

Leaders Who Attract Followers . . . Need to Be Needed Leaders Who Develop Leaders . . . Want to Be Succeeded

To lead yourself, use your head; to lead others, use your heart.

Great leaders always seem to embody two seemingly disparate qualities. They are both highly visionary and highly practical.

Ninety percent of all those who fail are not actually defeated. They simply quit.

Where success is concerned, people are not measured in inches, or pounds, or college degrees, or family background; they are measured by the size of their thinking.

You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” —Jim Rohn

People change when they ... Hurt enough that they have to, Learn enough that they want to, and Receive enough that they are able to.

The company owner doesn't need to win. The best idea does.

People tend to become what the most important people in their lives think they will become.

Creativity requires a willingness to look stupid.

People don't care how much you know unless you know how much you care

Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.

Everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone.

It is easier to move from failure to success in from excuses to success.

Your thinking, more than anything else, shapes the way you live. It’s really true that if you change your thinking, you can change your life.

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” —Carl Jung

Leadership is more disposition than position—influence others from wherever you are.

Little progress is better than no progress at all. Success comes in taking many small steps. If you stumble in a small step, it rarely matters. Don't gift wrap the garbage. Let little failures go.

Advice is what we ask for when we already knew the answer but wish we didn't.

When people respect you as a person, they admire you. When they respect you as a friend, they love you. When they respect you as a leader, they follow you.

The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.

People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” -John C. Maxwell

People with humility don’t think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less.

Your attitude, more than your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

Comparing yourself to others is really just a needless distraction. The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday. You do that by focusing on what you can do today to improve and grow.

Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. —JOHN C. MAXWELL

A Chinese proverb says, “Those who drink the water must remember those who dug the well.” Gratitude is one of the most attractive of all personal attributes;

Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.

If you combine your thoughts with the thoughts of others, you will come up with thoughts you’ve never had!

The goal of confrontation should be to help, not to humiliate.

Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward.

French essayist Michel Eyquem de Montaigne wrote, “The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet live very little.” The truth is that you can spend your life any way you want, but you can spend it only once.

Why worry about things you can't control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you?

Instead of trying to be great, be part of something greater than yourself.

President Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

The reality is that you will never get much done unless you go ahead and do it before you are ready.

Your life today is a result of your thinking yesterday. Your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today.

You cannot change your life until you change something you do every day.

Few things build a person up like affirmation. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition (Simon and Schuster, 1991), the word affirm comes from ad firmare, which means “to make firm.” So when you affirm people, you make firm within them the things you see about them. Do that often enough, and the belief that solidifies within them will become stronger than the doubts they have about themselves.

Successful people do daily what unsuccessful people do occasionally. They practice daily disciplines. They implement systems for their personal growth. They make it a habit to maintain a positive attitude. At

The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be.

anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. Leaders who are good navigators are capable of taking their people just about anywhere.

The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others.

Good leaders ask great questions that inspire others to dream more, think more, learn more, do more, and become more.

If you don't contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you're not thinking.

Failure isn't so bad if it doesn't attack the heart. Success is all right if it doesn't go to the head.

Nobody achieves anything great by giving the minimum. No teams win championships without making sacrifices and giving their best.

One of the greatest problems people have with failure is that they are too quick to judge isolated situations in their lives and label them as failures. Instead, they need to keep the bigger picture in mind.

If you are a leader, the true measure of your success is not getting people to work. It’s not getting people to work hard. It is getting people to work hard together. That takes commitment.

Many people view leadership the same way they view success, hoping to go as far as they can, to climb the ladder, to achieve the highest position possible for their talent. But contrary to conventional thinking, I believe the bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. That is achieved by serving others and adding value to their lives.

First, when we are busy, we naturally believe that we are achieving. But busyness does not equal productivity. Activity is not necessarily accomplishment. Second, prioritizing requires leaders to continually think ahead, to know what's important, to know what's next, to see how everything relates to the overall vision. That's hard work. Third, prioritizing causes us to do things that are at the least uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful.

Being in power is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." If

Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are in making them feel good about you.

Position is a poor substitute for influence.

Preparation (growth) + Attitude + Opportunity + Action (doing something about it) = Luck

Nobody finishes well by accident.

You never really know something until you teach it to someone else.

The challenge of leadership is to create change and facilitate growth.

Getters generally don’t get happiness; givers get it.

If you're proactive, you focus on preparing. If you're reactive, you end up focusing on repairing.

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes. Little minds are subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them.

Dreams often come one size too big so that we can grow into them.

An unintentional life accepts everything and does nothing. An intentional life embraces only the things that will add to the mission of significance.

Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less. If you are being salt and light as Jesus commanded, then you have begun to obey God’s call to leadership.

A winner knows how much he still has to learn, even when he is considered an expert by others. A loser wants to be considered an expert by others before he has learned enough to know how little he knows.

How people treat you is their karma. How you react is yours.” —Wayne W. Dyer

Every message that people receive is filtered through the messenger who delivers it.

There is no life as empty as the self-centered life. There is no life as centered as the self-empty life.

It is true: most people are more satisfied with old problems than committed to finding new solutions.

A dream requires a partner: commitment.

People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.

you can act your way into feeling long before you can feel your way into action. If you wait until you feel like doing something, you will likely never accomplish it.

Sometimes we are afraid because success puts pressure on us to continue to succeed.

To reach your potential you must grow. And to grow, you must be highly intentional about it.

As Thomas Jefferson proclaimed, “In matters of fashion, swim with the current. In matters of conscience, stand like a rock.

Though you cannot go back and make a brand new start, my friend. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.

As people gain more authority, they often develop a lack of patience in listening to those under them. A deaf ear is the first indication of a closed mind.

Good leaders know when to display emotions and when to delay them.

John Wesley: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.

You could use the 80/20 rule. Give 80 percent of your effort to the top 20 percent (most important) activities. Another way is to focus on exceptional opportunities that promise a huge return. It comes down to this: give your attention to the areas that bear fruit.

It's not the position that makes the leader; it's the leader that makes the position.

The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it.

You cannot kindle afire in any other heart until it is burning within your -ELEANOR DOAN

Risk must be evaluated not by the fear it generates in you or the probability of your success, but by the value of the goal.

Everything looks like a failure in the middle.

When it comes to taking risks, I believe there are two kinds of people: those who don't dare try new things, and those who don't dare miss them.

القادة هم المسئولون عن الرؤية التابعين غالبا ً لا يستطيعون رؤية المستقبل كما يراه القائد .

The great men and women of history were not great because of what they earned and owned, but rather for what they gave their lives to accomplish.

The Right Thought plus the Right People in the Right Environment at the Right Time for the Right Reason = the Right Result

Leadership is responsible. Losing is unacceptable. Passion is unquenchable. Creativity is essential. Quitting is unthinkable. Commitment is unquestionable. Victory is inevitable.

If you want to be a leader, the good news is that you can do it. Everyone has the potential, but it isn't accomplished overnight. It requires perseverance.

When you make a commitment, you create hope. When you keep a commitment, you create trust.

Action is what converts human dreams into significance.

The problem with popular thinking is that it doesn’t require you to think at all.” —Kevin Myers

We must stop assuming that a thing which has never been done before probably cannot be done at all.” —Donald M. Nelson

The Situation Principle: Never let the situation mean more than the relationship.

The beauty of trust is that it erases worry and frees you to get on with other matters. Trust means confidence.” —Stephen M.R. Covey

Dentists encourage us to use dental floss daily to promote the health of our teeth; we need to use mental floss to get rid of old thinking and promote the health of our leadership.

The first important step in weathering failure is learning not to personalize it.

Never complain about what you allow.

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.

If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.

Nothing will make a better impression on your leader than your ability to manage yourself. If your leader must continually expend energy managing you, then you will be perceived as someone who drains time and energy. If you manage yourself well, however, your boss will see you as someone who maximizes opportunities and leverages personal strengths. That will make you someone your leader turns to when the heat is on.

When people follow a leader because they have to, they will do only what they have to. People don’t give their best to leaders they like least. They give reluctant compliance, not commitment. They may give their hands but certainly not their heads or hearts.

To lead any way other than by example, we send a fuzzy picture of leadership to others. If we work on improving ourselves first and make that our primary mission, then others are more likely to follow.

isn't fair. It isn't going to be fair. Stop sniveling and whining and go out and make it happen for you." Wishing that a risk wasn't yours to take won't make it any easier. In fact, it might make it harder. Your attitude about it is your choice.

I always try to remember that I am a work in progress. When I maintain that perspective, I realize that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to have it all together. I don’t need to try to have all the answers. And I don’t need to learn everything in a day. When I make a mistake, it’s not because I’m a failure or worthless. I just didn’t do something right because I still haven’t improved enough in some part of the process. And that motivates me to keep growing and improving. If I don’t know something, it’s an opportunity to try to improve in a new area.

You don’t really understand people until you hear their life story. If you know their stories, you grasp their history, their hurts, their hopes and aspirations. You put yourself in their shoes. And just by virtue of listening and remembering what’s important to them, you communicate that you care and desire to add value.

Today Matters People create success in their lives by focusing on today. It may sound trite, but today is the only time you have. It’s too late for yesterday. And you can’t depend on tomorrow. That’s why today matters.

Everyone enjoys being inspired. But here’s the truth when it comes to personal growth: Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. That’s the Law of Consistency. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. It doesn’t matter how many opportunities you receive. If you want to grow, consistency is key.

The effectiveness of your work will never rise above your ability to lead and influence others. You cannot produce consistently on a level higher than your leadership. In other words, your leadership skills determine the level of your success-and the success of those who work around you.

As a leader, you don’t earn any points for failing in a noble cause. You don’t get credit for being “right” as you bring the organization to a halt. Your success is measured by your ability to actually take the people where they need to go. But you can do that only if the people first buy into you as a leader.

Good leaders motivate others by their listening skills. We are to: avoid prejudicial first impressions; become less self-centered; withhold initial criticism; stay calm; listen with empathy; be active listeners; clarify what we hear; and recognize the healing power of listening. Then we are to act on what we hear

Earlier in my life, I have to admit, I was often guilty of this error. I wanted to take an idea from seed thought to solution before sharing it with anyone, even the people it would most impact. I did this both at work and at home. But over the years, I have learned that you can go much farther with a team than you can go alone.

No, none of these things are the key. When it comes right down to it, I know of only one factor that separates those who consistently shine from those who don't: The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure. Nothing else has the same kind of impact on people's ability to achieve and to accomplish whatever their minds and hearts desire.

When special people touch our lives then suddenly we see how beautiful and wonderful our world can really be. They show us that our special hopes and dreams can take us far by helping us look inward and believe in who we are. They bless us with their love and joy through everything they give. When special people touch our lives they teach us how to live.

Leaders see everything with a leadership bias. Their focus is on mobilizing people and leveraging resources to achieve their goals rather than on using their own individual efforts. Leaders who want to succeed maximize every asset and resource they have for the benefit of their organization. For that reason, they are continually aware of what they have at their disposal.

You don’t win an Olympic gold medal with a few weeks of intensive training,” says (Seth) Godin. “There’s no such thing as an overnight opera sensation. Great law firms or design companies don’t spring up overnight…every great company, every great brand, and every great career has been built in exactly the same way: bit by bit, step by step, little by little.” There is no magic solution to success.

A visionary company is like a great work of art. Think of Michelangelo’s scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or his statue of David. Think of a great and enduring novel like Huckleberry Finn or Crime and Punishment. Think of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony or Shakespeare’s Henry V. Think of a beautifully designed building, like the masterpieces of Frank Lloyd Wright or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. You can’t point to any one single item that makes the whole thing work; it’s the entire work—all the pieces working together to create an overall effect—that leads to enduring greatness.

What do the people closest to you value? Make a list of the most important people in your life-from home, work, church, hobbies, and so on. After making the list, write what each person values most. Then rate yourself on a scale of 1 (poorly) to 10 (excellently) on how well you relate to that person's values. If you can't articulate what someone values or you score lower than an 8 in relating to that person, spend more time with him or her to improve.

Whom to Invite to Your Table As you bring people to your table to share ideas, be selective about whom you pick. Choose people who Understand the value of questions Desire the success of others Add value to others’ thoughts Are not threatened by others’ strengths Can emotionally handle quick changes in the conversation Understand their place of value at the table Bring out the best thinking in the people around them Have experienced success in the area under discussion Leave the table with a “we” attitude, not a “me” attitude