Success Motivational Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Success Motivational. Here they are! All 100 of them:

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The Paradoxical Commandments People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
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Kent M. Keith (The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council)
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Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.
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Steve Maraboli
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Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.
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Steve Maraboli
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Let the improvement of yourself keep you so busy that you have no time to criticize others.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
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Walt Disney Company
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Sometimes life knocks you on your ass... get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Never stop dreaming, never stop believing, never give up, never stop trying, and never stop learning.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Do not let arrogance go to your head and despair to your heart; do not let compliments go to your head and criticisms to your heart; do not let success go to your head and failure to your heart.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
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Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice)
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If you hang out with chickens, you're going to cluck and if you hang out with eagles, you're going to fly.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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The biggest wall you have to climb is the one you build in your mind: Never let your mind talk you out of your dreams, trick you into giving up. Never let your mind become the greatest obstacle to success. To get your mind on the right track, the rest will follow.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Dare to Be When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully. When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light. When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it. When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway. When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back. When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some. When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going. When times are tough, dare to be tougher. When love hurts you, dare to love again. When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal. When another is lost, dare to help them find the way. When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand. When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile. When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too. When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best. Dare to be the best you can – At all times, Dare to be!
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Make a pact with yourself today to not be defined by your past. Sometimes the greatest thing to come out of all your hard work isn't what you get for it, but what you become for it. Shake things up today! Be You...Be Free...Share.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Forget yesterday - it has already forgotten you. Don't sweat tomorrow - you haven't even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift - today.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Renew, release, let go. Yesterday’s gone. There’s nothing you can do to bring it back. You can’t β€œshould’ve” done something. You can only DO something. Renew yourself. Release that attachment. Today is a new day!
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Don't confuse poor decision-making with destiny. Own your mistakes. It’s ok; we all make them. Learn from them so they can empower you!
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Rejection is an opportunity for your selection.
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Bernard Branson
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Failure is a bend in the road, not the end of the road. Learn from failure and keep moving forward.
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Roy T. Bennett
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And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!
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Dr. Seuss
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My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Plant seeds of happiness, hope, success, and love; it will all come back to you in abundance. This is the law of nature.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Suicide is a form of murder - premeditated murder. It isn't something you do the first time you think of doing it. It takes getting used to. And you need the means, the opportunity, the motive. A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind.
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Susanna Kaysen (Girl, Interrupted)
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You were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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The universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts - it gives you what you demand with your actions.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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You are essentially who you create yourself to be and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making.
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Stephen Richards (Think Your way to Success: Let Your Dreams Run Free)
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Let today be the day you stop being haunted by the ghost of yesterday. Holding a grudge & harboring anger/resentment is poison to the soul. Get even with people...but not those who have hurt us, forget them, instead get even with those who have helped us.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, "I love you", "I'm sorry", "I appreciate you", "I'm proud of you"...whatever you're feeling. Send random texts, write a cute note, embrace your truth and share it...cause a smile today for someone else...and give plenty of hugs.
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Steve Maraboli
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The discontent and frustration that you feel is entirely your own creation.
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Stephen Richards (Think Your way to Success: Let Your Dreams Run Free)
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The harder you fall, the heavier your heart; the heavier your heart, the stronger you climb; the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal.
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Criss Jami (Killosophy)
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You must have a level of discontent to feel the urge to want to grow.
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Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
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Whenever I am in a difficult situation where there seems to be no way out, I think about all the times I have been in such situations and say to myself, "I did it before, so I can do it again.
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Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
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People tend to be generous when sharing their nonsense, fear, and ignorance. And while they seem quite eager to feed you their negativity, please remember that sometimes the diet we need to be on is a spiritual and emotional one. Be cautious with what you feed your mind and soul. Fuel yourself with positivity and let that fuel propel you into positive action.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.
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Germany Kent
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Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. And even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Find a purpose to serve, not a lifestyle to live.
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Criss Jami (Venus in Arms)
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Failures are the stairs we climb to reach success.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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How much you can learn when you fail determines how far you will go into achieving your goals.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Success comes from the inside out. In order to change what is on the outside, you must first change what is on the inside.
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Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
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Don’t let mental blocks control you. Set yourself free. Confront your fear and turn the mental blocks into building blocks.
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Roopleen (Words to inspire the winner in YOU)
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The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson
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People who lack the clarity, courage, or determination to follow their own dreams will often find ways to discourage yours. When you change for the better, the people around you will be inspired to change also....but only after doing their best to make you stop. Live your truth and don't EVER stop.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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When you work on something that only has the capacity to make you 5 dollars, it does not matter how much harder you work – the most you will make is 5 dollars.
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Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
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Focus on making yourself better, not on thinking that you are better.
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Bohdi Sanders (The Secrets of Worldly Wisdom: Your Key to Unlocking Success)
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You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it's enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.
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Richelle E. Goodrich (Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, and Grumblings for Every Day of the Year)
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If you are not the hero of your own story, then you're missing the whole point of your humanity.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Be happy with who you are and what you do, and you can do anything you want.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Great Leaders Create More Leaders Good leaders have vision and inspire others to help them turn vision into reality. Great leaders create more leaders, not followers. Great leaders have vision, share vision, and inspire others to create their own.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone.
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Shannon L. Alder
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Let your creative and imaginative mind run freely; it will take you places you never dreamed of and provide breakthroughs that others once thought were impossible.
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Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
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If you believe you can, you might. If you know you can, you will.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Many times in life, we are held back from achieving our goals because we do not commit ourselves wholeheartedly. With an escape route in mind, we hold ourselves back from giving our all.
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Idowu Koyenikan (All You Need Is a Ball: What Soccer Teaches Us about Success in Life and Business)
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Do not let another day go by where your dedication to other people's opinions is greater than your dedication to your own emotions!
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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The level of success you achieve will be in direct proportion to the depth of your commitment.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Whenever you are going through life’s challenges, remember that for iron to be cast into its desired form, it must first go through intense heat.
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Idowu Koyenikan (All You Need Is a Ball: What Soccer Teaches Us about Success in Life and Business)
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The road to success is always under construction
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Lily Tomlin
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Act the way you'd like to be and soon you'll be the way you'd like to act.
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Bob Dylan
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To be heroic is to be courageous enough to die for something; to be inspirational is to be crazy enough to live a little.
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Criss Jami (Venus in Arms)
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The greatest love stories are not those in which love is only spoken, but those in which it is acted upon.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It's your masterpiece after all.
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Nathan W. Morris
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Judging is preventing us from understanding a new truth. Free yourself from the rules of old judgments and create the space for new understanding.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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If you fuel your journey on the opinions of others, you are going to run out of gas.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Integrity is doing what is right and truthful, and doing as you say you would do.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Get Off The Scale! You are beautiful. Your beauty, just like your capacity for life, happiness, and success, is immeasurable. Day after day, countless people across the globe get on a scale in search of validation of beauty and social acceptance. Get off the scale! I have yet to see a scale that can tell you how enchanting your eyes are. I have yet to see a scale that can show you how wonderful your hair looks when the sun shines its glorious rays on it. I have yet to see a scale that can thank you for your compassion, sense of humor, and contagious smile. Get off the scale because I have yet to see one that can admire you for your perseverance when challenged in life. It’s true, the scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That’s it. It cannot measure beauty, talent, purpose, life force, possibility, strength, or love. Don’t give the scale more power than it has earned. Take note of the number, then get off the scale and live your life. You are beautiful!
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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People are successful because they think and act like successful people.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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There is great change to be experienced once you learn the power of letting go. Stop allowing anyone or anything to control, limit, repress, or discourage you from being your true self! Today is YOURS to shape - own it - break free from people and things that poison or dilute your spirit.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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When you concentrate your energy purposely on the future possibility that you aspire to realize, your energy is passed on to it and makes it attracted to you with a force stronger than the one you directed towards it.
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Stephen Richards (Think Your way to Success: Let Your Dreams Run Free)
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If you're waiting until you feel talented enough to make it, you'll never make it.
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Criss Jami (Healology)
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No matter what your history has been, your destiny is what you create today. What are you going to create?
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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When God takes out the trash, don't go digging back through it. Trust Him.
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Amaka Imani Nkosazana (Heart Crush)
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Fear can only grow in darkness. Once you face fear with light, you win.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Do not sabotage your new relationship with your last relationship’s poison.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Don't give up! It's not over. The universe is balanced. Every set-back bears with it the seeds of a come-back.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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When you are living the best version of yourself, you inspire others to live the best versions of themselves.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Do not sit still; start moving now. In the beginning, you may not go in the direction you want, but as long as you are moving, you are creating alternatives and possibilities.
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Rodolfo Costa (Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes)
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Always choose the future over the past. What do we do now?
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Brian Tracy (Tracy Create Your Own Future: How to Master the 12 Critical Factors of Unlimited Success)
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You can't just wish change; you have to live the change in order for it to become a reality.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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I advise you to stop sharing your dreams with people who try to hold you back, even if they're your parents. Because, if you're the kind of person who senses there's something out there for you beyond whatever it is you're expected to do - if you want to be EXTRA-ordinary- you will not get there by hanging around a bunch of people who tell you you're not extraordinary. Instead, you will probably become as ordinary as they expect you to be.
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Kelly Cutrone (If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You)
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Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game!
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Babe Ruth
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Become the leader of your life. Lead yourself to where you want to be. Breathe life back into your ambitions, your desires, your goals, your relationships.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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How would your life be different if…You pretended those around you were deaf to your words? Let today be the day…You let your actions speak and communicate your feelings and intentions.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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I am not a victim. No matter what I have been through, I'm still here. I have a history of victory.
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Although time seems to fly, it never travels faster than one day at a time. Each day is a new opportunity to live your life to the fullest. In each waking day, you will find scores of blessings and opportunities for positive change. Do not let your TODAY be stolen by the unchangeable past or the indefinite future! Today is a new day!
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Well, if it can be thought, it can be done, a problem can be overcome,
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E.A. Bucchianeri (Brushstrokes of a Gadfly, (Gadfly Saga, #1))
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You have a unique gift to offer this world. Be true to yourself, be kind to yourself, read and learn about everything that interests you and keep away from people who bring you down. When you treat yourself kindly and respect the uniqueness of those around you, you will be giving this world an amazing gift... YOU!
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Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
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Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.
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Mario Andretti
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Are you going to allow the world around you to change while you remain stagnant? Make this the time you throw away old habits that have hindered your happiness and success and finally allow your greatest self to flourish.
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Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
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Today is a new day and it brings with it a new set of opportunities for me to act on. I am attentive to the opportunities and I seize them as they arise. I have full confidence in myself and my abilities. I can do all things that I commit myself to. No obstacle is too big or too difficult for me to handle because what lies inside me is greater than what lies ahead of me. I am committed to improving myself and I am getting better daily. I am not held back by regret or mistakes from the past. I am moving forward daily. Absolutely nothing is impossible for me.
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Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
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No matter how old you are now. You are never too young or too old for success or going after what you want. Here’s a short list of people who accomplished great things at different ages 1) Helen Keller, at the age of 19 months, became deaf and blind. But that didn’t stop her. She was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. 2) Mozart was already competent on keyboard and violin; he composed from the age of 5. 3) Shirley Temple was 6 when she became a movie star on β€œBright Eyes.” 4) Anne Frank was 12 when she wrote the diary of Anne Frank. 5) Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13. 6) Nadia ComΔƒneci was a gymnast from Romania that scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics at age 14. 7) Tenzin Gyatso was formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950, at the age of 15. 8) Pele, a soccer superstar, was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil. 9) Elvis was a superstar by age 19. 10) John Lennon was 20 years and Paul Mcartney was 18 when the Beatles had their first concert in 1961. 11) Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936. 12) Beethoven was a piano virtuoso by age 23 13) Issac Newton wrote PhilosophiΓ¦ Naturalis Principia Mathematica at age 24 14) Roger Bannister was 25 when he broke the 4 minute mile record 15) Albert Einstein was 26 when he wrote the theory of relativity 16) Lance E. Armstrong was 27 when he won the tour de France 17) Michelangelo created two of the greatest sculptures β€œDavid” and β€œPieta” by age 28 18) Alexander the Great, by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world 19) J.K. Rowling was 30 years old when she finished the first manuscript of Harry Potter 20) Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean 21) Oprah was 32 when she started her talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind 22) Edmund Hillary was 33 when he became the first man to reach Mount Everest 23) Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he wrote the speech β€œI Have a Dream." 24) Marie Curie was 35 years old when she got nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics 25) The Wright brothers, Orville (32) and Wilbur (36) invented and built the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight 26) Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died virtually unknown, yet his paintings today are worth millions. 27) Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon. 28) Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and 49 years old when he wrote "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" 29) Christopher Columbus was 41 when he discovered the Americas 30) Rosa Parks was 42 when she refused to obey the bus driver’s order to give up her seat to make room for a white passenger 31) John F. Kennedy was 43 years old when he became President of the United States 32) Henry Ford Was 45 when the Ford T came out. 33) Suzanne Collins was 46 when she wrote "The Hunger Games" 34) Charles Darwin was 50 years old when his book On the Origin of Species came out. 35) Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa. 36) Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became president. 37) Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds Franchise and took it to unprecedented levels. 38) Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote "The Cat in the Hat". 40) Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III was 57 years old when he successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009. All of the 155 passengers aboard the aircraft survived 41) Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started the KFC Franchise 42) J.R.R Tolkien was 62 when the Lord of the Ring books came out 43) Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became President of the US 44) Jack Lalane at age 70 handcuffed, shackled, towed 70 rowboats 45) Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became President
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Pablo
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I am a strong and powerful woman. I am proud to be a woman and I celebrate the qualities that I have as a woman. I am not defined by other people’s opinion of who I should be or what I should do as a woman. I determine that, not anyone else. I am not passed up for a position, title, or promotion because I am a woman. I fully deserve all the good things that comes my way. Irrespective of what anyone might think, being a woman places no boundaries or limits on my abilities. I can do anything I set my mind to. I celebrate my womanhood and I am beautiful both inside and out.
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Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
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Act as if! Act as if you're a wealthy man, rich already, and then you'll surely become rich. Act as if you have unmatched confidence and then people will surely have confidence in you. Act as if you have unmatched experience and then people will follow your advice. And act as if you are already a tremendous success, and as sure as I stand here today - you will become successful.
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Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street (The Wolf of Wall Street, #1))
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The power behind taking responsibility for your actions lies in putting an end to negative thought patterns. You no longer dwell on what went wrong or focus on whom you are going to blame. You don't waste time building roadblocks to your success. Instead, you are set free and can now focus on succeeding.
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Lorii Myers
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If you think you are beaten, you are If you think you dare not, you don't, If you like to win, but you think you can't It is almost certain you won't. If you think you'll lose, you're lost For out of the world we find, Success begins with a fellow's will It's all in the state of mind. If you think you are outclassed, you are You've got to think high to rise, You've got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize. Life's battles don't always go To the stronger or faster man, But soon or late the man who wins Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
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Walter D. Wintle
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People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
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Kent M. Keith
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It is tempting when looking at the life of anyone who has committed suicide to read into the decision to die a vastly complex web of reasons; and, of course, such complexity is warranted. No one illness or event causes suicide; and certainly no one knows all, or perhaps even most, of the motivations behind the killing of the self. But psychopathology is almost always there, and its deadliness is fierce. Love, success, and friendship are not always enough to counter the pain and destructiveness of severe mental illness
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Kay Redfield Jamison (Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide)
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You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either. Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga. Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.
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Bhagavad Gita
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Suicide is a form of murderβ€” premeditated murder. It isn’t something you do the first time you think of doing it. It takes some getting used to. And you need the means, the opportunity, the motive. A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind. It’s important to cultivate detachment. One way to do this is to practice imagining yourself dead, or in the process of dying. If there’s a window, you must imagine your body falling out the window. If there’s a knife, you must imagine the knife piercing your skin. If there’s a train coming, you must imagine your torso flattened under its wheels. These exercises are necessary to achieving the proper distance. The debate was wearing me out. Once you've posed that question, it won't go away. I think many people kill themselves simply to stop the debate about whether they will or they won't. Anything I thought or did was immediately drawn into the debate. Made a stupid remarkβ€”why not kill myself? Missed the busβ€”better put an end to it all. Even the good got in there. I liked that movieβ€”maybe I shouldn’t kill myself. In reality, it was only part of myself I wanted to kill: the part that wanted to kill herself, that dragged me into the suicide debate and made every window, kitchen implement, and subway station a rehearsal for tragedy.
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Susanna Kaysen
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In life, the question is not if you will have problems, but how you are going to deal with your problems. If the possibility of failure were erased, what would you attempt to achieve? The essence of man is imperfection. Know that you're going to make mistakes. The fellow who never makes a mistake takes his orders from one who does. Wake up and realize this: Failure is simply a price we pay to achieve success. Achievers are given multiple reasons to believe they are failures. But in spite of that, they persevere. The average for entrepreneurs is 3.8 failures before they finally make it in business. When achievers fail, they see it as a momentary event, not a lifelong epidemic. Procrastination is too high a price to pay for fear of failure. To conquer fear, you have to feel the fear and take action anyway. Forget motivation. Just do it. Act your way into feeling, not wait for positive emotions to carry you forward. Recognize that you will spend much of your life making mistakes. If you can take action and keep making mistakes, you gain experience. Life is playing a poor hand well. The greatest battle you wage against failure occurs on the inside, not the outside. Why worry about things you can't control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you? Handicaps can only disable us if we let them. If you are continually experiencing trouble or facing obstacles, then you should check to make sure that you are not the problem. Be more concerned with what you can give rather than what you can get because giving truly is the highest level of living. Embrace adversity and make failure a regular part of your life. If you're not failing, you're probably not really moving forward. Everything in life brings risk. It's true that you risk failure if you try something bold because you might miss it. But you also risk failure if you stand still and don't try anything new. The less you venture out, the greater your risk of failure. Ironically the more you risk failure β€” and actually fail β€” the greater your chances of success. If you are succeeding in everything you do, then you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough. And that means you're not taking enough risks. You risk because you have something of value you want to achieve. The more you do, the more you fail. The more you fail, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better you get. Determining what went wrong in a situation has value. But taking that analysis another step and figuring out how to use it to your benefit is the real difference maker when it comes to failing forward. Don't let your learning lead to knowledge; let your learning lead to action. The last time you failed, did you stop trying because you failed, or did you fail because you stopped trying? Commitment makes you capable of failing forward until you reach your goals. Cutting corners is really a sign of impatience and poor self-discipline. Successful people have learned to do what does not come naturally. Nothing worth achieving comes easily. The only way to fail forward and achieve your dreams is to cultivate tenacity and persistence. Never say die. Never be satisfied. Be stubborn. Be persistent. Integrity is a must. Anything worth having is worth striving for with all your might. If we look long enough for what we want in life we are almost sure to find it. Success is in the journey, the continual process. And no matter how hard you work, you will not create the perfect plan or execute it without error. You will never get to the point that you no longer make mistakes, that you no longer fail. The next time you find yourself envying what successful people have achieved, recognize that they have probably gone through many negative experiences that you cannot see on the surface. Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward.
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John C. Maxwell (Failing Forward)