My name is Ryan Lee… and I’m a “self improvement” addict.
That’s right – I listen to audio programs EVERY free minute.
In the car. On the treadmill. Heck, even in the bathroom.
I’m always trying to feed my never-ending appetite to improve myself. And my diet of audio programs usually consist of marketing, business and personal development.
But sometimes I need a little “shot” of motivation – and that’s why I also love motivational quotes. Little short phrases, sometimes as few at 8 to 10 words, that can inspire you and give you the kick in the rear you need.
YOUR FAVORITE MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES
So let’s make this fun and interactive.
Here’s a new one I just heard from Brain Vaszily “Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die.”
12 words – but so powerful.
I’d love to hear words and quotes that inspire you!
P.S. Did you know the Inner Circle comes with the mp3 of every weekly training session – so you can learn on-the-go!
“If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then later you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.” Zig Ziglar.
Thanks for sharing Mike!
Ryan
“The Meaning of life is that which we give it” – unknown
A few of my favorites:
Luck is the residue of effort
Good habits overcome lack of skill
“Dream big because you’ll never be bigger than your thoughts” ~unknown
“What is to give light must endure burning”…Victor Frankl
Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.
If you are in pursuit of happiness one thing is certain: You are not going to get it. Happiness is a always a by-product. It is not the result of a direct pursuit. -OSHO
I love quotes!!! “Only by great risks can great results be achieved.” – Xerxes
The best ever by Theodore Roosevelt.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again;
because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed;
who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion,
who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
This is one of my all time favorite too!!!!
“If a person advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours”
>>>Henry David Thoreau
If you can’t say “Hell Yeah!” say “No”. Only do the things that will make a difference.
This was a classic from Derek Sivers, a guy who made a fortune on the internet and donated it all to help musicians.
“Ask and Receive”
____
“If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promissed it would be worth it…”
“Success is never final, Failure is never fatal, its courage that counts…” ~ Coach John Wooden
“People and rubber bands have one thing in common: They must be stretched to be effective.” ~ Dexter Yager
I have always loved this because it is so damn true!!
“Life is what happens while your busy making other plans”
John Lennon
“take a chance otherwise you’ll never have a chance”
“Ain’t so bad.”
Rocky Balboa
As it is an Olympic year and we are hosting them:
“So you want to conquer in the Olympic Games, my friend. But first mark the conditions and the consequences, and then set to work. You will have to put yourself under discipline: to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats; to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or not, in cold and heat; to abstain from cold drinks and from wine at your will; in a word, to give yourself over to the trainer as to a physician. Then in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust or to be severely thrashed and, after all these things, to be defeated.”
Epicteus (about 2000 years ago).
I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon — if I can.
I seek opportunity — not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations, and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done.
“Go hard or go home”
AFTER gaining knowledge practice the NIKE mantra
“If you’re not giving 100% you’re wasting your time”
“Believe in something or risk falling for anything”
FOR THE SERIAL PRODUCT PURCHASERS
“Focus on one item, and verify how that one item will impact your end vision” (MANY of the people I coach say that quote is the best part of my off the market $5,000 home study course!
“If you don’t know where you are going, how can you know you are there?” Don’t buy a product until you create YOUR end vision, then take steps to get there.
“Make no little plans, for they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” – Daniel J. Burnham
I hope everyone here stirs the blood of many this year.
Hey Ryan,
My favourite has always been one by a fictional character (well I guess it’s by the writer then) from one of my favourite movie franchises… Yoda of Star Wars:
“Do, or do not. There is no try.”
I find inspiration and motivation in that phrase every day.
“The price, or effort of thinking thoughts of love, prosperity, or self-confidence is no greater than the price given to thoughts of hate, poverty, or self-doubt. Only the rewards are different.” – Jim Rohn / The Seasons of Life
I really like that one
“It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”
― W. Somerset Maugham
I have two, but they’re both from the same person so I’m counting them as one. :o) From the late, great Jim Rohn –
“The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.”
“Every life form seems to strive to its maximum except human beings. How tall will a tree grow? As tall as it possibly can!
Human beings, on the other hand, have been given the dignity of choice. You can choose to be all or you can choose to be less.
Why not stretch up to the full measure of the challenge and see what all you can do?!”
Don’t see yourself as making sales or gaining a larger list. See it as you were able to add extreme quality to a lifeis and the subscribers are people who need to be helped. Too many marketers are ego-centric.
Besides, what is a better reward than handsome payment for genuinely desiring to anda succeeding in improving someone elses situation?
There are only two things in life – reasons or results. Reasons don’t count.
Anonymous
Ryan,
I’m with you. I love quotes. In fact, I created a website I use to keep track of the quotes I use in talks at http://www.BruceQuotes.com. There are 100′s of quotes there.
But if I were to pick one, it would be the one I keep on my desk. It’s from the movie Rocky Balboa when he’s talking to his son who’s embarrassed by his dad. Rocky then says to him,
“It ain’t how you’re hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward—that’s how winning is done!
Note: It helps to say this with a Rocky accent :-)
Happy New Year
Bruce
http://www.WiredToGrow.com
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek” – Joseph Campbell
Col.3:23 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men …”
I have two:
“When there is no wind, row!”
“to get to the fruit of the tree, you need to go out on a limb”
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
I’ve found my greatest strengths within my greatest challenges. TP
Hah! This is perfect. I was going to be asking you about personal development!
Ok here are a couple that I really love
“Most people tiptoe through life only to arrive at death’s door safely”
“How you do anything is how you do everything!”
“Success is a result of the person that we become”
Enjoy them!
You can get my FREE productivity eBook “20 Productivity Boosting Methods for the Positive Mind” here: http://www.millionairementorsaccess.com
“Its never too late to be what you might have been” – George Eliot
Its my favorite and my entire business is built around it.
Hi Ryan,
I love your site and content buddy.
My two all time favourite quotes are:
- “When we know better, we do better”
- “Don’t ever let anyone tell you you can’t do something. If you’ve got a dream, you’ve got to protect it. If you want something, go get it – Period!” (from the film The Persuit of Happyness)
Kind Regards
Hi Ryan,
My longtime favorite: “Not to decide, IS to decide”
And my illustrious coach John Sanpietro says it all: “You only get paid for DONE”
Here’s my favorite:
“Anything you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
— Goethe
These are all great quotes listed.
These are two of my very favorite.
You don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step
~ Martin Luther King
Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide.
~ Marva Collins
All that it takes for the forces of Evil to rule the world, is for enough Good men to do nothing- unknkown
“First do what is necessary. Then do what is possible. And all of a sudden, you are doing the impossible.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi
Awesome. Thanks for sharing it.
“How you do anything is how you do everything.” Harv Ecker
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.
Vince Lombardi
“When you’re nice to people, they want to be nice back to you.”
Jack Canfield
“You can ether live your life with excessive gratitude or with excessive excuses.”
-Dr. Hanson
Hey Ryan. I just made up this quote,
If the mirror in front of you is not making weird faces back at you, then you are not working out hard enough.
“The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.”
“The world doesn’t pay you for “doing”. The world pays you for “done”.”
Don’t know who originally said it but I heard it from Dax Moy at one of your events.
Three quotes from the inimitable Samuel Johnson:
“Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven’t courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.”
“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
“Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.”
And one from Mark Twain:
“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the and the blind can see”
Excuses are the bricks that built the house of failure. Unknown
My son’s teacher has this up on the wall in his class room
second favorite – Those without a vision shall perish – Proverbs 6.2 – The Bible
Some people just need to stop thinking about everything they do and just do it. – Mac Miller
My friends site is called Inspirational Spark and there are some great quotes there:
http://www.inspirationalspark.com
I posted this one today:
“We grow great by dreams.
All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter’s evening.
Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.”
~ Woodrow Wilson
Ryan,
You’ve hit the jackpot for me man… I love good quotes! :) It’s like knowledge pills! Thanks to everybody who shared one!
But enough of talking… here’s one of my favorites for 2012!
“Good habits are as addictive as bad habits – and a lot more rewarding!”
Harvey Mackay
Let’s make this year a great one!
“Everybody makes their own deal in life, brother.”
~Hulk Hogan
Great post, Ryan! I just published a book of motivational quotes a couple weeks ago.
Some of my favorite (non running related) quotes picked at random out of my database:
“Nothing will work unless you do.” – John Wooden
“Tell everyone what you want to do and someone will want to help you do it.” – W.C. Stone
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
Hey, I got one for y’all, I love this one – keeps you going during those tough times when you need to stay positive no matter what. I guess it’s never as bad as it seems..
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Charles Swindoll
Happy New year one and all!
“To live an extraordinary life you must resist an ordinary approach.” ~ Frank McKinney
“Money follows what we become, not what we do, and big money has more to do with who
you are to a market, than what you do.” ~ Dan Kennedy
“The quality of you life is based on what you want to make non-negotiable.” ~ Keith Cunningham
“What you settle for is what you get.” ~ T. Harv Eker
One of my favourite quotes – Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison. I live my life by this quote.
“There is no excellence without labor; and the time to work, is now.” Mary Baker Eddy
Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”
Winston Churchill
“It’s nice to be important…. But it is more important to be nice!”
I don’t know the source of this motivator; but I do know that it has given me the courage and confidence to make a difference in my life and those of others around me. “The only way out of anything, is to go through it!”
Whatever you start, finish.
Yes, that’s it, and that’s all.
We truly don’t have a choice…it’s ultimately DO or DIE.
Realistically speaking, there’s no stalling, stopping, or turning back; to me, there’s only full speed ahead, till you get through it…and out the other side!
Your only competition is yourself. “I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.” – Ken Venturi
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
- Chinese Proverb
also
The limited are the only ones that see limitations!
Marketing is about understanding and connecting with people !
I have so many that I love, but here are a few…
“No one has ever created a monument for a critic”
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds” – Albert Einstein
“Never mistake activity for achievement” – John Wooden
Not sure of the original source for this one but here’s who I’ve seen profess it…
“If not me, then who? If not now, then when?” Dr. Fred C. Hatfield (aka Dr. Squat)
If you keep doing what you’ve always been doing, you keep getting what you’ve always gotten. (Paraphrasing here) – Not sure..
My quote for life is that I’ve got to PRAY as if it all depends on God, but I’ve got to DO as if it all depends on me. I think *I* said that.
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is not what happens that determines the major part of your future. What happens, happens to us all. It is what you do about what happens that counts. — Jim Rohn
Always an inspiration..
Why worry ?
If the problem can be solved,
then do not worry.
If the problem can not be solved,
then there’s nothing you can do.
Tibetan proverb
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” –Theodore Roosevelt
“Jump at the sun. You may not land on the sun, but at least you’ll be off the ground.” – African proverb
I think I know Leigh’s quote and source: “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” – Moms Mabley, comedienne