Favorite Inspirational Quotes

There are two ways of attaining an important end, force and perseverance; the silent power of the latter grows irresistible with time.

Anne Sophie Swetchine

When I think of it, force does seem noisy.  It also tends to raise resistance which is not easily overcome, if it can be overcome at all.  I guess it would depend upon how much force you can bring to bear.

Force is also about a larger expenditure of energy.  How long can you go along trying to force your way to a goal without burning out?  Even the determination of perseverance can wax and wane over time.

I don’t think of perseverance as having the same large shove of using force.  Perseverance is the relentless persistent determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other to reach the goal.  You just keep taking steps even if they are baby steps.  It’s the same power of a drop of water continuously dropping on a stone that will wear a hole into that stone over time, maybe even leading to cracking the stone.

Yes, perseverance is a power that grows with each step, with each breath, and with each effort as you go towards your goal.  The inertia it creates and builds will keep you moving toward your goal even over the obstacles.  And it is the only way to reach a long term goal.

Tags: Anne Sophie Swetchine

Do not wait; the time will never be “just right”.  Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

Napoleon Hill

Don’t wait for everything to be perfect.  Don’t wait for the best tools.  Don’t wait till all the best people are available.  Don’t wait till you have all the money needed to get the best of what you want.  Don’t wait till the time is just right.  You will very seldom have all of these and most often none at all.

Instead I will start right now with what I have doing all I can right here.  As I keep on working toward my goal, I’ll be able to see how better to get there, I’ll be able to afford better tools, and I will attract the people I need.

Just get going now.  Even a baby step gets the process started.  It starts the forward movement and starts building inertia.  I may not know it all but I can start with what I do know.  The first baby step will lead me to the next.

In time, I won’t be taking baby steps.  I’ll be making real progress striding along to my goal.  But it starts with doing all I can where I am with what I have right now.

Go! Go! Go!

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To be a champ, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will.

Sugar Ray Robinson

I think that most of us have a hard time believing in ourselves especially when nobody else will either.  Why?  Maybe something from our childhood, the way we were raised, the way schools teach kids, the way our media and society tell us to behave, etc.  Does it really matter?

The point is that is all in the past and done.  I have to start now.  If one factor in my achieving success, becoming a champ if you will, is my belief in myself, then that is a factor I need to work on.  So how can I start if I don’t have that unshakable belief?

One way is to begin thinking, talking, and acting in the manner of someone who does have faith in herself.  I will not downplay the work I do nor the successes I do achieve no matter how small they may seem to others.  I will think of failure as a lesson to learn from and get back up to take action again.  I will act as if I know success is a foregone conclusion.  This is where I can begin.

Another step I can take in creating that belief in myself is to celebrate the small things I do and celebrate and paise where I am good.  There is at least one thing all of us can do well where we are a success and where we are good.  Acknowledge it, praise it, and realize this and it will grow.  Then get good at something else, however small, and do the same again.  In this way, my belief in myself can increase as I realize and accept the things I am good at.

Tags: Sugar Ray Robinson