Insights & Quotes from Successful People

"Personal leadership must come from the inside out. You cannot wait for someone else to push you; you must motivate yourself through goal setting."
—Paul J. Meyer


"If you do not consciously decide ahead of time where you are going, you may very easily end up somewhere else."
—Laurence J. Peter


"A goal without a plan is just a wish."
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them."
—Denis Watley

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
—Anatole France


"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."
—Epictetus


"Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I'll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I'll give you a stock clerk."
—J.C. Penney


"You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
—Yogi Berra


"A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat but not too much above his last achievement. In this way he steadily raises his level of aspiration."
—Kurt Lewin


"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work."
—Oprah Winfrey


"The person with a fixed goal, a clear picture of his desire, or an ideal always before him, causes it, through repetition, to be buried deeply in his subconscious mind and is thus enabled, thanks to its generative and sustaining power, to realize his goal in a minimum of time and with a minimum of physical effort. Just pursue the thought unceasingly. Step by step you will achieve realization, for all your faculties and powers become directed to that end."
—Claude M. Bristol


"Failure is not in an unsuccess goal, but in having no goal to reach."
—Benjamin Mays


"The purpose of goals is to focus our attention. The mind will not reach toward achievement until it has clear objectives. The magic begins when we set goals. It is then that the switch is turned on, the current begins to flow, and the power to accomplish becomes a reality."
—"The Best of Success," by Wynn Davis


"The most important thing about goals is having one."
—Geoffry F. Abert


"Until input (thought) is linked to a goal (purpose) there can be no intelligent accomplishment."
—Paul G. Thomas


"You will now have a starting place and a destination, and you will be able to determine what it will cost you to get there...You will be going someplace."
—H. Stanley Judd

Article Source: SFI Blog Forum Time-Tested Tips

Don’t be Afraid to Fail

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~ Thomas A. Edison

Are you afraid to fail? Have you failed before? Do you like failing? Cheer up! That you’ve failed at doing something in the past is a clear indication that you tried to get something done. It is only do-nothing people that never fail. The reason they remain mediocre all their lives. Nothing enviable there believe me! Yes, you are striving to get something done. Yes, you are getting things wrong and making mistakes all along. So what? Do not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another positive step forward. The mistakes you make and discard must not be repeated. As the mistakes get discarded and reduce in number, it takes you closer to getting it right. If you allow these mistakes to stop you, you can never succeed in getting anything worthwhile successfully done. Just keep going, taking actions, making mistakes and making progress. That is the right way to go.

Let your business life be motion and movement all the way, mistakes or no mistakes. Reason is, it appears success is irretrievably connected with action. That is exactly why successful people are always on the move. Even if they make mistakes as we all do, they keep moving and never quitting. They always manage to stay on course and eventually succeed. Therefore, no one should be afraid to fail. Even you fail, don’t dissipate energy trying to cover it up. The way to go is to learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. Meaning? It's OK to fail. If you're not failing, you're not growing. If you are not growing, you can’t hope to succeed at anything worthwhile in your entire life.

Get busy right now because…. “No pains, no gains. To get the prize, you must pay the price.”


 

How to Make the Best of How Things Work Out for You

“Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” ~ John Wooden

Hello! How are things working out for you right now? Do you feel overwhelmed or motivated? Cheer up, you are not alone. Life sucks and it is at times a bitch, but we all got to live anyway. It pays to get off your butt and start kicking along to get things done. You’ve got to make the best out of what life throws at you. You can only make progress when you learn to make the best out of everything life throws your way. This is because things work out best for people who make the best of how things work out.

Are you afraid of failure? Have you been failing all along? Are you now paralyzed because of past failures? Cheer up my friend. You are not alone in your travails. It's OK to fail. Don't be afraid to fail. Don't waste energy trying to cover up failure. Everyone fails sometimes regardless of who they are and how gifted and talented they are. What matters is to learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. Progress has got to be made no matter the odds because if you're not failing, you're not growing. Simple! Since growth is what you want, your failures become insignificant once there is evidence of growth. Think about it.

Get busy right now because…. “No pains, no gains. To get the prize, you must pay the price.”

Why You Must Maintain Good Health

“Men will spend their health getting wealth; then gladly pay all they have earned to get health back.” –Mike Murdock

The first wealth is health so it is imperative to maintain good health at all times. Many people in the name of business have ruined their health. Some have found it impossible to get their health back even with all the money they made. Many are even willing to give all the money back in exchange for good health. The bad news is that it is always too late for this. It is in your best interest health-wise to balance your work schedule. You need a healthy mind and body to be able to work. This you can do by eating good and balanced food in the right proportions at the right time. Avoid doing anything in excess. Smoking, taking drugs and drinking alcohol will help to shorten your life and productive years. Listen to your body signals and form the habit of seeing a Doctor when the signals are not good. Divide your day into three parts of 10 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep and 6 hours for extra-curricular activity. This is the best way to stay healthy.

 

How to Work Your Way Out of Poverty

To get ahead in life and step out of poverty, there is no other way than to work. There is no substitute to work. The harder and smarter you work, the wealthier you become. You need to work if you want to earn money and live a good life. The commonest measure of wealth is money but wealth is not all about money. While wealth is abundance of valuable possessions including money, “money is a unit of value, a medium of exchange, a standard of deferred payment.” Payment for goods and services which result from efforts of people either individually or collectively in form of work is usually done with money. A large accumulation of money usually translates to wealth.

Obtaining money is done in one of or a combination of four ways namely:

1.    You can earn it.
2.    You can borrow it.
3.    You can beg for it or
4.    You can steal it.

The first three are legal while the fourth is illegal but they all involve some measure of work but in varying degrees of intensity. However, striving for and earning money legitimately in form of work is the most dignified way of obtaining money. The more productive work one does therefore, the more money he or she earns. “The amount of money you earn is in direct proportion to the demand for what you do your ability to do it and the difficulty of ignoring or replacing you.”



“Work is the foundation of business and the source of all prosperity.” Work is an “activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something.” The direct result of work is a Product or Service which can be sold or exchanged to obtain money. That some strength or exertion (that is work), is required before money is made stands as the main reason why some people have money while others don’t. The ranks of the poor are populated by those who can not work for one reason or the other. Many will work and work hard if they find suitable engagements. Those who make and accumulate wealth do not necessarily do different things; they do things differently. This separates them from the poor. You must have the strength, ability and willingness to perform or do a duty or render a service before you can aspire to make money. Those who attempt to get something for nothing usually end up disappointed because the law of “Cause and Effect” is a natural law. You must put in something to get out something in compliance with this natural “Law of Reciprocity.” No human activity has ever succeeded to break this law without unpleasant consequences.

You can decide to work and earn a salary or you can decide to work for yourself. However, I must point out that the surest and fastest way to wealth and comfort is through self-employment. At some point in everyone’s life, it becomes inevitable that you will be self-employed. If you work for someone and you earn a salary, one of three things must happen to end that relationship. The first is you could resign, second is you could be retrenched and thirdly, you could retire. When any of these happens, self-employment and private entrepreneurship becomes imperative.

Research findings indicate that nearly 80% of workers are reluctant to work because many find themselves in jobs they do not like. Do we need to search too far why poverty is endemic in our world? Something needs to be done to check this reluctance. People must on their own find and do only those things they like to do. This is private entrepreneurship. To get ahead in life, you must know the work you are doing, believe in it and like it too so as to obtain maximum output and rewarding results. The only viable way out of our vicious cycle of poverty is through self-employment and not 9-5 jobs. Self-employment is all about going into business for yourself. Even if you now work for someone, you still need one or more additional-income enterprises on the side if you ever hope to escape poverty.