“Two simple rules: (1) You get better at what you practice. (2) Everything is practice. Look around and you may be surprised by what people are “practicing” each day. If you consider each moment a repetition, what are most people training for all day long? Many people are practicing getting mad on social media. Others are practicing the fine art of noticing how they have been wronged. Still more have mastered the craft of making plans (but never following through). But, of course, it doesn’t have to be that way. What are you practicing?”
James Clear
“There is a part of us that celebrates, perhaps envies, those who let themselves get away with more, who hold themselves to lower standards—the rock stars, the famous, the wicked. It seems easier. It seems like more fun. It might even be the way to get ahead. Is that right? No, it is an illusion. Under closer inspection: No one has a harder time than the lazy. No one experiences more pain than the glutton. No success is shorter lived than the reckless and endlessly ambitious. Failing to realize your full potential is a terrible punishment. Greed moves the goalposts, preventing one from ever enjoying what one has. Even if the outside world celebrates them, on the inside there is only misery, self-loathing, and dependence.”
Ryan Holiday, Discipline Is Destiny (Page xxiii)
“Modern marketing culture is designed to amplify our desires. To turn faint wants into desperate needs. As a result, we’re intimately familiar with what we want. And we strive to get it. The problem with getting what you want is that now you have a hole, because you don’t want that thing anymore, you have it. We then are on a cycle, eager to find a new thing to want. Which means that the thing you used to want but now have fades in comparison. There’s a more resilient path: To commit to wanting what you have.”
Seth Godin
“A parent who acknowledges the fragility of life understands that every moment with their child is a gift not to be wasted. A wise parent looks at the world, harsh as it is, and says, ‘I see what you’re capable of, what you might do to my family tomorrow, but today, you’ve spared us. I will not take that for granted.’ That is how we must live—not just with our children, but with our wealth, our health, the peace in our country, the clear skies above.”
Ryan Holiday
“In an age where everyone appears to be producing constantly, it’s forgivable to assume you must be producing constantly too. If you are producing content, perhaps you should be. However, I don’t think you want to produce content. I think you want to make art. I think you need to make art. Art is a different animal entirely. It’s creation doesn’t abide by the same rules as content. Content is made for the masses and it is often soulless, plastic and easily replicable. Art, on the other hand, is self-expression. It’s soaked in your own blood. It’s as rich as figs drowning in a bowl of sugar and cream. It’s as unique as the Katana.”
Cole Schafer
“We all understand what optimism means; we all know what a relationship is. But the secret to finding contentment and fulfillment in your life is not understanding optimism, but living optimistically. It is not about intellectualizing the value of relationships, but diving in and allowing yourself to connect at an emotional level with someone else. Go ahead and care about your buddies at work or the barista who makes your coffee every day. These aren’t transactions—these are the jewels of life. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and take the risk of full engagement.”
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, via The Win Within (Page 144)
“When adversity or temptation arises, we are met with more than one path. Which path we take depends on our character. Just because one path appears to be paved with gold does not mean that it does not eventually turn to dirt. Those who choose the golden path cut corners and fail to adhere to values that are crucial to the character-building process. The glamour of instant gratification overshadows the reality of how it can affect our future. When it all falls apart, a lack of experience in dealing with adversity can leave us in a much worse situation than before. Nothing in life is free, and which every new path we must start from dirt and build our own golden road. The adversities we face along the way are all important building blocks to help us define the kind of person we want to become.”
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, via The Win Within (Page 140)
“We are all born into debt, a social debt. We have been given life and the opportunities for a successful life that are in no way our own doing. So, turn it around. Take the initiative to set up the success of others, even if the favor is never returned. Take those daily, easily avoidable opportunities to reach out. Pay it forward, donate your time, resources, energy, and money to something or someone, and it will be meaningful. These acts of the heart can be small, subtle, even unnoticed; but know that you seized a chance to positively affect someone else. You will learn, and most importantly feel, that compassion and kindness are the highest form of human emotion, the form that comes with the highest dividends, taking you closer to the victorious spirit and your win within.”
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, via The Win Within (Page 120)
“That troublesome client—thank you, it’s helping me develop better boundaries. That traffic jam—thank you, it gave me time to call my wife and have a nice, meandering conversation. That rejection email—thank you, it forced me to reevaluate and improve my work. The political realities of our time–thank you, it’s a chance to test myself, to really stick to what I believe in. That loss—thank you, for reminding me of what truly matters in life.”
Ryan Holiday
“Why is it do you think that people get married?”
Beverly Clark, via Shall We Dance (2004)
“Passion.”
“No.”
“It’s interested because I would have taken you for a romantic. Why then?”
“Because we need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”
“Rich experiences can make you happier than simply being rich.”
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, via The Win Within (Page 103)
“As I see it, life is always a great journey—with many highs, regressions, and failures, but no destination. It’s our task to find every opportunity for adventure and challenge along that grand journey.”
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, via The Win Within (Page 102)
“Wonder and wander come from the same root. A fixed mind becomes incapable of wondering, because it has become incapable of wandering. So be a wanderer, like a cloud, and each moment brings infinite surprises. Remain homeless. Homelessness doesn’t mean not to live in a home. It simply means never become attached to anything. Even if you live in a palace, never become attached. If a moment comes to move, you move—without looking back. Nothing holds you. You use everything, you enjoy everything, but you remain the master.”
Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 340)
“Each one of us has the ability to manifest hope and optimism inside ourselves. We can calm our minds, motivate ourselves, and master our attitudes. But there are many things that we cannot prepare for, as we don’t completely live within ourselves. There is an external, outside world that brings to us challenges and hardships that we must confront every day. Some we expect, some we do not, but there is always something that we can do to be ready: develop a consistent attitude of hope and optimism. These twin attitudes collaborate in a wonderful synergy that prepares you for any and all circumstances. Have hope, think positively, and the world will be yours!”
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, via The Win Within (Page 93)
“In Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, a documentary about optimism and its power, [Michael J.] Fox asked a number of people how they would define optimism. One boy smiled and said, ‘Optimism is like Santa.’ He was right: optimism is a gift giver, one that keeps on giving. I have learned that optimism will help you and others find your way even when the path is not obvious. It is an attitude and a way of life that can and will drive us to where we need to be.”
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, via The Win Within (Page 89)
“There’s no such thing as lost. The term itself assumes an end-state that simply does not exist in your life. Life is nothing more than a constant process of finding. Learning, uncovering, becoming, discovering. Treat it that way: Give yourself some grace and remember that every single moment—good and bad—contributes to your life’s story. That story always reads better when the struggle is profound. So, embrace it. You’re not lost, you’re just finding.“
Sahil Bloom
“Inner peace is not something you assemble externally; it is a perspective in your mind that is anchored in the truth of impermanence. When you deeply understand that all situations change, you cling to everything less. You appreciate the things that are enjoyable, and you are not troubled when they end. You face challenges when they arise, but you know that no storm lasts forever.”
Yung Pueblo