“For writers and artists, the ability to self-reinforce is more important than talent. What exactly is reinforcement? It’s when your coach or mentor tugs you aside and tells you how well you are doing, how proud of you they are, and how certain they are that ultimate success will be yours if you just stay who you are and keep doing what you’re doing. That’s reinforcement. Can you tell yourself that? Without a coach? Without a mentor? Can you be your own coach and mentor? That’s self-reinforcement. When we say, ‘Put your ass where your heart wants to be,’ we also mean keep it there. Self-reinforcement keeps us there. It keeps us committed over the long-haul.”
Steven Pressfield, Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants To Be (Page 95)
“High hopes that are dashed by the first failure are precisely what we don’t need. We need to believe in ourselves but not to believe that life is easy. Nothing in the historical record tells us that triumph is assured. Life’s problems resist solution, and we are fallible.”
John W. Gardner, Self-Renewal (Page xiii)
“Explore life from a position of power. When you believe, ‘Even if I stay single, I’ll still have a great life‘… then you are in a much better position to enter a relationship. When you believe, ‘Even if I don’t get into this school, I’ll still have a great life‘… then you are in a much better position to apply. When you believe, ‘Even if I don’t succeed with this business, I’ll still have a great life‘… then you are in a much better position to give it a try. Sure, you may want the relationship to work or the business to be a success—and you should give it your best effort—but also realize that if it doesn’t work out, you’ll be fine. There are many ways to live a great life.”
James Clear
“Create immediately an atmosphere of freedom so that you can live and find out for yourselves what is true, so that you are able to face the world with the ability to understand it, not just conform to it. One can tell for oneself whether the water is warm or cold. In the same way, a man must convince himself about these experiences, only then are they real.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 208)
