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Growth Quotes

Quote about Growth and Not Being So Hard On Yourself

    “You’re so hard on yourself. Take a moment. Sit back. Marvel at your life: at the grief that softened you, at the heartache that wisened you, at the suffering that strengthened you. Despite everything, you still grow. Be proud of this.”

    Unknown

    Beyond the Quote (105/365)

    Why are you so hard on yourself?  Is it because you think being hard on yourself will make you hard?  Is it because that’s the way others have treated you?  Is it because you have high expectations of yourself and want to do bigger and better things?  Well, what if, by making yourself “hard” you lose your soft touch?  What if you lose your malleability and more easily crack and break down?  What if you become more “hard headed” and stiff and rigid to the world and in how you think?  Maybe we should take a moment and reconsider what it means to be “hard.”

    Read More »Quote about Growth and Not Being So Hard On Yourself

      “There is no enlightened one.  There is only the one who is seeking further enlightenment.  Proper Being is process, not a state; a journey, not a destination.  It’s the continual transformation of what you know, through encounter with what you don’t know, rather than the desperate clinging to the certainty that is eternally insufficient in any case.  Always place your becoming above your current being.  That means it is necessary to recognize and accept your insufficiency, so that it can be continually rectified.  That’s painful, certainly—but, it’s a good deal.” ~ Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life (Page 362)

        “You don’t control the results of growing a plant—it will grow however it grows, because we don’t have god-like powers that can control how a plant will grow.  You don’t control the outcome, but you do control the inputs.  You can water it, give it more sunlight, feed it some nutrients, give it good soil, make sure bugs aren’t eating it.  You control the inputs and environment, but not the outcome.  So Grow a Plant when you’re making changes: you don’t control the outcome, so you can’t get fixated on it.  Don’t attach too tightly to the results of a change.  Instead, focus on creating a good environment.  Focus mostly on the inputs: what are you bringing to the change?  What is your intention?  What is your effort?  What is your enjoyment and mindfulness?  If you do this with weight loss, then you don’t focus on the weight loss itself.  You focus on the input: what kind of food are you eating? Are you eating mindfully?  Do you have a compassionate intention when it comes to your eating?  Are you exercising mindfully?  Are you giving yourself a good environment to support these changes?  If you focus on the inputs, you don’t know what the plant of your weight loss change will result in.  Maybe it will mean a slimmer version of you, maybe a healthier one, maybe a stronger one with more muscle.  You don’t know exactly, because you can’t sculpt your body like clay.  What you can do is water it, give it sunlight and good nutrients, and see how it grows.” ~ Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 57)

        Jordan Peterson Quote on Winning—About Letting Growth Taking Precedence Over Victory

          “You have a career and friends and family members and personal projects and artistic endeavors and athletic pursuits.  You might consider judging your success across all the games you play.  Imagine that you are very good at some, middling at others, and terrible at the remainder.  Perhaps that’s how it should be.  You might object: I should be winning at everything!  But winning at everything might only mean that you’re not doing anything new or difficult.  You might be winning but you’re not growing, and growing might be the most important form of winning.  Should victory in the present always take precedence over trajectory across time?”

          Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 88)

          Beyond the Quote (15/365)

          If you’re winning all of the time, every time, at everything, then one of two things has gone wrong: either you’re playing the wrong game(s) or you’re playing the wrong people.  Who cares if you win against a two-year-old in chess all of the time, every time?  There’s no challenge, which means there’s no growth, which means there’s no value.  Either you need a new game to play or you need to find a new person to play the game against.  Even if you were playing chess against one of your peers, and you were crushing them every time, it’s the same issue—no challenge, no growth, no value.

          Read More »Jordan Peterson Quote on Winning—About Letting Growth Taking Precedence Over Victory

            “There is an answer to the age-old question of whether leaders are born or made.  Obviously, some are born with natural leadership qualities, such as charisma, eloquence, sharp wit, a decisive mind, the willingness to accept risk when others might falter, or the ability to remain calm in chaotic, high-pressure situations.  Others may not possess these qualities innately.  But with a willingness to learn, with a humble attitude that seeks valid constructive criticism in order to improve, with disciplined practice and training, even those with less natural ability can develop into highly effective leaders.  Others who were blessed with all the natural talent in the world will fail as leaders if they are not humble enough to own their mistakes, admit that they don’t have it all figured out, seek guidance, learn, and continuously grow.” ~ Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership (Page 285)

              “Leaders should never be satisfied.  They must always strive to improve, and they must build that mind-set into the team.  They must face the facts through a realistic, brutally honest assessment of themselves and their team’s performance.  Identifying weaknesses, good leaders seek to strengthen them and come up with a plan to overcome challenges.  The best teams anywhere, like the SEAL Teams, are constantly looking to improve, add capability, and push the standards higher.  It starts with the individual and spreads to each of the team members until this becomes the culture, the new standard.” ~ Leif Babin, Extreme Ownership (Page 55)

                “Order is not enough.  You can’t just be stable, and secure, and unchanging, because there are still vital and important new things to be learned.  Nonetheless, chaos can be too much.  You can’t long tolerate being swamped and overwhelmed beyond your capacity to cope while you are learning what you still need to know.  Thus, you need to place one foot in what you have mastered and understood and the other in what you are currently exploring and mastering.  Then you have positioned yourself where the terror of existence is under control and you are secure, but where you are also alert and engaged.  That is where there is something new to master and some way that you can be improved.  That is where meaning is to be found.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 44)

                  “Are you an experienced scuba diver?  Great, shed your gear, take a deep breath and become a one-hundred-foot free diver.  Are you a badass triathlete?  Cool, learn how to rock climb.  Are you enjoying a wildly successful career?  Wonderful, learn a new language or skill.  Get a second degree.  Always be willing to embrace ignorance and become the dumb f*ck in the classroom again, because that is the only way to expand your body of knowledge and body of work.  It’s the only way to expand your mind.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                    “Starting at zero is a mindset that says my refrigerator is never full, and it never will be.  We can always become stronger and more agile, mentally and physically.  We can always become more capable and more reliable.  Since that’s the case we should never feel that our work is done.  There is always more to do.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                      “No matter what you or I achieve, in sports, business, or life, we can’t be satisfied.  Life is too dynamic a game.  We’re either getting better or we’re getting worse.  Yes, we need to celebrate our victories.  There’s power in victory that’s transformative, but after our celebration we should dial it down, dream up new training regimens, new goals, and start at zero the very next day.  I wake up every day as if I am back in BUD/S, day one, week one.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me