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Mindset Quotes

Ryan Holiday Quote on Cultivating Mental Stillness To Succeed In Life

    “Each of us will, in our own lives, face crisis.  A business on the brink of collapse.  An acrimonious divorce.  A decision about the future of our career.  A moment where the whole game depends on us.  These situations will call upon all our mental resources.  An emotional, reactive response—an unthinking, half-baked response—will not cut it.  Not if we want to get it right.  Not if we want to perform at our best.  In these situations we must: be fully present; empty our mind of preconceptions; take our time; sit quietly and reflect; reject distraction; weight advice against the counsel of our convictions; deliberate without being paralyzed.  We must cultivate mental stillness to succeed in life and to successfully navigate the many crises it throws our way.”

    Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 20)

    Beyond the Quote (97/365)

    It’s a fine line between reacting and responding; between acting then thinking versus thinking then acting; between needing to make a quick decision and not wanting to wait (or not having the self-control to wait) to make a decision.  Crisis situations are going to call upon the full extent of our mental resources if we are to handle the crisis properly and in a way that is in complete alignment with our best intentions.  The challenge, of course, is that most crisis situations have a strong sense of urgency attached to them that requires a quick decision to be made.

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    Tony Robbins Quote on Caring For Your Mind, Emotions, and Spirit Like A Garden—The Ultimate Garden

      “Think of your mind, your emotions, and your spirit as the ultimate garden. The way to ensure a bountiful, nourishing harvest is to plant seeds like love, warmth, and appreciation, instead of seeds like disappointment, anger, and fear.”

      Tony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within

      Beyond the Quote (78/365)

      What seeds are you planting today?  Are you planting seeds of love, warmth, and appreciation in the garden of your mind?  What about in the minds of those around you?  Seeds don’t just plant themselves.  They need you to produce them first.  Some are easier to produce and plant than others.  Some get planted and start growing without you even knowing it.  Some take a ton of careful attention and hard work to cultivate and nurture to maturity.  One thing is for sure though, the ultimate garden of the mind requires constant effort and refinement in order to flourish—and mindfulness is the tool we need to use in order to see what needs to be done.

      Read More »Tony Robbins Quote on Caring For Your Mind, Emotions, and Spirit Like A Garden—The Ultimate Garden

        “Obviously, meditation can sometimes be difficult.  We may want to run away from practice, run from the cushion, even run from the word ‘meditation.’  We can run as far as we like, but what we’ll discover is that there is no better environment than meditation in which to build the stability, clarity, and strength of our mind.  At the same time, the difficulty of making it to the cushion, the difficulty of staying with the technique, the difficulty of abandoning discursiveness, isn’t going to disappear.  In procrastinating, we’re avoiding the one thing that really is going to make a difference in our lives.  Meditation stabilizes us in our inherent power as humans.  It introduces the possibility of living our lives in a continually conscious, confident, and balanced state of mind.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 91)

        Turning The Mind Into An Ally [Book]

          Turning the Mind Into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham

          By: Sakyong Mipham

          From this Book: 25 Quotes

          Book Overview:  Strengthening, calming, and stabilizing the mind is the essential first step in accomplishing nearly any goal. Growing up American with a Tibetan twist, Sakyong Mipham talks to Westerners as no one can: in idiomatic English with stories and wisdom from American culture and the great Buddhist teachers. Turning the Mind Into an Ally makes it possible for anyone to achieve peace and clarity in their lives.  “Our own mind is our worst enemy.  We try to focus, and our mind wanders off.  We try to keep stress at bay, but anxiety keeps us awake at night… We can create an alliance that allows us to actually use our mind, rather than be used by it.  This is a practice anyone can do.” ~ Sakyong Mipham

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          Post(s) Inspired by this Book:

          1. 20 Sakyong Mipham Quotes on How To Turn the Mind Into An Ally
          2. Penor Rinpoche Quote on Dealing With Life Now Rather Than Waiting (and Worrying) About It Later (Beyond the Quote 134/365)
          3. Sakyong Mipham Quote on Living Our Days At The Mercy Of Our Moods (Beyond the Quotes 29/365)

            “If you no longer want to create pain for yourself and others, if you no longer want to add to the residue of past pain that still lives on in you, then don’t create any more time, or at least no more than is necessary to deal with the practical aspects of your life.  How to stop creating time?  Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.  Make the Now the primary focus of your life.  Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation.  Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment.  What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to something that already is?  What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now?  Surrender to what is.  Say ‘yes’ to life—and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 35)

              “The harder the mind struggles to get rid of the pain, the greater the pain.  The mind can never find the solution, nor can it afford to allow you to find the solution, because it is itself an intrinsic part of the ‘problem.’  Imagine a chief of police trying to find an arsonist when the arsonist is the chief of police.  You will not be free of that pain until you cease to derive your sense of self from identification with the mind, which is to say from ego.”  ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 28)

              Can’t Hurt Me [Book]

                Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

                By:  David Goggins

                From this Book: 37 Quotes

                Book Overview:  For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare – poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a US Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him The Fittest (Real) Man in America.  In Can’t Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.

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                Post(s) Inspired by this Book:

                1. 34 Intense and Powerful David Goggins Quotes from Can’t Hurt Me
                2. The 40 Percent Rule — An Excerpt from Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
                3. David Goggins on Overcoming Self Doubt and Unapologetically Chasing Your Dreams [Excerpt]
                4. David Goggins Quote on Callousing Your Mind and How I Ran A Marathon Without Running Training (Beyond the Quote 235/365)

                  “Most wars are won or lost in our own heads, and when we’re in a foxhole we usually aren’t alone, and we need to be confident in the quality of the heart, mind, and dialogue of the person hunkered down with us.  Because at some point we will need some empowering words to keep us focused and deadly.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                    “The sole reason I work out like I do isn’t to prepare for and win ultra races.  I don’t have an athletic motive at all.  It’s to prepare my mind for life itself.  Life will always be the most grueling endurance sport, and when you train hard, get uncomfortable, and callous your mind, you will become a more versatile competitor, trained to find a way forward no matter what.  Because there will be times when the sh*t life throws at you isn’t minor at all.  Sometimes life hits you dead in the f*cking heart.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                      “We know life can be hard, and yet we feel sorry for ourselves when it isn’t fair.  From this point forward, accept the following as Goggins’ laws of nature:  You will be made fun of.  You will feel insecure.  You may not be the best all the time.  You may be the only black, white, Asian, Latino, female, male, gay, lesbian, or [fill in your identity here] in a given situation.  There will be times when you feel alone.  Get over it!  Our minds are f*cking strong, they are our most powerful weapon, but we have stopped using them.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                        “Very few people even bother to try to control the way their thoughts and doubts bubble up.  The vast majority of us are slaves to our minds.  Most don’t even make the first effort when it comes to mastering their thought process because it’s a never-ending chore and impossible to get right every time.  The average person thinks 2,000 – 3,000 thoughts per hour.  That’s thirty to fifty per minute!  Some of those shots will slip by the goalie.  It’s inevitable.  Especially if you coast through life.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                          “Similar to using an opponent’s energy to gain an advantage, leaning on your calloused mind in the heat of battle can shift your thinking as well.  Remembering what you’ve been through and how that has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one-second impulses to give in so you can power through obstacles.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                            “To win anything, we must first win control over our minds.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal

                              “If there is any instrument you must fall in love with and fetishize, it is the human brain—the most miraculous, awe-inspiring, information-processing tool devised in the known universe, with a complexity we can’t even begin to fathom, and with dimensional powers that far outstrip any piece of technology in sophistication and usefulness.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery