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    “If you want to be successful, surround yourself with people who are more successful than you are, but if you want to be happy, surround yourself with people who are less successful than you are.”

    Naval

      “Our ambition should not be to win, but to play with our full effort. Our intention is not to be thanked or recognized, but to help and to do what we think is right. Our focus is not on what happens to us but on how we respond. In this, we will always find contentment and resilience.”

      Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 148)

        “All of us get an endless supply of ideas, notions, and inklings. Successful people, often without realizing it, ignore the ones that are less likely to ‘work,’ and instead focus on the projects that are more likely to advance the mission. Sometimes we call this good taste. It’s possible to get better at this pre-filtering. By doing it out loud. By writing out the factors that you’re seeking, or even by explaining to someone else how your part of the world works. Instinct is great. It’s even better when you work on it.”

        Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 143)

          “If we failed, would it be worth the journey? Do you trust yourself enough to commit to engaging with a project regardless of the chances of success? The first step is to separate the process from the outcome. Not because we don’t care about the outcome. But because we do.”

          Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 92)

            “The biggest fear most of us have with learning to say no is that we will miss an opportunity. An opportunity that would have catapulted us to success, or that will never come again. And most of the time, that simply isn’t true.

            I’ve found that the first part of learning to say no is learning to accept that offers and opportunities are merely an indication that you’re on the right path—not that you’ve arrived at a final destination you can never find again.

            If someone is choosing you, it means you’re doing something right. And that is the biggest opportunity you can receive—the chance to recognize that your hard work is paying off. And if you continue to do good work, those opportunities will continue—and improve—over time.”

            Grace Bonney, Saying “No”

              “Maintain a margin of safety—even when it’s going well. Rich people go bankrupt chasing even more wealth. Fit people get injured chasing personal records. Productive people become ineffective taking on too many projects. Don’t let your ambition ruin your position.”

              James Clear, Blog

                “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.”

                Andy Grove | Read Matt’s Blog on this Quote ➜

                  “When we experience success, we must make sure that it doesn’t change us—that we continue to maintain our character despite the temptation not to. Reason must lead the way no matter what good fortune comes along.”

                  Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 106)

                    “‘Success has ruined many a man,’ Benjamin Franklin once said. This is true enough, but what Franklin didn’t mention is that we often work the ruin upon ourselves.”

                    Stephen Grosz, The Examined Life (Page 132)

                      Smart isn’t easily measurable. Neither is beautifulgood or successful. And especially happy. A high SAT score is a measure of whether or not you scored well on the SAT. That’s it. A bank balance is a measure of how much money you have in the bank. That’s all. In the face of the difficulty the system has in measuring things that don’t measure, we create proxies. Things like popularity as a proxy for whether a work of human creativity has worth or not. It’s a method built to process commodities instead of people, and it’s running amok.”

                      Seth Godin, Blog

                        “Many successful people will try to tell you that anger is a powerful fuel in their lives. the desire to ‘prove them all wrong’ or ‘shove it in their faces’ has made many a millionaire. the anger at being called fat or stupid has created fine physical specimens and brilliant minds. The anger at being rejected has motivated many to carve their own path. But that’s shortsighted. Such stories ignore the pollution produced as a side effect and the wear and tear it put on the engine. It ignores what happens when that initial anger runs out—and how now more and more must be generated to keep the machine going (until, eventually, the only source left is anger at oneself).”

                        Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 50)

                        James Clear Quote on Hard Work and How Not All Hard Work Is Created Equally

                          “Success is never due to one thing, but failure can be.  Sleeping well won’t make you successful, but not sleeping enough will hold you back. Hard work is rarely enough without good strategy, but even the best strategy is useless without hard work.  Many things are necessary, but not sufficient for success.”

                          James Clear, Blog

                          Beyond the Quote (347/365)

                          Not all hard work is created equally. For some, specific kinds of “hard work” aligns with strengths, aptitudes, potentials, and interests. For others, that same “hard work” might call upon weaknesses. Even if the “hard work” that was tasked was the same, it wouldn’t have the same net result on the individual. It would cause a drastic difference in the amount of time, energy, and effort required. And if you want to optimize your time, energy, and effort in your life—then you should start by optimizing the type of “hard work” that you choose to do for this very reason.

                          Read More »James Clear Quote on Hard Work and How Not All Hard Work Is Created Equally

                          Brian Tracy Quote on Delaying Gratification and How It’s An Indispensable Prerequisite for Success

                            “The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term is the indispensable prerequisite for success.”

                            Brian Tracy

                            Beyond the Quote (339/365)

                            The ability to delay gratification—to resist an immediate reward in preference for a greater future reward—has been proven to be an accurate predictor of a person’s long-term success. In other words, it’s almost always a good idea. After all, a greater reward sounds better than a smaller reward, even if it is a little later, eh? But, at the same point, should gratification always be delayed? Wouldn’t pushing what you desire out into the future cause you a certain level of discontent/ unhappiness, too? How does that discontent/ unhappiness in the short-term measure up?

                            Read More »Brian Tracy Quote on Delaying Gratification and How It’s An Indispensable Prerequisite for Success

                            A. Lou Vickery Quote on Going Above and Beyond and The Power of Marginal Gains

                              “Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more.”

                              A. Lou Vickery

                              Beyond the Quote (315/365)

                              Doing what is expected of you is already a step ahead of many. Many people aren’t disciplined, focused, motivated, or committed enough to do even that—they fall short for various reasons. Whether it be bad habits, distractions, lack of will, or even just a carelessness—completing all of the tasks that are presented to them can be demanding enough. However, with the proper external motivations, systems, and consequences in place, most people can manage to do at least the minimum of what is expected of them and are usually good to settle with that. But, doing just what is expected of you isn’t what’s going to get you ahead.

                              Read More »A. Lou Vickery Quote on Going Above and Beyond and The Power of Marginal Gains

                              NF Quote from “Remember This” on Success and How There’s Always Hate At Each Step of the Way

                                These people gon’ tell you that you will never make it /

                                Then when you do, they gon’ say they knew you were goin’ places /

                                That’s just how it works, next thing you know you’ll be overrated /

                                Hearing people say they miss the “old you,” it’s crazy, ain’t it?

                                NF, Remember This

                                Beyond the Quote (293/365)

                                It doesn’t matter where you are in life, there will always be noise that’s trying to take you away from where you are. When you’re first starting out, of course you’re not great. Who is? In fact, you probably suck. Like, you’re probably really awful. Especially compared to all of the greats that you’re probably comparing yourself to. So, of course you’re going to have people around you saying you will “never make it.” That you should probably quit and stick to something more “commonplace.” Or that you will never be as good as that person or this person. The noise when you first start out is real and it can stop you in your tracks before you ever even start.

                                Read More »NF Quote from “Remember This” on Success and How There’s Always Hate At Each Step of the Way

                                  “Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit. People form habits and habits form futures. If you do not deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you will form bad ones. You are the kind of person you are because you have formed the habit of being that kind of person, and the only way you can change is through habit.”

                                  Albert Gray, The Common Denominator of Success

                                    “Success is largely the failures you avoid. Health is the injuries you don’t sustain. Wealth is the purchases you don’t make. Happiness is the objects you don’t desire. Peace of mind is the arguments you don’t engage. Avoid the bad to protect the good.”

                                    James Clear, Blog