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Work Ethic Quotes

    “Patience is a competitive advantage. In a surprising number of fields, you can find success if you are simply willing to do the reasonable thing longer than most people.”

    James Clear, Blog

      “I try to pull the language into such a sharpness that it jumps off the page. It must look easy, but it takes me forever to get it to look so easy. Of course, there are those critics — New York critics as a rule — who say, Well, Maya Angelou has a new book out and of course it’s good but then she’s a natural writer. Those are the ones I want to grab by the throat and wrestle to the floor because it takes me forever to get it to sing. I work at the language.”

      Maya Angelou, The Paris Review Interviews: Volume IV

        “All of us who do creative work… you get into this thing, and there’s like a ‘gap.’ What you’re making isn’t so good, okay?… It’s trying to be good but… it’s just not that great. The key thing is to force yourself through the work, force the skills to come; that’s the hardest phase.”

        Ira Glass, via So Good They Can’t Ignore You (Page 47)

          “If you run a marathon, you’re going to get tired. It would make no sense to hire a coach and say, ‘I want you to help me train so I don’t get tired when I run a marathon.’ The only difference between the tens of thousands of people who finish the marathon and those that don’t is that the finishers figured out where to put their tired.”

          Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 169)

            “It’s insulting to call a professional talented. She’s skilled, first and foremost. Many people have talent, but only a few care enough to show up fully, to earn their skill. Skill is rarer than talent. Skill is earned. Skill is available to anyone who cares enough.”

            Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 103)

              “Who wants to do difficult work that doesn’t fulfill us? Who wants to commit to a journey before we know it’s what we were meant to do? The trap is this: only after we do the difficult work does it become our calling. Only after we trust the process does it become our passion. ‘Do what you love’ is for amateurs. ‘Love what you do’ is the mantra for professionals.”

              Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 22)

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

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

                  “The long, slow grind of working toward something is all about loving the process. If you don’t love the process, the grind is tough. The grind is also a dangerous time. It’s when you’re tempted to give up, call it a day, or at least cut corners.”

                  Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 195)

                  Hard Work Doesn’t Always Pay Off

                    “Work hard,

                    and you will earn good rewards.

                    Work smart,

                    and you will earn great rewards.

                    Work hard and work smart,

                    and you will earn extraordinary rewards.”

                    Matshona Dhliwayo

                    Beyond the Quote (Day 398)

                    I remember learning this lesson in college when, after giving a big presentation, I found out a classmate of mine—who did far less work than me—got a better grade than me. I vaguely remember the details of the project, but the feelings are as fresh as they were 10 years ago. I was heated. I felt cheated. I kept replaying the thought that I did 10x the work and ending up with nothing to show for it. And I didn’t want to just let all of my hard work go to waste—I wanted to prove that those hours counted for something!

                    Read More »Hard Work Doesn’t Always Pay Off

                    Simone Biles Quote on Work Ethic and How Greatness Requires More Of You

                      “Everything I do is in the gym so I’m always in gym clothes.”

                      Simone Biles

                      Beyond the Quote (Day 370)

                      Gymnasts perform some of the most incredible feats humanly possible. The ability to hold an iron cross; to twist multiple times through the air as they leap from a high bar to a low bar; to flip multiple times on floor routines and to watch them stick insane landings—they truly are some of the most impressive athletes in the world. And you better believe that every flip, twist, and landing is hard earned—never given.

                      Read More »Simone Biles Quote on Work Ethic and How Greatness Requires More Of You

                      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

                        Pearl Buck Quote on Getting Work Done and Why You Shouldn’t Follow Your Moods

                          “I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.”

                          Pearl S. Buck

                          Beyond the Quote (299/365)

                          How to let your mind know that it has to get down to work? The answer isn’t as obvious as it might seem. You might think, it’s your mind and your mind is in your control, right? But, why then can’t you just tell your mind to “get down to work” and be done with it? Why is so much of what we have to get done always such a fight? Why can’t we just do what we need to do automatically? And the answer, as far as I can see it, is that control over your mind is something that has to be earned—it’s never just given.

                          Read More »Pearl Buck Quote on Getting Work Done and Why You Shouldn’t Follow Your Moods

                          Keshavan Nair Quote on Being Lazy and How Productivity is a War, Not a Battle

                            “When I say I lack the time to exercise, is this really true given that I have time to watch television? Perhaps it is just difficult for me to admit that I may be lazy.”

                            Keshavan Nair, A Higher Standard of Leadership

                            Beyond the Quote (265/365)

                            I am lazy. I am definitely not born with a “do more than I have to” nature. I desire the “comfortable” option. All of the time. I don’t want to wake up early. I don’t want to write every day. I don’t want to exercise. And I definitely don’t want to only ever eat healthy food. The easy way out is always at the forefront of my mind. The mind-numbing activities are always calling my name. And the option to do less is always looking mighty nice. Yet, day-in and day-out, I choose otherwise.

                            Read More »Keshavan Nair Quote on Being Lazy and How Productivity is a War, Not a Battle

                              “RBG has never been one to shrink from a challenge. People who think she is hanging on to this world by a thread underestimate her. RBG’s main concession to hitting her late seventies was to give up waterskiing.”

                              Irin Carmon, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

                                On how she would like to be remembered: “Someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability. And to help repair tears in her society, to make things a little better through the use of whatever ability she has. To do something, as my colleague David Souter would say, outside myself. ‘Cause I’ve gotten much more satisfaction for the things that I’ve done for which I was not paid.”

                                Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Town & Country Magazine

                                  “It’s better to do less than you hoped than nothing at all. No zero days.”

                                  James Clear, Blog

                                  Stephen Covey Quote on Productivity and How Momentum Can Help You Get More Done

                                    “If you want to get something done, give it to someone busy.”

                                    Stephen Covey

                                    Beyond the Quote (248/365)

                                    But, why wouldn’t you give it to someone who isn’t busy? Because the Laws of Physics as they apply to motion, apply to people-in-motion, too. It’s easier to keep a body in motion than it is to get a body into motion that is at rest. The same is true for us. People who are in motion not only get more done, but they have an easier time getting more done than some might have in trying to do less. Why? Because a body at rest has a harder time getting started.

                                    Read More »Stephen Covey Quote on Productivity and How Momentum Can Help You Get More Done