Finding our purpose

John Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor

Your success is defined by your desire to reach your potential.

Lactantius - Christian author who became an advisor to the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I

For they say that the course of human life resembles the letter Y, because every one of men, when he has reached the threshold of early youth, and has arrived at the place "where the way divides itself into two parts," is in doubt, and hesitates, and does not know to which side he should rather turn himself.

John Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor

It's not what happens to you, it's not what happens to me, it's what happens in us that's make the difference in this crisis.

John Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor

Wisdom is always extracted from adversity.

Michelle Segar - American behavioral sustainability scientist, author, and speaker

Logic doesn’t motivate us—emotions do.

Darren Hardy - American author, keynote speaker, advisor, and former publisher of SUCCESS magazine

Forget about willpower. It's time for why-power. Your choices are only meaningful when you connect them to your desires and dreams. The wisest and most motivating choices are the ones aligned with that which you identify as your purpose, your core self, and your highest values. You've got to want something, and know why you want it, or you'll end up giving up too easily.

Jocelyn K. Glei - Writer who's obsessed with work, careers & creativity

Personal purpose, start with these questions: How will the world be better off thanks to you having been on this earth? What are your unique gifts and superpowers? Who have you been when you’ve been at your best? Who must you fearlessly become? At the intersection of these four questions lies your personal purpose.

Rumi - 13th-century Persian poet

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

Mark Divine - Creator and founder of SEALFIT and The Unbeatable Mind Academy

It takes discipline to focus only on high-value targets instead of giving in to the temptation of the low-hanging fruit life serves up daily.

William B. Irvine - Professor of philosophy at Wright State University

It is, after all, hard to know what to choose when you aren’t really sure what you want.

David Emerald Womeldorff - Celebrated creator of leadership frameworks proven to powerfully boost teamwork and productivity

A Creator is vision-focused and passion-motivated. To really live into your Creator self, you are called to do the inner work necessary to find your own sense of purpose-whatever touches your heart and holds meaning for you.

Friedrich Nietzsche - German philosopher, whose critiques of contemporary culture, religion, and philosophy centered on a basic question regarding the foundation of values and morality

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.

Joseph Campbell - American professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.

Joseph Campbell - American professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion

Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived. Follow the path that is no path, follow your bliss.

Viktor Frankl - Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

Viktor Frankl - Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor

Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.

David Deida - American author who writes about the sexual and spiritual growth of men and women

Every man knows that his highest purpose in life cannot be reduced to any particular relationship. If a man prioritizes his relationship over his highest purpose, he weakens himself, disserves the universe, and cheats his woman of an authentic man who can offer his full, undivided presence.

David Deida - American author who writes about the sexual and spiritual growth of men and women

If you don’t know your purpose, discover it, now.
The core of your life is your purpose. Everything in your life, from your diet to your career, must be aligned with your purpose if you are to act with coherence and integrity in the world. If you know your purpose, your deepest desire, then the secret of success is to discipline your life so that you support your deepest purpose and minimize distractions and detours.

Steven Pressfield - American author of historical fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays

Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.

Robin Sharma - Canadian writer, best known for his The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari book series

We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future.

Richard John Koch - British management consultant, venture capital investor and author of books on management, marketing and lifestyle

Who you work for is more important than what you do.

Wallace Delois Wattles - American New Thought writer

The purpose of life for man is growth, just as the purpose of life for trees and plants is growth.

Abraham Harold Maslow - American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization

If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be deeply unhappy for the rest of your life. You will be evading your own capacities, your own possibilities.

Abraham Harold Maslow - American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization

What one can be one must be!

Don Miguel Ruiz - Mexican author of Toltec spiritualist and neoshamanistic texts

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive - the risk to be alive and express what we really are.

Sonia Choquette - Globally celebrated and dynamic spiritual teacher, six-sensory consultant, enchanting storyteller, and transformational visionary guide

If you’re on the right track doing what serves your soul, then you’re going to feel good, relaxed, and peaceful. Your heart will beat steadily, your energy will remain high, and you’ll be relatively free from aches, pains, anxiety, or stress.

Atul Gawande - American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher

The battle of being mortal is the battle to maintain the integrity of one’s life—to avoid becoming so diminished or dissipated or subjugated that who you are becomes disconnected from who you were or who you want to be.

Tal Ben-Shahar - American and Israeli teacher, and writer in the areas of positive psychology and leadership

Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Calvin C. Newport - Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Georgetown University and the author of self-improvement books

Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love—is the sum of what you focus on.

Sonja Lyubomirsky - American professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of the bestseller The How of Happiness

Find a happy person, and you will find a project.

Matthew Kelly - One of the great thought leaders of our time. His enormous success as an author, speaker, and business consultant is the result of his comprehensive worldview which springs forth from the single idea that we are each here to become the-very-best-version-of-ourselves

Whether you are sixteen or sixty, the rest of your life is ahead of you. You cannot change one moment of your past, but you can change your whole future. Now is your time.

Matthew Kelly - One of the great thought leaders of our time. His enormous success as an author, speaker, and business consultant is the result of his comprehensive worldview which springs forth from the single idea that we are each here to become the-very-best-version-of-ourselves

Whether you are sixteen or sixty, the rest of your life is ahead of you. You cannot change one moment of your past, but you can change your whole future. Now is your time.

Matthew Kelly - One of the great thought leaders of our time. His enormous success as an author, speaker, and business consultant is the result of his comprehensive worldview which springs forth from the single idea that we are each here to become the-very-best-version-of-ourselves

For the day we accept that we have chosen to choose our choices is the day we cast off the shackles of victimhood and are set free to pursue the lives we were born to live. Learn to master the moment of decision and you will live a life uncommon.

Carlos Castaneda - American author. Starting with The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968, Castaneda wrote a series of books that describe his training in shamanism, particularly with a group whose lineage descended from the Toltecs

We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.

Charles Duhigg - American journalist and non-fiction author. He was a reporter for The New York Times, currently writes for The New Yorker Magazine and is the author of two books on habits and productivity, titled The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business and Smarter Faster Better

The choices that are most powerful in generating motivation, in other words, are decisions that do two things: They convince us we’re in control and they endow our actions with larger meaning.

Donald Robertson - Cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist, writer, and trainer. He specializes in the treatment of anxiety and in the relationship between ancient philosophy and modern psychotherapy

Wisdom, in all these forms, mainly requires understanding the difference between good, bad, and indifferent things. Virtue is good and vice is bad, but everything else is indifferent.

John Calvin Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. His books have sold millions of copies, with some on the New York Times Best Seller List

Instead of trying to be great, be part of something greater than yourself.

Jean-Paul Sartre - French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology, and one of the leading figures in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism

Life is nothing until it is lived; but it is yours to make sense of and the value of it is nothing else but the sense that you choose.

Austin Kleon - New York Times bestselling author of five books: Steal Like an Artist; Show Your Work!; Keep Going; Steal Like An Artist Journal; and Newspaper Blackout. Kleon's works focus on creativity in today's world

“We all love things that other people think are garbage. You have to have the courage to keep loving your garbage, because what makes us unique is the diversity and breadth of our influences, the unique ways in which we mix up the parts of culture others have deemed “high” and the “low.”

When you find things you genuinely enjoy, don’t let anyone else make you feel bad about it. Don’t feel guilty about the pleasure you take in the things you enjoy. Celebrate them.”

Daniel H. Pink - American author. He has written six books, four of them New York Times bestsellers. He was a host and a co-executive producer of the 2014 National Geographic Channel social science TV series Crowd Control. From 1995 to 1997, he was the chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore

Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.

Daniel H. Pink - American author. He has written six books, four of them New York Times bestsellers. He was a host and a co-executive producer of the 2014 National Geographic Channel social science TV series Crowd Control. From 1995 to 1997, he was the chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore

As Carol Dweck says, “Effort is one of the things that gives meaning to life. Effort means you care about something, that something is important to you and you are willing to work for it. It would be an impoverished existence if you were not willing to value things and commit yourself to working toward them.

Tom Rath - American consultant on employee engagement, strengths, and wellbeing, and author. He is best known for his studies on strengths based leadership and wellbeing and synthesizing research findings in a series of bestselling books

The pursuit of meaning — not happiness — is what makes life worthwhile.

David Rock - Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer NeuroLeadership Institute. Dr. Rock has authored four successful books including Your Brain at Work, a business best-seller, and has written for and been quoted in hundreds of articles about leadership, organizational effectiveness, and the brain which can be found in Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., USA Today, BBC, The Boston Globe and more

We all often think about what’s easy to think about, rather than what’s right to think about.

Steve Chandler - Bestselling author of 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself, Time Warrior and 30 other books, is known as America's notoriously unorthodox personal growth guru. He has helped thousands of people transform their lives and businesses

A major part of living a life of self-motivation is having something to wake up for in the morning—something that you are “up to” in life so that you will stay hungry.

Steve Chandler - Author of 30 books that have been translated into over 25 languages. His personal success coaching, public speaking and business consulting have been used by CEOs, top professionals, major universities, and over 30 Fortune 500 companies

Stop shooting for happiness. You are aiming too low.

Stephen Guise - International bestselling author, blogger, and entrepreneur. His books have been translated into 18 languages. Guise is known for delivering highly actionable, world-class behavior change strategies in a humorous wrapper

Never use guilt as motivation.

Stephen Cope - Psychotherapist, Kripalu Yoga teacher, and author of several books on yoga and meditation. He is the founder of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living

If you bring forth what is within you it will save you. If you do not, it will destroy you.

Gary Keller - American entrepreneur and best-selling author. He is the founder of Keller Williams, which is the largest real estate company in the world by agent count, closed sales volume, and units sold

You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects.

Scott Adams - American artist and cartoonist. He is the creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, and business. Dilbert came to national prominence during the downsizing period in 1990s America and reached a worldwide audience

Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, tells us that people become unhappy if they have too many options in life. The problem with options is that choosing any path can leave you plagued with self-doubt.

Neil Pasricha - Canadian author, entrepreneur, podcaster, and public speaker characterized by his advocacy of positivity and simple pleasures

Teddy Roosevelt said, “The best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

Seth Godin - American author and former dot com business 

Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from. 

Barry Schwartz - American psychologist. Schwartz is the Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College and since 2016 has been visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His work focuses on the intersection of psychology and economics 

But knowing what we want means, in essence, being able to anticipate accurately how one choice or another will make us feel, and that is no simple task. 

Thomas Carlyle - Scottish historian, satirical writer, essayist, translator, philosopher, mathematician, and teacher

A person without purpose is like a ship without a rudder.

William Damon - Professor at Stanford University, director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He is one of the world's leading scholars of human development

Purpose endows a person with joy in good times and resilience in hard times, and this holds true all through life.

William Damon - Professor at Stanford University, director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He is one of the world's leading scholars of human development

...anyone can find purpose and pursue it with rich benefits to themselves and to others.

William Damon - Professor at Stanford University, director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He is one of the world's leading scholars of human development

In order to find purpose, children must survey the world around them and determine where and how they can make their own contribution.

Alden Mills - American businessman, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and former Navy SEAL

When you come to understand your ‘why,’ you will figure out your way. And once you do this, you will come to appreciate that we have only two limitations in life: our ability to dream and the courage to follow those dreams.