The road to success

William Makepeace Thackeray - English novelist, author and illustrator

Successful people aren’t born that way. They become successful by establishing the habit of doing things unsuccessful people don’t like to do.

John C. Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor

You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.

Wayne Dyer - American self-help author and a motivational speaker

You can either be a host to God, or a hostage to your ego. It's your call.

John C. Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor

What are you waiting for? If you waiting you are already in trouble. If you want something get off the bench and start walking. Life reward the person who initiate something that he want.

Tony Robbins - American author, coach, motivational speaker, and philanthropist

The path to success is to take massive, determined action.

Tony Robbins - American author, coach, motivational speaker, and philanthropist

It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It's what we do consistently.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca - Hispano-Roman Stoic philosopher 

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

Wayne Dyer - American self-help author and a motivational speaker

You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, ‘I release the need for this in my life. 

William Shakespeare - English playwright, poet, and actor

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

Bryant McGill - Human potential thought leader, international bestselling author, activist, and social entrepreneur 

The secret to permanently breaking any bad habit is to love something greater than the habit. 

Unknown

Don’t try to be perfect. Just try to be better than you were yesterday.

Nhat Hanh - Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist

You are what you want to become. Why search anymore? You are a wonderful manifestation. The whole universe has come together to make your existence possible. There is nothing that is not you. The kingdom of God, the Pure Land, nirvana, happiness, and liberation are all you.

Unknown

Don’t try to be perfect. Just try to be better than you were yesterday.

Unknown

Results happen over time, not overnight. Work hard, stay consistent, and be patient.

Mahatma Gandhi - Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

Newt Gingrich - American politician and author

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

Roy T. Bennett - Author

Maturity is when you stop complaining and making excuses, and start making changes.

Art Williams - American insurance executive

I’m not telling you it is going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.

Wayne Dyer - American self-help author and a motivational speaker

Trust and value your own divinity as well as your connection to nature. Seeing God's work everywhere will be your reward.

J.C. Penney - Author

The best way to stop a bad habit is to never begin it.

Stephen Covey - American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker 

Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.

Jim Rohn - American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

Jim Rohn - American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker

The most valuable form of discipline is the one that you impose upon yourself. Don’t wait for things to deteriorate so drastically that someone else must impose discipline into your life.

Mahatma Gandhi - Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. 

Newt Gingrich - American politician and author 

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

Epictetus - Greek Stoic philosopher

Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. It is the easiest thing in the world to slide imperceptibly into vulgarity. But there's no need for that to happen if you determine not to waste your time and attention on mindless pap.

Epictetus - Greek Stoic philosopher

Other people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.

Brian Tracy - Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author

Successful people are simply those with successful habits.

Aristotle - Greek philosopher

Quality is not an act, it is a habit.

Abdul Kalam - Indian aerospace scientist and politician

You cannot change your future, but you can change your habits, and surely your habits will change your future.

Roy T. Bennett - Author

It's never too late to change your life for the better. You don't have to take huge steps to change your life. Making even the smallest changes to your daily routine can make a big difference to your life.

Aristotle - Greek philosopher

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

Ernest Holmes - American New Thought writer, teacher, and leader

The abundance you desire to experience must first be an experience in your mind.

Kelly McGonigal - Health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University

We need to separate the real rewards that give our lives meaning from the false rewards that keep us distracted and addicted. Learning to make this distinction may be the best we can do.

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

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.

BJ Fogg - American social scientist who is currently a research associate at Stanford University and author

In order to design successful habits and change your behaviors, you should do three things. Stop judging yourself. Take your aspirations and break them down into tiny behaviors. Embrace mistakes as discoveries and use them to move forward.

BJ Fogg - American social scientist who is currently a research associate at Stanford University and author

We live in an aspiration-driven culture that is rooted in instant gratification. We find it difficult to enact or even accept incremental progress. Which is exactly what you need to cultivate meaningful long-term change.

Jocko Willink - American retired naval officer who served in the Navy SEALs. He is also a podcaster and author

Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won’t be. Don’t count on motivation. Count on Discipline.

Walter Mischel - Austrian-born American psychologist specializing in personality theory and social psychology

The ability to delay immediate gratification for the sake of future consequences is an acquirable cognitive skill.

Neil A. Fiore - Renowned psychologist, lecturer, trainer, and bestselling author

In most cases you are the one who confuses just doing the job with testing your worth. Replace 'I have to' with 'I choose to'.

Neil A. Fiore - Renowned psychologist, lecturer, trainer, and bestselling author

Denis Waitley, the author of The Psychology of Winning and The Joy of Working, who defines procrastination as “a neurotic form of self-defensive behavior” aimed at protecting one’s self-worth.

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

The enemy is Resistance.

Abraham Lincoln - American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865

I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.

Stephen Guise - International bestselling author, blogger, and entrepreneur

Daily Happiness Mini Habit Ideas:
- Write down or think of one thing you’re grateful for
- Write down or think one positive thought about life
- Thank one person for something they’ve done for you
- Say hi to one stranger
- Connect with one friend
- Make eye contact with a stranger (good starting point for social improvement)
- Do one thing to reduce your stress
- Help one person
- Hug one person - Savor 1 bite per meal
- Smile once (this is not insignificant)
- Laugh once (smiling/laughing trigger a release of feel-good chemicals in the brain even if you fake them, but don’t fake them)

Stephen Guise - International bestselling author, blogger, and entrepreneur

Be happy, but never satisfied.

Kim Collins - Former track and field sprinter from Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 metres.

Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.

George Burr Leonard - American writer, editor, and educator who wrote extensively about education and human potential

Keep practicing, even when you seem to be getting nowhere.

Nathaniel Branden - Canadian–American psychotherapist and writer known for his work in the psychology of self-esteem

Self-discipline is the ability to organize your behavior over time in the service of specific goals.

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

Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities. 

Napoleon Hill - American self-help author. He is known best for his book Think and Grow Rich which is among the 10 best selling self-help books of all time

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

Napoleon Hill - American self-help author. He is known best for his book Think and Grow Rich which is among the 10 best selling self-help books of all time

Any ideas, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.

Maxwell Maltz - American cosmetic surgeon and author of Psycho-Cybernetics, which was a system of ideas that he claimed could improve one's self-image leading to a more successful and fulfilling life

To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then act out the new behavior.

Maxwell Maltz - American cosmetic surgeon and author of Psycho-Cybernetics, which was a system of ideas that he claimed could improve one's self-image leading to a more successful and fulfilling life

Your nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a ‘real’ experience.

Thomas Alva Edison - American inventor and businessman who has been described as America's greatest inventor

Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.

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

Incremental change is better than ambitious failure... Success feeds on itself.

John Calvin Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership 

Seven Steps to Success
1) Make a commitment to grow daily.
2) Value the process more than events.
3) Don't wait for inspiration.
4) Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity.
5) Dream big.
6) Plan your priorities.
7) Give up to go up.

Daniel Coyle - New York Times bestselling author

Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes myelin, and myelin makes perfect.

Daniel Coyle - New York Times bestselling author

Ignore the bad habit and put your energy toward building a new habit that will override the old one.

Daniel Coyle - New York Times bestselling author

As the martial artist and actor Bruce Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times."

Jack Canfield - American author, motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur

You don't have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going. Babies don't walk the first time they try, but eventually they get it right.

Jack Canfield - American author, motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur

Decide what you want. Believe you can have it. Believe you deserve it and believe it’s possible for you. And then close your eyes and every day for several minutes, and visualize having what you already want, feeling the feelings of already having it. Come out of that and focus on what you’re grateful for already, and really enjoy it. Then go into your day and release it to the Universe and trust that the Universe will figure out how to manifest it.

Lao Tzu - Ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions

Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to'.

John Wooden - American basketball player and coach

Discipline yourself and others won't need to.

James Clear - Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, which has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.

James Clear - Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, which has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.

James Clear - Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, which has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide

The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it. If you’re proud of how your hair looks, you’ll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it. If you’re proud of the size of your biceps, you’ll make sure you never skip an upper-body workout. If you’re proud of the scarves you knit, you’ll be more likely to spend hours knitting each week. Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.

Neil A. Fiore - Renowned psychologist, lecturer, trainer, and bestselling author

...I’ve discovered that if you want to reach your true potential, it’s much more effective to ignite a new passion for life than to dwell on past problems.

Jocelyn K. Glei - Obsessed with how we can find more creativity and meaning in our daily work. She created the online course RESET, a cosmic tune-up for your workday, and hosts Hurry Slowly, a podcast about how you can be more productive, creative, and resilient by slowing down

Frequency makes starting easier. Getting started is always a challenge. It’s hard to start a project from scratch, and it’s also hard each time you re-enter a project after a break. By working every day, you keep your momentum going. 

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

You can replace any pattern of behavior (or thought) with another. All it takes is relentless practice.

Og Mandino - American author. He wrote the bestselling book The Greatest Salesman in the World. His books have sold over 50 million copies and have been translated into over 25 languages

Only a habit can subdue another habit.

Jocelyn K. Glei - Obsessed with how we can find more creativity and meaning in our daily work. She created the online course RESET, a cosmic tune-up for your workday, and hosts Hurry Slowly, a podcast about how you can be more productive, creative, and resilient by slowing down

With focus and consistency you can change your habits. By changing your habits, you reprogram the behaviors that control most of your life and ultimately determine your success.

Brian Tracy - Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author. He is the author of over eighty books that have been translated into dozens of languages. His popular books are Earn What You're Really Worth, Eat That Frog!, No Excuses!

Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.

Brian Tracy - Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author. He is the author of over eighty books that have been translated into dozens of languages. His popular books are Earn What You're Really Worth, Eat That Frog!, No Excuses!

The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous.

John C. Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership

Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.

Jocko Willink - American author, podcaster, and retired naval officer who served in the Navy SEALs

Discipline equals freedom.

Tony Robbins - American author, coach, speaker, and philanthropist. Robbins is known for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books including the books Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within

Repetition is the mother of skill.

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

Success is actually a short race—a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.

Darren Hardy - American author, keynote speaker, advisor, and former publisher of SUCCESS magazine. Hardy is a New York Times best-selling author, who wrote The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster, Living Your Best Year Ever and The Compound Effect

A daily routine built on good habits and disciplines separates the most successful among us from everyone else. A routine is exceptionally powerful.

Darren Hardy - American author, keynote speaker, advisor, and former publisher of SUCCESS magazine. Hardy is a New York Times best-selling author, who wrote The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster, Living Your Best Year Ever and The Compound Effect

The real cost of a four-dollar-a-day coffee habit over 20 years is $51,833.79. That’s the power of the Compound Effect.

Darren Hardy - American author, keynote speaker, advisor, and former publisher of SUCCESS magazine. Hardy is a New York Times best-selling author, who wrote The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster, Living Your Best Year Ever and The Compound Effect

Losing is a habit. So is winning. Now let’s work on permanently instilling winning habits into your life.

Darren Hardy - American author, keynote speaker, advisor, and former publisher of SUCCESS magazine. Hardy is a New York Times best-selling author, who wrote The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster, Living Your Best Year Ever and The Compound Effect

Since your outcomes are all a result of your moment-to-moment choices, you have incredible power to change your life by changing those choices. Step by step, day by day, your choices will shape your actions until they become habits, where practice makes them permanent.

Lanny Bassham - American sports shooter who won a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics

The Principle of Reinforcement: The more we think about, talk about and write about something happening, we improve the probability of that thing happening.

Lanny Bassham - American sports shooter who won a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics

The Principle of Balance: When the Conscious, Subconscious and Self-Image are all balanced and working together, good performance is easy.

Lanny Bassham - American sports shooter who won a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics

I choose to think about, talk about, and write about what I wish to have happen in my life.

Pete Carroll - American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He was previously the head coach at USC, where he won six bowl games and a BCS National Championship Game

Having a routine can be very powerful in this regard. If you compete day in and day out to excel at something in a systematic way, you can’t help but improve.

Roy F. Baumeister - Social psychologist who is known for his work on the self, social rejection, belongingness, sexuality and sex differences, self-control, self-esteem, self-defeating behaviors, motivation, aggression, consciousness, and free will

The clear implication was that the best advice for young writers and aspiring professors is: Write every day. Use your self-control to form a daily habit, and you’ll produce more with less effort in the long run.

Kelly McGonigal - Health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University who is known for her work in the field of 'science help' which focuses on translating insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support health and well-being. creator of reality

Ask your brain to do math every day, and it gets better at math. Ask your brain to worry, and it gets better at worrying. Ask your brain to concentrate, and it gets better at concentrating. 

Jason Selk - One of the premier performance coaches in the United States, with dozens of professional athletes and Fortune 500 executives as his clients

Greatness is predicated on consistently doing things others can’t or won’t do. Simply put, success is not about being brilliant. It is about being consistent.

Eric Greitens - American politician, author, and former Navy SEAL who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018

What happens to us becomes part of us. Resilient people do not bounce back from hard experiences; they find healthy ways to integrate them into their lives. In time, people find that great calamity met with great spirit can create great strength.

Eric Greitens - American politician, author, and former Navy SEAL who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018

What you will become is a result of what you are willing to endure. Are you willing to work hard? To think hard? I know that you are. You always have been.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognised and named the psychological concept of flow, a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity potential energy

Control over consciousness is not simply a cognitive skill. At least as much as intelligence, it requires the commitment of emotions and will. It is not enough to know how to do it; one must do it, consistently, in the same way as athletes or musicians who must keep practicing what they know in theory.

Brian Tracy - Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author. He is the author of over eighty books that have been translated into dozens of languages. His popular books are Earn What You're Really Worth, Eat That Frog!, No Excuses!

Discipline is what you must have to resist the lure of excuses.

Brian Tracy - Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author. He is the author of over eighty books that have been translated into dozens of languages. His popular books are Earn What You're Really Worth, Eat That Frog!, No Excuses!

There are 999 other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work. With self-discipline, they all work.

Richard J. Davidson - Professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as founder and chair of the Center for Healthy Minds

Resilience is the maintenance of high levels of positive affect and well-being in the face of adversity. It is not that resilient individuals never experience negative affect, but rather that the negative affect does not persist.

Lewis Howes - New York Times Bestselling author, lifestyle entrepreneur, high performance business coach and keynote speaker. A former professional football player and two-sport All-American, he is a current USA Men's National Handball Team athlete

Greatness is the result of visionaries who persevere, focus, believe, and prepare. It is a habit, not a birthright.

Dave Ramsey - American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman 

A year of intense exercise and watching what you eat will likely change the trajectory of your life physically. You will melt away fat, tone up muscle, feel better, and change your habits, likely for life. But only ten days of that exercise program won’t move the needle on the scale. To create big-time success you have to stay focused and stay intense over an extended period of time. 

Albert E. Gray - Official of the Prudential Insurance Company of America and a highly sought after speaker 

The secret of success of every man who has ever been successful lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do. 

Wallace D. Wattles - American New Thought writer. He remains personally somewhat obscure, but his writing has been widely quoted and remains in print in the New Thought and self-help movements

Whatever you habitually think yourself to be, that you are. You must form, now, a greater and better habit; you must form a conception of yourself as a being of limitless power, and habitually think that you are that being. It is the habitual, not the periodical thought that decides your destiny.

David Goggins - American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, public speaker, and author. He is a retired United States Navy SEAL and former United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War. His memoir, Can't Hurt Me, was released in 2018

It's a lot more than mind over matter. It takes relentless self discipline to schedule suffering into your day, every day.

David Goggins - American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, public speaker, and author. He is a retired United States Navy SEAL and former United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War. His memoir, Can't Hurt Me, was released in 2018

Be more than motivated, be more than driven, become literally obsessed to the point where people think you're fucking nuts.

David Goggins - American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, public speaker, and author. He is a retired United States Navy SEAL and former United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War. His memoir, Can't Hurt Me, was released in 2018

Be more than motivated, be more than driven, become literally obsessed to the point where people think you're fucking nuts.

Will Bowen - Author and speaker who has been featured on/in "Oprah," NBC's "Today Show," ABC's "World News Tonight," CBS "Sunday Morning," "Fox News," "The Wall Street Journal," "Newsweek," "People," "O," "Self," "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and in hundreds of media stories around the world

The four stages to competency are:
1. Unconscious Incompetence
2. Conscious Incompetence
3. Conscious Competence
4. Unconscious Competence

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

Daily progress is the secret of success.