Quotes About Motivation

I should pursue only those habits that would make me feel freer and stronger.

Enthusiasm is a form of social courage.

Although we presume that we act because of the way we feel, in fact we often feel because of the way we act.

Nothing is more exhausting than the task that's never started.

Nothing is more exhausting than the task that's never started, and strangely, starting is often far harder than continuing.

With habits, we don't make decisions, we don't use self-control, we just do the thing we want ourselves to do—or that we don't want to do.

You hit> a goal, you keep a resolution.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld advised aspiring comedian Brad Isaac that, because daily writing was the key to writing better jokes, Isaac should buy a calendar with a box for every day of the year, and every day, after writing, cross off the day with a big red X. "After a few days you'll have a chain," Seinfeld explained. "You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.

Also, accomplishing small tasks boosts our sense of "self-efficacy." The more we trust ourselves to follow through on our own commitments, the more likely we are to believe that we can keep an important habit.

Questioners are often puzzled by others' willingness to act without sound reasons.

once the habit is in place, we can effortlessly do the things we want to do.

In the Strategy of Pairing, I couple two activities, one that I need or want to do, and one that I don't particularly want to do, to get myself to accomplish them both. It's not a reward, it's not a treat, it's just a pairing.

Over the years, I've learned that it's important that we give ourselves treats—which may sound self-indulgent or frivolous, but it's not. When we give more to ourselves, we can ask more from ourselves. Treats help us to stick to challenging goals, resist unhealthy temptations, and shrug off small irritations. When we don't get any treats, we can begin to feel burned-out, depleted, and resentful.

Actually spending ten minutes clearing off one shelf is better than fantasizing about spending a weekend cleaning out the basement.

To a truly remarkable extent, we're more likely to do something if it's convenient, and less likely if it's not. For this reason, we should pay close attention to the convenience of any activity we want to make into a habit.

I wasn't as happy as I could be, and my life wasn't going to change unless I made it change.

when encouraging Questioners to take action, it can be useful to remind them, Just try it. It's an experiment.

Studies show that people tend to persevere longer with problems they've been told are difficult as opposed to easy.

If I feel anxious about the fact that I haven't started, I become even more reluctant to start, which just makes me more anxious.

A University of Exeter study showed that people who have control over their workspace design are happier at work, more motivated, healthier, and up to 32 percent more productive.

If I never do something, it requires no self-control for me; if I do something sometimes, it requires enormous self-control.

Many assume that offering a reward will help people to jump-start a healthy habit, which will then persist after the reward fades away. Not so. Often, as soon as the reward stops (and sometimes before it stops), the behavior stops.

It's always reading that makes me want to experience things.)

Upholders-tipped-to-Obligers have a commitment to both inner and outer expectations, for them, the pull of outer expectations is very hard to ignore; UPHOLDER/Obligers must be sure to articulate inner expectations and to create boundaries to protect inner expectations from outer interference.