Quotes About Motivation

One-Coin" Loophole: Whether we choose to focus on the single coin or the growing heap will shape our behavior.

All I did was read a book, and that action unleashed an enormous force: the Strategy of the Lightning Bolt.

Drawing on intrinsic motivation makes us far more likely to stick to a behavior, and to find it satisfying.

One study showed that children who got a reward for coloring with magic markers—an activity that children love—didn't spend as much time with markers, later, as children who didn't expect a reward. The children began to think, "Why would I color if I don't get a reward?

Besides clarity of values, another kind of clarity supports habit formation: clarity of action.

The first and most important habits question is: "How does a person respond to an expectation?" When we try to form a new habit, we set an expectation for ourselves. Therefore, it's crucial to understand how we respond to expectations.

When we give more to ourselves, we can ask more from ourselves.

phrase from James Collins and Jerry Porras's book Built to Last: "BHAG—Big Hairy Audacious Goals, all the way. I resisted this for years, thinking that to shoot too high only meant I would fail. What I didn't realize was that shooting high motivated me much more.

When the Schiphol Airport put the image of a housefly above the drains of urinals, men began to aim at it—a change that reduced spillage rates by 80 percent. "Gamification" is used in the design of devices and apps to help people improve their habits.

We all know the secret of dieting—eat better, eat less, exercise more—it's the application that's challenging. I had to create a scheme to put happiness ideas into practice in my life.

Although people often assume that cravings intensify over time, research shows that with active distraction, urges—even strong urges—usually subside within about fifteen minutes. Drawing on intrinsic motivation makes us far more likely to stick to a behavior, and to find it satisfying.

Sprinters are pleased with their work product, because sprinting is how they do their best work. Procrastinators aren't pleased with their work product; they know they could've done a better job if they'd allowed themselves more time.

argue, you're better off pursuing a profession that comes easily and that you love, because that's where you'll be more eager to practice and thereby earn a competitive advantage. I love writing

By finding my reward within the habit itself, with a reward that takes me deeper into the habit. If I look outside a habit for a reward, I undermine the habit. If I look within the habit for the reward, I strengthen the habit.

Research suggests that when we have conflicting goals, we don't manage ourselves well. We become anxious and paralyzed, and we often end up doing nothing.

The reward for a good habit is the habit itself.

The most important piece of writing advice: Have something to say. Whenever I have trouble writing, it's because I'm trying to write about something I don't care about. Once I know what I'm trying to say, writing is a joy. Other advice: read, read, read. GRETCHEN RUBIN

Two kinds of clarity support habit formation: clarity of values and clarity of action. The clearer I am about what I value, and what action I expect from myself—not what other people value, or expect from me—the more likely I am to stick to my habits.

So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do. —BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Autobiography

Studies show that if you reward people for doing an activity, they often stop doing it for fun; being paid turns it into "work.

For an extensive and fascinating discussion of the use and pitfalls of rewards, see Edward Deci, Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation (New York: Penguin, 1996); Alfie Kohn, Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999); Daniel Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (New York: Riverhead, 2009).

I cleaned out my fridge, and now I feel like I can change careers!

Studies show that if you reward people for doing an activity, they often stop doing it for fun; being paid turns it into "work." Parents, for example, are warned not to reward children for reading—they're teaching kids to read for a reward, not for pleasure.

Researchers were surprised to find," write Roy Baumeister and John Tierney in their fascinating book Willpower, "that people with strong self-control spent less time resisting desires than other people did.… people with good self-control mainly use it not for rescue in emergencies but rather to develop effective habits and routines in school and at work." In other words, habits eliminate the need for self-control.