My best quotes
Fear of failure?
I've noticed when a disappointment hurts the most. The future I'd imagined had to die. Once I understood it wasn't me that was wrong, but my future. The fear of failure was a lot less scary.
Need to make plans?
The mind wants to drag the potential future into the present. To protect you and test your ideas. Your mind sends out versions of your current self into the future. Your behavior and understanding must match the person that fits into that potential future.
Wish things were easier?
For people refined by strife, stop longing for ease. Our gifts come alive in the trenches. Just don't go back to old fights, search for what gives meaning, and attack forward. Rest when tired, but know, that we blaze a trail for those behind us.
You don't dream of an arrow stuck in the bull's eye. We dream of aiming just right and watching it fly. Enjoy the process.
Innovation and character create a cycle in life.
Plateaus require innovation to push into new heights. Valleys demand character to make it to the other side.
One day you'll wake up and realize you've gone as far as your old self will allow. You'll have a choice to either live on the mountain top or cross a valley and climb the higher one across the way.
Innovation is born from necessity. You come face to face with your inadequacies and reconcile a path forward through the unknown.
It feels like you're starting over from ground zero, but remember, you can't slip an inch behind what you've already accomplished. That old high becomes your new low.
Character is needed and built in lows because what you do when no one's watching shapes the future. Take shortcuts, and each time a problem arises. You'll be unprepared. What you're doing now matters today and tomorrow. Focus on what you enjoy doing, take time and do things right. If it's your passion, the outcome will follow.
A leader will feel the stress of everyone in their care. A good leader manages stress and not people.
Articulate what people wish they could say to people they hope would understand.
I needed motivation, so I asked, what if cleaning the dishes would save the world? I felt more in control of my life.
I needed direction, so I thought, "what would I do if I didn't care if people understood or not?" I tasted freedom.
I needed a plan, so I whispered, "God, will you show me." My spirit heard.
Friends, there is such a latent understanding in the world right now. People have been beaten down and misunderstood for so long that they will admire and seek to understand your passion. If you thought it was too late to create, think again.
No one will be as wise as Solomon because he answered the most meaningful question. What is the meaning of life? Everything is meaningless except enjoying the works of our hands.
Need to find discipline? Write out what your life would be like if you continued without it. Then write out what your life could become with discipline. The idea is to make the anxiety of being un-disciplined a motivator instead of a roadblock.
Creative people, you have a duty to abstract and display your dreams. Don't wait until you understand to share.
Choose to live in the fullness of your potential rather than the disparity of differences.
Getting older is relying more on experiences and less on senses.
Success
You have to fall in love with your goals.
The mysteries of success are like a modest woman. She doesn't want to reveal or expose herself.
Life, like a woman, must be courted, won over, and a relationship developed.
If you seek to conquer based on entitlement and power, your crude groping attempts meet an unmoved and boring life.
If you manage to wear her down through determination and persistence, you tear all the mysteries bare from her. Life is left violated. You are left alone.