I don’t know about you, but I am in need of inspirational quotes right now. Watching the Covid-19 positive numbers rise in South Africa (where I am based), living in lockdown, unable to do so much that I love to do … life is certainly not what it was before, and who knows when we will find our “new normal” and what that will even be!
So, I decided to lift my own spirits, and yours too by posting this article packed with inspirational quotes for life … not only for one aspect of life, but also our success, growth, and more – reminding us that there is so much more to life than the here and now.
Table of Contents
21-Day Journey
I recently did a 21-days of happiness journey as a participant in a psychology students study, it really helped me too.
The aim of the exercise was to spend some time alone and still before starting the day. Mindfully saying affirmations every morning for 21 days. I loved the process, it seems to rewire your thinking. I didn’t dash out of bed every morning and throw myself straight into the day, instead, I started quietly and focused on wonderful things before anything else.
Perhaps you can choose a quote a day (or a week) and read it out loud every morning as soon as you wake, ponder on it, don’t rush it as a routine activity each day. The read it again on occasion throughout the day. Give it a shot, you have nothing to lose!
Care and Control
Given the times we are living in, I thought it best to start with a quote that really spoke to my heart. “The Best Way To Win Tomorrow Is To Take Care & Control Of Today” President Lyndon Johnson. Even in our unprecedented times, what we do today, still impacts tomorrow – positively or negatively. We can allow the 2020 world events to sink us or to galvanize us into action. Which will it be for you?
Courage
When we first went into lockdown and watched world events unfold, I took the time to actively look for quotes around the topic of courage. This one from John Maxwell is so powerful: “Courage Doesn’t Remove Our Crisis, Courage Moves Us In The Crisis. Courage Moves Us To A Better Position In the Midst of the Storm”
What that means to me it that there it no better time to get moving. We do need to be courageous without risking our health or the health of those we love. I have more than one act of courage taking place right now.
The first is by making a difference in the lives of others who are really struggling right now. There are families without food, they were already living on the breadline before the lockdown was announced. They are literally starving. I make a difference by contributing financially and also connecting people as much as I can on platforms like Facebook. Every day I scour the groups I belong to food people in need.
This is a courageous act for me because I am very tenderhearted, when I see suffering it hurts me very deeply. The alternative is to do nothing and that would be worse for me. I would not be able to live with myself.
What are you doing right now that it courageous? If nothing comes to mind I encourage you to find something, being courageous can be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Taking on a new challenge helps us to grow and become more of what we were created to be. It makes us stretch and learn that we are capable of so much more than we may give ourselves credit for.
The next quote and the image I paired with it gave me a good giggle. “Courage Is Going From Failure To Failure Without Losing Enthusiasm” Winston Churchill.
They reminded me of my time working in exhibition sales & sponsorships on the Cape Town Book Fair (now known as South African Book Fair). I was sent to the New Delhi World Book Fair in 2012 to secure sponsors and exhibitors. So there I was alone in New Delhi, never traveled to that part of the world before, and my role involved walking from hall to hall, stand to stand, pulling my wares behind me in a briefcase on wheels. I was even sporting an ankle brace at the time due to a recent injury. But nothing stopped me!
To put it into perspective, please allow me to share the stats from the New Delhi World Book Fair 2012:
- The venue was Pragati Maidan which is nearly 150 acres – that is more than 625,000 square meters of exhibition space
- There were 1297 Exhibitors
- 90,000 visitors per day
- I had less than 4 days to cover the entire show!
An impossible task, right? Turns out I did pretty well! My MD at the time had high expectations of me and at the end of the Cape Town Book Fair 2012, we had a celebratory dinner where she told me how happy she was with the results I had delivered!
John Maxwell also said “Courage Isn’t After The Fact. It’s Right In The Middle”. How true is that? We are currently in the eye of the storm when it comes to Covid-19 infections in South Africa and we need more courage now than ever before. So let’s be courageous” right in the middle”.
Look for opportunities when it feels like there are none. If you are in lockdown and unable to go to your place of work, or worse, you have lost your source of income or job, look for alternatives. The online business world is definitely a place worthy of your consideration. You could take your offline business online or create a brand new online business. Don’t know where to start? I know the perfect place for you, read more about that in another article I wrote. Starting In Online Business [4 Easy Steps].
Optimism & Hope
Without hope, we really do not have anything to look forward to. Martin Seligman’s words reveal just how interrelated optimism and hope are. “Optimism Generates Hope. Hope Releases Dreams. Dreams Set Goals. Enthusiasm Follows.”
This quote has a profound effect on me, I can actually feel the way the words cause a bubbling up of excitement within me. The words create momentum and carry me through to the point of enthusiasm which is where I get excited about life and become motivated to take action and realize my dreams (and the dreams of others too – have a look at my About Me page, you will see what I mean by that. Making a difference in the lives of others it high on my values list).
Here is another quote that builds momentum within me. It makes me want to jump up, stretch myself out, and DO MORE!
Helen Keller was an amazing woman and said many wise words, this is just one of her many popular quotes “Optimism Is The Faith That Leads to Achievement. Nothing Can Be Done Without Hope & Confidence”.
I am a praying woman and saying a prayer every day asking our Heavenly Father to give me the optimism and faith that will lead to achievement it a powerful prayer. Give it a try.
Wellness
Wellness applies to our minds and our bodies. This quote is so powerful if we believe it to be true. Napoleon Hill wrote the book “Think & Grow Rich”, the quote below is said to be “a bastardized version of a Napoleon Hill” quote.
It’s a great book by the way, and you can buy it through Amazon.
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Wherever the quote comes from, it is so very true. I hope the quote inspires you to visualise and allow your mind to take your body (and your life) to where you want it to be. I also hope the pic below gives you a chuckle too – the image is just so playful, I couldn’t resist!
If you are interested in learning more about how powerful your mind is, have a look at another article I wrote, “What Is A Gratitude List“. It is about more than a gratitude list, I am sure you will enjoy it.
Negativity
It may seem like a strange quote to throw into the mix but I believe it is one we should keep in mind. Why? Well, because it will make us proactive about guarding our thoughts and protecting our minds.
We cannot ignore that there are many events taking place around us, in fact, around the world. But, we also cannot afford to dwell on them. As this quote says, it is like fertilizing weeds … in other words, we encourage them to grow. Before we know it, we won’t be able to see the wood for the weeds (see what I did there? lol?)
That brings me to another quote “Energy Flows Where Attention Goes” courtesy of Anthony Robbins …. well worth taking heed of. It’s similar to driving your car at night when you see a car coming towards you in the other lane, the best thing is to avert your eyes – that is not to look directly at the lights on the other car, so your attention is away from the danger, right?’
Leadership & Success
John Maxwell is known for his dedication to developing leaders, he has written countless books about leadership (have a look at Amazon and take your pick! Just two that come to mind are The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader). Dr. John Maxwell has sold in the region of 19 million books! Well worth having a look at!
He also has a strong presence online with leadership courses that he offers, I receive an email daily called “Minute with Maxwell” – I look forward to the emails, they arrive before 1 pm SA time which is a perfect midday pickup for me.
One of John Maxwell’s many well-known quotes it “A leader it the one who knows the way, shows the way & goes the way”
Let’s dissect that a bit:
- A leader is one who knows the way – this speaks of vision to me. We need to have the vision to know where we are headed. How are you doing in the vision department? It’s a skill worth developing. I have written a bit about this, you are welcome to have a read, there is even an exercise for you to do.
- A leader is one who shows the way – to me, this is indicative of a leader giving clear, understandable direction. If only all leaders could do that!
- A leader is one who goes the way – I take this as leading by example. Nothing better than seeing a leader doing what is expected of you. Very encouraging.
A quote from Jack Welch says “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” I love this quote because it speaks about leadership, success, and growth.
I have been learning about online business for a few years now and can confidently say that I have grown to the point where I am ready to lead others. It’s a very exciting place to be. If you are keen to learn about online business, I encourage you to sign up for the Free EBook, it’s displayed at the bottom of this article.
I cannot leave you without sharing one of my favorite John Maxwell quotes, “The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda”. Never a truer word has been spoken! Do you wake up with a plan in mind every single day? Are you passionate about your life, are you doing what you love? If not, why not? Are you at least working towards doing something that you love?
Our daily agendas are so very important.
What we do daily, become our daily habits, and are the stepping stones to reaching the place, or life. of our dreams.
If you are not doing something every day, I encourage you to start out with writing down a vision of the perfect day in your dream life. Then read and re-read that vision every day. More than once a day if you can.
Imagine it in minute detail, until you can see it in your mind’s eye. You can hear the sounds, taste, and smell of what it would be like in that place. Perhaps you want to travel the world on a yacht (chance will be a fine thing in 2020, but there are years ahead of us still!). You could imagine the smell of the seawater, taste the salt, feel the warm sun on your skin, imagine the feeling of complete freedom out on the vast ocean!
Once you have experienced your dream through your imagination and vision, then start putting plans into place. It is so much easier to move toward something when we have a clear vision of it. Write it down, keep a journal, even if it’s just a couple of lines a day. This activity helps you hold your focus. Do something daily that moves you in the direction you want to go. Not only that, it opens your mind up to possibilities instead of looking at your current circumstances, you start seeing opportunities.
I am very interested in everything to do with human mindsets, particularly in relation to what drives us and how we have to use our imaginations and focus to help us reach where we would love to be. I wrote two articles which may be of interest to you:
There are also PDF worksheets for you to download and work through. I have experienced amazing results from doing the mindset work and encourage you to give it a shot.
Thank You
Thank you for spending this time with me. I hope these quotes have lifted your spirits and given you pause from the challenges’ life can throw our way.
If you enjoyed all these quotes and would like to read more from me, you are welcome to follow me on Facebook by clicking here.
Do you have favourite quotes you’d like to share? If so, please pop me a message in the comments section below. In fact, any contribution you would like to make is welcome. I look forward to hearing from you ? .
Blessings as always
Hi Louise
I love this post – I am all about positive thinking and know that if I am feeling bad, I only need to think about what I’ve been thinking about to know why.
Having said that, I have been having a bit of a ‘wobble’ about going back to work on Monday (full time). I know it’s for the best and that we have to get back to some sort of normal, but it’s been so amazing, slowing down, not working and enjoying writing at home. (Then I feel guilty for enjoying it when so many are heartbroken.)
I too love taking time in the morning instead of rushing headlong into the day. I follow The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod (it’s a book and a practice) and have no idea how I lived without it.
Looking forward to checking out more of your posts.
Kind regards,
Jean
Hi Jean
Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such great feedback.
I shall have to look out for Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, sounds interesting.
I wish you everything of the best with returning back to the office – it hasn’t been easy for me either to be honest.
Blessings
Louise