People say motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.Zig Ziglar

There are plenty of motivational quotes spread around the Internet; 95% of our official Twitter feed is motivational content (follow us!); but sometimes, you just need a massive mainline of motivational content through your optic nerve.

This is the last post you’ll ever have to bookmark to get that boost. Below are 44 of my favorite motivational and inspirational quotes and memes:

(Note that you can click-to-tweet some of the quotes.)

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.Coco Chanel

 

If we really want to succeed, we must stamp out unhappiness, in any form, in every mind.Geshe Michael Roach

 

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.Winston Churchill

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.Stephen Covey

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.Steve Jobs

 

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.Heraclitus

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.Carl Jung

The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.Voltaire

Build your reputation by helping other people build theirs.Anthony J. D’Angelo

It takes the hammer of persistence to drive the nail of success.John Mason

You can have your excuse, or you can have your result.Unknown

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.Beverly Sills

A man is what he thinks about all day.Ralph Waldo Emerson

The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.Jim Rohn

Waste no more time arguing about what a good person should be. Be one.Marcus Aurelius

Many men know the recipe of a happy life, but only few go into the kitchen to cook it.Unknown

Now, you may be feeling a bit pumped up right now.

But motivation is not enough.

What?

That’s right, you heard me.

Whatever your dream life may look like, scrolling across the swaths of motivational posters like the above won’t actually get you closer to reaching your goals.

Motivation will not in and of itself get you anything. It’s necessary, but not sufficient.

That’s because motivation means nothing without focus.

If you’re not focused on taking the right steps towards your goals, day in and day out, then all the motivation in the world won’t help.

So, how do you actually accomplish your goals?

The following is a methodology that has been uncovered over decades of research in the psychology of goal setting, motivation, and behavior change, from the fields of high-performance athletics & education.

Answer the following questions if you please: 

1. What do you really want to accomplish?
2. Why do you want to accomplish this?
3. Why is THAT important?
4. Why is that important?
5. Now that you understand just how important it is to accomplish your goal, what is one tiny action you can take to start on it, today?

Now, are you actually going to take that tiny action you wrote down, above?

If yes, congratulations! You’re on your way to a  better life. You’re probably taking that step because you’re feeling a lot of extra motivation to do so right now.

But motivation is fleeting, and it will pass when responsibilities arise, or when attractive people want to take you out for a drink. Believe me, your goals somehow seem to jump on the other person’s team whenever something awesome pops up. They scream to you, “YEA! Go to that BBQ with your friends and help them drink that 6-pack while you watch the Dodgers play the Giants for the fifth time this season. We’ve worked hard enough already on this goal, and we’ll get back to it tomorrow.”

Or, “Yeah, it’s important to learn database programming. But first, the baby needs to be changed…and the laundry. And the dishes. And the taxes. Later! Later we’ll plan that family trip to Oregon.”

Which leaves us putting off working on our goals until the next day, or the next, and then the next.

All of a sudden, it’s three years later, and you’re still in the same exact place.

How do you avoid this common tragedy?

By scheduling time to stoke your motivated and to take actions on your goals. If it’s important to you, it needs to be in your daily schedule, and you need to honor that time, the same way you’d honor an appointment with a million-dollar mentor.

If you flake on yourself, you’re flaking on your dreams, you’re flaking on a better life for your family, you’re flaking on your future.

If you find yourself flaking even once, NOW it’s time for motivation.

NOW, at last you can finally look at that picture of Muhammad Ali with a quote across the top and bottom reading, “It doesn’t matter how hard you get hit, what matters is that you get back up.” Now you can listen to Eminem’s song, “Til I Collapse” (Yes, that is my favorite go to song in the universe for motivation). Now, you can scroll through this post on a daily basis and feel all pumped up, slam your laptop lid down, and get back out on that road to accomplishing your big hairy audacious goal (B-HAG).

When you are finally feeling motivated, then it is time to take a tiny action towards your goal. This is when you make a decision to CHANGE something in your life.

Something small. Something simple. But something that needs to be changed.

Then, do it again the next day. If you lack motivation, go through the questions above again.

Think of all the fascinating dreams that people have had throughout the ages that never escaped their skulls, all because of procrastination!

Who knows how different our world could’ve been had some of these other ideas been executed!

The world only benefits from having people who supported and encouraged people’s interests, especially when they become all-consuming! How MAGICAL of an experience it is to be wrapped up in work that you’re passionate about?!

(Just look at the way Elon Musk has been able to change the world by being wrapped up in all-consuming nerdlike interests like electric transportation and rockets.)

So, how does one find focus? How do you achieve all that you’ve ever wanted and live the life you were meant to live?

We’d love to tell you there is a magic bullet or single trick, but there isn’t.

We are committed to being real with you, and only telling you what has worked for us and our clients to change behavior.

That’s why we have to tell you the truth: this blog post alone won’t do it.

Information isn’t enough.

Information is not transformation, and transformation is what you really want.

There’s no two ways about it: you’re going to have to take small actions each day in order to change your life.

Small, repeated actions…like the drip of water on rocks, consistently, over decades…that eventually wear away the rock of your ingrained character.

You can do it. But you don’t have to do it alone. We can help. We have online programs as well as real-world and group Master Mind programs standing by to boost you to YOUR next level. Click here to check them out.