High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Elevated levels of confidence are omnipresent among history’s greatest overachievers. Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous men in the world even before he signed the Declaration of Independence once lamented about humility, “I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue”.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
If you really want to break from the pack, you have to risk being perceived to be as eccentric as these people. You have to think exception-ally—a LOT!
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Power-worship blurs political judgment because it leads, almost unavoidably, to the belief that present trends will continue. Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate,
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.
—Jimmy Carter (b.1924) American Head of State, Military Leader
Superstars think like superstars long before the fans or the press anoint them.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don’t want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
Stick with your own perception of yourself—living in your own world—and letting your reality, not the reality presented by other people or particular situations, control your performance.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Great performers are, by definition, abnormal; they strive throughout their entire careers to separate themselves from the pack.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Picture yourself in your minds eye as having already achieved this goal. See yourself doing the things you’ll be doing when you’ve reached your goal.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
—Michelangelo (1475–1564) Italian Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Poet, Engineer
So much to do, so little done, such things to be.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
Productive achievement is a consequence and an expression of health, self-esteem, not its cause
—Nathaniel Branden (1930–2014) American Psychotherapist
Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and the wife smiles, and lets it go at that.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
Achievement brings its own anticlimax.
—Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American Poet
All great achievements require time.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
If life were measured by accomplishments, most of us would die in infancy.
—A. P. Gouthey
It’s no use saying, “we are doing our best.” You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.
—Unknown
Stress is the high-level performers PowerBar.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
To be free is to have achieved your life.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
We tend to view confidence as a product of accomplishment rather than part of the process that leads there. But supremely confident people were confident long before they achieved anything.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
I want to put a ding in the universe.
—Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
The size of your accomplishments, the quality of your achievement, will depend very largely on how big a man you see in yourself, what sort of image you get of your possible self, yourself at your best.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
You can be anything you want to be, if you only believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
It’s not the having, it’s the getting.
—Elizabeth Taylor (b.1932) English Actor, Activist
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
All successful employers are stalking men who will do the unusual, men who think, men who attract attention by performing more than is expected of them.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
Achieving starts with believing.
—Unknown
Recipe for success: Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
Like squirrels, the best in every business do what they have learned to do without questioning their abilities – they flat out trust their skills, which is why we call this high-performance state of mind the “Trusting Mindset”.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that’s nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.
—Helen Hayes (1900–93) American Actor, Philanthropist
The only way around is through.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
Unlikely accomplishments are borne out of single-minded purposefulness. Future superstars don’t get there by keeping part of their heart in reserve.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
To be a top performer you have to be passionately committed to what you’re doing and insanely confident about your ability to pull it off.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
Virtually nothing comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. The only time you don’t want to fail is the last time you try something … One fails forward toward success.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson
The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate themselves.
—Mike Ditka (b.1939) American Sportsperson
Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat
The fellow who does things that count, doesn’t usually stop to count them.
—Unknown
Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.
—Earl Warren (1891–1974) American Judge, Politician