Quotes motivate us and keep us focused. I surround myself with inspirational sayings, and use them in situations with clients or in workshops. These 10 are the quotes I use the most in my daily life, and it can help you in your personal and career journey.
1. Change your thoughts and you change your world. ~Norman Vincent Peale. 
How we view the world, and the way we think defines our actions. Hope and confidence are fuel for positivity and change. What are your thoughts motivated by? I hope you see the cup as half-full, and not half empty. Fear and negativity limit us. It keeps us stuck from setting goals and overcoming obstacles. Today, people with a hunger for ambition are the winners, so if you have been thinking about starting a business, what better way to do it than to avoid credit check loans.
2. Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.
In January people set career and personal goals. Throughout the year we make plans, and quit because we are overwhelmed or think it’s impossible. The task is only too big if you look just to the finish line, and not to the day at hand. If we focus on each step, then our desires are attainable. Life and career lessons can be learned from athletes and what they achieve over time, and never in one step.
3. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. ~Mark Twain
Don’t look back at your year or your life and have it be filled with regrets of the things you did not do or the risks you did not take. Open yourself up to new people, new ideas, and new horizons. Comfort levels keep us where we have always been. But its only when we step out of the box and try a different path, that we can actually greet the “could-of been and should-of-been” in life. Successful entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs explored a ‘different’ path than the course which was handed to them.
4. Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ~Benjamin Franklin
Each day we write a new page in life, and social media has changed what we share with the world. We share too much or don’t share to inspire. Remember employers that want to learn more about you, peers that may be able to refer you, or even children that look up to you are watching. Put your name into the Google search engine, and see what brand or image you portray to the world. I teach workshops on this. Trust me, its serious business.
5. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate and give ~ Ralph Marston
A rule of karma is that you get what you give. Those that give their time, energy, and resources to others have a bigger network to rely on when need arises. In life we shouldn’t give to receive, but there are rewards to practicing random acts of kindness. See where you can volunteer your time and skills. If someone helps you along the way, please state your gratitude as well as pay it forward. 
6. Chance favors the prepared. ~Louis Pasteur
If you like where you are in your career or personal life, that’s great. But if you don’t, then start thinking about what you need to do to get to where you want to go. What degree or knowledge base do you need to acquire to make yourself marketable? You can’t apply to jobs you are not qualified for, but you can develop your skills and become the right candidate.
7. I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. ~Michael Jordan
Our life is full of success stories, but its also filled with plenty of ‘fails’. How we handle being knocked down makes a difference to where we end up. Hard work and perseverance do pay off in the end. The easy road never leads to an easy life; it only leaves you wishing you had more. So if your last 3 diets didn’t work, or your last 4 interviews bombed; just keep pressing forward and understand what you could have done differently. Don’t quit. Keep going. In the attempts you get closer and closer to accomplishment.
8 When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. ~John Lennon
Happiness is different things for different people. Are you happy with your life? People grow up to be lawyers or stay at home moms. People serve others as skilled craftsman, in retail, or as support staff. All are great places to be if you are personally happy with that destination. If not, then do something about the relationships, jobs, or roles you are in.
9. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. ~C. S. Lewis
Whether you are job hunting, changing careers, or just looking to find yourself, the right ‘read’ can help you get started on your dreams. Richard Bolles book, What Color is Your Parachute is a great quick read. You don’t have to wait to set personal and professional goals. Update your resume and have networking business cards printed. Who knows what the next week will hold?! Get ready to write your story. Only you have the pen to do that, and it can be whatever dream you choose to fulfill.
10. An organized life is a happy life.
This is something I penned myself and constantly tell people. If your personal life is in disarray, if your table is always a mess and you can’t find ‘anything’, if you feel over whelmed and can never find ‘time’; then do something about it! Create order out of chaos and you will be the better for it. Say ‘no’ to offers in order to make time for the important things. Utilize a schedule or planner to achieve goals without procrastination. Make a conscious effort to categorize and put things where you can find them, and do not hoard the unnecessary. The time and satisfaction you gain from bringing order to your daily life is priceless.
Whatever personal resolution you have set for yourself, I wish you success in achieving it. Some times having a quote to stand behind, is just what we need. Surround yourself with your favorite motivational sayings and share them with others. I would love to hear what your favorite quote is. Connect with me on twitter @BlessCareers and the Career Transitions Guide Facebook page.
