Do you have big goals you long to achieve? One of the surest paths to success is imitating the people you admire.
The 13 success quotes in this post will teach you the advantages of high achieving people.
SPOILER: There’s nothing mysterious or secretive about these strategies.
The truth is…normal people who consistently make winning choices can enjoy massive success.
So here are 13 success quotes to help you make winning choices.
1. Quitters don’t win.
“…if you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” — Steve Jobs
In her research study, Dr. Angela Duckworth found that Grit, “perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” predicted success “better than any other predictor.”
It makes sense. No one who quits a goal achieves it. Plus, we’re way more likely to give up than to encounter a truly unbeatable obstacle.
Need help becoming QuitterProof? Download my free book.
2. Consistency fuels productivity.
“Successful people are just those with successful habits.” — Bryan Tracy
When you’re chasing a big goal, the kind that takes months or years to accomplish, your biggest enemy will be complacency — letting days go by without any forward motion.
Productive habits are the antidote.
Instead of cramming when you feel like it, do a little every day.
In one year, a person working only 15 minutes every day will invest almost twice as much time as someone cramming in a two hour session every other week.
Small wins add up and lead to big results.
3. Failure is normal.
“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
We’re raised to believe that some people are born for success while others are born for failure. But the truth is, everyone is born for failure. And the people who learn how to win with failure, get to enjoy success.
Today, Sir James Dyson has an estimated net worth of $4.3 billion, but when he was trying to invent the bagless vacuum, his first 5,126 prototypes failed to produce the results he wanted.
Dyson learned from each experiment, and on his 5,127 attempt, he found the design he was looking for.
Successful people fail more because they try as long as it takes. Are you willing to do the same?
4. Ego slows progress.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.” — Mark Cuban
The world’s greatest inventors, innovators, storytellers, and entrepreneurs have all walked a similar path.
They looked incredibly stupid until they looked incredibly smart.
If you want to succeed faster, start looking stupid.
Try things. Learn things. Failure is the tuition you pay to become a master.
As Sanctus Real sings, “Cool is just how far we have to fall.”
5. Practice really works.
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is practice.” —Vladimir Horowitz
Author and researcher K. Anders Ericsson has dedicated his career to studying the power of practice. In his book Peak, he writes…
“In pretty much any area of human endeavor, people have a tremendous capacity to improve their performance, as long as they train in the right way. If you practice something for a few hundred hours, you will almost certainly see great improvement…” (Pg. 113)
Takeaway? There are things you’re good at and things you can get better at.
6. Many limits are imaginary.
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” — Mark Twain
According to the science of self-efficacy, believing you can accomplish a goal is a crucial first step to achieving it.
Everyone has areas of strength and areas of weakness.
Your weaknesses won’t disappear overnight, or maybe ever.
But normal people accomplish amazing things every single day, in spite of their weaknesses.
You start by believing you can.
7. Blaming others stunts growth.
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” — Florence Nightingale
We all make mistakes, but we don’t all learn from them.
Growth comes from thinking about what you could have done differently. And the moment you blame someone else, you turn off your brain and forfeit your power to improve.
That’s a problem…because people who don’t learn from their mistakes tend to repeat them.
8. You are responsible for your success.
“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” — Albert Ellis
If you feel trapped by the burden of unmet potential, stop waiting to be rescued and start planning your escape.
Don’t wait for support. Seek it. Don’t wish for more talent. Cultivate it. Don’t hope for a lucky break. Prepare to capitalize on the breaks each of us receive.
Do we control everything? Absolutely not. But how much do we control?
By my math…less than we’d like and more than we think.
One of the easiest ways to be proactive is learning. There are lots of great eBooks about achieving big goals by getting your life more organized. Here’s a review of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, which is a great resource for getting those books at a discounted price.
9. Passion promotes perseverance.
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” — Herman Cain
Although Cain is a controversial figure, I wholeheartedly agree with this quote.
Ted Dekker is a New York Times bestselling novelist who has sold over 10 million copies. But his first five books went unpublished.
Writing a novel is tough. Ted did it five times with nothing to show. No one would have blamed him if he’d just given up.
Why didn’t he quit?
Ted explains, “Writing gives me clarity.”
While no job is 100% fun, to persevere through setbacks and failures, you need to find meaning in the work, not just the outcome. If you can’t find meaning in the work, consider finding different work.
10. Deadlines inspire action.
“A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill
Have you gone months or years with no progress toward your goals?
You need to stop procrastinating and create an actual plan with a deadline.
Here’s a system to help you do that.
It’s easier than you probably think!
11. No one succeeds alone.
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” — Zig Ziglar
Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and True Blood were all remarkably successful franchises based on a similar concept (that wasn’t original to any of them).
Did they detract from each other’s success? No, they helped each other by attracting new fans to the genre.
If you help your friends succeed, they’re likely to help you too. And the more successful they become, the more helpful they can be.
Who can you help today who might help you back later?
12. Success demands boldness.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” — Hellen Keller
Why do we play everything safe? What are we protecting?
Life is short. Pride is stupid.
Will you work for what you want this week, especially when it scares you?
13. The first step is crucial.
“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.” — Tony Robbins
Success is a game of momentum, and the first step is one of the hardest.
So in the early stages, be patient with yourself.
You are doing the difficult work of getting started, waiting for momentum to team up and push alongside you.
What are your favorite success quotes?
I hope you’ve learned something new from these 13 success quotes and been inspired to work hard toward your goals.
In the comments, tell me about the goals you’re chasing.
Also, share any success quotes that have inspired you in the past and tell me why you love them.
I just might add your success quotes to this list!
Want to go deeper?
Do you have big goals you long to achieve?
The biggest threat to your success is simply giving up.
Become a finisher with my short book QuitterProof: The 5 Beliefs of Highly Successful People.
Download your free copy right here.
Psst…there are more success quotes in the book!
Aziz Ahmed says
Excellent quotes.
miko says
the quotes are inspiring and i hope i can apply to my goals in life.
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