“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” – Malcolm Forbes
Sometimes, it takes quotes with deep meaning to move us from doubt to taking action, from despising ourselves to loving ourselves.
Sometimes a short inspirational quote is stronger than the medicine.
While watching the documentaries and reading books on successful people, I noticed two things common among successful people: they persevered in the face of defeat, and they looked at tragedies in their life as an opportunity.
Here I am sharing some of my favorite quotes and my interpretation of those quotes. You may interpret them differently.
Apply these quotes to your life accordingly and move in the direction of success and dream.
Warren Buffett Quotes With Deep Meaning
– Warren Buffett loved to read books as a child. Very early on, he had a mindset of “being his boss.” Although he did not get into Harvard Business school (which, according to Buffett, was the best thing that happened to him), he met a teacher Ben Graham from whom he learned two rules of investing. 1. Never Lose Money. 2. Never Forget Rule Number One. He invested in cheap stocks for a long time. Warren Buffett had a net worth of $1 million by the age of 30.
“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
We must take the inventory of our habits every so often because habits form ever so slowly.
If we have bad habits that negatively affect our lives, we must catch them sooner and change them.
If we do not make an effort to change our bad habits now, they become too difficult to break and may lead us in a direction we do not intend to go.
“You only have one body and one mind, and it has to last you a lifetime, so take care of it.”
Earl Nightingale once said, “People value what they see and is tangible such as expensive cars, nice clothes, expensive watches, big house.
However, they neglect the thing they cannot see and is intangible – their mind.”
People hold these tangible things closer to their hearts and take good care of them. If somebody banged their expensive car, then they sure would get angry and upset. Yet, they neglect their priceless body and mind.
“It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you’ll drift in that direction.”
If you want to feel smartest, then hang out with people who are dumber than you, but that does not mean you are the smartest. Does it?
Always look for an opportunity to grow in every area of life. If you are in a room full of people and you identify you know more than them, it is time to find someone who knows more than you do and make them your new associates.
“It’s kind of crazy to spend your life painting if you are painting a subject you don’t want to look at.”
Do what you want to do in your life because you are accountable to yourself at the end of the day!
Do you want to keep doing what other people expect you to do, or do you want to go for your true calling and be honest to yourself?
If you keep living other people’s dreams, then you will eventually hate it. It is your life, your dream. So, live the life of your dream!
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to lose it.”
Trust and reputation go hand in hand. When we buy a particular product from a specific company, we trust that brand/company. That company has built a reputation to earn your trust, in turn, earn your business.
Be careful with whom you associate.
If you have built a good reputation based on your values and beliefs, you do not want to risk that long-built reputation in few minutes by adopting the opposite values.
Oprah Winfrey Quotes With Deep Meaning
– Oprah had anything but a “perfect childhood.” Her mother did not accept Oprah when she was a little girl because of her skin color. Oprah lived with her grandmother for few years because she was born to her mother out of wedlock.
When she was nine years old, she was raped by her cousin and later molested by men in her family.
Oprah may not have had a perfect childhood. However, Oprah had a dream and always knew what she wanted. As rough as her childhood has been, today, Oprah is a successful woman. She did not allow her tragedies to take over her whole life.
“Luck is preparation meeting opportunities.”
Instead of waiting for the opportunities, prepare yourself (knowledge and skill) for what you desire, and when the opportunities come along, you will be ready for them.
“Not only you have the right to whatever you want. You have the right to change your mind.”
If you desire something in life, then go for it. Stop being a people pleaser and stop thinking about what they will feel if you changed your mind on something.
“You are responsible for your life. Although there may be a tragedy in your life, there is always a possibility to triumph. It does not matter who you are or where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always!”
You can see the glass as half full or half empty. You can be an optimist or pessimist.
How we deal with tragedies in our lives is always our choice because you can either accept tragedies as a defeat and retreat or take them as a steppingstone to keep moving forward.
The difference is one action will take you backward, possibly where you do not want to be five years down the road, and the other action will take you where you always wanted to be. Learn to let go of your past mistakes.
“The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth will set you free.”
It takes courage to face our fears because fear is not a real thing.
It is Fall Evidence Appearing Real.
We cook up all the negative stuff inside our heads. Before we even take the first step towards anything, we think of failure.
How do we even know that we are going to fail unless we try it?
And if we are not even taking the first step, we are robbing ourselves of the beautiful life waiting ahead of us.
“You are worthy to say No!”
Learn to set boundaries with the people around you. It is okay to say no when you are not comfortable doing what you are not supposed to do. It is all about how you feel about it. Also, when you stand your ground, you will figure out who is your well-wisher and who is fake.
Wayne Dyer Quotes With Deep Meaning
– Wayne’s father walked out of him when he was a kid. Wayne lived in an orphanage until he was ten years old. Although he lived in series of foster homes, he looked at the situation positively. One of Wayne’s best qualities was his ability to turn a negative situation into a positive one.
“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.”
If we wait for the external environment to get better for us to feel happy and loved, we will be forever waiting.
What happens outside of us may not be in our control. However, how we interpret the outside world is within our control.
When somebody cuts you off on the highway, do you get angry and start cussing? Which, by the way, the other driver cannot even hear. Isn’t that silly? The other driver probably just cut off in front of you and drove away. The driver does not know, nor even care if you are upset.
“You, and only YOU, are the subject that impacts the burning desire in your imagination.”
When we were a kid, we spent hours imagining and living in our imagination world. As a kid, it did not matter to us how silly we looked because, for us, our imagination was “real.” When we became adults, we let go of our vision and started living by other people’s standards.
There are few; when they have an imagination, they act and follow through. Some of the things around us existed in someone’s imagination before they became a reality. The smartphone, the TV, the chair you are sitting on, and the list can go on.
If you have an imagination, then have a burning desire until it comes to fruition because who knows your imagination may positively help others?
“If you like to accomplish something, you must first expect it of yourself.”
If we plan to inspire others, then we must first be able to motivate ourselves. Before you love someone else, expect to love yourself first.
Do you believe you deserve the things in yourself?
You must accept the fact that you are worthy of the things you desire. We must have expectations before the possession.
“I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I’m not.”
Be true to yourself, and you will attract people who like you for who you are. If you pretend to be liked by someone, then you will forever be pretending.
I had given this advice to a close friend who wanted to know if he is marrying the right person. I told him, “Do not try to be different to impress a girl, because if you begin your relationship on pretentious, you will pretend all your life.”
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
This quote pretty much stems from the theory of quantum mechanics. When an observer looked at the electron, electrons changed their behavior.
We can apply this same principle in our life.
Whether we look at incidences in our life as positive or negative is solely our choice.
If, for instance, you take highway traffic as an opportunity to “have more time to listen to your favorite music” instead of “I hate dealing with the traffic,” then you will notice how your emotions shift.
Henry Ford Quotes With Deep Meaning
– Henry Ford was poor and uneducated (less than the sixth grade of schooling), but he had a vision of a horseless carriage. Although he was an uneducated man, he built a mastermind group (men with specialized knowledge) and use their knowledge to fulfill his vision. In 1903, Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company, which we still see exist even today.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Every failure in our life brings us closer to our goals. Instead of allowing failure to define you as a failure, look at it as a great teacher. For example, when a young child touches the hot stove accidentally, they quickly learn not to touch the stove again.
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.”
When a NASCAR driver travels at an extremely high speed and is in turn, his eyes are focused on where he wants to go and not the sidewall he wants to avoid. If he took his eyes off his “desired” course, then he may quickly hit the wall and get in a crash.
We do the same thing in our life. It almost seems like we are looking for an opportunity to quit before we reach our goals. However, if you keep your eyes on the end goal, obstacles will become more of a learning point.
“Vision without execution is just hallucination.”
Everybody has a vision about the life they desire. There are only a few who will execute that vision. If you have an idea, but you do not take any action, the vision is just a dream.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right!”
There are only two answers to any decision. It is either “yes” or “no.” There is no middle. You either do something, or you do not.
If you want to start your own business, and if you believe you cannot, then, of course, you will not be able to start your own business. The opposite is equally valid.
To a certain extends, your “core beliefs” determine your actions and decisions in life.
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”
Your ability to learn from your past mistakes determines your future action. However, if you sulk over your past mistakes, then you surrender yourself in the face of defeat.
Not learning from your past mistakes is the worst thing you can do for your personal growth. And the worst is to keep repeating the same mistakes repeatedly and blaming them on other people, the economy, and society.
Conclusion
Life is full of ups and downs, but how we approach life is up to us. Every day is not going to be rainbow and sunshine, but we can make every day count. Instead of focusing on conflicts, mistakes, and tragedies, how about we question ourselves, “What did this experience teach me?” There is no such thing as wasted experience because every passing moment is teaching us a lesson.
