The inspirational power of quotes and how to make more of them

You are moved. At least for a moment.

You are moved. At least for a moment.

There is something deep within you that seems to shout out loud:
“Yes, that is so true!”

You swipe up.

Funny video. Tap.

This could be you (or me), scrolling through your (or my) Facebook feed.

You are awestruck, for a single moment, by the almost inconceivable depth of what you just read.

The inescapable, simple truth of that one quote. The quote that, in a single instant, seemed to reveal so much about your life, about what is going wrong, and about what you should be doing.

But then, it’s gone. Both from your screen and your mind.

Although we all experience the chills a striking quote can give us from time to time, only very rarely, if ever, do we let it direct our thinking and future action.

But why?

Because we resist.

We resist against the reflection on what it might tell you.
Because it might be hard to do.

We resist against the realization of our shortcomings.
Because it might be uncomfortable.

We resist against implementation.
Because it might be hard to do and it might be uncomfortable.

I am exactly like that. Most of the time.

Sometimes, though, I do find the strength to reflect on wise words and very consciously try to let them guide my actions.

Here are 3 examples of that.

QUOTE #1

“Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has left you.” — George Zalucki

We live in a culture of growing impatience and instant gratification.

Agreeing to something when your rational and your emotional “self” are aligned is easy.

It’s when your instinct-driven part wants to push you away that it gets tricky. And that’s when most people fail.

It’s when a feeling of pleasure or reward is far away, when the anticipation of a payoff is almost non-existent, that you need an inner strength to choose that which will lead to success in the long-run.

You need an inner strength that keeps you on track and prevents you from falling prey to the sweet temptation of choosing the path of instant pleasure.

This is what commitment truly is.

Being consistent with what needs to be done, regardless of how your emotional attitude towards it fluctuates.

In my view, understanding this is critical for long-term development — something we are all after to some degree.

Personally, I am utilizing this insight about commitment in that I constantly remind myself — or better, brainwash myself not to forget — that the things I do for personal development reasons must not be dependent on my being in the mood for it.

Ideally, I enjoy investing time and effort in myself (and normally I do), but when I don’t — this shouldn’t play a significant role.

For instance, I do not let the “want to-” factor influence my decision whether or not to work out on any given day. Most of the time, I enjoy training. But even when I don’t — I committed myself to develop myself physically constantly, and thus my actions in honor of this commitment (i.e. hitting the gym) are not contingent on how much I actually want to in the moment.

Another example would be my evening TV or video routine: I am committed to constantly learn more about how the world works and how I can interact with it effectively.

This means that my consumption of educational video content must not be solely dependent on whether or not I am actually looking forward to it.

Therefore, I created the simple rule that I wouldn’t watch anything purely entertaining (i.e. House of Cards) before having spent at least 30 min. with content that is somewhat educational.

Yes, you should enjoy life. And doing what you feel like doing can be a tremendous source of happiness.

But your being in the mood for something does not tell you much about whether or not it is the right thing to do with regards to your personal development.

QUOTE #2

“Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.” — Jim Rohn

The quality of your life depends on your ability to understand and navigate the world.

It depends on your ability to view whatever is going on from different perspectives. It depends on the mindset that you carry around with you and the beliefs that you hold.

It depends on the quality of decisions you make on a daily basis. In turn, these decisions feed on your ability to comprehend and to reflect, your ability to ask the right questions, your capacity to learn from mistakes, and the degree to which you are clear about your goals.

Sadly, our formal education doesn’t teach us any of these things. It rather feeds us facts and raises us to believe what we are taught.

Therefore, it is your very own responsibility to continuously invest into your ability to understand, to broaden your horizon, to expand your skill set, to understand perspectives, and to learn how to form meaningful goals and work towards them.

Ultimately, it is even your responsibility to see life as what it truly is: a great opportunity. And the great fortune of life lies in seizing that opportunity. In determining your own trajectory.

I firmly believe that curiosity is the key to continuous self-education, to learning und understanding and thus to developing yourself consistently.

Cultivate your curiosity by diving into whatever interests you, by continuously exposing yourself to new topics, thoughts, ideas, perspectives, people and places, and by embracing new experiences.

Also, be curious about yourself, about what motivates and drives you, about your very own view of the world. Self-exploration is just as important as the exploration of what is around you.

Personally, I try to leverage the insight of this quote by cultivating two things:

First, a relentless focus on learning and understanding, regardless of what it is. I binge on articles and wiki pages about random topics that sound interesting. I watch educational videos about philosophy, astrophysics, math, literature, history and video making. I listen to podcasts about politics, neuroscience, psychology, religion, ethics and economics. Each piece of information or knowledge adds to my understanding of the world and might change how I see things and what I do.

Second, a deep desire to understand how I and people around me function, what inspires and motivates people and what makes them happy. I read both western and eastern philosophy as well as more science-grounded books about human motivation and the psychology of happiness and fulfillment. I regularly watch motivational videos and listen to inspirational speakers. Once in a while, I find a nugget that makes me re-evaluate my perspectives and priorities, that inspires me to reflect on the value of my goals and that pushes me to adjust my actions accordingly.

QUOTE #3

“For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I find it fascinating how quickly so many of us give up their inner joy, their contentment, their peace of mind. How easily they are infused with anger or any other form of negativity, often for the most stupid reasons.

Whether it’s people, situations, or circumstances — we always seem to find a reason to trade in our contentment for dissatisfaction, our serenity for disturbance, and our calm for anger.

Be it someone who cuts you off in traffic, the grumpy lady at the register who snaps at you, the train that’s 10 min. behind schedule, or — God forbid! — the wifi connection that just dropped.
I’m sure one of these or something similar regularly pulls you into the abyss of frustration and anger, even if it’s just momentarily.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you should never be angry and just walk around like a bubbling happiness machine. It just means that your anger and negativity comes at a cost.

Every moment of anger is paid for with a moment of happiness.

And yes, of course, there are things that understandably make you or me or anyone angry. Some things are justifiably upsetting emotionally.

But these are way less frequent than you are telling yourself. And also they come at the cost of peace of mind.

Reacting emotionally charged in the moment is one thing, but clinging to or even growing your anger over time is another. The latter is what you can control, what you can simply decide to stop. Of course, that’s easier said than done, but it’s worth practicing.

I believe that two things, in particular, have helped me tremendously in shielding myself from the emotional drag that others often experience when confronted with potentially upsetting situations.

#1) I am trying to cultivate an attitude of indifference towards a lot of things and even people in certain circumstances.
For instance, I simply don’t care about money that much. Luckily, I don’t have to care about my basic needs, so I’m able to say this: if I lose money or something of monetary value — I don’t really give a shit. This doesn’t mean that I am wasteful or not appreciative. It just means that I appreciate the feeling of serenity, contentment and inner peace in any given moment much more than the sense of possession.

Another example would be that I actively try to develop an attitude of indifference with regards to people’s thoughts about and behaviors towards me — if I don’t know them personally or if they don’t really mean anything to me. This manifests in my not really caring about if someone else is unfriendly, impolite, or even insulting. Because, why would I care about that? What good could come from it?
Does this mean that I don’t care about other people? Not at all. I do care a lot about others — but this doesn’t mean that I have to care about their opinion of me too much.

#2) I am kind by default. You simply can’t be kind and negative at the same time.
I smile at people, even at strangers (it’s funny to see their confused faces sometimes). I almost always leave the store with a “thank you, have a nice day.” Also, I find that kindness is contagious. Be kind to someone, and they will have a hard time giving you shit. Be friendly, polite and smile — and you will rarely come into situations that might upset you.
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t situations where being kind might not be the perfect response — but those are rare.

Your Good Deed of the Day

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