Speaking My Mind: The Power of Focus: 1. Inspirational and Motivational Quotes

So the new self development - or life skills or whatever you call it - book on my currently-reading shelf is the Power of Focus for Jack Canfield.

From the first chapter reading, it all sound very familiar to me, things I've already read in the How to Control Your Mind at Will, but not in that scientific way as the latter. It's got a lot of nice quotes summarizing the main points of it in a very concentrated and to the point way, making it easy to memorize and understand.

Here are some some of the main points and the quotes that I liked:

"It's so hard when contemplated in advance, but so easy when you do it." -Robert M. Pirsig
You can always reprogram yourself to new habits; the longer you're accustomed to do something, the longer it will take to get rid of it or reprogram it to a better version.
When installing a new habit, you have to apply a no exception policy, which means ultimate commitment to your decision no matter what happens.
Nowadays, being rich is not only defined by the financial status, but also developing a rich meaningful relationships, enriching your health, enjoying a healthy balance between career and personal life, and the nourishment of spirit and soul.
"You can turn negative consequences into positive rewards; simply by changing your habits now."
"Quality is not an act, it's a habit."
"If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got."
"Until you clearly understand what is holding you back, it's difficult to create more productive habits."
"Your outward behavior is the truth, whereas your inner perception of your behavior is often an illusion."
Read about successful people; their habits, routines, principles ...
Entrepreneurs dilemma is compounded because they are controllers with difficulty to let go and let others take control and like to do everything themselves.
"When you focus most of your time and energy doing the things you are truly brilliant at, you eventually reap big rewards."
"If you spend too much time working on your weaknesses, all you end up with ia a lot of strong weaknesses." -Dan Sullivan
Practice, practice, practice.
Are you a starter or a finisher?
Identify your brilliance and focus on that.
Either you delegate or you'll stagnate.
The 4-D solution for the urgent tasks (since not every urgent task is actually an urgent or critical one): Dump it, Delegate it, Defer it, or Do it.
"Be aware of old habits that may be pulling you away from your focus."
"This life is not a practice session; it's the real thing."
There are no magic formulas; you just need to focus on what works vs what doesn't.
"I'm learning and I haven't made the same mistake twice. This is excellent experience." - Peter Daniels
I scheduled time to think. In fact, I reserve one day a week on my calendar just to think." - Peter Daniels
The same strategy "reserving some time to think about present and future" worked for Einstein who actually did his pondering in a special thinking chair.
Developing unusual clarity: by taking the time to think and have a crystal-clear picture of what you want; that will pay off tremendously.
"A goal is the ongoing pursuit of a worthy objective until accomplished."
"A goal without a number is just a slogan."
"There are no such things as unrealistic goals, only unrealistic time frames."
"Imagination mixed with vividness becomes reality: I*V=R."
"If you want a different result; do something different".
"The one thing that separates winners from losers is, winners take action!" - Anthony Robbins
"There are essentially two things that will make you wiser - the books you read and the people you meet." -Charles Jones
"Constant fine-tuning is the true path to wisdom, so learn a little every day."
"To maximize your progress, take regular breaks to energize."
"It's a wonderful feeling to have special people in your life who can enrich and nourish you in many different ways."
Building excellent relationships is a habit.
Relationships are one of two types, a downward or upward spiral, like a whirlpool sucking everything to the center down, or like a tornado/twister moving things from center up.
"Awareness is always the first to progress."
in business, always plan your exit strategy first; like deciding how to split and always have some written agreements before getting too involved and emotional, even if you're partnering with your best friend.
Go through your failed relationships and do some reflective thinking about them to identify what made this relationship fail to avoid them in the future, and at the same time, review your good relationships and blueprint what made them that good to use it for other and future relationships and help them nourish and blossom more, so you're moving upward spiral instead of downward spiral.
Avoid Toxic people who always focus on the negative details no matter how well things are going for them. One blast of negative energy from their lips can erase that smile on your face permanently.
In business, win-win means having a genuine concern for the other person; that they win as much as you do.
"Experience tells you what to do; Confidence allows you to do it." -Stan Smith
"Confidence is a habit that can be honed and strengthened every day."
"Your playing small doesn't serve the world." -Nelson Mandela
"Everything you want is on the other side of fear." -George Addair
Forgive yourself: Accept the fact that whatever you did, your choices were based on your level of knowledge and awareness at the time.
"Confidence evolves from combining a positive attitude with positive action."
"Life without challenges is an illusion."
"The world responds to those who ask."
A useful acronym to remember: Always Seeking Knowledge.
'Some people say knowledge is power; not true! The use of knowledge is power."
"When you get a negative response, are you any worse off? Not really, unless you take it personally."
One character trait that is abundant among truly successful people is Consistent Persistence.
"You will never achieve big results in your life without consistent and persistent action."
"In life, you don't have to do anything." "Everything in life is a choice, Absolutely everything."
"The reason you are where you are in life, is simply a result of all the choices you have made to this point."
"Have-To's put you in a position of pressure, whereas Choose-To's put you in a position of power."
If you really detest mundane tasks, choose now to create a lifestyle where you won't be required to do those things. Delegate them to someone else, or hire the work out.
Decide now to shift your focus. Make every activity a conscious choice; no more Have-To lists.
Your dominant thoughts usually win out when it comes to everyday decisions.
Your consistency of performance automatically creates your better future. It's an endless circle.
"All broken relationships can be traces back to broken agreements."
"True integrity is based on keeping your agreements."
"True integrity is making good choices consistently, keeping agreements with yourself, persisting though the tough times and being 100 percent accountable for your results."
"Most of the things you fear will never happen."
"The pain of discipline weighs ounces whereas the pain of regret weighs tons."
"God gives every bird its food, but He doesn't throw it into the nest!"
"When there's a fire in your belly you can do the impossible."
"There's a difference between setting goals and having a purpose. Your purpose transcends your goals."