This category is all about inspirational quotes and powerful words for our everyday lives. Sometimes, I touted them as thought for the day. But these quotes have a powerful way of shaping our thoughts. It is a collection of ideas, powerful words from famous personalities that continue to inspire us. Most of these quotes are specific to the day and time when they occurred. But they carry a strong message to this day and help us frame our worldview.
We have so many lessons to learn from these wonderful people. The inspirational quotes act as a way of providing a window to their lives and our own. The purpose of these quotes is to make us question ourselves, pause, think and reflect. Ultimately, these quotes must inspire us, question and point us in the right direction. The meaning of these quotes goes well beyond the words into emotions and the actions that we take
First, they ignore you then they laugh at you: This is a typical response for anything people don’t agree with. This is the world we live in. New ideas are not always welcome, they will be met with resistance, challenge and sometimes even a fight. This is especially true if your ideas are in conflict with some set of thoughts or you challenge people in power.
Failure will never overtake me: These are powerful words to tell ourselves and make it a part of our belief system. There’s no success without failure. But, if we let these failures take over us and shake our foundations, we are doomed. It all comes down to our definition of success and how strong we’ve built these foundations. These foundations will be shaken through many experiences, some of which will weaken us. We will need to find strength somehow and continue to move on. These moments demand the definition of success to be strong enough to keep us going.
What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming: We are never a finished product – instead, we’re in the constant process of becoming. These thoughts however are extremely powerful. If we ignore them, easily poisonous thoughts such as doubts, lies and disbelief will start pestering us. The best thing we can do is to be aware of these thoughts, what they are trying to tell us and think of the best ways to indulge in them.
Suffering is the essence of success: I’m conflicted about this quote. Although I appreciate what Abdul Kalam says about suffering i.e. hard work, perseverance and facing disappointments, I’m also against suffering as a precondition for success. Our journey should be fun because it isn’t the results that matter in the end. It is about the journey we take and how we feel about it in the long run. Let’s read on more to talk about this inspirational quote from Abdul Kalam
To be a great champion, you must believe you are the best: It all starts from a thread of belief. Unless we believe in ourselves, there’s very little chance of success in life. And even if we succeed without belief, we won’t be able to enjoy it because we end up attributing success to factors such as luck etc. Being a champion is a mindset. We all have unique abilities- let’s call that our leverage. If we compare ourselves to anyone, there will be areas of strength and weakness. The beauty is when we can use these strengths or leverage to create a path of victory for ourselves.
I know where I am going and I know the truth: Ultimately, this is all we care for – living life on our terms. Society, people around us or culture puts unreasonable expectations on us. Before knowing, we’re part of a bigger game where we try to fit in and get its approval. Take a moment to pause and think about this quote from Muhammad Ali. There’s no better success than living a life on your terms. It is far more fulfilling to do what we connect with and look back and find life as a beautiful experience – not as time wasted living up to someone else’s standards or expectations.
Even the Greatest Was Once A Beginner: Everyone starts somewhere. We can’t go on worrying about being the same as someone who started much earlier than us. Our results will be based on what we do today and for the rest of the days. If we are diligent about our work, follow through with intensity and learn from feedback, we have a chance at achieving our greatness. It is foolish to think that we start something today and compete at the same level as someone who’s been doing it for years. We must respect the complexity and put in the necessary work.
The future belongs to the ones who dream: Our dreams are constantly shattered by the limitations of reality. I’ve always been an ardent fan of thoughts on dreams. They make us think beyond what we have and engage, inspire a desire to do something better. In a way, these dreams get us out of our limitations and move to a world beyond these where things are possible. Such is the beauty of dreams. Another inspiring aspect of these dreams is that they don’t stop. They find a way to pester us until we do something about it. As Eleanor Roosevelt says, reality keeps us grounded in the world as is. But the future belongs to the people who show the courage to dream. For, it is these dreams that create a version of the reality for tomorrow.
Efficiency is doing things right: It’s not just important to use our time wisely to become productive. It is most important to ensure that we are spending our time on the right things. This quote by Peter Drucker beautifully talks about the difference between efficiency and effectiveness. It is so easy to get caught up in the idea of being productive with time. However, effectiveness asks us to step out of this biased thinking. It forces us to look at the big picture and ask whether we are compromising effectiveness for the sake of efficiency.
The key is in not spending time: Time is lost, even before we start thinking about it. Unfortunately, most times we don’t treat time with the same respect because something else takes priority. This quote by Stephen Covey, makes us pause and rethink about time as an investment for the future. As much as I like the idea of investing time in the future, I’m conflicted with the thought that disregards the present and treats it as a tool for the future.