Ten Inspiring Quotes
I love a good inspirational quote.
Sometimes someone’s words can speak to me in a way that energizes me to take action or stay silent and reflect.
Words are powerful and they have the ability to uplift when I’m feeling down or low.
Keeping quotes nearby during the inevitable lows of life really help me through trying times. It’s the common experience between human beings that makes going through a tough time that much more bearable.
Find inspirational quotes to live by
The quotes that I like vary between motivational, thought provoking, or inspiring words that may give me insight into a situation or shape my perspective on an experience. What I especially love about quotes is that new generations can share in these words to bridge the journeys of an old life to a new life.
I share here several of my favorite quotes to inspire you to live joyfully, in a thoughtful and inspiring manner so that you too can create and craft your one beautiful life.
Along with each quote I share some of my thoughts related to the quote.
Quote #1: "There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." - Jane Austen
Home is the place where we are spending oodles of our time now that life with the global pandemic is the new normal.
So many of us have learned that our surroundings and the environment at home is so important now more than ever before as families eat, sleep, work, play and educate in their homes.
This shift in the American lifestyle has highlighted why living in a home that sparks joy makes sense.
Quote #2: "It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot
Success goes to us who remain undaunted and keep pushing themselves past the point where everyone else quits.
You may be telling yourself “maybe this isn’t for me after all”… I’m here to tell you you ARE meant to do the thing that you love because why would you ever settle for anything else? Those ideas have been planted and ruminating in your mind for a reason.
Don’t deny yourself the joy of living your true purpose in life. Keep pushing toward your dreams. Remember, entrepreneur is code for “do-eur.” Back up those dreams with ACTION.
DO. NOT. GIVE. UP.
Quote #3: "There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish." - Michelle Obama
In reading Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, I am fully inspired and astonished to find that our lives have parallel shapes, and the First Lady of the United States has a history and rich experience that mirrors moments in my own life, which makes her incredibly relatable and her story strikingly engaging.
Taking us through her entire life, I am amazed at her humble beginnings and her rise to new heights.
Quote #4: "Constraint inspires Creativity." - Biz Stone
Home is the place where we are spending oodles of our time now that life with the global pandemic is the new normal.
So many of us have learned that our surroundings and the environment at home is so important now more than ever before as families eat, sleep, work, play and educate in their homes.
This shift in the American lifestyle has highlighted why living in a home that sparks joy makes sense.
Quote #5: "We should use our space not for the person we once were, but for our future selves." - Marie Kondo
The items we keep in our homes should support who we are today and what we envision for our futures.
Keeping items that supported our life in the past does two things. Those items outlive their purpose and your home becomes a storage unit for unused items.
Many feel that it is a tragedy when we don’t live up to our potential or we don’t step into our purposes in life. It’s no different when an item sits idle, unused and unwanted.
This tidying journey is more about reflection and getting an understanding of who you are rather than an end goal of a tidy shelf. Look deeper and look within. At the core, the KonMari® philosophy is the process of confronting ourselves.
Are you holding on to things that don’t match the vision of your future self?
Quote #6: "Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have." - Doris Mortman
This is incredibly thought provoking. In a society where the latest and greatest is prized above all else, it’s no wonder that many of us continue to accumulate possessions beyond what is needed in our homes.
The question is why would we over consume and Doris Mortman drives home the point that peace within really comes from doing the inner work with ourselves.
Quote #7: "There are two days in the year that we can not do anything, yesterday and tomorrow." - Mahatma Gandhi
Focus on today.
It’s the only thing we are responsible for.
If this doesn’t come naturally to you I fully understand. This doesn’t come naturally to me either as I am prone to worry. As with everything in life, I am learning through practice to focus on the present moment.
Letting go of the past and letting go of the future is the only way to be truly grateful for today. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not guaranteed. My gratitude practice is how I make today count.
How do you focus on today? I’d love to hear about your gratitude practice.
Quote #8: "It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth - and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up - that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Logging 70+ hours a week for a job I didn’t like for a boss I despised.
Working day in day out, only living for the weekend.
Getting to work at dark and leaving again at dark.
These are just some items on my list that screamed what my values were.
In examining my life I put this inventory through a joy filter. Not much of how I spent my days were spent on joy filled activities. It was time I made a change to live my real values of family, love, and health. I did this in a not-so-subtle way.
We packed up our lives, moved from Texas to Seattle to the OC. It was an EPIC move to start on the path to living our values.
If joy is the gatekeeper, what would you let enter your life? And what would not make the cut?
Someone once told me to write my own eulogy…if I wanted to get clear on my values.
Going through an exercise like that will give you the opportunity to examine your life. So far, are you living the life you want to live? If it were to end tomorrow, have you done everything you wanted to do? Are you who you want to be?
For someone who has lived many years obsessing over my to-do list, it feels like I’ve lived for the satisfaction of checking things off my list. When I went through this exercise and inventoried my life, I didn’t like what was written.
Quote #9: "Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become." - James Clear
This got me thinking…
How repeatable action gets us to the result we want. Whether it’s physical, financial or mental, in 2019 I learned that knowledge isn’t power. It’s potential power. This Tony Robbins quote is clear. “Knowledge is NOT power. Knowledge is only potential power. Action is power.”
Knowing all the right things to do won’t matter if you don’t do it. After reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, action and more importantly, repeatable action was needed to create change and lasting effects for home organization and clutterfree living in my home. Without action we cannot enjoy the results of applying the knowledge.
As you reflect on 2019 and head into 2020, I challenge you to take some time to identify times where you gathered knowledge, but didn’t apply action. Also, when did you actually apply action? I’m doing this for myself as part of my own self-reflection and I assure you, it’s eye opening to compare results based on action and in-action.
Who do you want to be and what do you want for your life? Intentional or not, your actions or in-action are speaking volumes.
Make 2020 an epic year of ACTION. I vow to do the same and I’ll be here to share my own journey of power with you!
Quote #10: "One's true worth is not determined by his or her net worth." - Joshua Fields Millburn
Is there a real correlation between net worth and self-worth?
As a Texas transplant, living in Southern California, I can affirm that we have blue skies, 70-degree weather days more often than not, and a whole lot of fancy real estate, cars, and luxury goods. While I can appreciate nice things and I almost always buy quality over quantity, I wonder if the residents of Orange County California, myself included, derive their self-worth from their net worth.