If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. — Maya Angelou
One of the pearls of wisdom I have gleaned from being on this plant for (ahem) a while is this: even if you are in a bad situation that makes you miserable (your boss or job is terrible, for example), there are always more possibilities and options available to you than you realize. Try some brainstorming and flexible thinking techniques so you can explore other solutions or situations that would make you happier. There is certainly almost always something that you can do or change to make the situation better. If not, then try looking at your current situation from a different perspective.
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. — Teddy Roosevelt
It took me many years to acknowledge what I already knew about myself, deep down. I was meant to take a different path in life – a path of creativity, of independence, and no small amount of risk. I was meant to be a developer and designer – yes – but on my own terms. I was absolutely riddled with fear and self-doubt when I first stepped onto the road of entrepreneurship. If I didn’t believe in myself – who else would? I finally bucked down and made the commitment!
Instead of spending my entire working life building someone else’s business, it was time for me to start building my own.
You must create your own possibilities in life. — ??
Great quote to keep in mind! I’m not sure who said this, but I read it in a book a while back. This quote kept me going during those uncertain early months of starting my own business. I still keep reminding myself of this on a daily basis (I have it taped to my kitchen cabinet). We are all in charge of molding and crafting our own lives into what we want them to be. It’s all too easy to think that “fate” will make everything magically work out and our lives will fall into place. It took me a long long time to start actually taking charge of the direction of my life and stop living on autopilot.
These are just a few of the business and blogging books that I read when I was in the process of starting my own business and blog, and they really helped steer me in the right direction.
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. — Goethe
Boy oh boy, how this quote has made a difference to me! These words were the key to my breakthrough into freelancing. My lack of self-trust was holding me back and was the source of my fear. Once you learn to trust yourself – I mean really, truly trust that feeling in your gut, and then act upon it – you’ll know what direction you need to take your life in.
What you focus on expands. So focus on what you want, not what you do not want. — Esther Jno-Charles
This quote touches upon something I find truly fascinating – the science behind the way we as humans think. I read a study that went into great detail about habits are formed in our brains and then reinforced, over and over. The human brain literally creates more neural pathways when we do something (or think something) over and over. It also strengthens existing pathways in the brain every time we repeat that thing. The brain is essentially saying “hmm this is what’s important to this person, so I’m going to re-wire myself to make doing this [insert habitual action here] easier.”
To me this boils down to this: whatever outcome – good or bad – that we keep in our minds and hold on to… that is the outcome our brains will try to turn into a reality for us. Our brains tend to take our repeated thoughts and interpret them as commands.
Absolutely fascinating.
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie, renowned and accomplished scientist
Again, when I first started thinking about branching out with my own business, I was scared to death! But once I started breaking down what I had to do into specific, measurable steps, I started to relax and not worry so much. If something seems scary or overwhelming to you, instead of focusing on the entire picture all at once, just focus on the next small step you need to take to keep moving forward.
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. — Benjamin Franklin
This is a good quote. It took me a long time to figure this out during the course of my own life. For many years I relied on the corporate ladder and chain of command to take care of me and my career. When that didn’t happen, I realized I finally had to take responsibility for myself and start planning my own life.
…so I started my own business; and now I can say I have something that is mine, where I can be my own boss! Here are a few of the steps I took in getting my biz started.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. — Henry David Thoreau
It isn’t enough just to dream about what you want to become. At some point you have to get out of your own head and make it happen.
I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. — Robert Frost, poet
I truly feel that being a freelancer, small business owner or entrepreneur is something that chooses you, rather than the other way around. People who walk this path tend think just a little differently, and tend to see challenges as opportunities, rather than roadblocks. They feel it deep in their gut that a “normal” career path is not in store for them.
I know from personal experience that I didn’t truly choose this route (or I would have chosen an easier route for my career!) It was just always there – I could never get away from it – and I never experienced peace until I acknowledged that pull to start my own freelance business.
I wonder how many times people give up just before a breakthrough – when they are on the very brink of success. — Joyce Meyer, bestselling author
Being an entrepreneur, freelancer, or any type of small business owner is tough – really tough sometimes. Try to remember that nobody ever fails until they give up. And even then it isn’t actually failing to try something new, and then change course again – as long as you have learned something from the experience.
If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs. — Dhirubhai Ambani and/or Tony Gaskins
Seriously – regular employment definitely has its perks. But what ‘regular’ employees are actually, literally doing is supporting and building a business that is owned by someone else. Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone, but for those of us who have taken the plunge the hardship is well worth it – to be able to say we are working for ourselves.
What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us. — Julia Cameron
This is pretty self-explanatory, and oh so true.
Change your thoughts and you change your world. — Norman Vincent Peale
We shape and essentially create our own lives, and it all starts with our thoughts. Watch what you think about… guard your thoughts closely. As I mentioned above, our brains will take steps to turn into a reality, whatever it is that we think about over and over. So if you’re repeatedly thinking negative, self-defeating thoughts you could be re-wiring your brain in a way that almost guarantees that negative outcome to appear in your life.
Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay. -– Simone de Beauvoir
As a major procrastinator, I need a daily reminder like this, to help me stop overthinking stuff and take more action.
Life is too short for the luxury of negative thinking. — ?? (I’m not sure who said this, but if you find out please let me know!)
This is a great quote, and I have to keep reminding myself not to waste time spinning my wheels with negative thoughts!
Opportunities don’t happen. You create them. — Chris Grosser
Yep, I agree with this 100%. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this life, it’s that a person can waste years waiting for opportunities to fall into their lap… waiting for someone else (a boss perhaps) to give them what they want. And a person can waste too much time dreaming about what they want to do with their life, and never ever get around to actually doing it. Don’t let that be your fate. Start creating opportunities for yourself by figuring out what you want, then creating goals, a plan, and a rough timeline for making it happen for real.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. -– Charles Swindoll
I’ve had this quote taped to my frig for a long time. It has helped me so much in terms of keeping my attitude positive and not letting setbacks get me down.
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. -– Winston Churchill
As someone who is married to a pessimist, this particular quote really hits home.
The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. — Aesop
This quote has two main (excellent) points to it. Both are self-explanatory and are so wonderfully true!
Entrepreneurs are great at dealing with uncertainty and also very good at minimizing risk. That’s the classic entrepreneur. -– Mohnish Pabrai
I admire the heck out of people who take the less “safe” road (the road less traveled by). It takes no small amount of courage to freelance or to begin any new business adventure. We have to lift ourselves and each other up and support one another – because this kind of life isn’t always easy.
Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right. — Henry Ford
If I had a nickel for every time I said this to myself through the years… It helped me to stay the course while I started my business. It really is true that we create our own reality through our thoughts – so guard your thoughts carefully.
God would never lead you down a dead-end path. — I thought of this myself just recently (but if someone else already thought of this quote, and you had heard it before – please let me know)
In my experience, when you feel that pull towards a certain direction in your life you should trust it. God will not lead you down a path that isn’t good for you. Try to let go and trust where He is leading you and not worry so much. Trust that the Lord will open the way for you little by little as you go along on your journey. You and I are not meant to see the whole picture all at once.
Quit planning your dream and start living it. — Alan Cohen, bestselling author of I Had It All The Time and many other awesome inspirational books
If you’re anything like me, you’ve kinda (subconsciously) been waiting for someone to validate your ideas, to almost give you a go-ahead like “yeah – starting your own web development business is a GREAT idea!” But you know what? For most of us, that validation never comes – unless we give it to ourselves. What I’ve found is that the people in my life are simply too busy to think about what I’m doing or even care one way or the other. So don’t wait for your Mom or brother or in-laws or whomever to be excited about what you’re doing. It’s your life and you only have one shot at it. Just get out there and do it!!
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. — Henry David Thoreau
Will YOU be one of the masses who live quietly, never taking any risks – never doing what you want to do with your own life? Don’t be resigned to that.
Do what is nourishing to your spirit. Do not do what is loathsome to your spirit. — Alan Cohen, bestselling author of I Had It All The Time and many other awesome inspirational books
This quote says it all in a nutshell!
Commit yourself to only acting from your heart, and deny all calls to follow any other voice. — another quote by Alan Cohen
Always remember to listen to that still, small voice inside you, take heed of what it has to say, and refuse to allow yourself to become sidetracked from your true calling.
Is it up to you to mold and craft your own life into what YOU want it to be. — Angie Bronson (me) : )
Reclaim your own personal power and refuse to allow others to dictate the path your life will take. PERIOD.
These are just some of the motivational quotes that meant a lot to me through the years, and still keep me going day by day. I hope you enjoyed them and have gleaned a little inspiration from them (and perhaps are even thinking about freelancing or starting a side business of your own!)
Please share this article – and thank you SO much for visiting the blog! 🙂
