A Therapist's Top Ten Favorite Quotes for Motivation

From Jedi wisdom to eating frogs, these are the quotes that have inspired and guided me. They can help you too.

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1. Mark Twain

2. Muhammad Ali

One of my go-to guys for inspiration has always been Muhammed Ali. My favorite quote from him is, "It's not the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it's the pebble in your shoe."

The meaning of this quote is debatable, but the consensus is this: when you're trying to accomplish something difficult, it's the little distractions that can throw you off course.

In the analogy, you could ignore the pebble in your shoe and keep climbing, or stop, take off your shoe, and remove the pebble.

But as you're taking off your shoe, you might decide to take off your other shoe, and adjust your sock a bit. Then you might decide to take a little break, sit down and relax. After all, you deserve a break. Before you know, an hour has past. Get the idea?

Staying focused on the task at hand will increase your odds of accomplishing it, so the lesson here is to ignore all of those "pebbles."

3. Peter Wright

My third favorite quote is from Peter Wright, a somatic therapist in Berkeley, California.

He has a lot of great quotes but my favorite is, "You can't get there from not here."

When I first heard this, it was one of those brainteaser moments. I had to think about it for a while before I got it.

Essentially, it means you can't reach your goal if you are in denial about where you're starting from.

Want a better relationship with your spouse? If you're in denial about the current health of your marriage, it's unlikely that you will do the work necessary to improve your relationship.

Behind on your retirement planning? It's unlikely that you will improve your financial situation if you think that everything is fine.

I love this quote because it's a dose of tough love. It's an antidote to denial. Think about areas of your life where you want to accomplish something. But first, look in the mirror and ask yourself where you need to start.

4. Greg LeMond

My next quote is from the famous American cyclist, Greg Lemond. He was the first American to win the Tour de France, and won a total of three editions of the world's toughest bicycle race.

LeMond was my hero growing up. I was just starting to get into bicycle racing when he was making it big in the European pro peloton. As he was getting better and better results, he said, "It never gets easier, you just go faster."

Think about it, when you first started learning a new skill, it was probably difficult, but with practice, you improved. The skill itself never got easier, you got better.

The point of this quote is that everything is difficult at first. A baby’s first steps are awkward. Bipedal walking is not exactly easy. Few species do it. Walking never gets easier, the baby just gets better at it.

I employ this quote whenever I am daunted by learning a new skill. While it doesn't feel easy at first, if I hang in there, I'll get better!

5. Lance Armstrong

Speaking of famous bike racers, or should I say infamous, my next quote is from Lance Armstrong.

Love him or hate him, Armstrong was a talented athlete, and here's my favorite quote from him: "Pain is temporary, quitting last forever." It's a great maxim for achieving something difficult, especially if it's important to you.

I'll share a personal story where this philosophy came in handy. I was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley taking a linguistics class. I thought it would be easy, but I found myself barely passing. I wondered if I should drop the class.

Distraught, I asked the professor what I should do. He asked me how many hours I was studying. When I told him, he essentially told me to double that.

For the next few weeks I spent four hours a day in the library with a stack of linguistics books until I mastered the material.

My dream was to graduate from UC Berkeley, and failing my linguistics class would have jeopardized that dream. The pain of studying in the library was temporary, giving up on my dream would last forever.

Armstrong's quote is from the sports world, but it applies to all things in life that are painful, yet worth the effort.

6. Tony Robbins

My next quote is from Tony Robbins, you know, that tall energetic guy who jumps around on stages and inspires people. Similar to Lance Armstrong's quote, Tony Robbins said, "Discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons."

I use this quote nearly every day. I imagine a scale in my mind. On one end is regret, tilting down the scale like a ton of bricks. On the other end is ephemeral discipline, barely weighing anything.

Let's say I want to stay up late watching YouTube videos but also want to have a productive day tomorrow. I immediately picture a scale in my mind’s eye. The discipline of turning off my computer weighs far less than the regret I’ll have the next day when I'm tired and grumpy due to lack of sleep.

Maybe there's something in your life that needs more discipline, and applying that discipline would only "weigh" ounces. Want to learn more about discipline vs regret? Check out my video on this topic right here.

7. Wayne Gretzky

First thing tomorrow I'm going to stop procrastinating. No, that's not Wayne Gretzky's quote, that's just my little joke.

Here's what Gretzky really said: "Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”

What I love about this quote is that it lets you know you're not alone in your procrastination. At the same time, it stresses the seriousness of this harmful habit.

And that's really all procrastination is, it's a habit. And habits can change.

Think of procrastination like a path through a meadow. The first time you walk it, there's not much impact. But year after year, as you tread the path, it becomes beaten-down.

Now, let's say that "taking the bull by the horns", is a path not yet created in your metaphorical meadow. All it takes, really, is you forging that new path, then repeatedly walking down it until it becomes automatic.

If you feel stuck in procrastination, there is hope. I have some great techniques for beating this destructive habit. In fact, I have an entire blog post and video on it. You can check it out here.

8. Bedros Kuellian

Quote number eight is from a man named Bedros Keuilian, a successful entrepreneur who made his money in the fitness industry. His quote is, "How you do one thing is how you do everything.”

Bedros came up with this quote through his own personal suffering. For years he struggled with anxiety, and used avoidance as a coping mechanism.

His anxiety got so bad that he finally sought help from a therapist. Through his work in psychotherapy he learned how to face his problems head-on.

This was liberating for Bedros, and he began to implement his new philosophy across the board, in all aspects of his life. He realized that ignoring even one part of his life led to a slippery slope back toward avoidance and anxiety.

We all know the cliché of the wealthy businessman whose personal life is a mess. His business runs like a Swiss watch but his wife is divorcing him and his kids are in rehab. Eventually, his personal life bleeds into his business, and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.

But what if the businessman applied the same passion for his business to all aspects of his life? Chances are his marriage would be stronger and his kids would have a father to confide in. Eventually, he would create an upward spiral of positivity, strengthening his business, family, and his own personal well-being.

Learn more about Bedros’ journey away from anxiety in this interview.

9. Marianne Williamson

“Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.”

I first heard this quote from Marianne Williamson in a yoga class while deeply ensconced in Savasana pose. As the yoga instructor read these potent words, they resonated with me deeply.

I remember walking home after class with a feeling of liberation. I thought to myself, "Wow, you mean I don't have to hold myself back?!"

Like most of us, I had been taught to be humble and play it safe in life. This quote shattered the myth that striving for success is a "selfish endeavor."

Success is not selfish. On the contrary, if you expand, it can benefit others.

Society dupes us into believing that chasing our dreams somehow hurts other people. Making "too much money" is not fair to others who make less.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The more money you have, the more good you can do with it. You can employ people, start a charity, and be a positive influence.

Staying humble and playing small limits your influence. There's nothing wrong with this of course, but just understand what Marianne Williamson's quote really means.

Read the entire quote here, taken from her book, Return to Love.

10. Yoda

Okay, drumroll... my final quote, and perhaps my favorite, is from none other than Yoda, of Star Wars fame. That's right, a muppet made my top-ten favorite quotes list.

Yoda famously said to Luke Skywalker, "Do or do not, there is no try." Watch the famous scene here.

On the surface, this quote seems like some perfunctory thing a football coach would say to his team. But this quote is from Yoda, mind you, a wise Jedi.

If we go deeper, what this quote really means is to go all-in, to not fear failure. "Trying" is a copout. It leaves us an out. It mitigates disappointment.

So many of us, including myself, have been conditioned to restrain ourselves from really going for something 100%. Why? Because failure has been sold to us as something horrible, almost worse than death itself.

But really, what's the worst that could happen if you go for something you love with all your heart and don't achieve it? Well, you'd be disappointed.

But what about everything that you gain in the process of striving for what you want? The people you meet, the experience you gain, the mental toughness you acquire. What about that? Certainly that's worth something.

My suggestion to you is to be more like Yoda. If something is important to you, go for it all the way. Certainly have a plan and be willing to adjust your strategy, but keep going until you achieve your goal.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my top-ten list of favorite quotes. More importantly, I hope you use these quotes to make your life better.

Whenever I find myself drifting and doubting myself, I go to my list of quotes to seek inspiration. One of them always jumps out at me and instantly gives me the perspective I need.

I have a long list of quotes that I have amassed over the years, and I continually add to them. I love quotes because they give you a succinct nugget of someone else's wisdom.

What are some of your favorite quotes? Feel free to share them with me and others by leaving a comment on my YouTube channel.