Quotes About Achievement

Wishing for a fantasy life is easier than the pursuit of real goals.

The effectance motive helps explain the progress principle: We get more pleasure from making progress toward our goals than we do from achieving them because, as Shakespeare said, "Joy's soul lies in the doing.

W]hen it comes to goal pursuit, it really is the journey that counts, not the destination. Set for yourself any goal you want. Most of the pleasure will be had along the way, with every step that takes you closer. The final moment of success is often no more thrilling than the relief of taking off a heavy backpack at the end of a long hike. If you went on the hike only to feel that pleasure, you are a fool.

Pleasure comes more from making progress toward goals than from achieving them.

Mischel discovers that the number of seconds you waited to ring the bell in 1970 predicts not only what your parents say about you as a teenager but also the likelihood that you were admitted to a top university. Children who were able to overcome stimulus control and delay gratification for a few extra minutes in 1970 were better able to resist temptation as teenagers, to focus on their studies, and to control themselves when things didn't go the way they wanted.27

Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing."4

The keys to flow: There's a clear challenge that fully engages your attention; you have the skills to meet the challenge; and you get immediate feedback about how you are doing at each step (the progress principle). You get flash after flash of positive feeling with each turn negotiated, each high note correctly sung, or each brushstroke that falls into the right place.

To see talent as a gift of natural ability instead of perceiving the long hours of practice that creates talent is nothing new. Michelangelo said, "If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.

Rich and famous and doing good," mused Schlichtmann. "Rich isn't so difficult. Famous isn't so difficult. Rich and famous together aren't so difficult. Rich, famous, and doing good--now, that's very difficult.

People had their own lives. Her children had gone and gotten children for themselves. They'd found places in the world. That alone was proof of a life well lived.

You set extremely high standards for yourself, and when you succeed, you ignore the success and immediately raise your standards. But when you fail, you won't let go of it. You keep punishing yourself, telling yourself you're worthless.

happiness comes from taking all the credit and none of the

Alex, you can break your ass trying to achieve Nirvana Through Inertia, but it won't work. It's like that Woody Allen line—you mellow too much, you ripen and rot.

Bogomil saluted and left. Milo said, "It's so nice when the kids turn out right.

A certificate declared the fare BEST BREAKFAST IN TRUCKEE 1994. In celebration of this achievement, the bathroom hadn't been cleaned since.

You have found the word!

During the decades after Brown v. Board of Education there was terrific progress. Tens of thousands of public schools were integrated racially. During that time the gap between black and white achievement narrowed.

No Child Left Behind's fourth-grade gains aren't learning gains, they're testing gains. That's why they don't last. The law is a distraction from things that really count.

I feel, in the end, as if everything I've done has been a failure.

Holidays are an expensive trial of strength. The only satisfaction comes from survival.

Money is applause.

One of the biggest causes of suffering is social comparison," Coleman said. "Status anxiety is a huge component of this kind of self-torture. Have I achieved enough? Am I a failure? Am I a success?

I felt lack of inspiration. What is it at the end I was trying to achieve? Is it a promotion? Is it validation? Is it a great piece of work on TV? It kind of lost its meaning.

People feel if they're not achieving all they could, they're inherently flawed," said Coleman. "Shame in general causes people to withdraw and shut down.