Quotes About Success

There is at least one point in the history of any company when you have to change dramatically to rise to the next level of performance. Miss that moment - and you start to decline.

I was beginning to see how Burrell was so successful with everything he did. Like many high achievers, Burrell enjoyed challenges so much that he actually sought them out or consciously created them. He seemed to aggressively set up challenging situations throughout his life. Why intentionally "make a mess?" So you can get really good at "cleaning up!

I used to think that losing made you more hungry and determined but after my success at the Olympics and the U.S. Open I realise that winning is the biggest motivation.

It seems with every match I win, I get better-looking to other people.

I've learned .... That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.

A sign now of success with a certain audience when you do a short comedy piece, anywhere, is that it gets on YouTube and gets around. It's always something you're thinking about unconsciously.

Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. (Proverbs 1:5, NIV) The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15, NIV) Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. (Proverbs 15:22, NIV) Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. (Proverbs 19:20, NIV)

One gets to the place one wants to be the same way one got to the place one didn't want to be—by putting one foot in front of the other and moving in a specific direction.

But, then, that's the point. In leadership, success is succession.

What are the two or three things that you and only you are responsible for? What, specifically, have you been hired to do? What is "success" for the person in your position? Now let's slice it even thinner. Of the two or three things that define success for you, which of those are in line with your giftedness? Of the tasks you have been assigned to do, which of them are you specifically gifted to do?

Vision always precedes preparation. Initially, your vision will exceed your competency.

A sixty-hour workweek will not compensate for a poorly delivered sermon. People don't show up on Sunday morning because I am a good pastor (leader, shepherd, counselor). Ironically, my pastoring skills have almost nothing to do with my success as a pastor! In my world, it is my communication skills that make the difference. So that is where I focus my time.

Careful is cerebral; fearful is emotional. Careful is fueled by information; fearful is fueled by imagination. Careful calculates risk; fearful avoids risk. Careful wants to achieve success; fearful wants to avoid failure. Careful is concerned about progress; fearful is concerned about protection.

Striving for balance forces a leader to invest time and energy in aspects of leadership where he will never succeed. It is not realistic to strive for balance within the sphere of our personal leadership abilities. …discover your zone and stay there. Then delegate everything else.

In addition to a job description designed around your current employment, develop what you would consider to be the ultimate job description. This is for your eyes only. The goal of this exercise is to help you identify the niche in which you would feel most productive and consequently most successful. Dream a little.

An unwillingness to accept risk has swamped more leaders than anything I can think of.

Seasoned leaders rarely regret having taken risks. Even the risks that didn't pay off directly are viewed as a necessary part of the journey. A leader's regrets generally revolve around missed opportunities, not risks taken. Many of those missed opportunities would not have been missed had they been willing to push through their fear and embrace what could be. Fear, not a lack of good ideas, is usually what keeps a man or woman standing on the sidelines.

The tendency in business, or in church work for that matter, is to mistake activity for progress. We think that just because people are busy and doing a lot of stuff that we are being successful. The fact of the matter is, if all that activity isn't taking you where you want to go, then it's just wasted time.

If a teenage guy tends to overreact when he fails, there is a pretty good chance he thinks his significance is based on success.

Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.

Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art of all.

I think a lot of people do big movies not because they are talented artists but because they can function in the circumstances.

You can get rich or famous by doing the same thing.

If there's something that can be formulated, regulated, give you security, then nobody would lose money. Every movie would be successful. And that's certainly not the case.