5 Quotes that Center Your Life on What Matters
What do you pay attention to?
Who do you pay attention to?
Why?
It’s imperative that we are aware of what is around us and who is around us. I struggle with this at times as I’m confident that we all do. No one is perfect and it’s unreasonable to expect anyone to be. We make mistakes and we spend too much time around people that hold us back from our goals and aspirations.
I have a lot of patience. I have a good amount of empathy and compassion. I have faith in people.
By itself, that’s not a bad thing.
But, when surrounded by people with goals opposite to the ones that I have, that could be deadly. It’s not that other goals are wrong, it’s that sometimes goals are in conflict.
Below are 5 quotes that I have come across so far from my 2020 and how they can center your life.
1. The quote that reminds me to think about my vision
“What you put in your view is going to determine who you become.” — Todd Mullins
Why are people sad on a rainy day and seemingly happier on a sunny day?
Because of what’s in our view.
If we never knew of a tornado or hurricane or earthquake warning for instance, and one never occurred, we wouldn’t be worried or frantically trying to figure out what to do to prepare. If nothing occurred, it’s business as usual.
Why then, do we react frantically to events that we have no control over?
Some people are chaotic in chaos while others are calm. What’s the difference?
The view.
Those who remain calm focus upon what they can control. They know that what’s in their view determines what they become.
2. The quote that keeps me in charge of who I’m becoming
“You will become as small as your controlling desire, or as great as your dominant aspiration.” — James Allen
It’s easy to get bogged down in the details or distracted by things that will never impact our personal lives — like sports.
It’s a lot more difficult to remember what matters to us when others in society focus on things that push them away from their goals. Goals is such a flaky term in my mind though. People say they have these goals and aspirations but never work towards them. So is it really a goal? Maybe. But it just doesn’t look like one.
What controls you?
Is it sports? Maybe a Netflix series? Perhaps it’s your family?
Whatever it is, that’s what you’ll become if you let it control you.
You will become a couch potato who watches Netflix series all the time.
You desire more than that, don’t you?
Or maybe you don’t today but a few years ago you did. You had those childhood dreams like each of us do… what happened?
Aspiration is defined as “a hope or ambition of achieving something.”
Take action. You will become as great as your dominant aspiration. Go chase it and go achieve it.
3. The quote that helps me look at myself honestly
“Your opinion of yourself becomes your reality. If you have all these doubts, then no one will believe in you and everything will go wrong. If you think the opposite, the opposite will happen, it’s that simple.” — 50 Cent
This quote is always one of the hardest hitting ones for me. I recently worked through 50 Cent’s book with Robert Greene called The 50th Law. I loved that book and I now have a much greater respect for 50 Cent’s mindset and work ethic. He overcame more things in his early years than most of us will ever experience in a lifetime.
50 is just different.
There are not many people who can do what he has done and that’s the point.
The truth of the matter is we were all divinely created.
What were you created for? Why are you who you are? Let me know. God implanted things within you for a great reason.
“Before I formed you in the womb I you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” — Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
How is it that someone like me who used to be incredibly shy and timid can be called “one of the best networkers I know.” ??
Because I knew who I wanted to become. I knew that I had the capability to communicate effectively and assertively with others.
I put in the work.
It’s not easy and it’s not meant to be. God has an incredible purpose for each of us. It’s up to us to talk with God and become who we were created to be.
Be honest with yourself and become the best version of yourself.
Don’t lie to yourself — call yourself up to a higher standard.
4. The quote that convicts me to lead the life I’ve been designed to lead
“Jesus isn’t inviting us to a life of comfort and ease, but one of surrender and sacrifice.” — Craig Groeschel
Those who serve on earth will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus said that.
We are not meant to be served, we should not feel entitled to anything in this life. Rather, we should lead others by setting the example and by living in a way that shows Jesus in our hearts.
Our life is not our own to decide. We are who we are for a divine purpose.
Knowing that, it’s a lot more difficult to spend time doing things that we know are not meant for us. Nobody is perfect and I slip up and make mistakes more than I’d like to admit. Nonetheless, we can continue to strive towards improvement and betterment and become all that we can be. We are here for a reason.
5. The quote that motivates me when I don’t want to work
“When I found my why, I found my way. When I found my why, I found my will. When I found my why, I found my wings.” — John Maxwell
Wings. I want wings.
How do I get wings?
What is my why? I need to find it.
I have a great number of mentors — they’re all awesome.
I can learn from every single person that I encounter and meet in this life. The thing is though, the greatest mentor of all is our heavenly Father.
If we want to know who we really are, we need to ask Him. After all, we are who we are because He created us exactly the way that he wanted to. Each of us are special in our own way.
Why are you here… on earth? Do you know yet?
We all have influence, power, impact.
It’s up to us, it’s 100% our responsibility to find the reason for our life. Let’s become all that we can be.
In all, there are so many different things that are important to each of us as individuals. Even with that in mind though, there are many mutual things that we care about.
“What you put in your view is going to determine who you become.” — Todd Mullins
“You will become as small as your controlling desire, or as great as your dominant aspiration.” — James Allen
“Your opinion of yourself becomes your reality. If you have all these doubts, then no one will believe in you and everything will go wrong. If you think the opposite, the opposite will happen, it’s that simple.” — 50 Cent
“Jesus isn’t inviting us to a life of comfort and ease, but one of surrender and sacrifice.” — Craig Groeschel
“When I found my why, I found my way. When I found my why, I found my will. When I found my why, I found my wings.” — John Maxwell
I had drafted this article initially about 3 weeks ago and picked the quotes for it. Then I saw that Ayo (one of my favorite Medium writers and authors in general) posted something very similar and I felt led to make a few adjustments to my piece here. I modeled my headings off of what he did and I like the outcome much more.
If you liked this, here are a few other pieces I’ve written that you may enjoy: