Novelist Ernest Hemingway on acting with confidence while living with humility:

"Be humble after but not during the action."

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“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.”

― Marissa Mayer

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“No one is to blame for your future situation but yourself. If you want to be successful, then become ‘Successful.’”

―Jaymin Shah

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You should always ask yourself this question:

Do my expectations match the level of effort I’m giving ?

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Love makes a good relationship a dream and a bad relationship a nightmare. Love does not fix a relationship—it amplifies what’s already there.

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“Do it again. Play it again. Sing it again. Read it again. Write it again. Sketch it again. Rehearse it again. Run it again. Try it again. Because again is practice, and practice is improvement, and improvement only leads to perfection.”

— Richelle E. Goodrich

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Do not shy away from discomfort in your relationships.

Stop avoiding difficult conversations. Growth requires discomfort. Maintain a growth mindset in all of your relationships and your life will improve.

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The most helpless person is the one who is helpless in reforming himself.
— Ali ibn Abi Talib

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4 Reflections

1. Happiness is less about what you have and more about how much you can let go. Always wanting more, always being particular about how you would like events to unfold, always forgetting to be grateful about the simple things in life adds more and more tension to the mind. Attachments directly create distance between you and inner peace. The more ideas and cravings that you cling to in your mind, the less satisfied you are with what is.

Happiness is not about getting more, it’s about embracing the power of simply being. Happiness and peace are on two ends of the same bridge, the walkway between the two is being. Accepting yourself as you are, appreciating the moment for what it is, seeing things without projecting onto them, are all qualities that enhance your ability to simply be. The more that you can sit comfortably in the present moment, the more happiness that you will unlock.

1. When you are having a strong negative reaction to something it is worthwhile to ask yourself: “Is this energy just the past trying to repeat itself?” The past uses impulsivity as a gateway to reappear in the present. The reactions of the past shape the subconscious in a way where it hardens your defensive coping mechanisms. Whenever the present reminds you of the past, your strongest patterns will reappear almost unconsciously.

The past tries to reassert itself in the present so quickly that it almost feels like you don’t have a choice. Bringing the power of pausing into the process with the intention of building self-awareness will help you say no to the past and choose new options that feel fresh and more aligned with the new you. Letting go happens gradually, each small victory where you choose to live intentionally helps reshape your mind.

1. An under appreciated hard truth is that inner peace is less about boundaries and precisely designing your life with the right people and projects, and much more about having a perspective where you don’t attach yourself to every good and bad thing that happens. Inner peace is not something you assemble externally; it is a perspective in your mind that is anchored in the truth of impermanence.

When you deeply understand that all situations change, you cling to everything less. You appreciate the things that are enjoyable, and you are not troubled when they end. You face challenges when they arise, but you know that no storm lasts forever.

1. Flexibility is an important part of growth. Trying to stay the same or solely relying on old strategies can become blocks that stop progress. You and the world are constantly changing, which means that inner and outer success are dependent on your ability to adapt.

The depth of your resilience is connected to how deeply you can appreciate that reality is not static, that things will continue to change. Occasionally taking a moment to intentionally assess your current methods will help you separate what’s working and what isn’t. Letting go of what isn’t working will help you elevate to your next level.

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Everyone looks for the miracle moment – the moment when success happens.

We are drawn to these moments because we want to know the secret. We want to know the ingredient that we are missing. The ingredient that makes the recipe.

The problem is … there is no miracle moment. If you want to understand success, you can’t focus on what’s visible.

Results are simply one more step in a long chain of steps that led to that moment.

Nature offers a great example with bamboo, which takes up to 5 years to develop its roots. For years, to the outside observer, no visible progress has been made. Meanwhile, the bamboo grows below the surface, developing its roots and storing energy. Then, all at once, it starts to grow. Years of stored energy result in exponential growth, sometimes reaching over 50 feet in a matter of weeks.

That’s how results happen. Slowly and then all at once.

Everyone wants the results. No one wants the process that leads to them. That’s boring.

There are two main lessons to take away:

Not all progress is visible. Don’t beat yourself up when things aren’t visible. One workout won’t make you fit, but it is better than no workout. A small deposit in your bank account today won’t get you to your goal, but it moves you closer. The daily grind is part of the process.

Consistently doing boring things well leads to extreme outperformance. Most of the time, we know what we need to do. The problem is because we don’t immediately see the results, we stop. It’s as if we tell ourselves, “I ate healthily and went to the gym all week, and I’m still not as fit as I want, so what’s the point?”

You have to be smart enough to know you’re making progress without any obvious signs of progress.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it was built one brick at a time.

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