The Power of Words

The ability to produce, perform and persevere is what separates mediocre leaders from great leaders and average entrepreneurs from successful entrepreneurs. When working with leaders and entrepreneurs I thoroughly enjoy spending my time asking questions and learning from their lives.

One of my passions in life is learning. I love to learn from others and apply that learning to what I am doing. From reading books to having great conversations there is always something that I can take away from the experience. I have a great love of reading books and putting another leader’s words into actions. Here are some examples of extraordinary words from leaders. These quotes are powerful and have the ability to inspire and move people to immediate action.

"Our two greatest gifts are time and the freedom to choose—the power to direct our efforts in the use of that time. The key is not in 'spending' time, but in 'investing' it—in people, in empowerment, in meaningful projects and causes. Like any capital resource, if we spend time, it’s gone. We dwindle away our inheritance. If we invest it, we increase our inheritance, and it will redound to the blessing of generations that follow."

Stephen Covey, First Things First

"We have, I think, a very rigid and limited definition of what an advantage is. We think of things as helpful that actually aren’t and think of other things as unhelpful that in reality leave us stronger and wiser…What the Israelites saw from high on the ridge, was an intimidating giant. In reality, the very thing that gave [Goliath] his size was also the source of his greatest weakness. There is an important lesson in that for battles of all kinds of giants. The powerful and strong are not always what they seem."

Malcolm Gladwell, David & Goliath

"To increase your chances of moving toward your ideal self, challenge any self-defeating thoughts. Keep in mind your past accomplishments, candidly assess what has stopped you from achieving goals, as well as your personal beliefs about your abilities. Consider relevant feedback from others about what you have achieved and what your potential is. This helps increase your sense of hopefulness, which research has shown is critical in imagining and realizing the ideal self."

Stewart D. Friedman, Leading the Life You Want

"Energy motivates but charisma inspires. Energy is easy to see, easy to measure, and easy to copy. Charisma is hard to define, near impossible to measure and too elusive to copy. All great leaders have charisma because all great leaders have clarity of WHY; an undying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves. It’s not Bill Gates’ passion that inspires us, it’s his undying optimism that even the most complicated problems can be solved."

Simon Sinek, Start With Why

"Effective workers do two things: they strive to do excellent work, and they spend their time on the most important things…Say no to the unimportant, and say no to the inclination to do less than your best. If you are doing your best work on the most important things, you will reach your goals."

– Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, Boundaries

"We often try to make it complicated. We say things like, 'I don’t even know where to start' or, 'I’m afraid to do it the wrong way,' when it comes to hard work and putting in effort. But our desire to complicate it is all too often just a cover for laziness or fear. Hustle is not hard. If you write your blog every day, at the end of the year you will have more readers than when you started. If you get up early and work on your dream two hours more than somebody else, your dream will progress faster."

Jon Acuff, Quitter