This week I turned 24 years old. To some that may seem young, but I was recently told that I am old, which was a first for me. Safe to say, I am still recovering from the burn. Anyways, around this time every year, I like to reflect back on what’s happened in the last 365 days. Mistakes made, goals achieved, important life events, etc.

Reflection is one of the most important tools in business and in life. If we don’t reflect and learn from mistakes, how will we overcome them? If we don’t reflect and relish in our big wins then how will we ever be grateful for what we have made for ourselves?

That said, my apologies for a not-so-financey post, but this articles focus will be to showcase some of the most impactful quotes I have enjoyed this past year that have also really helped me meditate on my latest trip around the sun. On that note, let’s get quoting!

#1. “Don’t Just Exist, Live.” This is a remix to the classic by Oscar Wilde “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

 

#2. “When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it.You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying “You’re too this” or “I’m too this”. That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees which means appreciating them just the way they are.” – Ram Dass 

 

#3. “The world is changed by your example, not your opinion.” – Paulo Coelho

  

#4. “Once you stop fantasizing about the ideal version of yourself and start working towards becoming that person by setting your alarm clock earlier and actually going to the gym and actually volunteering at places and actually eating healthier and not procrastinating and working just a little bit harder you’ll realize that it was so easy all along. Becoming your ideal self will only ever exist in your mind until you make the decision to work towards becoming that person.” – Source Unknown

 

#5. “Anything that costs you your peace is too expensive.” – Source Unknown

 

#6. “You can’t skip chapters that’s not how life works, you have to read every line meet every character, you won’t enjoy all of it hell some chapters will make you cry for weeks. You will read things you don’t want to read you will have moments when you don’t want the pages to end but you have to keep going. Stories keep the world revolving. Live yours, don’t miss out.” -Courtney Peppernell

 

#7. “Motivation gets you started, discipline keeps you going.” This is a modified version of a quote by John C. Maxwell.

 

#8. “Many of the rational decisions we believe we are making aren’t truly rational due to the sunk cost fallacy. When decisions are tainted by emotional investments we overestimate the value of what it is we should abandon.” – Uber Facts

 

#9. “As uncomfortable as change may be, squeezing into a space you’ve outgrown is even more uncomfortable.” – Source Unknown

 

#10. “Your competition isn’t other people. Your competition is your procrastination, your ego, the unhealthy food you’re consuming, the knowledge you neglect, the negative behaviors your nurturing and your lack of creativity. compete against that.” – Source Undefined

 

#11. “If your why is not big enough, your excuses will be.” – Source Unkown

 

#12. “How to win at life: Let people do what they need to do to make them happy. Mind your own business and do what you need to do to make you happy.” – Source Unknown

 

#13. “Don’t waste energy. Focus on what you control. Not what you wish you controlled.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

 

#14. “Every time you spend your money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” – Anna Lappe

 

#15. “The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.” – Albert Einstein

 

#16. “You will never be criticized by someone who is doing more than you. You will only be criticized by someone doing less.” – Source Unknown

 

#17. “You can’t go back and change the beginning but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis

 

#18. “Life is like underwear. change is good.” – Ray Bradbury

 

#19. “Do not save what is left after spending. But spend what is left after saving.” – Warren Buffett

 

#20. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

 

#21. “Don’t let dreams just be dreams.” – Jack Johnson

 

#22. “He said You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t’ happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” – Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

 

#23. “They say millennials are lazy. Retire early and prove them right.” – Source Unknown

 

#24. “To achieve what others won’t, you have to do what others don’t.” – Gary Klein

Final Thoughts

Thank you for sticking around til the end of this article! I hope that at least one of these quotes resonated with you as much as they did for me. Let me know what your favorite quote is in the comments!

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