A collection of thought-provoking, encouraging, enlightening, and inspiring quotes from various sources that I have come across this past week!

 

---

I get asked often for the references to quotes I use. This series is a way for me to keep track of and share the good ideas I come across each week! Where applicable, links are included in case you wish to dive deeper!

---

 

“Greater well this doesn’t happen by chance look for harnessing your own willpower to make one immediate change. It’s about understanding where you are in the process, so you can create positive motion and develop habits that will become a productive part of your life.”

—Melissa Michaels via her book Dwelling: Simple Ways to Nourish Your Home, Body, & Soul, page 118 (this book is phenomenal by the way and I highly recommend it!) Check out her site too!

 

“TODAY is the day to START…

Forget the past. Forget your age. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

The important question is NOT: Are your desires going to be easy to achieve?

The important question IS: Are your desires worth the hard work?

Deep down you know the answer to the latter is YES!

You have to do hard things to be happy in life. The things no one else is doing. The things that frighten you. The things others can’t do for you. The things that make you question how much longer you can hold on and push forward.

Why?

Because those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference between existing and living – between knowing the path and walking the path – between a life of mediocrity and a life filled with happiness and success.

Of course, the hard things are often the easiest things to avoid. To procrastinate. To make excuses. To pretend like they somehow don’t apply to you and your life situation.

But reality always rears its head in the end. And the truth about how ordinary people achieve immense happiness and incredible feats of success is that they step out of their comfort zones and do the hard things that their more educated, affluent and qualified counterparts don’t have the courage, drive, or determination to do.

So for your own sake, start taking action on the hard things TODAY.

I guarantee, you will be blown away at just how remarkable you really are and just how amazing life can be.”h

—Angel Chernoff (of (Marc and Angel Hack Life) in her email titled:  The Hard Things You Need To Do To Be Happy”

 

“When life revolves around you, you lose more than you gain.”

—Pastor Trey Taylor via the City Hope Church (that is my church!) sermon for At the Movies week 3: The Upside

 

“The idea important thing is to see and encourage potential.”

—Philip Lacasse The Upside

 

“Your quality of life improves when you set clear standards for how you live.”

—David Cain via the Optimal Living Daily Podcast Episode 320: Wise People Have Rules For Themselves (the podcast is a narration of his blog post)

 

“Feelings are real, but they rarely make a good compass. We must rely on truth guide our hearts, minds, and steps.” Michelle Meyers she Works His Way, July 23 Secrets With God

—Michelle Myers in her devotional titled Secrets With God (July 23rd) via the swHw app (swHw = She Works His Way)

–

“Mental strength is incredibly important. Take care of your mind and the way you speak to yourself. Don’t let negative self-talk weaken you today.”

—Angel Chernoff (of (Marc and Angel Hack Life) in her blog post titled 10 Things to Start Telling Yourself on Hard Days

 

“…distractions aren’t just unproductive, they’re anti-productive. They create more work than they replace.”

—Mark Manson in his post The Attention Diet

 

“Leadership is not about people following you. Leadership is about you following God. We must follow him as we dream wildly, live differently, love recklessly, and lead courageously!”

—Tim Mannin; Day 13 of the devotional titled “Doing Things That Matter” (via the YouVersion Bible app)

 

“When will what you do for Him be enough for what you do today?”

“Is God faithful to fulfill His promises? Yes! But, we also have to do our part to be obedient when He calls.”

—Jessica Hottle via the swHw app (swHw = She Works His Way) devotional titled promises (July 24th)

 

“Community does not mean ‘I’ll engage with you as long as there’s nothing better to do.’ ”

—Dale Partridge via Real Christianity Podcast Episode 54: The Four Criteria for Creating Community

 

“I’m learning… to view my troubles in life as “growth opportunities.” They give me a chance to recognize God shaping and molding me to fit the calling He’s given me. They remind me God is interested in my character, not my comfort.

Oh, how I pray this will stir our hearts to trust God in the midst of our troubles. Our God is not a cruel God. He allows the heating and shaping, the abrasive rubs and polishing in our lives for a reason. They are purifying and smoothing us so we will reflect Him.”

—Lysa TerKeurst via her Proverbs 31 devotional titled The Blessings Found in the Fire

 

“Diet and exercise are both integral building blocks of a fit lifestyle, but how you think about these things is even more important.”

—Neghar Fonooni in her post: Get Ya’ Mind Right: 5 Ways To Start A Mindset Practice

 

“How do we know if our habits are beneficial and necessary patterns of walking with God, or if they are driven more by a legalistic mentality? I find the definitions of legalism and disciplines to be helpful in understanding how the motives behind the two are what sets them apart.

Legalism is defined as “excessive adherence to law or formula.”

Discipline is defined as “activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training.”

The danger of confusing the two is that we can lose the important spiritual disciplines which are crucial to our growth, sanctification, protection, and intimacy with Christ.”

—Sarah Walton in her post Don’t Lose Spiritual Disciplines for Fear of Legalism

 

“Unlike a routine, which feels uncomfortable to do, in the case of a habit, not doing a behavior feels bad. A habit feels uncomfortable when we don’t do it, exactly the opposite is true of routines. This is where people get into trouble confusing habits and routines. They expect routines to be as effortless as habits, while the only thing about routines that’s easy, is how easy they are to skip. Not doing an effortful task, like doing the laundry or writing in a journal, is easy to forget because such behaviors are not a habit, they are a routine that requires effort.”

—Nir Eyal in the post Stop Confusing Habits for Routines: What You Need To Know

 

---

 

|Kaci

Reader Questions:
1/ Do any of these resonate with you?
2/ What’s the best quote you came across this week?
3/ Are these posts helpful and something you want to keep seeing?