Ever since my children were old enough to understand, I have been drilling them on the importance of “Never Giving Up”. It is a value that I hope becomes instilled in them throughout their lifetime. This however, is not that type of post. This post is about those things you need to give up.
There are certain behaviors and habits that are anchors weighing us down. They get in the way of us truly being happy. I recently saw the latest installment of the Rocky franchise, “Creed”. My favorite scene was when Rocky was training Creed and Rocky had Creed face the mirror. He explained that he’s going to face difficult opponents. Men who have won championship titles. Men who are undefeated. He goes on to say that while those men may be tough, they’re not his toughest opponent. Creed’s toughest opponent is himself.
You’re going to doubt yourself. You’re going to tell yourself what you can and cannot do. You’re going to second guess yourself. You are your biggest opponent. You are the one in your own way. Start today, and slowly remove those anchors one by one.
I have always loved quotes and feel that the right one can connect, inspire and ignite a fire in you. Here’s hoping one of these quotes do just that.
Here are 17 Quotes of Things You Need to Give Up to Be Happy
1. Making Excuses
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
Benjamin Franklin
2. Doubting Yourself
“We’re our own worst enemy. You doubt yourself more than anybody else ever will. If you can get past that, you can be successful.”
Michael Strahan
3. Negative Mindset
“If you embrace ‘positive thinking,’ you are – by definition – spurning ‘negative thinking.’ So it’s as if you were on a teeter-totter and are trying desperately to put all your weight on one side – the ‘positive thinking’ side.”
Srikumar Rao
4. Resentment
[tweetthis]”Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” – Carrie Fisher[/tweetthis]
5. Need for Instant Gratification
“As we get past our superficial material wants and instant gratification we connect to a deeper part of ourselves, as well as to others, and the universe.”
Judith Wright
6. Your Negative Environment
“You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success – or are they holding you back?”
Clement Stone
7. Fear of Failure
“I don’t want the fear of failure to stop me from doing what I really care about.”
Emma Watson
8. Fear of Success
“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”
Lao Tzu
9. Criticizing Others
“The desire to criticize becomes less and less as the character is developed. It is the mark of a fine character never to be critical and to mention but rarely the faults of others. A strong character does not resist evil, but uses their strength in building the good. They know that when the light is made strong, the darkness will disappear of itself.”
Christian D. Larson
10. Procrastination
“When faced with two equally tough choices, most people choose the third choice: to not choose.”
Jarod Kintz, This Book Title is Invisible
11. Your Need To Please Others
“I worked with someone who told me they’d never like me. But for some reason, I just felt like I needed her approval. So I started changing myself to please her. It made me stop being social and friendly. I was so unhappy.”
Ariana Grande
12. Bad Habits
“The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits. An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits. We can never free ourselves from habit. But we can replace bad habits with good ones.”
Steven Pressfield
13. Quick Choices
“Before you act, listen.
Before you react, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.”
William Arthur Ward
14. Trying to be Someone You Are Not
“The only thing I really recommend, if you’re starting out in stand-up is to not try to copy anybody else. You can be influenced by people. I was influenced by Steve Martin and Bob Newhart and Woody Allen, but I never tried to be someone else. I always tried to be myself. And the reason people are successful is they’re unique.”
Ellen DeGeneres
15. The Easy Way
[tweetthis]“If the road is easy, you’re likely going the wrong way.” Terry Goodkind [/tweetthis]
16. Negative Self Talk
“How foolish we are to keep repeating the negative memories from the past in our minds, while rarely thinking of the good times, nor being thankful for what we have. Be good to yourself and repeat and focus on the positive.”
Maddy Malhotra, How to Build Self-Esteem and Be Confident: Overcome Fears, Break Habits, Be Successful and Happy
17. Having a Closed Mind
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”
Isaac Asimov
Do you find yourself displaying one of the 16 behaviors above? Do you have a favorite quote that resonated with you?