Maybe you’re feeling a little tired, or a little hopeless, or a little lost. You’re a college student struggling to find the energy to write yet another internship application, an experienced professional summoning the will to work for the millionth day in a row, an older individual looking to get yourself out of bed. Or you’re none of those things! You want to convince yourself to starting working out at a gym. You want to be a better parent. You want to climb a mountain. Even if your mountain isn’t literal, sometimes, we all feel like we have mountains to climb, and all we need is a little motivation to make it to the top.
Luckily, over the course of human history, people from all walks of life have looked for motivation, and they have found it in all sorts of places, sometimes where they have least expected it. In this case, though, we will provide you with five motivational quotes from five exceptional achievers, and once you read the last word of this article, you can absolutely expect to feel more motivated to pursue your goals.
The charismatic American actress Lucille Ball had a long, diverse career in the entertainment industry; not only did she light up the big screen, but she also created her own TV shows and founded her own TV studio. How did she manage to do it all? She had a simple motto for herself: “The more things you do, the more things you can do.”
Her point is very straightforward, but that doesn’t mean that her mentality is easy to implement. Thankfully, renowned author Mark Twain, writing a century before the world realized that it loved Lucy, contributed the following words of wisdom: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
If you’re looking for a reason to get off the couch, to turn off the I Love Lucy reruns and turn to improving your situation, then the chief reason to do so is that you’ll never make a change if you don’t start doing something!
Along the road to success, you might very well encounter some difficulties. Times might get tough; you might feel down on your luck. Since you’re a human being, you will make mistakes, but Winston Churchill, the lionhearted leader who willed the United Kingdom through World War II, chimed in with his own slogan: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
Winston Churchill was a man who had to watch his cities burn and his citizens die, but he pushed forward without relenting. His motivational words undoubtedly played a pivotal role in encouraging his troops to keep fighting (and eventually, to win).
In the midst of the darkest days and bleakest battles, he might not have known how to continue ahead, but he did what he had to do because he knew that he had to do it! In a similar vein, the famed pilot Amelia Earhart can’t have known exactly what she was doing when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She had to blaze her own trail, so she did.
She explained her revolutionary method like this: “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” She crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a tiny little plane, hundreds of feet above a body of water some 3,000 miles wide.
We might not all be the leaders of nations at war; we might not be pioneering aviators, but we all have our wars to win and journeys to navigate. If we feel small in comparison to the biggest names throughout history, we should heed this encouraging reminder from William James, the father of American psychology: “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”
You have worth. Your life matters, and you have a purpose. What you do affects everyone else, even if its impact isn’t immediately obvious. You hold the door for someone, and he smiles at a passing stranger who then feels more inclined to give money to the poor street performer making beautiful music on the corner. You’re not exactly solving world poverty just by holding a door, but then again, you’re not exactly not solving world poverty, either.
Now, William James knew a thing or two about making people feel better. So did Mark Twain, whose words have captivated audiences in more than 50 countries. So did Lucille Ball, whose shows reached families across the world. So did Amelia Earhart, who flew across a large part of the world, and so did Winston Churchill, who helped to save the world.
If their quotes gave you the emotional lift that you were looking for, then great! But if you’re still really feeling down, if these motivational quotes didn’t boost your spirits, then you could consider seeking professional help. Consult a psychologist! Talk to anyone on our friendly staff at iFeel. And don’t feel ashamed. After all, in the wise words of budding psychologist and relatable cartoon character Charlie Brown, “Asking for help isn’t weak; it’s a great example of how to take care of yourself.”
