Motivation Quotes - 50 quotes

Motivation is the driving force to act in ways that help us achieve our goals. Motivation is influenced by various factors, including biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces. Understanding what motivates you can help you set and achieve goals more effectively. There are two general typ... show more

 Do not claim divine motivation for self-serving behavior.
- Jordan Peterson
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 Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

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 Instead of trying to force other people to change, you’re better off helping them find their own intrinsic motivation to change. You do that by interviewing them — asking open-ended questions and listening carefully — and holding up a mirror so they can see their own thoughts more clearly.

- Adam Grant

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 Everything that the human race has done and thought is concerned with the satisfaction of deeply felt needs and the assuagement of pain.

- Albert Einstein

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 Consequences Motivate. There are consequences that occur naturally, and there are consequences that are imposed or enforced by others. People make decisions to act based on the consequences they anticipate. As a result, motivation is personal because people see and anticipate different consequences.

- Al Switzler

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 I learned that if you want to get people to do something, you’ve got to help them understand why they’re doing it and to how it will benefit them.

- Bill Marriott

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 When I labor in the kingdom of God, I labor for my own dear self, I have self continually before me; the object of my pursuit is to benefit my individual person; and this is the case with every person who ever was or ever will be exalted.

- Brigham Young

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 There is a reason why the other man thinks and acts as he does. Ferret out that reason and you have the key to his actions, perhaps to his personality.

- Dale Carnegie

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 When you’re trying to influence people who need motivation, but not information, don’t offer more information. Instead, use questions to create a safe environment where they can explore motivations they already have.

- David Maxfield

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 If it were in our nature to be fully satisfied, we would have not motivation to accomplish anything in either the worldly or the personal realm.

- Dennis Prager

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 Our emotions are our motivators. When we feel sympathy, we may wish to help the afflicted. That is not learning truth at all, it is feeling motivated...In attempting to discover truth, it is essential not to let the emotions be a factor. Wanting something to be true does not make it true, but only clouds your perception of reality.

- John Pratt

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 If there is meaning to be mined in the work you do, and if you are willing to put the interests of your people on par with the interest of the company, you have every possibility of retaining your morality while engaging your people in the work you do.

- Joseph Grenny

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 Emotion is the root of motivation. If you want to help those who are uncomfortable with change feel motivated to sacrifice their comfort, you’ll need to give them a potent why for doing so. Telling stories is the best way to do that.

- Joseph Grenny

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 Long experience has shown me that what often looks like a motivation problem is often an ability issue.

- Joseph Grenny

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 Having clear direction helps align team efforts with the objectives of the parent organization, provides members with a criterion to use in choosing among various means for pursuing those objectives, and fosters the motivational engagement of team members. When direction is absent or unclear, members may wallow in uncertainty about what they should be doing and may even have difficulty generating the motivation to do much of anything.

- J. Richard Hackman

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 It is a near impossibility for members to learn how to interact well within a flawed or underspecified team structure.

- J. Richard Hackman

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 Once a team has been formed and given its task, managers sometimes assume their work is done. A strict hands-off stance, however, can limit a team’s effectiveness when members are not already skilled and experienced in teamwork—a not uncommon state of affairs in cultures where individualism is a dominant value.

- J. Richard Hackman

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 Effective coaching interventions address issues that are naturally alive for the group at the particular time when they are made. Those that ask members to consider matters that are not salient for them at the time may do little other than distract the team from getting on with its work.

- J. Richard Hackman

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 It is well established that people do not learn well when they brim with anxieties, including those that have to do with getting a piece of work finished on time and well.

- J. Richard Hackman

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 In the locker room before the game, coaches tend to focus on matters of motivation, establishing that the contest about to begin will be quite challenging but that the team has a real chance to win if members play hard and well. Halftime, back in the locker room, is a time for consultation, revising the game strategy for the second half of play based on how things have gone thus far. The next day, when the team has gathered to review the game films, is the time when coaches focus on education, helping to build individual and team proficiency in preparation for the team’s next contest.

- J. Richard Hackman

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 No matter how well-designed, well-timed, and well-executed coaching interventions are, they are unlikely to be of much help if a team’s overall performance situation is poor. If members are unclear about what they are supposed to accomplish, if the team or its task are badly designed, or if the surrounding organization places obstacle after obstacle in the team’s path, then a leader would be well advised to focus first on solving these more fundamental problems.

- J. Richard Hackman

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 I can predict with a high degree of certainty that there will be many times in your post-graduate life when you will face decisions that will ultimately be determined by whether you are motivated by pride and riches on the one hand, or whether you are moved to act consistent with truths that resonate 'in your heart and in your mind' on the other. My simple promise to you is that if you choose the latter over the former, your life will be more joyful, more fulfilling and more eternally productive.

- Kevin J. Worthen

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 I can predict with a high degree of certainty that there will be many times in your post-graduate life when you will face decisions that will ultimately be determined by whether you are motivated by pride and riches on the one hand, or whether you are moved to act consistent with truths that resonate 'in your heart and in your mind' on the other. My simple promise to you is that if you choose the latter over the former, your life will be more joyful, more fulfilling and more eternally productive.

- Kevin J. Worthen

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 The most interesting things in life happen just on the other side of your comfort zone.

- Michael Hyatt

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 I've reached the pinnacle of my career. I just feel that I don't have anything else to prove. When I lose the sense of motivation and the sense of 'to prove something' as a basketball player, it's time for me to move away from the game of basketball.

- Michael Jordan

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 When you are afraid, do the thing you are afraid of and soon you will lose your fear of it.

- Norman Vincent Peale

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 Identify why you aren’t enthusiastic.

- Randy Pausch

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 You can do anything you want to do. What is rare is this actual wanting to do a specific thing: wanting it so much that you are practically blind to all other things, that nothing else will satisfy you.

- Robert Henri

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 Like to do your work as much as a dog likes to gnaw a bone and go at it with equal interest and exclusion of everything else.

- Robert Henri

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 Many leaders assume the problem with poor performers is they lack motivation; therefore, the obvious way to fix the problem is to motivate their employees. However, motivation is only one of three possible causes of poor performance. It is also possible that the employee wants to perform but is unable to do so because of a lack of skills, knowledge, or resources.

- Ron McMillan

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 To try and skill up the unmotivated is a waste of time and resources. To motivate the unable only creates depression, not progress.

- Ron McMillan

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 Responsible leaders care about their people—the one and the many. They don’t callously fire individuals, nor do they allow a single employee to disrespect, abuse, or negatively impact others. They don’t demand change without helping people have the means to change and reasonable time to do it. Responsible leaders give actionable feedback and recognize progress. And they follow through.

- Ron McMillan

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 When you "prime" users for an ask, you're explaining two things: why you're asking for something and how responding will benefit them. Both have strategic underpinnings: Communicating why you need the access directs the user's attention to what you need from them to deliver value, building trust. Focusing on the benefit reminds them they signed up to receive that value, building motivation.

- Samuel Hulick

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 Save encouragement states for milestones. Empty praise usually erodes motivation instead of amplifying it. You can use success states to do more than one thing at a time: combine "encouragement" and "signpost" success states to celebrate users and steer them towards a follow-on activity.

- Samuel Hulick

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 People do things for two reasons, because they want to (motivation) and because they can (ability).

- Scott Robley

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 Just Try It. One of the first principles in motivating someone to change their behavior is to have him or her gain direct experience and/or generate different data.

- Steve Willis

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 The only reason we really pursue goals is to cause ourselves to expand and grow. Achieving goals by themselves will never make us happy in the long term; it's who you become, as you overcome the obstacles necessary to achieve your goals, that can give you the deepest and most long-lasting sense of fulfillment.

- Tony Robbins

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 I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.

- Tony Robbins

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 Through Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice, we can experience a mighty change of mind and heart, bringing a fresh attitude, both toward God and toward life in general.

- Ulisses Soares

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 You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, 'I release the need for this in my life'.

- Wayne Dyer

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 Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.

- Wayne Dyer

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 People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.

- Zig Ziglar

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 People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

- Andrew Carnegie

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 The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

- Confucius

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 Trust Yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.

- Golda Meir

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 Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.

- Henry David Thoreau

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 It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.

- Henry Ford

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 All text, no title, no author. Hey Thoughts. Thanks for the ideas, but I totally got this.

- Sarina Natkin

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 To be aware of your body is the beginning of self-love. When the mind goes home to the body, the mind and body are established in the here and now.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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 Her rebirth was stunning – she lifted herself up from the depths of despair, grasped her dreams, embedded them in her heart, and walked forward into a future that only her will and vision could control.

- Yung Pueblo

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