Great motivational quotes are beloved because they succinctly express profound truths about this thing we call… drum-roll please… “tadum”: “the human experience.”

These beloved quotes capture, resonate with and amplify within our hearts and minds what are often the most important of our (shared) life experiences. They let us know we aren’t alone. And they show us that there is a proven, if painful, path to a better day.

They inspire and motivate us to evolve, to be and to live big, and as an ever-expanding and higher version of ourselves.

But Momentary Inspiration and Motivation Isn’t Enough

Let’s begin with our first five quotes. Why only five? Good reason. What you and I want, if I may be so bold as to assume for a moment that I can divine your intention here, is not just momentary inspiration, great as this may be.

Isn’t what we want is to grow? To progress? To become a better version of ourselves, performing ever-greater works, achieving higher results and living a big, meaningful life?

Right? Can we agree?

Let’s Make Motivational Quotes Actually “Work for You”

There’s a useful, if crass, adage: keep it simple stupid. And this holds in learning and change science.

Always keep it simple for the brain, because our brains can focus on only one thing at a time. And I’m willing to bet that you already have plenty of things on your plate, right?

So, let’s make it our goal, with these motivational and inspirational life quotes, to actually use them to work for you. To facilitate positive change, within and without, for you.

What I’m going to suggest, is that each time I post five motivational or inspirational quotes, you grab the one that resonates most with you. But don’t stop there. Write the quote down. Post the quote to go off as an alarm in your smart-phone each day. Heck, several times a day. Put the quote on a sticky post-it note and stick it on your bathroom mirror and your fridge. Each time you see it, stop for 30-seconds. Just 30-seconds. And focus intently on the positive and empowering meaning, inspiration, motivation and potential TO YOU in the meaning, the story, the message, that those words embody. And do this with each, single quote for at least a week or two. Perhaps until my next quotes post comes and, then choose a new one to focus on.

5 Motivational Quotes About Life and Success

Make Every Experience Work For You – Motivating, Inspiring, Enriching

Have you ever really wanted to achieve a specific result but didn’t? Have you ever been disappointed in the extreme? Heartbroken about an outcome? Personal or professional? 

Sucks, doesn’t it? Agreed?

Now, think back to a time when you grew the most? A time when you developed a greater clarity or sense of purpose, confidence or perseverance. A time when you learned an incredibly useful life lesson.

I’d be willing to bet that most, probably all, of your high personal growth experiences have been a direct result of your moments of greatest pain and disappointment.

How does the quote go? Some day, you’ll look back on this and smile (laugh). So, why not just cut to the chase and do it now.

Be determined. Be tenaciously optimistic and perseverant. Use each so-called failure and disappointment as fodder for your inevitable triumph. And do it today, not tomorrow.

(After you finish this article/video, check out this one on Perseverance & Success)

Personal Growth, Fulfillment & Success. Or the Opposite. It’s Our Choice

Building upon the paragraphs above, you’re probably familiar with the famous Thomas Edison quote: I haven’t failed 1,000 times. I’ve found 1,000 ways not to make a (commercially viable) lightbulb.

Studies show that optimists are happier and more successful. Evidence also seems to point to them also being healthier. (You do want to be healthy too, right?)

So, why not take Malcolm’s advice to heart? Better yet, take it to practice. (Yes, I can call Malcolm by his first name, because I had the great pleasure of knowing him, though not well, personally. A cool story for another time.)

Towards this end, each time you get a result you don’t want, ask yourself what you can learn from it. And how you can use the experience and the knowledge to inspire, motivate and propel you forward towards your inevitable success.

Hack Your Brain for Greater Optimism, Motivation & Perseverance

I speak often about how our brains are designed, by the evolutionary process, to overwhelmingly do a singular thing: survive. Towards that end, our brains naturally and predominately always seek out potential threats and run from them.

What if you were to remain mindful of this and create mechanisms to hack your brain for greater positivity and appetite for risk-taking? Because risk-taking is necessary to the exceptional life you want to live. But it’s also anathema to your unconscious neurobiological brain.

This exercise with these motivational quotes is a simple, potential, brain hack. If you follow the suggested instructions (above, at the top of this article, before the pictures), you’ll begin to employ a simple, potential brain hack to begin rewiring your brain for greater personal growth, optimism, risk-taking, productivity, success and fulfillment. And that’s a lot of really good stuff, wouldn’t you agree?

(To learn more about optimism, of course, after you finish this article, check out this other article).

The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow. Visualize & Internalize that Today

Life is an ongoing experiment. Today’s successes can fade or fail if we don’t stay perseverant in our personal development, mindset, actions and skills employed.

That’s the bad news. Or, if you’re being an optimist, the good news. Because this dynamic kinda-sorta forces us to stay on top of our game. To never give up. To persevere in our personal growth, our intentions and our actions. Because if we don’t, it can, and may, all go to hell in a hand-basket.

But, there’s more good news. Yay! Because not only is success not final, failure is not final. Nor is it fatal. So, use that frustrating, disheartening or downright heartbreaking so-called failure as the lesson and motivation that it is.

Develop the Optimist Within You

Optimism can be defined as having the confident expectation that positive/good things will happen to you, that you are, in part, responsible for those good things and that good things will continue to appear and persevere.

I encourage you to buy and read books from Martin Seligman, the father of Positive Psychology. Also, check out Shawn Achor for more great science and reading on optimism, happiness and a good life.