3 Quotes That Helped Me Understand Myself
With practice to adapt in order to follow them.
- To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities .
— Bruce Lee
When I first read it a year ago, one thing that sprung to my mind was that it defied Bruce’s confidence and his conviction.
The ironclad dedication to the craft is what made him what he was: Bruce — freaking — Lee.
Pure determination and the destruction of circumstances with a sledgehammer. No excuses.
Practice: Whenever your mind wants to procrastinate, ask yourself, “What’s your excuse?”
Unless it’s a genuine answer, you really don’t have any other reason to not do the work.
2. This is what addicts do. The second they start making progress, they screw up. Because deep down they think it’s just a matter of time until they fail. They’d rather fall from the third floor than the penthouse.
— Harvey Specter
The best closer in New York — albeit fictional — did drop some serious lines in the first season of ‘Suits’.
This line hits home. The work is always going to be hard, if not back-crushing.
People who have so much potential squander it away because they are more afraid of failure than of success.
I know, because I was one of them, flushing it down the toilet like an impatient idiot that I was back then.
Tell you what, buddy? Don’t give up just because it’s too hard or it may take a bit longer.
Practice: Don’t be an addict to the comfort zone. Be the contrary. Accept life is hard and that it’s supposed to be.
Be uncomfortable.
3. If the review (criticism) is good, then they aren’t good enough. If they are bad, they upset you.
— Richard Burton.
In 1977, Richard Burton made an appearance on the Dick Cavett Show. He talked about critics and the view an artist must have of the constructive criticism.
The line echoes onto all the artistic expression used today.
We are all going to receive the harshest of the harsh reality checks as well as a simple complement that feels like we made it.
Take in every comment with a grain of salt.
There’s always room for improvement.
Practice: Have a growth mindset, but instead of looking for number of successes, try to focus on how many failures can you gather. They give you more lessons than a success ever will.
Build that lessons library.
One thing that is common in all three of these quotes is that it requires honesty with yourself. Without it, you are just feeding your vanity.
There’s nothing worse than lying to yourself just for the sake of instant gratification. Please don’t.
You deserve to grow.
