When you’re managing, delivering the service, and running your small business, sometimes days seem to collide together with seemingly little to show for it. One day to the next, it’s hard to tell them apart. They often feel the same, and that ‘same’ is hectic.
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, “What did I accomplish today?”
Think about yesterday for a moment. What happened yesterday that had an impact on the growth and forward progress of your business?
It may be hard to distinguish the events of one day to the next.
The problem is, if you don’t take time to look at your accomplishments and focus on growth, forward progress, and success, it likely won’t happen.
Robin S. Sharma, author of The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari, said, “What you focus on grows, what you think about expands, and what you dwell upon determines your destiny.”
One way to shift your focus at hectic or challenging times is to move from busy and overwhelmed into a growth and success mindset.
One practice that many busy people swear by is to step back for a moment and reflect on accomplishment quotes for inspiration to stay focused on success.
In a moment or two, this mindset adjustment you gain is worth the one or two-minute loss of busy-work productivity.
Since it takes time to find the perfect quotes for different small business inspiration needs, I compiled and categorized some of my favorite accomplishment quotes for you to reflect on and consider as you move through your day.
Living your genius
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“You are unique. You have different talents and abilities. You don’t have to always follow in the footsteps of others. And most important, you should always remind yourself that you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing and have a responsibility to develop the talents you have been given.”
― Roy T. Clark, The Light in the Heart
You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.
― Zig Ziglar
Success, growth, and the mindset of achieving
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
– Robert Collier
“Most great people have attained their greatest success, just one step beyond their greatest failure.”
– Napoleon Hill, author of “Think and Grow Rich”
“In every success story, you will find someone who has made a courageous decision.”
– Peter F. Drucker, management consultant, educator, and author
Innovation is making the impractical an everyday occurrence
“Where do you put the fear when you choose to innovate? The fear is there, but you have to find a place to put it.”
– Seth Godin, entrepreneur, author, and public speaker
“Innovation almost always is not successful the first time out. You try something and it doesn’t work and it takes confidence to say we haven’t failed yet.… Ultimately you become commercially successful.”
– Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School Professor, author, and business consultant
“Because, you know, resilience—if you think of it in terms of the Gold Rush, then you’d be pretty depressed right now because the last nugget of gold would be gone. But the good thing is, with innovation, there isn’t a last nugget. Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.”
– Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon
Do the work and become an overnight success; ten years later
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
– Steve Jobs, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple
“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.”
– Guy Kawasaki, entrepreneur, author, and public speaker
“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal—a commitment to excellence—that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”
– Mario Andretti, American race car driver
The 1-minute break that shifts your focus from overwhelmed to inspired.
Accomplishment quotes can work wonders when the need arises to shift your perspective.
When you step back for a moment and reflect on accomplishment quotes for inspiration, the heaviness of overwhelm, and being too busy lifts.
You begin to feel hopeful, and your genius emerges. Often, insurmountable challenges are resolved all because you shifted your focus from overwhelm to accomplishment, growth, innovation, and success.
The moments you spend shifting your perspective with this simple mindset adjustment pays enormous dividends when done over time.
Many people say that one of the best investments you can make is to spend time working on your business as well as in your business. Mindset is the fuel the drives your productivity every day. An inspired mind is one that innovates, resolves challenges, and creates success.
An inspired innovative mind is one that can weather the storms and stick through the hard times to muster the determination and commitment to reach lofty goals.
As Peter F. Drucker, the widely regarded consultant who contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business is famous for saying, “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”
When you’re at your busiest and feel like everything needs to be done at once, I encourage you to stand back for one minute, reflect on an accomplishment quote from a great creative thinker, take a deep breath and return to the challenge at hand.
When you do, you’ll be amazed at the newfound clarity you have gained.
As one of the greatest thinkers of all time, Albert Einstein, once said, “You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.”
New challenges require new solutions. New solutions come from new information. Often, hearing/seeing what brilliant people, both past and present, have said will lift the veil of overwhelm and open the door for your genius to shine through.
Do you have a favorite accomplishment quote that motivates you? Please feel free to share it as a comment on this post.
Have you tried this idea of taking one minute to reflect on accomplishment quotes? What happened, how did your situation change? I’d love to know. I invite you to leave a comment to share your experience.