5 profound quotes to set your life clock by

Over decades and centuries, men and women have left their marks on us with their wisdom, insight and vision. Patrick Henry, Churchill, Reagan, Benjamin Franklin, Gandhi, King, Queen Elizabeth, JFK, Margaret Thatcher, Lincoln and many others.

Everyone has a favorite quote, saying or scripture. They provide baselines and boundaries for us that keep us going, keep us between the guardrails and provide hope and motivation.

You need these. I need these. If you don’t have these foundational thoughts to help guide you, take some time to identify them. You’ll learn that they can be life-changing, or at the very least, life-defining for your purpose and direction in life.

Here are 5 quotes that my life clock is set to. Perhaps you can use these as your personal motivation and inspiration.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~Howard Thurman.

Too often, we walk to the beat of another drummer because it is seemingly the easiest path. “Easy” because it’s there or because someone else has provided the road map and “easy” because the “work” and homework are already done.

But putting aside the familiar and listening to your own heart is far more challenging and, it takes valuable time. But it is vital for your success and even your well-being. There are many paths you can take, but there is one path that is truly enriching and invigorating. It’s the road less travelled with little traffic and much fulfillment.

It is this road that makes you come alive with that singular desire that only God can place in your heart. Find out what makes you come alive!

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” –Francis Chan

Wow, that should catch your attention! This thought closely mirrors the subject for my next book. We spend so much time doing seemingly important tasks, checking off boxes and running here and there, but what does it really matter at the end of the day?

We are successful, but at what? We are productive, but what does it profit us, our friends or our family?

You’ll find by whittling away these mundane, ultimately meaningless things that “don’t really matter” that you’re clearing the deck for things that really do matter.

“You were born an original, don’t die a copy.” ~John Mason.

This is actually the title to a book that I first read 25 years ago. It’s one of those books in which you can simply read the table of contents and be inspired and motivated to move mountains! This book has a nugget-a-minute and is a cache full of extraordinary gems by which you can set your life clock.

In the carbon copy, everyone wins, outcome-based world we live in, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Stand out! Be yourself, you are wonderfully made!

I like to say that I’m more me today than I was yesterday and that I’m becoming more me every day.

Remember to be yourself, be the original! Everyone else is taken!

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. ~T.F. Tenney.

One of the most famous Tenney-isms. In fact, it’s the title of one of his best books, which I am thrilled to have in my library. Want to get focused? Want a barometer when you get stuck? Want to stay on track?

Just keep this one front and center. Frame it, make a bookmark out of it, write it on your hand, whatever you need to do to seal it indelibly on your heart and mind.

It will remind you of the basic tenet of maintaining your priorities and, even your main priority.

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” 
~ Charles R. Swindoll

 Now, this is where you live every day. You are guaranteed to have setbacks, detours, failures and run into brick walls. Everyone does. Even the most successful people in history have.

Vince Lombardi was one of the motivation kings. He would tell his players — and anyone else who would listen — “it’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.”

Life is about what you do with the lemons. You must become a master of your emotions. You must learn to bite your tongue. You must determine to control your thoughts.

Often, your attitude is the difference maker, the difference in winning and losing, in being content or restless, in being successful or always falling short.