Do you want a little inspiration to help you through the work day? Or maybe you just want to hear some good words? Perhaps looking to motivate an employee? Well, here are some quotes on work that I found particularly inspirational, motivational, or just plain ol' good!

Quotes on Work

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
Elbert Hubbard

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it.
Margaret Thatcher

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.
Indira Gandhi, indian politician

Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train - Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train going sixty miles an hour and you're just sitting still?
Jean Paul Getty

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.
Francesca Reigler

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
Henry Ford

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.
Buddha

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
Donald Kendall

Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.
Voltaire

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
Bertrand Russell

Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies.
Albert Camus

One must work and dare if one really wants to live.
Vincent van Gogh

Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.
Jalaluddin Rumi

Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life.
Harvey MacKay


"Work" is a part of life, so whether you call work your job, your hobby, your relationship, or your passion understand that it is a part of your life. I ask of you to make it a valuable part of your life, and one that you thoroughly enjoy! Check back soon for some fun quotes on hard work.

Have you heard about the strangest secret in the world? Well, it's been around for much longer than these "old" videos and self help books have been!

Earl Nightingale is one of the pioneers of personal development and the entire self help industry. This video is really interesting and certainly worth your time and energy.

So, the strangest secret in the world is about controlling our mind. As Nightingale says it, "If a man thinks about nothing, he becomes nothing." Our aim should be to focus on the things we want and "wish them exclusively and not wish 100 other incompatible things at the same time."

"Refuse to believe there are any circumstances sufficiently strong to defeat us in the accomplishment of our purpose."

It's also very important that taking on personal development is a worthy task, but always remember this quote:
"Ideas are worthless unless we act on them."

Earl Nightingale's The Strangest Secret Video

Actions to Take and Questions to Ask

• What do you want more than anything else? Write this down specifically. A single goal. Carry it with you on a notecard! On one side of the card put your goal. On the other side write this quote: Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you.
• When you think negative or fearful thoughts, replace them with an image of your positive goal. Take control of your mind for 30 days and do this.
• Do more than you have to do. Give of yourself more than you ever have before.
• Watch this again in 30 days.

Of course, remember that making money is the result of success, not the other way around. Money is your yardstick to your level of service. With that said... You have your life to win. Go WIN it!

Astonishing!

That's my one-word summary of Dr. Joseph Murphy's "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" unabridged audio book.

Before we get too far ahead and you drop your cold, hard cash I must say that "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" is astonishingly BAD. Why is it so bad? Well, I must clarify that my bad review of the book is actually more a critique of the audio book. In particular, it is the narrator who will blow your mind. If you go to Amazon and listen to their clip, I think it's the longest period that the speaker doesn't make a fool of himself.

Why is The Power of Your Subconscious Mind so terrible?

Well, to start off with the guy doesn't actually read to an audience. It's pretty much the sort of reading you expect from someone who is still learning a language because there is a disconcerting lack of meaningful pauses and speech "flow."

Next, the guy talks about "so crates." You may be familiar with this word as Socrates. In the audio book it is literally pronounced so crates. This is merely the tip of the iceberg. I could fill this blog post just commenting on the mispronounced words, but I won't waste your time.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind Review Summary

In fact, it's hard to believe that something this poor could be packaged and sold by any decent human being. It's pretty unfortunate though, because the actual book contains some good information that I found valuable. The bad part about the audio book was that I kept listening and waiting to hear what the next butchered word was, rather than soaking up the message. I probably won't read the book later on, because I plan on reading The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel, which "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" was partly based on. The Master Key system is a highly touted book and has very good reviews. I'll certainly be posting my thoughts on the book as I read it.

Final word on The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

Stay AWAY from the audio book version. The written book is a different story, however.

More info on:
The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind written version

This is one of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes of all time. It may not be the most profound or Earth-shattering, but it is fun and true for a lot of people. The first time I heard it it definitely caught me, and I've been saying it ever since!

I've included the quote below how it is written in Ziglar's book See You At The Top. Zig uses the saying in a lot of his speeches and audio books, so you may have heard it a little different. It packs a punch either way!

Zig Ziglar Talking About "Cold Hard Cash"

"Most people don't have money because they don't understand it. They talk about cold, hard cash and it's neither cold nor hard -- it's soft and warm. It feels good, and it's color-coordinated to go with any color you might be wearing. Not once has the Redhead ever had to change outfits because what she was wearing would not go with what I was carrying.

Occasionally I will hear someone truthfully say they really do not want to earn large sums of money (ministers, teachers, social workers, etc.) but, generally speaking, any person who says this will lie to you about other things too."

With that said, it's all part of the important idea that money is an idea, and wealth consciousness is something that comes BEFORE wealth.

Read more inspirational Zig Ziglar quotes here!

This is just a heads up that I moved the blog to a new URL at http://personal-development-training.com.

I think it's a good move and will help attract more like-minded personal development students and livers of life! If you have this site bookmarked, you may want to update it, but your old bookmarks and links should remain working.

Les Brown is a leading figure when it comes to motivation and inspiration. I have not yet read his books or watched any of his complete seminars, but he's certainly been mentioned more than a few times in many of the audio books I do listen to. He is a very animated and strong speaker, which you will clearly see. In today's inspiring video, watch Les Brown talk about being hungry and having a passion for whatever you do! There are also a few really good Jim Rohn quotes as well as some inspirational words of wisdom from Zig Ziglar!

Inspirational Les Brown quotes from the video

It's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.

If you died today what ideas, what dreams, what abilities, what talents, what gifts would die with you?

Les Brown Hungry!

Any important question to ask yourself now...

Every relationship effects you. Ask yourself, "What is this relationship doing to me?" It's either adding or subtracting.

I'd venture to say all the intelligent visitors to this personal development blog understand the power and importance of forgiveness. Nonetheless, the art of forgiving is a little less understood. Once you know that you should forgive someone, what do you do then? How do you reap the rewards of forgiveness to be able to move on with your life?

A lot of people use prayer for forgiveness. Prayer can certainly be a powerful source in peoples' lives, but even though it is quite mystifying, it can still be scientifically studied. I came across the article below on a random internet stroll and thought it was great. It takes the art of forgiving beyond art and into method! The researchers looked at individuals utilizing prayer for forgiveness in a couple very interesting scenarios!

The Science of Prayer

By Wray Herbert
Everyone who is in any kind of serious relationship—with a partner, a child, a close friend—has been guilty of transgression as one time or another. That’s because we’re not perfect. We all commit hurtful acts, violate trust, and hope for forgiveness.

That’s simply a fact, and here’s another one: Nine out of 10 Americans say that they pray—at least on occasion. Florida State University psychologist Nathaniel Lambert put these two facts together and came up with an idea: Why not take all that prayer and direct it at the people who have wronged us? Is it possible that directed prayer might spark forgiveness in those doing the praying—and in the process preserve relationships?

This is obviously not a new idea. Indeed it’s ancient, but Lambert and his colleagues decided to test it scientifically in two simple experiments. In the first, they had a group of men and women pray for their romantic partner. It was just a single prayer for their partner’s well-being, spoken privately in a quiet room. Others—the experimental controls—also went into a quiet room, where they simply described their partner, speaking into a tape recorder.

Then they measured forgiveness. When someone hurts you, it’s human nature to want to strike back, retaliate—or to withdraw from the relationship. The scientists defined forgiveness as the diminishing of these initial negative feelings, and when they analyzed all the data, the results were clear: Those who had prayed for their partner harbored fewer vengeful thoughts and emotions: They were more ready to forgive and move on.

This is remarkable, when you think that a single prayer made the difference. The researchers decided to run another test to double-check the findings. In this study, they had a group of men and women pray for a close friend every day for four weeks. Others simply reflected on the relationship, thinking positive thoughts but not praying for their friend’s well-being. They also added another dimension. They used a scale to measure selfless concern for others—not any particular person but other people generally. They speculated that prayer would increase selfless concern, which in turn would boost forgiveness.

And that’s just what they found. But why? How does this common spiritual practice exert its healing effects? The psychologists have an idea, which they described recently in the journal Psychological Science: Most of the time, couples profess and believe in shared goals, but when they hit a rough patch, they often switch to adversarial goals like retribution and resentment. These adversarial goals shift cognitive focus to the self, and it can be tough to shake that self-focus. Prayer appears to shift attention from the self back to others, which allows the resentments to fade.

The Art of Forgiving

What's the take home message? Well, prayer for forgiveness is a valuable tool to use if you are trying to get passed old hurts or pains or if you want to strengthen your relationships. Not only that, but prayer can also help you become a more selfless person. Now that you know this, are there any prayers you want to say right now?

I've been working on making this site look and feel nicer or everyone. Part of that includes the brand new random quote page I just added to the top navigation bar! Check it out for some random inspiration and let me know what you think!

P.S. As of 3/14/2010 4:05 AM I also added a "Recent Comments" section to the side bar to let you know what people are saying and encourage user dialogue!

First of all, whether or not you're starting college, in college, done with it, or never plan to go, this video and accompanying quotes contain some absolutely precious advice. It comes to you by way of Derek Sivers in an inspirational speech he gave to incoming freshmen at Berklee College of Music.

The 6 things to know before going to college are highlighted below, but to really get the message you absolutely must watch this video!

6 Things to Know Before College

1. Focus. Disconnect. Do not be distracted.
2. Do not accept their speed limit.
3. Nobody will teach you anything. You have to teach yourself.
4. Learn from your heroes, not only theirs.
5. Don't get stuck in the past.
6. When done, be valuable.

Derek Sivers Quotes

Here are some of Derek Sivers inspirational quotes that I found quite profound and I'm sure you will too.

"[Casual people] end up having casual talent and merely casual lives."

"While you're here, presidents will change, the world will change, and the media will try to convince you how important it all is."

"This is your #1 most important challenge. If you master focus, you will be in control of your world. If you don't, it will control you."

"You don't get extreme results without extreme actions."

"If you want to be above average, you must push yourself to do more than required."

"[Teachers] will present some information to you, but it is entirely 100% up to you to either make the most of it, or waste your time here, and go home and get a normal dumb job."

"Money is nothing more than neutral proof that you're adding value to people's lives. Making sure you're making money is just a way of making sure you're doing something of value to others."

Rich Dad's 60 Minutes to Getting Rich! is an hour long and it's broken into 6 brief segments that I will outline in the review below. The setting of the "personal seminar" DVD is in a rather small indoor room, with an audience of maybe 50 to 100 people. Robert Kiyosaki starts the program by giving a brief overview of Rich Dad Poor Dad, and what both his dads taught him, as well as their philosophies on money. Here are some of Robert Kiyosaki's key points taken from Rich Dad's 60 Minutes to Getting Rich!

Part One Money Is an Idea

Of course, if you know Robert Kiyosaki he usually talks about his poor dad's idea that his house is an asset, and that his rich dad contests that that is one reason he is poor.
One of the interesting things he says is that his rich dad told him to never say quote, "I can't afford that." Instead ask yourself, "How can I afford that?"

Kiyosaki says there are three main points that he feels made a real big difference in his life. They were:
1. Money is an idea. The first way to get more money to change what you think.
2. Money Does not make you rich. Case in point, Robert's poor dad made more money than his rich dad.
3. There are two kinds of money problems - not enough and too much money. And every person, company, and government has money problems. You need to ask yourself which of these two problems do you want?

Money comes down to a choice:
Every day he has to make a choice: Do I want to be rich or do I want to be poor?

Part Two Your House Is Not an Asset

He covers the cash flow quadrant (E, S, B, and I) -- Employee, Self-employed or Specialist, Big business person and Investor.
Employees want security and are mostly controlled by fear. Specialists don't trust others, and their income is generally maxed out around $500,000 per year, because "time is money." Big business and investors have essentially unlimited income potential.
The way to get rich is via the B (big business) and I (investor) means.

Part 3 Earn More... Work Less

Kiyosaki talks about the importance of being able to read a financial statement, and the fact that tax laws are written for the rich, by the rich.
Don't work for money. Work for acquiring assets.

Part Four Mind Your Own Business

His Rich Dad told him that when he is an employee he's minding somebody else's business, but you want to be a business owner and "mind your own business."

Part Five Retire Early and Rich

Most people try to retire on equity, but Robert Kiyosaki advises that you retire on debt as he did.
He shares a story when his Rich dad told him to put his money into a piggy bank to learn finance. He has three piggy banks: one for savings, investing, and charity. Using these piggy banks every day trains your mind to think like a rich person. (Sounds a lot like the Richest Man in Babylon!)

Part Six So What's Stopping You?

Interact, don't react. With some people, even if they find a deal they talk themselves out of it.
His Rich dad also said, people who avoid failure also avoid success.
Fail early and fail responsibly.

Every morning he gets up he still chooses who to listen to - his rich dad or his poor dad.


To sum up Rich Dad's 60 Minutes to Getting Rich! in one line, it would be:
You've got to play by the rules of the rich!

Final Word on Rich Dad's 60 Minutes to Getting Rich!

Overall the way I see it, 60 Minutes to Getting Rich only costs about 20 bucks. But if you watch it 4 times (you'll want to watch it every 30-60 days so the philosphy and message can fully impact you) the thats 5 dollars each time. Now if you watch it with a spouse or friend now its 2.50 a piece! You cant even buy a bag of M&M's at the movie theatre that cheap! As is often said, "Repetition is the mother of all learning." This is a philosophy I firmly buy into, and it can serve you well or keep you in a rut.

More information on Rich Dad's - 60 Minutes to Getting Rich
Product Review of "Robert Kiyosaki Live In New York - Why The Rich Get Richer and You Can, Too!"

Is your life out of order? Even just a little bit? Are you not sure where to start? Are you not sure if you NEED to start?

Well, if you're anything like 99% of the population then you need a little help to reach your peak performance. Take charge of your life and take charge of your day! By using these simple tips for life change you will set yourself on the fast track to getting your life in order, making peak progress, and ending procrastination.

How to change your life

Let's be clear right from the start -- You either need to be ready to print this page out or have a pen in hand with paper. Changing your life begins with information, but after that, it is all about what you do with that information to change and improve your life. You're going to need to take notes, write things down, capture ideas, and plant some fresh seeds in your mind.

8 Personal Development Tips to Change Your Life

1. Recognize and admit that there is a gap between your current situation and your desired results. You may be surprised this is a step in this list, but not a lot of people do this. In effect, this stops and prevents any chance of them improving, changing, or even having a shot at reaching new heights.

2. Find out what you want to do in life. And if life seems like too big of a leap to make, then just find out what you want to do with your life in the next 5 years. The key here is that you need a goal that is bigger than what you are. Goals of this caliber add major value to your life.

3. What are you doing right now that brings you closer to your goal or ideal life? Acknowledge yourself for doing positive steps toward reaching your goals. Too often in life we focus on what went wrong or where we messed up, but we forget that we are still doing many positive things.

4. Find out what's holding you back and what stands in your way. Being able to "see the future" is a big part of leading a successful life, and it is a common character trait among the ultra successful people in this world.

5. Now that you have an idea of what holds you back, find and buy a single book or audio book on improving that area of your life. If it's low self confidence that holds your back, then consider yourself lucky! There are literally hundreds of self help books and personal development programs out there to help you raise your confidence. Ultimately, there is a book out there for any problem you have.

Make note that I did not say find the single best book on your particular problem. I said simply find a book. You will not be a victim of analysis paralysis.

6. Next, read the book on self development that you bought. If you can only start with 5 minutes each day then do it. Only time for a few pages? No problem. You will be infinitely farther ahead than the person who never read at all. No if's, and's, or but's about it.

7. Take a new risk by a certain date in the near future. Living in the "comfort zone" is a surefire way to ensure your own misery. It's an absolute trap. And every day people fall into the comfort zone trap, build their comfortable nest, and literally rot away. Of course, be smart about your risks. For some people a risk might be talking to a stranger in the grocery store. For other people a risk could be asking their boss for a promotion.

When you step out of your comfort zone you grow. And growth is the ultimate aim of personal development. Once you take that new risk, make a schedule for future risk taking. You can start with something simple like "1 risk each week."

8. Finally, the last step in this life changing list is to review your results and repeat the tips continuously. As you find out what's working you'll want to do more. And when you learn what your downfalls are you will work on those as well (recall tip #3 and 4).

Closing Thoughts

In summary, these 8 Life Changing Personal Development Tips have the ability to transform your life. You owe it to yourself to give life all you can, even if you don't think it's that much to start with. Even if you aren't doing great, just get going! As motivational expert Zig Ziglar says, "You don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great."

Who is John Earl Shoaff?

John Earl Shoaff, commonly known as simply Earl Shoaff was the highly touted mentor that taught Jim Rohn the personal development ropes. As you'll see from my blog, Jim Rohn is an incredibly influential person when it comes to life change, inspiration, motivation, and most importantly philosophy.




I think most people know that they might need motivation or even inspiration, but I would wager to say that a lot of people don't know they need a change in their life's philosophy... perhaps even a complete overhaul. When I first heard Jim Rohn (had no idea who he was or that he was known as "America's foremost business philosopher) on an audio book it was his philosophy that really struck me. Bear in mind that I'm college educated, bright (in my opinion at least!), and certainly open minded. Even still, Jim Rohn had a profound impact on me, revolutionized my way of thinking, and it still affects me today.

Back to Earl Shoaff - Jim Rohn never fails to talk about his mentor throughout his seminars. That got me very hungry to know more about this highly influential Mr Shoaff. And learn about this old master of personal development I did! So if you're at all hungry too, then check out these fantastic John Earl Shoaff Quotes!

John Earl Shoaff Quotes

To have more, you've got to become more.

Success is something you attract by the person you become. —John Earl Shoaff

The following are a number of Earl Shoaff's quotes from How to Become a Millionaire - the famous "lost" recording of John Earl Shoaff during his speech from the 1960's. He gave it at a conference in a New York hotel to, I believe, fellow MLM (multi level marketing) comrades. It's a really neat audio cd, and it has the unique characteristic of being both highly nostalgic and incredibly practical for today.

Shoaff talks a lot about the law of sowing and reaping. Today, this same law has been modernized and packaged as "the law of attraction." I think part of this is marketing because a lot of people market it as ONLY imagining, and not actually getting down to the whole sowing part. It's certainly true that you must work on your mind, but we must always remember to act.

Having said that, here are some quotes from Earl Shoaff at his 1960's convention:

We have laws to success. We have laws of poverty. We have laws of lack, laws of prosperity. We have laws of hate. We have laws of love. We have laws of peace. All of these are basic laws. If we use them rightfully, wonderful things will happen to us. If we use them wrong, then we get ourselves in trouble.

We want to be like farmers. We are going to plant seeds, and these seeds that we plant are the seeds that we're going to reap.

If you plant a watermelon seed, you're not going to get grapefruit.

Everything comes through us from us. Everything in this world that happens to us comes from here, not out here.

Too many people stop their dreams because they start thinking about that thing that is not necessary in order to have it.

When we plant in the subconscious mind, and it's there, the dream is there.

Don't just have one seed planted, folks -- plant many seeds -- any great desire you have in your life -- a tangible object or intangible object.

And the final two Earl Shoaff quotes...

Expect wonderful things. Be a creator of ideas. Let's not be moons, the reflector of ideas. Let's be suns, let's be the creator of the light; let's be the creator of the ideas, because we all have a capacity -- that guardian of the gate, as the conscious mind.

If you don't want to think about oranges, change the thought and think about bananas, if you want. If you don't want to think about lack, change the thought and think about prosperity. If you don't want to think about hate, think about love. If you don't want to think of anything negative, put a positive idea in your head.


You can see from these quotes that Earl Shoaff talks a lot about sowing and reaping. It's interesting because this is well before personal development and the self help industry became so widely popular like it is today. Back then you didn't have "The Secret" in addition to a new self help book coming out every week. Yet, even back in the 50's and 60's John Earl Shoaff was teaching the young Jim Rohn what we now call the Law of Attraction. I also found out that Mr. Shoaff mentored the founder of Mary Kay cosmetics, Mary Kay, before she became a multi-millionaire. In short, there are no new truths and the law of attraction is simply sowing and reaping!

"Just As He Taught Jim Rohn, Bill Bailey, Zig Ziglar, Mary Kay Ash And Countless Others, Let The Legendary J. Earl Shoaff Teach You How To Become A Millionaire!"

 Investing advice from Robert Kiyosaki about investing in silver, why the Chinese are doing it, and why most people should. It's a great insurance protection from inflation, which is becoming more and more of a problem. Robert Kiyosaki himself says he has his own gold and silver mines, and he's repeatedly said that he has invested in silver over his financial life. Interestingly, one of Kiyosaki's stories about buying a house was that his wife paid for one of her first rental properties with silver bars they hid in their closet!

So, why not invest in silver? It's cheap enough! See the video for more information, and spend a little time to invest in your future security.