Should you waste an entire day focusing on one 10-second setback? Of course not! That would be just as wasteful as squandering $86,390. When thinking about this 10 seconds or $10 in the future, it will seem inconsequential. A small setback, when you zoom out on your timeline, becomes recognizable for what it is—insignificant.

When we think about motivation, we want something that will light a spark in us and make us jump up from the couch and deeply into our tasks. We want motivation that causes action. There are a few problems with this, namely the fact that you’re probably looking for something that doesn’t exist, and that’s going to keep you waiting on the sidelines,

So the key lesson to take away here is to focus our attention and efforts where we actually have control and then let the universe take care of the rest. This turns out to be a very small subset of actions and thoughts, which is comforting in itself. Where a to-do list was once 10 items, you will find that it can easily be shaved down to three

By periodically practicing discomfort, we adapt and become stronger for those situations. We are able to understand that pain and discomfort are not things to be feared so much. This makes us emotionally more even-keeled.

The truth is, you should plan for life without a motivating kickstart. Seeking that motivation creates a prerequisite and additional barrier to action. Get into the habit of proceeding without it. And surprisingly, this is where you’ll find what you were seeking. Action leads to motivation, more motivation, and eventually momentum.

Successful people with internal loci of control take reality as it comes and impose their will on it. They do not blame other people and circumstances for what happens. They take responsibility and control.

Humility is often confused for weakness of character, whereas qualities like presumptuousness, arrogance, pretension, and closed-mindedness are considered outward signs of inner strength. This is possibly the biggest fallacy of philosophy in the present world—the truth is the exact opposite. Humility and curiosity show strength of character and the

most of us feel that we are seeking out motivation that creates action. But this is wrong and, in fact, in reverse. We will never be able to find a compelling reason or motivation to do things; it is unreliable at best and nonexistent at worst. So we should be using action itself to create momentum and then motivation.

Most of us will be regarded or defined by the actions we take, not the thoughts we have. And that’s where you have to take the leap of courage to get out of meditative mode and snap into action mode. Don’t hold yourself back because of the qualities or resources you need but don’t have. If you hop into doing mode and start rolling, you’ll find ways