Top 1101 Quotes & Sayings by John C. Maxwell - Page 6

I've known people who thought that reaching their potential would come from shoring up their weaknesses. But do you know what happens when you spend all your time working on your weaknesses and never developing your strengths? If you work really hard, you might claw your way all the way to mediocrity! But you'll never get beyond it.

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.

It's one thing to communicate to people because you believe you have something of value to say. It's another to communicate with people because you believe they have value.

A big man is one who makes us feel bigger when we are with him.

I've been told that certain species of fish will grow according to the size of their environment. Put them in a tiny aquarium, and they remain small even at adulthood. Release them into a huge natural body of water, and they grow into their intended size. People are similar. If they live in a harsh and limiting environment, they stay small. But put them someplace that encourages growth, and they will expand to reach their potential.

The leader's attitude helps determine the attitudes of the followers.

Since an attitude is often expressed by our body language and by the looks on our faces, it can be contagious.

A leader can give up anything - except final responsibility.

Encouragement is oxygen for the soul

If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then someday you can do the things you want do when you want to do them.

Great communication depends on two simple skills-context, which attunes a leader to the same frequency as his or her audience, and delivery, which allows a leader to phrase messages in a language the audience can understand.

Many times we ask people to march outwardly, when we haven't yet spent the needed time inwardly.

Stay focus on what God has assigned me to do. Keep my mind on what I am doing/

Stay focused instead of getting offended or off track by others.

Circumstances do not make you what you are, they reveal what you are.

We cannot lead anyone farther than we have been ourselves.

Must manage your thought life daily and then you can manage your life.

He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.

You've got to love your people more than your position.

Have to sow excellent seeds to have an excellent life. Must start with sowing excellent thoughts.

Show me a person who sees himself negatively and I will show you a person who sees others in a negative way.

Momentum solves 80% of your problems.

You are the only person who can label what you do a failure. Failure is subjective.

People knowledge is much more important than mere product knowledge.

To grow yourself, you must know yourself.

When you face discouragement, you can do one of two things, and the one you choose will color your perspective. You can look at others to place the blame, or you can look at yourself to discover your opportunities. The choice is yours.

To go nowhere, follow the crowd.

If you want to attract people, you need to be like people you enjoy being with.

Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less...titles don't have much value when it comes to leading. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned, it comes only from influence, and that cannot be mandated. It must be earned.

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker

Dreams require down payments. Dreams are free, but the journey isn't. There is a price to pay. When you find your why you'll find your way. When you develop your will you will embark on your way. Many people start; few people finish. Many people have a dream; few people achieve their dreams.

You can't move people to action unless you first move them with emotion. The heart comes before the head.

In most cases, those who want power probably shouldn't have it, those who enjoy it probably do so for the wrong reasons, and those who want most to hold on to it don't understand that it's only temporary.

To connect with people, be yourself, at your best.

Some people want everything to be perfect before they're willing to commit... But commitment always precedes achievement.

You are only an attitude away from success!

If you think you are the entire picture, you will never see the big picture.

When we trust God, He can make the ordinary extraordinary!

There are no half-hearted champions.

You must do right before you feel good.

Management is the process of assuring that the program and objectives of the organization are implemented. Leadership on the other hand has to do with casting vision and motivating people.

The key to your success, to my success, to everyone's success is determined by our daily agenda. What you and I do every day is either making us or breaking us, we're either preparing or repairing. So when somebody says, 'John, I want to be a success. Where do I start?' I say, It's very simple. Start with today.

Earn the right to be heard by listening to others. Seek to understand a situation before making judgments about it.

When we are foolish, we want to conquer the world. When we are wise, we want to conquer ourselves. That begins when we do what we should no matter how we feel about it.

To gain credibility, you must consistently demonstrate three things: Initiative: You have to get up to go up. Sacrifice: You have to give up to go up. Maturity: You have to grow up to go up. If you show the way, people will want to follow you. The higher you go, the greater the number of people who will be willing to travel with you.

The only thing we can control is what we do in the present. The more we replay yesterday, the further we get from today's opportunities. And the further away we move from opportunities, the tougher the road is to get back. Opportunities never look as good coming as they do going, and they wait for no one. We need to be highly attentive to spot them. And we must be focused on our present capabilities, not past regrets.

Be better tomorrow than you are today.

It's easy to have a great attitude when things are going our way...It's when difficult challenges rise before us...that attitude becomes the difference maker.

SELF-DISCIPLINE, more than any other personal quality I can think of, is the one thing that separates successful people from the unsuccessful. Think of all it encompasses: honoring commitments, promises and deadlines, keeping your life on schedule, being willing to go the extra mile... Self-discipline is essential to success. The alternative is a life ruled by emotions, and none of us can afford that if we're going to fulfill our purpose and realize our potential.

Credibility is a leader's currency. With it, he or she is solvent; without it, he or she is bankrupt.

Nobody wanders his or her way to a dream, and nobody achieves a dream by accident. Don't shortcut the process and risk cheating yourself out of your dream!

There is no success without a successor.

The ultimate step in taking responsibility is making sure our actions line up with our words.

Finish every day and be done with it.

The wrong action done at the wrong time spells disaster The right action done at the wrong time spells resistance The wrong action done at the right time spells mistake but The right action done at the right time spells a miracle

Our attitudes cannot stop our feelings, but they can keep our feelings from stopping us.

The sum of all your thoughts comprises your overall attitude.

Most people would rather change their circumstances to improve their lives when instead they need to change themselves to improve their circumstances. They put in just enough effort to distance themselves from their problems without ever trying to go after the root, which can often be found in themselves. Because they don't try to change the source of their problems, their problems keep coming back at them.

People's purpose in life is always connected to their giftedness.

Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.