Chris Gardner, barely older than a toddler, hadn’t grasped the concept that he was living in a foster home. He only knew that his mother and his stepfather had disappeared one day and he was living with strangers.

Money doesn’t equal success. Having more money provides more options, but it does not automatically make you more successful. There are rich thieves.

Success won’t come easily. And not because you’re not smart enough or strong enough. Not because you don’t want it bad enough. Success hurts because you hurt.

The only one who really cares about your excuse is you. No one else really understands the reason or has a reason to care about the reason why you aren’t where you want to be.

The fastest way to escape your past is to find your future. To achieve your destiny. You have problems. That is always going to be true.

What’s it going to take to get your attention? You’ve been wasting your time. Filling your life with self-destructive behaviors and fulfilling personal addictions. Thinking little of the consequences that are sure to follow.

To be successful you have to love what you do. That’s not optional. It’s mandatory.

Your thoughts and fears shape your perspective. Your perspective determines what you find in your future. What you want to see, you see. What you want to find, you find.If you believe that your best is yet to come then that is what you will find.In her autobiography, Oprah Winfrey wrote: “There is one irrefutable law of the universe: We are each responsible for our own life.”

You’re going to experience extreme hardship at times.Anything is possible if you’re willing to do whatever it takes.It doesn’t matter that no one else has done it before. It doesn’t matter that you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with no help and fewer resources than you need. It doesn’t matter that you’re tired and sore and beaten down by all that you’ve been through. It’s time to make success primal again. No more excuses. No more distractions.

Inspiration is the one thing you lose just after you stop looking for itThat’s why your hustle matters so much.It matters that you get out of bed and go do something productive today. Even though you might not feel like doing that.It matters that you try to repair that fractured relationship. Even though the other person might not believe that you’re sincere.

Make no mistake, trying new things is scary. Venturing into the unknown is guaranteed to leave you filled with fear.After the initial glamor of pursuing something new, what you’re left with is a sense that it is all about to crash down on you

Hard work is smart work. Working hard leads to working smarter.It’s not the other way around. It doesn’t work in reverse.That’s because hard work creates busyness. And busyness forces you to make better choices.

Never bet against the individual who has everything to lose. That person who is so possessed with a sense of purpose and destiny that he or she is willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to achieve their desired outcome.

There are those that tell you that your crazy idea “will never work” and that it’s okay just to be “normal”. There are those who tell you to “keep your feet on the ground” and “be reasonable.They scoff and sigh at your ridiculous ideas and call you a flop.Nobody knows any more or any less than you do. Decide what you want. Then work fanatically until you get it. Keep iterating on your idea until it works.

You can’t get anywhere without a plan. To make progress, you need to get good at segmenting your day and using smart tools like a calendar to stay focused.
Psychologically, you’re wired to complete easy wins without doing what it takes to invest in long-term success — the daily meditations, reading time, or workouts you promised to start at the beginning of the year.

Mediocre people do mediocre things. Normal people, looking for normal results, do normal things.
If you want to be extraordinary, then you have to do extreme things.You won’t find breakthrough looking in the middle of your challenge. It’s at the edges.

You don’t have to get it right the first time. You just have to keep trying. Perfection isn’t the goal. Getting to where you want to be is the goal.Often that is an ugly process. It’s messy. Full of the human things that cause frustration and confusion.You’re going to make mistakes along the way.