I’m always finding myself thinking of quotes when I get into certain situations. Your life and your business are a direct reflection of your philosophies. The words and ideas you embrace will inevitably shape your future. Therefore, I thought I’d share some of my favorite quotes and the business situations when they come to mind.

I’ll bend over backward for my MLS’s and customers, I just won’t bend over forward”
Steve Pavent

    That’s one I use a lot. It’s kind of crude and funny, but when you look at what it really is, it says a lot!

A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

    We can’t take our situations too seriously; ultimately we need others to help us achieve great things.

Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism.
Oprah Winfrey

    Being the best you can be and being secure in yourself often allows you to tuck EGO and ignorance away. For example when I was a kid I used to fight a lot. I started kick boxing and as I became very good fighter I no longer got into street brawls.

If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.
Jimmy Carter

    I have found that most people don’t like change. You have to take the risks of making some people mad to move ahead. This doesn’t mean you should just piss people off; just don’t let fear of doing so paralyze you.

It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which gives happiness.
Thomas Jefferson

    You have to like what you do and the people you’re doing it with.

Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.
Anonymous

    I run into so many people that don’t even realize that they can choose to be happy.

Great men are rarely isolated mountainpeaks; they are the summits of ranges.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson

    Did you ever hear “birds of a feather flock together”? Who are you hanging around with?

Without having experienced the cold of winter, one cannot appreciate the warmth of spring.
Chinese proverb

    Nothing good and comfortable could be that way if we didn’t know bad and uncomfortable. So embrace the negative, your blood pressure will go down.

This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in
Theodore Roosevelt

    This applies to your business or your family. Many people are always looking for something better and never making things better.

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.
Ann Landers

    Boy this one speaks for itself. Get off your #$%& and make something happen.

Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
Will Rogers

    Forward motion is what life is all about. Even if your not quite going the right way.

Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.
Robert Anthony

    Boy how many people do you know like this? Just make sure it’s not you.

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
William Feather

    I’ve found that just by showing up you’ll beat 50% of people. After a few set backs most of the others will bail. Whenever I compete for anything I always realize that only a handful of people are there to win and will be my competitors.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King Jr.

    I’m sure you’ve noticed how many people truly work at being stupid.

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Mark Twain

    Boy this should be the first thing we learn in school. People hinder themselves by making excuses and thinking other people owe them something and therefore they don’t move forward.

The door to happiness opens outward.
Soren Kierkegaard

    Just like the toughest door to open is the car door, get out and make it happen.

It is a dangerous thing to ask why someone else has been given more. It is humbling — and indeed healthy — to ask why you have been given so much.
Condoleezza Rice

    I’m not a real big fan of Condi Rice, but middle class America has nothing to complain about. People always seem to complain! Let’s take those ‘desperate housewives” to a small village somewhere for a few months. I’ll bet they won’t be so “desperate” when they get back. Essentially, we should all appreciate what we have and not long for what we don’t have.

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
Martin Luther King Jr.

    This one is so true whether you take chances or do nothing you will always have new challenges.

It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.
Winston Churchill

    You know it’s always good to know where you’re going, but stay focused on the next step. A football team doesn’t focus on the Superbowl during game one of pre-season. You need to handle one game at a time. I see many in our business that don’t focus on doing this.

Everyone has a talent; what is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

    Follow your dreams people. Use what your have.

We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
John W. Gardner

    Things are truly in the eye of the beholder. One person’s garbage can be another’s dream.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
Abraham Lincoln

    I love this last one and it is sooooooooooooo true.

    As a smaller sales office many times the only advantage you have can be your attitude, outlook and work ethic. Where I sit I see MLS’s beat out big corporate monsters every day. Living the above quotes has helped me thrive in this industry and I hope it will help you also.