Some days, getting out of bed feels like the biggest win you can manage. I know because I’ve been there.
For years, I was stuck in a cycle I couldn’t break. I’d spend my nights gaming and my days feeling lazy and unmotivated. I struggled with binge eating, drinking, and a general feeling that I was wasting my life. Change felt impossible. It felt like a mountain I couldn’t even begin to climb. That version of me—over 110 pounds heavier and lost in bad habits—wouldn’t recognize the person I am today.
The journey wasn’t about one single moment of transformation. It was about small, daily nudges. Sometimes, that nudge came from a simple quote that hit me at just the right time. Words can’t do the work for you, but they can be the spark that gets you to light the fire. They can remind you of the strength you already have.
Here are 30 quotes that have helped me. I’ve broken them down into a few categories for whatever you might be facing today.
For When You Just Can't Start
This is for the days when the blanket feels heavy and your to-do list feels heavier. Inertia is a powerful force. The key isn't to conquer the whole day at once but to just take that first step. Just one.
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
- “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William Butler Yeats
- “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” – Plato
- “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
- “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Tony Robbins
- “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” – Dale Carnegie
- “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
For When the Grind Feels Endless
Building a new life is not a sprint. It’s a slow, steady walk. Losing over 110 pounds didn’t happen because of a crash diet or a sudden burst of motivation. It happened because I chose a healthy meal over a pizza one time. Then I did it again. I chose a walk over the couch. Then I did it again. These small, consistent actions build on each other. Celebrate the small wins. They are the bricks you use to build a new foundation.
- “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Will Durant
- “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
- “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius
- “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn
- “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
- “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot
- “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
For When You Feel Like Giving Up
There will be days you fail. You’ll eat the cake, skip the workout, or fall back into an old pattern. I still have those days. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s resilience. It’s about getting back up. For me, this is where my faith became real. When my own strength wasn’t enough, I learned to lean on God. It wasn’t a loud, flashy experience. It was a quiet, steady reliance that gave me a strength I couldn't find anywhere else.
- “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston S. Churchill
- “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
- “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Helen Keller
- “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” – Robert Jordan
- “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
For Keeping the Right Perspective
It’s easy to get lost in what’s going wrong. But focusing on what you have, not just what you want, changes everything. I started a simple practice: every day, I write down a few things I’m grateful for. It could be as small as a good cup of coffee or a quiet moment to pray. This tiny habit pulls my focus from my problems to my blessings. It reminds me of the purpose behind all the effort.
- “Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness.” – Amy Collette
- “The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.” – Confucius
- “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington
- “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” – Samuel Johnson
- “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
- “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “The day is coming when you will look back and realize that this was the beginning of something great.” – Unknown
- “Let all that you do be done in love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:14
Motivation isn’t a magic potion you drink once. It's more like food. You need a dose every day to keep your strength up. Some days you’ll feel full of energy, and other days you’ll need to find a few words to get you through the next hour.
Don't wait for the feeling. Just do the thing.
So, what’s one small thing you’ll do today? Not tomorrow. Right now. Pick one thing from your list, no matter how tiny, and do it.
