“The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the indispensable prerequisite for success.”

“Decide upon your major definite purpose in life and then organize all your activities around it.”

Valuing Yourself and Your Needs (As a Parent): This is about taking care of your OWN needs as a parent because when you consistently put yourself last to be taken care of and habitually continue to sacrifice your basic necessities to make everyone else happy…Essentially, what you’re teaching your children is that they’re here to be of service to others, then themselves. In other words, you’re teaching them to take advantage of you and use you as they please, which in turn communicates to them that they’re most likely to be used. To prevent this from happening, you need to set consistent limits that protect you from demands that could be overbearing and unfair. That way, you’re communicating that your basic needs are just as important as theirs. It’s true…often times parents that are constantly sacrificing themselves are idealized and praised by other parents. You know… the ones that have no hobbies, no friends and no avenue of enjoyment. Is this really desirable? Parents constantly stressed about the needs of others in the family are usually irritable, and unmotivated to try anything new, fun or exciting. How can parents do this long term with no outlet? Instead, us parents need to enjoy ourselves and focus on being re-energized. When you take good care of yourself, you provide the means to take better care of your children. Going out to dinner or cocktails, trips to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, date night with your spouse or even some alone time reading or going for a walk allows you to be a more productive, interested and patient parent.”

“You are what you think you are. Your self-concept determines your performance.”

“When everything is laid out neatly and in sequence, you will feel much more like getting on with the job.”

“Act with purpose, courage, confidence, competence and intelligence until these qualities 'lock in' to your subconscious mind.”

“Courage is not absence of fear; it is control of fear, mastery of fear.”

“try a democratic environment. Ask your child’s opinions, make them feel as though they matter and their feelings are valued. The same time and energy spent on an argument later can be spent listening to their opinions in the first place. When you take your child’s feelings into consideration, when you ask their opinions, it makes them feel important even if they don’t always get their way.”

“Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives  you a 1,000 percent Return on Energy!”

“Leadership is the ability to elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people.”

“...you cannot eat every tadpole and frog in the pond, but you can eat the biggest and ugliest one, and that will be enough, at least for the time being. ”

“If there is one thing I know, it is this, rich people are remarkably unremarkable.”

“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and  farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your  thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.”

“There are, basically, three kinds of people: the unsuccessful, the temporarily successful, and those who become and remain successful. The difference is character.”

“Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other.”