“If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you’ll end up not doing anything for anybody.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Recently I took my daughter Elizabeth out to a restaurant for lunch. The waitress, whose job it was to take care of people, made us feel that we were really inconveniencing her. She was grumpy, negative, and unhelpful. All of her customers were aware of the fact that she was having a bad day. Elizabeth looked up at me and said, “Dad, she’s a grump, isn’t she?” I could only agree with a look of disdain. Halfway through our experience I tried to change this woman’s negative attitude. Pulling out a $10 bill, I said, “Could you do me a favor? I’d like some change for this $10 bill because I want to give you a good tip today.” She looked at me, did a double take, and then ran to the cash register. After changing the money, she spent the next fifteen minutes hovering over us. I thanked her for her service, told her how important and helpful she was, and left a good tip. As we left, Elizabeth said, “Daddy, did you see how that lady changed?” Seizing this golden opportunity, I said, “Elizabeth, if you want people to act right toward you, you act right toward them. And many times you’ll change them.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Anytime you are in front of other people to communicate— whether it’s on a stage, in a boardroom, on a ball field, or across a coffee table—the visual impression you make will either help or hinder you.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“People say there are two kinds of learning: experience, which is gained from your own mistakes, and wisdom, which is learned from the mistakes of others.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“If you know who you are, make the changes you must in order to learn and grow, and then give everything you've got to your dreams, you can achieve anything your heart desires.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation.
Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or
whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what?
After you start doing the thing, that's when the motivation
comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Have you ever had to communicate someone else’s vision? It’s very difficult to do, isn’t it?”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Dont ever be impressed with goal setting; be impressed with goal getting. Reaching new goals and moving to a higher level of performance always requires change, and change feels awkward. But take comfort in the knowledge that if a change doesn't feel uncomfortable, then it's propably not really a change.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“The way President Abraham Lincoln is said to have handled a person who had a know-it-all attitude. Lincoln asked, “How many legs will a sheep have if you call a tail a leg?”
“Five,” the man answered.
“No,” replied Lincoln, “he’ll still have four, because calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“A person who has a dream knows what he is willing to give up in order to go up.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“In 1997,I wrote a book called The Success Journey. It offers an overview on what it means to be successful. In it I define success in these terms: Knowing your purpose in life Growing to reach your potential Sowing seeds that benefit others”
―
John C. Maxwell
“most people overrate decision making, and they underrate decision managing.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“People are training for success when they should be training for failure. Failure is far more common than success; poverty is more prevalent than wealth; and disappointment more normal than arrival. —J.WALLACE HAMILTON”
―
John C. Maxwell
