My favorite quote
A no-excuses approach to taking action.
Buried deep inside my notes app is a list of popular quotes.
It hasn’t been updated in a while. I hope to have more for my collection after you read this.
Currently, there are 30. They range from spiritual to inspirational to simple reminders. I like looking at them occasionally and adding new phrases I come across that speak to me. I find them to be uplifting. Someday, I might post them creatively around my house. Or maybe they’ll be restricted to my man cave.
An example: “A lion doesn’t have to roar to be a lion. Even when he purrs, the whole jungle knows that he’s the king.”
It sounds corny. But I don’t care. I think it’s cool. I love inspirational quotes.
One stands above all as my favorite, however. You might know it. It’s credited to late tennis legend Arthur Ashe.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Those 12 words serve as a guide to life. They outline a no-excuses approach to taking action.
Need to get out of debt? Start where you are.
Don’t think you have enough money to invest? Use what you have.
Looking to increase your discipline, improve your habits and better your life? Do what you can.
No matter your situation or stage, you always have a sensible starting point. Doing nothing can be more detrimental than trying something and doing it wrong. At least if you mess up, you hopefully will have learned a lesson.
I’m a lifelong procrastinator who often struggles to just start. It’s one of the reasons Ashe’s words resonate so much with me. But over the years, I’ve seen the power of making incremental progress.
Another personal favorite: “Perfection is the enemy of progress.”
Sometimes, I’ll type that quote at the top of my articles as a counter to my procrastination and a cure for my perfectionism. Still, not even it has the same ring as Ashe’s all-encompassing quote. None of the others on my list do.
When I started Money Talks in February, I didn’t know who would be interested in our journey or where it would take us. I just started.
I didn’t have an intimate understanding of the ins and outs of the stock market before I became an investor (and still don’t). I just jumped in.
Because action is better than inaction. And my favorite quote is the perfect reminder of that.
Now it’s your turn.
Leave your favorite quote in the comments. Help me build my collection and inspire others by sharing what your favorite quote means to you.
To the comment-shy, I humbly ask of you this.
Do what you can.
“You playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightening about shrinking so others won’t feel insecure around you. As you let your own light shine, you indirectly give others permission to do the same.”
— Marianne Williamson
I stumbled across this quote during my college days, some 18 years ago now. Admittedly, it’s been awhile since I’ve revisited it. But doing so reminds me of the duty we have to stretch toward the God-given potential living inside each one of us.
“Normal is an illusion”
It just made so much sense to me when I heard it as a young adult. I’ve always done my own thing and been kind of different, so being “normal” was at times, a goal. So when I heard that quote, it was like a reassuring hug from a loved one. Normal IS an illusion. My norm is mine and yours is yours.
The full quote is “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” It’s by Charles Addams but is famously known because of The Addams Family film, and of course, Morticia Addams. I’ve always enjoyed the characters from that movie. They were created to be the opposite of what’s normally show as a loving couple/family. A husband that’s hopelessly in love with his wife and adores his children and a woman that is her own person, darkness and all, that is supported and loved by her family. Two siblings that plot on each other and together. lol! We were shown this odd display of family/love and told it was weird or not normal. But we learn that the love they display is more genuine, honest and healthy than most other shows/movies we’ve encountered.
So all that to say, normal is an illusion.