Jeff Goins Quotes

If we are to follow the Jesus who suffered with us and bled for us, we too must suffer. We must hold the dying in our arms. We must shed tears for hungry stomachs, trafficked children, and wandering souls. This is what He wants for us. It's the reason we are called to lay down our nets and take up our crosses to pursue the Suffering Servant. And it's the one thing we will avoid at all costs.
It is not enough to feel bad. Religion to me, has always been the routine of feeling guilty for all the things we should do but don't. We must act. This is where life happens, where we begin to participate in our stories. This is when we awaken. Not on the sidelines; not on the outside looking in. Life is lived right in the midst of all this mess. Incidentally, that's where mercy and the miraculous are found. That's where flowers begin to grow again.

Such findings do not prove that talent doesn't exist," he wrote. "But they do suggest an intriguing possibility: that if it does, it may be irrelevant.

Look at the major events in your life and write them down on a piece of paper. Note everything significant you can remember, even the things that seem silly or irrelevant but come to mind for some reason. Don't try to decode the meaning; just put down everything you can think of. As you reach the end of the list, look for a common thread, some recurring theme.

When I started writing every day, I realized a painful truth: I can't react and create at the same time. Neither can you.

Real artists risk failure every time they release their work into the world. If your words are going to matter, you will have to do the same. You will have to let go. Until you do, you're not creating art. You're just screwing around.

Hanging out in coffee shops and talking about one day being a writer or an activist or an entrepreneur is just about the worst thing you can do.

You have to imagine your own death. When your time comes, what will you regret not doing? What will you wish you had more time to do, and what will have seemed trivial? Think of what you fear losing - those are the things that matter most.

Your journey, though unique, is full of fellow sojourners, as well as teachers who will help along the way. Your job is not to find them but to recognize them when they appear.

All first drafts suck, so get it over already.

It's about making a contribution to the world. Which is why when we are in the midst of pursuing our calling, we must not only ask if this is something that we are good at, but if it is something good.

Successful people are just as "lucky" as the unsuccessful. The difference is they do something remarkable with their lucky moment while the rest of the world sits around, waiting for the next lucky streak to come.

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant." - DR. SEUSS

It's not enough to be good. You have to be great.

If you're trying to serve someone in need and it doesn't hurt a little, you're doing something wrong.

It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.

Did you know the average age of a gamer is thirty-two? Now, I don't see anything inherently wrong with diversion and games, but that is certainly telling about our culture, isn't it? Instead of raising families or creating culture, we are sitting around in our living rooms with our eyes glued to the television, simulating life. We are escapists, cowards, and thieves. We hide, occasionally stealing crumbs from the table of those living the good life. We are avoiding the truth that screams at us from the stillness: 'There is more. You are more than this.' So we anesthetize the truth with busyness. Maybe if we just do more, this feeling of emptiness will go away. And we won't actually have to do any real work.

Because we'd rather believe the fairy tale that says some people are just special. That way, we don't have any responsibility to act.

Your mentor may not be the teacher you dreamed of, and that's the point. This is your education of what is, not what you think should be.

The basic idea of a portfolio life is that instead of thinking of your work as a monolithic activity, what if you chose to see it as the complex group of interests, passions, and activities it is?

As we step into our life's work, we discover that we have been preparing for this our whole lives, even though in that very moment we feel insufficient.

When the passion goes away, it's the practice that sustains us. This is the fruit of commitment, the reason it's worth the hardship. When you commit to something, anything, it allows you to practice what you love.

As part of his life-saving therapy with suicidal patients and his own experience in a Nazi concentration camp, Frankl learned there are three things that give meaning to life: first, a project; second, a significant relationship; and third, a redemptive view of suffering.

Pivoting isn't plan B; it's part of the process.

In any great narrative, there is a moment when a character must decide to become more than a bystander.

Look, it's easy to dump words on a page and tuck it away in a drawer. But to be a real writer, you have to take some risks. You have to put your work out there. Throw it against the wall, and see if it sticks.

Nobody reaches expert status without intense preparation. Excellence, then, is a matter of practice, not talent.6

Climate is what we expect. Weather is what we get. - MARK TWAIN

True abundance is about giving away your life, about letting go and giving up.

We live in the age of no excuses.

At a distance, we see a need and ignore it. We judge it, condemn it, forget it. We don't think about it, because if we practice ignorance long enough, we don't notice the need anymore. It goes underground, and we're content with the surface of life as we know it - unwilling to break deeper ground. If all appears to be well on the outside, that is good enough for our consciences.
... If we are willing to dig deep, to find Calcutta in our own backyards, we will find the poor. But we will also find God. And He may just open our eyes, so that we can see the need and not soon forget. So that we can hear their cries and not grow deaf. So that we can smell the stench of human need and awaken our hearts to compassion.

But for now, if you are intentional and willing to appreciate the fact that you don't see the whole narrative, you can enjoy more of the journey.

Maybe something can only be born when something else dies. Maybe our 'coming alive' feels like being dragged through the dirt. Maybe you and I are hanging my a thread of grace for most of our lives and we're expected to be humble, not haughty, with the breaks we've been given. Maybe we're supposed to pay good deeds forward. Maybe we're supposed to think what's in it for me? far less than we do. Maybe we need to sacrifice more. Maybe it won't feel like a sacrifice at all, but more like the sensation of becoming unnumbed.

Other cultures make a clear delineation between childhood and adulthood; there are rites of passages and initiation ceremonies to mark these transitions. People expect and are willing to expose young people to hardship and pain, because it helps them grow.

Discovering your calling is not an epiphany but a series of intentional decisions. It looks less like a giant leap and more like building a bridge.

When you are in doubt, just remember to drive toward water. You can always change directions once you get in the car.

We must wake up. If we are going to find our callings, we must live intentionally and audaciously. And we must be generous. This choice is not an easy one, and it doesn't come naturally, but it's how we were meant to live. It's the only way - I'm quite convinced of this - that we can find the satisfaction we've been searching for, the lives we've been dreaming of. And although there are legitimate health, business, and psychological benefits to generous living, the most important one is this: generosity gives your life meaning.

The truth was much simpler. When do you become a writer? "When you say you are," he said. I

It's a choice, writing is. One that belongs to you and me. We get to choose it (or not) every single day. So whether or not the world hears your message - whether you leave the impact you were born to make - is entirely up to you.

Take time to look back at all you've experienced, and listen to what your life is saying.

Everything is practice. Every word you write and action you take is a chance to get better.

As I listened to the radio tell her story, it was hard to not think education should look more like this - paint splotches and messy smocks in a cramped studio - and less like large lecture halls with passive students parked in seats for ninety minutes at a time, eyes glued to a slide presentation.

A calling goes beyond your abilities and calls into question your potential. And when the journey is complete, even you are surprised.

Every place you go, every person you meet, every job you have is a chance to gain greater clarity in your self-education. Life is the classroom, and if you are paying attention, you can recognize the daily lessons available. Each day is a new page in a textbook you never complete, and as you sit in the student's seat, you realize the apprenticeship has already begun.

The paradox of vocation. We think that passion comes first, that our desire is primary; but if we are truly called, the work always comes before we are ready. We will have to act in spite of feeling unprepared.

We can distract ourselves with pleasure for only so long before beginning to wonder what the point is.

A few generations ago, men went to work or war and rarely got to see life beyond their careers. A generation ago, our parents had to answer the question of what they would do with the last third of their lives. How would they spend their retirement? Would it be squandered on silly things or invested in significance? But now, the question of legacy isn't a matter of if you live long enough or when you retire; it's a matter of what you will do with what you have right now. You don't have to earn a living for thirty years to turn around and spend the next thirty giving it away. If significance is what matters to you, you can structure your life and work in a way that allows you to live your legacy now. In fact, your giving doesn't have to be a by-product of your success; it can be the very thing that drives it in the first place.

Before others will believe what is true about you, you'll have to believe it yourself. LET'S

As you explore your own calling, you will be surprised by how your previous experiences are conspiring to lead you in the direction of your life's work. You just have to listen.

Watching a tree grow will likely drive you crazy. It's a boring process if you stand there, impatiently tapping your foot, waiting for it to do something. But if you step away and come back later, you'll be surprised to see something beautiful emerge. The fact is the plant is doing something: it's growing. Just not as quickly as you might like. Our culture has conditioned us to expect instant results and overnight success; this impatience runs so rampant that we dress it up in terms like "efficiency" and "productivity." But really what's happening is we are conditioning ourselves to get what we want now, all the time. This mindset robs us of the lessons that waiting can teach us, causing us to miss out on the slow but important stuff of life.

Our journey is full of rest stops- park benches and airport terminals- that signal the arrival of things we anticipate. Sometimes, they´re worth the wait; other times, the glory doesn't shine quite like wed hope. Regardless, we need to learn to live in this tension, to appreciate what we have and still hope for.

You will have to step out into the unknown, listening for direction as you go.

Every day, hundreds of books and thousands of articles go into print. And here's the truth: Some of them aren't very good. What's the difference between published authors and you? What do they have that you don't? Maybe nothing. Except they know how to get published, which is actually quite significant.

We don't need more jobs. We need a better way to equip people for what they're meant to do.

Every day, somewhere, a writer is born. She comes into the world with a destiny: to share her words and proclaim a message.

We always assume someone else will come to the rescue, but it's never us. Surely somebody will have the decency to be the hero. Right? It doesn't work like that. Not when everyone assumes someone else will do the right thing.

Each wrong choice grows your character and strengthens your resilience, readying you for what comes next.

and when they didn't know what to do, they took a leap. But in that "leap," there is a lot to unpack.

Serving people is the best way to earn influence.

But if you hear the call to make your life about more than you and what you can contribute, you will have peace, not anxiety, when facing mortality.

If you are going to find work worth doing - a vocation to fulfill and challenge you - you will have to encounter a reality bigger than yourself. It may not be what others say it should be or what you think, but it will come if you are looking for it ... At times, the work you're called to do will be hard and confusing, but if you press in, you will see the purpose behind the pain. You will see how the whole experience is causing you to grow. And you will thank God for the whole journey.

Opportunities come. The question is what will you do when they arrive?

More people are watching your life and ... are gaining strength in their own lives and in their own challenges because of what you're going through. I promise you: your life matters, your life is significant, and things are happening that you don't even fully understand yourself.

Writing is about space. It's about what's not said. About showing rather than telling. About making every word count.

Treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention. - SETH GODIN

Every calling is marked by a season of insignificance, a period when nothing seems to make sense. This is a time of wandering in the wilderness, when you feel alone and misunderstood. To the outsider, such a time looks like failure, as if you are grasping at air or simply wasting time. But the reality is this is the most important experience a person can have if they make the most of it.

Believe you already are what you want to be. And then start acting like it.

The right choice isn't to retire, to simply settle in and invite death. It's to work hard and passionately, but acknowledge the limitations of what one life is capable of.

Slicing down your fluff to the core essentials is how you get to genius.

Remember: The fear of something is always scarier than the thing itself. Yes, there is pain and rejection. But the greatest failure is to never risk at all.

brave words: speak, for your servant is listening. It's as much an act of vulnerability as it is one of availability.

A brand is who you are. But it's more than that. It's your truest self. The part people remember.

The smallest moments, the ones we think are insignificant, are the ones we will cherish the most.

But many of us fail to recognize that the best moments are the ones happening right now.

Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

The unfortunate reality is we are probably missing your work. Not because it's not good, but because we've learned to tune it out.

Your taste in music, the kinds of books you enjoy, even your favorite foods all contribute to the person you are and the portfolio you're creating - and therefore, make up your calling.

A brand will happen whether you like it or not. Either you intentionally choose one for yourself, or one will be given to you.

Write something that's worth fighting over. Because that's how you change things. That's how you create art.

Struggle shapes our character. And character dictates what we will become.

All is not lost, all is not lost. Become who you are It happens once in a lifetime. - SWITCHFOOT

best way to make a friend is to show interest in someone else without an agenda.

It's time to stop waiting to be asked and start creating.

The world is broken and remains that way, in spite of our efforts to help it. This is beautiful, in a way, because it breaks us of our self-dependency. In a world that refuses to be healed, we must face the fact that we are not the heroes of our stories. It teaches us to rely on something bigger than ourselves and teaches the source of true compassion.

I have realized that whatever good comes to me, comes from God, whatever bad comes to me, God has allowed it, and I choose to be thankful for both.

We are either becoming more of our true selves or drifting into a false self. In

Life is not an inconvenience to the work we dream of; it's the reason we do it in the first place. A calling does not compete with or even complement your life.

When a person is determined to not just succeed but to do work that matters, the world makes room for such ambition.

The good life comes like most good things - unexpectedly - in moments that are fading away faster than we realize. These are the moments that take our time but don't demand our attention. When we miss them, they're gone. In those times especially, we would do well to slow down and be present, because we won't get them back.

And when you are presented with an opportunity, you may not just know.

Good writers practice. They take time to write, crafting and editing a piece until it's just right. They spend hours and days just revising. Good writers take criticism on the chin and say "thank you" to helpful feedback; they listen to both the external and internal voices that drive them. And they use it all to make their writing better. They're resigned to the fact that first drafts suck and that the true mark of a champion is a commitment to the craft. It's not about writing in spurts of inspiration. It's about doing the work, day-in and day-out. Good writers push through because they believe in what they're doing. They understand this is more than a profession or hobby. It's a calling, a vocation.

If you're "one in a million", and the world is full of seven billion people, that means there are seven thousand people just like you.

Writing is mostly a mind game. It's about tricking yourself into becoming who you are. If you do this long enough, you begin to believe it. And pretty soon, you start acting like it.

Samuel didn't know God was speaking to him until his mentor Eli helped him understand what was happening.

When you pursue a calling, you will find a community of supporters to champion you along the way. It's not up to you where these people come from or even how to locate them.

The big moments are the tiny moments. The breakthroughs are often silent, and they happen in the most unassuming places.

It's time, friends. Time to give back. Time to step out and risk more than we want. Time to dream dreams bigger than we imagined. Time to mourn with those who mourn, to bring beauty where there are ashes, to announce a new season in the world. This isn't mere altruism or sympathy; it's more than a tax write-off or publicity stunt. It's a shot at living the lives we were meant to live, that the world needs us to live, that we're scared to live.

We picture someone who just knew what they were supposed to do with their lives and, at the right time, did it. But a calling doesn't always work like that. Sometimes, perhaps often, it is messy.

You are a creator of content, a wizard of words. They need you. Act like it.

Pining for what could have been only holds people back from living their lives now. Life is full of surprises, and it doesn't help us to fixate on regrets or try to recover what has been lost.

The problem today is that many of us see our jobs just as a duty, something we're obligated to do to pay the bills.