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Put Your Favorite Quote to Work

August 21, 2008 RSS Feed Print

Curt Rosengren

Do you have a favorite quote? Are you wasting its potential?

Quotes have the potential to be inspiring reminders of the way we want to live our lives. Unfortunately they rarely live up to that potential, amounting instead to little more than meaningless sound bites. They go in one ear—we nod vigorously in agreement like a bobblehead doll—and they go right out the other.

I started thinking about this recently when I came across a quote from Gandhi that seems to be ubiquitous these days: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

It's a great quote. And a great idea. But I'm willing to bet that for most people, its power gets lost at a big-picture philosophical level.

The real power of that quote comes when we ask ourselves, "OK, what does that mean to me? More specifically, what does that mean to me today? Right here, right now? What decisions do I need to make day in, day out to actually put the meaning of that quote into action?"

Change of any kind seldom comes as a made-for-Hollywood revolution. It comes from the cumulative impact of our everyday choices.

Take a look at that Gandhi quote and ask yourself, "How do I apply that today? How do I apply that tomorrow?"

Try that with your other pet quotes. How do they actually apply to how you live your life on a daily basis? Look past the quick-fix sound bite and start to apply the real meaning in a conscious, rubber-meets-the-road kind of way.

What is your favorite quote? How can you put it to work in your life?

After years as a professional malcontent, Curt Rosengren discovered the power of passion. As a speaker, author, and coach, Rosengren helps people create careers that energize and inspire them. His book 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work and his E-book The Occupational Adventure Guide offer people tools for turning dreams into reality. Rosengren's blog, The M.A.P. Maker, explores how to craft a life of meaning, abundance, and passion.

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Louise, that's a great example of how we have the potential to make a difference by something as simple as the conversations we choose to have. Thanks for sharing.

Curt Rosengren of WA 6:50AM August 25, 2008

Not to pat myself on the back, but I took this Ghandi's quote for a test drive six years ago and still enjoying one hell of a ride.
You see, my beef with "society" is that we lack balance; more specifically, our conversations tend to focus only on the superficial aspects of life. Now there's nothing wrong with discussing the latest antics (and now "recovery") of Ms. Spears, etc., but I get quite bored when that's all I hear from folks. So, I became the change.
I've spend the last six years asking most everyone I meet: What is the meaning of life? Well, long story short, my travels turned into a Spirit-led journey, and the journey became so amazing that I just had to write it down and publish it. Now I'm sharing it with the world.
So I do support your encouragement to "make it personal". Even ii the smallest of ways, one change can make a huge difference in your life. (I'm living proof!)
Thank you for a great post!
take care,
Louise Lewis, author
No Experts Needed: The Meaning of Life According to You!
Free gift (pdf) copy at: www.noexpertsneeded.com

Louise Lewis, author of CA 12:38PM August 22, 2008

That's certainly an example of a step someone could take (assuming they agree with you).
Lest this become a political debate though, I'd like to bring that idea back down to a personal level. Even something like who we vote for has the potential to make a much greater impact if we also bring it down to the micro level, i.e., "what does that mean to me in my every day life?"
So rather than just voting for Obama and leaving it at that, there's the potential to take being the change even farther by stopping and asking, "Why does that feel important to me? What beliefs do I have that that represents? How can I act on those beliefs day in and day out, not just on election day? How can I embody those beliefs?"
(That idea, by the way, is applicable regardless of who you think the best candidate is.)
The more you can make it personal, the more potential there is to maximize its effect. Which brings us back to the original idea - to put your favorite quotes to work, make them personal.

Curt Rosengren of WA 12:56PM August 21, 2008

Put Your Favorite Quote to Work

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