Best Life Tips for Personal & Professional Growth

To be successful, you need to think accordingly. Get in a mindset that helps you strive for a blossoming future — it’s merely a matter of transforming everyday thoughts into positive thinking. What better way to step forward into a better tomorrow than by internalizing some of the best life quotes available and taking the advice of successful people who were once in your very own shoes?

Do you feel like a lack of advancement is obstructing your happiness? Then follow the best life quotes and advice from a few figures who may just help you achieve the success you desire.

Sometimes, all you need is a little mantra to say to yourself so you can ignite your sense of get-up-and-go. From the wise words of Oprah to the best life quotes and guidance of prominent political figures, here’s a list of top life tips and words of wisdom from successful individuals whose advice may just help you grow.

1. Strive for Personal Growth and Progress

If you find yourself feeling down on a daily basis, chances are you need to reshape your thinking to help you thrive and achieve growth. A stagnant mind can be one of the major causes of a lack of development and progress, leaving you feeling stuck in an unfulfilling phase in your life.

Reshaping your thinking is the first necessary step to achieving personal growth. As the Buddha once said, “The mind is everything. What you think, you become.” If you dream of success, you’re much more likely to achieve it. In fact, psychological studies show that daydreaming and positive thinking provide a positive correlation to progress, meaning you can think your way to a better future.

Just take it from Benjamin Franklin — one of the founding fathers of this nation — who once said, “without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.”

2. Develop Professionally

We will always remember Steve Jobs as the transformative and revolutionary figure who helped lead Apple to success. But before he became the picture-perfect image of victory, Jobs pushed through years of hardship. He finally realized his success would come only through personal growth and development.

Before he became the chairman and leader of the notorious Apple industry, Jobs had to come to terms with the fact that there is not one given route or path to achievement. He expressed these sentiments by stating “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

If you find yourself beaten down at work or beginning to feel lesser than your colleagues, it’s essential to retain and strengthen that inner voice that tells you your input is valuable. World-renowned French chemist Marie Curie once said, “We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”

With the belief that her contributions to science were invaluable, she flourished in her field and even became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize — twice.

3. Maintain Happiness and Optimism

As the world-renowned American poet and innovator Walt Whitman once said, it’s important to “keep your face always toward the sunshine — and the shadows will fall behind you.” Whether you want to grow professionally or personally, you can’t anticipate positive results without a little sense of positive thinking cheering you on along the way.

Take Barack Obama as living proof of the far-reaching effects of optimism. The former president’s speeches include some of the most inspirational quotes that might help you learn a thing or two about success and the importance of maintaining a positive mindset during your journey. In an address made at Ohio University’s graduation, the former president voiced that “The cynics may be the loudest voices — but I promise you, they will accomplish the least.”

It’s easy to be upset over unwanted circumstances, but it takes courage to change your thinking toward a better tomorrow.

4. Take Risks Every Day

“Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back,” as major league baseball champion Babe Ruth once said. Taking risks is a necessary part of growth and development. Not every day at work will be a great one, and you can’t expect to achieve greatness in your everyday life continuously. But that doesn’t mean you should entirely discount stepping out of your comfort zone, either.

Risk-taking opens up unexpected opportunities that also help lead to new and more critical life paths.  “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new,” as one of the world’s most intelligent and influential figures — Albert Einstein — once advised.

5. Fail Your Way to Success

You can’t expect to arrive at success without hitting a few road bumps along the way. If you think there’s one straight path to victory, history will tell you that this is not entirely the case.

“Failure is another stepping stone to greatness,” says Oprah Winfrey, and the journey to success is “not failure if you enjoyed the process.” If you find yourself avoiding failure, you may just end up more disappointed at the risks you never took toward progression.

To grow — as an individual or in business — you must first accept the fact that success is not immediate and failure is a part of the learning process that allows you to advance. Realizing a dream means you have to take smaller steps that result in minor victories — and a few mishaps — along the way.

6. Make the Most Out of Every Day

As the famous Latin saying goes, “carpe diem” — seize the day. It may not seem like one single day matters much in the larger scheme of life, but these days add up to months and years that constitute the extensive collection of moments known as our life.

Take it from Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of American’s most influential philosophers and poets. In regard to living the best life possible, Emerson advised that you “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” You can’t change what happened to you yesterday, but the power to make the most out of every day grants you the necessary control to steer yourself toward greatness for today — and tomorrow, too.

If you’re looking to enhance your life while learning from some of the world’s most successful, notorious figures, then these few tips and trick may give you the added push necessary to stimulate your drive.

Remember that every single individual can be successful — they just need the push to get going. When you begin to feel disheartened or find yourself lacking the drive necessary to flourish, just remember one thing: it only takes a single successful mantra to help you unleash your potential.