The Most Inspirational Quotes for Work

Your greatest asset is your earning ability

Your ability to work, together with your talents, knowledge and skills sums up your earning potential. The rarer the skill and the greater the demand on the market, the more you can earn.

Thus, be grateful for your working ability, regularly invest in yourself, and be smart when it comes to your physical and mental health. And when you work, always go the extra mile - your great work ethic will additionally increase your earning ability.

“You’re blessed if you have the strength to work.” Mahalia Jackson

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Arthur Ashe

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” Albert Einstein

No matter what, keep a positive outlook

You can’t live a positive life with a negative mind. You can’t have a successful career, if you’re not open to improvements, new opportunities, and challenges. 

Only with a positive perspective and an open mind can you see what the optimal next steps in your career are. No matter how hard your current situation is, there’s always a step you can take to improve your situation.

“Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.” Joyce Brothers

“Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.” Dalai Lama

It’s nice to do what you love, but it’s not mandatory for success

One of the most popular pieces of advice when it comes to work is to do what you love. 

It’s one of the best things that can happen to you - to find something that you’re talented at, something that you love to do on a daily basis, and on top of all that - that pays great. 

But many people wrongly assume that finding what you love just happens, but talent, inspiration, and finding what you love don’t just drop out of the sky. Here’s how it usually happens:

“When you work hard at something you become good at it. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more. When you enjoy doing something, there is a very good chance you will become passionate or more passionate about it. When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen. Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort.” Mark Cuban

And let’s add a few other quotes about doing what you love:

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucius

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” Rumi

Manage your time wisely

Besides your earning ability, time is the most important asset you have. There’s never enough time to do all the tasks in the day, but always enough time to do the most important tasks. 

However, that can happen only if you’re disciplined, know how to set priorities, and learn to work in the flow without any distraction. 

Tracking your time can be an additional plus. To be successful, it’s essential that you learn good practices of time management. Don’t be lavish, either with your money, or you time.

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” Jim Rohn

“Think of many things, do one.” Portuguese proverb

“Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” Dale Carnegie

Just get to work; don’t overthink things

Being disciplined means doing the task at hand, whether you like it, or not. Successful people learn how to beat procrastination; they develop a habit of working hard and working smart on a daily basis. 

Don’t think about it, don’t dwell about it, and when it comes time to work, just start executing the most important tasks of the day and deliver what must be delivered. 

Whatever your tasks are, perform them with the right attitude and meet all the standards of excellence required.

“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” Lou Holtz

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” Stephen King

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Vince Lombardi

“There is no substitute for hard work.” Thomas A. Edison

“You can have results or excuses. Not both.” Arnold Schwarzenegger

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Samuel Goldwyn

When you work, always overdeliver

There are two ways you can perform tasks. The first one is in an average, okay way and the second way is in an outstanding, professional way, meeting all the required standards, overdelivering, and impressing others with the right attitude. 

It’s probably obvious which path to take. If you put in the extra mile and overdeliver, not only does it help to build your personal brand and lead to new promotions, but it also helps to reinforce your work ethic and competencies.

“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” Henry Ford

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” Jimmy Johnson

“Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.” Napoleon Hill

“Make each day your masterpiece.” John Wooden

You can’t avoid hard times, but hard times make strong people

Things in life tend to oscillate; to go up and down, and careers and work are no exception to that. That means from time-to-time things can get really difficult at work. 

Recessions, job losses, workplace drama, failed projects, overwhelming and complex tasks, unfairness at work, and so on - tough times will come, and you shouldn’t be afraid of them. 

You should see tough times as an opportunity to grow, to develop your talents and to show to the world your fighting spirit. At the end of the day, nothing lasts forever, not even tough times, but they give you an opportunity to develop your character.

“What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal. Nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong attitude.” Thomas Jefferson

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas A. Edison

“Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you someone who has never achieved much.” Joan Collins

“Fall 7 times, stand up 8.” Japanese Proverb

“Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” Jim Rohn

Keep investing in yourself and keep a long-term perspective

People overestimate how much they can achieve in a few months, and underestimate how much they can achieve in a few years. Success at work always requires a long-term outlook. 

Never expect fast results, rather, keep investing in yourself (the so called sharpen the saw concept), be open to opportunities, work hard and smart, overdeliver, and the success will follow. 

As you know, an overnight success happens after a decade of hard work. And each new big endeavor starts with the first small step. Make that step today.

“The future depends on what you do today.” Mahatma Gandhi

“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.” Elbert Hubbard

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax.” Abraham Lincoln

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” John C. Maxwell

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius