If you train yourself to consistently think, feel, and act in ways that further your most important goals – if, in other words, you build strength – then inertia becomes a nearly unstoppable force that unlocks your potential.

Strength is the power to press pause on your defaults and exercise good judgement. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the world, or how unfair things may seem. It doesn’t matter that you may feel embarrassed, threatened, or angry. The person that can take a step back for a second, center themselves, and get out of the moment will outperform the person who can’t.

Building strength is about domesticating the wild horses of our nature – training and harnessing them to improve our lives. It’s about turning the headwinds of our biology into tailwinds that carry us reliably toward our most cherished goals.

The four strengths you will need:

Self-accountability
Holding yourself accountable for developing your abilities, managing your inabilities, and using reason to govern your actions.

Self-knowledge
Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses – what your capable of doing and what you’re not.

Self-control
Mastering your fears, desires, and emotions.

Self-confidence
Trusting in your abilities and your value to others.

-Excerpts from Clear Thinking, by Shane Parish

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”
-Stephen Covey

“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
-Tony Robbins