John C. Maxwell Thinking Quotations

Exceptionally hard decisions can deplete your energy to the point at which you finally cave in. If you mentally crumble and degenerate into negative thinking, you'll magnify the problem to the point where it can haunt you.

Good thinkers always prime the pump of ideas. They always look for things to get the thinking process started, because what you put in always impacts what comes out.

So think long and hard about who you're spending the most time with, for wherever they are headed, so are you.

You realize that we over-exaggerate yesterday, we over-estimate tomorrow and we underestimate today. We think, "Well, I'm going to kill time," "I'll get back to this tomorrow."

If you can learn to understand people how they think, what they feel, what inspires them, how they're likely to act and react in a given situation- then you can motivate and influence them in a positive way.

What am I doing with the gifts that have been given and the opportunities that are mine to make things better for others? I think it's always - success has to be beyond the person who is themselves working for personal success. It's also got to be helping someone else.

If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.

It was in the mid-70's, '74 or '75 I started doing leadership conferences for pastors and in '79 I wrote my first book "Think On These Things".

If you think you are the entire picture, you will never see the big picture.

If you believe in others and give them a positive reputation to uphold, you can help them to become better than they think they are.

We cannot accomplish as much as we think we can in one day and we can accomplish more than we think we can in a year. Isn't that true?

I think passion gives you the energy to do what is right, and discipline makes sure you do what is right. So I look at them as kind of cousins maybe.

We over-exaggerate yesterday. We either think it was better or worse than it was - you know, the good old days. We over-estimate tomorrow; we think we can do more than we can - always. And that's why we put off everything till tomorrow.

I think passion and discipline are wonderful, complementary things.

I think that self-discipline has to be accompanied by passion.

I had a horrible life habit that I had to change. And I think it's very true, the later we make decisions in life that are important, the harder it is to manage those decisions.

Don't wait until you feel positive to move forward. Act your way into feeling good.

Image is what people think we are; integrity is whar we really are.

Your life today is a result of your thinking yesterday. Your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today.

I think we impress people by our success, but I think we impact them by our failures.

If churches would take ownership of a vision, the next pastor who is thinking about coming to that church can see what their vision is and then determine if their vision fits with his or her ministry. If it doesn't, then it would be wrong for that pastor to come to that church.

I don't think every person is going to have the same twelve, but I think out of the twelve I have, nine of them every person will have. Three of them are a little bit of an option, but I say go get your own three, it's no problem.

As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behavior. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to become. Take action on your behavior. Too many people want to feel, then take action. This never works.

Sometimes I hear people talk about discipline of self and I think, if you don't have passion, I might discipline myself for a week or two but only passion will hold me steady.

The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness.

Maya Angelou observed you cant use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. Sadly,too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured. There has to be climate in which new ways of thinking,perceiving, questioning are encouraged.

He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.

Sometimes I think it's a lack of knowing the areas. Obviously, everybody knows that health is important so that's - but why was I not doing the right thing? Because I was deceived.

Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.

I think the hardest thing for a person is to know what those twelve things are that they need to work on that will bring the return of success to their life.

I literally wrote a book on it called Your Roadmap For Success. And in it I said success is three things: knowing my purpose in life, I think it's impossible for anybody to be successful until they really discover why they're here on earth and what God has planned for them; secondly, growing to my maximum potential.

I think many people believe the best way they can help others is to criticize them, to give them the benefit of their 'wisdom.' I disagree. The best way to help people is to see the best in them.

Once our minds are 'tattooed' with negative thinking, our chances for long-term success diminish.

There's a tendency for us to think that the secret of our success is something that is mystical and maybe someday my time will come. And it's certainly out there somewhere; it's around the bend; it's at the top of the hill.

I think success has a lot to do with my own personal growth.

I thought if I was open and honest, it would help the reader to get open and honest, and they also would realize sometimes when you write a book, people think you're an expert and that's not always true.

I think once a person realizes that they are every day either sowing into their life either potential success, or sowing into their life potential failure, they would all of a sudden go okay, I've got to figure out what I'm going to do.

Openness by the leader paves the way for ownership by the people. Without ownership, changes will be short term. Changing people's habits and ways of thinking is like writing instructions in the snow during a snowstorm. Every twenty minutes the instructions must be rewritten, unless ownership is given along with instructions.

Many times when people leave churches we think it's a doctrinal issue, but most of the time it's a leadership issue.

When I had something I thought God was talking to me about, the first thing I did, before I ever talked to the congregation, was to sit down with the major influencers of the church and share with them what I thought God was speaking to me. I gave them time for input or questions. Many times they would ask questions and I would reply, "I need to spend more time on this. I'm not sure I'm thinking clearly there." Other times they added value and helped make this vision better or more accessible to the people.

Many times when people have a vision, they think in terms of a big vision - I want to take my city for Christ. But the problem with many pastors and this type of vision is this: they haven't developed the strategy to fulfill that vision. A pastor preaches a dream or vision to his/her people, they get excited for a week, a month, or a couple of months, but there is no strategy, planning, or process to fulfill that vision.

People who are not leaders automatically gravitate toward lines--limitations set by others. Many people are taught this in kindergarten when they are instructed to stay within the lines while coloring. But leaders are more creative than that. They look for options and opportunities. They try to take things in a new direction, or beyond the limit. Progress and innovation are made by people who think without lines.

We tend to become what the most important person in our life thinks we will become. Think the best, believe the best, and express the best in others. Your affirmation will not only make you more attractive to them, but you will help play an important part in their personal development.

SELF-DISCIPLINE, more than any other personal quality I can think of, is the one thing that separates successful people from the unsuccessful. Think of all it encompasses: honoring commitments, promises and deadlines, keeping your life on schedule, being willing to go the extra mile... Self-discipline is essential to success. The alternative is a life ruled by emotions, and none of us can afford that if we're going to fulfill our purpose and realize our potential.

People go farther than they thought they could when someone else thinks they can.

Integrity is the factor that determines which one will prevail. We struggle daily with situations that demand decisions between what we want to do and what we ought to do. Integrity establishes the ground rules for resolving these tensions. it determines who we are and how we will respond before the conflict even appears. Integrity welds what we say, think, and do, into a whole person so that permission is never granted for one of these to be out of sync.

Insecure leaders think everything is about them, and as a result, every action, every piece of information, every decision is put through their filter of self-centeredness.

Anybody who thinks that they are a leader and doesn't have anyone following them is just out for a walk.

If you embrace possibility thinking, your dreams will go from molehill to mountain size, and because you believe in possibilities, you put yourself in position to achieve them.

Our challenge is to think right in a wrong world. Our challenge is to think positive in a negative world.

We tend to think of great thinkers and innovators as soloists, but the truth is that the greatest innovative thinking doesn't occur in a vacuum.

She that fails to command her thoughts will soon lose command of her actions.

Negative thinking hinders others from making a positive response.

Negative thinking keeps us from enjoying life.

Negative thinking limits God and our potential.

Negative expectations are a quick route to dead-end thinking.

A visionary company is like a great work of art. Think of Michelangelo's scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or his statue of David. Think of a great and enduring novel like Huckleberry Finn or Crime and Punishment. Think of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Shakespeare's Henry V. Think of a beautifully designed building, like the masterpieces of Frank Lloyd Wright or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. You can't point to any one single item that makes the whole thing work; it's the entire work-all the pieces working together to create an overall effect-that leads to enduring greatness.

Successful people...focus on the rewards of success: learning from their mistakes and thinking about how they can improve themselves and their situations.

The greatest detriment to many people's success tomorrow is their thinking today.

Never allow others to think you always have the best answers. This will only make them dependent on you.

You can change your life if you really want to. You can improve it, make it better. And it all starts with changing the way you think.

Every day I will renew my commitment and think about the benefits that come from it.

One of the best ways to cultivate a possibility mind set is to prompt yourself to dream one size bigger than you normally do. Let's face it, most people dream too small, they don't think big enough.

Some of my best thinking is done by others.

If you are too attached to your own thinking and how everything is done now, then nothing will change for the better.

Negative thinking creates clouds at critical decision times.

Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, 'I'll get a bigger job, then I'll learn how to be a leader.' But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn't a position, it's a process.

If you keep your mind active, regularly take on mental challenges, and continually think about the right things, you will develop the disciplined thinking that will help you with whatever you endeavor to do.

Negative thinking blows everything out of proportion.

They biggest man with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest man with the smallest mind-think big anyway.

Remember, in the end, it isn't what you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not.

Reflective thinking is like the crock pot of the mind. It encourages your thoughts to simmer until they're done.

If you are willing to change your thinking, you can change your feelings. If you change your feelings, you can change your actions. And changing your actions - based on good thinking - can change your life.

The person with a plan, a picture, will go after thoughts that add value to their thinking.

People tend to become what the most important people in their lives think they will become.

Too often when people think of their journey into leadership, they envision a career path. What they should be thinking about is their own leadership development!

Thinking is hard; that's why so few do it.

The harder you try to forget something, the more you think about it subconsciously.

The value you receive from reflective thinking will depend on the kinds of questions you ask yourself.

Self fulfillment thinks of how something serves me. Self development thinks of how something helps me to serve others. With self fulfillment, feeling good is the product. With self development, feeling good is the by-product.

Your thinking, more than anything else, shapes the way you live. It's really true that if you change your thinking, you can change your life.

Positive thinking must be followed by positive doing.

The english word thanks comes from the same root word as think. Maybe if leaders were more 'think-ful' about the contribution of others, they would be more 'thankful' to them.

People must learn how to think well to achieve their dreams and to reach their potential.

Think back to the most important experiences of your life, the highest highs, the greatest victories, the most daunting obstacles overcome. How many happened to you alone? I bet there are very few. When you understand that being connected to others is one of life's greatest joys, you realize that life's best comes when you initiate and invest in solid relationships.