Carl Richards Quotes & Sayings

We can all be guilty of giving up because a goal seems out of reach. Or perhaps we talk a lot about how important our goals are to us, but do little to actually achieve them. In either case, we should stop and ask ourselves, "How badly do we want it?" Here's the thing about goals: the ones that matter often involve a sacrifice. It can be tough to break patterns and deny ourselves instant gratification in order to stay focused, but when the goals are important enough, it's always worth it. — Carl Richards

That's why it's important to try to live in the present. The present is the only place we can live. When we live in the present, we are alert to what's actually happening -- to us and in the world at large. We can then act based on that awareness. And financial planning based on reality tends to lead to better results.

By contrast, when we live in the future, we are lost in fantasy or fear. When we live in the past, we are lost in regret or nostalgia. Financial planning based on fantasy, fear, regret, and nostalgia is likely to lead to more of the same. — Carl Richards

People who understand interest earn it. People who don't pay it. — Carl Richards

when the paint on the car starts to chip and the gadget gets tossed into the closet with all the others, you can't help but wonder if you've been pouring all your hard-earned money into the wrong things. — Carl Richards

if you don't ever find yourself recalibrating your decisions, you're likely ignoring some issues that might become problems down the line. — Carl Richards

Don't be committed to the guess, be committed to the process of guessing. — Carl Richards

But in the end, financial decisions aren't about getting rich. They're about getting what you want - getting happy. — Carl Richards

Brain scans, [McGonigal] said, have shown that there are regions of the brain that activate when we think about other people, and other regions that activate when we think about ourselves. In cases where people don't feel much connection to their future selves, the areas of the brain that light up when they are asked to think about themselves in the future are - guess what? - the same ones as when they think about other people."1 — Carl Richards