Jeff Goins Quotes & Sayings

Every day, somewhere, a writer is born. She comes into the world with a destiny: to share her words and proclaim a message. — Jeff Goins

The paradox of vocation. We think that passion comes first, that our desire is primary; but if we are truly called, the work always comes before we are ready. We will have to act in spite of feeling unprepared. — Jeff Goins

Work, it seems, was never meant to be something we do just to make a living. It was meant to be a means of making a difference - in our own lives and in the lives of others. — Jeff Goins

brave words: speak, for your servant is listening. It's as much an act of vulnerability as it is one of availability. — Jeff Goins

It's a choice, writing is. — Jeff Goins

You have to choose your priorities, or they will choose you. — Jeff Goins

We are either becoming more of our true selves or drifting into a false self. In — Jeff Goins

Every place you go, every person you meet, every job you have is a chance to gain greater clarity in your self-education. Life is the classroom, and if you are paying attention, you can recognize the daily lessons available. Each day is a new page in a textbook you never complete, and as you sit in the student's seat, you realize the apprenticeship has already begun. — Jeff Goins

Successful people are just as "lucky" as the unsuccessful. The difference is they do something remarkable with their lucky moment while the rest of the world sits around, waiting for the next lucky streak to come. — Jeff Goins

You are a creator of content, a wizard of words. They need you. Act like it. — Jeff Goins

A calling goes beyond your abilities and calls into question your potential. And when the journey is complete, even you are surprised. — Jeff Goins

This is the secret to satisfaction in anything: doing what gives you life and not trying to live up to others' expectations. — Jeff Goins

The challenge for any artist - and we are all creating something on the canvas of our lives - is to do our work well while letting go of the result. — Jeff Goins

But beyond that, really, stop trying to be good. People's definitions of "good" vary. What one person loves, another hates. So stop obsessing over being a good writer. It doesn't matter. Too many writers are caught up with insecure thoughts of whether they are any good. It's crazy. Enough with this neurotic behavior. Time to be confident in your craft. — Jeff Goins

If you're trying to serve someone in need and it doesn't hurt a little, you're doing something wrong. — Jeff Goins

This is the secret to mastering any discipline: as you conquer one, you'll find it easier to tackle another. — Jeff Goins

Every day, hundreds of books and thousands of articles go into print. And here's the truth: Some of them aren't very good. What's the difference between published authors and you? What do they have that you don't? Maybe nothing. Except they know how to get published, which is actually quite significant. — Jeff Goins

Discovering your calling is not an epiphany but a series of intentional decisions. It looks less like a giant leap and more like building a bridge. — Jeff Goins

Struggle shapes our character. And character dictates what we will become. — Jeff Goins

All first drafts suck, so get it over already. — Jeff Goins

Finding your vocation is less about grand moments of discovery and more about a habit of awareness. — Jeff Goins

Such findings do not prove that talent doesn't exist," he wrote. "But they do suggest an intriguing possibility: that if it does, it may be irrelevant. — Jeff Goins

If we are to follow the Jesus who suffered with us and bled for us, we too must suffer. We must hold the dying in our arms. We must shed tears for hungry stomachs, trafficked children, and wandering souls. This is what He wants for us. It's the reason we are called to lay down our nets and take up our crosses to pursue the Suffering Servant. And it's the one thing we will avoid at all costs.
It is not enough to feel bad. Religion to me, has always been the routine of feeling guilty for all the things we should do but don't. We must act. This is where life happens, where we begin to participate in our stories. This is when we awaken. Not on the sidelines; not on the outside looking in. Life is lived right in the midst of all this mess. Incidentally, that's where mercy and the miraculous are found. That's where flowers begin to grow again. — Jeff Goins

It's time to stop waiting to be asked and start creating. — Jeff Goins

When we don't give ourselves fully to the work we were born to do, we do the world - and ourselves - a disservice. — Jeff Goins

But if you hear the call to make your life about more than you and what you can contribute, you will have peace, not anxiety, when facing mortality. — Jeff Goins

The problem today is that many of us see our jobs just as a duty, something we're obligated to do to pay the bills. — Jeff Goins

We always assume someone else will come to the rescue, but it's never us. Surely somebody will have the decency to be the hero. Right? It doesn't work like that. Not when everyone assumes someone else will do the right thing. — Jeff Goins

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant." - DR. SEUSS — Jeff Goins

When we look at what we have to offer - our skills, gifts, and desires - before asking what is needed of us, we are putting the cart before the horse, or the gifts before the call. The question a disciple must first ask is not, "What am I good at?" but rather, "What is required of me? — Jeff Goins

Answering a call will sometimes feel that way. It won't make sense and may even open you up to rejection and criticism, but in your heart you will know it's right. How? There will be confirmation. You will take a step, and things will happen. — Jeff Goins

Serving people is the best way to earn influence. — Jeff Goins

Because we'd rather believe the fairy tale that says some people are just special. That way, we don't have any responsibility to act. — Jeff Goins

The basic idea of a portfolio life is that instead of thinking of your work as a monolithic activity, what if you chose to see it as the complex group of interests, passions, and activities it is? — Jeff Goins

We who were born into privilege and opportunity were given these gifts with an expectation: to give them away. — Jeff Goins

Your mentor may not be the teacher you dreamed of, and that's the point. This is your education of what is, not what you think should be. — Jeff Goins

This idea was first coined by Charles Handy in his book The Age of Unreason — Jeff Goins

One way to think of it is in terms of maps and globes. Maps are easy. They're flat and predictable, easy to chart out a course. You can see the whole landscape in a simple, two-dimensional layout. However, as easy as they are, maps are unrealistic. The world isn't flat; it's not color coded and foldable and easily stored in your car's glove box. Life is too complex and beautiful to be captured on a map. It may help you see the big picture, but it does not help you understand the magnitude of the journey. — Jeff Goins

Pining for what could have been only holds people back from living their lives now. Life is full of surprises, and it doesn't help us to fixate on regrets or try to recover what has been lost. — Jeff Goins

Even when others don't understand, masters recognize their allegiance is to a higher calling than pleasing the masses. — Jeff Goins

A brand is who you are. But it's more than that. It's your truest self. The part people remember. — Jeff Goins

In spite of what we say, we don't want happiness. It's simply not enough to satisfy our deepest longings. We are looking for something more, something transcendent - a reason to be happy. — Jeff Goins

Nobody reaches expert status without intense preparation. Excellence, then, is a matter of practice, not talent.6 — Jeff Goins

A calling is that thing that you can't not do, an answer to the age-old question, "What should I do with my life? — Jeff Goins

It's about making a contribution to the world. Which is why when we are in the midst of pursuing our calling, we must not only ask if this is something that we are good at, but if it is something good. — Jeff Goins

Sometimes failure is the best thing that can happen to you if you learn to listen to the lessons in it. — Jeff Goins

Discomfort is the sign, you are on right track. — Jeff Goins

We've been conditioned to think of work as drudgery, a chore you endure in exchange for a paycheck. And this is a problem. When — Jeff Goins

It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great. — Jeff Goins

Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come. — Jeff Goins

The worst way to get a mentor is to go find one. The best way is to see the one that's already there. — Jeff Goins

The process of finding and claiming your calling is a journey, one that requires you to leave what you know in search of what you don't know. Yes, there's mystery to it, but the way you go about it is by putting one foot in front of the other. And when you are presented with an opportunity, you may not just know. But you will have to act. And that action is a little more complicated than we might think. — Jeff Goins

If you can do something when it's not fun, even when you're exhausted and bored and want to give up, then it just might be your calling. — Jeff Goins

If you are going to find work worth doing - a vocation to fulfill and challenge you - you will have to encounter a reality bigger than yourself. It may not be what others say it should be or what you think, but it will come if you are looking for it ... At times, the work you're called to do will be hard and confusing, but if you press in, you will see the purpose behind the pain. You will see how the whole experience is causing you to grow. And you will thank God for the whole journey. — Jeff Goins

You are not just waiting on your calling; your calling is waiting on you. — Jeff Goins

It's time, friends. Time to give back. Time to step out and risk more than we want. Time to dream dreams bigger than we imagined. Time to mourn with those who mourn, to bring beauty where there are ashes, to announce a new season in the world. This isn't mere altruism or sympathy; it's more than a tax write-off or publicity stunt. It's a shot at living the lives we were meant to live, that the world needs us to live, that we're scared to live. — Jeff Goins

There is a relational part of this job of being a writer you need to embrace - even if you're the most introverted person in the world. Email is your friend, and it's far less scary than picking up the phone. Find ways to work up the courage to network and introduce yourself to strangers. Depending on your personality, it can be very hard. But it's also worth the awkwardness and discomfort. — Jeff Goins

To create your best work, you'll have to make room for it. You'll have to cut out the excess noise and focus on what really matters: — Jeff Goins

In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments . . . — Jeff Goins

If you're not feeling a little insecure about taking such a leap, then you probably haven't considered the cost. — Jeff Goins

Most people waste the best years of their life waiting for an adventure to come to them instead of going out and finding one. — Jeff Goins

We all want to begin with ability, with what we can do. But when have you ever been a good judge of what you're capable of? People are always doing things that amaze themselves. — Jeff Goins

Before others will believe what is true about you, you'll have to believe it yourself. LET'S — Jeff Goins

Write something that's worth fighting over. Because that's how you change things. That's how you create art. — Jeff Goins

Find what you love and what the world needs, then combine them. — Jeff Goins

In the midst of your apprenticeship, perhaps while serving someone else's dream, you will make a discovery of your own. — Jeff Goins

Everything is practice. Every word you write and action you take is a chance to get better. — Jeff Goins

We have been raised to believe that anything is possible, that our potential is unlimited, and that we are entitled to our dreams. — Jeff Goins

We who are rich with respect to the rest of the world must come to grips with our own poverty if we are going to make a difference. We must allow our hearts to be broken so we can make things whole once again. We must fall apart before we can build up. Anything else is not compassion. It may raise money or impress the neighbors, but it won't satisfy. — Jeff Goins

It's not enough to be good. You have to be great. — Jeff Goins

To be wrecked begins with an experience that pulls you out of your comfort zone and self-centeredness, whether you want it or not. — Jeff Goins

But for now, if you are intentional and willing to appreciate the fact that you don't see the whole narrative, you can enjoy more of the journey. — Jeff Goins

Handy then encourages what he calls "portfolio people" to organize their time not based on hours in a week, but rather days in a year. For example, if you need to make $50,000 per year and can figure out a way to make $250 a day, then you only need to work 200 days a year. — Jeff Goins

I have realized that whatever good comes to me, comes from God, whatever bad comes to me, God has allowed it, and I choose to be thankful for both. — Jeff Goins

Treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention. - SETH GODIN — Jeff Goins

Life is too short to do what doesn't matter, to waste your time on things that don't amount to much. — Jeff Goins

Sensible people reinvent themselves every ten years. — Jeff Goins

You are a writer. You just need to write. — Jeff Goins

Hanging out in coffee shops and talking about one day being a writer or an activist or an entrepreneur is just about the worst thing you can do. — Jeff Goins

And when you are presented with an opportunity, you may not just know. — Jeff Goins

Watching a tree grow will likely drive you crazy. It's a boring process if you stand there, impatiently tapping your foot, waiting for it to do something. But if you step away and come back later, you'll be surprised to see something beautiful emerge. The fact is the plant is doing something: it's growing. Just not as quickly as you might like. Our culture has conditioned us to expect instant results and overnight success; this impatience runs so rampant that we dress it up in terms like "efficiency" and "productivity." But really what's happening is we are conditioning ourselves to get what we want now, all the time. This mindset robs us of the lessons that waiting can teach us, causing us to miss out on the slow but important stuff of life. — Jeff Goins

What you leave behind for posterity isn't a decision you make on your deathbed. It's a choice that happens right now with the resources available at this very moment. — Jeff Goins

Your journey, though unique, is full of fellow sojourners, as well as teachers who will help along the way. Your job is not to find them but to recognize them when they appear. — Jeff Goins

Each wrong choice grows your character and strengthens your resilience, readying you for what comes next. — Jeff Goins

Writing is mostly a mind game. It's about tricking yourself into becoming who you are. If you do this long enough, you begin to believe it. And pretty soon, you start acting like it. — Jeff Goins

Samuel didn't know God was speaking to him until his mentor Eli helped him understand what was happening. — Jeff Goins

Every moment is a chance to choose. — Jeff Goins

We don't need more jobs. We need a better way to equip people for what they're meant to do. — Jeff Goins

a healthy fear of death drives a person to continue creating until the very end, but with that fear must come the acceptance that even your life's work will, in some ways, remain unfinished. — Jeff Goins

A calling may be many things, but it is not fair. Still, you must answer it. — Jeff Goins

When the passion goes away, it's the practice that sustains us. This is the fruit of commitment, the reason it's worth the hardship. When you commit to something, anything, it allows you to practice what you love. — Jeff Goins

As I listened to the radio tell her story, it was hard to not think education should look more like this - paint splotches and messy smocks in a cramped studio - and less like large lecture halls with passive students parked in seats for ninety minutes at a time, eyes glued to a slide presentation. — Jeff Goins

When you are in doubt, just remember to drive toward water. You can always change directions once you get in the car. — Jeff Goins

One of the reasons it can be so hard to find a good mentor these days is that so few people have been mentored. — Jeff Goins

A brand will happen whether you like it or not. Either you intentionally choose one for yourself, or one will be given to you. — Jeff Goins

A calling isn't something new and shiny. Often it's something old and predictable, a familiar face that's easily taken for granted, an old habit or hobby that comes back into our lives. — Jeff Goins

Where does motivation come from? "It starts with a spark," Daniel Coyle told me in an interview. "You get a vision of your future self. You see someone you want to become ... It's a very mysterious process. — Jeff Goins

Sometimes we don't pivot in the direction of personal success but toward even greater pain. But here's the catch: a calling will always lead you to a life that matters, one you can be proud of. — Jeff Goins

Every calling is marked by a season of insignificance, a period when nothing seems to make sense. This is a time of wandering in the wilderness, when you feel alone and misunderstood. To the outsider, such a time looks like failure, as if you are grasping at air or simply wasting time. But the reality is this is the most important experience a person can have if they make the most of it. — Jeff Goins

You will have to step out into the unknown, listening for direction as you go. — Jeff Goins