I know that who I am today is the sum total of all I’ve been in the past, all the things I’ve done, and the experiences I’ve had.  Every day I acknowledge how easily I could go back to my old ways, that my dignity and self-worth do not come from possessions, and that my […]

When you’re at the bottom, there’s only one way to look, and that is up.
— Mary Hunt, Debt-Proof Your Marriage

A major reason that we give in to our materialistic urges is that we’re creatures of habit.  It might take some thought and effort, but habits can be broken.  So, if you find it difficult to walk past your favorite store without going in, try crossing to the other side of the street.  If you […]

Teach yourself to compare down, not up.  It makes complete sense that you’ll be disappointed if you’re constantly comparing your wardrobe to that of your boss (who earns twice as much as you do) or your colleague (whose spouse created the latest reality-TV smash).  Instead, if you need to compare at all — and most […]

Discipline comes through self-control. This means that one must control all negative qualities. Before you can control conditions, you must first control yourself. Self-mastery is the hardest job you will ever tackle. If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. By stepping in front of a mirror, you may see at […]

A lack of money also gave me an education I could never buy with money. Alone and broke I found out who I am.
— HerRoyalMajestyBags, message-board poster

If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.
— Thomas A. Edison

Until the pain became unbearable, I was not willing to change.  Pain brings change.  Crisis precedes progress.  And change exposes our weaknesses.  No wonder so many of us avoid change at any cost.
— Mary Hunt, The Best of the Cheapskate Monthly

Beliefs have the awesome potential to create or destroy.  … Learn to choose the beliefs that empower you; create convictions that drive you in the direction of the destiny that calls to the highest within you.  Your family, your business, your community, and your country deserve no less.
— Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within

The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably, thought and act.
— Orison Swett Marden