15 quotes for some extra motivation when the going gets tough

I was running at the track a couple of weeks ago. 

It was my first interval session in a few weeks and I was running around 1 minute 35 seconds per lap. 

I had never run faster than 1:30 for a lap since starting to run again after being chronically ill.

And as I was running my final 400m lap, I decided it would be fun if I could manage sub 1:30.

In the first 50m, I started to think I couldn’t do it.

I had been pushing quite a bit in the other intervals – so how could I suddenly think I could go faster?

And in that moment I made a decision to push the negative self-talk out of my mind.

So for the rest of the 400m, the only things I told myself were that I could do it, that I would run sub 1:30, that it was within reach and that I was really enjoying it all.

As I finished the lap and stopped my watch, I saw that my time for that 400m was 1:28. 

I had achieved what in the beginning the little voice in my head was telling me was impossible.

I was happy that I ran 1:28, but more than anything, I really took it as a reminder that in life, negative self-talk won’t get us anywhere.

And on the contrary, keeping positive can help drive us forward.

I really believe that in many things, the only thing telling us we can’t do it is that little voice in our heads. 

And if we manage to change what that voice is telling us, the possibilities are endless.

So for this week, I decided to gather 15 quotes for some extra motivation to help you achieve what you want to achieve, especially when the going gets tough.

1. “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
- Henry Ford

2. “In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.”
- Nikos Kazantzakis

3. “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
- Rob Siltanen

4. “Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.”
- Carol Burnett

5. "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me."
- Ayn Rand

6. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
- C.S. Lewis

7. "Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain

8. "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."
- John D. Rockefeller

9. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
- Mark Twain

10. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
- Confucius

11. “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”
- H. G. Wells

12. "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill

13. "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
- Steve Jobs

14. “Against all odds and despite all the obstacles, we are going to make it.”
- Marilyn Monroe

15. “The urge to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”
– John Assaraf

Hope you enjoyed reading these quotes and I hope they give you some extra motivation the next time the going gets tough. 

And are there any quotes you love which I didn’t include in this post? Let me know – I’d love to hear more motivational quotes :)