Denis Waitley is one of those classical authors that even in 100 years, his work will still be as valuable and as relevant.

Denis Waitley

The most known of his book is The Psychology of Winning, but he has written so many great books that are a true legacy for all of us. And it is with great pleasure that I’ve put together these life-changing lessons to learn from him.

Ready?

25 Life-Changing Lessons to Learn from the Wise Denis Waitley

1. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.

“If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.”~ Denis Waitley

2. You must learn from your past mistakes, but not lean on your past successes.

“You must learn from your past mistakes, but not lean on your past successes.”~ Denis Waitley

3. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer to what to do next instead of dwelling on what went wrong.

“Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.” ~ Denis Waitley

3. Get so excited and enthusiastic about your own dream that it’s like a forest fire you can smell, taste and see from a mile away.

“Get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire – you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away.”

4. You must understand that seeing is believing, but also know that believing is seeing.

“You must understand that seeing is believing, but also know that believing is seeing.”

5. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.

“Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.”~ Denis Waitley

6. Failures do what is tension relieving while winners do what is goal achieving.

“Failures do what is tension relieving while winners do what is goal achieving.”

7. Time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”~ Denis Waitley

8. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.”

“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.”~ Denis Waitley

9. Our limitations and success will be based, most often, on your own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.

“Our limitations and success will be based, most often, on your own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.” ~ Denis Waitley

10. Winning is coming in fourth, exhausted and encouraged-because last time you came in fifth.

“Winning is coming in fourth, exhausted and encouraged-because last time you came in fifth.” ~ Denis Waitley

11. Make this moment the moment of truth about yourself. You have been selling short all of your life.

“Make this moment the moment of truth about yourself. You have been selling short all of your life.”~ Denis Waitley

12. Don’t waste your energy on grudges. Apply your excellent mind to forgiving and forgetting.

“Don’t be a grudge collector. Too many people spend too much time every day thinking of past hurts, suffered-through office politics, messed-up relationships and, in general, the evils of the world. Don’t waste your energy in this way. Apply your excellent mind to forgiving and forgetting.” ~ Denis Waitley

13. Real pleasure comes from good work, generous deeds and grateful thoughts.

“Get high on doing good. No one in history has ever found lasting satisfaction in chemicals or possessions. Real pleasure comes from good work, generous deeds and grateful thoughts.” ~ Denis Waitley

14. Your natural gifts are the key to fulfilling your potential for success.

“Your natural gifts are the key to fulfilling your potential for success. Find your natural gifts, develop them and then use them to be the best you can be.” ~ Denis Waitley

15. You are your own scriptwriter and the play is never finished, no matter what your age or position in life.

“You are your own scriptwriter and the play is never finished, no matter what your age or position in life.”~ Denis Waitley

16. There are 2 primary choices in life: To accept conditions as they exist, or to accept responsibility for changing them.

“There are 2 primary choices in life: To accept conditions as they exist, or to accept responsibility for changing them.” ~ Denis Waitley

17. Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives.

“Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.”~ Denis Waitley

18. Commitment doesn’t guarantee success, but lack of commitment guarantees you’ll fall short of your potential.

“Commitment doesn’t guarantee success, but lack of commitment guarantees you’ll fall short of your potential.”~ Denis Waitley

19. Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace & gratitude.

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace & gratitude.”~ Denis Waitley

20. The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.

“The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.”~ Denis Waitley

21. Be a role model, not a critic. Don’t tell your children, your peers, or your subordinates what to do – show them

“Be a role model, not a critic. Don’t tell your children, your peers, or your subordinates what to do – show them. And when the lesson is over, keep showing them by demonstrating that your actions are part of your character, not part of their curriculum.”~ Denis Waitley

22. The greatest limitations you will ever face will be those you place on yourself.

“The greatest limitations you will ever face will be those you place on yourself.”~ Denis Waitley

23. “Winning” is taking the talent or potential you were born with, and have since developed, and using it fully toward a goal or purpose that makes you happy.

“Winning” is taking the talent or potential you were born with, and have since developed, and using it fully toward a goal or purpose that makes you happy.”~ Denis Waitley

24. Habits are like comfortable beds. They are easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.

“Habits are like comfortable beds. They are easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.” ~ Denis Waitley

25. When you are in the valley, keep your goal firmly in view and you will get the renewed energy to continue the climb.

“When you are in the valley, keep your goal firmly in view and you will get the renewed energy to continue the climb.” ~ Denis Waitley

Bonus:

“The five most important words a leader can speak are – ‘I am proud of you’
The four most important are – ‘What is your opinion?’
The three most important are – ‘If you please’
The two most important are – ‘Thank You’
And the most important single word of all is – ‘You'”

“Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they always keep.”

“All of the top achievers I know are life-long learners. Looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they’re not learning, they’re not growing and not moving toward excellence.”

“Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning.”

“Always give more in service, than you receive in payment, and customers will beat a path to your door.”

“The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply.”

“Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.”

“The truly successful person inspires others to do more than they have thought possible for themselves.”

“Make certain that your goals are not measured in comparison with others. Success is a process that continues, not a status that you reach. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned. Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.”

“Success is a process that continues, not a status that you reach. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.”

“Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.”

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is a delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

“Learn how to grow out of yourself and into the world of others: Plant a shade tree under which you know you will never sit. Set some goals that may benefit your children or an orphanage or the employees of your company or future generations or your own city, fifty years from now.”

“Real motivation is that drive from within: You know where you are going because you have a compelling image inside, not a travel poster on the wall.”

“Close your eyes and visualize the person you really want to be, who fits your own concepts of self-respect. If you can see the person clearly in the mirror of your mind, you surely will become that person.”

“Don’t wait for mentors to seek you out. Don’t ever wait for your phone calls to be returned, your letters to be answered, your faxes to be responded to. Keep going out and asking questions.” 

“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, learn about them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” 

“The most splendid achievement of all is the constant striving to surpass yourself and to be worthy of your own approval.”

“Not aptitude….attitude is the criterion for success.”

“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.”

“Expect the best; convert problems into opportunities; be dissatisfied with the status quo; focus on where you want to go, instead of where you’re coming from; and most importantly, decide to be happy, knowing it’s an attitude, a habit gained from daily practice, and not a result or payoff.”

“Habits start out as off-hand remarks, magazine advertisements, friendly hints, experiments – like flimsy cobwebs with little substance. They grow with practice, layer by layer – thought on thought – fused with imagination and emotion until they become like steel cables – unbreakable.

Habits are attitudes which grow from cobwebs into cables that control your everyday life. Self-discipline alone can make or break a habit. Self discipline alone can effect a permanent change in your self image and in you. Self-discipline achieves goals. Self discipline is not ‘doing without,’ it is ‘doing within.'”

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

“Expect to succeed even before you start. All winners, no matter what their game, start with the expectations that they are going to succeed. Winners say, “I want to do this and I CAN do this”, not “I would like to do this, but I don’t think I can.””

“You are an uncut gemstone of priceless value. Cut and polish your potential with knowledge, skills and service and you will be in great demand throughout your life.”

“Make a list of your current wants and desires. Next to each, put down what benefit or payoff there would be when you achieve it. Look at this list often throughout the day and before retiring at night.”

“No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have all of tomorrow. Success depends upon using it wisely by planning and setting priorities. The fact is, time is worth more than money, and by killing time we are killing our own chances for success.”

“The world is a mirror and reflects back your expectations. What you get is what you see.”

“Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.”

“Understand that you, yourself, are no more than the composite picture of all your thoughts and actions. In your relationships with others, remember the basic and critically important rule: If you want to be loved, be lovable. If you want respect, set a respectable example!”

“The confidence you need is belief in your potential. If you see world-class potential in yourself, you’ll put in the effort. If you don’t see the potential, you won’t put in the effort and you’ll wait for the performance, and the performance always follows the belief in self.”

“Success is not a pie with a limited number of pieces. The success of others has very little bearing on your success. You and everyone you know can become successful without anyone suffering setbacks, harm, or downturns.”

“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the “someday I’ll” philosophy.”

“Where there is life, there is hope. Where there are hopes, there are dreams. Where there are vivid dreams repeated, they become goals.

Goals become the action plans and game plans that winners dwell on in intricate detail, knowing that achievement is almost automatic when the goal becomes an inner commitment. The response to the challenges of life – purpose – is the healing balm that enables each of us to face up to adversity and strife.”

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