15 Self-leadership Quotes for Tough Times

Tough times don't last but tough people do, is a quote that has often inspired me to keep going. Recent global disruptions are frustrating, disorientating, and very sad, and yes, it’s OK to feel the emotions that come with these upheavals. For those who have a roof over their head and food in their belly, it's a time to discover what’s really important and what you are made of.

In my 2012 book on Self-leadership with Dr. Ana Kazan, we described Self-leadership as:

"the practice of intentionally influencing your thinking, feeling and actions towards your objectives”

Right now we need to be practicing self-leadership and one way of 're-framing' how we think about things is through quotes. I'm sure you have your favorite quote that you turn to, to get you through tough times, but to get you started:

15 Self-leadership Quotes

1.    “Mastering others is strength; mastering oneself is true power” - Lao Tsu

2.    “The first and best victory is to conquer self” - Plato

3.    “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” - Aristotle

4.    "Rule your mind or it will rule you" - Horace

5.    “It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you came from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always.” - Oprah Winfrey

6.    “The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.” - Viktor E. Frankl

7.    “All human beings are self-leaders; however, not all self-leaders are effective at self-leading” - Manz

8.    “Being a self-leader is to serve as chief, captain, president, or CEO of one’s own life” - Drucker

9.    “Excellence" is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We do not act ‘rightly’ because we are ‘excellent’, in fact, we achieve ‘excellence; by acting ‘rightly’.” - Plato

10. "All are architects of fate" - Henry W. Longfellow

11. “You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

12. “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself; do not look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” - Bruce Lee

13. “When the leadership job is finished, the people will say, “we did it ourselves” - Lao Tsu

14. “Character is simply habit long continued.” - Plato

15. “One of the key elements for self-leadership is responsibility. If you can take responsibility, you can take action. If you take action, you get results” – Me 😊

Conclusion

A quote or mantra becomes an internal narrative on how you perceive the world and your place in it. By adopting a self-leadership quote, you are putting yourself in the driving seat of life, rather than being a passenger.

I use these quotes in my executive coaching and motivational keynote speeches.

And my thought for today: When you look back at the time you were challenged, will you be proud of how you conducted yourself?

If you would like to develop your self-leadership, here is an on-demand online coaching program for you.