Memorizing an inspiring quote can be one more ticket in your athletic success arsenal.
Quotes can serve as mantras, reminding you of where you want to get and how you want to get there, offering a way to refocus on your goals, and boosting your resolve when you find it flagging.
Having a motivational quote posted somewhere you’ll notice it often can help spur you toward taking that action (or NOT taking an unwanted action) when you’ve got a fitness goal you’re chasing.
Wayne Gretzky is quoted as saying “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and that is one of the greatest sports quotes of all time with applications to all kinds of spheres, not just hockey or sports in general.
Here are ten more of my favorite motivational quotes for athletes. Take a look and see of any of these will give you the extra push you need toward your own successes.
1. You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy. –Arthur Ashe
2. High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation. –Jack Kinder
3. People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents. –Andrew Carnegie
4. There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them. –Ralph Marston
5. I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. –Michael Jordan
6. There is no great achievement that is not the result of patient working and waiting. –J. G. Holland
7. Training is the opposite of hoping. –Nike ad campaign
8. It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop. –Confucius
9. I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion.” – Muhammad Ali
10. Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. –Francis of Assisi
