137 Personal Growth Quotes by Alan Cohen

Be happy with what you have. Be excited about what you want.

Our history is not our destiny.

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.

Put aside ambition for public recognition, and simply do what you do because it feels good inside.

Personal growth is not a matter of learning new information but unlearning old limits.

You cannot judge what should bring others joy, and others cannot judge what should bring you joy.

Don't postpone joy until you have learned all of your lessons. Joy is your lesson.

Apply analysis when appropriate, but keep it on a short leash when joy beckons.

Abundance is not a number or acquisition. It is the simple recognition of enoughness.

You are not here to work. You are here to awaken.

The answer is simpler than you think.

If you keep asking, eventually someone will say yes.

Only those who ask for more can get more and only those who know there is more, ask.

The words genius and genuine derive from the same root. The core of genius is authenticity.

Who would you be if you dropped your complaints?

When your intention is clear, so is the way.

If you know something is true, you don't need to convince anyone of it. If you are trying to convince anyone, it is probably yourself.

Optimism may sometimes be delusional, but pessimism is always delusional.

God has denied you nothing. Only you can deny yourself.

Love is natural. Cynicism is learned. Come home.

Temporary discomfort pales in the face of long-term awakening.

Completion is an attitude, not an event.

Every musician I have ever heard has influenced me. I often find I emulate micro-aspects of an artist, and combine it to form something new and unique.

Don't use the past as an excuse to miss out on your future.

Control what you can, but flow with what you can't.

What happens to you happens from you.

Do not confuse humility with humiliation.

You cannot evaluate an insane belief system from within it.

Opportunities show up in direct proportion to your willingness to recognize them.

Quit making believe you don't know.
You do know. Act on it.

If you want your destiny to be greater than your history, give no credence to history and all credence to possibility.

At this moment, life is trying to love you and give to you in a million wonderful ways. When you say Yes, you allow love to flow, which is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the universe ... What do you want that you could be more open to receiving?

Those who recognize their innocence do not expect, receive, or accept punishment from any outside source.

You empower what you fight.
You withdraw power from what you release.

The vision you use determines the results you obtain.

Whatever you think and talk about paves the runway for what you will create.

Turmoil is a call for awakening. Every challenge, great or small, is moving you to look deeper and draw forth the highest in you. You're never given a challenge beyond your ability to meet and master. You'll rise above every circumstance because you're greater than any circumstance.

Teach yourself freedom with the same zeal that the world has taught you limits.

Because fear is insatiable, everything that is insatiable is born of fear.

View the past as your enemy, and it will be an albatross.
View it as your friend, and it will give you wings.

Be clear on where you are and where you want to go and you will get there. It can be the best year of your life.

Blessed are those who are so naive that they do not know what they cannot do.

When confronted with a situation that appears fragmented or impossible, step back, close your eyes, and envision perfection where you saw brokenness. Go to the inner place where there is no problem, and abide in the consciousness of well-being.

Success in business depends more on relationships than spreadsheets.

The cause of poverty is not scarcity. It is fear and small thinking.

The desire to change others cloaks your desire to change yourself.

To change your mind under the direction of the wisdom of the heart is a brush stroke on the masterpiece you are delivering to the world.

Will you ever run out of creative ideas and expressions? Ha! The more creative ideas you have, the more you will discover. Creativity is a tree with countless branches that never stop blossoming.

Probe, challenge, and grow beyond any belief system that does not acknowledge you as already divine and Grace as already present. Don't stop until everything you seek is already given.

To think you know what is best for another person is an industrial-strength ego trip.

Money is not the root of all evil...ignorance is the root of all evil. People do cruel and foolish things for money because they feel oppressed by a sense of lack. If people knew their power to generate wealth, they would never fight or hurt each other over money.

Anything you believe you have to do or become before you can be free is a denial and distraction from the truth that you are already free.

Busyness is not a reason for not getting other things done. It is an excuse for not claiming your true priorities.

Any attempt to improve on God's creation will distance you from God's creation.

You can be helping many people, but if you are not helping yourself, you have missed the one person you were born to heal.

Keep memories of insult on a short leash, and memories of blessing on a long one.

The best way to lose weight is to know that you are light.

The difference between famous creators and struggling artists is that the creators know that improving the lives of others deserves the highest reward.

Be at peace with your choices.
They all serve you.

Spirit is a more accurate measure of success than the ruler.

Today I set my mind and heart on a new path. I focus my energy on love, appreciation, and my highest possibilities.

Focus on the highest, clearest, and most meaningful teaching you can find, and let all else go.

To grow, you must be willing to let your present and future be totally unlike your past. Your history is not your destiny.

I love the balls-to-the-walls rule-breaking approach the Beatles had in the studio (which I emulate), although I don't try to make my songs sound like their songs. But every time I crank a knob of some piece of equipment, or plug an instrument into the wrong amp effect, I am channeling the Beatles.

We learn early on that, in order to be a winner, you have to believe in yourself. You have to have the confidence to make things happen. And you have to have personal pride.

Waiting does not exist in the experience of those who recognize the presence of love wherever they are.

When you protect yourself from pain, be sure you do not protect yourself from love.

What a doctor or healer tells you is a reflection of the beliefs and expectations you hold. Change your beliefs and you change the prognosis. Who is the doctor? The mind of the patient.

Every choice before you represents the universe inviting you to remember who you are and what you want.

Kindness to self will put you in the perfect attitude and position to be kind to others.

All hatred of others is a reflection of self-hatred. All love of others is a reflection of self-love.

If you desire to know where your spiritual work lies, look to your emotional pain.

Don't try to lose weight. Take delight in gaining fitness.

Trust who and what you are, and the universe will support you in miraculous ways.

True champions are team players.

The word courage comes from the French word 'coeur,' which means heart. True power proceeds not from force, but from love.

We can look at any experience in two ways: through the eyes of lack, or the eyes of plenty. Fear sees limits, while love sees possibilities. Each attitude will be justified by the belief system you cherish. Change your allegiance from fear to love, and love will sustain you wherever you walk.

Simply be who you are, do what you do best, be where you are called by joy, and let life work its magic on your behalf.

When you can laugh about something, you know it is healed.

The world you see is less of an indication about the world and more of an indication about your seeing.

You do not need to import greatness from another; you just need to act on your own.

When we make the choice to care, we set into motion a snowball effect that touches many people, most of whom we will never know about ... never underestimate the importance of a kind act.

Laughter lifts us over high ridges and lights up dark valleys in a way that makes life so much easier. It is a priceless gem, a gift of release and healing direct from Heaven.

People ho need to be right do so because they fundamentally feel wrong.

Half of your power lies in your sameness with others. The other half lies in your uniqueness.

We hurt ourselves not by what we ask for, but what we settle for.

The only real knowledge is who you really are -- a spiritual being created in the image in the likeness of a loving God. If you know that, everything you do will honor the wisdom and beauty you already own.

There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.

Appreciation empowers not just money transactions, but all interactions. Gratitude is one of the greatest meditations of a lifetime, the fastest attitude uplifter I know. Be grateful for all the good in your life and your good will only increase, along with your happiness.

Our noblest purpose in life is to remember our spiritual nature in the face of suggestions that we are a material society.

We attain freedom as we let go of whatever does not reflect our magnificence. A bird cannot fly high or far with a stone tied to its back. But release the impediment, and we are free to soar to unprecedented heights.

Life's gift to you is your unique vantage point. Your gift to life is expressing from it.

To make the world a better place, see the world as a better place.

In the end, we shall recognize our song and sing it well. You may feel a little warbly at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you'll find your way home.

When we enter into any relationship with the premise that we are empty and the other person will fill us in, we are sure to fail. We can only win when we proceed from wholeness.

You are not here to duplicate and replicate. You are here to initiate.

Joy is the wild card of life; it supersedes every other formula for success. If you can find a way to create joy, you can rise beyond all external factors. If you can play at whatever you are doing, you are the master of your life.

It is not selfish to be happy. It is your highest purpose. Your joy is the greatest contribution you can make to life on the planet. A heart at peace with its owner blesses everyone it touches.

The apparent goal of the journey is simply the carrot the universe dangles before you to get you to learn the lessons the adventure yields.

Spirit Math: The quality of your life equals the ratio of appreciation to complaint.

If you want to find God, hang out in the space between your thoughts.

If you have ever followed a rainbow to its end, it leads you to the ground on which you are standing.

Life does not require you to sacrifice or compromise your joy to get what you want. Joy is what you want, so when you choose in harmony with it, you are fulfilling your purpose in living.

If you are losing your peace in your quest for peace, you are not on the road to peace. The road to peace is peace.

The purpose of life is not to fight against evil and misfortune; it is to unveil magnificence.

To be a miracle worker you do not have to get a doctoral degree, become a minister, eat a particular food, or be able to meditate for long hours. All you need to do is to begin to see beauty in your life and those around you.

Integrity is a high rock above which the stormy ocean of worldly troubles cannot rise.

It's not more time you need. It's more quality use of the time you already have.

Prayer sends love. Affirmation sees love.

Affirmations are more powerful than requests, for they remind you that you already have what you seek.

Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

If someone thinks you can help or heal them, and you think you can't, choose their faith over your doubt.

Your greatest contribution to helping other people live their destiny is for you to live your own.

Asking for help is an affirmation that you believe in yourself, you recognize an answer is available, and you are open to receive it.

It is not selfish or narcissistic to love yourself. It is your first and foremost responsibility.

As you recognize that you already own the wholeness you seek, and no one outside you can give you more than you already are, dysfunctional situations will evaporate like bad dreams exposed to the morning sun.

Everything will change when your desire to move on exceeds your desire to hold on.

Enlightenment does not ask you to be perfect; it simply asks you to find perfection right where you stand.

If you gave your inner genius as much credence as your inner critic, you would be light years ahead of where you now stand.

The deeper you love yourself, the more the universe will affirm your worth.

Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows.

There is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.

There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.

Do what is healing to your spirit and without effort you will bring the world healing in return.

Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.

The only thing more important than being good is being real. Authenticity is kinder than resignation without conviction. Truth leads to good faster than good leads to truth. Ultimately truth is good, but you have to live it from the inside out.

You are doing better than you think you are.

What are you accepting that would not be a part of your ideal day?

The same Source that gave you the idea, will give you the means to see it through.

Joy is not the result of getting what you want; it is the way to get what you want. In the deepest sense, joy is what you want.

Guilt: punishing yourself before God doesn't.

God is a frequency. Stay tuned.

Everything will line up perfectly when knowing and living the truth becomes more important than looking good.

You will find truth more quickly through delight than gravity. Let out a little more string on your kite.