Sebastian Velez > Sebastian's Quotes

“Everyone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a figure. But it’s the same with that type of artistic activity as with all others: We are merely born with the capability to do it. The skill to mold the material into what we want must be learned and attentively cultivated. —JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE”
― Robert Greene, Mastery

“In our culture we tend to equate thinking and intellectual powers with success and achievement. In many ways, however, it is an emotional quality that separates those who master a field from the many who simply work at a job. Our levels of desire, patience, persistence, and confidence end up playing a much larger role in success than sheer reasoning powers. Feeling motivated and energized, we can overcome almost anything. Feeling bored and restless, our minds shut off and we become increasingly passive.”
― Robert Greene, Mastery

“Among his various possible beings each man always finds one which is his genuine and authentic being. The voice which calls him to that authentic being is what we call “vocation.” But the majority of men devote themselves to silencing that voice of the vocation and refusing to hear it. They manage to make a noise within themselves … to distract their own attention in order not to hear it; and they defraud themselves by substituting for their genuine selves a false course of life. —JOSÉ ORTEGA Y GASSET”
― Robert Greene, Mastery

“is easiest. Consider a smoker who wants to quit. She needs to recognize the first sign of a craving, and where it’s likely to lead her (outside, in the cold, fumbling with a lighter). She also needs to realize that if she gives in to the craving”
― Kelly McGonigal, The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It

“the goal of an apprenticeship is not money, a good position, a title, or a diploma, but rather the transformation of your mind and character—the first transformation on the way to mastery. You enter a career as an outsider. You are naïve and full of misconceptions about this new world. Your head is full of dreams and fantasies about the future. Your knowledge of the world is subjective, based on emotions, insecurities, and limited experience. Slowly, you will ground yourself in reality, in the objective world represented by the knowledge and skills that make people successful in it. You will learn how to work with others and handle criticism. In the process you will transform yourself from someone who is impatient and scattered into someone who is disciplined and focused, with a mind that can handle complexity. In the end, you will master yourself and all of your weaknesses.”
― Robert Greene, Mastery

“Para acercar al trabajador desmotivado al estado de flujo es necesario intensificar la motivación y el entusiasmo, evocar una sensación de objetivo y agregar una pizca de presión.”
― Daniel Goleman, Focus: Desarrollar la atención para alcanzar la excelencia

“«La mente creativa es un don sagrado y la mente racional un sirviente fiel –dijo, en cierta ocasión, Albert Einstein–. Por ello resulta muy curioso que hayamos creado una sociedad que, olvidando el don, haya acabado honrando al sirviente.»”
― Daniel Goleman, Focus: Desarrollar la atención para alcanzar la excelencia