Start. Quotes

“You don't need to go back in time to be awesome; you just have to start right now. Regretting that you didn't start earlier is a great distraction from moving on your dream today, and the reality is that today is earlier than tomorrow.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“People are mistaken when they think chasing your dream is a selfish thing to do. As if perhaps being average is an act of humility. As if perhaps wasting the talents you were given is proof that you're a considerate individual.

It's not.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“Fear would have told the Wright brothers not to fly. Fear would have told Rosa Parks to change seats. Fear would have told Steve Jobs that people hate touchscreens.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“Regardless of what you want to do or who you are, fear will always see you as wholly unqualified for anything you ever dream or attempt.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“In order to survive, I came up with a five-step secret to getting it all done. If you're busy too, feel free to use it:

1. Admit that you can't possibly get it all done.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“Joy is an incredible alarm clock. It will wake you up and keep you up and pick you up and gently pull you through a thousand rejections along the way.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“I’m not a fan of “finding your purpose.” I’m a fan of “living with purpose.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Don't climb a single rung up the entitlement ladder. Demanding something you haven't truly earned is a great way to get stuck in the land of Learning for decades, even an entire lifetime. Kick those ladders over and keep on walking.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“Age is no longer the primary factor that determines where you are on the map. Life is now less about how old you are and more about when you decide to live.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“I learned a simple lesson about being awesome: always play to the size of your heart, not to the size of your audience. Awesome doesn’t let the crowd determine the size of the performance. Awesome gets up for two people or 200. Awesome writes great books even if no one is going to read them. Awesome sweeps the parts of store floors that no foot will ever touch. Awesome can’t help itself. Awesome has a huge heart. And that’s what it always plays to. The size of the crowd doesn’t matter. The applause of the audience doesn’t matter.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Regardless of your age or station in life, it all comes down to one simple truth: you just have to start.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“You used to believe like that too. You used to turn sticks into swords or dirty flip-flops into glass slippers. You climbed trees and made forts and thought being a doctor wasn’t out of reach. Nothing was out of reach. Then, somewhere along the way, you lost it.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Awesome writes great books even if no one is going to read them.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“(The truth is that real life-change and the joy of being who you are designed to be always results in selflessness, not selfishness.)”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“People are mistaken when they think chasing your dream is a selfish thing to do. As if perhaps being average is an act of humility. As if perhaps wasting the talents you were given is proof that you’re a considerate individual.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“You’ve got today, and today is all you need to start.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“don’t build a park bench if you secretly love Frisbee.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“If you want help for your dream, start by helping someone else with their dream. If you want support for your hope, start by giving support to someone else’s hope. If you want encouragement as you work on your calling, start by encouraging other people. Giving support is often the best way to get it.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Not because of my words—those are cheap and untrustworthy. But because of my actions, which are expensive and trustworthy.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“As if perhaps joy is acceptable for rare moments on the weekend or surprising glimpses of sunsets while on vacation, but it has no real purpose in the real world.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Billions of people have traveled and continue to travel the other path, and it grows wider every year....The trouble is that on this wide path, you don’t end up at awesome. You just end up at old. This path is called 'average'.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“You’re just going to be a Starter. The starting line is the only line you completely control.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“What do you do when all the excuses you used to not chase your dream are gone? What do you do then?”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“In that moment, I learned a simple lesson about being awesome: always play to the size of your heart, not to the size of your audience. Awesome”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Average is so popular because average is familiar.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Intentions are ambitious liars.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters

“No one pursuing a life of average was ever made fun of by other average people. But if you decide to travel the road to awesome, you will be.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Want to know how to be awesome at just about everything else too? It’s simple. Don’t be a jerk.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“They are four words I want you to keep in mind when critic’s math gets loud. He wrote, “We will miss you.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

“Someone is going to hate what you do. That’s not a maybe. That’s a definite. And I don’t mean dislike. I mean hate. With energy and vitriol and a passion that surprises you.”
― Jon Acuff, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters