Many of these inspiring Jeff Haden quotes were discovered in one of his articles on Inc.com where Jeff is a contributing writer and editor. That led to the discovery of Jef’s book, The Motivation Myth, from which more gems of wisdom were mined.

Jeff is an exceptionally talented professional editor and writer of articles and books — his own and that of others as ghost writer.

Jeff has had years of experience in his own writing journey. Beyond that he’s had the opportunity to associate with and write about — and for — many highly successful entrepreneurs. We’re glad Jeff finally published his own tome of wisdom, The Motivation Myth.

We’re big on motivation and inspiration through quotes, which is why we’re sharing these. However, we also very much agree with Jeff’s summation of motivation:

I was in the grip of an insidious myth. I thought motivation was a prerequisite to starting a tedious learning process—a spark necessary to get me going. But motivation is really a result. Motivation is the fire that starts burning after you manually, painfully, coax it into existence, and it feeds on the satisfaction of seeing yourself make progress. The problem with waiting for motivation to strike is that it almost never comes with enough voltage to actually get you started.
~Excerpted from The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, author, ghost writer

Motivation begins when you do.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®

Jeff Haden Quotes

Achievement

A slice of satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness can be found in the achievement . . . but the real source of consistent, lasting happiness lies in the process.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Accomplishing something, no matter how small the task, makes us feel better about ourselves.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Action – Jeff Haden Quotes

Ideas without action aren’t ideas. They’re regrets.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, Transformation, by Jeff Haden

Consistency – Jeff Haden Quotes

When you consistently do the right things, success is predictable. Success is inevitable. You just can’t think about it too much. No obsessing allowed.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Goals – Jeff Haden Quotes

Have a goal, have a plan… and then be willing to maneuver. What seems like the wrong place might actually be the right place. That chance meeting might be the start of an important partnership or collaboration. What seems like bad luck might cause you to stumble on an idea, a market, a new business… As long as you’re open to the possibility.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Inc.com article

The road to a target, to a goal, to a finish line is filled with countless hours of work and determination and sacrifice . . . and countless opportunities to feel good about what you have accomplished, each and every day along the way.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Be ‘unrealistic’ when you set a goal, and then be realistic about how you will achieve that goal.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

Incredibly successful people set a goal and then focus all their attention on the process necessary to achieve that goal.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Hard Work – Jeff Haden Quotes

Hard work tends to be rewarded. 
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Inc.com article

It’s easy to look back on a path to greatness and assume every vision was clear, every plan was perfect, every step was executed flawlessly, and tremendous success was a foregone conclusion. It wasn’t.

Success is never assured. Only in hindsight does it appear that way.

If you’re willing to work hard, and persevere, and take the right steps and follow the right processes day after day after day, who you are is more than enough.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden
Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash

Motivation – Jeff Haden Quotes

Motivation is really a result. It is the fire that starts burning after you manually, painfully, coax it into existence, and it feeds on the satisfaction of seeing yourself make progress. 
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

The problem with waiting for motivation to strike is that it almost never comes with enough voltage to actually get you started.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Motivation isn’t something you have. Motivation is something you get, from yourself, automatically, from feeling good about achieving small successes.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

There is only one recipe for gaining motivation: success.
Specifically, the dopamine hits we get when we observe ourselves making progress.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Passion – Jeff Haden Quotes

Research shows that traits like passion, mental toughness, constant learning, and a willingness to take risks do lead to greater success.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Inc.com article; Research cited: Arxiv.org 

Perseverance – Jeff Haden Quotes

Perseverance is often the difference between success and failure; give up, and failure is guaranteed. 
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Inc.com article

When you out-work, out-think, out-skill, and outlast other people…  you’re much more likely to be successful.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Inc.com article

Risk and Jeff Haden Quotes

Intelligent risks do, at times, pay off — and if they don’t, what you learn from new experiences makes success more likely the next time.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Inc.com article

Success – Jeff Haden Quotes

When you out-work, out-think, out-skill, and outlast other people…  you’re much more likely to be successful.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Inc.com article

Success is a process. Success is repeatable and predictable and has less to do with hoping and praying and strategizing than with diligently doing the right things, the right way, over and over and over.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

There is only one recipe for gaining motivation: success… Specifically, the dopamine hits we get when we observe ourselves making progress.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

Success, even tiny, incremental success, is the best motivational tool of all.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

RELATED: Growth Mindset Quotes as daily guard rails to help keep you on track with your goals.

Success

What [successful people] care about most is what they need to do today—and when they accomplish that, they are happy about today. They feel good about today.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

Every extremely successful person I know… [was] so surprised by their success [because] they were busy doing. They didn’t focus on what they did not have. They focused on doing the work, day after day after day, to get them to where they hoped to go.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

When you consistently do the right things, success is predictable. Success is inevitable.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

Wins and Winners – Jeff Haden Quotes

If you want to stay motivated, if you want to stay on track, if you want to keep making progress toward the things you hope to achieve, the key is to enjoy small, seemingly minor successes — but on a regular basis.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

When you savor the small victories, you get to feel good about yourself every day, because you no longer feel compelled to compare the distance between here and there. You don’t have to wait for ‘someday’ to feel good about yourself.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

If you do what you planned to do today, you’re a winner.
~Jeff Haden, speaker, editor, ghost writer, author

SOURCE: Excerpt, The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden