Daniel Walter > Quotes

“You are the only person capable of changing your life—no one can do that for you. The easiest way to change yourself is to change the things you do each day.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“They understand that you don’t need to be busy to be productive. The monks are taught that to avoid burn-out, you need to slow down. This is one of the reasons why they meditate.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“One of the most popular TED Talks came from Jia Jiang, in which he spoke about spending time living outside of his comfort zone. Jiang spent 100 days seeking out opportunities to experience rejection to help him overcome social anxiety and his fear of rejection to become a more confident person. It involved him doing things like asking a random stranger to lend him $100, knocking on someone’s door and asking to play soccer in their backyard, and asking for second helpings in a restaurant without paying. At the end of the 100 days, Jiang was a completely different person—he was confident and sociable because of how kind people were to him during this time spent outside his comfort zone.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“When people are easily offended, it’s because they are not self-assured; they don’t know who they are or what they stand for, and so they view criticism (even when it is constructive) as an attack on their character and become deeply offended. Self-disciplined people don’t have this problem. They are confident, calm, and self-assured, and so it’s easy for them to take insults and criticisms on the chin.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“All skills operate under the same principle—the more you practice, the better at it you will become.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Imagine what it will be like at the end of your days. You are lying in bed during the last minute of your life”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Action: Do It Now

“If you are unsure of your aims, delay getting to work until you are sure because, if you don’t know where you are going, you will end up wasting a lot of time and energy.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“When I realized how unmotivated I was”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Action: Do It Now

“Breathe: One of the reasons Navy SEALs can go into dangerous situations with such confidence is because of their breathing techniques. It helps them stay focused and calm, and in many cases, it’s what keeps them alive. One of the most popular breathing techniques used by the Navy SEALs is the 4-7-8 breathing technique. It goes like this: - Counting to four, take a deep breath in. - Hold the breath for seven seconds. - Breathe out completely while counting to eight. - Continue until you feel calm. I do this breathing exercise for half an hour before my speaking engagements, and it works, guys—it really takes the edge off and makes you feel more confident.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Action: Do It Now

“discipline of Bill Gates overnight—it’s going to take some time, but you’ve got to start somewhere.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“adaptability, and impulse control. Discipline requires you to set goals, filter distractions, control unhelpful inhibitions, prioritize activities, and pursue the goals that”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Whether it’s social media”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Action: Do It Now

“when we are doing nothing, life never stands still. It is an ever-changing and dynamic experience, and you will only start to live your best life when your perception of life changes. Life is a training academy—we are always learning and always growing. Your education shouldn’t stop because you’ve graduated from college or high school. When you sit still for too long, you run the risk of losing momentum. There is no “opt-out” clause in life—you are either practicing going in the winner’s direction or the losing direction. Which direction you choose to take is up to you, nobody can make that choice for you.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Your current existence was created by your thoughts and actions, and if you want to overcome your limitations and start living the life you know you deserve, you must start thinking and acting in ways that are beyond your expectations.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Stress is another biological factor that contributes to willpower. When we are under pressure, the body protects itself by going into ‘fight or flight’ mode. In this state, we are more likely to act on impulse and do things without thinking. The prefrontal cortex malfunctions when we experience stress, and the brain is only capable of functioning on short-term outcomes.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Master Your Morning.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“It is focus that keeps your head in the right direction and your eyes on the prize.”
― Daniel Walter, How to Stop Procrastinating: Powerful Strategies to Overcome Laziness and Multiply Your Time

“1.​The Result: Whatever goal you set for yourself, you will expect a certain result. For example, you want to get the highest grade possible in your exams, you want to save a certain amount of money, or you want to start a business, etc. 2.​The Method: Once you’ve set the goal, the next step is to come up with a system that will help you develop the habits required to achieve those goals. For example, if you want to get the highest possible exam results, you will need to develop a habit of consistent studying, and that means setting aside time to study every day. 3.​Who Are You? The way you see yourself will determine your results because who you are is rooted in what you believe. The idea is that if you believe in something, you are going to live it out.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“When we are in high-stress situations, large doses of cortisol and adrenaline are released, which activates the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. The average person is unable to control this process, but the Navy SEALs are capable of doing so because they have been trained to, and depending on the situation, their responses to stressful situations could mean the difference between life and death. They use several techniques to do this, including box breathing. When a SEAL starts feeling stressed or overwhelmed, they focus on their breath to regain control. They take a series of breaths for four seconds at a time—they breathe in, hold their breath, and then breathe out. This process is repeated until the heart rate returns to normal”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“The more you expose yourself to situations and things that you are uncomfortable with, the more quickly you will get comfortable with discomfort.”
― Daniel Walter, How to Stop Procrastinating: Powerful Strategies to Overcome Laziness and Multiply Your Time

“It’s the norm for us to identify with our urges, but urge surfing helps us separate ourselves from the bad habits we desire to correct. Instead of thinking, “I feel like eating cake,” say, “I have an urge to eat a piece of cake.” In this way, you are not fighting yourself but the sensation you are experiencing, you can then allow it to pass. It’s difficult to fight urges, but observing them without identifying with them increases your chances of overcoming them.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Self-disciplined people can handle constructive criticism—in fact, they value it because it pushes them to become better.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“people are easily offended, it’s because they are not self-assured; they don’t know who they are or what they stand for, and so they view criticism (even when it is constructive) as an attack on their character and become deeply offended. Self-disciplined people don’t have this problem. They are confident, calm, and self-assured, and so it’s easy for them to take insults and criticisms on the chin. Self-disciplined people can handle constructive criticism—in fact, they value it because it pushes them to become better.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Habits also develop when there is a corresponding positive feeling associated with the activity.”
― Daniel Walter, Habits for Success: How to Change Your Life One Step at a Time

“One of the acronyms for fear is False Evidence Appearing Real, the evidence is false because you are imagining it, but you have turned that thought into a reality in your mind.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“When you set out to “try,” what you are saying is that you are not confident you can do this, and you get stuck thinking about what will happen if you don’t hit your target. The more you focus on the things you don’t want, that is what you will attract into your life.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“First, they encourage us to accept that it’s the norm to work hard without having an assurance of what’s going to yield the highest results and what won’t.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“The biggest issue with settling for mediocrity is that once you have accepted it”
― Daniel Walter, How to Stop Procrastinating: Powerful Strategies to Overcome Laziness and Multiply Your Time

“It is also important that you have total belief in yourself and that what you are doing will help you accomplish your goals. You will need to put in a lot of effort and spend plenty of time reflecting on yourself, your life, and the direction you are heading. However, by this point, you will have accepted that the only way to achieve anything of value is through hard work and dedication. Before you start working on a new project, make sure you are fully aware of what you want to achieve. Thinking about it is not enough—get a pen and notepad and write it down. If you are unsure of your aims, delay getting to work until you are sure because, if you don’t know where you are going, you will end up wasting a lot of time and energy. Also, when you fail to plan, failure is inevitable. You run the risk of developing a reputation as someone who is always starting new ventures and never completing them. You then get trapped in a vicious cycle that ultimately will erode your self-esteem and confidence. There is only one solution to this problem—choose your goals according to your abilities. Once you are confident that you can succeed, go for it. “Trying” is a recipe for disaster, whereas “doing,” is decisive and assertive.”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

“Join a gym, start a healthy eating plan, save more money, stop smoking—the list of New Year’s resolutions is endless, but how many of them are ever accomplished?”
― Daniel Walter, The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals