Thanks, I Needed That: Inspiring Quotes from Business Leaders

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Ready to recharge your inner CEO? These best-selling business authors can help you get ready to face another day.

There are days when every entrepreneur could use a quick hit of inspiration to tackle the next pitch, the next challenge, or even the next item on the to-do list. Seeking advice or motivation from successful business people makes perfect sense, and judging by the unrelenting popularity of best-selling business books, lots of folks do it every day.

If you could use an infusion of insight, encouragement or inspiration, we’ve got you covered with these nine quotes from best-selling business leaders. Print out these quotes – compiled by Kevin Delaney, co-founder of a website called Quartz – and keep them handy for those times when your entrepreneurial battery could use a recharge.

1. “How are you first, only, faster, better or cheaper than other people who want to do what you’re doing in the world? What are you offering that’s hard to come by?” – Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, “The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career.”

2. “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.” – Walter Isaacson, “Steve Jobs.”

3. “People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.” – Walter Isaacson, “Steve Jobs.”

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4.”Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” – Stephen Covey, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

5. “To change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.”  – Charles Duhigg, “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.”

6. “Studies have shown that performance gets worse as group size increases … If you have talented and motivated people, they should be encouraged to work alone when creativity or efficiency is the highest priority.” – Susan Cain, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.”

7. “A goal or decision without a deadline has no urgency. It has no real beginning or end.” – Brian Tracy, “Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.”

8. “If you spend your life sitting in a cubicle and passing papers, one day is bound to blend unmemorably into the next—and disappear. That’s why it’s important to change routines regularly.” – Joshua Foer, “Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.”

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9. “Neuroscientists have discovered that when you ask the brain to meditate, it gets better, not just at meditating, but at a wide range of self-control skills … Over time, [meditators’] brains become finely tuned willpower machines.” – Kelly McGonigal, “The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It.”

Adapted from Nine Great Quotes From Great Business Books by Dennis McCafferty at Baseline Magazine. Follow Baseline Magazine on Twitter.