Marshall Goldsmith Quotes

No one likes to be criticized, of course, but if the things we successfully strive for do not make our future selves happy, or if the things we unsuccessfully avoid do, then it seems reasonable (if somewhat ungracious) for them to cast a disparaging glance backward and wonder what the hell we were thinking.

Anything that's not positive, I don't have the energy to focus on it. Anything that's not going in the right direction, I don't have the time or the energy.

The Boomers have modeled a set of bad habits, and one grand gesture is not going to unwind all those bad habits.

You can't win if you're chasing the wrong problem.

Watching well-meaning authors follow in the footsteps of someone going in the wrong direction breaks my heart.

I had a lot of coaches and each of them advised me how to reach my goals.

When you decide to go into coaching, obviously you don't forget why. That's to help develop young people, help them chase their dreams, help them reach their goals.

We're often so busy cutting through the undergrowth we don't even realise we're in the wrong jungle.

Does coaching work? Yes. Good coaches provide a truly important service. They tell you the truth when no one else will.

Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance.

Coaching is making men do what they don't want, so they can become what they want to be

Coaching is the most important servant/leadership element in helping people accomplish their goals.

A coach, on the other hand [when compared to counseling], helps us assess the present so that we can operate more effectively in the future.

Successful people pay more attention to their visions and goals than to history and the opinions of others.

If you are asking the wrong question, it doesn't matter how good the answer is, you aren't going to get where you want to go.

Debating the best way to do something we shouldn't be doing in the first place is a sure way to end up in the wrong place.

You need to understand your limitations so you can overcome them.

Failure isn't in not reaching your goal but in having no goal to reach.

When we set goals, we are in command. Clearly understood goals bring our lives into focus just as a magnifying glass focuses a beam of light into a burning point. Without goals our efforts may be scattered and unproductive

Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you'll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's easy to beat most folks.

If you aren’t where you want to be or you haven’t achieved all you hope to achieve, the reason most likely resides not around you but within you. Take responsibility and then take action.

You don't have to go where you don't want to be to get where you want to be. You can go from where you are to where you want to be.

You have to figure out what that is, and you have to make a plan to get to it. And the plan has got to have a timeline. You have to choose something that you can afford to do and then lock it in and passionately do it.

If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren't doing enough asking.

Take thoughts and turn them into actions, turn them into results, turn your dreams into reality. That's really the science of achievement.