Salient Notes from “The Monk Who Sold His FERRARI”
August 05, 2017 ∙ 👩🏻💻 10 min
Books are the ultimate source of inspiration. They change the way we look at our beautiful world. They help us to live and lead a life filled with joy and prosperity. I am glad that I have cultivated the habit of reading books. This week I completed Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His FERRARI. Whenever I read a book, I jot down my thoughts and quotable quotes which I come across. This post is a collection of all the salient thoughts and quotes which I noted down when I was reading The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. Hope you’ll enjoy reading them.
Life becomes so much simpler and meaningful when you leave the baggage of past behind.
Everything happens for a reason. Every event has a purpose and every setback its lesson. Failure, whether of personal, professional or even spiritual kind, is essential to personal expansion. It brings inner growth and a whole host of psychic rewards. Never regret your past. Rather, embrace it as the teacher that it is.
Life is all about the choices. One’s destiny unfolds according to the choices one makes.
Success on the outside means nothing unless you have success within.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears.
There are no free lunches.
Never overlook the power of simplicity.
If you care for your mind, if you nurture it and if you cultivate it just like a fertile, rich garden, it will blossom far beyond your expectations. But if you let the weeds take root, lasting peace of mind and deep inner harmony will always elude you.
The most joyful, dynamic and contented people of this world are no different from you or me in terms of their makeup. We are all flesh and bones. We all come from the same universal source. However, the ones who do more just exists, the one who fan the flames of their human potential and truly savour the magical dance of life do different things than those whose lives are ordinary.
Your I can is more important than your I.Q.
There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. There is no such thing as a negative experience, only opportunity to grow, learn and advance along the road of self-mastery. From struggle comes strength. Even pain can be a wonderful teacher.
The laws of nature always ensure that when one door closes another opens.
Things are always created twice: first in the workshop of the mind and then, and only then, in reality.
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find your self in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
The secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it. Once you do this, abundance flows into your life and all your desires are filled with ease and grace.
Saying that you don’t have time to improve your thoughts and your life is like saying you don’t have time to stop for gas because your are too busy driving. Eventually it will catch up with you.
A rose is very much like life: you will meet thorns along the way but if you have faith and believe in your dreams you will eventually move beyond the thorns into the glory of the flower(Heart of Rose).
One must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind him to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and a mystery.
Self-knowledge is the stepping stone to self-mastery.
The quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life.
Run your own race.
Fatigue dominates the lives of those who are living who are living without direction and dreams.
The purpose of life is a life of purpose.
You will never be able to hit a target that you can not see.
The main reason people do not follow through on any resolutions they make is that it is too easy to slip back into their old ways. Pressure is not always a bad thing. Pressure can inspire you to achieve great ends. People generally achieve magnificent things when their back are up against the wall and they are forced to tap into the wellspring of human potential that lies within them.
Three mirrors that forms a person’s reflection; the first is how you see yourself, the second is how others see you and the third mirror reflects the truth. Know yourself, know the truth.
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you is nothing when compared to what lies within you.
Never forget the importance of living with unbridled exhilaration. Never neglect to see the exquisite beauty in all living things. Today, and this very important moment, is a gift. Stay focused on your purpose. The universe will take care of everything else.
The degree of courage you live with determines the amount of fulfilment you receive. It allows you to truly realise all the exquisite wonders of the epic that is your life. And those who master themselves have an abundance of courage.
You practice the art of kaizen by pushing yourself daily. Work hard to improve your mind and body. Nourish your spirit. Do the things you fear. Start to live with unbridled energy and limitless enthusiasm. Watch the sunrise. Dance in a rain shower. Be the person you dream of being. Do the things you have always wanted to do but you didn’t because you tricked yourself into believing that you were too young, too old, too rich or too poor. Prepare to live a soaring, full alive life. In the East they say luck favours the prepared mind. I believe life favours the prepared mind.
Fear is nothing more than a negative stream of consciousness.
Try not to live your life bound by the shackles of your schedule.
Stop making excuses, just do it.
There’s nothing wrong in making mistakes. Mistakes are part of life and essential for growth. It’s like that saying, “Happiness comes through good judgment, good judgment comes through experience, and experience comes through bad experience”. But there’s something very wrong with making same mistakes over and over again, day in and day out. This shows the complete lack of self-awareness, the very quality that separates humans from animals.
We don’t laugh because we are happy. We are happy because we laugh.
You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.
The universe favours the brave. When you resolve to lift your life to its highest level, the strength of your soul will guide you to a magical place with magnificent treasures.
Through the steel of discipline, you will forge a character rich with courage and peace. Through the virtue of Will, you are destined to rise to life’s highest ideal and live within a heavenly mansion filled with all that is good, joyful and vital. Without them, you are lost like a mariner without a compass, one who eventually sinks with his ship.
Truly enlightened people never seek to be like others. Rather, they seek to be superior to their former selves. Don’t race against others. Race against yourself.
Words are the verbal embodiment of power. By filling your mind with words of hope, you become hopeful. By filling your mind with words of kindness, you become kind. By filling your mind with thoughts of courage, you become courageous. Words have power.
Time mastery leads to life master. Guard time well. Remember it’s not non-renewable resource.
Learn to say no. Having the courage to say no to the little things in life will give you the power to say yes to the big things.
Push yourself to do more and to experience more. Harness your energy to start expanding your dreams. Yes, expand your dreams. Don’t accept a life of mediocrity when you hold such infinite potential within the fortress of your mind. Dare to tap into your greatness. This is your birthright!
When all is said and done, no matter what you have achieved, no matter how many summer homes you own, no matter how many cars sit in your driveway, the quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution.
A little bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.
Friends add humour, fascination and beauty to life. There are few things more rejuvenating than sharing a belly-bursting laugh with an old friend. Friends keep you humble when you get too self-righteous. Friends make you smile when you are taking yourself too seriously. Good friends are there to help you when life throws one of its little curves at you and things look worse than they seem.
Past is water under the bridge and the future is a distant sun on the horizon of your imagination. The most important moment is now. Learn to live in it and savour it fully.
Don’t kid yourself into believing that you will start to enrich your mind, care for your body and nourish your soul when your bank account gets big enough and you have the luxury of more free time. Today is the day to enjoy the fruits of your efforts. Today is the day to seize the moment and live a life that soars. Today is the day to live from your imagination and harvest your dreams. And please never, ever forget the gift of family.
Life doesn’t always gives you what you ask for, but it always gives you what you need.
Make the decision to spend more time with those who make your life meaningful. Revere the special moments, revel in their power. Do the things that you have always wanted to do. Climb that mountain you have always wanted to climb or learn to play the trumpet. Dance in the rain or build a new business. Learn to love music, learn a new language and rekindle the delight of your childhood. Stop putting off your happiness for the sake of achievement. Instead, why not enjoy the process? Revive your spirit and start tending to your soul. This is the way to Nirvana.
We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future.
Hi, I am Hitesh.