This is a very popular quote attributed to Voltaire. I came across this quote, or this idea from a Tony Robbins talk. There’s two variations of quote that capsulate this idea of deciding to be in a good mood or to be happy.
The most important decision you will make is to be in a good mood Quote:
“The most important decision of your life is deciding you will be happy no matter what.”
– Tony Robbins
Another Variation:
“The only thing we can control is what we think about what we focus on, what we feel and what we experience. The most important decision of your life is deciding you will be happy no matter what.”
– Tony Robbins
Understand the meaning or big idea behind this quote:
It’s quite easy to understand how this quote can feel insensitive for some.
It’s like saying positive affirmations you know to be untrue – it can actually cause harm and end up doing more damage than good. If you constantly say things to yourself which deep down you don’t believe to be true it will make you feel worse, it’s delusional.
So on the surface, if you’re not happy and someone says, “hey cheer up! what do REALLY have to be sad about.” That seems like a great way to distance yourself further from people and makes you feel worse. It makes you feel that something is wrong with you when there isn’t anything wrong with you.
So when Tony says, “Just be happy” it can be construed to be insensitive. But for most people there is some wisdom that can be gleaned from it. I say most because this is not to downplay mental health – some people have real biochemical imbalances and this quote is not addressed towards them.
First defining happiness – it’s an emotional state that can’t be controlled, you come in and out of it very easily. What I think Tony means by “deciding to be happy” is to be at peace with yourself and the world. To accept the situation and full responsibility over your life. To take control. That feeling of control or ownership can be very powerful and long-lasting whereas happiness is fleeting.
The only thing we have control over is our thoughts and our interpretation of events. We can find positive meaning and purpose or we can let it take a destructive route. The events and what happens in the world is indifferent and emotionless, we give meaning to all events. So, Tony advises to find happiness in life which I don’t believe is bad advice.
In the full talk he continues by saying:
“The only thing we can control is what we think about what we focus on, what we feel and what we experience. The most important decision of your life is deciding you will be happy no matter what. Because unless you do that, you won’t be.
And I can tell you, achievement is common, happiness that is sustained is not. You want to be achiever, here should be your new goal to achieve the highest level of daily happiness that any human has ever experienced, because if you do that, you’ll be the ultimate achiever. You’ll dwarf everyone else and you’ll achieve as well.”
Other Famous Tony Robbins Quotes:
“When you realize that your problem is not a lack of resources, it’s not a lack of money or technology or contacts. It’s your psychology because the ultimate resource is resourcefulness and human emotion…”
– Tony Robbins
“Whatever you focus on you’re going to feel.”
– Tony Robbins
“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you”
– Tony Robbins
“I’ve come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.”
– Tony Robbins
“”Leadership is the capacity to translate a vision into reality.”
– Tony Robbins
“Progress equals happiness. Even if you’re not where you want to be yet. If you’re on the road, if you’re improving, if you’re making progress, you’re gonna love it. You’re gonna feel alive.”
– Tony Robbins
“It is not what we get, but who we become, what we contribute… that gives meaning to our lives.”
– Tony Robbins
“Success Without Fulfillment is the Ultimate Failure.”
– Tony Robbins
“Most people have a dirt road to happiness and a highway to pain. Condition yourself so that you have a highway to pleasure.”
– Tony Robbins
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.”
– Tony Robbins
“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. If you schedule it, it’s real.”
– Tony Robbins
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”
– Tony Robbins
Success
Quotes
“In life you need either inspiration or desperation.”
Happiness
Quotes
“I can tell you the secret to happiness in one word: progress.”
Time Management quotes
“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. If you schedule it, it’s real.”
Self Discipline
Quotes
“Complexity is the enemy of execution.”
Questions
Quotes
“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
Change Your Life Quotes
“We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish.”
Fear
Quotes
“It takes no courage to be a pessimist, to say it’s not going to work”
Feel free to add or start a conversation in the comment thread below with your interpretation of this quote.
Do you agree or disagree with Tony on this quote?
What other quote comes to mind when you read this?
0 Comments