No matter what your current ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.

We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.

What did you try hard at today?

I don’t mind losing as long as I see improvement or I feel I’ve done as well as I possibly could.

Vowing, even intense vowing, is often useless. The next day comes and the next day goes. What works is making a vivid, concrete plan.

Wow, that's a really good score. You must have worked really hard.

...when people already know they're deficient, they have nothing to lose by trying.