Tony Robbins, life coach and performance strategist extraordinaire, is not a motivator. As he tells the Miami Herald, “If all you do is motivate, without a strategy, it’s like a warm bath. It’s nice. It’s not enough.” Robbins, who prefers to think of himself as an inspirer, is known for providing advice (and, of course, inspiration) to corporate and political leaders worldwide; if you’re in need of some of his magic, here are some quotes that will make you think about life, success and taking action from a different perspective… and maybe even provide you with some inspiration of your own.

1. “If you can’t you must, and if you must you can.”

This quote is the perfect soundbite for anyone who feels like they’re being held back. When you feel like something is impossible, that’s all the more reason to go out and do it, and if it’s something you really believe in and need to do, then it’s possible.

2. “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.”

Failure is an essential ingredient in success. You not only learn from failure, you also build on it to create your future successes, and therefore appreciate them more.

 3. “Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives.”

Maybe we don’t literally have the power to create and destroy things at will, but what we believe tends to directly influence how we live our lives — including the risks we take and don’t take, which can lead to new experiences and successes.

4. “In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.”

Taking one big action isn’t a bad thing, but to truly take control of your life, you need to be conscious of how every decision you make affects your future.

5. “One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.”

This is an interesting quote from someone whose own website claims he is a world authority on leadership psychology, peace negotiator and humanitarian, strategic advisor, entrepreneur, business strategist, philanthropist, speaker, author, mass media veteran and family man. However, it can be argued that even with all these titles, Robbins’s true business is inspiration; everything else stems from that one main focus.

6. “People are not lazy, they simply have impotent goals… that is… goals that do not inspire them.”

When something truly inspires you, you’ll give it everything you have and do things you never thought you could. If you’re feeling stagnant in your career, it might be because you don’t really care about it all that much.

7. “Every problem is a gift — without problems we would not grow.”

Someone who never encounters any challenges in life will be unable to face them when they finally do appear, and they’ll never develop the skills necessary to adapt.

8. “For changes to be of any true value, they’ve got to be lasting and consistent.”

Just like with dieting, a one-time change won’t do much. You have to create new habits and new patterns that you’ll stick with for the rest of your life.

9. “Identify your problems but give your power and energy to solutions.”

Lingering over problems isn’t a good way to get past them. It’s OK to think about your problems so you can take steps to solve them, but the majority of your energy should be focused in a positive direction rather than wallowing in negative unproductivity.

10. “If you find yourself saying ‘I can’t do something,’ but you know it in your heart of hearts that if you do it, you’re going to grow, you’re going to be a better person, it’s going to contribute to your family or to your kids or to something that matters, and you keep saying ‘I can’t do it,’ there is no question — you must do it. You don’t discuss it anymore. You just take immediate action… You do what’s necessary.”

Sometimes you need to take a drastic leap to do something that you know you have to do. Anything that seems difficult is probably going to be worth it.

11. “It’s not about the goal. It’s about growing to become the person that can accomplish that goal.”

Thinking in terms of concrete things — like writing a book or starting a new business or inventing a new piece of technology — can be a futile effort that feels like a pipe dream, but thinking about you can specifically start working toward those things provides you with a realistic plan for reaching your goals.

12. “A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”

Decisiveness goes hand in hand with action.

13. “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”

This relates to the concept of mindfulness. Being grateful and focusing on the small things allows you to appreciate things more and assign more value to the things that you have rather than thinking about the things that you don’t have.

14. “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.”

It may sound counterintuitive at first, but it’s actually pretty logical: If someone has done something, they’ve taken successful steps to get there. Complete those same steps and you could get there, too.

15. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”

Results depend upon action; you can’t expect things to change when you stay the same.

16. “The first thing these people have who succeed, who are fulfilled, is that they’ve decided what the purpose of the game is, at least for right now.”

What’s your purpose? Think about what fulfillment means to you.

17. “The more rules you have about how people have to be, how life has to be for you to be happy, the less happy you’re going to be.”

Boxing yourself in with a set of needless rules and expectations will only make you feel more pressure because you can never live up to the standards that you set.

18. “People who fail focus on what they will have to go through; people who succeed focus on what it will feel like at the end.”

Don’t lose sight of your goals by letting obstacles get in the way. Keep the big picture in mind, and never lose sight of it.

19. “Demand more from yourself than anyone else could ever expect.”

This doesn’t just mean you should be your own toughest critic; it means you should be your biggest motivator. Even if no one else expects you to do great things, you still can.

20. “Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”

How do you approach the issues in your life? Think about the way you seek out knowledge and the angles you approach challenges from.

21. “Success in life is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is usually the result of experience. Experience is usually the result of bad judgment.”

This isn’t to say that you should cling to your bad judgment — however, there’s no shame in occasionally making a bad call. Learn from those experiences and use them to craft a basis for good judgment.

22. “We’ve all heard about people who’ve exploded beyond the limitations of their conditions to become examples of the unlimited power of the human spirit.

You and I can make our lives one of these legendary inspirations as well, simply by having courage and the awareness that we can control whatever happens in our lives. Although we cannot always control the events in our lives, we can always control our response to them, and the actions we take as a result.

If there’s anything you’re not happy about — in your relationships, in your health, in your career — make a decision right now about how you’re going to change it immediately.”

Even small changes can pave the way for greater ones. Maybe you won’t become a wild, legendary, world-famous success, but you can still inspire the people in your life by being the best person you can be, even if it’s on a smaller scale.

23. “Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.”

Whenever you feel like life is asking too much of you, remember that it also gives us so many opportunities. Take advantage of every opportunity and take the time to appreciate all the wonderful things you can do with your life.