Top 90 Tom Rath Quotes (2024 Update)
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51. “If you focus on people’s weaknesses, they lose confidence.” At a very basic level, it is hard for us to build self-confidence when we are focused on our weaknesses instead of our strengths.”

— Tom Rath

52. “When you see a rare opportunity, take it. Life is too brief for living with regrets.”

— Tom Rath

53. “A Misguided Maxim? “You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough.”

— Tom Rath

54. “If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything. While our society encourages us to be well-rounded, this approach inadvertently breeds mediocrity. Perhaps the greatest misconception of all is that of the well-rounded leader.”

— Tom Rath

55. “It turned out that looking forward to a vacation or event provided even more happiness than the event itself.”

— Tom Rath

56. “Trying to do a little bit of everything leads to doing nothing of substance. When you let the demands of a day pull you in 20 different directions, they do exactly that.”

— Tom Rath

57. “There is no greater predictor of human well-being than the amount of social time we spend with one another.”

— Tom Rath

58. “The pursuit of meaning – not happiness – is what makes life worthwhile. Despite Thomas Jefferson including it in the Declaration of Independence, the “pursuit of happiness” is a shortsighted aim. Putting your own well-being before well-doing pulls you in the wrong direction.”

— Tom Rath

59. “Essentially, giving another person your undivided attention is a measure of how much you care.”

— Tom Rath

60. “Meaning: doing something that benefits another person Interactions: creating far more positive than negative moments Energy: making choices that improve your mental and physical health.”

— Tom Rath

61. “Working toward a shared mission with other people will add a positive charge to each day.”

— Tom Rath

62. “A mere 20 minutes of moderate activity could significantly improve your mood for the next 12 hours.”

— Tom Rath

63. “Across the board, having the opportunity to develop our strengths is more important to our success than our role, our title, or even our pay. In this increasingly talent-driven society, we need to know and develop our strengths to figure out where we fit in.”

— Tom Rath

64. “As legendary investor Warren Buffett put it, by definition, “A leader is someone who can get things done through other people:.”

— Tom Rath

65. “It appears diet drinks with artificial sweeteners are not much better. The taste of diet drinks makes you crave other sweet foods and may even increase the risk of stroke, depression, and heart attack.”

— Tom Rath

66. “If I care about the people I work with, why tempt them to make a lousy choice? So I dumped the entire bucket of sweets into a garbage can in my office. Many foods are better off in the trash than in your stomach. The next time you receive unhealthy food as a gift, subtly dispose of it later. When you get a free dessert or candy with a meal, leave it behind. If the item is clearly bad for your health, don’t feel guilty. You are not wasting food. You may be saving lives.”

— Tom Rath

67. “Don’t get me wrong; devoting time outside of work to serving others is a great idea. Recent research suggests that people who do so – by volunteering in their communities, for example – have better health and wellbeing, and perform better at work. Having a clear purpose beyond paid work also has a buffering effect. If your entire identity is wound up in a job that could go away, your wellbeing is in constant jeopardy.”

— Tom Rath

68. “Fortunately, going from the low end of this continuum to the recommended 10,000 steps can lead to significant health benefits in the short term as well as the long run.”

— Tom Rath

69. “I am increasingly convinced that even fifteen minutes of time spent listening to another person is one of the most valuable things you can do today. In this era of hyperdistraction, asking great questions and listening are two of the qualities we look for most in friends, partners, and colleagues. Yet most people are sending the exact opposite message to friends and loved ones today.”

— Tom Rath

70. “It is easier to improve your own happiness – and the well-being of others – when you focus on doing it right now.”

— Tom Rath

71. “Building your talents into real strengths also requires practice and hard work, much like it does to build physical strengths.”

— Tom Rath

72. “An Australian study of more than 12,000 adults estimated that every single hour spent watching television after the age of 25 decreased the viewer’s life expectancy by 22 minutes.”

— Tom Rath

73. “We have surveyed more than 10 million people on this specific topic, and approximately 7 million are falling short.”

— Tom Rath

74. “If you fail to do meaningful work that makes a difference today, the day is gone forever.”

— Tom Rath

75. “There is no better use of your financial resources than to spend them on meaningful experiences with other people.”

— Tom Rath

76. “Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to ‘be happy.’” It was this work that he used as he helped fellow prisoners in concentration camps.”

— Tom Rath

77. “Researchers have estimated that 90 percent of us could live to age 90 with some simple lifestyle choices.”

— Tom Rath

78. “Each ounce you consume is either a net positive or a net negative by the time it runs through your body. You don’t get healthier by simply trying to eat better in general. You improve your health on a bite-by-bite basis.”

— Tom Rath

79. “Work is a purpose, not a place. Work is about productively applying your talent.”

— Tom Rath

80. “If you spend most of your life trying to be good at everything, you eliminate your chances of being great at anything.”

— Tom Rath

81. “I have started forcing myself to substitute thinking “I’m busy” with “I need to do a better job managing my time.”

— Tom Rath

82. “To prevent the growth and spread of cancerous cells in your body, consume more of these foods and drinks: apples, artichokes, blueberries, bok choy, broccoli, green tea, kale, lemons, mushrooms, raspberries, red grapes, red wine, salmon, strawberries, and tomatoes. Also consider eating ingredients commonly used for flavor that have cancer-fighting potential: cinnamon, garlic, nutmeg, parsley, and turmeric.”

— Tom Rath

83. “There is nothing wrong with working on important individual milestones as long as you understand that they may not be the memories you treasure 25 years from now.”

— Tom Rath

84. “Your overall satisfaction with life certainly matters. But you create meaningful change in moments and days, not years and decades.”

— Tom Rath

85. “Participating in meaningful activities elevates your thinking above yourself and your own momentary needs. Every minute you can set aside your own happiness for the sake of others will eventually lead to stronger families, organizations, and communities.”

— Tom Rath

86. “New research shows that tackling multiple elements at the same time increases your odds of success, compared to initiating a new diet or exercise program in isolation. Eating, moving, and sleeping well are even easier if you work on all three simultaneously. These three ingredients for a good day build on one another. When these elements are working together, they create an upward spiral and progressively better days.”

— Tom Rath

87. “We were tired of living in a world that revolved around fixing our weaknesses. Society’s relentless focus on people’s shortcomings had turned into a global obsession. What’s more, we had discovered that people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.”

— Tom Rath

88. “And all of the self-awareness in the world can quickly go to waste if you fail to keep learning about what the world needs from you and how you can best serve others.”

— Tom Rath

89. “It is easier to improve your own happiness – and the well-being of others – when you focus on doing it right now. Taking small, meaningful actions today is the best way to make changes. And eventually, these small changes will lead to important long-term outcomes.”

— Tom Rath

90. “Eating the right foods provides energy for your workout and improves the quality of your sleep. In turn, a sound night of sleep makes you more likely to eat right the next day. This is why the real magic lies at the intersection between eating, moving, and sleeping. If you can do all three well, it will improve your daily energy and your odds of living a long, healthy life.”

— Tom Rath

91. “One challenge is that our ability to progress in our career is often determined by our effectiveness in responding to near-term needs. When high value is placed on solving these kinds of problems, it creates a culture in which leaders spend little or no time thinking about what could be done because they receive more accolades for simply doing what needs to be done.”

— Tom Rath

92. “Overcoming deficits is an essential part of the fabric of our culture. Our books, movies, and folklore are filled with stories of the underdog who beats one-in-a-million odds. And.”

— Tom Rath

93. “What will matter later in life is what you initiate today – striking up a conversation that leads to a new friendship, sharing an idea with someone at work that turns into a new product or offering, or investing in another person’s growth and watching her succeed over the years.”

— Tom Rath

94. “Fight the Light at Night Keep artificial light before bedtime from ruining your sleep. Exposure to light in the hours before you go to sleep suppresses melatonin levels. Lower melatonin levels make it hard to fall asleep, decrease sleep quality, and could even increase the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.”

— Tom Rath

95. “In Finland, for every 45 minutes in the classroom, students are given a 15-minute break.”

— Tom Rath

96. “When you move past self, life is simpler and less stressful.”

— Tom Rath

97. “Its tempting to work more than 60 hours a week and sacrifice sleep, not move, and eat bad foods as they are convenient. But this comes with a cost.”

— Tom Rath