Each year since 2017, I have started the year by sharing quotes that either inspired me last year or, hopefully, propelled me into the current year.
2024 was a challenging year for me, so I decided on January 1, 2025, to do everything in my power to make it the best year possible.
Is this always easy? No, especially because there is no promise that bad things won’t happen to you in any given year, month, or day.
But one of the strategies I have utilized to provide perspective when something happens is the following: Will what just happened that is upsetting me five years from now? When the answer is “no,” it is easier to understand that I shouldn’t be upset about it five minutes from now.
Once I committed to doing everything to pull myself out of my doldrums (a word that is making its first in my blog!), I started to gain some momentum. Not everything went well, but I had my best summer of speaking that I can remember, if not ever, and I ended the year publishing my latest book, “Forward, Together: Moving Schools from Conflict to Community in Contentious Times,” which I believe could have a hugely positive impact on the school communities that choose to read it.
And you know what helped me? Looking for things that would inspire me. I hope that I am paying that forward, and there are some quotes below that might provide you with that spark, whether you need it or not (and we always need it in some capacity) to make 2026 the best year possible.
And if none of the quotes below work for you, I have listed all the previous compilations from 2017 through 2025.
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025
And to start off the quotes, I would like to share one of my own from “Forward, Together”:
“Humility is one of the most underappreciated leadership traits, and
you need to either be humble or you will get humbled.”
George Couros
What I know is that no matter how well things are going, or how badly, it will always change, and we will always have room to grow. Humility is essential in that development.
And with that, I humbly share some quotes that might resonate with you today, in the upcoming year, or long after.
Check out the collection below!
“We’re defined by our failures only if
we let ourselves be.”
Jill Siler
“You will never feel ready.
Start anyway.”
Mel Robbins
“Empower your people to shape the future.
Authorship is ownership.”
Geoff Woods
“Vulnerability is not weakness; it is our
greatest measure of courage.”
Brené Brown
“Waste no more time arguing about
what a good person should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Your choices must begin to reflect not just the person you are,
but also the one you are becoming.”
Brianna Wiest
“One who looks around him is intelligent;
one who looks within him is wise.”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“The more we simplify our lives, the more
we can focus on what truly matters.”
Gretchen Rubin
do it alone, person to person.”
Mother Teresa
“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before.
Growth and comfort do not coexist.”
Virginia Rometty
“Fundamentally, the surest way to prevent a bad future is to steer toward a better one that, by its existence, makes significantly worse outcomes harder to achieve.”
Reid Hoffman
“Reading is breathing in;
writing is breathing out.”
Pam Allyn
“The only way to inspire people to go above and beyond, especially during contentious times or when introducing bold, new ideas, is to lead with genuine leadership. That means treating people with dignity and respect.”
Jordan Cox
“When something in your life dies—whether it be a job, a hobby, or a dream—I encourage you not to focus on what could have been and what is lost but instead to look for the new life and the new opportunities that result. A new season is here.”
Ryan Hall
“It’s easy for people to be critics or cheerleaders. It’s harder to get them to be coaches. A critic sees your weaknesses and attacks your worst self. A cheerleader sees your strengths and celebrates your best self. A coach sees your potential and helps you become a better version of yourself.”
Adam Grant
“Don’t settle for average.
Bring your best to the moment.”
Angela Bassett
“The art of teaching is the
art of assisting discovery.”
Mark Van Doren
“There are two ways of spreading light,
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
Edith Wharton
To make this personal list, it has to resonate with me, and the last one by Edith Wharton sums up what I hope to do. I want to be that light more than ever now, especially for my own kids.
I hope you have an incredible 2026, and do your best to create the present and future you want.
But I will leave you with one last quote to hopefully make you smile. Typically, I like to end with a quote from the TV show “The Office,” and this one greatly summarizes my approach to writing blogs, books, and even emails:
“Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t even know where it’s going.
I just hope I find it along the way.”
Michael Scott
Have a great 2026!
