📺 Stream EntrepreneurTV for Free 📺

10 Business Leaders' Favorite Quotes That Will Motivate You and Eliminate Excuses Need a little inspiration? Check out these words of wisdom.

By Jonathan Long

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

gece33 | Getty Images

Excuses kill dreams -- both personal and professional -- every day. You either make them and lose or refuse to give in and eventually win.

The great thing about entrepreneurship is that we all possess the one tool that can help us reach any goal: our mind. When we truly unlock its ability, we become unstoppable. The difficult part is building up enough courage to unlock its potential.

I didn't find success until I learned how to push every excuse aside and chase my goals and dreams without fearing failure.

To reach my goals, I used a quote often credited to Dan Montano, which goes like this this: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

I look at that quote multiple times a day. I have it on whiteboards, on a wall in my office, on my Instagram and on my phone. It reminds me constantly that I need to wake up every morning ready to work harder than anyone else if I want to accomplish everything I set out to do.

In an attempt to uncover some more motivational quotes that you can use to eliminate excuses, I polled several entrepreneurs and found their favorites. Here are ten of the best ones, which I bet you will enjoy as much as I did. Use them to help you tackle every goal you want to achieve in life.

Belief

Recommend by Ken Morgan, owner of Lift Chair.

Attitude

Recommend by Yaniv Gabay, CEO of Country Wine & Spirits.

Confidence

Recommend by Johnny Carpet of Dallas Flooring Warehouse.

Learning

Recommend by Keith Bridges, owner of Safford Trading Company.

Success

Recommend by Jonathan Hoppe, co-founder of Total Uptime Technologies.

Potential

Recommend by Mike Shipley, CEO of Your Mortgage.

Action

Recommend by Patrick Greene, CEO of EssayTwist Inc.

Imagination

Recommend by Ron Spinabella, founder of Vape Supply Club.

Doubt

Recommend by Onyabo Monagoe, CTO of Amazing Condos For Sale.

Regrets

Recommend by Stephen Millen, owner of My Homework Done.

Jonathan Long

Founder, Uber Brands

Jonathan Long is the founder of Uber Brands, a brand-development agency focusing on ecommerce.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

These Coworkers-Turned-Friends Started a Side Hustle on Amazon — Now It's a 'Full Hustle' Earning Over $20 Million a Year: 'Jump in With Both Feet'

Achal Patel and Russell Gong met at a large consulting firm and "bonded over a shared vision to create a mission-led company."

Business News

These Are the 10 Most Profitable Cities for Airbnb Hosts, According to a New Report

Here's where Airbnb property owners and hosts are making the most money.

Side Hustle

How to Turn Your Hobby Into a Successful Business

A hobby, interest or charity project can turn into a money-making business if you know the right steps to take.

Productivity

Want to Be More Productive? Here's How Google Executives Structure Their Schedules

These five tactics from inside Google will help you focus and protect your time.

Starting a Business

This Couple Turned Their Startup Into a $150 Million Food Delivery Company. Here's What They Did Early On to Make It Happen.

Selling only online to your customers has many perks. But the founders of Little Spoon want you to know four things if you want to see accelerated growth.