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Five Powerful Quotes That Slapped Me Square in the Face

Eye-opening messages in case you need a push right now

Brian Pennie, PhD
SIMPLE
4 min readFeb 18, 2023

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Nine years ago, my life was in the gutter. But after 15 years of addiction, a near-death experience gave me the wake-up call I finally needed. After several months in detox and treatment, I began reading about the world of mindset and growth, and one line, in particular, hit me square in the face:

“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” — Thomas Jefferson

Having lost my entire adult life to addiction, mostly through inaction, it felt like I’d nothing to lose by going in the opposite direction. So instead of sitting at home and pitying myself about lost years, I followed the advice of Mr. Jefferson and went out and got busy.

That was in 2013, and since then I’ve become a doctor of psychology and neuroscience, a published author, a keynote speaker, an executive coach, a founder of my company Change is Possible, and a lecturer at the top two universities in Ireland.

That said, here are four more quotes that slapped me into life, waking me up from my slumber.

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Brian Pennie, PhD
Brian Pennie, PhD

Written by Brian Pennie, PhD

Change is possible. I write to show that | Recovered heroin addict turned doctor. www.brianpennie.com

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