Chip Gaines

“Though farm chores and construction work are the most physically demanding jobs that I currently do, they feel like recess to me. And there's something really beautiful about work that feels like play.”

“I have learned very quickly where my strengths are, and color coordination of particular things is not a strong suit.”

“When I was supposed to go to a certified kindergarten that's supposed to teach you actual things like how to read, I went to a daycare that my parents thought was a kindergarten. I was Crayola-ing inside the lines with no fundamental education at all. So I walked into the first grade with no formal education at all.”

“It probably would be wiser, from a time-management standpoint, if I hired a crew to take care of the farm so I could get a little more rest. But the thing is, when I start my morning out there, I'm more productive for the rest of the day.”

“I've lived a real charmed life. I'm just one of those knuckleheads who literally can't remember a season of his life that he didn't enjoy. I was a happy kid.”

“Obviously, Jo and I, as a couple, we just don't want to redline. You know, we don't want to run so hard after some dream or some goal only to find out that we've neglected the thing that means the very most to us, which is our marriage and our relationship.”

“I'm extremely easy to watch. I think I'm generally handsome, charming.”

“I've learned that if I can convince myself to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, then I can run as far as I want to.”

“We do the impossible when we tell ourselves we can.”

“Some advice from a beginner: never judge your full potential based on your first run.”

“Do what you love. Do what is important to you and your family. I just want to encourage people to just go for it and do what makes sense to you.”

“I've got Peter Pan syndrome. It's not that I refuse to grow up - I love building businesses; I want to be a good husband, a good father. But I don't want to be boring. I don't want to be normal.”

“The gratification you feel from making tangible progress while running is just about unparalleled, so I understand why people love it. But it's also hard, grueling work. Those feel-good benefits have to be earned four to five times a week.”

“I believe we are built to have thriving personal lives, and I think we're built to have thriving professional lives. Where the error occurs is when one becomes secondary to the other.”

“Without God, for me, I'm not the best version of myself.”

“For me, I do everything all the way. When I love my wife, I love her all the way. This isn't a sales pitch; this isn't a tagline. You'll see us in our 80s, and we'll be sitting together on a rocking chair. That's how it is. That's how it ends for us.”

“In my junior high and high school days, I would just pick up a mower and go mow the neighbor's grass and make an extra 30 bucks.”

“I've gotten a little bit pompous. When I get out in public, I really notice myself looking at my reflections as a I walk though. New York is not a great place for me.”

“If you're talented and hardworking, great - good for you. You're gonna make it; you're gonna go places. But if you're talented and don't have the work element behind it, the guy that works harder is going to eventually outpace you and outrun you.”

“A job is something you do for money. Your life's work is done for a bigger purpose... And when you manage to find that work - that's when it starts feeling like play.”