I think that this says it best:
"There are two techniques that every man and woman needs to live life. One is the technique of volition, of trying hard, putting your back into it and doing your best. That's output . . . The other is the philosophy of intake, of spiritual hospitality, of the receptivity of the soul to the oversoul, of the open door that lets the highest in. That's intake. One is like the branches of a tree, spreading out. The other is like roots, digging in. Multitudes of people in our modern world are using on the first technique. They are trying hard, and then someday, inevitably, like everybody else, they run into an experience that they can't handle simply by trying hard - a great grief, for example. Try hard? You need intake, too. You need sustenance, you need invigoration from beyond yourself."
Quoted by Harry Emerson Fosdick.
Or, if you like:
"Whatever you are, be a good one."
Quoted by Abraham Lincoln.