One thing obtained with difficulty is far better than a hundred things procured with ease

Talmud

work on yourself

--> One morning I noticed that the people of my town did not respect me any more. Troubled, I sought to understand why. At last I found that it had nothing to do with them and everything to do with me. I simply had lost all respect for myself. And why should others be more charitable than I? So I decided to work on myself. As a result, people around me began to treat me with increased consideration.

Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev

[from Souls on Fire by Elie Wiesel]

Effort

I once read in a Jataka tale about our Buddha when he was still a bodhisatta. He was like you: He had ordained and encountered a lot of difficulties, but when he thought of disrobing he was ashamed of what other people would think — that he had ordained all these years and yet still wanted to disrobe. Still, things didn't go the way he wanted, so he thought he'd leave. He came across a squirrel whose baby had been blown into the ocean by the wind. He saw the squirrel running down to the water and then back up again. He didn't know what it was doing. It ran down to the water and stuck its tail in the water, and then ran up to the beach and shook out its tail. Then it ran down and stuck its tail in the water again. So he asked it, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, my baby has fallen into the water. I miss it and I want to fetch it out."
"How are you going to do that?"
"I'm going to use my tail to bail water out of the ocean until it's dry so that I can fetch my baby out."
"Oho. When will the ocean ever go dry?"
"That's not the issue. This is the way it is with the practice. You keep bailing out the water, bailing out the water, and don't care whether it ever goes dry. When you're going to be a Buddha, you can't abandon your efforts."
When the bodhisatta heard this, it flashed in his heart. He got up and pushed through with his efforts. He didn't retreat. That's how he became the Buddha.

Ajahn Chah

mindfulness of death

Once the Blessed One was staying in the Brick Hall at Naadikaa. There he addressed the monks as follows:
"Mindfulness of death, monks, if cultivated and frequently practiced, brings great fruit, great benefit; it merges in the Deathless, ends in the Deathless. And how, monks, is it cultivated (in that way)?
"When, monks, the day fades and night sets in... or when the night is spent and the day breaks, a monk should reflect thus: 'Many might be the causes of my death: a snake or a scorpion or a centipede may sting me, and through that I may die. This would be a hindrance to me. Or I may stumble and have a fall; or the food I ate may cause illness; or bile, phlegm, or piercing (pains of body-) gases may upset my health; humans or non-humans may assault me; and through this I may die. That would be a hindrance to me.'
"Then that monk should further reflect thus: 'Do I harbor in myself any evil and unwholesome qualities, which are still undiscarded and would be a hindrance to me if I were to die tonight or during the day?'
"If, on reflection, that monk realizes that those evil, unwholesome qualities are still in him, then he should, with strong resolve, apply all his effort, vigor and exertion, (together with) mindfulness and clear comprehension, for the sake of discarding them.
"Just as a man whose turban or hair is on fire will, to extinguish the fire, with strong resolve, apply all his effort, vigor and exertion, (together with) mindfulness and clear comprehension; even so should that monk resolutely apply all his effort... for discarding his evil and unwholesome qualities.
"But if, on reflection, that monk realizes that there are in him no such evil and unwholesome qualities that might be a hindrance to him if he were to die tonight or during the day, then he may well feel gladness and joy. By day and night he should train himself in everything that is beneficial.
"If, monks, mindfulness of death is cultivated in that way, and is frequently practiced, it will bring great fruit, great benefit, and it will merge in the Deathless, will end in the Deathless."