My assignment was simple: find artwork to decorate the gallery hallway in CrossAmerica Partners (NYSE:CAPL) new offices in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania. This simple task turned into a fun, creative employee engagement effort that figuratively spoke to people.

“Aspire to Be Great” is a goal all CrossAmerica and CST Brands (NYSE:CST) employees are reaching towards in 2016. CrossAmerica employees were asked to help find the right words that inspire them to achieve success in life – at work and at home.

Employees were given a list of 20 quotes whose common thread was the road traveled/cross-country trek/life’s journey theme. This theme tied in with CrossAmerica Partners’ main mission of engaging in the wholesale distribution of branded motor fuels, and the ownership and leasing of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels. With a geographic footprint in 29 states, CrossAmerica Partners helps people in communities across America get to where they need to go in their daily journeys.

The instructions were simple:  Please rank your top 10 favorites with a score of 10 being the highest. “Tell us which ones speak to you … Make you think… Smile … Laugh… Feel good … Inspire you … Help you get going in the morning before or after coffee … Set you on the right road to success in all aspects of your life. Which quotes “aspire you to be great?” 

More than 40 employees participated in the exercise. Fifteen quotes made the wall from Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss to Vince Lombardi, the Beatles, Robert Frost and Coco Chanel. There were a few write-ins including the famous Yogi Berra quote “If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up someplace else,” and the Doc Brown to Marty McFly quote in the movie Back to the Future:  “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

The most popular quote was the Chinese proverb: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” It spoke to everyone.

Tell me, what quote inspires you to do great things in your life’s journey?