Focus
"The point is to realize that much of what we're doing is at best a waste of energy. If we organized the majority of our work time around applying these principles, and pretty much ignored or stopped doing everything else, our lives would be simpler and our results vastly improved." (Jim Collins, Good to Great)
"Start a 'stop-doing' list...'Stop-doing' lists are more important than 'to-do' lists." (Jim Collins, Good to Great)
"The real path to greatness, it turns out, requires simplicity and diligence. It requires clarity, not instant illumination." (Jim Collins, Good to Great)
"Good-to-great leaders...know how to simplify a complex world into a single, organizing idea - the kind of basic principle that unifies, organizes, and guides all decisions." (Jim Collins, Good to Great)
"He is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is wiser still who, from among the things he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best." (William Gladstone)
"Prioritize before you start your work, and then don't do anything unless it's on your list." (Elaine St. James)
"Strategy 101 is about choices: you can't be all things to all people. The essence of strategy is that you must set limits on what you're trying to accomplish." (Michael Porter)
"Create a 'to-don't' list that contains tasks, rituals, and meetings that you should never waste your time on again. Then stick to it." (Tom Peters)
"If everything is important, than nothing is." (Patrick Lencioni, Obessions of an Extraordinary Executive)
"There is no substitute for discipline. No amount of intellectual prowess or personal charisma can make up for an inability to identify a few simple things and stick to them over time." (Patrick Lencioni, Obessions of an Extraordinary Executive)
"There are many things I could do, but I have to narrow it down to the one thing I must do. The secret of concentration is elimination." (Howard Hendricks)
Fun
"Give away the farm...Fill everything with jest and zest...Be playful, be funny, and have fun. If you're having fun, you're more creative, more energetic, friendlier, and optimistic." (Leonard Sweet)