Henri Frederic Amiel Quotes

You need to figure out what the 2 or 3 most important things are, and then just do those.

In a way, I have simplified my life by setting priorities.

Most people in business and within their personal lives move towards complexity. More To Dos. More projects. More products. More meetings. More possessions. More goals. The best - I suggest to you - move in the opposite direction.

You can do only one thing at a time. I simply tackle one problem and concentrate all efforts on what I am doing at the moment.

There is great power in focusing on what you want..... The person who tries to do everything accomplishes nothing. Most people try to be all things to everyone. And so they end up being nothing to anyone. Confucius nailed the point: "Person who chases two rabbits catches neither."

Lack of clarity is the number-one time-waster. Always be asking, 'What am I trying to do? How am I trying to do it.

I've learned to keep things simple. Look at your choices, pick the best one, then go to work with all your heart.

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

You can't work on 15 problems at the same time.

One of the things Mr. Kennedy taught me was that in laying out a new project, you shouldn't try to cope with every little problem.

I worked out early on to give up things I couldn't do well at all.

I think long and hard about what it is I'm actually trying to do, and then I kind of have to narrow my focus into that. If I don't, I'm too all over the place.

To help you focus, to help you really understand what you're doing, you have to say no a lot. When you say yes to everything, you get distracted. When you say no, you have to get the one thing you're doing really right.

The role of leadership is to transform the complex situation into small pieces and prioritize them.

Through your life, most people peel away the junk that's not useful, that's superfluous. You are determined to peel that away. I do one thing at a time. One man at a time. One car. One house. One child. One job.

I have learned to pare down what I do and still be effective and strong in a role.

My ultimate goal is to create operating systems for myself that allow me to think as little as possible about the silly decisions you can make all day long - like what to eat or where we should meet - so I can focus on making real decisions. Because mental energy is a finite quantity.

Always do whatever's next.

I never heard either of them speak ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point which was to decide the question. They laid their shoulders to the great points, knowing that the little ones would follow of themselves.

I don't waste my time doing my head in about stupid things that don't really matter and don't waste time worrying over nothing.

I'm known for having a very small to-do list and a big don't-do list.

Perhaps the very best question that you can memorize and repeat, over and over, is, 'what is the most valuable use of my time right now?'

You have to ruthlessly prioritize.

Learn to differentiate between what is truly important and what can be dealt with at another time.

Slowing down doesn't mean accomplishing less; it means cutting out counterproductive distractions and the perception of being rushed.