* 80 percent of your results or outputs are always delivered by 20 percent of your work or inputs => Prioritize your to-dos – they are not all equally important.
* Mark Twain once said “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.”
* “focusing question”-“What’s the ONE thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else will become easier or unnecessary?”
- First, on a macro level: the ONE thing you want to do and achieve in life.
- Second, on a more practical, short-term level: the ONE thing you can do right now.
* Use discipline selectively to form enduring good habits.
- One habit is just the start. Habits are much easier to maintain than to begin, so once something becomes a habit, you can shift your discipline into forming a new one and then build them up sequentially.
* Pick one thing and give it your undivided attention.
* Full-strength willpower requires a full tank, so plan your day so that you can avoid making key decisions or judgments when you’re running low.
* At a developer’s conference in 1997, Steve Jobs explained, “When you think about focusing, you think ‘Well, focusing is about saying yes.’ No! Focusing is about saying no.”
* With a goal in place, you can start planning the steps to reach it, but it’s even better if you also visualize each step along the way, as this motivates you and prepares you for the road ahead.
- Defining a goal – the ONE thing we want to do and achieve in life – is something we should all strive toward.
* They are called work, family, health, friends and integrity. And you’re keeping them all in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that the work ball is made of rubber – if you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls are made of glass.”
- The trick is to prioritize your work time ruthlessly to focus on professional goals. In your personal life, neglecting any area can be perilous;
