3 IDEAS FROM ME
I.
“Habits that have a high rate of return in life:
– sleeping 8+ hours each day
– lifting weights 3x week
– going for a walk each day
– saving at least 10 percent of your income
– reading every day
– drinking more water and less of everything else
– leaving your phone in another room while you work”
II.
“A good choice may go unrewarded for a long time.
The best choices tend to provide exponential returns and a hallmark of any compounding process is that the greatest rewards are delayed. Things don’t really take off until years later.
Keep working. Be patient.”
III.
“When you say no, you are only saying no to one option.
When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option.
No is a decision.
Yes is a responsibility.
Be careful what (and who) you say yes to. It will shape your day, your career, your family, your life.”
Pair with: The Ultimate Productivity Hack is Saying No
2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS
I.
Entrepreneur and investor Sam Altman on the importance of focus:
“Focus is a force multiplier on work. Almost everyone I’ve ever met would be well-served by spending more time thinking about what to focus on. It is much more important to work on the right thing than it is to work many hours. Most people waste most of their time on stuff that doesn’t matter.
“Once you have figured out what to do, be unstoppable about getting your small handful of priorities accomplished quickly. I have yet to meet a slow-moving person who is very successful.”
Source: How to Be Successful
II.
A quote from Japanese author and Buddhist monk Yoshida Kenko way back in 1330(!) on the value of reading books:
“It is a most wonderful comfort to sit alone beneath a lamp, book spread before you, and commune with someone from the past whom you have never met.”
Source: Essays in Idleness. (Hat tip to Darran Anderson.)
1 QUESTION FOR YOU
How can I prepare carefully, but execute quickly?
Until next week,
James Clear
Author of the New York Times bestselling book, Atomic Habits
Creator of The Habits Academy and the Habit Journal