...Motivation is much less about external prodding or stimulation, and much more about what’s inside of you, and inside of your work...

..."You want a job description? It’s very simple: figure out what needs to be done and do it!"...

...The ultimate story of greed and glory, Barbarians at the Gate is the gripping account of these two frenzied months, of deal makers and publicity flaks, of an old-line industrial powerhouse that became the victim of the ruthless and rapacious style of finance in the 1980s...

...Sorting something that you will never search is a complete waste; searching something you never sorted is merely inefficient...

...Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done...

...To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction...

...Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage...

...Improvement at anything is based on thousands of tiny failures, and the magnitude of your success is based on how many times you’ve failed at something...

...It is a lifetime accumulation of deliberate practice that again and again ends up explaining excellence...

...The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal you must 5-4-3-2-1 and physically move or your brain will stop you...

...If you want success, figure out the price, then pay it...

...Most tasks require a combination of bonding and bridging: flashes of inspiration to identify the right approach, and long effort characterized by selfless teamwork to put it into practice...

...Lateral thinking doesn’t replace hard work; it eliminates unnecessary cycles...

...Top performers understand their field at a higher level than average performers do, and thus have a superior structure for remembering information about it...

...Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE...

...Good habits are important, but it’s often our bad habits that prevent us from reaching our full potential...

...The joy of the task was its own reward...

...The single greatest challenge any organization will face is . . . success...

...Some groups are subject to Agenda Inertia, a force that concentrates focus on issues already in the plan...

...Every significant choice we make in life comes with some uncertainty...