Big things are coming.

The gems I’ve found were forged in the struggle.

Tomorrow becomes never, no matter how small the task, take the first step now.

If I want a better-than-average career, I can’t simply ‘go with the flow’ and get it. Most people do just that: they wish for an outcome but make no intention-driven actions toward that outcome. If they would just do something most people would find that they get some version of the outcome they’re looking for. That’s been my secret. Stop wishing and start doing.

Most “superheroes” are nothing of the sort. They’re weird, neurotic creatures who do big things despite lots of self-defeating habits and self-talk.

You develop confidence through action, and you have to have courage first.

Babe Ruth struck out all the time, but he’s not remembered for that. He’s remembered for what worked.

It doesn’t take much to seem superhuman and appear “successful” to nearly everyone around you. In fact, you just need one rule: What you do is more important than how you do everything else, and doing something well does not make it important.

Great creative work isn’t possible if you’re trying to piece together 30 minutes here and 45 minutes there.

People are poor judges of importance and inflate minutiae to fill time and feel important.

Poisonous people do not deserve your time. To think otherwise is masochistic.

Believe it or not, it is not only possible to accomplish more by doing less, it is mandatory. Enter the world of elimination.

The decent method you follow is better than the perfect method you quit.

I value self-discipline, but creating systems that make it next to impossible to misbehave is more reliable than self-control.

If we’re talking about just distractions, we’re talking about prioritization. If you feel like you don’t have time, you don’t have priorities. Everyone has the same amount of time.

It is imperative that you learn to ignore or redirect all information and interruptions that are irrelevant, unimportant, or unactionable. Most are all three.

In a world of distraction and multitasking, the ability to single task — to genuinely do one thing without getting distracted by push notifications, alerts, email, text messages, social media, whatever it might be — is a super power.

Schedule things in advance, or you might be inclined to quit. A lot of standup comedians do this, because they may have six or 12 gigs before they do their first set well. Commit beforehand; prepay if you can.

It’s hip to focus on getting things done, but it’s only possible once we remove the constant static and distraction.

I value self-discipline, but creating systems that make it next to impossible to misbehave is more reliable than self-control.

Blaming idiots for interruptions is like blaming clowns for scaring children – they can’t help it. It’s their nature. Then again, I had, on occasion, been known to create interruptions out of thin air. If you’re anything like me, that makes us both occasional idiots. Learn to recognize and fight the interruption impulse. This is infinitely easier when you have a set of rules, responses, and routines to follow.

What bullshit excuses do you have for not going after whatever it is that you want?

My agenda became a list of everyone else’s agendas.

No newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, or nonmusic radio. Musicis permitted at all times. No news websites whatsoever (cnn.com, drudgereport.com, msn.com,10 etc.). No television at all, except for one hour of pleasure viewing each evening. No reading books, except for this book and one hour of fiction11 pleasure reading prior to bed. No web surfing at the desk unless it is necessary to complete a work task for that day. Necessary means necessary, not nice to have.

The world doesn’t even hiccup, much less end, when you cut the information umbilical cord.

Create slack, as no one will give it to you. This is the only way to swim forward instead of treading water.

People don’t lose in various aspects of their lives because they pursue a lot of bad ideas. They lose because they say yes to too many ‘kinda cool’ things/ideas.

Doing less is not being lazy. Don’t give in to a culture that values personal sacrifice over personal productivity.

Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions.

If I’m “busy,” it is because I’ve made choices that put me in that position, so I’ve forbidden myself to reply to “How are you?” with “Busy.” I have no right to complain. Instead, if I’m too busy, it’s a cue to reexamine my systems and rules.

I was once refused for a lunch date with a very famous tech investor and he said, ‘Sorry, I’m on a no-meeting diet for the next month and I have a policy of saying no to all meetings’. So I started using a ‘no conference call diet’ and people just rolled with it. It was incredible. There was no feedback, no push-back.

Saying yes to too much “cool” will bury you alive and render you a B-player, even if you have A-player skills.

To develop your edge initially, you learn to set priorities; to maintain your edge, you need to defend against the priorities of others.

Once you reach a decent level of professional success, lack of opportunity won’t kill you. It’s drowning in 7-out-of-10 “cool” commitments that will sink the ship.

I hope you find the strength to say no when it matters most. I’m striving for the same, and only time will tell if I pull it off.

Alternating periods of activity and rest is necessary to survive, let alone thrive. Capacity, interest, and mental endurance all wax and wane. Plan accordingly.

Observe your thoughts, instead of being constantly the victim of your thoughts.

Even if it’s for ten minutes a day so that your not in a reactive mode. It’s really a game changer. Physiologically, it had a lot of effects for me as well. When my cortisol level dropped, I was able to lose body fat more easily in my abdomen, for instance.

It’s like this extended period of calm and ease in decision-making. Uncluttered, like you closed every browser on your computer and shut off the anti-virus, and rebooted the whole thing.

The physiological or psychological effects are so fascinating, like you said, because you’ll do it for a couple of days and you’re like, whatever. Then you hit this sort of inflection point where you just drop from 200 RPMs to 150. You’re like, “Whoa. Okay. This is different”. The whole week, you’re kind of zenned out. 

That non-attachment to an outcome, i.e. controlling my thoughts, was very helpful.

All I did was think about my todo list the entire time, that’s fine, as long as I’m paying attention to my breath.

Learn to slow down. Get lost intentionally. Observe how you judge both yourself and those around you.

The more you schedule and practice discomfort deliberately, the less unplanned discomfort will throw off your life and control your life.

Stoicism can help you to become a better, kinder person. In helping you to become less emotionally reactive (e.g., reflexively angry or annoyed), it helps you to better resolve conflict, and teach others to do the same.

The best way to counter-attack a hater is to make it blatantly obvious that their attack has had no impact on you.

To do anything remotely interesting you need to train yourself to be effective at dealing with, responding to, even enjoying criticism.

I’ve certainly stumbled a lot, but that’s how you figure things out.

The first book (4 Hour Work Week) was turned down by 26 publishers.

Get good at being a troublemaker and saying sorry when you really screw up.