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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Gary Keller
Read between
January 2 - February 2, 2024
“Going small” is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do. It’s recognizing that not all things matter equally and finding the things that matter most. It’s a tighter way to connect what you do with what you want. It’s realizing that extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus.
big success comes when we do a few things well, they get lost trying to do too much and in the end accomplish too little. Over time they lower their expectations, abandon their dreams, and allow their life to get small. This is the wrong thing to make small.
The key is over time. Success is built sequentially. It’s one thing at a time.
No one succeeds alone. No one.
Passion for something leads to disproportionate time practicing or working at it. That time spent eventually translates to skill, and when skill improves, results improve.
The ONE Thing becomes difficult because we’ve unfortunately bought into too many others—and more often than not those “other things” muddle our thinking, misguide our actions, and sidetrack our success.
in the world of achievement everything doesn’t matter equally.
Equality is a lie. Understanding this is the basis of all great decisions.
Knocking out a hundred tasks for whatever the reason is a poor substitute for doing even one task that’s meaningful.
Achievers do sooner what others plan to do later and defer, perhaps indefinitely, what others do sooner.
Achievers always work from a clear sense of priority.
Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list—a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results.
To-do lists tend to be long; success lists are short. One pulls you in all directions; the other aims you in a specific direction. One is a disorganized directory and the other is an organized directive.
the majority of what you want will come from the minority of what you do.
“Multitasking is merely the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time.”
multitasking slows us down and makes us slower witted.
we each not only have a job to do, but a job that deserves to be done well.
The truth is we don’t need any more discipline than we already have. We just need to direct and manage it a little better.
Success is actually a short race—a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.
When we know something that needs to be done but isn’t currently getting done, we often say, “I just need more discipline.” Actually, we need the habit of doing it. And we need just enough discipline to build the habit.
regularly working at something until it regularly works for you.
when you see people who look like “disciplined” people, what you’re really seeing is people who’ve trained a handful of habits into their lives.
success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.
The trick to success is to choose the right habit and bring just enough discipline to establish it.
The fact of the matter is that aiming discipline at the right habit gives you license to be less disciplined in other areas. When you do the right thing, it can liberate you from having to monitor everything.
Willpower is so important that using it effectively should be a high priority.
Willpower has a limited battery life but can be recharged with some downtime.
So how do you put your willpower to work? You think about it. Pay attention to it. Respect it. You make doing what matters most a priority when your willpower is its highest. In other words, you give it the time of day it deserves.
A “balanced life” is a myth—a misleading concept most accept as a worthy and attainable goal without ever stopping to truly consider it. I want you to consider it. I want you to challenge it. I want you to reject it.
A balanced life is a lie. The idea of balance is exactly that—an idea.
Extraordinary results require focused attention and time.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Being Together, Working Apart: Dual-Career Families and the Work-Life Balance,
Knowing when to pursue the middle and when to pursue the extremes is in essence the true beginning of wisdom. Extraordinary results are achieved by this negotiation with your time.
When you gamble with your time, you may be placing a bet you can’t cover. Even if you’re sure you can win, be careful that you can live with what you lose.
The idea of counterbalancing is that you never go so far that you can’t find your way back or stay so long that there is nothing waiting for you when you return.
Awareness of your spirit and body, awareness of your family and friends, awareness of your personal needs—none of these can be sacrificed if you intend to “have a life,” so you can never forsake them for work or one for the other.
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, James Patterson
Your work life is divided into two distinct areas—what matters most and everything else.
if you fear big success, you’ll either avoid it or sabotage your efforts to achieve it.
What you build today will either empower or restrict you tomorrow. It will either serve as a platform for the next level of your success or as a box, trapping you where you are.
Don’t fear big. Fear mediocrity.
When we fear big, we either consciously or subconsciously work against it.
Set a goal so far above what you want that you’ll be building a plan that practically guarantees your original goal.
“People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the only ones who do.”
Don’t let small thinking cut your life down to size. Think big, aim high, act bold. And see just how big you can blow up your life.
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is all wrong. I tell you “put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.” Look round you and take notice; men who do that do not often fail. It is easy to watch and carry the one basket. It is trying to carry too many baskets that breaks most eggs in this country.
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Research shows that asking questions improves learning and performance by as much as 150 percent.
