The Art of Taking Action Quotes

“Small steps are an elegant approach to indecision. That’s because each of those small steps sends ripples out into the world. Your situation is never the same from day to day, because the world is in a dynamic state of flux. Once you take a small step you get new information and now you can consider the situation from a different perspective.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“The biggest risk you can take is to do nothing at all, when you know there’s something you need to do.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“Paying attention to the world around you is a priceless skill – a skill that is elegantly connected to taking action. If you use it and develop it you will notice more and more. And the more you notice, the more you will be clear about what needs doing.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“As Kierkegaard said, “To venture causes anxiety; not to venture is to lose oneself.” I”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“Yet today I realize that the most important thing in dividing tasks is the psychological effect of making the task bearable. The idea of small tasks always felt too abstract and not at all magical. But today it had a concrete effect on me. Suddenly, the idea of starting a task didn’t seem so heavy. The tasks just need to be small enough so that they feel conquerable. After that, starting is easy.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“Right now, I am feeling a great deal of fear.” We notice fear. We acknowledge it. We accept it. But we don’t put fear in charge. We don’t let it decide what we do and don’t do. And at some point, we may learn to harness the energy of fear and use it to take action in response to the situation we are facing.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“I’ve never heard of anyone on their deathbed saying, “I wish I would have spent more time watching TV or reading Facebook posts.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“And when you are dying, you may have a chance to reflect on your life and the legacy you are leaving behind. You created that legacy during the past day. You are creating that legacy at this very moment. What will you leave behind? What will you create that will outlive you? How many hearts and minds will be touched by your deeds? Use your precious moments wisely. Do what you came here to do. “To”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“it soon becomes obvious that I have received more from the world than I’ve given, or could ever return.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“Ideally we need a process of doing our daily work in which we can immerse ourselves completely in our current task without the distraction of the unfinished. When you go to the doctor, you may only get 15 minutes, but if that 15 minutes is truly devoted to your medical needs, you feel attended to. Contrast this with the doctor who juggles several patients at once or sends signals of impatience that make it clear he has mountains of other patients waiting. You sense that they can’t wait for you to leave so the doctor can get on with treating the next person. And the next person gets the same treatment.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“To awaken each morning is to be born again. To fall asleep each night is to die to the day. Why do we delay doing the good we would like to do? Why do we put off speaking words of kindness, giving encouragement, writing a letter, taking care of ourselves? Why do we delay making decisions, in living our lives? Procrastination is a dreadful and terrible malady. We may say ‘do it now’ but then we wait for the ‘right time.’ There is no need to wait to live your life.” –W. Edward Harris”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“... la maggior parte di noi è più brava nella spontaneità che nell'autodisciplina. Troviamo abbastanza facile lasciarci distrarre e molto più difficile spostare l'interesse e la concentrazione su ciò che sappiamo di dover fare.
Non rinunciare alla spontaneità, dunque. E, per favore, non sacrificate la gioia e la flessibilità. Limitatevi a migliorare sul fronte dell'autodisciplina, un'abilità da coltivare se non si sa passare all'azione quando è necessario.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“... in ogni momento in cui faccio qualcosa (e anche non fare niente equivale a fare qualcosa), NON FACCIO tutto il resto. E' questo il dilemma della vita attiva.
Non possiamo fare tutto ciò che vorremmo e che dovremmo. Perciò ogni volta che scegliamo un'azione da compiere rinunciamo a tutte le altre.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“Never mind likes and dislikes; they are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.” –George Bernard Shaw”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“feel the fear and do it anyway!”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“Reflection + Risk = Contribution”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“No person more elegantly manifests the art of taking action more than Mahatma Gandhi.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“In Japan there is an approach towards company improvement called “kaizen.” It’s a generic Japanese word that means “improvement,” but is usually used to describe a program of organizational development that is based on “continuous improvement.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“To venture causes anxiety; not to venture is to lose oneself.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“With this realistic self-examination against my own standards, it soon becomes obvious that I have received more from the world than I’ve given, or could ever return.”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

“A small step doesn’t get you very far, and generally we judge the value of the step based on distance. If your workout today consisted of jumping rope one time (one revolution), you probably didn’t burn many calories or lose much”
― Gregg Krech, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology