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Rather Than Spend My Life On Data Entry And Typing, I Also Take Photos On My Iphone Of Business Cards, Wine Labels, Menus, Or Anything I Want To Have Searchable On-the-run.
-Tim Ferriss
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Rather Than Spend My

Tim Ferriss
Rather Than Spend My Life On Data Entry And Typing, I Also Take Photos On My Iphone Of Business Cards, Wine Labels, Menus, Or Anything I Want To Have Searchable On-the-run.
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Topic
Running
Wine
Data
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Never Check Email First Thing In The Morning. Instead, Complete Your Most Important Task Before 11:00 A.m. To Avoid Using Lunch Or Reading Email As A Postponement Excuse.
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Perfection Is An Impossible Destination
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I Work Hard, But In Spurts.
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This Is Not My Phrase, But If You're Stuck In The Past, Then You're Depressed. If You're Stuck In The Future, Then You're Anxious.
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Just As Modern Man Consumes Both Too Many Calories And Calories Of No Nutritional Value, Information Workers Eat Data Both In Excess And From The Wrong Sources.
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Fun Things Happen When You Earn Dollars, Live On Pesos, And Compensate In Rupees.
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The Commonsense Rules Of The "real World" Are A Fragile Collection Of Socially Reinforced Illusions.
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Massive Elimination Is The Most Important Step And The Most Neglected Step For Entrepreneurs.
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Online I See People Committing 'social Media Suicide' All The Time By One Of Two Ways. Firstly By Responding To All Criticism, Meaning You're Never Going To Find Time To Complete Important Milestones Of Your Own, And By Responding To Things That Don't Warrant A Response. This Lends More Credibility By Driving Traffic.
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Focus On Impact, Not Approval. If You Believe You Can Change The World, Which I Hope You Do, Do What You Believe Is Right And Expect Resistance And Expect Attackers. Keep Calm And Carry On!
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When You Try To Do Something Big Its Hard To Fail Completely.
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Luxury Is Feeling Unrushed. It Is Designing A Life That Allows You To Do What You Want With High Leverage, With Many Options, All While Feeling Unrushed.
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The Best Way To Improve Mental Performance, Is To Improve Physical Performance
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Awareness, Even At A Subconscious Level, Beats Fancy Checklists Without It, Track Or You Will Fail.
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If It's Important To You And You Want To Do It 'eventually', Just Do It And Correct Course Along The Way.
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It Isn't Enough To Think Outside The Box. Thinking Is Passive. Get Used To Acting Outside The Box.
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I Was An All-american In Wrestling In High School, Was National Champion In Chinese Kickboxing In 1999 And Have Spent A Lot Of Time Around Professional Athletes, Which Includes My Eight-plus Years As Ceo Of A Sports Nutrition Company.
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I Encourage Active Skepticism - When People Are Being Skeptical Because They're Trying To Identify The Best Course Of Action. They're Trying To Identify The Next Step For Themselves Or Other People.
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Be Bold And Don't Worry About What People Think. They Don't Do It That Often Anyway.
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It Is Predicated On The Assumption That You Dislike What You Are Doing During The Most Physically Capable Years Of Your Life. This Is A Nonstarter—nothing Can Justify That Sacrifice.
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People Frequently Fail When They Try To Do Everything At Once. They Approach A Massive Project And Quickly Get Discouraged. Taking Small, But High-value Steps Takes Less Time, And You Learn More In The Long Run.
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I Think About Willpower Almost Never. I Realize For Myself, Trying To Be More Disciplined Is Pretty Nebulous And It's Often A Slippery Target. For Me, I've Just Thought About Incentives.
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Resolve To Do One Thing Every Day That You Fear.
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You Think You're Fatigued, Therefore You Can't Exercise. In Fact, You Choose Not To Move, Therefore You Feel Fatigued.
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It's Amazing How Someone's Iq Seems To Double As Soon As You Give Them Responsibility And Indicate That You Trust Them.
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I'm Not A Fan Of Idleness, Except In Small Doses.
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I Always Point People To The Article '1,000 True Fans' By Kevin Kelly. If You Choose Your Thousand Ideal Customers Or Readers Properly And Find The Single Author Blog That Targets That Audience, You Never Have To Do Any More Marketing. You're Done. That Is A Lesson That Very Few Product Developers And Marketers Have Learned, And It's Unfortunate.
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To Do The Impossible, You Need To Ignore The Popular.
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You Don't Have To Travel, But I Find Extended Travel To Be A Helpful Tool For Reexamining Yourself And The Constraints You've Artificially Placed On Your Life. It's Easy To Believe Everything Has To Be Done One Way If You're Always In One Place Around The Same People.
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To Make A Bestseller, There Are More Customers Than Just Your Customers: Selling To The End-user Is Just One Piece Of The Puzzle. In My Case, I Needed To First Sell Myself To The Publisher To Get Marketing Support And National Retail Distribution.
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I'm Not A Big Believer In Long-term Planning And Far-off Goals. In Fact, I Generally Set 3-month And 6-month Dreamlines. The Variables Change Too Much And In-the-future Distance Becomes An Excuse For Postponing Action.
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Believe It Or Not, It Is Not Only Possible To Accomplish More By Doing Less, It Is Mandatory. Enter The World Of Elimination.
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Role Models Who Push Us To Exceed Our Limits, Physical Training That Removes Our Spare Tires, And Risks That Expand Our Sphere Of Comfortable Action Are All Examples Of Eustress—stress That Is Healthful And The Stimulus For Growth.
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Everything That Works In Sales Has Been Done Already. Just Keep Track Of The Crap That You Buy, Or The Awesome Stuff That You Buy, And Decide What Was The Trigger, And Then Just Sell To People Like You. It's Really That Easy - And That's What I Do.
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I Value Self-discipline, But Creating Systems That Make It Next To Impossible To Misbehave Is More Reliable Than Self-control.
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Are You Better Off Than You Were One Year Ago, One Month Ago, Or One Week Ago? If Not, Things Will Not Improve By Themselves.
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In All Cases Where Doubt Crops Up, Ask Yourself, "if I Had A Gun To My Head And Had To Do It, How Would I Do It?" It's Not As Hard As You Think.
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Being Busy Is A Form Of Laziness - Lazy Thinking And Indiscriminate Action. Being Busy Is Most Often Used As A Guise For Avoiding The Few Critically Important But Uncomfortable Actions.
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I'm Prepared To Do Battle For A Dream That Is Worth Dreaming.
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The Best Results I Have Had In My Life; The Most Enjoyable Times, Have All Come From Asking The Simple Question: 'what Is The Worst That Could Happen?'
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Get Good At Being A Troublemaker And Saying Sorry When You Really Screw Up
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Just Because You Are Embarrassed To Admit That You're Still Living The Consequences Of Bad Decisions Made 5, 10, 20 Years Ago Shouldn't Stop You From Making Good Decisions Now. If You Let Pride Stop You, You Will Hate Life 5, 10, And 20 Years From Now For The Same Reasons.
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For Most People, Life Would Be Boring Without Meaningful Work.
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Sometimes You Need To Go On A Low-information Diet.
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People Don't Want To Be Millionaires - They Want To Experience What They Believe Only Millions Can Buy.
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Tomorrow Becomes Never. No Matter How Small The Task, Take The First Step Now!
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If You Are Insecure, Guess What? The Rest Of The World Is, Too.
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But You Are The Average Of The Five People You Associate With Most, So Do Not Underestimate The Effects Of Your Pessimistic, Unambitious, Or Disorganized Friends. If Someone Isn't Making You Stronger, They're Making You Weaker.
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Personally, I Now Aim For One Month Of Overseas Relocation Or High-intensity Learning (tango, Fighting, Whatever) For Every Two Months Of Work Projects.
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The Way That You Become World-class Is... By Asking Good Questions.
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$1,000,000 In The Bank Isn't The Fantasy. The Fantasy Is The Lifestyle Of Complete Freedom It Supposedly Allows.
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If You Look At The Purported Dangers Of Salt Or Fat, There Is No Consensus Of Support In Scientific Literature. So I Would Ask First: 'is It Possible To Have An Informed Government That Actually Follows The Science?' From What I've Seen, It's Not Likely.
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Learn To Be Difficult When It Counts. In School As In Life, Having A Reputation For Being Assertive Will Help You Receive Preferential Treatment Without Having To Beg Or Fight For It Every Time.
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I Open Each Class With An Explanation Of The Singular Importance Of Being A "dealmaker." The Manifesto Of The Dealmaker Is Simple: Reality Is Negotiable.
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What Do You Want?' Is Too Imprecise To Produce A Meaningful And Actionable Answer.
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I Take Notes Like Some People Take Drugs.
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What We Fear Doing Most Is Usually What We Most Need To Do. As I Have Heard Said, A Person's Success In Life Can Usually Be Measured By The Number Of Uncomfortable Conversations He Or She Is Willing To Have. Resolve To Do One Thing Every Day That You Fear. I Got Into This Habit By Attempting To Contact Celebrities And Famous Businesspeople For Advice.
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Life Is Too Short To Be Small.
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World Barista Champions Use The Aeropress To Make Coffee On The Folding Tray Tables Of Airplanes.
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Excitement Is The More Practical Synonym For Happiness, And It Is Precisely What You Should Strive To Chase. It Is The Cure-all. When People Suggest You Follow Your "passion" Or Your "bliss," I Propose That They Are, In Fact, Referring To The Same Singular Concept: Excitement. This Brings Us Full Circle. The Question You Should Be Asking Isn't, "what Do I Want?" Or "what Are My Goals?" But "what Would Excite Me?"
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Personal Branding Is About Managing Your Name - Even If You Don't Own A Business - In A World Of Misinformation, Disinformation, And Semi-permanent Google Records. Going On A Date? Chances Are That Your "blind" Date Has Googled Your Name. Going To A Job Interview? Ditto.
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Companies That Start By Redesigning The Economics Of An Industry Often Finish By Redesigning The Whole Industry-and Owning It.
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To Have An Uncommon Lifestyle, You Need To Develop The Uncommon Habit Of Making Decisions, Both For Yourself And For Others.
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If You Take A Strong Stance And Have A Clear Opinion Or Statement On Any Subject Online, You're Going To Polarize People. And Without That Polarity, There's No Discussion. Discussion Is What I Want, Which Means That I'm Fine With The Consequences.
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If You Don't Have Time, The Truth Is, You Don't Have Priorities. Think Harder; Don't Work Harder.
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Don't Suffer Fools Or You'll Become One.
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Lacking An External Focus, The Mind Turns Inward On Itself And Creates Problems To Solve, Even If The Problems Are Undefined Or Unimportant. If You Find A Focus, An Ambitious Goal That Seems Impossible And Forces You To Grow, These Doubts Disappear.
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Food Became For Me A Way Of Becoming Self-sufficient With My Hands, To Regain Manual Literacy, Which I Think Has Been Lost On Our Generation And Certainly Younger Generations. Very Few People Can Actually Make Things With Their Hands And Do Things With Their Hands.
Thinking
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The Fishing Is Best Where The Fewest Go And The Collective Insecurity Of The World Makes It Easy For People To Hit Home Runs While Everyone Is Aiming For Base Hits.
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I Still Feel There Are Much Smarter Self-promoters Out There Than Me. I Am Very Methodical About My Messaging, And I Know How To Gain Attention Very Quickly.
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An Entrepreneur Isn't Someone Who Owns A Business, It's Someone Who Makes Things Happen.
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A Friend Of Mine, Derek Simmons, Who's Been On The Podcast, Said, "if More Information Were The Answer, We'd All Be Billionaires With Perfect Dads." It Comes Down To Motivation And Incentives. If It Isn't A Punishment Or A Reward, Then It's Just Talk.
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Many A False Step Was Made By Standing Still.
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Made
What I Don't Like Is Snark For Snark's Sake. If You Are Going To Make Fun Of Me, At Least Be Witty While Doing It.
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Sake
If Only I Had More Money Is The Easiest Way To Postpone The Intense Self-examination And Decision-making Necessary To Create A Life Of Enjoyment - Now And Not Later.
Self
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Three Ingredients Of Luxury Lifestyle Design Are Time, Income, And Mobility.
Motivational
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The Book Is First And Foremost Something I Made For Myself.
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Slowing Down Doesn't Mean Accomplishing Less; It Means Cutting Out Counterproductive Distractions And The Perception Of Being Rushed.
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Mean
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Just Because Something Has Been A Lot Of Work Or Consumed A Lot Of Time Doesn't Make It Productive Or Worthwhile.
Worthwhile
Consumed
Has Beens
There Is A Direct Correlation Between Am Increased Sphere Of Comfort And Getting What You Want.
Work
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Uncertainty And The Prospect Of Failure Can Be Very Scary Noises In The Shadows. Most People Will Choose Unhappiness Over Uncertainty.
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People
To Enjoy Life, You Don't Need Fancy Nonsense, But You Do Need To Control Your Time And Realize That Most Things Just Aren't As Serious As You Make Them Out To Be.
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You Can Lose Money And Make It Back, You Can't Do That With Time.
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The Opposite Of Love Is Indifference, And The Opposite Of Happiness Is Boredom.
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Opposites
One Of The Bigger Misconceptions Of Learning Is That Many Skills Take A Lifetime To Get World-class At, Or 10,000 Hours To Become World-class At.
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Skills
World
What We Fear Doing Most Is Usually What We Most Need To Do.
Inspirational
Positive
Inspiring
Requiring A Lot Of Time Does Not Make A Task Important.
Important
Doe
Tasks
Happiness Has A Very Short Half-life.
It's Not Enough To Have The Right Answers. You Have To Have The Right Questions.
Answers
Enough
Right Answers
Being Called A Huckster And A Charlatan Started Several Years Ago, So That's Something I'm Accustomed To. In Most Cases, It Doesn't Bother Me.
Years
Cases
Bother
It's Lonely At The Top. Ninety-nine Percent Of People In The World Are Convinced They Are Incapable Of Achieving Great Things, So They Aim For The Mediocre. The Level Of Competition Is Thus Fiercest For "realistic" Goals, Paradoxically Making Them The Most Time-consuming And Energy Consuming. It Is Easier To Raise $10,000,000 Than It Is $1,000,000. It Is Easier To Pick Up The One Perfect 10 In The Bar Than The Five 8s.
Lonely
Ninety Nine
People
Money Doesn't Change You; It Reveals Who You Are When You No Longer Have To Be Nice.
Nice
Being Nice
Who You Are
Doing Less Is Not Being Lazy. Don't Give In To A Culture That Values Personal Sacrifice Over Personal Productivity.
Sacrifice
Giving
Lazy
The Blind Quest For Cash Is A Fool's Errand.
Money
Errands
Quests
Relative Income Uses Two Variables: The Dollar And Time, Usually Hours.
Two
Dollars
Income
The Most Important Actions Are Never Comfortable.
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Business
Important
Most People Are Fast To Stop You Before You Get Started But Hesitate To Get In The Way If You're Moving.
Inspirational
Moving
People
I Do My Best Writing Between 10 P.m. And 5 A.m.. Almost Every Friend I Have Who Is A Consistently Productive Writer, Does Their Best Writing Between 10 P.m. And 8 A.m. My Quota Is Two Crappy Pages Per Day. I Keep It Really Low So I'm Not So Intimidated That I Never Get Started. I Will Do The Gathering Of Interviews And Research Throughout The Day. I'll Get All My Notes And Materials Together And Then I'll Do The Synthesis Between 10 P.m. To Bed, Which Is Usually 4 Or 5 A.m.
Writing
Two
Together
The Only Rules And Limits Are Those We Set For Ourselves
Limits
Do Not Overestimate The Competition And Underestimate Yourself. You Are Better Than You Think.
Self Esteem
Self Confidence
Insecure
The Universe Doesn't Conspire Against You, But It Doesn't Go Out Of Its Way To Line Up The Pins Either. Conditions Are Never Perfect.
Perfect
Lines
Way
At Least Three Time Per Day At Scheduled Times, He Had To Ask Himself The Following Question: Am I Being Productive Or Just Active? Charney Captured The Essence Of This With Less-abstract Wording: Am I Inventing Things To Do To Avoid The Important? He Eliminated All Of The Activities He Used As Crutches And Began To Focus On Demonstrating Results Instead Of Showing Dedication. Dedication Is Often Just Meaningless Work In Disguise. Be Ruthless And Cut The Fat.
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Dedication
Dreamlining Is So Named Because It Applies Timelines To What Most Would Consider Dreams.
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I've Seen The Promised Land, And There Is Good News. You Can Have It All.
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Simplicity Requires Ruthlessness.
Simplicity
Ruthlessness
Nothing Can Match The Wonderment That Comes From Staring Up Into The Star-filled Canopy Above And Realizing That You Are A Part Of That Creation.
Stars
Realizing
Creation
A Recession Is Very Bad For Publicly Traded Companies, But It's The Best Time For Startups. When You Have Massive Layoffs, There's More Competition For Available Jobs, Which Means That An Entrepreneur Can Hire Freelancers At A Lower Cost.
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The Downstream Effects Are Unknown. Do Your Best And Hope For The Best. If You're Improving The World-however You Define That-consider Your Job Well Done.
Jobs
Done
World
Poisonous People Do Not Deserve Your Time. To Think Otherwise Is Masochistic.
Thinking
People
Masochistic
The Decent Method You Follow Is Better Than The Perfect Method You Quit.
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Quitting
Method
There Are No Statues Erected To Critics.
Critics
Statues
People Are Smarter Than You Think. Give Them A Chance To Prove Themselves.
Inspirational
Thinking
People
Emphasize Strengths, Don't Fix Weaknesses.
Work
Weakness
Compile Your To-do List For Tomorrow No Later Than This Evening.
Work
Lists
Evening
I'll Repeat Something You Might Consider Tattooing On Your Forehead: What We Fear Doing Most Is Usually What We Most Need To Do.
Inspirational
Courage
Needs
Doing Something Unimportant Well Does Not Make It Important.
Important
Doe
Wells
What's The Worst That Could Happen?
Entrepreneur
Worst
Fantastic Four
Just A Few Words On Time Management: Forget All About It.
Time
Work
Few Words
In Excess, Most Endeavors And Possessions Take On The Characteristics Of Their Opposite.
Opposites
Excess
Characteristics
Unbeknownst To Most Fun-loving Bipeds, Not All Stress Is Bad. Indeed, The New Rich Don't Aim To Eliminate All Stress. Not In The Least.
Fun
Stress
Rich
There Are Two Components That Are Fundamental To Enjoy Life And Feel Good About Yourself: Continual Learning And Service.
Live Life
Two
Enjoy Life
It's Very Easy To Confuse Confident Motion With Being Productive - And They're Not The Same Thing. Productive To Me Means Measurable Outcomes That Apply To My Most Important To-dos That Positively Affect My Life. That's It.
Mean
Important
Outcomes
For Uncommon Solutions, You Have To Look In Uncommon Places.
Looks
Uncommon
Solutions
By Using Money As The Scapegoat And Work As Our All-consuming Routine, We Are Able To Conveniently Disallow Ourselves To Do Otherwise: 'john, I'd Love To Talk About The Gaping Void I Feel In My Life, The Hopelessness That Hits Me Like A Punch In The Eye Every Time I Start My Computer In The Morning, But I Have So Much Work To Do! I've Got At Least Three Hours Of Unimportant Email To Reply To Before Calling Prospects Who Said 'no' Yesterday. Gotta Run!
Running
Morning
Eye
Most People Can Do Absolutely Awe-inspiring Things. Sometimes They Just Need A Little Nudge.
Motivational
Leadership
Inspiration
I Really Feel Like Knife Skills - Not Just In The Kitchen, But In Life - Are Really Critical.
Knives
Skills
Kitchen
Focus On Being Productive Instead Of Busy.
Productive Work
Focus
Kick Ass
At Its Core, I Don't View Facebook As A Social Network. I Think It Could Become The Driver's License Of The Internet. And Beyond That, It Can Become The Pipes And The Plumbing Upon What Most Of The Internet Is Built. I Think It's Very Well Positioned.
Thinking
Views
Internet
People Really Do Think They Have To Choose Between High Stress And High Reward Jobs, And Low Stress And Low Reward Jobs.
Jobs
Stress
Thinking
Rather Than Spend My Life On Data Entry And Typing, I Also Take Photos On My Iphone Of Business Cards, Wine Labels, Menus, Or Anything I Want To Have Searchable On-the-run.
Running
Wine
Data
I Think Time Management As A Label Encourages People To View Each 24-hour Period As A Slot In Which They Should Pack As Much As Possible.
Thinking
Views
People
It Is Far More Lucrative And Fun To Leverage Your Strengths Instead Of Attempting To Fix All The Chinks In Your Armor. The Choice Is Between Multiplication Of Results Using Strenths Or Incremental Improvement Fixing Weaknesses That Will, At Best, Become Mediocre. Focus On Better Use Of Your Best Weapons Instead Of Constant Repair.
Motivational
Fun
Choices
Different Is Better When It Is More Effective Or More Fun.
Fun
Different
Sports Just Happen To Be Excellent For Avoiding Foreign-language Stage Fright And Developing Lasting Friendships While Still Sounding Like Tarzan.
Sports
Language
Excellent
The Brain Is Where Most People Really Screw Up.
People
Brain
Excitement Is The More Practical Synonym For Happiness, And It Is Precisely What You Should Strive To Chase. It Is The Cure-all.
Inspirational
Excitement
Strive
Having A Size 9 Foot Is Fantastic Because Almost All Of The Shoe Companies Do Their Prototyping In Size 9, So If You Visit A Place Like Nike Headquarters, You Can Try Every Sort Of Wacky, Out-there Model.
Nike
Feet
Shoes
I Have Scary Eyes. I Look Like The Guy In 'american History X,' Yes. I Remember Coming Home From School And Asking My Mum If I Could Get An Eye Transplant, And Of Course She Declined.
Eye
Home
School
Being Selective-doing Less-is The Path Of The Productive. Focus On The Important Few And Ignore The Rest.
Inspiring
Focus
Important
If The Challenge We Face Doesn't Scare Us, Then It's Probably Not That Important.
Fear
Challenges
Important
You Can Enjoy Stargazing Just By Going Out And Learning A Couple Constellations With Your Kids.
Couple
Kids
Going Out
If We Define Risk As 'the Likelihood Of An Irreversible Negative Outcome,' Inaction Is The Greatest Risk Of All.
Risk
Negative
Outcomes
Language Learning Deserves Special Mention. It Is, Bar None, The Best Thing You Can Do To Hone Clear Thinking.
Thinking
Special
Bars
I Didn't Even Like White Wine. Then I Tasted It And Bought A Case. It Was The First Case Of Any Wine I'd Ever Bought.
Wine
White
Firsts
Alternating Periods Of Activity And Rest Is Necessary To Survive, Let Alone Thrive. Capacity, Interest, And Mental Endurance All Wax And Wane. Plan Accordingly.
Inspirational
Endurance
Capacity
Money Is Multiplied In Practical Value Depending On The Number Of W's You Control In Your Life: What You Do, When You Do It, Where You Do It, And With Whom You Do It.
Freedom
Numbers
4 Hour Work Week
The Truth Is That Since The First Book, I Have Wanted To Emulate Benjamin Franklin And Put Together A Healthy, Wealthy And Wise Trilogy And So Healthy Was 'the 4-hour Body,' Wealthy Was 'the 4-hour Workweek' And Then Wise Is 'the 4-hour Chef.'
Wise
Book
Healthy
A Goal Without Real Consequences Is Wishful Thinking. Good Follow-through Doesn't Depend On The Right Intentions. It Depends On The Right Incentives.
Real
Thinking
Goal
People Are Fond Of Using The Its Not What You Know, Its Who You Know Adage As An Excuse For Inaction, As If All Successful People Are Born With Powerful Friends. Nonsense.
Powerful
Successful
People
The Bottom Line Is That You Only Have The Rights You Fight For.
Inspirational
Fighting
Rights
The Start Of The Day Is Often The Best Time To Get Things Done. This Is Somewhat Related To Willpower.
Done
Willpower
I Will Take As A Given That, For Most People, Somewhere Between Six And Seven Billion Of Them, The Perfect Job Is The One That Takes The Least Time.
Jobs
People
Perfect
Slow Down And Remember This: Most Things Make No Difference. Being Busy Is A Form Of Mental Laziness-lazy Thinking And Indiscriminate Action.
Thinking
Differences
Lazy
Think Big And Don't Listen To People Who Tell You It Can't Be Done. Life's Too Short To Think Small.
Inspirational
Life
Successful
The Best Entrepreneurs I've Ever Met Are All Good Communicators. It's Perhaps One Of The Very Few Unifying Factors.
Entrepreneur
Mets
Unifying
Most People Are Good At A Handful Of Things And Utterly Miserable At Most.
Inspirational
People
Miserable
The Key To Having More Time Is Doing Less, And There Are Two Paths To Get There, Both Of Which Should Be Used Together: (1) Define A Short To-do List And (2) Define A Not-to-do List.
Keys
Two
Together
Doing The Unrealistic Is Easier Than Doing The Realistic.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
Converting Your Own Passions Into A Job Is The Fastest Method For Eliminating Any Passion You Once Had.
Jobs
Passion
Method
Information Is Useless If It Is Not Applied To Something Important Or If You Will Forget It Before You Have A Chance To Apply It.
Inspirational
Important
Useless
The Least-crowded Channel For Meeting High Profile Bloggers Is In Person. Email Is The Most Difficult, The Most Crowded... I'm A Top 1,000 Blogger, Not A Top 100 Blogger, And I Get Hundreds Of Pitches By Email Every Week. Most Of Them I Don't Even See Because My Assistant Declines Them.
Email
Assistants
Top 100
Learn To Be Difficult When It Counts
Inspirational
Difficult
Fear Is Your Friend. It Is An Indicator. Sometimes It Shows You What You Shouldn't Do, More Often Than Not It Shows You What You Should Do.
Fear
Sometimes
Should
Work Is An Activity That Is Financially-driven Or One That You'd Like To Do Less Of.
Driven
Activity
The Question You Should Be Asking Isn't, "what Do I Want?" Or "what Are My Goals?" But "what Would Excite Me?
Inspirational
Goal
Asking
The Way We Measure Productivity Is Flawed. People Checking Their Blackberry Over Dinner Is Not The Measure Of Productivity.
People
Dinner
Way
The Golden Years Become Lower-middle-class Life Revisited. That's A Bittersweet Ending.
Inspirational
Years
Class
Learn The Art Of The Pitch And Of Messaging.
Art
Happiness Can Be Bought With A Bottle Of Wine And Has Become Ambiguous Through Overuse.
Wine
Bottles Of Wine
Bottles
If Someone's Criticism Is Completely Unfounded On Data, Then I Don't Want To Hear It. It Doesn't Hold Up To Scrutiny.
Data
Criticism
Want
As Far As Income Goes, There Are Three Currencies In The World; Most People Ignore Two. The Three Currencies Are Time, Income And Mobility, In Descending Order Of Importance. Most People Focus Exclusively On Income.
Order
Two
People
Exercise Is Overrated.
Exercise
Overrated
The Reason I Was Successful In Launching My First Book With Bloggers Is This: I Assumed That I Should Spend As Much Time On A Blogger With A Million-person Readership As I Would Pitching An Editor Of A Publication With A Million Person Subscription-base.
Book
Successful
Editors
I'm Often Asked How I Define "success." It's An Overused Term, But I Fundamentally View This Elusive Beast As A Combination Of Two Things - Achievement And Appreciation. One Isn't Enough: Achievement Without Appreciation Makes You Ambitious But Miserable. Appreciation Without Achievement Makes You Unambitious But Happy.
Appreciation
Views
Two
Creating Demand Is Hard. Filling Demand Is Easier. Don't Create A Product, Then Seek Someone To Sell It To. Find A Market - Define Your Customers - Then Find Or Develop A Product For Them.
Creating
Demand
Easier
The Goal Is Not To Simply Eliminate The Bad, Which Does Nothing More Than Leave You With A Vacuum, But To Pursue And Experience The Best In The World.
Inspirational
Goal
Vacuums
Don’t Follow A Model That Doesn't Work. If The Recipe Sucks, It Doesn't Matter How Good A Cook You Are.
Recipes
Matter
Cooks
Learn To Ask, "if This Is The Only Thing I Accomplish Today, Will I Be Satisfied With My Day?"
Work
Today
Accomplish
Luxury, To Me, Is Not Owning A Lot Of Stuff. Luxury, To Me, Is Feeling Unrushed.
Luxury
Feelings
Stuff
Short, Sweet, And To The Point. Clear Writing, And Therefore Clear Commands, Comes From Clear Thinking. Think Simple.
Sweet
Writing
Simple
If Everyone Is Defining A Problem Or Solving It One Way And The Results Are Subpar, This Is The Time To Ask, What If I Did The Opposite? Don't Follow A Model That Doesn't Work. If The Recipe Sucks, It Doesn't Matter How Good A Cook You Are.
Opposites
What If
Defining
I Gauge Success In Years, Not Weeks. The Weekend Box-office Approach To Book Launches Is Short Sighted And Encourages Crappy Books.
Book
Weekend
Years
When You Elevate The Heels More So Than You Elevate The Sole Of The Foot, You Trigger A Cascade Of Compensations In The Knees And Hips That Cause Tight Hip Flexors, And Then Those Hip Flexors Cause Lower-back Pain.
Pain
Feet
Knees
The Fishing Is Best Where The Fewest Go. There Is Just Less Competition For Bigger Goals.
Fishing
Goal
Competition
People Will Choose Unhappiness Over Uncertainty.
Inspirational
Life
People
There Is Always More Information Than Attention
Attention
Information
Productivity
Which 20% Of Sources Are Causing 80% Of My Problems And Unhappiness? Which 20% Of Sources Are Resulting In 80% Of My Desired Outcomes And Happiness?
Happiness
Desire
Outcomes
Most Inputs Are Useless And Time Is Wasted In Proportion To The Amount That Is Available.
Work
Useless
Input
Everyone Is Going To Binge On A Diet, For Instance, So Plan For It, Schedule It, And Contain The Damage.
Damage Is Done
Schedules
Plans
People Who Avoid All Criticism Fail. It's Destructive Criticism We Need To Avoid, Not Criticism In All Forms.
People
Criticism
Needs
I Do Not Equate Productivity To Happiness. For Most People, Happiness In Life Is A Massive Amount Of Achievement Plus A Massive Amount Of Appreciation. And You Need Both Of Those Things.
Appreciation
People
Achievement
After Decades Of Hauling Telescopes Around In The Back Of Vans And Going Up To High Altitude Locations And So Forth, I Did Finally Build An Observatory, Here On Sonoma Mountain.
Mountain
Telescopes
Location
If You Spend Your Time, Worth $20-25 Per Hour, Doing Something That Someone Else Will Do For $10 Per Hour, It's Simply A Poor Use Of Resources.
Inspirational
Use
Hours
The Best Way To Counter-attack A Hater Is To Make It Blatantly Obvious That Their Attack Has Had No Impact On You.
Hater
Impact
Counter Attack
Pacifists Become Militants. Freedom Fighters Become Tyrants. Blessings Become Curses. Help Becomes Hindrance. More Becomes Less.
Blessing
Tyrants
Helping
But If It's Tolerable Mediocrity, And You're Like, 'well, You Know It Could Be Worse. At Least I'm Getting Paid.' Then You Wind Up In A Job That Is Slowly Killing Your Soul And You're Allowing That To Happen. Comfort Can Be A Very, Very Dangerous Thing.
Jobs
Wind
Soul
For All Of The Most Important Things, The Timing Always Sucks. Waiting For A Good Time To Quit Your Job? The Stars Will Never Align And The Traffic Lights Of Life Will Never All Be Green At The Same Time. The Universe Doesn't Conspire Against You, But It Doesn't Go Out Of Its Way To Line Up The Pins Either. Conditions Are Never Perfect. "someday" Is A Disease That Will Take Your Dreams To The Grave With You. Pro And Con Lists Are Just As Bad. If It's Important To You And You Want To Do It "eventually," Just Do It And Correct Course Along The Way.
Inspirational
Dream
Stars
I Have Plenty Of Money To Do What I Want To Do, And I Have The Relationships.
Want
Plenty
A Person's Success In Life Can Usually Be Measured By The Number Of Uncomfortable Conversations He Or She Is Willing To Have.
Inspirational
Life
Numbers
One Can Steal Ideas, But No One Can Steal Execution Or Passion.
Inspirational
Passion
Black And White
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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