When you focus on trying to...

When you focus on trying to specialize in everything you end up becoming nothing. Rather focus on specializing in a small set of things and see your demand grow.

Your success depends upon how well you listen to yourself

It doesn’t matter how much of this 'acceptance' you gain. It will never heal you. Because it is not true acceptance—rather, it’s compliance with the fiction planted at the very center of your life—it will never be enough.

Learn from fields very different from...

Learn from fields very different from your own. They each have ways of thinking that can be useful at surprising times. Just learning to think like an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a philosopher will beneficially stretch your mind.

One must be pitiless about...

One must be pitiless about this matter of "mood." In a sense, the writing will create the mood. ... I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes ... and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.

A new perspective can improve your old methods

The longer you're a teacher, the less you remember what it is like to be a student. The longer you're a doctor, the less you remember what it is like to be a patient. The longer you're a coach, the less you remember what it is like to be a player. Change positions. A new perspective can improve your old methods.

Do less but do better

Any energy that goes into what doesn't matter comes at the expense of what does. With a little extra time, you can raise the standard from good enough to great. Narrow the focus. Raise the standard. And set yourself apart.

Be Clear About The Essential Intent

We can’t know what obstacles to remove until we are clear on the desired outcome. When we don’t know what we’re really trying to achieve, all change is arbitrary. So ask yourself, “How will we know when we are done?”