The 4-Hour Work Week

unless something is well-defined and important, no one should do it. Eliminate before you delegate.

By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day.

Practice the art of getting past “no” before proposing.

All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.

It’s not that you don’t know what to do. Of course you do. You are just terrified that you might end up worse off than you are now.

Even getting rid of things I never used proved to be like a capitalist short-circuit. It was hard to toss things I had once thought were valuable enough to spend money on.

Before spending time on a stress-inducing question, big or otherwise, ensure that the answer is “yes” to the following two questions: Have I decided on a single meaning for each term in this question? Can an answer to this question be acted upon to improve things?

If you can’t define it or act upon it, forget it.

Sharpening your logical and practical mental toolbox is not being an atheist or unspiritual. It’s not being crass and it’s not being superficial. It’s being smart and putting your effort where it can make the biggest difference for yourself and others.

I BELIEVE THAT life exists to be enjoyed and that the most important thing is to feel good about yourself.

If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake.

Focus on great for a few things and good enough for the rest. Perfection is a good ideal and direction to have, but recognize it for what it is: an impossible destination.

Happiness shared in the form of friendships and love is happiness multiplied.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking

SLOW DANCE Have you ever watched kids On a merry-go-round? Or listened to the rain Slapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight? Or gazed at the sun into the fading night? You better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last. Do you run through each day On the fly? When you ask: How are you? Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed With the next hundred chores Running through your head? You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last. Ever told your child, We’ll do it tomorrow? And in your haste, Not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die Cause you never had time To call and say, “Hi”? You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last. When you run so fast to get somewhere You miss half the fun of getting there. When you worry and hurry through your day, It is like an unopened gift thrown away. Life is not a race. Do take it slower. Hear the music Before the song is over.

Make this trade a habit. Let the small bad

Make this trade a habit. Let the small bad things happen and make the big good things happen.

Eat a high-protein breakfast within 30 minutes of waking and go for a 10-to-20-minute walk outside afterward, ideally bouncing a handball or tennis ball.

Considering options costs attention that then can’t be spent on action or present-state awareness.

Don’t postpone decisions just to avoid uncomfortable conversations.