Distracting reactions about anything undermine a clear mind about anything else.
In Ireland we have a very old saying, When you can see the mountains it’s going to rain and when you can’t see the mountains it’s raining.
The great secret about goals and visions is not the future they describe but the change in the present they engender.
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. – Mark Twain.
It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do. – Elbert Hubbard.
Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. – Jonathan Kozol.
You must use your mind to get things off your mind.
Every now and then go away and have a little relaxation. To remain constantly at work will diminish your judgment. Go some distance away, because work will be in perspective and a lack of harmony is more readily seen. – Leonardo da Vinci.
Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. – Dee Hock.
The beginning is half of every action.
You are the captain of your own ship; the more you act from that perspective, the better things will go for you.
Reacting is automatic, but thinking is not.
There are no problems, only projects.
Get a purge for your brain. It will do better than for your stomach. – Michel Eyquem de Montaigne.
But if you don’t decide what needs to be done about your secretary’s birthday, because it’s “not that important” right now, that open loop will take up energy and prevent you from having a totally effective, clear focus on what is important.
Interestingly, one of the biggest problems with most people’s personal management systems is that they blend a few actionable things with a large amount of data and material that has value but no action attached.
Don’t just do something. Stand there. – Rochelle Myer.
Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. – Saint Francis of Assisi.
When people know they have a process in place to handle any situation, they are more relaxed. When they’re relaxed, everything improves. More gets done, with less effort, and a host of other wonderful side effects emerge that add to the outcomes of their efforts and the quality of their life.
It is a tricky business to know when you should set goals and objectives in order to achieve a focus, and when you would be better off dealing with the acceptance and management of your current reality so you can later step into new directions and responsibilities with greater stability and clarity. Only you will know the answer to that, and only in the moment.