“The only way to overcome your fears is to "do the thing you fear," as Emerson wrote, "and the death of fear is certain.”

“Anytime you stop striving to get better, you're bound to get worse.

“You perform at your highest potential only when you are focusing on the most valuable use of your time. This is the key to personal and business success. It is the central issue in personal efficiency and time management. You must always be asking yourself, What is the most valuable use of my time right now? Discipline yourself to work exclusively on the one task that, at any given time, is the answer to this question. Keep yourself on track and focused on your most important responsibilities by asking yourself, over and over, What is the most valuable use of my time right now? How you can apply this law immediately: 1. Remember that you can do only one thing at a time. Stop and think before you begin. Be sure that the task you do is the highest-value use of your time. Remind yourself that anything else you do while your most important task remains undone is a relative waste of time. 2. Be clear about the most valuable work that you do for your organization. Whatever it is, resolve to concentrate on doing that specific task before anything else. Why are you on the payroll? What specific, tangible, measurable results are expected of you? And of all the different results you are capable of achieving, which are the most important to your career at this moment? Whatever the answer, this is where you must focus your energies, and nowhere else.”

“You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.”

“Priorities versus Posteriorities Setting priorities requires setting posteriorities as well. A priority is something that you do more of and sooner, whereas a posteriority is something you do less of or later. You are probably already overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time. Because of this, for you to embark on a new task, you must discontinue an old task. Getting into something new requires getting out of another activity. Before you commit to a new undertaking, ask yourself, “What am I going to stop doing so that I have enough time to work on this new task?” Go through your life regularly and practice “creative abandonment”: Consciously determine the activities that you are going to discontinue so that you have more time to spend on those tasks that can really make a difference to your future.”

“Never talk about the content. Talk about the outcome.”

“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and  farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your  thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.”

“Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives  you a 1,000 percent Return on Energy!”

“Epictetus, a Greek philosopher, once wrote, “Circumstances do not make the man. They merely reveal him to himself.”

“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.”

“Your decision to be, have and do something out of ordinary entails facing  difficulties that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is  simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.”

“Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and importance, although  difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.”

“Rule: It is the quality of time at work that counts and the quantity of time at home that matters.”

“There's only one direction you can coast.”

“The most important success principle of all was stated by Elbert Hubbard, one of the most prolific writers in American history, at the beginning of the twentieth century. He said, ‘Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”