Practical productivity advice from 30+ mentors for speedy business growth

“Focus on being productive instead of busy.”

Tim Ferriss, American podcaster, author and entrepreneur

2. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”

Dale Carnegie, American writer

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3. “Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.”

Franz Kafka, writer

4. “It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less.”

Nathan W. Morris, author and finance expert

5. “My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.”

Francine Jay, author

6. “You can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool your own mind.”

David Allen, author and productivity consultant

7. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Wayne Gretzky, Canadian former professional ice hockey player

8. “Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.”

Leo Babauta, blogger

9. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

Albert Einstein, German theoretical physicist

10. “Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.”

Michael Jordan, American basketball player

11. “The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.”

Benjamin E. Mays, American civil rights leader

12. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”

Bruce Lee, actor

13. “Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.”

Peter Drucker, management consultant

14. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Walt Disney, American entrepreneur

15. “You don’t need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment.”

Seth Godin, American author

16. “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”

Warren Buffett, American business magnate, investor, speaker and philanthropist

17. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

Steve Jobs, American business magnate and investor

18. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”

Oprah Winfrey, American media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer and philanthropist

19. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Albert Einstein, German theoretical physicist

20. “Lost time is never found again.”

Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States

21. “Gentleness doesn’t get work done unless you happen to be a hen laying eggs.”

Coco Chanel, French fashion designer

22. “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”

Oscar Wilde, Irish writer

23. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”

Muhammad Ali, American professional boxer

24. “Action is the foundational key to all success.”

Picasso, Spanish painter

25. “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.”

Peter Drucker, management consultant

26. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

Stephen King, American author

27. “The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.”

Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States

28. “We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.”

Herb Kelleher, American billionaire airline executive and lawyer

29. “You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.”

Tony Robbins, American author, philanthropist and life coach

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30. “If there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one.”

Jack Ma, Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist

31. “Why do anything unless it is going to be great?”

Peter Block, American author and consultant

32. “Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!”

Tony Robbins, American author, philanthropist and life coach

33. “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.”

Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter

34. “Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.”

Peter Drucker, management consultant

35. “Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.”

Bruce Lee, actor

36. “Ordinary people think merely of spending time, great people think of using it.”

Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

37. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

Stephen Covey, American educator, author and businessman

38. “Discussion is an exchange of knowledge an argument an exchange of ignorance.”

Robert Quillen, American journalist

39. “When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.”

Warren Buffett, American business magnate, investor, speaker and philanthropist

40. “Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.”

Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author

 

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