James Clear Quotes

The longer I live, the more I notice how valuable it is to do one simple thing: be kind.

– When someone does a good job, tell them.<br/>– When someone makes a mistake, forgive them.<br/>– When someone tells you their problems, listen.

Being kind barely costs a thing. You'll hardly remember you did it, but the other person may never forget that you did.

Frankly, the most valuable items in our house might be a squat rack, a bench, and a set of weights. I thought I was purchasing gym equipment, but I was actually buying peace of mind.

Success is often found by practicing the fundamentals everyone knows they should be doing, but find too boring or basic to practice routinely.

Good marketing can sell once, but only a good product can sell twice.

In the long run, your performance reverts to the value you provide.

The most invisible form of wasted time is doing a good job on an unimportant task.

Most failures are one-time costs. Most regrets are recurring costs.

The pain of inaction stings longer than the pain of incorrect action.

Imagine the outcome you want to create.

Envision where you are headed in great detail. Don't talk yourself out of it. Don't encourage yourself to be realistic. You will have to wrestle with reality soon enough. Don't be your own bottleneck at this stage.

What would the magical outcome be?

Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.

There are many situations in life you do not control, but you often contribute to them.

I cannot control the rain, but I can control my clothing.

I cannot control your feelings, but I can control my kindness.

I cannot control my opponent, but I can control my response.

You cannot control most outcomes in life, but you can usually influence them. Releasing your attachment to the results does not mean releasing your responsibility to the situation.

Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat.

Four questions that can tell you a lot:

1. When you wake up, do you expect today to have many joys or many frustrations?
2. When presented with an opportunity, do you have a bias toward action or do you postpone decisions?
3. When things go well for others, do you enjoy cheering them on or do you hate to hear about their success?
4. When things go wrong, do you believe it is your responsibility to improve the situation or do you blame others?

Mastery requires lots of practice. But the more you practice something, the more boring and routine it becomes.

Thus, an essential component of mastery is the ability to maintain your enthusiasm. The master continues to find the fundamentals interesting.

Do less. Keep returning to one thing and continue to refine it.

Wealth is the power to choose.

Financial wealth is the power to choose how to spend money.

Social wealth is the power to choose who to hang out with.

Time wealth is the power to choose how to spend your day.

Mental wealth is the power to choose how to spend your attention.

Your choices create leverage. Your habits unleash leverage.

A good initial choice (like choosing the right thing to work on or the right person to work with) can deliver 100x payoff. However, if you don't have great habits, then great choices are just potential energy.

Ideally, you'll have both.