Quotes About Focus

focused, yet he dazzled and baffled colleagues by suddenly changing his mind when he realized he needed to think different.

look carefully and separately at each detail. He compared it to looking at the page of a book, which is meaningless when taken in as a whole and instead needs to be looked at word by word. Deep observation must be done in steps: "If you wish to have a sound knowledge of the forms of objects, begin with the details of them, and do not go on to the second step until you have the first well fixed in memory."23

Fans inside computers were not Zen-like; they distracted.

One of the basic lessons for innovation is to stay focused.

So starting in 1999 Apple began to produce application software for the Mac, with a focus

order to do a good job of those things that we decide to do, we must eliminate all of the unimportant opportunities.

Visions without execution are hallucinations.31

For the rest of his career, Jobs would understand the needs and desires of customers better than any other business leader, he would focus on a handful of core products, and he would care, sometimes obsessively, about marketing and image and even the details of packaging.

As his father and others knew when they drew up the strict contract for his commission, Leonardo at twenty-nine was more easily distracted by the future than he was focused on the present. He was a genius undisciplined by diligence.

Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do," he said. "That's true for companies, and it's true for products.

Hertzfeld replied that he needed a couple more days to finish the Apple II product he was in the middle of. "What's more important than working on the Macintosh?" Jobs demanded. Hertzfeld explained that he needed to

al lograr que Apple se centrara en fabricar únicamente cuatro modelos de ordenadores, Jobs salvó la empresa. «Decidir lo que no hay que hacer es tan importante como decidir lo que hay que hacer

Decidir qué es lo que no se debe hacer es tan importante como decidir qué se debe hacer —comentó—. Esto es válido para las empresas y es válido para los productos.

slow and steady diligence is the true way to wealth.

I will not slip my dog before the game's a-foot.—But

You've gotta keep control of your time, and you can't unless you say no. You can't let people set your agenda in life.

We don't have to be smarter than the rest. We have to be more disciplined than the rest.

Intensity is the price of excellence.

Thomas J. Watson Sr. of IBM followed the same rule: "I'm no genius," he said. "I'm smart in spots—but I stay around those spots.")

In the 54 years (Charlie Munger and I) have worked together, we have never forgone an attractive purchase because of the macro or political environment, or the views of other people. In fact, these subjects never come up when we make decisions.

Focus on the Forest — Forget the Trees Investors who evaluate Berkshire sometimes obsess on the details of our many and diverse businesses — our economic "trees," so to speak. Analysis of that type can be mind-numbing, given that we own a vast array of specimens, ranging from twigs to redwoods. A few of our trees are diseased and unlikely to be around a decade from now. Many others, though, are destined to grow in size and beauty.

The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.

Loss of focus is what most worries Charlie and me when we contemplate investing in businesses that in general look outstanding. All too often, we've seen value stagnate in the presence of hubris or of boredom that caused the attention of managers to wander.

You only have to do a few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.