“What studies say the number one best way to start an exercise habit is to give yourself a reward that you genuinely enjoy.”

I think I’m smart, and I know I was a good mom. But there wasn’t a lot I could point to and say, that’s why I’m special.

There’s something about it that makes other good habits easier.

Hiding what you know is sometimes as important as knowing it.

If you want to do something that requires willpower – like going for a run after work – you have to conserve your willpower muscle during the day.

Habits are malleable throughout your entire life.

The best agencies understood the importance of routines. The worst agencies were headed by people who never thought about it, and then wondered why no one followed their orders.

Companies aren’t families. They’re battlefields in a civil war.

Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage.

Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.

If you believe you can change – if you make it a habit – the change becomes real.

The problem is that your brain can’t tell the difference between bad and good habits, and so if you have a bad one, it’s always lurking there, waiting for the right cues and rewards.

Since the 17th century, insurance agents have been the foremost experts on risk.

Once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom and the responsibility to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp and the only option left is to get to work.

Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.

It is facile to imply that smoking, alcoholism, overeating, or other ingrained patters can be upended without real effort. Genuine change requires work and self-understanding of the cravings driving behaviours.

The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.

Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.

Do your best and God will do the rest.

If you can’t handle someone at their worst then you don’t deserve them when they are at their best.

We decided that if we get the culture right, most of the stuff, like building a brand around delivering the very best customer service, will just take care of itself.

A high performer is someone who says, ‘I want to be the best at what I’m doing.’

The best way to truly understand narrative art is to experience it.

Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any of his best wishes.

A penguin cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin you can be.