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Very few problems need to be solved at the twelfth or fifteenth hour of a workday… Nearly everything can wait until morning.

People have no problem with change they asked for. What people don’t like is forced change – change they didn’t request on a timeline they didn’t choose.

…making quick, opportunistic, tangible gambits only modestly related to a desired outcome – is in many instances the most effective way of tackling big problems.

…a series of [small wins] increases the likelihood of serious change by setting in motion a dynamic that favors a next step and makes the next solvable problem more visible.

Moments of insight – the culmination of meaning in a brief time span – tend to occur when we are relaxed, when we put aside our problem for a while, or when we are doing something out of character.

One of the central identity problems that has to be worked out during a career transition is deciding on the story that links the old and new self.

The most typical problem at mid career is not defining what kind of work we find enjoyable and meaning. Rather, it is figuring out how to transfer old preferences and values to new and different contexts…

…the first problem influencers often face is that good behaviors feel bad while bad behaviors feel good.

Many of the profound and persistent problems we face stem more from a lack of skill… than from a genetic curse, a lack of courage, or a character flaw.

…what’s the first step to changing norms? It’s breaking the code of silence around the problem that always sustains the status quo.