Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
First practice not letting people know who you are — keep your philosophy to yourself for a bit. In just the manner that fruit is produced — the seed buried for a season, hidden, growing gradually so it may come to full maturity. But if the grain sprouts before the stalk is fully developed, it will never ripen... That is the kind of plant you are, displaying fruit too soon, and the winter will kill you. — Epictetus, Discourses, 4.8.35b-37
"This is your wake-up call! You may not have even realized you were sleep-walking. Most of us are most of the time. Awareness is an eye-opener. It's Anthony de Mello telling you gently but firmly, 'It's time to get up now.'" --Charles Osgood of "CBS Sunday Morning" and "The Osgood File"
"Awareness will be the critical test of American business in the next decade. I call it the 'business of awareness.'" --F.X. Maguire, Hearth Communications Group
Ok, so opinions for this one are also divided. Basically, the idea is to get rid of any clutter on your desk before starting work. Wit a clean and orderly desk, there's really nothing else for you to do but focus on the work. Of course, don't forget the Einstein quote:
"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then is and empty desk a sign?"
[Deuteronomy 8-10 New International Version (NIV)]
8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
