David Allen Quotes !

[Gary_89]

Hey,
I really wanted to start a thread with some of David's popular/favorite quotes. Be sure to add yours !

"Then you are at black belt," he said. "My karate teacher once told me that the true sign of a black belt is not that you operate at peak performance every minute of every day but that you are in tune with yourself to know when you are out of balance and know exactly what you must do to get that balance back."

 

[DenaDahilig]

Hey, I really wanted to start a thread with some of David's popular/favorite quotes. Be sure to add yours !

"There is no spoon."

No, wait... my mistake...

But, really, it could have been him, don't ya think?

Dena

 

[Mike in Winnipeg]

In a Live Seminar on Tape, He's making an analogy between being black belt with GTD and karate.

"When they jump you in a dark alley, it's too late to train."

and...

"With speed comes power that's why petite people can break boards, it's the crack at the end of the whip. Speed comes with relaxation and relaxation doesn't mean flaccid it means power... now you can tell me if this applies to anything other then a karate punch."

LOL, I thought maybe he was talking about sex here.

 

[kkuja]

Few of my favourites:

"Make it up. Make it happen."

"If you don't pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves."

"You don't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it."

This is actually quote David quoted: "Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference."

 

[ArcCaster]

"A sign of GTD blackbelt is the twinkle in the eye in everything you do"

 

[supergtdman]

"i fall off the GTD wagon all the time" lol

 

[Gary_89]

"I know what I am not doing and I accept it."

"Your ability to relax is directly proportional to your productivity"

 

[Almost Done]

I heard these on the tape, not sure if they are DAs or another's:

What doing is most aligned with my being?

The absence of fear is not courage, but the recognition that something is more important than fear
-I am pretty sure that is not DA, but couldn't find the source when I looked online

 

[wcartmill]

Doing small things.............

Anyone remember the saying about ....doing small things consistiently.......
I just can't remeber the whole saying.

 

[John Forrister]

Anyone remember the saying about ....doing small things consistiently.......
I just can't remeber the whole saying.

Small things done consistently in strategic places create major impact.

David mentions this in Ready for Anything. Not sure that he originated it.

http://goo.gl/B60m5

 

[anika_perry]

I love all his quotes but most of them are long. This is the one that I can really remember I know what I am not doing and I accept it.

 

[jesig]

I made a post yesterday about breaking down contexts into even smaller contexts, to the point that they're off my mind, and that reminded me of one of my favorite DA quotes, which I'm sure I'm going to be off by a word or two... "Your system needs to be as simple as it can, but no simpler."

 

[Tado]

“Psychologists say Distributed Cognition, I say Write it down”

“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”

"Your system needs to be as simple as it can, but no simpler."

"Small things done consistently in strategic places create major impact."

"Don't trust your mind to remind you to do something"

"When they jump you in a dark alley, it's too late to train."

All David Allen quotes !

 

[GrantH]

How does it go....?

"You need to think more than you think but not as much as you think you need to think."

I've seen it in writing before but can't find the correct DA quote. Any help is appreciated!

 

[TesTeq]

Thinking about your stuff.

"You need to think more than you think but not as much as you think you need to think."

I've seen it in writing before but can't find the correct DA quote. Any help is appreciated!

"You have to think about your stuff more than you realize but not as much as you’re afraid you might."
(Thinking about your stuff)

 

[JakeInBrighton]

Two of my favorite David Allen quotes:

"You must be willing to admit what you don’t yet feel is under control before you can deal with it positively."

“When you start to make things happen, you really begin to believe that you can make things happen. And that makes things happen.”

 

[CJSullivan]

"Your ability to relax is directly proportional to your productivity"

I remember it as "Your ability to be productive is directly proportional to your ability to relax"... and it's so true!

 

[TesTeq]

If A = k * B then B = A / k.

According to my math knowledge if A is proportional to B then B is proportional to A.

If A = k * B then B = A / k

• where k is the proportionality constant not equal to zero.

 

[CJSullivan]

According to my math knowledge if A is proportional to B then B is proportional to A.

If A = k * B then B = A / k

• where k is the proportionality constant not equal to zero.

Yes, you could definitely say that you're more relaxed when you're more productive, couldn't you? But at the risk of assuming too much, I'm thinking David would self-identify as being in the productivity business and not the relaxation business! (...but perhaps not...?!!)

(This is, of course, all good-humoured twittering about semantics and not to be taken as anyone on the Forums as us being stroppy or argumentative!)

 

[laurenyoppen]

"Make it up. Make it happen."

This is my favorite one. It makes me feel motivated to just do it!