Sam Altman on Focus Quotes

"The best way to get work done is to be very focused and have a very clear goal."

"Minimize your own cognitive load from distracting things."

"I try to stay focused on the long term."

"I think it is very important to have blocks of time where you can just think."

"It’s much better to do one thing perfectly than ten things poorly."

"You have to be a little bit crazy to start a company."

"The most important thing is to find something that you can be obsessed with."

"Saying no is a superpower. It allows you to protect your focus for the things that will actually change the world."

"Focus is a force multiplier on vision."

"Energy and focus are the two things that matter most for output."

"Don't get caught up in status games. Focus on the actual output and the goal."

"I make sure to leave enough time in my schedule to think about what to do."

"The most impressive people I know spend a lot of time thinking about what to work on."

"Don't get distracted by the noise."

"Saying no to things that are 'good' so you can say yes to things that are 'great' is the hardest part of focus."

"One of the most important things I've learned is to ignore the noise and focus on the signals that actually lead to growth."

"Extreme people get extreme results."

"Distraction is the enemy of great work."

"Stay focused on the user."

"I think the most successful people are the ones who are the most focused."

"If you are not working on the most important problem in your field, why not?"

"Saying no to distractions is the only way to say yes to your primary goal."

"A small amount of focus on the right thing is worth a huge amount of focus on the wrong thing."

"You have to be willing to say no to a lot of things to be able to say yes to the one or two things that truly matter."

"The secret to high output is to work on a very small number of things and to be extremely intense about them."

"I think focus is a huge force multiplier."

"Extreme focus is required for extreme success. You can't do everything, and if you try, you'll end up doing nothing well."

"If you are working on a problem that doesn't matter, it's very hard to get the best people to work with you."

"Be internally driven, not externally validated."

"Intelligence and energy are the two most important characteristics for a founder."

"It’s very hard to do a startup if you’re not determined."

"Focus is about saying no to a thousand good ideas so you can say yes to the one great one."

"You need to have a core of self-belief that is not shaken by what other people think."