When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Recorded Henry R. Kravis said elsewhere, not written here
You have to do something like that to get rid of the tension, take your mind off what you are doing.

Academy of Achievement, 12 February 1991 source ↗

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Cheryl Strayed Author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things
I’m a super big fan of list making. I’m like the list queen. And every problem I have ever had has been solved by a list. You write down all the reasons for this, and all the reasons for the other thing, and then there are sub-lists. You can color code them. You can get highlighters. And the answer is there.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show, The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss, 22 June 2018 source ↗
Katie Taylor Irish professional boxer; Olympic champion 2012
There are days when I wake up and don't want to move, but you must show up!
Recorded RTÉ, 7 July 2025 source ↗
Neil Gaiman Author of fiction, comics and screenplays
And when things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn’t matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art.
Recorded 134th Commencement, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, University of the Arts (uarts.edu), via the Internet Archive, 17 May 2012 source ↗
Mohamed ElBaradei Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, 1997-2009; Nobel Peace Prize 2005
First of all, you learn to manage stress. You learn to live with stress. I mean, stress is there all the time. There’s no question about it. It’s in the morning. It’s at night. It’s at 3:00 in the morning, but you need to learn how to manage stress. Sometimes it’s more difficult than others, but you try to distract yourself. Whenever I have the chance, I like to go and have a round of golf. I have a passion for modern art. I have a passion for antique carpets, classical music. To me, these are distractions, and sometimes my wife, she think I’m obsessed with these little things, but I tell her it is my way of distracting myself from just constantly continuing about my work. But the stress is there. But sometimes, the euphoria you get from a sense of achievement in many ways compensates all the stress you had for a year or two.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 2006 source ↗

More from Henry R. Kravis

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Question Which teacher, parent, coach or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them? Relationships
I had a teacher who was a great influence on me, when I was in boarding school at Loomis, Jim Wilson. He was my economics teacher and he was also my dorm head. I didn’t know what economics was before I took this course. I was really moved by the course. I was moved by him. That’s probably one of the reasons I chose the field of business.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview source ↗

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