Overload

In, "A Few Thoughts on Cognitive Overload," David Kirsh, Cognitive Science professor at UCSD, identifies one source of stress that hit close to home today:

"And no matter what we have found so far,  most people harbor a lingering belief that even more relevant information lies outside, somewhere, and if found will save having to duplicate effort."

Moderation

The man who works so moderately as to be able to work constantly not only preserves his health the longest, but in the course of the year, executes the greatest quantity of work.
- Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, 1776

Complaining

We all need an occasional reminder. Here's a clever one.

Don't tell your problems to people: eighty percent don't care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them.

Lou Holz

Edison

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
-Thomas Edison

Edison made his fortune as a result of his willingness to get his hands dirty and get to work.  He was in New York, looking for ways to make money to help his ailing mother.  He noticed a group of people gathered around a broken stock ticker, and was probably astonished at their inability or unwillingness to try and fix it.  He stepped up, examined it, replaced a loose spring, and voila!  The owner of the ticker was so impressed he offered him a job to maintain all their mechanical equipment, for a hefty salary of $300 per month.  According to this inflation calculator, that's roughly the equivalent of $5,000 per month in today's dollars.  Not bad!  Moreover, this new foray into stock tickers led to the sale of one of his stock ticker patents for $40,000.  That's $665,000 in today's dollars!  That chunk of capital funded his invention factory that changed the world.

Biographical and quote sources: biography.com and thomasedison.com.

Entreleadership

Henry Ford:
"Those who never make mistakes work for those of us who do."