Highlights
What would you do then, if you didn't need the money and didn't need the attention?
Our actions always reveal our real values.
Your actions show you what you actually want. There are two smart reactions to this: 1. Stop lying to yourself, and admit your real priorities 2. Start doing what you say you want to do, and see if it's really true
Look around at those existing ideas in the world. You can imitate them and still be offering something valuable and unique.
Old opinions shouldn't define who we are in the future.
Never forget that the public you is not you.
How you do anything is how you do everything. It all matters. Your actions are completely under your control, and seem to be the best indicator of future success.
My culture isn't in the center. It's off on the edge, like one petal in a flower, like they all are. Not right or wrong — just one of many options.
You won't act differently until you think of yourself differently. So start by taking one small action that will change your self-identity.
If you're not feeling "Hell yeah, that would be awesome!" about something, say no. It's an easier decision. Say not to almost everything. This starts to free your time and mind.
Refuse almost everything. Do almost nothing. But the things you do, do them all the way.
People say that your first reaction is the most honest, but I disagree. Your first reaction is usually outdated. Either it's an answer you came up with long ago and now use instead of thinking, or it's a knee-jerk emotional response to something in your past.
Before you start something, think of the ways it could end. Sometimes the smart choice is to say no to the whole game.
Half of my effort wasn't effort at all, but unnecessary stress that made me feel like I was doing my best.
You get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming. It's rate, now, to focus. And it gives such better rewards.
It's so important to separate the real goal from the old mental associations. We have old dreams. We have images we want to re-create. They're hard to untangle from the result we really want. They come excuses, and reasons to procrastinate.
The next time you're feeling extremely unmotivated, do the things that you never want to do anyway.
Instead of comparing up to the next-higher situation, compare down to the next-lower one.
Great insights comes only from opening your mind to many options.
Most people overestimate what they can do in one year, and underestimate what they can do in ten years.
Many people are so worried about looking good that they never do anything great. Many people are so worried about doing something great that they never do anything at all.
Now you're the person who made things happen, made a mistake, and can learn from it. Now you're in control and there's nothing to complain about.
Seeking patterns in randomness is called apophenia.
The excitement is in finding, not keeping.
We're clearly bad judges of our own creations. We should just put them out there and let the world decide.
The public me is not the real me anyway, so if they judge my public persona, that's fine.
One professor had the winning idea: Don't make any walkways this year. At the end of the year, look where the grass has worn away. That shows where the students are walking. Then just pave those paths. So when should you make decisions? When you have the most information, when you're at your smartest: as late as possible.
Cultivating a long attention span for my child: Whatever he is doing right now, that's the most important thing. So I encourage him to keep doing it as long as possible. Our adult brain wanders to all the other things we could be doing. But I let it go, and return to that present focus. What's more important? Checking your phone or being present?
If you never put your thoughts into writing, it's extra-sad that your thoughts will die with you too.
The solution is deliberate unlearning. 1. Doubt what you know. 2. Stop the habit of thinking you know it. 3. Require current proof that it's still true today. Otherwise, let it go.
It's easy to think I need something else to be happier. It's hard to look instead at what to remove.
What matters is what you get out of the work or art, not the person who made it.
To get smarter, you need to get surprised, think in new ways, and deeply understand different perspectives.
Don't focus on the example itself. Use it as a metaphor, and apply the lesson to your situation.
What does it mean? Nothing at all. Nothing has inherent meaning. It is what it is and that's it. We just choose to project meaning onto things. It feels good to make stories.
Judge a goal by how well it changes your actions in the present moment.