I eventually learned to cook by focusing on two principles. Both of them apply to all learning and will be your constant companions throughout this book: failure points and the margin of safety.
The best defense is a good offense. – DAN GABLE, Olympic gold medalist in wrestling.
A Lonely Place Is an Unmotivated Place.
I used to resent obstacles along the path, thinking, “If only that hadn’t happened life would be so good.” Then I suddenly realized, life is the obstacles. There is no underlying path. Our role here is to get better at navigating those obstacles. I strive to find calm, measured responses and to see hindrances as a chance to problem-solve.
A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days.” –Annie Dillard.
Diversity in counsel, unity in command.” –Cyrus the Great.
We are simultaneously gods and worms.” – Abraham Maslow.
No one is qualified to tell you how you experience the world.” Vlad Zamfir.
Lose an hour in the morning, chase it all day.” – a Yiddish saying, author unknown.
Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity. You’ll avoid the tough decisions, and you’ll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted.” – Colin Powell.
The genuine love for reading itself, when cultivated, is a superpower. We live in the age of Alexandria, when every book and every piece of knowledge ever written down is a fingertip away. The means of learning are abundant – it’s the desire to learn that’s scarce. Cultivate that desire by reading what you want, not what you’re “supposed to.
I will often write “GO FIRST” in my morning journal as a daily prompt.
Any useful statement about the future should at first seem ridiculous’ by Jim Dator. Also, ‘When it comes to the future, it’s far more important to be imaginative than to be right’ by Alvin Toffler. Both are famous futurists. These quotes remind me that world-changing ideas will seem absurd to most people, and that the most useful work I can be doing is to push the envelope of what is considered possible.
Not Dead, Can’t Quit.
Failure isn’t always durable. You can go back and you can look at it and go, ‘Oh, that wasn’t a failure. That was a key moment of my development that I needed to take, and I can trust my instinct. I really can’.
The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting.
Define the worst case, accept it, and do it.
Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all. When people suggest you follow your “passion” or your “bliss,” I propose that they are, in fact, referring to the same singular concept: excitement. This brings us full circle. The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?
The best results in life are often held back by false constructs and untested assumptions.
If you’re having trouble making yourself happy, try to make someone else happy.
Goals: Setting and Achieving Them on Schedule, How to Stay Motivated, and Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar: “Zig is your grandfather and my grandfather. He’s Tony Robbins’s grandfather. None of us would be here if it weren’t for Zig.