You need to hang around younger people

It may hurt your ego but you need to hang around younger people. They keep you energized & on top of the trends.

Find something to be proud of

Pride gets a bad rap these days. They associate it with something morally inferior. But pride is what built civilisations. Pride kept people going when they wanted to quit. You don't need to lose yourself to enjoy pride. Don't allow ego to pollute your mind, but do acknowledge your wins. Pride is an emotion to be nurtured because it keeps us rigid when we might otherwise succumb.

Be intolerant of thoughts that bring you down

We are humans, and thoughts continually arise. Many of these thoughts distract us and make us feel pain. Unhelpful and negative thoughts are not something you can stop at will, but you can be intolerant of taking them seriously. People struggle and feel flat because they hold on to unhelpful thoughts. You must develop the skill of letting go.

When your attention is away from yourself

Commit yourself to projects that contribute to the well-being of other people. When your attention is away from yourself and towards growing your usefulness, we feel inspired by default.

Because you are always needed

Picture a galaxy. You are the sun. You are the bright, burning mass that warms everything in your orbit. But some old planets fly away, and new ones appear. Some inch closer; some further. And no matter what, you continue to burn, bright as ever, because your value to these planets is constant. Because you are always needed. Because you know what you really are.

Start a ‘weird ideas’ journal

We train ourselves to play it safe. We avoid risks and are drawn to conform. This is a death sentence for creative insight. Push yourself to write down far-out, ‘over-the-top’ or straight bizarre ideas more often. This is you playing at your edges. This is training you to think outside the box. It is also energizing and fun.

It’s about what wisdom we grow

The time it takes to engage with ideas—factual or fictional, emotional or intellectual, accurate or inaccurate, efficient or inefficient—might strike some as a drag. But the time given to working through those ideas, adopting and adapting, developing or discarding, changes our minds, changes us. It’s not about the wisdom we glean. It’s about what wisdom we grow.

Being misunderstood by most people is a strength

As you are right, being misunderstood by most people is a strength, not a weakness. You and a small group of rebels get the space to solve an important problem that might otherwise not get solved.

Every decision entails a choice

Every decision entails a choice. Whether it's a yes or no, this or that, now or later, it's important to recognize that every decision is essentially a form of investment. Whether we're investing our time, taking a risk, or committing to something, our cognitive processes mirror those involved in making a purchase.

Be Graceful

Long after people forget the details, they’ll remember your kindness. There are many forms of hospitality, but resilience, goodwill, and gratitude are often the ones that matter.

Now information is widely and freely available

Access to information used to be scarce. Today, if there’s something I don’t know, it’s almost certainly because I haven’t cared enough to find out. I don’t understand molecular biology or, much of agronomy–but that’s my choice.

The more stories you absorb

The more stories you absorb, the lower your chances of your life becoming a tragedy. Take many notes to make better calls. Avoid becoming a lamentable headline or a pathetic laughing stock by reading about other versions of the same.

Learning is experiencing and doing

Learning is experiencing and doing. It’s not dodging, following, or forgoing. You had to go through the shit to learn the shit. Sidestepping it would have just landed you in some other shit.

I like who I am now

Are there mistakes I wish I hadn’t made? On the one hand, absolutely — plenty — but on the other hand, I had to make them to be who I am now. No version of me presented me today with a different set of events in the past. I like who I am now, even with portions of my past I’m less satisfied with peering through present-day goggles.

To learn business, do business

Talkers talk, doers do. Beware of taking advice from the person who still needs to do the thing you want to do. To learn business, do business.

Most people drift through life

Most people drift through life. They have no purpose, no direction, and zero intent. Learn their needs and lead them.

Everything important is uncertain

The greatest things are built in the fires of uncertainty. Everything that truly matters thrives in the unknown. It's the struggle with doubt, the ability to embrace the uncomfortable unknown, that holds the power to make a real difference.

There's no glory in guaranteed success

There's no glory in guaranteed success. It takes guts, belief, and personal investment to truly make something meaningful. Whether you are in any profession, the parts that hold weight are the ones you poured your heart into, the ones you risked something for.

Where are you?

When you’re reading a good historical novel, you might be there and then.  When you imagine what went wrong in that conversation, you live in yesterday. And when you’re scripting the next conversation you’re going to have, you’re in tomorrow. Time travel and teleportation have never been easier or more common. What happens when we are here and now?

Default to surrender

AI chatbots highight a challenge that is worth understanding. It applies to customer service, bureaucracies and teachers as well. If you ask an AI a question and it’s not confident in the answer, it should say, “I’m not sure.” That could be followed up with, “Do you want me to guess” or “if you could give me more context…” But proudly and confidently bluffing isn’t helpful. It’s really unusual to find this sort of humanity (even with humans), but it’s a great way to build trust.

The simplest way to clarify your thinking

The simplest way to clarify your thinking is to write a full page about whatever you are dealing with and then delete everything except the 1-2 sentences that explain it best.

You’re only as good as your worst day.

You’re only as good as your worst day. Not because what you do the rest of the time doesn’t matter. Not because you should be expected to be perfect under immense stress or to behave according to plan when everything goes awry. But because what you do on your worst day is impossible to fake. It’s honest signaling.

Finding Your Own Path

You’re young. You have a master. You want to emulate them, do what they do. But at some point in life, you have to turn around and say I have to find my own way in my own language.

Disorder is not a mistake

We cannot expect anything to stay the way we leave it. To maintain our health, relationships, careers, skills, knowledge, societies, and possessions requires never-ending effort and vigilance. Disorder is not a mistake; it is our default. Order is always artificial and temporary.

Expose yourself to the possibility of massive failure

Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity. Opportunities parade past all of us all the time. The key is that you must be paying attention to see them, you must be willing to take risks, you must expose yourself to the possibility of massive failure, and you must believe in what you are doing so much that you do it anyway.

Not all progress is visible

Not all progress is visible. Not all victories are celebrated. Just because others can't see the results doesn't mean you're not getting better. Just because someone is ahead of you doesn't mean you are on the wrong trajectory. Just because no one notices doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Just because there is no applause doesn't mean you didn't score.

Change your perspective

If you want to understand someone doing something that doesn’t make sense to you, ask yourself what the world would have to look like for those actions to make sense. Change your perspective to change what you see.

Being single is better

Being single is better than being in a toxic relationship. Being in a great relationship is better than being single. The right partner puts everything else in easy mode.

Apply Whole Body Yes decision-making

Apply Whole Body Yes decision-making. When your head, heart, and gut align - it's a yes. If even one says no - walk away.

None of us is as smart as all of us

Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships. Achieve greatness through teamwork, trust, and collective effort. None of us is as smart as all of us.

Pursue joy, not outcomes

Pursue joy, not outcomes. Minimize regret by chasing your passions and embracing the possibility of failure. The reward is the journey, not the destination.