Be Meaningfully Informed

Community requires individuals to have the option of speaking up. If we’re in this together, we ought to be able to chime in. But while every member of the community can speak out, the ones that are heard also have something useful to say. Being informed is a requirement to be heard.

Throws are far more important than catches

Focus on the work at hand. Don’t take on more than you can handle. Establish a spec, and ignore perfection. Devote a significant amount of time to hone your craft. Consistently add incremental challenges. Frantic leads to more frantic. Let it drop and begin again.

In every challenge or even tragedy

In every challenge or even tragedy, there is an opportunity. And if you train yourself to look for the opportunity, you will be able to take control of the situation and even turn it into a positive, or if it can't be turned into something good, at least something good could come out of it.

It's easy to want the public rewards

You have to want the lifestyle, not just the outcomes. Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense being jealous. The results of success are usually public and evident, but the process behind success is often private and hidden from view. It's easy to want the public rewards, but also have to want the hidden costs.

Stop overvaluing your importance

We hurt our feelings by thinking we mean more to people than we really do. Stop overvaluing your importance in other people's lives.  Assume you're just a small chapter in their book, not the entire story.  It's liberating.

To be good at something

It's tough to be good at something you're not interested in. It's nearly impossible to be great at something you're not obsessed with.

Big ideas come from the unconscious

Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, science, and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process.