Embrace their weirdness

Rejecting the full range of your character and personality traits is an effective way to stifle your creativity. When you can’t fully express yourself, standing on the hose while waiting for water is like standing on the hose. We are all connected in our weirdness, but we are all enlivened by embracing what makes us different. Instead of hiding those things you feel are at odds with society's expectations, use them.

Cultivate your Truth Tellers

As you become more successful, most of the people around you will become afraid to tell you the truth. They will pat you on the back and tell you what they think you want to hear. Find the Truth Tellers in your life—the rare few who are willing to give you honest perspectives from a place of love. Create an environment where they know they are safe to do so. If you cultivate your Truth Tellers, you'll always find a way to grow.

Keep dreaming

The important thing isn't to achieve all your dreams, but to keep dreaming. Your desires change as you learn and grow. Old dreams will spawn new dreams. And eventually, one of these newer, more refined visions will find its moment and become reality.

Your Starting Line

Your entire life will change the moment you stop fearing failure as a foe and start embracing failure as a friend. The world isn't run by perfect people who never fail. The world is run by imperfect people who failed over and over again—but who used every failure to set the conditions for their future success. Maybe that failure you just experienced isn't the end after all. Maybe that failure you just experienced is your starting line.

Information is nothing without action

Information is nothing without action. In the wake of a failure, default to action. Remember: Action doesn't have to be perfect to be right.

The space between stimulus and response

Give yourself a fixed amount of time (~24 hours) to feel frustrated or angry about the failure. During this time, you don't need to do anything but sit with the feelings and emotions. Allow yourself the grace of that period, but when the time is up, you move forward to the next step.

Maintaining a healthy level of paranoia

Maintaining a healthy level of paranoia can actually be helpful. It reminds you to remain nimble, agile, and adaptable. It reminds you that success isn't an end state, but something that requires continuous, disciplined effort. The water may look calm, but the crocodiles are always lurking.