Random thoughts that have no home live on this page.
- There are two ways to be extraordinary – either you figure out something that no one else has, or you master the best of what others have already figured out. Both options require hard work. However, second option provides better control.
- For sound sleep, get really tired first.
- 20% of people enjoy 80% of the resources. Each period has its own dividing line who gets to be in the 20%. In the 21st century, the dividing line is attention.
- Wealth building defies a formulaic explanation – no amount of explanation is complete. It’s a skill that can not be commoditized – those looking in from the outside never fully comprehend and those on the inside looking out can never fully explain.
- Reading and learning can be spiritual. I get the same kick out of learning what someone might get out of visiting a holy site. Being devotional for me is to study the universe and experience the sense of awe and meaninglessness at the same time.
- Learn life lessons from wise people who are closer to the end than the beginning.
- In the short term, intensity wins. In the long term, consistency wins. Life is a long term game.
- If you feel that years are flying by, seek novelty. New experiences, new spaces and new events decelerate our perception of time. Seeing and doing same things over and over compresses our perception of time.
- There are a certain number of people who know you, a lesser number who like you, and a much lesser number who genuinely want the best for you and are willing to help you. Measure your life skills NOT based on the first or second, but the third.
- Every investment is a speculation of what may happen in the future, sometimes based on extrapolation from the known past. Thus it pays to focus on that past which will remain the same in the future, such as human nature. Humans are prisoners of evolution doomed to reliably repeat pattern of behaviors over and over.
- When buying anything physical, think: where will this go? Don’t buy it unless there is a place or let go of something else to make space.
- When paralyzed by ambiguous situations, focus on the smallest possible action that moves your project forward. Clarity is often found right around the corner of action.
- If the ghost of all the successful people appeared to give only one life advice to young people, it will probably speak these words: “Anything worthwhile requires work. Talent means nothing. You need to do the work – yes, do the freaking work. And once you break through to success, you will appreciate these days of work. You will remember these days as the best days of your life.”
- If you can’t recall knowledge when you need it, you haven’t understood it. The test of useful knowledge is how readily it comes to the surface.
- The test for a good hire is not how much he knows, but how much he wants to know.
- Happiness is liking what you happen to have, knowing what direction you want your life to go, and knowing what your next steps are for this week. You need all three.
- Conceit, ego and arrogance are hard to hold when faced with the awareness that humans are a tiny blip in the life of a small planet in a little corner of the universe. The universe will live on for billions of years after we are long gone.
- Patience is good. Waiting for something to happen is bad. Patience is where you are consistently doing what you can, taking action and trying things out, and yet remaining patient for results to materialize. On the other hand, if you are not taking any action, that’s not patience, that’s just waiting.
- Some people want to know more. Others want to defend what they already know. Never argue with the second type.
