On this page, I often add stray thoughts that have no home.
- 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, you have better control in the second option.
- 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. Those who control their attention have a shot at the 20%.
- 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 relationship 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. It may require letting go of something else.
- 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 work – yes, do the freaking work. And once you break through to success, you will appreciate these days of work. The days when you’re uncertain and struggling, they’re the best days of your life. You’ll look back on this time and think this is when I was really a creator/artist/entrepreneur, when everything was pure and I had nothing but the dream and the work. Enjoy that work now. These are the good days.”
