Learning.
Learn how to learn. If you do, it unlocks everything else. The deeper your learning practice, the more you can learn.
This is the ultimate superpower: not only can you learn new subjects; you can even learn to change your mind, your preferences and your mood.
Self-Awareness.
Dispassionate self-awareness helps you improve, grow, and be happy.
Feedback is a gift. Inconsistency is growth. The more of your imperfections you accept, the less imperfect you will be.
Delegation.
Many view delegation as the “top” pushing things “down.” That is insane. Delegation is a multi-way street. It’s the essence of capitalism and the reason why you have a roof over your head and a phone in your pocket.
Learn to let others help you so you can help them.
Managing your ego.
When your inner voice controls you, it leads to jealousy, regretful decisions, and low self-worth.
Taming your ego helps purify your intentions. Pure intentions lead to clear decisions. Clear decisions lead to happy outcomes.
Pain tolerance.
If you can’t handle pain, you'll unknowingly avoid it. Then, if pain stands between you and your goals, you’ll never achieve them. While it isn’t required, it is often necessary to go towards pain to succeed.
Learn to control your pain so it doesn't control you.
Risk evaluation.
Risk is neither good nor bad. It just is. Learn to see the odds and evaluate decisions based on probabilities and percentages.
Create arbitrary percentages for everything and mentally track your accuracy over time. It'll do wonders to your decision-making.
Giving.
You are not “you.” You are made up of every action and interaction you have with others and the world. As such, you can’t truly be happy without giving back to the world that makes you.
Planning.
Nearly any goal can be better achieved via good planning. Understand how to lay tracks, follow them, and bring others along with you.
A good plan keeps you focused on your goals while accounting for the inevitable deviations that will occur along the way.
Simplify.
The world is incredibly complex, yet it follows simple rules. Do not get mired in the shit.
See beyond the noise to the first principles underneath.
Copying.
Great artists steal. Humanity is a collective that builds on itself. You won’t get anywhere if you don’t build on others’ work.
Step 1 is to copy the work of those you admire. Step 2 is to make it your own.
(Where do you think the idea for this thread came from? 😏)
Presence.
The world respects inner confidence. Some call this “fake it till you make it”—I call it presence.
If you project confidence, people will follow. Beware not to let it get to your head.
Intentionality.
Do only what you intend to do. It sounds simple because it is.
Stress.
You can succeed under tremendous stress, but what’s the point of success if it doesn’t lead to happiness?
Notice your stressors and work diligently to manage them. When your stress involves an inner struggle, remember this is temporary and time heals all wounds.
Satisfaction.
You already have everything you need. You do not need more wealth. You do not need more power. You do not need more friends.
Learn to be happy with your current state, and that alone will attract more wealth, power and friends.
Optimism.
The world is a beautiful place. History shows that we’re on an upwards trajectory. If you need convincing, go visit an indigenous tribe, a slum, or a refugee camp. They offer windows into the past.
Use that perspective as a constant reminder of your own good fortune.
Always. Be. Learning.
Don’t let school stop at 22. Continue to invest in learning through books, good conversation, intentional research, coaches and educational content.
Independence.
Learn to be a member of many tribes, but beholden to none of them. When you find yourself agreeing wholeheartedly with a group, you have become a lemming.
Do not be a lemming. Learn to think for yourself.
Humility.
Humility is not falsely denying praise, or discounting your own self-worth. That’s called lying.
Humility is understanding that you’re but one person with one perspective and that the world is a vast place.
Perceptiveness.
Watch. Listen. Smell. Taste. You could spend your entire life examining just one moment and continually find depth in each of its nooks and crannies.
If you are stuck in your own head, you’ll never learn from the thousands of lessons around you every day.
Personality.
You are not one person. You are many people, and you choose which one of you shows up every day.
Let yourself organically behave in different ways in different situations. You’ll be surprised at all of the versions of you that you have access to.
Pattern recognition.
Witness the patterns of life across disciplines. A ballet dancer can use lessons from ballet to improve freightliner design. A geologist can apply lessons from rocks to the art of writing.
As you become more multidisciplinary, you become more superhuman.
Love.
"You can’t choose who you love” and “The most important career choice is who you marry” are foolish.
Your life partner is the most important choice in your life. Don’t make it about money, career, or ego.
Learn to fall in love with those that love you for you.
I originally wrote this list over 6 months as a potential book idea. I’ll continue to add to this list over time and welcome your suggestions!
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