highlights
25 highlights saved, filed under business.
- 01
So if in adulthood you find you’re stressed, even unhappy at times, recognize that this is a normal part of the journey and just keep on keepin’ on. Happiness is waiting for you.
- 02
The world does not belong to the big, but to the fast.
- 03
In sum, being a man, and not a boy in a man’s body. Masculinity now means relevance, good citizenship, and being a loving father.
- 04
The presence of one thing in a man’s life predicted unhappiness better than any other factor: alcohol. It led to failed marriages, careers coming off the tracks, and bad health.
- 05
One of the keys to a healthy relationship is forgiveness, as you, and your partner, will at some point screw up. Your limited time here mandates that you hold yourself accountable. But also be ready to forgive yourself so you can get on with the important business of life.
- 06
It didn’t take long to realize that the secret is to find something you’re good at. The rewards and recognition that stem from being great at something will make you passionate about whatever that something is.
- 07
It shocks me how many people are the adults in the room until they get around their parents and regress into whiny children expecting their parents to solve their problems.
- 08
In psychology research, gratitude is consistently correlated with greater happiness.
- 09
There are so few absolutes. One of them: Nobody ever says at a funeral, “He was too generous, too kind, and much too loving.”
- 10
A better proxy for your life isn’t your first home, but your last. Where you draw your last breath is more meaningful, as it’s a reflection of your success and, more important, the number of people who care about your well-being. Toward the end, you aren’t adding much value, and people who look out for you are either exceptionally generous or reciprocating your love and support.
- 11
Most depression isn’t feeling sad, but feeling nothing.
- 12
love was a willingness to take the life you’ve built for yourself and tear it up for the other person.
- 13
I tell my students that nothing wonderful, I’m talking really fantastic, will happen without taking a risk and subjecting yourself to rejection. Serendipity is a function of courage.
- 14
The truth about 90-plus percent of entrepreneurs is that we start companies not because we’re so skilled, but because we don’t have the skills to be an effective employee.
- 15
Small firms thrive on six to twelve A players working their asses off who are intolerably impatient. Big firms scale with hundreds or thousands of well-mannered B+ players.
- 16
LOVE AND relationships are the ends—everything else is just the means.
- 17
shortcut to happiness: finding someone who chooses you over everything, and everyone, else.
- 18
The slope of the trajectory for your career is (unfairly) set in the first five years post-graduation. If you want the trajectory to be steep, you’ll need to burn a lot of fuel. The world is not yours for the taking, but for the trying. Try hard, really hard.
- 19
The ratio of time you spend sweating to watching others sweat is a forward-looking indicator of your success. Show me a guy who watches ESPN every night, spends all day Sunday watching football, and doesn’t work out, and I’ll show you a future of anger and failed relationships. Show me someone who sweats every day and spends as much time playing sports as watching them on TV, and I’ll show you someone who is good at life.
- 20
Opportunity is a function of density. Get to a place that’s crowded with success. Big cities are Wimbledon—even if you aren’t Rafael Nadal, your game will improve by being on the court with him. And you’ll either get in better shape or learn you shouldn’t be at Wimbledon.
- 21
Take a ton of pictures, text your friends stupid things, check in with old friends as often as possible, express admiration to coworkers, and every day, tell as many people as you can that you love them. A couple of minutes every day—the payoff is small at first, and then it’s immense.
- 22
The definition of “rich” is having passive income greater than your burn.
- 23
By the time you’re thirty, you should have a feel for what your burn is. Young people are 100 percent focused on their earnings. Adults also focus on their burn.
- 24
Studies show that people overestimate the amount of happiness things will bring them and underestimate the long-term positive effect of experiences. Invest in experiences over things. Drive a Hyundai, and take your wife to St. Barts.
- 25
Achievement is just a moment in pencil unless you can share it with people you care about. Then it becomes real, a memory in permanent ink.