Ideas From Me

●

Good taste simply means your preferences align with others. The more widely your taste is accepted, the more mainstream it is. True taste isn’t about what others think is good; it’s about knowing and sticking to what you genuinely like, even if others disapprove.

●●

Opinion is fleeting and distracts from the true beauty of your craft. The audience’s approval is irrelevant; the work itself is the real gift, not the praise that follows.

●●●

What is it that you really want? What is the deeper yearning that you have? Beneath all of this nonsense about fame, what is it that you crave?

We crave meaning. We crave beauty. We crave love.

Lessons Learned From Others

●

Kent Nerburn on embracing solitude:

“Solitude is a condition of peace that stands in direct opposition to loneliness. Loneliness is like sitting in an empty room and being aware of the space around you. It is a condition of separateness. Solitude is becoming one with the space around you. It is a condition of union.”

Source: Letters to My Son

●●

Howard Marks on impact of rates:

“Interest rates are like the weather. The weather determines what we wear, where we go, what activities we engage in, and whether we stay indoors or outdoors. It quietly dominates our lives in ways we often don’t recognize. Similarly, interest rates are the climate of investing, finance, business, and the economy. They influence everything that happens, and when they change, the environment for all activities changes, too.”

Source: Navigating the Sea Change

●●●

Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson on planning:

“Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things you can't actually control.

Why don't we just call plans what they really are: guesses. Start referring to your business plans as business guesses, your financial plans as financial guesses, and your strategic plans as strategic guesses.

When you turn guesses into plans, you enter a danger zone. Plans let the past drive the future. They put blinders on you. "This is where we're going because, well, that's where we said we were going." And that's the problem: Plans are inconsistent with improvisation.

And you have to be able to improvise. You have to be able to pick up opportunities that come along. Sometimes you need to say, "We're going in a new direction because that's what makes sense today."

Give up on the guesswork. Decide what you're going to do this week, not this year. Figure out the next most important thing and do that. Make decisions right before you do something, not far in advance.

It's OK to wing it. Just get on the plane and go. You can pick up a nicer shirt, shaving cream, and a toothbrush once you get there.

Working without a plan may seem scary. But blindly following a plan that has no relationship with reality is even scarier.”

Source: Rework

Valuable Finds

● Steve Jobs on Failure

● Everything We Teach at YCombinator in 10 Minutes

● Barack Obama: Just learn how to get stuff done