Ben Cuan

Putting ideas into words doesn't have to mean writing, of course. You can also do it the old way, by talking. But in my experience, writing is the stricter test. You have to commit to a single, optimal sequence of words. Less can go unsaid when you don't have tone of voice to carry meaning. And you can focus in a way that would seem excessive in... See more

I know what makes people grow more reliably than anything else. It is: taking on a difficult project with some amount of public accountability. This can be large or small: a lecture series, a business, a blog, a house, a child, etc.

Write about what you build. Build what you write about . But the quality bar is high. Each needs to stand on its own. Because in this increasingly noisy world, only the best will break through.

Put most simply, heartfelt intensity is a variety of intrinsic motivation. Not the thing a person is motivated to do but the drive underneath it all that makes them tick, so potent it puts a bit of magic behind the eyes.

That thing that compels you all to obsess over the details others overlook, and do it with gusto — that’s heartfelt intensity.