How to Fight a Hydra: Face Your Fears, Pursue Your Ambitions, and Become the Hero You Are Destined to Be

No matter how careful you are, you will make mistakes. After every engagement, there will be a hundred things that, looking back, you could’ve done better. Since that’s the case, the best approach is to make valuable mistakes: experiments that give you useful information and help you improve.

Everyone wants a guaranteed reward before they put themselves at risk. The world does not work that way. Not everyone succeeds. No matter how much you plan or prepare, a good portion of the outcome will remain in the hands of Fortune and happenstance. Generations have railed against this reality to no avail. On the other hand, you can’t succeed if

Wisdom consists of anticipating and preventing avoidable mistakes.

Fear doesn’t mean you’re weak: it means you’re sane. Unpleasant emotions do not dictate your actions.

Only take advice from people who have faced the beast.

As stories are told, feats of prowess are embellished, and the mundane reality of the struggle is left out to make the telling more exciting.

I cannot control the outcome of my quest. I can only control myself: how I prepare, how I manage my fears, and how I conduct myself in the battle to come.