It is deadly to build a business without first verifying that there are paying customers.

The trick is to desensitize yourself to the pain by repeatedly exposing yourself to it. Embrace the discomfort—actively seeking it out—and use it as your compass.

Don’t be afraid to act. Be afraid of living a life that seems more like a résumé than an adventure.

I was beginning to see that to live well as an entrepreneur, I just needed to stop thinking so much and go get busy. That meant starting small, starting fast, and not worrying about what I didn’t know. I became an expert at taking leaps. Being unafraid to start new things meant that, unlike most people, I was constantly conducting experiments in my

Business is just a never-ending cycle of starting and trying new things, asking whether people will pay for those things, and then trying it again based on what you’ve learned. If you’re afraid to start or ask, you can’t experiment. And if you can’t experiment, you can’t do business.

Leaping is all that matters. The most courageous creators just leap more—in spite of their fear—and successful creation eventually follows.

That we eventually succeeded is a byproduct of the fact that we just try more things, period. That’s what I call Creator’s Courage. I believe everyone is born with this courage, and for those who have lost it, this book will help you rediscover the ability to come up with ideas (starting) and have the courage to try them out (asking).

get. Once you reframe rejection as something desirable, the act of asking becomes a power all its own.

you’ll never sell a thing if you can’t face another person and ask for what you want.