If reflection reveals your unconditioned path and relationship reveals the people that will accompany you, then creativity compels you to move forward on it.

Society is a giant game that’s governed by competition and envy. The reason you initially strayed from your conviction is because you adopted the rules of this game, all of which were crafted by other hands. These rules encourage you to rank people by their status, to view people by what they can offer, and to introduce conditions into your

They give up contentment so they could gain safety, and as a result, will rarely feel present.

We are so easily swayed by these winds because they create the illusion of certainty. They take the form of social expectations, suggestions, and judgments that make you feel like everyone else has the answers. This causes you to fear and dampen your intuition, which will place you on a path that is not inherently yours.

The key here is to continue seeing status for the societal poison that it is, and to resist its allure.

The best way to sharpen that intuition is to read, watch, or listen to those that have already mastered their craft, and to update your model of mastery based on how you interpret their creations.

Of all the assets one cultivates on the journey to mastery, the most important is intuition.

Self-confidence without credibility is often just another way of saying “delusional.”

Status is obtained by collecting attention, whereas mastery is achieved by refining intuition. Status is always comparative, so external validation is a prerequisite to feeling secure. Mastery, on the other hand, is gauged by your unique sense of progress, which can only be derived from within.