Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World

“If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.” –CHINESE PROVERB

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? Seven years of time to write Quiet. I didn’t care how long it took and, though I wanted the book to succeed, I felt good about the investment of time regardless of the outcome—because I felt so certain that writing in general, and writing that book in particular, was the right

the worst thing” about that outcome not going the way I want? I had started using it out loud with my kids, and recently my eight-year-old daughter started asking it back to me. I really like to be punctual. We were late to drop her at school and I was impatient, so she asked me, “Dad, what exactly would be the worst thing about being late?” It com

4. If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it—metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions—what would it say and why? It could be a few words or a paragraph. (If helpful, it can be someone else’s quote: Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?)

The only way to truly learn something is by doing it. Yes, listen to guidance. But don’t wait. In the last five years, what

Obsess over figuring out the funnest, most exciting, most natural shape of yourself as a writer and start doing that. There are a lot of people on the Internet, and they can all access your work with one tap on the phone in their pocket. So even if only one in every thousand of them—0.1 percent—happens to be a reader peg that perfectly matches the

2. What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? My readers love specifics like brand and model, where you found it, etc.

“Creation is a better means of self-expression and possession; it is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed.” –VIDA DUTTON SCUDDER American educator, writer, and welfare activist

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? SleepPhones. It’s a headband that goes over your eyes and ears and that has inside two ultraflat earphones so you can listen to books as you fall asleep.