Advice About Being

“A prototype is worth a thousand meetings” (building a simple way to ‘taste test’ is often faster AND better than trying to figure things out in our heads)

“It's tough to be good at something you're not interested in. It's nearly impossible to be great at something you're not obsessed with.”

“Sometimes,” Dalinar said, “the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

For example, I’d argue that discipline is more important than passion, because there’s no controlling what you’re passionate about. I actually really struggle to work on projects I’m not excited about, because I’m not particularly disciplined.

Much like a good movie, life eventually forces the protagonist (whether it’s you or, say, Tom Cruise) to choose between two irreconcilable goods : a comfortable living, or a clean conscience ( The Firm ); the love of your life, or the job of your dreams ( Jerry Maguire ). And so on. The choices we make reveal who we are.

Competence is how good you are when there is something to gain. Character is how good you are when there is nothing to gain. People will reward you for competence. But people will only love you for your character.”

“What I’ve always felt,” Ezra said, “is we don’t try to top a previous album. Instead, we try to continue to reveal the whole. It’s like if you're showing someone around the United States, and you started out in Los Angeles—if the person has never seen the rest of America, they might say, ‘Ok, I get it, America is filled with palm trees, sunshine,

Don’t debate, if the data is available (get the data first, then discuss)