Things to remind myself about

Maybe it’s not the achieving stuff that makes us happy, but rather the act of chasing after achievements. Most people need to feel that they are contributing to society. At least for me, when I try to picture my ideal days, it doesn’t matter if I’ve accomplished anything in the past. But my visions always involve working towards some kind of goal i... See more

“Why is this so hard? Because you’re utterly habituated to steady progress—to completing things, to producing, to solving. When progress is subtle or slow, when there’s no clear way to proceed, you flinch away. You redirect your attention to something safer, to something you  can  do. You jump to implementation prematurely; you feel a co

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The thing about patience is that you need to practice deliberately by slowing yourself down, taking a break, and not following the crowd.

By slowing down, you might not get to the finish line first. You might get an average result. But you are also more likely to stay in the game longer because you avoid burning yourself out over the short run.

A degree of relaxation is necessary to have good ideas because one doesn't have them so much as receive them—and one cannot receive anything with clenched fists.

I worried about the next deadline, the next idea, the next story. There wasn't a moment for the next fourteen or fifteen years that I wasn't writing something in my head, or wondering about it. And I didn't stop and look around and go, this is really fun. I wish I'd enjoyed it more. It's been an amazing ride. But there were parts of the ride I miss... See more