Tom Schmidt

falling so in love with interesting ideas that you can’t help but tell the world about them.

• Chiasmus is a rhetorical device that creates earworms that stick in your brain for decades


• Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” – JFK said it in 1963, over 50 years ago, and they could both recite it instantly


• It’s an ABBA structure: first part is about asking (A), then “your country can do for

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I'm a big fan of the "GPS Theory" when you miss a turn, your GPS doesn't judge you, it recalculates. No matter how many detours you take, it finds another way forward. Life works like that too. You'll make mistakes, but your destination doesn't vanish. The route just changes.

The loudest signals come from the emptiest sources. Those who truly possess something rarely need to announce it.

“Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time... identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

- Evan Williams

You need that kind of serenity to do anything interesting, especially on the internet, where there’s an infinite supply of detractors standing by to shout you down.

generates a brief for them to follow to execute that idea, complete with framing—contrarian, narrative, practical, philosophical, etc.—for maximum impact

1. “If you have to swallow a frog, don’t look at him too long. If you have to swallow two frogs, swallow the big scudder first.”

2. All complaining comes at the expense of improving.

3. “Positive action produces positive attitudes, which produce a positive atmosphere.”

4. Make your plan conform to the territory, not the other way around. Either... See more

Now keep looking at this unpleasant situation or person until you realize that it isn’t they that are causing the negative emotions. They are just going their way, being themselves, doing their thing whether right or wrong, good or bad. It is your computer that, thanks to your programming, insists on your reacting with negative emotions. You will... See more