Category Archives: Advice

Spin

Posted on June 10, 2012 by AJ Kessler

[Tom Sawyer] had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it – namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. – … Continue reading →

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Filling In The White Spaces

Posted on June 8, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Advice from Peter Thiel’s final CS 183 lecture: There is something importantly singular about each new thing. There is a mini singularity whenever you start a company or make a key life decision. In a very real sense, the life … Continue reading →

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Eggs

Posted on June 5, 2012 by AJ Kessler

How you eat your eggs is a good barometer for how you live your life. There are people who do nothing but grab a plain hard boiled egg as they run out of the house in the morning.  Their eggs … Continue reading →

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Making Past Experiences Meaningful

Posted on June 4, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Really great advice from Ben Casnocha: By the time the pizza boxes were emptied out, the pool party earlier in the afternoon seemed positively epic. I felt closer to the people with whom I had shared the experience. And those … Continue reading →

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Old People

Posted on June 3, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Building relationships with your peers is important.  But when you’re younger, or just starting out in a field, it’s more important for your immediate future to build relationships with people that are five, ten, and twenty years ahead of you. … Continue reading →

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Get Used To Hearing No

Posted on June 1, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Before you ever get into a field or a career, you’re probably going to hear someone say “no”.  No, that’s too hard.  No, you don’t have the credentials.  No, you don’t qualify.  No, it’s never going to work out.  No, … Continue reading →

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If You Wouldn’t Wake Up Early For It, Don’t Stay Up Late For It

Posted on May 30, 2012 by AJ Kessler

One of the reasons Reddit is great is that you can find genuinely wise, pithy, and applicable advice from someone named SmellsLikeUpfoo. In this case, the advice is simple: if you wouldn’t set your alarm one hour early to do … Continue reading →

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On Travel

Posted on May 29, 2012 by AJ Kessler

When most people think about retirement, they imagine a life full of friends, hobbies, and (likely) travel. To illustrate, think about what you would do if you knew you were going to retire at 65 and die at 75.  You’d … Continue reading →

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Happiness Is Not A Reward – It’s A Consequence

Posted on May 28, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Time is your most limited resource.  You can always make more money, but you can only buy so much time.  Happiness is not a reward for giving up most of your time in exchange for money.  Happiness is a consequence … Continue reading →

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Memorial Day

Posted on May 27, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Just a reminder on this day that if you’re going to fight for something, you better make damn sure it’s worth it. Kai Chang via Ben Casnocha

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Neil Gaiman on Life

Posted on May 25, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Great speech:

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Gambling on Discipline

Posted on May 24, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Almost all people who become successful do so because they’re able to develop discipline.  It’s not something they’re born with.  It takes practice.  Consciously doing what needs to be done now, foregoing what you’d like to be doing instead, in … Continue reading →

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How To Write, Part 3

Posted on May 23, 2012 by AJ Kessler

This one comes comes from David Mamet, perhaps the most well-known living playwright.  He wrote a memo for the writing staff on the CBS show The Unit, where he was an executive producer, reminding everyone what makes for good drama. … Continue reading →

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Smart People Don’t Call Others Stupid

Posted on May 21, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Some really mostly-good advice from Derek Sivers: Being smart means thinking things through – trying to find the real answer, not the first answer. Being stupid means avoiding thinking by jumping to conclusions.Jumping to a conclusion is like quitting a game … Continue reading →

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We’re Not All Scientists

Posted on May 20, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Another nice Neil deGrasse Tyson video is going around, but he’s a bit off base on this one: I can’t think of any more human activity than conducting science experiments. Think about it — what do kids do? Young kids.  … Continue reading →

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