Imagine that the gods are playing some great game and you don't know the rules of the game, but you're allowed to look at the board, at least from time to time.
An underrated red flag in a person is an addiction to being right. The most impressive people I know change their minds often in response to new information. It’s like a software update. The goal isn't to be right. It's to find the truth.
Marry someone you love talking to. You'll come home to that voice, go to sleep to that voice, wake up to that voice. You'll have thousands of conversations, some deep, some dull, some in passing, some in anger. But if you can talk through anything, you can get through anything.
Had a friend tell me once: "When you're feeling overwhelmed, there are only two things you should do... get organized and get to work. The rest is just noise. Peace is found in progress."
Some of the best advice I've ever received.
A rule that will accelerate your career: If you bring a problem, bring context. If you bring context, bring options. If you bring options, bring a recommendation. People trust people who help them think. Anyone can spot an issue, few can actually help move things forward.
A frustrating experience for me as an Autistic ADHDer is when I process a social situation much later and realise that someone was really trying to connect with me but I didn’t realise it at the time and impeded the building of a connection by being rather reserved (albeit polite), not wanting to be perceived as too familiar or annoying, when, if I had realised at the time that they were really trying to connect with me, I would have been less reserved and more talkative.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from a mentor: If you’re angry, wait. Anger makes you fast, not right. The truth will still be true tomorrow. The thing that disappears with time is the urge to burn something you might still need.
“No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.” — Carl Jung
The happiest people I know don't have perfect lives, but they do have one thing in common: They've mastered the art of moving on. They don't keep score, they don't cling to what if, they don't dwell. Lot's of progress to be made by simply not staying stuck in the past.
Underrated life hack: Build a “no matter what” habit. One thing you do every day regardless of mood, chaos, or excuses. Ten minutes of writing. A short walk. A chapter read. These become your anchors. The habit isn’t the point; who you become by keeping it is.