3-2-1: Judging potential, negotiating, and balancing life

“One of the great balancing acts in life is to be cautious and daring at the same time.

Cautious enough to avoid stupid mistakes, prevent burnout, and maintain a margin of safety.

Daring enough to bet on yourself, to do the things you would regret leaving undone, and to be willing to be uncomfortable in the short term so you can learn and grow in the long term.”

“I've found that it's of some help to think of one's moods and feelings about the world as being similar to weather.

It’s real. You can't change it by wishing it away. If it's dark and rainy it really is dark and rainy and you can't alter it. It might be dark and rainy for two weeks in a row.

But. It will be sunny one day.

In the same way that one has to accept the weather, so one has to accept how one feels about life sometimes. “Today's a crap day,” is a perfectly realistic approach. But the sun may well come out tomorrow and when it does, I shall take full advantage.”

“Once you achieve high status, a part of your mind makes you lose interest in the thing that you achieved high status with in the first place. You might feel obligated to maintain an appearance of interest, and defend your position from time to time, but you no longer feel a burning need to know the truth.

One solution that might work is to periodically start over. Once you've achieved recognition in some area, and no longer have as much interest in it as you used to, go into a different community focused on a different topic, and start over from a low-status position.”