things that take time

building understanding requires time, and in the initial stages there is a lot that needs to be firmly tamped into your brain, before you truly, deeply, understand

if you want to create the common sense that comes from twenty years of being in the world, you need to devote twenty years to the task. You can’t assemble an equivalent collection of heuristics in less time; experience is algorithmically incompressible.

FIGURE 2: We often expect progress to be linear. At the very least, we hope it will come quickly. In reality, the results of our efforts are often delayed. It is not until months or years later that we realize the true value of the previous work we have done. This can result in a “valley of disappointment” where people feel discouraged after puttin

Most overnight successes —in fact, any significant successes— take at least 5 years. Budget your life accordingly.