Here's the advice I wish I had heard when I started working on my book last year:
You're going to get depressed because your sense of self-competence is overly reliant on FAST RESULTS.
Writing newsletters, tweets, video scripts, those all earn you a sense of competence in… Show more
Here's the advice I wish I had heard when I started working on my book last year: You're going to get depressed because your sense of self-competence is overly reliant on FAST RESULTS. Writing newsletters, tweets, video scripts, those all earn you a sense of competence in… Show more
All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of... See more
People who do great work are not necessarily happier than everyone else, but they're happier than they'd be if they didn't. In fact, if you're smart and ambitious, it's dangerous
not
to be productive. People who are smart and ambitious but don't achieve much tend to become bitter.
not
to be productive. People who are smart and ambitious but don't achieve much tend to become bitter.
How to Do Great Work
While doing the reporting for my book, I read a postmortem from a successful startup founder. They said something along the lines of: “One of the best things that can happen to you is to achieve professional success when you’re young. That way you can learn that it does little to change your happiness.” For better or worse, achieving your goals sho
... See moreEvery • On the Value of Not Reaching Your Goals
