This is Paul Graham.

Our early training and our self-centeredness combine to make us believe that every judgement of us is about us. In fact most aren't.

So when you look at something like Reddit and think "I wish I could

think of an idea like that," remember: ideas like that are all

around you. But you ignore them because they look wrong

If you regard someone judging you as a customer instead of a judge, the expectation of fairness goes away.

the most important of the new principles business has to learn is that people work a lot harder on stuff they like

The best essay would be on the most important topic you could tell people something surprising about.

The trouble with planning is that it only works for achievements you can describe in advance. You can win a gold medal or get rich by deciding to as a child and then tenaciously pursuing that goal, but you can't discover natural selection that way.

I think for most people who want to do great work, the right strategy is not to plan too much. At each... See more

What should you do if you're young and ambitious but don't know what to work on? What you should not do is drift along passively, assuming the problem will solve itself. You need to take action. But there is no systematic procedure you can follow. When you read biographies of people who've done great work, it's remarkable how much luck is involved.... See more

Improving constantly is an instance of a more general rule: make users happy. One thing all startups have in common is that they can't force anyone to do anything. They can't force anyone to use their software, and they can't force anyone to do deals with them.