Excellent Advice For Living: 79 Maxims from a Wise Old Man
Summary
Distill 450 maxims into 6 actionable insights: Deadlines spur creativity, gratitude unlocks all virtues, and the best way to learn is by teaching. This trove of wisdom from a 68-year-old entrepreneur offers a playbook for personal and professional growth.
Key Takeaways
- Use deadlines as creative accelerators, not killers - they force decisions and prevent endless tinkering.
- Practice gratitude daily to unlock virtues and amplify your impact.
- Teach what you know to deepen your own understanding.
- Set ridiculously ambitious goals - even if you fall short, you'll exceed ordinary success.
- When given a choice, opt for kindness over being right.
- Don't measure your life against others' yardsticks - play an infinite game on your own terms.
Related topics
Transcript Excerpt
On my 68th birthday, I decided to give my young adult children some advice. I am not a frequent advice giver, but soon I was able to write down 68 bits. To my surprise, I had more to say than I thought. So for the next several years, I wrote down a batch of advice on my birthday and shared it with my family and friends. They wanted more. I kept going until I had about 450 bits of advice I wish I'd known when I was younger. I am primarily channeling the wisdom of the ages. I'm offering advice that I've heard from others, or timeless knowledge repeated from the past, or a modern aphorism that matched my own experience. I think of these bits as seeds because each one of them could easily be expanded into a long essay. Indeed, I spent most of my time writing by compressing these substantial le…