Written on the streets and subways of New York city

  1. It's important to do things fast. You learn more per unit time because you make contact with reality more frequently. Going fast makes you focus on what's important; there's no time for bullshit. A week is 2% of the year.
  2. You can do more than you think. Stop limiting yourself. Be more ambitious.
  3. Most people have the opportunity to make an impact on the world, but very few structure their life around doing it. If you decide that this is what you want to do, seek to make an enormous impact, not a small dent.
  4. Once you are okay with people telling you ‘no’, you can ask for whatever you want.
  5. You are probably too risk-averse. Write down the worst thing that can happen, realise it’s not that bad, then take the leap. This is even more true if you come from a risk average family or country (like South Africa, where I’m from)
  6. “Aim for Chartres” (Christopher Alexander) — when doing something, aim to be the best there ever was at it. This compensates for your natural bias, which is to do something mediocre. Aim to be as good as the greats.
  7. There are some people who, after you talk to them, you feel more energised and you want to conquer the world. They’re rare. Go find them. Make friends with them. Find ways to work with them. They will bring out the best in you. Shoutout Ben Dryden, who’s the best example of this I’ve ever come across.
  8. All things being equal, friends buy from friends. So make all things equal then go make a lot of friends.
  9. Community and friendships are more important than you think. In fact, they might be the only important thing. Don’t neglect it.
  10. Do things, tell people. Not the other way round.
  11. Do whatever you can to get in the room with people that are better than you. You’ll up your game to match them, give yourself a tangible example of what greatness looks like, and realise that the people doing the things you want to do are just normal people, like you, and there’s no reason you can’t do it too. If you can constantly find ways to do this, you’ll achieve your goals quickly (so set more ambitious ones)
  12. Related: things move at the speed of trust and credibility. Being in the room with people better than you gives you credibility.
  13. Being reliable is one of the most underrated character traits. So few people actually do what they say they’re going to do. Consistently doing it puts you ahead of the pack.
  14. Building products and companies is an under appreciated art form and perhaps the best vehicle to have a material impact on the world.
  15. The world can be much better tomorrow than it is today and it’s our right (duty?) as humans to make that happen