Summary: Kevin Kelly shares 101 valuable pieces of advice, including being open to learning, embracing failure, and celebrating the success of others. He emphasizes the importance of self-improvement, staying humble, and being kind to others. Kelly's advice encourages personal growth, resilience, and a positive outlook on life.
Note: Failure is a short-term fear, but fear of average takes a longer view of the arc of your life.
Never accept a work meeting until you’ve seen the agenda and know what decisions need to be made. If no decisions need to be made, skip the meeting. (View Highlight)
Note: Hard to do in practice
When you find yourself procrastinating, don’t resist. Instead lean into it. Procrastinate 100%. Try to do absolutely nothing for 5 minutes. Make it your job. You’ll fail. After 5 minutes, you’ll be ready and eager to work. (View Highlight)
Note: I have never thought of fully leaning into procrastination and doing nothing. I should try this instead of giving way to distractions.
The most common mistake we make is to do a great job on an unimportant task. (View Highlight)
Note: I have wasted plenty of time doing this at work. And in personal life too.
For every success there is a corresponding non-monetary tax of some kind. To maintain success you have to gladly pay these taxes. (View Highlight)
Note: On the flip side, you could forfeit monetary compensation to lessen the non-monetary taxes. For example, buy back time or peace by negotiating less hours for a promotion rather than a pay raise.
Write your own obituary, the one you’d like to have, and then everyday work towards making it true. (View Highlight)
Note: I like the idea of doing this and then hanging it somewhere prominent as a daily reminder.
What others want from you is mostly to be seen. Let others know you see them. (View Highlight)
Note: This relates to the post I want to write about how understanding should be the goal.
Working differently is usually more productive than working harder. (View Highlight)
Note: I often feel like I am working differently at work, and I think that has been paying dividends for me.
To tell a good story, you must reveal a surprise; otherwise it is just a report. (View Highlight)
Note: I'd like to get better at story telling
It is impossible to be curious and furious at the same time, so avoid furious. (View Highlight)
Note: This also relates to my post about understanding.
Humility is mostly about being very honest about how much you owe to luck. (View Highlight)
Note: So much of my own journey was forged by either luck or God watching over me. A lot of it very surely was NOT me.
