Some years ago after being inspired by Derek Sivers talking about his “directives” on the Tim Ferriss Show (one of my favorite podcast episodes), I started keeping track of my own. His book Anything You Want is a short, fantastic read. Recently, Tim also shared a post written by Kevin Kelly in a similar vein called 68 bits of seriously good advice (great article). So I decided to post mine, a list of things to remember and things I’ve come to learn. Guidance and wisdom for how I hope to live my life. By sharing, I hope it inspires you to create your own.
- Be genuine, be honest, be humble
- Strong opinions loosely held
- Offer perspectives not answers
- Take calculated risks
- Embrace change
- Take action
- Live unconventionally
- Find your own way
- Be curious
- Never stop learning
- There is always something that can be learned from someone else
- When learning, ask why, when doing, ask why not
- Learn from the past, be mindful of the future, remain in the present
- Decide how you want to spend your time, not necessarily what you want to do with your life
- You see life through the lense of your experiences
- Do what makes you happy. Do what you find meaningful. Seek purpose.
- Appreciate everything
- Give first, receive second
- Listen carefully
- Breath deeply, think deeply, move often
- Have purpose
- Be mindful, pay attention
- How you do anything is how you do everything. Small, innocuous things matter.
- Slow down
- Never stop playing
- Ask questions
- Challenge assumptions, challenge the status quo
- When you get comfortable or good at something its time to change or move on
- Live without regret
- Nothing is absolute
- Prioritize and focus, you’ll achieve much more as a result
- The foundation for how we behave on a daily basis comes down to conditioning, habits, and routines
- Be ok with failure, learn from your mistakes
- Get off the couch and do something, you never know what experience you might have; this is what life is
- Do your thing
- Form is key
- It’s never as bad as you think it will be
- Don’t just tell, show
- Don’t judge, listen with an open mind
- Trust only those who have been there and done it
- Everything is an adventure
- Be interesting, be interested
- Words and teaching help you know what to look for, experience and practice help you find and understand it
- Don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do right now
- Know thyself (yourself)
- Do the math
- When experiencing pain or discomfort, go into nature. Pain often stems from doing things humans weren’t meant to do and thus can be resolved by doing things we are normally adept to do.
- Correctly identifying the problem makes clear the best solution
- Use the past to learn, use the future to plan, guide, & direct, use the present to enjoy & act
- Knowledge is nothing with application (action)
- Knowledge can illuminate one’s capabilities and potential, but it can also reveal one’s constraints in limitations. Only balancing the two provides the courage to try and to practically succeed.
- Always have a backup plan
- Live the middle of your life like the bookends – carefree, fearless, not giving a f*** about what anyone else thinks
- Don’t pay for or outsource what you can do yourself, but if you can’t or aren’t doing it, consider getting help
- Know when to be a leader and when to be a follower and be great at both
- Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
- The experience rarely matches the mind’s conception. Dread or worry is rarely ever as bad as what actually happens. Conversely, expectations can be exceeded. So just do it! What’s the worst that can happen?
- Leave things as you found them…or better
- Being cheap will cost you. Don’t be cheap. Do be frugal. Value over cost.
- You get what you put up with, you get what you think you deserve
- Action is evoked from emotion not logic. Evoke emotion through stories and human connection.
- Live simply, live fully
- Dream big, question convention, be fearless, act pragmatically