I am getting old.
It’s my 31st birthday. Given how much I have been writing lately, it feels right to document some of my learnings so far in life.
Given that I probably won’t share anything new, here you go, my favourite tweets from mentors I never met. That’s my birthday present to all of you.
Fall in love with writing
“Fall in love with writing.
Write about everything that you love, as often as you can.
It is the single greatest skill you can train.
I would not be where I am today without writing.
Gn.”
– By Cooopahtroopa
My best decision of the past two years has been to write consistently. It helps you get clarity of thought. Nurture relationships. Attract like-minded people. Learn, and build portfolios in new fields.
Nurture your curiosity
I believe it all starts with curiosity. If I was not curious 11 years ago, I would have never left my home country, studied abroad, travelled the world, and reached where I am today.
Work hard to make something appear effortless
“The Effort Paradox You have to put in more effort to make something appear effortless. Effortless, elegant performances are often the result of a large volume of effortful, gritty practice. Small things become big things. Simple is not simple.”
-By Sahil Bloom
There is a lot of talk about working smart instead of hard. However, you have to work hard first to learn to work smart.
It’s okay to look stupid
“Willingness to look stupid is a valuable skill. When learning some new topic, I often feel stupid. When trying new ideas, people often think they are stupid (e.g. starting Coinbase was like this). When diagnosing problems, I like asking dumb questions.”
-By Brian Armstrong
We are often scared not to appear “stupid.” But how can you understand the foundations of a new field if you do not ask stupid questions?
Planning is underrated
“Plans are useless, but planning is essential.”
-By Emmett Shear
As the saying goes, “strong opinions, loosely held.” Always plan but embrace how things rarely unfold by our plans.
Surround yourself with great people but be ready to pay the price
“If you surround yourself with great people, you’re going to get better faster. But the price you pay is the constant feeling of inadequacy.”
-By Julie Zhuo
If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.
Learn to listen before you speak
“Negotiation active listening: Requires that the listener fully concentrates, understands, responds, and then remembers what is being said.
Point: the best negotiation tactic is to shut up and listen.”
It’s hard to shut up and listen, but we all can do it. It does not require any education, just patience, presentism, and empathy.
Start with full-stack projects
“Early in your career, work on “full-stack” projects. A full-stack project is one which 1) is your idea, 2) is your sole responsibility and 3) requires sales (meaning you have to convince someone of something -internal or external-to complete the project). After, all else pales.”
Nothing accelerates learning like having skin in the game and accountability. Take ownership of a project. Launch a side hustle. It will pay back asymmetric dividends over time.
Study mental models
“Specifically, a wise person is doing one of two things:
• Using a model to explain how a system works in a way you hadn’t realised.
• Using a model to identify the best decision to make amid all the noise.
Wise things I’ve heard fall into one of those two categories.”
-By
Mental models are frameworks for thinking. I have written on the topic multiple times, and each time I felt like I understood the world better (e.g., luck vs hard work, first principles, and liquid knowledge).
The map is not the terrain
“Bragging razor:
• If someone brags about their success or happiness, assume it’s half what they claim.
• If someone downplays their success or happiness, assume it’s double what they claim.
The map is not the terrain.”
-By
Never trust people who brag too much. We all face hardships. It’s unreasonable to believe someone has it all sorted out.
Have a strong bias for action
The best people I have met have an extreme bias for action.
Struggle leads to greatness
“Become Antifragile In Greek mythology; the Hydra is a creature that has multiple heads. When one head is cut off, two grow back in its place. Life is random and chaotic. Don’t be broken by the chaos—rather, adopt a mentality and build a structure such that you will benefit from it.”
As per Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile, you need to become the kind of person that gets stronger from hardships. Not the other way around.
Find your gardening
“Okinawa is an Island in Japan with the highest life expectancy. It’s called “the land of immortals”. The secret: almost everybody gardens. Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. Be sustainable. Find your gardening.”
– By G
Everything sustainable in life takes time. So take your time to find which marathon you want to run, and then enjoy the journey.
Solve a big problem = build a great business
“Formula for startup success: Find large highly fragmented industry with low NPS; vertically integrate a solution to simplify value product.”
– By
Be happy whenever something frustrates you, and you cannot find a good enough solution. You have stumbled on a startup opportunity.
Pay forward
“Never ask to pick someone’s brain. Instead, have something to offer, even if it’s just a well-thought-out idea. Often if you suggest something, and it’s good, the other person will give you a chance to do that thing. Not good to be needy.”
– By
The best relationships are built when you propose to deliver value. Unconditionally. The more selfless the offer, the better relationship you will create.
It’s okay not to have an opinion
“Munger’s Law: Never allow yourself to have an opinion on a subject unless you can state the opposing argument better than the opposition can. Steelman Arguments > Strawman Arguments.”
– By
Too often try to share an opinion when we have half-baked ideas in our heads. Learn to study a topic attentively before expressing strong opinions.
Seek wealth, not status
“Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth has assets that you earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.”
– By Naval Ravikant
Where you stand in the social hierarchy is secondary to your wealth. I avoid optimising for status. Status is a zero-sum game; for one to win, another has to lose. Whereas growing your wealth does not take from anyone else.
Fire fast and hire slow
“Letting an underperforming employee go is difficult and painful. You invested a lot in hiring them, and you want them to succeed. As a result, you will almost always fire too late.”
– By
This applies to personal relationships too. If someone is toxic, let them go fast.
Everything has trade-offs
“Every glamour has its price. Most people think the price of winning–of greatness is hard work and sacrifice. But beyond that, it’s also the mental battle—the constant drumbeat of dissatisfaction. There is no end to it. Consistent high achievers learn to make peace w/it.”
-By
The more you know, the better you understand how little you know.
Help yourself first before you help others
“Invest in yourself before you invest in others.”
-By
When you board a plane, you are told how, in the case of an emergency, you need to help yourself first. That logic applies to your personal growth and wealth too.
Be there for your friends
“Put people in business: If your friend is thinking about starting a company or fund, offer to be their first check if you can. If they want to be a creator, offer to be their first subscriber. Whatever they want to do, offer something that shows you believe. They’ll remember you.”
Starting anything new is hard, for some people, even terrifying. If your friend is starting something new, be there for them, they will remember it for life.
Direction matters more than speed
“Direction is much more important than speed. 
”
Moving to tech has been one of the best decisions of my life. Choose an industry that grows fast and attracts the smartest people you know.
Fall in love with solving problems
“Fall in love with solving problems.”
Society will reward you for solving hard problems.
Read books that teach you how to think
“If you can, read books that teach you how to think, not what to think.”
Plenty of mediocre books out there. Be selective and find the good ones. As a general rule of thumb, if a book has survived the test of time, it will most probably be good.
Lack of confidence kills more dreams than lack of ability
“Lack of confidence kills more dreams than lack of ability. Talent matters—especially at elite levels—but people talk out of giving their best effort long before talent becomes the limiting factor. You’re capable of more than you know. Don’t be your own bottleneck.”
I am a firm believer that talent is secondary to determination. Confidence is a key ingredient we all need to have to succeed.
Having complete control is not necessarily a good thing
“If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough.”
-By Mario Andretti
To land in the growth zone, you have to give up on comfort.
The story we tell ourselves matters
“We all have two experiences in life. First, what actually happens. Second, our story of what actually happened. Once you understand that distinction, you understand how important clarity of mind and thought truly is.”
Reflecting on your narrative is essential. Be careful how you shape it, as it will have a significant impact on your wellbeing.
Learn to sell. Learn to build
Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.
When speaking of sales, Naval Ravikant covers content creation, recruitment, fundraising, and many other forms of communication. If you cannot master both selling and building, become world-class in one of them.
Expect more from yourself and less from others
“You will be happier once you expect less from others and more from yourself.”
“Be selectively ignorant. Ignore topics that drain your attention. Unfollow people that drain your energy. Abandon projects that drain your time. Do not keep up with it all. The more selectively ignorant you become, the more broadly knowledgable you can be.”
-By James Clear
I do not watch TV, have unfollowed many people, and avoid events/projects that drain my energy. The more I become selectively ignorant, the happier I am.
Make highly asymmetric bets with your career
“There exist highly asymmetric bets you can make with your career – low downside, uncapped upside – and making these bets repeatedly has probably the highest expected value of anything you can do with your time.”
In my case, that moment in time was pivoting to tech and starting companies. My upside is uncapped, whereas there is a limited downside. I am getting paid to work on my dreams, in the process of building friends for life.
I hope you enjoyed the tweets I curated, onwards and upwards 
–
Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.
Join our e27Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27Facebook page
Image credit: dennizn
There is a lot of talk about working smart instead of hard. However, you have to work hard first to learn to work smart.
It’s okay to look stupid
“Willingness to look stupid is a valuable skill. When learning some new topic, I often feel stupid. When trying new ideas, people often think they are stupid (e.g. starting Coinbase was like this). When diagnosing problems, I like asking dumb questions.”
We are often scared not to appear “stupid.” But how can you understand the foundations of a new field if you do not ask stupid questions?
Planning is underrated
As the saying goes, “strong opinions, loosely held.” Always plan but embrace how things rarely unfold by our plans.
Surround yourself with great people but be ready to pay the price
If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.
Learn to listen before you speak
Point: the best negotiation tactic is to shut up and listen.”
It’s hard to shut up and listen, but we all can do it. It does not require any education, just patience, presentism, and empathy.
Start with full-stack projects
“Early in your career, work on “full-stack” projects. A full-stack project is one which 1) is your idea, 2) is your sole responsibility and 3) requires sales (meaning you have to convince someone of something -internal or external-to complete the project). After, all else pales.”
Nothing accelerates learning like having skin in the game and accountability. Take ownership of a project. Launch a side hustle. It will pay back asymmetric dividends over time.
Study mental models
Wise things I’ve heard fall into one of those two categories.”
-By
Mental models are frameworks for thinking. I have written on the topic multiple times, and each time I felt like I understood the world better (e.g., luck vs hard work, first principles, and liquid knowledge).
The map is not the terrain
Never trust people who brag too much. We all face hardships. It’s unreasonable to believe someone has it all sorted out.
Have a strong bias for action
The best people I have met have an extreme bias for action.
Struggle leads to greatness
As per Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile, you need to become the kind of person that gets stronger from hardships. Not the other way around.
Find your gardening
Everything sustainable in life takes time. So take your time to find which marathon you want to run, and then enjoy the journey.
Solve a big problem = build a great business
“Formula for startup success: Find large highly fragmented industry with low NPS; vertically integrate a solution to simplify value product.”
– By
Be happy whenever something frustrates you, and you cannot find a good enough solution. You have stumbled on a startup opportunity.
Pay forward
“Never ask to pick someone’s brain. Instead, have something to offer, even if it’s just a well-thought-out idea. Often if you suggest something, and it’s good, the other person will give you a chance to do that thing. Not good to be needy.”
– By
The best relationships are built when you propose to deliver value. Unconditionally. The more selfless the offer, the better relationship you will create.
It’s okay not to have an opinion
Too often try to share an opinion when we have half-baked ideas in our heads. Learn to study a topic attentively before expressing strong opinions.
Seek wealth, not status
“Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth has assets that you earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.”
– By Naval Ravikant
Where you stand in the social hierarchy is secondary to your wealth. I avoid optimising for status. Status is a zero-sum game; for one to win, another has to lose. Whereas growing your wealth does not take from anyone else.
Fire fast and hire slow
“Letting an underperforming employee go is difficult and painful. You invested a lot in hiring them, and you want them to succeed. As a result, you will almost always fire too late.”
– By
This applies to personal relationships too. If someone is toxic, let them go fast.
Everything has trade-offs
The more you know, the better you understand how little you know.
Help yourself first before you help others
“Invest in yourself before you invest in others.”
-By
When you board a plane, you are told how, in the case of an emergency, you need to help yourself first. That logic applies to your personal growth and wealth too.
Be there for your friends
Starting anything new is hard, for some people, even terrifying. If your friend is starting something new, be there for them, they will remember it for life.
Direction matters more than speed
“Direction is much more important than speed. ”
Moving to tech has been one of the best decisions of my life. Choose an industry that grows fast and attracts the smartest people you know.
Fall in love with solving problems
“Fall in love with solving problems.”
Society will reward you for solving hard problems.
Read books that teach you how to think
“If you can, read books that teach you how to think, not what to think.”
Plenty of mediocre books out there. Be selective and find the good ones. As a general rule of thumb, if a book has survived the test of time, it will most probably be good.
Lack of confidence kills more dreams than lack of ability
I am a firm believer that talent is secondary to determination. Confidence is a key ingredient we all need to have to succeed.
Having complete control is not necessarily a good thing
To land in the growth zone, you have to give up on comfort.
The story we tell ourselves matters
Reflecting on your narrative is essential. Be careful how you shape it, as it will have a significant impact on your wellbeing.
Learn to sell. Learn to build
Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.
When speaking of sales, Naval Ravikant covers content creation, recruitment, fundraising, and many other forms of communication. If you cannot master both selling and building, become world-class in one of them.
Expect more from yourself and less from others
“You will be happier once you expect less from others and more from yourself.”
I do not watch TV, have unfollowed many people, and avoid events/projects that drain my energy. The more I become selectively ignorant, the happier I am.
Make highly asymmetric bets with your career
“There exist highly asymmetric bets you can make with your career – low downside, uncapped upside – and making these bets repeatedly has probably the highest expected value of anything you can do with your time.”
In my case, that moment in time was pivoting to tech and starting companies. My upside is uncapped, whereas there is a limited downside. I am getting paid to work on my dreams, in the process of building friends for life.
I hope you enjoyed the tweets I curated, onwards and upwards
–
Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.
Join our e27Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27Facebook page
Image credit: dennizn
The post 31 tweets from entrepreneurs that changed my life appeared first on e27.