The Secret to Success
“Know who you’re selling and know what you’re selling, and do it well.” - my Dad, allegedly, in a newspaper in 2011
Knowing who you’re selling to is more important than knowing what you’re selling.
Hate to break it to you sweetheart. You can live your life doing very little actual work and experiencing a lot less pain than most competent individuals have historically endured if you can just fucking internalize this. It is always the answer. Don’t waste your breath attempting to communicate something meaningful to people who have no desire to participate in understanding. You’re not being kind or helpful. You’re just letting morons drink your life force like bedside water in the middle of the night. Communicate exclusively in tones and vibes and shiny objects when dealing with NPCs (takers).
Knowing what you’re selling will make you useful in the world.
You are participating in the world around you instead of draining it. When you know what you’re doing and you are doing it, you become generative. That doesn’t mean that you have a millisecond of free time or autonomy. But at least at this point, you’re a giver.
Selling it well leaves you bandwidth to spend on yourself.
The advantage of excellence is in its continuous expansion of your mental and temporal capacity to pursue a meaningful life. Doing it the right way with both finesse and efficacy is your ticket to choosing to do something remarkable if you want.
We forget that the best kept secrets are what we already know.
“Simplicity seems to always roll back around as aging wisdom reveals what you understood as a child is a grander truth than the complex.
More deeply human than details is that hand-holding walking into all your fears sure that you are not alone.
Go back. “ - lyrics to a song I wrote in 2018 with my friends