Principles

Here are some things I believe:

Excellence

• Excellence is a habit, and should be cultivated as such.
• Every skill is a muscle to be exercised.
• Attention to detail separates the pros from the tourists.
• No task is too small to do well.
• Be deliberate, and comfortable with risk.
• Discipline doesn’t restrict your choices, it expands them.
• Tremendous outcomes require tremendous amounts of hard work.
• Hard work is easy when you’ve found your ikigai.

Curiosity

• ABL: Always Be Learning.
• Changing your mind based on new data is a superpower.
• If you’re not curious, what’s the point?
• Action produces information.
• Listen, then make up your own mind.

Winning

• Ambition, sincerity and enthusiasm are all good things.
• It’s fun to win, and okay to want to win.
• Speed is under-appreciated in almost every context.
• Commitment matters. Great outcomes compound.
• Be ambitious in the service of abundance, not insecurity.
• Play to win – don’t play not to lose.
• Do work that only you can do.
• If you don’t blow your own trumpet, it shall remain unblown.
• Luck makes a difference; make it easy for luck to find you.

Character

• Life is too short to play zero-sum games.
• Be a good person. Don’t overcomplicate this.
• Be unfailingly kind, even when – especially when! – it’s hard.
• But remember that kindness isn’t the same as niceness.
• Character is grace under pressure.
• Knowing your own preferences is the key to happiness.
• Compassion, empathy and courtesy signal strength, not weakness.

Systems

• Technology is a force for good. Use it well.
• Combine optimism about technology with realism about humanity.
• Markets are the best way we know to allocate resources.
• Individuals matter more than institutions.
• Think structurally, act locally.
• Arguments about means are often arguments about variances.
• Cynics appear smart, but optimists change the world.

Have fun, be good, work hard, stay happy, make a difference!