One of the greatest joys of my life is that I often get to spend time in rooms surrounded by big thinkers.

These rooms have an extraordinarily high idea density.

When I find myself in these rooms, I try to be a sponge, listening and absorbing as much as possible.

There are certain times when, even long after leaving the room, the ideas linger in my mind. I wrestle with them to develop my only lens for each. I can't stop thinking about them.

I've recently had the privilege of being in several such rooms, which means it's time for me to share the stickiest ideas with all of you.

Here are some short ideas I can't stop thinking about...

The climb is a necessity, not an option.

If you got dropped at the top of the mountain, you'd pass out from the altitude. The climb physically and mentally prepares you for the summit. This is the reason winning the lottery often ends up being a curse—the climb to earn the money prepares you for the challenges of having it. Never intentionally seek to avoid the climb. Thank the struggle for what it will do for you.

You may control your inputs, but you're ultimately judged for your outputs.

A pure focus on inputs may not serve your end goals if you're consistently falling short. You should regularly evaluate the quality of your inputs on the basis of the quality of your outputs. Inputs and outputs may be dislocated in the short-term, but they should be connected in the long-term. If not, you probably need to adjust your inputs.

Your entire life will change when you realize that everything matters.

You don't get to pick and choose when to show up, because the world will ignore your best and judge you for your worst. If you want to win, your responsibility is to show up with energy and enthusiasm for the little things just as much as you do for the big things.

Preparation always beats planning.

Planning is based on the expectation of order. Preparation is based on the expectation of chaos. Plan for order and you'll be destroyed by chaos. Prepare for chaos and you'll thrive in any condition.

If you want to make a lot of money, focus on identifying mispriced opportunities.

Warren Buffett famously said, “Price is what you pay, value is what you get." If you're trying to make a lot of money, you should focus on finding business opportunities where you can "pay" a little to get a lot. Pay is in quotes because it may not be in the form of money, but in the form of time, energy, hassle, or anything else. A mispriced opportunity is one where a single unit of input energy can get you 10, 100, or 1,000 units of output energy. Look for those.

Never criticize something before understanding why it exists in its current form.

Chesterton's Fence: Never tear down a fence before understanding why it got built in the first place. It might be holding back the wolves that you didn't know existed because it was preventing them from entering.

The value of vulnerability is environment-dependent.

If you're facing down a lion in the wild, being vulnerable and letting it know that you're scared is not particularly useful. But if you're in a safe environment, being vulnerable is the key to creating a ripple effect of strength.

Progress can be backwards.

Progress is a bit like a snowflake: It never looks the same twice. Sometimes short-term progress is sideways, sometimes it's backwards. The important point is that the long-term moves in the direction of your vision for the future. Never get lost in the days and lose sight of the years.

Winning can be problematic for your social life.

“People like you more when you working towards something. Not when you have it.” - Drake

The key to life is found in recognizing that you have the power to take an action and create an outcome.

Anyone who feels stuck or lost shares one common belief: That they are not in control, that they cannot take an action and create a desired outcome. In these moments, the most important thing is that you reassume that control, that you create a bit of evidence to prove to yourself that you do hold that power, that you can take one tiny action and create one tiny outcome. That has ripple effects into every area of life.

"Attitude reflects leadership, Captain."

This is one of my favorite quotes from the movie Remember the Titans. It is the responsibility of the leader to set the tone, to set the expectations, to set the environment of respect. If a leader achieves that, attitude follows.

Greatness is uniquely human.

I spent time with an actor and musician who had some brilliant thoughts on the future of AI in the creative space. He said that AI will write a lot of good songs, but will never write a great song. His reason: Greatness is a uniquely human idea. It is about pushing the upper limits of human possibility. A robot playing in the NBA that could jump 40 feet into the air wouldn't have the same greatness as Michael Jordan, because the greatness is human.

If you always do things for the external affirmation, you're going to be perpetually unhappy.

The Heaven’s Reward Fallacy: Humans tend to have an expectation that they will be justly rewarded and praised for all of their hard work and sacrifice. The reality is that a lot of it goes unnoticed—it's thankless. The pursuit of external affirmation just breeds resentment and unhappiness.

"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." - Epictetus

The quality of your listening determines the quality of your speaking. Stop trying to be interesting and focus on being interested. Being interested makes you interesting.

One of the greatest challenges in life is that the best things are impossible to plan for.

In 2019, if you had asked me to map out 100 scenarios for where I would be in 2024, I would have written down 100 elaborate ideas, and not a single one of them would have been correct. The best opportunities are inherently non-linear, they are impossible to plan for. Your job is to foster the creativity and headspace that will allow you to pursue them when they inevitably pop up.

Sometimes taking too little risk is the greatest risk you can take.

Ambiguity Effect: The tendency to choose the action with a known probability of success over an action with an unknown probability of success. It's always easier to be safe, but early in your life and career, it's important to remember that most of these decisions are reversible.

The world would be a better place if everyone defaulted to curiosity.

Learn to approach all disagreement and conflict from a place of curiosity rather than animosity. It will change your life.

Humans are notoriously bad at understanding exponential growth.

The human mind is almost incapable of it. When facing exponential growth curves (like what I perceive to be happening with AI progress), you have to act when it feels way too early. I hope policymakers and business leaders take heed of this advice when it comes to creating responsible policy for AI in the future.

Human interpersonal skills may become more valuable than technical skills in an AI future.

Interestingly, in a world where more and more of our interactions are with technology, the most important skills become those that are uniquely human. The ability to connect, to care, to love should be fostered in ourselves and in our children, now more than ever.

Don't have a great day, make it a great day.

I recently had a conversation with a parent who shifted from saying "have a great day" to "make it a great day" each morning to their kids. The subtle shift, from passive "have" to active "make" is important: You are in control. Remember that.

Learn to leave your ego at the door.

Entrenchment Effect: When presented with evidence that disproves their stance, humans have a tendency to dig in their heels and actually become more attached to their idea. It's an ego thing, we want to be right. Focus on finding the truth, not being right.

Changing your mind more frequently is a great habit for life.

"Because a huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded." - David Foster Wallace

Find people who want relationships, not transactions.

The best filter for life: Does this person believe that life is about relationships or transactions? If you can answer that question about a person, you have all the information you need to know about them. Proceed accordingly.

Ideas for Life

I am a firm believer that the quality of your ideas determines the quality of your life.

I hope you found a few of these as interesting as I did. My guess is that several will linger with you long after you finish reading.

Wrestle with them and apply your own lens. Share them with someone you love.

And as always, stay curious, friends!