Master Unique Obsessions

No one can compete with you on being you.

Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most. (Page 41) "Escape competition through authenticity." Basically, when you're competing with people, it's because you're copying them. It's because you're trying to do the same thing. But every human is different. Don't copy. (Page 44)

Find the One Right Thing and Compound On It

When you find the right thing to do, when you find the right people to work with, invest deeply. Sticking with it for decades is really how you make the big returns in your relationships and in your money. So, compound interest is very important. [10] (Page 48)

Leverage Outputs from Inputs

Forget rich versus poor, white-collar versus blue. It's now leveraged versus unleveraged. (Page 59) For example, a good software engineer, just by writing the right little piece of code and creating the right little application, can literally create half a billion dollars' worth of value for a company. But ten engineers working ten times as hard, just because they choose the wrong model, the wrong product, wrote it the wrong way, or put in the wrong viral loop, have basically wasted their time. Inputs don't match outputs, especially for leveraged workers. (Page 61) Tools and leverage create this disconnection between inputs and outputs. The higher the creativity component of a profession, the more likely it is to have disconnected inputs and outputs. If you're looking at professions where your inputs and your outputs are highly connected, it's going to be very hard to create wealth and make wealth for yourself in that process. (Page 63)

Hating the Rich is Just a Status Game

There are fundamentally two huge games in life that people play. One is the money game. Because money is not going to solve all of your problems, but it's going to solve all of your money problems. People realize that, so they want to make money.

But at the same time, many of them, deep down, believe they can't make money. They don't want any wealth creation to happen. So, they attack the whole enterprise by saying, "Well, making money is evil. You shouldn't do it." But they're actually playing the other game, which is the status game. They're trying to be high status in the eyes of other people watching by saying, "Well, I don't need money. We don't want money." Status is your ranking in the social hierarchy.

Wealth creation is an evolutionarily recent positive-sum game. Status is an old zero-sum game. Those attacking wealth creation are often just seeking status. (Page 73)

Instead of “Networking”, Show Your Craft

Trying to build business relationships well in advance of doing business is a complete waste of time. I have a much more comfortable philosophy: "Be a maker who makes something interesting people want. Show your craft, practice your craft, and the right people will eventually find you. (Page 86)

You Are What You Choose to Suffer For

Your real résumé is just a catalog of all your suffering. If I ask you to describe your real life to yourself, and you look back from your deathbed at the interesting things you've done, it's all going to be around the sacrifices you made, the hard things you did. (Page 89)

Read

Reading science, mom, and philosophy one hour per day will likely put you at the upper echelon of human success within seven years. (Page 113) It's not about "educated" vs. "uneducated." It's about "likes to read" and "doesn't like to read.” (Page 118) You know that song you can't get out of your head? All thoughts work that way. Careful what you read. (Page 123)

Mind, Body, and Love Can’t Be Bought

A calm mind, a fit body, and a house full of love.

These things cannot be bought.

They must be earned. (Page 124)

We Are All Insignificant

I've also come to believe in the complete and utter insignificance of the self, and I think that helps a lot. For example, if you thought you were the most important thing in the Universe, then you would have to bend the entire Universe to your will.

If you're the most important thing in the Universe, then how could it not conform to your desires. If it doesn't conform to your desires, something is wrong.

However, if you view yourself as a bacteria or an amoeba-or if you view all of your works as writing on water or building castles in the sand, then you have no expectation for how life should "actually" be. Life is just the way it is. When you accept that, you have no cause to be happy or unhappy. Those things almost don't apply. (Page 131)

Embrace Death

Fundamentally, it boils down to one big hack: embracing death.

Death is the most important thing that is ever going to happen to you. When you look at your death and you acknowledge it, rather than running away from it, it'll bring great meaning to your life…

Here's a hot tip: There is no legacy. There's nothing to leave. We're all going to be gone. Our children will be gone. Our works will be dust. Our civilizations will be dust. Our planet will be dust. Our solar system will be dust. In the grand scheme of things, the Universe has been around for ten billion years. It'll be around for another ten billion years.

Your life is a firefly blink in a night. You're here for such a brief period of time. If you fully acknowledge the futility of what you're doing, then I think it can bring great happiness and peace because you realize this is a game. But it's a fun game. All that matters is you experience your reality as you go through life. Why not interpret it in the most positive possible way? (Page 154)

Set up Systems, Rather than Goals

I don't believe in specific goals. Scott Adams famously said, "Set up systems, not goals. Use your judgment to figure out what kinds of environments you can thrive in, and then create an environment around you so you're statistically likely to succeed. (Page 183)

(This is just hilarious but true)

The modern struggle:

Lone individuals summoning inhuman willpower, fasting, meditating, and exercising...

Up against armies of scientists and statisticians weaponizing abundant food, screens, and medicine into junk food, clickbait news, infinite porn, drugs, endless games, and addictive alse tell you what to do. (Page 192)