My Favorite Parts of Kevin Kelly’s Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier

The best way to learn anything is to try to teach what you know.

Whenever you have a choice between being right or being kind,
be kind. No exceptions. Don’t confuse kindness with weakness.

Make progress by making habits.

If you ask for someone’s feedback, you’ll get a critic. But if instead you ask for advice, you’ll get a partner.

The secret to making fine things is in remaking them.

Most success is just persistence.

When you get invited to do something in the future, ask yourself: Would I do this tomorrow? Not too many promises will pass
that immediacy filter.

That thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult
if you don’t lose it.

Superheroes and saints never make art. Only imperfect beings can make art because art begins in what is broken.

Work where there are no names for what you do.

If you can avoid seeking the approval of others, your power is limitless.

Recipe for success: underpromise and overdeliver.

You’ll learn a lot more if you ask people “how are you sleeping?”
instead of “how are you doing?”

All the greatest prizes in life in wealth, relationships, or knowledge come from the magic of compounding interest, by amplifying small steady gains. All you need for abundance is to keep adding 1% more than you subtract on a regular basis.

To be remarkable, read books.

Be frugal in all things, except in your passions. Select a few interests that you gleefully splurge on. In fact, be all-around thrifty so that you can splurge on your passions.

No one is as impressed with your possessions as you are.

Don’t ever work for someone you don’t want to become.

Figure out what time of day you are most productive and protect that time period.

The best work ethic requires a good rest ethic.

The biggest lie we tell ourselves is “I don’t need to write this down
because I will remember it.”

Learn how to be alone without being lonely. Solitude is essential for creativity.

Denying or deflecting a compliment is rude. Accept it with thanks, even if you believe it is not deserved.

If you’re doing something that you are hiding from others, it’s probably not good for you.

Art is whatever you can get away with.

Prescription for popular success: do something strange. Make a habit of your weird.

Your group can achieve great things way beyond your means simply by showing people that they are appreciated.

Worry is ineffective. It is certain that 99% of the stuff you are anxious about won’t happen.

Try hard to solicit constructive criticism early. You want to hear what’s not working as soon as possible. When it is finished you can’t improve it.

The big dirty secret is that everyone, especially the famous, are just making it up as they go along.

The more curious you are, the less certain you’ll be.

The greatest killer of happiness is comparison. If you must compare, compare yourself to you yesterday.

If your sense of responsibility is not expanding as you grow, you are not really growing.

The natural state of all possessions is to need repair and maintenance. What you own will eventually own you. Choose selectively.

The chief prevention against getting old is to remain astonished.

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