Thoughts for my children

Happiness is not an option. It is a necessity.

Things that you think are the end of the world right now won’t even matter to you in 20 years.

Take risks while you are young.  Embrace frugality to chase your dreams.

You don’t fail until you stop trying.

The most important thing you can do is to relativize your losses: wounded, but alive and with much more knowledge.

Kill all your darlings: don’t focus on a small thing you like, while you ignore the important rest.

Build yourself one step at a time. Nobody can walk 365 kms in a day, but everybody can walk one km a day every day and get to it. Be patient with yourself. Take the time needed, but build every day.

Don’t confuse activity with progress.

Stop comparing yourself to others. There will always be someone who seems smarter than you, catches on faster than you and seems to have everything figured out. Figuring out how to appreciate your unique offering and believing in yourself is the key that unlocks your potential.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.

It is relatively easy to find solutions once a problem has been identified. Time and effort will get you there. The future belongs to those who find “problems, i.e. don’t accept unsatisfactory conditions and see things that should be changed, while others accept them. Example: why do we still tolerate exterior mirrors in cars? They waste energy (slow down cars), get damaged, etc. In the 21st century?

Focus on how you live and how you impact the world. The rest will take care of itself.

If you put your mind to it and take the time it takes, you can achieve whatever your goal is.

Figure out the few key things that are most important in your role and your objectives. Then set your priorities. Focus your activities only on those that fit your priorities.

If you do not know where you are going, you won’t get there.

Next time, listen more and talk less. Stop focusing so much about what you should be doing and focus more on what you want to be doing.

You become the company that you keep.

Being honest during the day is the only way to sleep at night

Don’t lie or you will lose the trust of others and, even worse, the trust of yourself.

There are two people who will change your life forever. Find those people

You have to create your quiet in order to be able to listen to the very faint voice of your intuition.

Make something people want.

When it feels good, chances are it’s bad and when he feels bad, it usually is good. Stepping out of the consensus range against others’ opinions is not a comfortable feeling but often a successful one

Mistakes are great opportunities to learn and become stronger after them

Find a way to come back with a victory after every defeat.

Above all, don’t be too proud. Face and accept your weaknesses. Embrace them, since every greatness is based on overcoming some weakness. Cherish your weaknesses as they build your strengths. Forgive yourself as you would forgive others. Anything else would be excess pride.

Serendipity: Life is a succession of encounters with seemingly unconnected “dots”. The more we look at them though, the more we can make connections. We all “connect” dots as we seek to understand the past and the now, or to guess or change the future. But connecting dots requires a fair amount of interdisciplinary knowledge and self-confidence that you can indeed observe a thing or make a difference that others could not. We must take the time to focus on these little dots.

It is not because the news is bad that it matters. Conversely, it is not because the news is good that it matters either. Keep your eyes open on what really matters, not just now, but also later when things worsen or improve.