CHAPTER 1: Don’t Try

the American Dream: a man fights for what he wants, never gives up, and eventually achieves his wildest dreams.

Happiness Comes from Solving Problems

Problems never stop; they merely get exchanged and/ or upgraded.

Emotions Are Overrated

Just because something feels good doesn’t mean it is good. Just because something feels bad doesn’t mean it is bad.

CHAPTER 3: You Are Not Special

adversity and failure are actually useful and even necessary for developing strong-minded and successful adults.

Entitled people exude a delusional degree of self-confidence.

B-b-b-but, If I’m Not Going to Be Special or Extraordinary, What’s the Point?

People who become great at something become great because they understand that they’re not already great—they are mediocre, they are average—and that they could be so much better.

The Self-Awareness Onion

Why do I consider this to be success/ failure? How am I choosing to measure myself? By what standard am I judging myself and everyone around me?

Why do they feel such a need to be rich in the first place? How are they choosing to measure success/ failure for themselves?

Shitty Values

Pleasure is the most superficial form of life satisfaction and therefore the easiest to obtain and the easiest to lose.

It’s far more helpful to assume that you’re ignorant and don’t know a whole lot. This keeps you unattached to superstitious or poorly informed beliefs and promotes a constant state of learning and growth.

Starting a small business with friends while struggling to make ends meet makes us happier than buying a new computer.

These activities are stressful, arduous, and often unpleasant. They also require withstanding problem after problem. Yet they are some of the most meaningful moments and joyous things we’ll ever do.

Genetics and the Hand We’re Dealt