Paul Millerd Quotes

I've come to a point where I'd rather fail as a writer than succeed as a lawyer, and I need to try and fail or try and succeed, but I need to do it.

in the blogging era, the biggest names put the most at stake - personal stories, strong arguments. ideas win

in the age of video, the game is to be visually appealing, have the most viral/algo-friendly takes. many put almost nothing at stake. performance wins

A lot of modern writing feels like you're getting hammered over the head with words. Maybe that's the point to get you into submission to buy something or blindly follow. It's a big reason I've been reading more fiction and poetry. Even if some of the fiction writing can be too flowery, at least they care about a sentence.

One instance I see of this is the repetitive short chunk after a statement.

You want to be like a river. Flowing. Bubbling. Effervescent. Heading downstream.

It's like a staccato chaos. Maybe good for rap music but it breaks the brain down. Just write a better sentence of what you are trying to say.

You see the inverse too.

You need to be pathless. Not climbing. Not grinding. Not achieving. Just pathless. (what is the point of a sentence like this?)

It’s hard to convince people who have not let go of their attachment to thoughts and work identity among other things how delightful literally doing nothing and not moving toward goals can be

Professors Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun have suggested that many people who face crises often experience "post-traumatic growth" and that this manifests as an "appreciation for life in general, more meaningful interpersonal relationships, an increased sense of personal strength, changed priorities, and a richer existential and spiritual life."

if youre trying to make it as a solopreneur and want to remain a company of one,

you should look at examples of people really doing it solo

Everyone faces a fork in the road

Surrender to your interests or surrender to the market

Most tit for tat sharing has bad assumptions about how ideas spread I think. It’s an outdated top down view of the world.

When I find something cool I share it hundreds of times. I think it’s more valuable to find these people even if they don’t have an audience

Enough is knowing that no amount in my bank account will ever satisfy my deepest fears. It’s knowing that I have enough friends that would gladly open their door and share a meal if I was ever in need. It’s the feeling that I’ve been able to spend my time over an extended stretch of time working on projects that are meaningful to me, helping people with a spirit of generosity, and having enough space and time in my life to stay energized to keep doing this over the long‑term. Enough is seeing a clear opportunity that will increase my earnings in the short‑term, but knowing that saying “no” will open me up to things that might be even more valuable in ways that are hard to understand. Enough is knowing that the clothes, fancy meal, or latest gadget will not make me happier, but also that buying such things won’t mean I’m going to end up broke. Enough is having meaningful conversations with people that inspire me, people that I love, or people that support me.

when money becomes more of a god, do art

I have a suspicion that a whole bunch of energy will get unlocked. I'll just start doing things, and creating things and talking to people, and going to places…that I cannot fundamentally imagine right now, and it will be that stuff that shapes my life going forward…I am curious what else will show up.

the courage to be disliked is just publishing a book

authors are too friendly too each other

there should be more beefs, more critical reviews, more competition

i think it would raise the bar for everyone

We all have two monsters on our shoulders

I should do what I care about

I should do what makes money

Most don’t do the first because they don’t actually want to pay any price for it. Status, money, time, learning. Whatever.

In other words, given sufficient coping strategies, people will be willing to tolerate consistent levels of misery for long stretches of time. Is there anything that can override this? In my conversations with people who have made changes in their life, one thing seems to work reliably: wonder.