The most dangerous items on your to-do list are the ones that look like opportunities, but are actually distractions. - James Clear

There are many elements of living a good life, but the first and most foundational is to love yourself and enjoy spending time with yourself.

Go do things on your own so you learn to trust your mind and view it as a welcome companion. If someone declared, "Tomorrow you must spend the day alone" the hope is that you would reply, "That sounds like a good day!"

The person who is at ease within finds every other space larger and more enjoyable."

"As far as I can tell, every great advance — whether in an individual life or the world at large — has come from dreams and attempts.

Devise more dreams. Make more attempts."

A philosophy I heard recently and have found useful:

"We look for reasons to say yes and only say no when we have to.

You have to show up before inspiration will.

Being good at what you do is partially about competence, but not exclusively.

Two other things that matter:

Reliability. You do what you say you're going to do—on time and as expected.

Enthusiasm. You're excited to be here and eager to work on this problem.

Skills matter, but in many cases it's your reliability or attitude that separates you from the pack.