satisfaction of success doesn’t come from achieving your goals, but from struggling well. - Ray Dalio

I also feared boredom and mediocrity much more than I feared failure. For me, great is better than terrible, and terrible is better than mediocre, because terrible at least gives life flavor. The high school yearbook quote my friends chose for me was from Thoreau: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Recognize that having an effective idea meritocracy requires that you understand the merit of each person’s ideas.

Weigh second- and third-order consequences.