If you really want to hold yourself to a high standard, graph the growth rate of the number you care about instead of the number itself. Then you're … - Paul Graham

To write good software you must simultaneously keep two opposing ideas in your head. You need the young hacker’s naive faith in his abilities, and at the same time the veteran’s skepticism. You have to be able to think how hard can it be? with one half of your brain while thinking it will never work with the other.

When writing, don't mention people who've criticized you. It doesn't age well. If you're right, no one will have heard of them in the future, and the reference to them will be a distraction. And if you're wrong no one will read your writing in the future, so it won't matter.

The more arbitrary the rules imposed by an authority — the more at odds they are with reality — the more opportunities they create for hacking them.