True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous i… - James Clear

In some areas of life, your reputation is defined by your wins.

• Creative pursuits. One bestseller or hit song can erase the memory of the ones that didn't work.
• Entrepreneurship. People rarely remember your failed business ideas, only your winning ones.

In areas like these, your mistakes fade away and the breakthroughs last. But in other areas of life, your reputation is defined by your losses.

• Crime. You can drive safely 364 days a year, but one DUI changes everything.
• Ethics and morals. One unethical decision can ruin a reputation and destroy trust.

In areas like these, your mistakes linger and consistency is rewarded.

Some areas of life reward your best day. Others punish your worst day.
Know which situation you're in, and you can better decide when to be risky and when to play it safe.

Good choices create opportunities. Good habits make the most of them.

Over 107 billion people have lived throughout history. (There are roughly 7.7 billion people alive right now.)

Over the centuries, these billions of people have tried things, failed, learned, and tried differently. Sometimes, they found new solutions. And when you are born, you get to inherit the insights they learned by trial and error.

The cumulative lessons of those 107 billion people have been passed down to you. It is the greatest gift you will ever receive. We are smart not because of our individual genius, but because of our collective knowledge.

As the historian Niall Ferguson noted, “The dead outnumber the living fourteen to one, and we ignore the accumulated experience of such a huge majority of mankind at our peril.”