​In short: Prioritize your fucks wisely.

Don’t Try

Stop trying. You become poor when you try to be rich. It is the fixation on the positive that reminds us of what we lack and failed to be. Either you are, or you are not. So don’t try to be somebody you’re not.

Happiness Is a Problem

Happiness is not algorithmic. "if I achieve X, then I can be happy" is the problem. Therefore, happiness is not a solvable equation. “The secret sauce is in the solving of problems, not in not having problems in the first place.”

You Are Not Special

Fuck positivity. Sometimes things are fucked up, and we need to live with it. Yeah, it’s probably better to see the glass half-full than half-empty. But sometimes, the glass is full of shit. You cannot change that by being positive about it.

The Value of Suffering

Marathon runners go through a lot of shit. Every day they get up and run a lot. Teachers go through a lot of shit as well, and so does everyone else. So, if you have to go through a lot of shit, which shit do you prefer?

The Self-Awareness Onion

To find out why something bothers you. Ask why. Then keep asking. “Self-awareness is like an onion. There are multiple layers to it, and the more you peel them back, the more likely you’re going to start crying at inappropriate times.”

Shitty Values

Pleasure is not the cause of happiness; instead, it is the effect—the easiest to obtain and the easiest to lose. Material success. “When people measure themselves not by their behavior, but by the status symbols they’re able to collect, then not only are they shallow, but they’re probably assholes as well.” Always Being Right. “People who base their self-worth on being right about everything prevent themselves from learning from their mistakes.” Staying Positive "These things make us feel like shit. And that’s fine. Negative emotions are a necessary component of emotional health.”

Self-improvement is about choosing better things to give a fuck about. Because when you give better fucks, you get better problems. And when you get better problems, you get a better life.

You Are Always Choosing.

If we realize that we’re responsible for everything in our lives, then we get to improve ourselves. No matter the hand you’re dealt, it’s your responsibility to deal with the hand.

“Often, the only difference between a problem being painful or being powerful is a sense that we chose it and that we are responsible for it.”

You’re Wrong About Everything

“Certainty is the enemy of growth.”

We get an intuition that says something is good or bad in most situations. But in reality, we don’t know. It seems a certain way, but we don’t know. So maybe it’s good, and perhaps it’s terrible. How about taking it as it comes? Maybe it’ll benefit us, and perhaps it’ll harm us. We simply do not know for sure.

Failure Is the Way Forward

Talent is overrated. If you want to succeed at something, you will undoubtedly have to fail many times.

The "Do Something" Principle

Don't just sit there. Do something. The answers will follow. Action isn't just the effect of motivation; it's also its cause.

The Importance of Saying No

People say yes to things they don't want to please others. So stop. "To value X, we must reject non-X."

And Then You Die

Death Terror: Humans are aware of the inevitability of death. This leads to existential anxiety that underlies everything we think or do. Immortality Projects: Humans have a physical self that eats and a conceptual self (how we see ourselves). We try so our conceptual self will not be forgotten.