Maxims for a happy life

Maxims for a happy life.

The pitch

• Do your talking on the pitch. And leave it there.
• Don’t be that guy.
• Let it go. In the immortal words of the Eastenders script-writing collective, “LEAVE IT, PHIL. HE’S NOT WORTH IT.”

Your nose

• If it gets up your nose, it’s your problem, not his.
• If it gets up your nose, he’s probably got a point.
• Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Your book

• First question: cui bono?
• Don’t talk your own book. Assume others are talking theirs until you know otherwise.
• Value people who don’t talk their own book.
• Insiders have an interest in making what they do seem hard.

Your self

What you've got

• Don’t be selfish.
• Share. Give freely of what you have and know, to those who need it.
• Use your resources. You can’t take it with you.
• Be useful.

Confidence

• Back yourself.
• There are other fish in the sea.
• Leave it on the pitch, not the table. (see do your talking on the pitch.)

Mental space

• Go off the grid — sometimes.
• Smell the roses. Take pleasure in beauty. Stop what you’re doing and drink it in. Enjoy what nature — and humans — let you have for free. Admire a wood in autumn.
• "Gee, I wish I spent more time in the office," said NO ONE IN HISTORY.

Learn

• Be open-minded. Never stop learning.
• Find a different way home.
• Write the music you want to hear.

Disobey stupid rules

• Walk on the grass. Fuck ’em.

Complexity and order

• Simplify. The Devil is the detail.
• Perfection is the enemy of good enough.
• It’ll do.
• They’re more scared than you are.
• Challenge. Require explanation. If he can’t explain, he doesn’t understand. If he makes you do something he doesn’t understand it, it’s probably bullshit.